Arlington Camera Club - headlines

ACC WEBSITE HEADLINES January 2009, Vol. 1, Article 6

“Places to Shoot - by Video ”

CRAZY LADY with an ATTITUDE

by Jim Roberts

At our January 21, 2009, Wednesday night meeting there will be two presentations -- first, Bo Yuan on "HDR and Tone Mapping", and second, "Great Places to Shoot" by our members. The ACC Website is also your source for information, both for photography techniques and places to shoot. Please visit the "Education Resources" links to EDUCATION and to PLACES TO SHOOT at http://www.arlingtoncameraclub.org/resources.html.

Early in the development of digital "point-and-shoot" cameras, video capture mode was incorporated as a menu selection, in addition to regular JPEG images. A typical file format suffix for the movies is ".mov". These movies can be played using the Windows Media Player program in many PC computers. Another common program, originally for play in Apple Computers, is "QuickTime". It will also work in PC's if the player software is first loaded to the PC. Only recently have manufacturers begun to include video capture capability into DSLR cameras. So, if you have one of these new higher-end cameras in your future, the ACC Website will be able to feature short videos of your favorite places to shoot, embedded in our Headline Articles. We look forward to your submissions!

As an example, there is a 924KB (20 sec.) video file for you to view at the end of this article. To set the stage, among our favorite places to shoot are the game preserves of South Africa. In addition to taking thousands of RAW and JPEG images with a Canon 30D on our trip last winter, we also took some movies using a very small and light "FLIP" video camcorder while on safari. The FLIP camera is now all the rage of YouTube enthusiasts on the internet. The maximum video image size is 640 x 480, utilizing the MPEG-4 codec. A SNAP feature will produce individual JPEG images at 424 x 318 pixels, useful for presentation on the internet and attachment to e-mails.

You've probably seen the Steven Spielberg movie, "Jurassic Park", where a T-Rex was chasing a jeep down a muddy road. Well, Bonnie and I had a similar experience in the Lion Sands Game Reserve located next to Kruger National Park. After getting an early start (5:00 a.m.) on our morning safari, we traveled a considerable distance in the Land Rover to the opposite end of the reserve. So far, we had not been fortunate in finding the leopards we were seeking to shoot. Trevor, our Ranger guide, stopped the vehicle for a short time to listen to a CB radio message being sent by one of the other groups in the area. We were told that "Crazy Lady", a wacked-out female elephant, was nearby. (This was a big deal because she had not visited this reserve for several years).

As we looked down the road, to the turn at the end, we saw dust being kicked up high in the air showing above the trees. Trevor quickly did a 180 with the Land Rover, pointing it in the opposite direction, and stopped. From around the corner behind us came a large tusked elephant running straight for us. As she approached, Trevor accelerated the truck at a pace to keep barely ahead of the elephant.

Eventually she tired and swerved into the bush next to the road, finally resting parallel to us only about ten yards away. She wanted us to know that this was her territory and she showed us in her attitude as she came dangerously close while we took our photos and this FLIP video (click here), opens with Windows Media Player. She tapped the ground with her foot, raised her trunk, waved her head, and flapped her ears -- another experience of a lifetime!

-- and we did find the leopards, and many more wonderful wild animals!