My first attempt Vimeo HD
 

My first attempt at making a Vimeo HD clip.

Sitka Beauty and Birds! on Vimeo

My computer is too slow to view it properly.

The close-up of the heron's upper body against background of gull's tail shaking in rhythm with its squawking was a gem. Lots of the clips were pretty. Maybe a few brief cross-dissolves instead of obvious ins & outs might have made the transitions less obtrusive (though they were technically neater than I have managed to do). I must check out your PP software. What is your editing software?

I did learn another thing ... Ireland has planted millions of sitka spruce in recent decades; now I know where the name comes from.

Collect the Sitka Spruce Tree tips (new growth) this spring when they are 1-2 inches long. Boil the Spruce Tips in water for about an hour. Drain and Strain. Then use the remaining liquid to make Jelly. Spruce Tips make a wonderful "minty" flavored jelly.

David,

for first hd effort on vimeo, quite good.

the raven at the end was the sharpest and clearest image.

what camera are you shooting with?


thanks for sharing.

Dale,

I'm just a poor old crippled retired guy. I use a Canon hv 20 on a old tripod that I borrowed from the local TV station. But, I do live in a target enrich environment, when it's not raining. 90% of everything I shoot is within walking distance of my old trailer. I have tried selling some stuff on the net http://www.oceanfootage.com/oceans/s...ds=Sitka&Go=Go, but have had limited luck.

I sure do envy all you people with those fancy Camera's and lens, and the resources to travel.

Pretty cool David. Not bad for an old duffer. I'm still laughing about your name. I can laugh about it because I'm right behind you. Now I really want to visit Sitka.
I watched your surfing video too. I loved your commentary.
Good stuff.

The best time to visit Sitka is during the Sitka Sound Sac Roe Herring Fishery. The community is currently filling up with Bald Eagles, Sea lions, Birds, Otters, and Whales. Some of the Purse Seiners and Fish Processors are already in Port. I expect the fishery to begin next week. Followed by the Herring Spawn on Kelp and Native Subsistence Herring Egg Fishery. The next 45 days will be the best days for filming for the year.

David
Should I allow the "remaining liquid" to congeal into jelly or do I add it (for its minty flavour) to a piece of dry jelly with boiling water in the usual way?

"The next 45 days will be the best days for filming for the year." I look forward to your output in due course.

What editing program do you use in post production?

Make the jelly just like you would make a berry juice jelly.

Spruce Tip Jelly

Pick about 6 cups of spruce tips selecting only the smallest, less open ones in the early spring. Rinse in cold water. Chopping them gives them more flavor than leaving them whole.

Cover the tips with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Let stand overnight, strain with cheesecloth.

7 cups prepared spruce tip juice
1 cup lemon juice
2 packages pectin
10 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. butter (optional)

Mix juice with lemon juice and pectin, stir until dissolved.

Bring to a full rolling boil for 2 minutes (or jelly test). Add butter to control foaming and pour into jars and seal.

Serve on your favorite breads or heat and serve on pancakes. Or just spoon it out of the jar. I also put it in Coffee or Tea.

I am using Vegas 8. Have been using Vegas for three years. I have a neurological disease and I am losing some of my smarts, if I ever had any, plus it effects my reading and vision. Over time, I'm finding Vegas7 & 8 is becoming more complicated for me to use. I might switch to something simple like Pinnacle. I don't need all the bells and whistles anyway.

Got a little footage of Canada Geese and Bald Eagles today. Nasty Weather. We get 150 inches of rain.

Hey David,
I enjoyed your first attempt. It was a good one. I especially like the idea of leaving the background of Sitka and running the various scenes over it. It adds to the sense of place. One suggestion. Don't dub the quacks of Mallards over the shots of Long-tailed Ducks and Mergansers. The birders and hunters in the audience will pick up on that instantly.

Don't dub the quacks of Mallards - I'll try to keep the mallards quiet next time. The trouble is we have noisy Mallards, loud Ravens, screeching Gulls, and pesky Bald Eagles everywhere. There is no place to get away from them. They sometimes start in making racket before 3Am in the morning and keep it up past 11PM. The only thing worse is the buzzing sound of Skeeters.

Check this out for Bird racket: The Feeding Frenzy - Bird Cinema - Video for Bird Watchers

Surely there's enough material for a UWOL documentary in this thread. 150 inches of rain qualifies for UW and your recipe guarantees that your Spruce Tip Jelly will always set firmly and keep you OL ... illustrating that in Vegas would be fun & no bother to you. And to create mystique at the end of it the question posed could be ... Wouldn't anybody's few remaining smarts have melted if they were regularly assaulted by 10 cups of refined sugar disguised as jelly?