life in the sky at DVinfo.net

Dale Guthormsen · January 24th, 2007, 11:07 PM

Well,

As I said in a prior post I waited and weaited for some real winter weather but we never had it come in the given time frame. Originally I wanted to have it titled death in the sky, but had to settle for what you see. I wasn't going to bother but my wife told me if everyone did that there would be no contest. So we went out and shot sunday afternoon. After seeing others it givers one inspiration to do better next time.

So I am open to constructive criticism at this point. Yes, I do need to be more stable!!!!

Gordon Hoffman · January 25th, 2007, 08:09 AM

Dale
You need to win this contest.:-) It looks like you have some good wildlife opportunities. A good tripod will help you a lot. They can be a pain to get set up in time but if you can it's worth it. Do snowy owls show up very often where you are? Once in awhile I see them here later in the winter.

Gordon Hoffman

Randall Allen · January 25th, 2007, 10:22 AM

Dale:

There was some cool footage in there. I wish you had the time to treat it the way you wanted to. I think it would have turned out great. It was a good job given the time frame you worked in.

Closing credits were difficult for me to read though.

Thanks for sharing the amazing footage.

Randy

Gabriel Yeager · January 25th, 2007, 01:53 PM

Decent video Dale, thanks for not giving up! I enjoyed it.

I would recommend a tripod tho. Even a cheap 20 dollar wal-mart tripod for the video of the owl sitting in its nest.

Sounds like you got yourself an excellent Wife, good for you!
~Gabriel

Geir Inge · January 25th, 2007, 02:14 PM

Hi Dale.
I must agreed with the others 'bout the tripod, but then again, I've been there many times, with my camera and no tripod with me, but I had to shoot and of cause the clips went a bit shaky, thats life :)
I loved your snow owl, we have some in Norway too, but they are hard to get, so I think you've done a great job just catching this bird on tape. They are also on the "red list" because there is so few of them.
By the way...
I see in your profile you live in Canada, but your surname, is it scandinavian?
We have a lot of people in Norway with the same surname, spelled: Guttormsen, i'm a nosey guy :)

Rick A. Phillips · January 25th, 2007, 04:46 PM

Dale,

I was very impressed with your ability to stay on those fast moving birds. I am a raptor bander and watcher from way back and I know how fast that falcon was stooping on the pigeon...heck you're lucky if you can follow them with your eyes sometimes. I own a tripod...an old bogen...with a head that came with it that is mostly for still photography. I use it a lot. But, there are times when I just grab the camera (sometimes even off of the tripod) to catch things moving directly overhead. My camera will only rotate so far up.

I really enjoyed the footage and I sure hope we will see more in the future.

Rick

Kevin Railsback · January 25th, 2007, 05:03 PM

Nice film. Looks like you have some great opportunities!

Always cool to see raptors. I used to have a falconry license years ago.

Work on steadying those shots and you're gonna be a dangerous man!

Ruth Happel · January 25th, 2007, 05:35 PM

I was really impressed by the snowy owl- beautiful footage. Also, i liked the time lapse effect of the sky shots.

As everyone said, tripods are a good idea. I have mainly been doing still photography the past 10 years or so, and am just getting more seriously into video. One thing I have quickly discovered is that where it's easy to get away without a tripod with a still camera by adjusting the shutter speed or using flash, the video camera is much less forgiving. Any movement seems magnified. I still shoot quite a bit off tripod with the video camera from force of habit, and convenience of carrying it around, but I do now have a tripod, and am trying to use it more.

Great film, I enjoyed it.

Ruth

Bradley L Marlow · January 25th, 2007, 11:33 PM

Am so glad your wife made that argument and won...lol. It was very good to see your film. I even saw that Sheila got to shoot some of it with you. You two will make an excellent video team.

Was that a Snow Owl in the very beginning? Also, where those Sage Hens? Neat to see that you captured different species. On the last shot, you had a time lapse of the sun, clouds and trees. Was that a reflection in a car window? It was a great shot.

Best wishes~
Bradley

Brendan Marnell · January 26th, 2007, 01:44 PM

Some Snowy Owl, great camouflage in the wild. I've only seen footage of captive snowy owls and they never look serious. The mid-air strike was far away but showed threat just the same.

