Category Archives: Videography gear

Damn Wildfire Smoke!

We’ve had only a few clear days for videography since we moved to Fruita at the end of August this year. This problem is not new to those living in the U.S. West and many other countries.

I have most of the shooting done for the 18 Road / North Fruita Desert trails video but nothing else. Moab last weekend was the same. While the smoke wrecks the distant views, not the trails, I’m sure all of us want to see beautiful views and the crisp colors of Red Rock Country. I ride for the scenic value as much as the technical challenges.

Photo: Me searching for the canceled Outerbike event at Moab Brand Trails last weekend. Love that event! The smoke doesn’t look bad here but the La Sal Mountains were not visible at all. Everything closer was rather grayish.

Most of the smoke seems to originate in California but there are contributions from Utah and Colorado wildfires also.

I’m finally getting to use my new GoPro Hero8 camera. I’m no longer using a gimbal and the GoPro’s stabilization works great! A little bouncer than with a gimbal but more like a real ride. Not the chatter of the bad old days of MTB videos. I bought this camera for my usual spring road trip to Utah and Western Colorado but the pandemic blocked that.

I Purchased The Skydio 2 Drone!

Well, pre-purchased. It won’t ship until the 3rd quarter of this year. They just launched this amazing AI driven drone in October and are way behind on deliveries. So I have to be patient. This spring I’ll be shooting with a new chest camera setup. More on that later.

The advantage of this drone over others is that it uses artificial intelligence and computer vision better way better than others. This gives the viewers a cinematographic view of the rider instead of just following, unless the rider wants it to do that.

It was developed by a team that worked in AI and computer vision at MIT. That is a lot of product development horsepower.

Here are some favorite reviews of the new Skydio 2! Both are amazing!