Leap Frog Ride, Photo, and Video

[klaviator]

This ride is now on.

Place: McDs on 431 in Guntersville

Time:   9:30 AM
KSU:  10:00 AM

Bring your camera or Video camera.  We will be shooting pics and video.






Watching a Video Nice Goat recently posted gave me an idea.  I like to ride and I also like to take pics and I enjoy watching good riding videos as well, especially if I'm in them.  Glen made a video by setting up his Video camera and then riding by it.  That can be pretty time consuming.  It made me think back to a dual sport ride I was on a few years ago in the Smoky mountain Natl park.  It was October and the leaves were real pretty.  I decided to try "leapfrogging" with the gal I was riding with.  I would ride ahead, set up and take her pic as she went by and then she would pick a spot and do the same as I rode by.  We did this several times and go some pretty cool pics.

So I was thinking if we had a small group we could do the same thing.  Pick a scenic route and spread out on the ride.  The lead rider would pick a nice spot and photo or video everyone as they came by.  The new leader would do the same and so on until everyone has taken pics or video and just keep doing it.  At the end we would have some great pics and videos. 

I'm not sure yet of the date or route.  I'm just throwing this out to see if there is interest and/or suggestions.

[jrobinson]

I've thought of the same thing. Have a group ride/video shoot. I'd like to then give the footage to the guys that make the great videos and see what they come up with using everyone's footage.

I'll be interested when you decide where and when.

[Guidedawg]

Unless everyone is familiar with the roads, you may be limited in the number of videographers prepared to know where a good spot is to record.

I like the idea, but you may have to put a designated few camera folks in the front and then stop somewhere to let them back up again if necessary.

[klaviator]

It would certainly help if people know the roads but not necessary.  If a few people end up picking bad spots it wouldn't be the end of the world.  Also, we could ride the route once to pick good spots and then ride it again to actually do the filming & pic taking.  BTW, I plan on taking pics, not video.  It would be nice to get some of both.  I have ridden ahead on many rides, set up and then taken pics.  Then I often crop and blow up the pics.  I'm not Killboy but I have gotten some pretty good pics.

Also, this could be done on or off road.  IMO there are two things that make for interesting pics or video.  One is good action due to twisty roads or perhaps challenging off road.  The second is great scenery in the background.  For best results it's nice to have both. 

At the moment I haven't picked a route yet.  One possibility would be the roads on Crow Mountain, 39 and 33 are super twisty and have some great spots for a photog to set up.  The roads around Guntersville have some great scenery and might work as well. 

[Nice Goat]

I think this is a great idea and I am interested.

We'd need to chose a standard format for all of the cameras ... I'm getting to where I prefer 1080p30.

Also, action cams tend to have a wide field of view which gives them a fisheye appearance.  Filming from the side of the road is better with a standard camera or other handheld.  For my recent video, all of the recording was done using a Kodak Playsport on a Joby tripod.

As far as training the amateurs, all they need is a few pointers on camera placement, a five-minute head start, and make sure that the whole group rides at an easy pace.  Anybody can get good video nowadays.  Hell, most cell phones capture 1080p now.  You can get a tripod attachment to hold your smart phone....

[klaviator]

If we end up with some inexperienced people, no problem.  We could pick a fairly short route and spend some time letting the more experienced people do some training.  We could also pick a short stretch of nice road and let people set up while others make multiple passes past the camera. 

[kryten]

If you do a short stretch of road it would probably be best to setup cameras on the side of the road and just make multiple passes. You just need to hide them a bit so some random person doesn't stop and snag one. I've done this before and got some pretty awesome results.

[klaviator]

The leap frog technique has worked for me in the past for taking pics, I have never tried it with video. 

Right now June 4th looks good for me to do this. 

[scott59]

looks like i am off the 4th, so  in ;)

[klaviator]

Here's my tentative plan, subject to change.

Meet in Guntersville.  Ride 227 and 67 doing the leapfrog thing.  Then cross the bridge to Scottsboro and on to Crow Mountain.  We'll probably do the hairpins on 39 where we can set up and do multiple passes.  Then retrace our route to Guntersville.  This is not a real long route but a fun one that should allow for some good pics and video.  By retracing the route we may be able to learn from the first pass and correct any mistakes we made.  Lunch will be in Scottsboro or the Pikeville store.

I'm open to suggestions.  After some discussion I'll finalize and move this to planned rides.

[kryten]

I would like to get in on this as long as you don't start too early since its a 2 hour ride for me just to get to Guntersville.

[klaviator]

I would like to get in on this as long as you don't start too early since its a 2 hour ride for me just to get to Guntersville.

That was my plan.  What would be a good time for you.

[jrobinson]

There's a good section on CR 55 that is not as steep as Crow Mt. very little traffic and good pulloffs in the hairpins.

[kryten]

That was my plan.  What would be a good time for you.

I could probably be in Guntersville by about 9.

[jrobinson]

Are we doing this?  :)