Dale Guthormsen · January 26th, 2007, 06:00 PM

Thank you al for taking the time to look at the clip.

I have a tripod with a fluid head. The problem arrises in that getting close enough to actually set up a tripod is a major trick!! I am going to make a large bean bag. Beans are so darn expensive I am going to make a maise bag. That will help alot for drive by shootings. I tried a window mount but that really is not functional.

Oh yea, you can only follow a falcon stooping up close by hand. The measured velocity of falcons is as high as 280 miles per hour. when they hit or miss and throw up in the sky the g's have been measured into the 20's.

The Owl was an adult male snowy owl. snowy owls are actually surprisingly fast. I saw an adult female chase a gyrfalcon (unquestionably the fastest falcon in level flight) which was carrying a small partridge and the owl forced the gyrfalcon to drop its quarry or become protien himself.

The game birds were sharp tailed grouse. When out in the open like that they are very spooky and the slightest flicker of a predatory wing and they are gone. Here where I live there are lots of avian predators, nothing is safe.

the setting sun was a little creative lattitude: We had full moon setting in the west as Dawn approached from the other side. There was no reflection, just composed to look the way it was and I just lowered the opacity gradually to make it all go black like night.

you will note that otheres took advantage of the moon far better than I did.

Geir, My last name is norwegian, I still have relatives SE of oslo if I recall correctly.

Next go around will be perfect, Spring in the air here in the northern hemisphere.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments.
I promise to do better next time!!!

Per Johan Naesje · January 27th, 2007, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale Guthormsen

you will note that otheres took advantage of the moon far better than I did.

I think your moonshot was nice with the timelaps. If you want to see more details of the moon you have to adjust aperture setting. What I accomplished with my moonshoot was by setting the shutter to 1/50 and aperture at 11 or something around there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale Guthormsen

Geir, My last name is norwegian, I still have relatives SE of oslo if I recall correctly.

Wow, then your relatives live in my neighborhood, come on over Dale. It would have been fun to meet you and shoot some film toghether!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale Guthormsen

Next go around will be perfect, Spring in the air here in the northern hemisphere.

Right now the weather have changed from warm temperature and much rain to real winter with temperature below -10 C here in Oslo. In the mountain area temperatures well below -25 C.
So it's a bit before any sign of spring here right now!

January 24th, 2007, 11:07 PM	#1
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	life in the sky Well, As I said in a prior post I waited and weaited for some real winter weather but we never had it come in the given time frame. Originally I wanted to have it titled death in the sky, but had to settle for what you see. I wasn't going to bother but my wife told me if everyone did that there would be no contest. So we went out and shot sunday afternoon. After seeing others it givers one inspiration to do better next time. So I am open to constructive criticism at this point. Yes, I do need to be more stable!!!! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen

January 25th, 2007, 01:53 PM	#4
Gabriel Yeager Major Player Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Washington, NorthWest USA Posts: 788	Decent video Dale, thanks for not giving up! I enjoyed it. I would recommend a tripod tho. Even a cheap 20 dollar wal-mart tripod for the video of the owl sitting in its nest. Sounds like you got yourself an excellent Wife, good for you! ~Gabriel __________________ Gabriel Photography

January 25th, 2007, 02:14 PM	#5
Geir Inge Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Larsnes, Norway Posts: 1,342	Hi Dale. I must agreed with the others 'bout the tripod, but then again, I've been there many times, with my camera and no tripod with me, but I had to shoot and of cause the clips went a bit shaky, thats life :) I loved your snow owl, we have some in Norway too, but they are hard to get, so I think you've done a great job just catching this bird on tape. They are also on the "red list" because there is so few of them. By the way... I see in your profile you live in Canada, but your surname, is it scandinavian? We have a lot of people in Norway with the same surname, spelled: Guttormsen, i'm a nosey guy :) __________________ Geir Inge B. Brekke Visit me at: https://vimeo.com/gibbfilm

January 25th, 2007, 05:03 PM	#7
Kevin Railsback Trustee Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Posts: 1,544	Nice film. Looks like you have some great opportunities! Always cool to see raptors. I used to have a falconry license years ago. Work on steadying those shots and you're gonna be a dangerous man! __________________ --==Kevin==-- http:naturephotostudios.com.com

