Hardest shoot I’ve done so far…
I’ve swum past the ocean breakers before; but not with a large camera and underwater housing strapped to my ankle—this is a unique experience. Every time I’d duck a wave and crawl forward, the wave would catch the camera, pulling me backward—3 feet gained would be matched by 2 feet lost. I couldn’t cut the ball and chain at my ankle, because that ball and chain (my camera) was worth thousands of dollars. Once I inched out to where the surfers were, I’d have to predict where I should situate myself so I could get close enough to the surfer’s ride, yet be able to duck back into the wave so I wouldn’t get hit. At times, the surfer would be inches from my camera’s lens (watch the 2nd video clip for an example, look closely for the curly-haired camera man floating and ducking back into the wave).
In this story, we want to bring the audience as close as they can get to the surfer’s experience. We’d like the audience to feel the first peak of a wave, popping up on the board, and working with the wave’s energy as you complete the ride. The ocean landscape is one of unrelenting change and unpredictability. In short, it’s a challenge to film. But, by doing this production, we were able to meet a group of surfers who commit a lot to this sport and lifestyle. The first clip below is a quick teaser of the story.
Tune in to watch the complete story on OPB, November 19th 8:30PM and re-aired on Sunday at 6:30PM.
Also, after the air date, you can watch it on the Field Guide Web site.
Congratulations Jonathan Nicholas
Congratulations to Jonathan Nicholas. He’s a former columnist for the Oregonian and co-founder of Cycle Oregon.
Jonathan Nicholas
Now he’s been named the winner of the 2009 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award for work that “produces tangible benefits for the community.”
In Cycle Oregon, he’s certainly helped communities all over the state. Field Guide covered Cycle Oregon as it turned 20 years old and you’ll see Jonathan midway through the story.
Cycle Oregon is much more than a bicycle ride. It has become the state’s most visible demonstration that urban and rural people can come together.
The next ride by the way is in September, crossing southern Oregon. It’s already sold out.
Electric Cars to Race in Portland
You wouldn’t expect to find drag racing news here. But this is fun, green and shows just how popular electric cars are becoming.
John Wayland is going to host his fourth Wayland Invitational race July 24-25 for electric cars to come race at Portland International Raceway. This year it’s a fundraiser or autism. 
John drives a 1972 Datsun with nothing but a bank of batteries stowed in the trunk. (And the back seat; it takes a lot of batteries to replace a gas engine.) You may have seen him smoke the competition in our story on Electric Drag Racing last fall on Oregon Field Guide. That report hit some kind of nerve. It went viral. 6 months later our web gurus tell me that story has been viewed more than 1 million times! John is very proud so many people are getting interested in gas-less driving.
Read More…
Calling for Backup on Mt. Washington
“We have to get moving off the mountain now,” said the group leader, Josh Norris, on the summit of Mt Washington, a central Oregon peak. We were filming an Oregon State University group as they made the difficult ascent, a climb where they made use of an array of technical rock climbing gear to aid their ascent.
We were on the summit and I knew that I had to get some quick shots of the view to use in the story that we would edit a few weeks later. The light was turning gold and deepening shadows helped the vertical terrain come alive. As my photographic nerves sparked with the dramatic scene below, the changing light signaled danger to the team. They still faced a difficult rappel and had to cross a gigantic field of loose rock where at any moment a boulder set loose by one team member could severely injure another. We needed to capture the descent on video and the rappel was a major element of the story, but the group’s safety was the most important thing on our minds. I told the producer the situation on the radio and he said to do my best but keep safety a priority.
Read More…
Lights, Camera, Pedal!
I want this on the record. Jeanne Gostnell is an angel with legs of steel. Nick Fisher has great stamina and balance. And I had the easiest job of the week.
Jeanne and her husband were two of only 19 people who have ridden in all 20 Cycle Oregon rides. We were following Jeanne as we covered the 20th anniversary ride.
Nick is the Oregon Field Guide videographer who got all the creative shots of Jeanne and the others pumping those pedals for 50 to 70 miles a day.
All I did was drive the van.
Jeannne let us put a camera the size of a lipstick tube on her helmet for a personal “point of view” shot.
(Other photos here.)
The camera was connected to a recorder hanging in a fanny pack from the back of her bike.
Talk about patience. She’d ride a nice long stretch, we’d meet at pull out and check the tape. Nothing. The recorder had shut down.
So we tried again. Another long ride. She pulls over. Nothing.
Something was turning off the recorder. The Start/Stop button was getting bumped in that fanny pack. So we turned it over, taped the button into position and sent Jeanne on her way a third time.
After she careened down another long stretch she pulled over. We opened it up, checked the tape, and voila! It worked. It took 45 minutes to get one shot that might last only a few seconds on your screen.
Other shots came from Nick’s camera as he leaned out the open van door to shoot Jeanne pedaling. To shoot Jeanne panting. To shoot Jeanne struggling. To shoot Jeanne cruising.
All I had to do was pace the van’s speed to Jeanne’s, keep a safe distance from the riders and watch for oncoming traffic on the narrow mountain road from Oakridge to Rainbow.
At one point we mounted a small camera with a suction cup to the roof of the back of the van. Nick then operated it with a remote control while standing and hanging out the van’s open sliding door. It captured a neat angle looking head-on to the bicyclists behind us.
Jeanne never once complained about the exhaust we undoubtedly sent her way.
I’m amazed at the stamina 2,000 people have to ride 500 miles over 7 days. I don’t know how they manage it.
By the way, my colleague at OPB Radio, Casey Negreiff, rode his first Cycle Oregon this same year. You can read or hear his take on what it’s like for a first time rider.
