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Stabilizing ideas for kayak footage?
Wesley R. Bush, Photographer
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Murfreesboro | TN | U.S. | Posted: 10:47 AM on 04.14.11 |
->> I attached a camera to the front of my kayak and hope to start shooting entire trips of places to kayak or canoe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXnBo7aNL40
Does anyone have an idea of how I can stabilize the shot where it doesn't rock back and forth as I row? It's relatively smooth in these waters, but the rocking motion is annoying on flat water trips. I may try attaching the camera to my chest, but thought someone here might have a better idea. |
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Stew Milne, Photographer
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Providence | RI | USA | Posted: 11:01 AM on 04.14.11 |
| ->> Helmet cam! |
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Butch Miller, Photographer
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Lock Haven | PA | USA | Posted: 11:13 AM on 04.14.11 |
->> Helmet cam?
The natural paddling motion will have your chest/torso twisting ... however it's very natural that your head will keep fairly steady ... if you use proper technique ... though what you are experiencing in the linked video is actually pivoting, not rocking ... brush up on your technique and you could eliminate this considerably ...
When paddling a kayak ... especially on calm, flat water ... the boat shouldn't pivot much at all ... developing a repetitious rhythm without excessive "pulling" of the paddle will cause the boat to glide without noticing an interruption in forward progress, rather than paddle thrusts and the slight hesitations until the next stroke can go a long way in reducing pivot ... many marathon paddlers have this down to a science as each stroke is crucial ...
Other than that, I am sure there is some very expensive, intricate device that will also do it for you ... though while I may have a reasonable understanding of paddling ... I'm not well versed in specialty equipment for video ... |
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Adam Cairns, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Columbus | OH | USA | Posted: 11:20 AM on 04.14.11 |
->> http://bit.ly/fj4OYf
This was posted in another thread, but it applies here too. This guy may have some answers for you. He shot a kayaker dropping off a 100-foot waterfall with multiple cameras, including a POV. |
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Robert Seale, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 11:27 AM on 04.14.11 |
->> Wes,
I resorted to essentially towing the kayak. The photos where we attached it to the front of the kayak had too much side to side motion due to the thin hull. Our solution is detailed here:
http://www.robertsealeblog.com/?p=577
If you are shooting video, a small GoPro would be fine on a small ballhead, but an SLR, despite drilling holes and mounting it very securely on the ballhead, was just too heavy to be stable. We tried a large Manfrotto suction mount (like you would use on a car rig), with the same issues.
Our kayak was a very high-end, paper thin racing kayak, so perhaps a different vessel might give you better results.
Good luck! |
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Richard Uhlhorn, Photographer
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Chelan Falls | WA | USA | Posted: 12:20 PM on 04.14.11 |
| ->> I would also try a helmet mount. |
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Alex Menendez, Photographer
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Orlando | FL | USA | Posted: 1:21 PM on 04.14.11 |
->> My first choice would be to contact Donald Miralle....
check his sports pics....
http://www.donaldmiralle.com/
Alex |
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Alex Menendez, Photographer
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Baron Sekiya, Photographer, Photo Editor
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| | | Posted: 3:39 PM on 04.14.11 |
->> I think Butch is right, a helmet cam might be better and practice technique on paddling to minimize the side to side. What may also help, if you don't already have this, is adding a rudder system to the kayak. That way more of your power strokes will keep you going straight ahead.
I used to own two Ocean Kayaks one was short and maneuverable, the other was longer and just wanted to track straight ahead. The longer one was harder to turn but it translated more power straight ahead due to the longer keel and it was faster because of this. So maybe you can devise some straight rudder on the stern of the kayak to keep tracking straight? |
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Wesley R. Bush, Photographer
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Murfreesboro | TN | U.S. | Posted: 9:16 PM on 08.07.11 |
->> If anyone is interested, I found a solution to my problem. Basically, I was only wanting to upload some kayak trips to youtube and start a collection of fast-forward videos of entire river trips. I know there are some decent programs out available that can stabilize footage, but now youtube has it as an editing option within the site itself. So it can zoom in to whatever level you want and have all the shake move outside the frame. Good stuff. I'll even put up a short example link, and you can see the front tip of my kayak moving to the left and right instead of the background.
http://youtu.be/vJR3eMQb9PE |
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