January 25th, 2007, 11:33 PM	#9
Bradley L Marlow Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Central Wyoming Posts: 484	Hi Dale! Am so glad your wife made that argument and won...lol. It was very good to see your film. I even saw that Sheila got to shoot some of it with you. You two will make an excellent video team. Was that a Snow Owl in the very beginning? Also, where those Sage Hens? Neat to see that you captured different species. On the last shot, you had a time lapse of the sun, clouds and trees. Was that a reflection in a car window? It was a great shot. Best wishes~ Bradley

January 25th, 2007, 08:09 AM	#2
Gordon Hoffman Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Pincher Creek, Alberta Canada Posts: 619	Dale You need to win this contest.:-) It looks like you have some good wildlife opportunities. A good tripod will help you a lot. They can be a pain to get set up in time but if you can it's worth it. Do snowy owls show up very often where you are? Once in awhile I see them here later in the winter. Gordon Hoffman

January 25th, 2007, 10:22 AM	#3
Randall Allen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 192	Dale: There was some cool footage in there. I wish you had the time to treat it the way you wanted to. I think it would have turned out great. It was a good job given the time frame you worked in. Closing credits were difficult for me to read though. Thanks for sharing the amazing footage. Randy

January 25th, 2007, 04:46 PM	#6
Rick A. Phillips Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: kingsport, tennessee Posts: 123	Dale, I was very impressed with your ability to stay on those fast moving birds. I am a raptor bander and watcher from way back and I know how fast that falcon was stooping on the pigeon...heck you're lucky if you can follow them with your eyes sometimes. I own a tripod...an old bogen...with a head that came with it that is mostly for still photography. I use it a lot. But, there are times when I just grab the camera (sometimes even off of the tripod) to catch things moving directly overhead. My camera will only rotate so far up. I really enjoyed the footage and I sure hope we will see more in the future. Rick

January 25th, 2007, 05:35 PM	#8
Ruth Happel Major Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Black Mountain, NC Posts: 488	I was really impressed by the snowy owl- beautiful footage. Also, i liked the time lapse effect of the sky shots. As everyone said, tripods are a good idea. I have mainly been doing still photography the past 10 years or so, and am just getting more seriously into video. One thing I have quickly discovered is that where it's easy to get away without a tripod with a still camera by adjusting the shutter speed or using flash, the video camera is much less forgiving. Any movement seems magnified. I still shoot quite a bit off tripod with the video camera from force of habit, and convenience of carrying it around, but I do now have a tripod, and am trying to use it more. Great film, I enjoyed it. Ruth

January 26th, 2007, 01:44 PM	#10
Brendan Marnell Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 938	Some Snowy Owl, great camouflage in the wild. I've only seen footage of captive snowy owls and they never look serious. The mid-air strike was far away but showed threat just the same.

January 26th, 2007, 06:00 PM	#11
Dale Guthormsen Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Saskatchewan Posts: 3,048	questions answered Thank you al for taking the time to look at the clip. I have a tripod with a fluid head. The problem arrises in that getting close enough to actually set up a tripod is a major trick!! I am going to make a large bean bag. Beans are so darn expensive I am going to make a maise bag. That will help alot for drive by shootings. I tried a window mount but that really is not functional. Oh yea, you can only follow a falcon stooping up close by hand. The measured velocity of falcons is as high as 280 miles per hour. when they hit or miss and throw up in the sky the g's have been measured into the 20's. The Owl was an adult male snowy owl. snowy owls are actually surprisingly fast. I saw an adult female chase a gyrfalcon (unquestionably the fastest falcon in level flight) which was carrying a small partridge and the owl forced the gyrfalcon to drop its quarry or become protien himself. The game birds were sharp tailed grouse. When out in the open like that they are very spooky and the slightest flicker of a predatory wing and they are gone. Here where I live there are lots of avian predators, nothing is safe. the setting sun was a little creative lattitude: We had full moon setting in the west as Dawn approached from the other side. There was no reflection, just composed to look the way it was and I just lowered the opacity gradually to make it all go black like night. you will note that otheres took advantage of the moon far better than I did. Geir, My last name is norwegian, I still have relatives SE of oslo if I recall correctly. Next go around will be perfect, Spring in the air here in the northern hemisphere. Thank you everyone for the nice comments. I promise to do better next time!!! __________________ DATS ALL FOLKS Dale W. Guthormsen