MuskOx at Sunset
 

Hi all, I've been up in the mountains for a week filming the muskoxen. The weather have been from severe to real nice during this days. My project is developing well and I manage to get good footage in all kind of weather.

The Canon XLH1 camcorder are functioning well under this conditions. I use a Porta Brace camcorderjacket for my camcorder. I also got some nice chemical handwarmes which I tape to the body and viewfinder to protect it from the tough outdoor temperatures reaching well below -25 degrees celsius + gale wind.

Attached is a couple of pics showing this beautiful mammals in the evening sun. This pics are taken with the 20x HD L lens provided with the camcorder. I have captured the pics from the videotape (not used the photo-function). The colors is original from the tape. I used a polarization filter and ND set to 1/6, shutter is 1/50 (PAL-system) and aperture set for a proper exposure.

Enjoy!

Wow! Great stuff as always Per!
Please post some footage when you can.

Beautiful animals and good work, Per. My greatest respects to you for braving those cold temps and high winds!

Rick Phillips

Hi Per Johan

Great shots you have. Are you working on a film of these animals or selling the footage? I haven't been out filming much lately as I'm bogged down in the studio doing post work on a 96 minute Chinook salmon film shot over 8 spawning seasons with the XL1. Spring is in the air here in the Rockies. Keep up the good shooting Per Johan.

Leon Lorenz
www.wildlifevideos.ca

Very good pictures.
You do great work, Per Johan!
I'm looking forward to whenever you get the completed film ready.


Trond

Love Those Shaggy Beasts!
 

Those are bright and beautiful scenes. Many of us are used to shooting in air that isn't so clear and ideal for picture quality. But, I don't think we envy you being in those super-cold temperatures. You will be rewarded for your hard work, by having footage that no one else could produce.

I'd like to know some more about this herd of Musk Oxen. How are they doing in terms of their population and survival in this region? Do they have any problems with disease and predators? I've read that they are more closely related to goats than they are to cattle, although all of them are classified as Bovines.

Thanks Steve! The cold is something you got used to. A proverb says: "The weather is not a problem as long as you got the right clothing! (barely translated from my mother tongue)
The clear air which I have some days helps a lot to get crisp footage. By the way this pics are captured from footage where I used the 20x HD lens between 500-778mm. In this focal lenght area shooting is not so exposed to air haze as when you use larger lenses.

This herd was originally captured from East Greenland in two different rounds. The first one in 1931 was not any success because before and during World War II all died of different reasons.
Between 1947 - 1953 a new herd of of 27 muskoxen was released at Dovrefjell. Even though the herd has going through disease and accidents they are the ancestors to the muskoxen living in this area today counting approx 200 individuals. Luckily there are no predators in this area today which can harm this huge animals. The only predator I can think of which is able to harm, the wolf, is not living in this area.

I will strongly recommend you to read the two supplied pdf-files, linked below. They are written by my friend Jens Erixon. He is a professional guide and lives in this area:
http://mountainadventures.no/docs/muskoxeninnorway.pdf
http://mountainadventures.no/docs/aboutthemuskoxen.pdf

Best;

Amazing
 

That's what my wife said and so do I.

Your work is opening our minds to possibilities we do not yet know exist.
Long may you continue to move us.

Per Johan,

Great Stuff. If you haven't already done so. Chris has posted instructions on how to shoot stills with your big lenses. Also allows you to shoot stills while the camera is set to 'tape'.

Ken.

Per Johan, it is always such a pleasure to see your work and to hear your stories. You really have turned out to be an inspiration to us all. You are dedicated to a cause and you are capturing footage we can only dream of. Bob Safay

The footage is online!
 

Hi all, thanks for your comments!

Are you ready to look at the real stuff?
Please download the file before viewing!
http://video-film.no/snutter/muskox-winter.mov (54.1 MB)

Technical info in my first post.

Enjoy

Per:

Beautiful stuff. Questions:

1. How far did you have to walk and how much gear to you pack. ?

2. Was the Quicktime file rendered directly out of Liquid Pro 7, and, if so, what were setting. Or what did you use to render it to Quicktime. (Sorry if this is repeat of an earlier January question.)

Thanks for your comment Chris!

Well, this small herd is not far from where I park my car, approx. 30 min. walk. In winter time with snow on ground I pull my equipment with a sledge, walking with snow shoes. With camcorder, heavy tripod, ekstra lens, clothing etc., I pull approx. 25 kg in the sledge.

I exported a HD720p - mpg2 file from Avid Liquid, then in Sorenson Squeeze Suite the final QT file was born - Sorenson Video Pro 3 codec, 1000 kb/s

Hopefully I answered your questions Chris?

Yes, Per, you did. Thank you. There's that Sorenson Squeeze again.. Seems to be the magic ingredient....

Another articulate study of the body language of muskoxen ... the adults completely at ease with your presence and looking forward to the comfort of temperature below -25c after sunset; the young were huddling and jostling to get a better view of you from the safety of their elders. And not a glimpse of a "talking head" interfering with the arctic atmosphere.

Powerful statement about "hands off" biodiversity.