Why aren't there more video trip reports?

[Philip Tschersich]

I used to take a lot of still images on my trips. About 5 years ago I began shooting a little video to augment my slideshows and decided it was a far richer way to convey the trip experience and so I quickly transitioned solely to video. I’m curious as to why more folks don’t make videos of their outings? Granted, it takes longer and is more technical to edit video into a compelling narrative compared to simply uploading a chronology of images, but it’s also a compact, self-contained story that conveys so much more information about what it felt like to be there that the trade-off in effort seems like a no-brainer to me. It does not really take much more effort to shoot video than it does to take stills (most of the clips in my videos are 2 or 3 seconds long, and rarely run over 5 seconds). Heck, most point and shoot cameras now record beautiful video, so you are probably already carrying all the equipment you need with you right now. iMovie or similar video editors can be daunting to navigate at first, but after your first project the workflow is pretty easy to master. And to be honest, I make the videos for myself as much as I do to share with the greater interwebs. Reliving my own trips, even years later, I find much more rewarding through video.

Have you tried video and decided you liked stills better? Are you put off by learning a video editing program or does the technology/terminology in general seem too daunting? Do you think creating a vimeo or youtube account is too much bother? Have you seen too many long and boring videos to think you want to subject your fellow backpackers to another one of those? Is it that the difference between a good and bad series of still images is much smaller than the difference between good and bad video [and I will admit that shooting good video takes practice]?

I’m not knocking blog-style TRs, I’m just wondering why more folks don’t do videos.

[Ralph Burgess]

To make an obvious point – broadly speaking, find video more compelling for things that are moving, stills for things that are not.  And in the backcountry, things (aside from us) are generally not moving.   A bear encounter?  Sure, a video is way more compelling.  But otherwise I’d rather see well-taken stills with an accompanying narrative.   I’m not generally a fan of walking-along selfie videos.   An exception to this would be the selfie videos taken by (notably) Brett Maune & Andrew Bentz on their FKTs of the John Muir Trail, because the narrative is as much about the physical & emotional state of the people involved as the wilderness itself.

[Philip Tschersich]

I sort of see your point, except that other than a rock or vegetation on a totally calm day, pretty much everything around you is moving. Lake or ocean waves, rivers and waterfalls, clouds, the wind through the grass, shadows on the ground, picking berries and bushwhacking(!), etc. And of course, as you say, animals (of which I guess I run into a LOT more than most folks by dint of where I live…). Sunsets are sometimes better recorded as stills, but then again I like to do sunset timelapse scenes which often turn out awesome. Not to mention all the ambient sounds.

One thing I never put in my videos is narration. Maybe I should, but having me drone on about what is often so obviously going on in the video seems a bit redundant, and rather than me explaining what I feel about my situation or surroundings, I like to let the viewer come to their own conclusions. I will say that a blog-style TR without written explanation is pretty useless. A video without narration can actually work though. But you are totally right: walk-along selfie vids are terrible.

You responded from the standpoint of the consumer of the TR, but what about as the producer? Or is that a distinction without a difference?

[Greg Mihalik]

Regardless of the comments you get, please carry on.  Your videos are amazing!

Thanks.

 

[I don’t even take photos of my hikes anymore, so commenting on the “Why not?” is beyond my skill set.]

[jimmy b]

I really enjoy watching videos from others. The quality of some of them are outstanding and quite frankly time better spent than watching a regular movie now a days. Looking at others stills can at times offer even more drama and they don’t give the whole show away if you plan on covering the same ground one day.

I’m not a big reporter of trips, for me its more of a spectator sport in that regard.  On a special trip, I will take along a camera and capture what I can to remember it by. I find looking back at my pictures is a nice way to trigger memories of things we have done and places we have traveled. I actually have been thinking of just this topic lately and sometimes have wondered if a video log would have been better but I believe the stills are just fine. Now if I get a chance some time I will print a few to enjoy around the house.

On the shorter trips I don’t bother with the camera much. My philosophy lately is that the pictures are nice but if the time comes I cant remember my adventures all this wont matter much anyway. What I really wish I had done is kept a written log. To me that would have been the ultimate form of documenting trips. There is something about the written word that transports via memory/imagination like no other. But for now I just want to take in to the full extent that I can the wonders that appear before me, uninterrupted.

[Matt Swider]

Ok, not likely the type of video report you were talking about, but I can not resist:

High Sierra Trip 2016, my son

bear with the first 30 seconds or so, there is really a lot of back country scenery in this

[Bri W]

Start a “Post Your Trip Videos” thread and see if there’s any interest. :)

[Philip Tschersich]

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. That was well edited and really used the video format to convey things that would be difficult to get across in stills; sticky mac ‘n’ cheese, camp activities, flowing water and dusty trails, and a rather small bear. ;) My only critique is that the panning shots were motion-sickness inducing.

I readily admit that unnarrated video cannot convey backstory, illuminate any detail or nuance not specifically recorded Ina scene, and has lots of other drawbacks, but man it really gives a sense of place and process.

jimmy b makes some good points too. I find that years after a trip, the photos or video I took on the trip BECOME my memory of the trip. I don’t recall much that wasn’t depicted in the images. A journal seems to trigger more recall for some reason (though a journal without pics is still sort of monochrome).

