Alliteration has been a weakness of mine for many years!
As part of my ongoing videography development I decided to try to create a short video that used no drone footage, no time-lapses and no stills apart from a short slideshow at the end. In other words from start to finish just video footage shot specifically for the project. To simplify it slightly I was going to revisit a regular location and spurred by my Sunday sunrise success (more alliteration but see earlier post) I planned to shoot a sunrise for this exercise.
The weather forecast was such that a misty start was a possibility but the forecast was also for reasonably clear skies with just a little cloud cover. Visions of low lying mist with a blue sky above, dotted with fluffy clouds, filled my mind. Knowing the lay of the land and where the sun would rise I was also thinking that if the sun peeked through said clouds I would get some lovely side lighting across the rocky edge at Buckstones.
Would you be surprised to find that it didn’t go to plan? In fact I think the trendy term is (or was?) #fail
My alarm went off at 5.30am and resisting the urge to snooze the alarm I was out of the door, flask of coffee in hand, by 6.00am. After a stop for diesel I was in place ready to shoot before 6.30am. Camera (Fuji X-T20) on tripod – check. Camera in video mode – check. Fluid video head in use – check. Audio recording active on camera – check. Lapel mic in place ready to capture my pearls of wisdom – check.
In short, a text book departure and set up. Sunrise was due at 6.59am and I was ready and waiting by 6.45am. The Nikon D800E was at my feet and I have never been better prepared for a shoot – ever. Period. There was just one problem. I had to guess at the composition because I could only see a few feet in front of me.
Hhhmmm.
I stuck it out until 8.30am at which point I had to get back home to keep an appointment. During the two hours on location I shot video, waffled into the tiny dead cat on my collar and even took a couple of stills. At no point did the mist lift. There were a couple of occasions when there seemed to be a slight gap in the mist as it drifted across in front of me but at no point during the time I was there did it clear even for a short period.
Whether the video will get made is as yet an unknown quantity. I haven’t looked at what I have on the memory cards and nor have I listened back to the audio to see if I have enough to make something worth listening to or looking at. Unfortunately it will need to wait until next week at the earliest as I’m away on a conference until Sunday. If it does get made it will be a major achievement!
But, in closing, it is important to note one key thing – I had a fabulous two hours, enjoyed the solitude, the peace and the joy of trying to create something despite the conditions. There may, or may not, be an end result but I had a great morning.
Dave's Place 