I have never had much fascination for making videos, or recording my memories that much. But my mother and sister have asked me a few times if I could send them photos of where I am. So about a year or so ago I started to use my iPhone to record some memories for them.
It has been a great experience to come home, and be able to use the Apple broadcast feature to pop up images from my travels on my family’s tv.
Earlier this year two friends of mine suggested I buy a DJI OSMO to take away on my travels to go a bit further on recording my memories. I have been shy of using video because I felt it would be bulky, and also perhaps distract me when I should be focusing on making landscape images.
Whilst in Japan this January I got a very good deal on the OSMO, and it has been something that has slowly become more of a thing for me to carry around in my pocket. It’s small, has 4K, a gimbal so the picture is steady and good audio without having to use an external microphone that much.
Perhaps, as I’m getting older, I’ve become more aware that time is the most precious commodity that we have. I’m aware that I don’t think I will be running workshops and tours forever, and since I am almost 60 years old, I’d like to start recording my memories a bit more. It’s a shame in a way that I haven’t in the past. But then I don’t think I could have because the technology to do it decently was too bulky and awkward to take away with me.
I already go away with quite a bit of kit with me. Several Hasselblad film systems, duplicate lenses, meters, everything as I’ve had so many mishaps over the years, I tend to go with backups now.
I had a great time this last May in Patagonia with a great group of people. Some of them love Torres del Paine as much as I do that they have come back several times with me. Each time we go, there is always something new to see. The video above is my very first effort at collating a trip into around 3 minutes. It' was a lot of fun, and I think I am going to do this a lot more now. I also love embedding my shots from the locations so one can see what I captured at the location.
I haven’t got into grading shots, or using different video codecs. I’m not very experienced. I just use Screenflow to edit with because I find all the pro editing software a bit overwhelming. It reminds me of how I felt about Photoshop when I first started using it over twenty years ago.
It was very enjoyable and I would like to make some more of these short videos.