Someday there will be a recording device that will allow you to fully re-experience any trip in full virtual reality. In the mean time, I’m going to shoot HD .mp4’s. :^)

[Bri W]

The new 360° videos coupled with a virtual reality headset is probably the closest thing right now to experiencing someone’s else’s trip from afar. I’ve been really impressed with this combination when my boyfriend goes hiking while I’m at work and takes these 360° videos of the peaks. It helps me determine if I want to go do the hike myself. :)

[Matt Swider]

Thanks for the feedback.  After reflecting on going through several 30 minute or more sessions showing people the pictures I took on that same trip, I realize that this 4 minute video really captures the essence of what happened.  Yes, we don’t see every lake, or pass, or stunning panorama, but who that was not there will remember all that anyway?  I am going to give this a go for future trip documentation.

[Jeffs Eleven]

I’d bet video editing is a turn off.  (4 out of 5 ladies agree lol)

Plus, do you just film all the time to make it more natural, or do you set up shots, making it ‘acting’?  “Walk by that waterfall again, but closer, so that it mists your forehead… Ima get the sun glistenin'”

 

[George H]

I could be a candidate for transitioning to video. I try to include the human participants in most of my stills, finding mid-day pure landscape compositions somewhat bland and unable to convey the story, no matter the scenery. Even ‘golden hour’ images work better for me with some aspect of our presence included.

Maybe it is a form of validation I am looking for: ‘See, we really were there”. With the millions of images at your finger tips on the Internet, producing yet another faceless shot of ‘that waterfall’ is becoming a pointless practice to me. I also want a level of action and drama in my trip reports. Even with most trips going smooth, thankfully, I always try to look for an unusual approach to document the mundane. Video may convey these sort of sentiments better.

On the other hand, I love crisp, hi-res renditions of our adventures. Whenever I upload a video, the level of compression seems to ruin all that. Maybe it’s just my low level of experience that degrade the product along the way. Video definitely appears to be a difficult medium to dive into.

[Philip Tschersich]

“Plus, do you just film all the time to make it more natural, or do you set up shots, making it ‘acting’?”

I do a lot of solo trips, so for me I do need to set up shots for me to in the video. No diff than if you want to in your solo stills. From the filming point of view, I see no real difference between video and stills. You capture a lot of the same stuff in the same way. But a video will have 150-300 clips in a 5-minute production. That’s what makes it so efficient at conveying info. When I’m not going solo, my shooting is still the same and I never get ‘posed’ shots. Everything is candid and I try hard to keep people from reacting to the camera. But that’s just me.

Yes, getting the quality you expect can be challenging. I shoot 1080p video and for me Vimeo does a pretty good job. It’s better at home on my 27″ iMac, but most folks on the web aren’t going to loan you the bandwidth to watch your movie in 4K cinema anyway. The  thing that REALLY separates good video from bad is camera shake. Hold the camera steady, people. Really think about it. You don’t need a tripod, you just need to try.

Good discussion. Cheers.

 

[Paul Wagner]

I don’t product video trip reports because I know how to write reasonably well, and I don’t know how to produce video well at all.  And I find the process of making video far more intrusive on my wilderness experience…while writing is something I can do once I get back home.

[diego dean]

I have got into video over the past few years and have a love/hate relationship using it to document trips.

To make a video that I’m going to want to watch repeatedly over the years, takes a lot of time away from the trip itself. A lot of the randomness is lost while trying to create shots that you know will stick out later when it’s time for editing. -go back and walk this way, no that way, then go back and pick up the camera type stuff.  Sometimes instead of just taking in the moment, I find myself constantly worrying about trying to figure out best angle and “wouldn’t that be a cool shot”.

 

On the other hand, I absolutely love replaying my videos for myself and family.I can relive the experience much more vividly with the video than I can by pictures or memory alone.  I also get some enjoyment out of being able to be creative and making something. I like the technology aspect of things as well.

 

So it’s really a matter, for me, trying to walk that line where I’m still in the moment enjoying the trip against filming something that hopefully will turn out half way decent.

My attempt at filming a trip to the White Clouds…

https://youtu.be/Mc1ybhN2iVo

[Mark V.]

I have to say, that is a cool video of your trip to the White Clouds. Well done.

[Philip Tschersich]

Yeah, that White Clouds vid was quite nice. I did find that the google earth animation was more distracting than enlightening, but I make decisions about what to put in my movies that are there to suit my personal reference or preference and not necessarily there to please a wider audience. I often put a map in the beginning and that’s it, though I do applaud anyone who puts a map in. They really help offer a sense of the undertaking.

This is a 110-mile, 6-day trip I did solo this summer up the length of Kodiak Island. Maybe stills would have done it justice, but I like the birds and wind noise, and I see lots of critters here:

Crossing Kodiak Island- Stem to Stern

 

[Mark V.]

Kodiak Island Spectacular!

Three excellent videos in one thread!

Well done! After watching the linked videos, it does validate the question: “Why are’t there more video trip reports?”

I can only assume it is the difficulty in composing and editing.

I know I will take some video my next trip and see how it turns out. This thread is inspiring.

Thanks for sharing.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I have an Olympus TG 3 point-and-shoot camera and it can take very good videos. In fact I’m getting a separate SD card just for videos.  So yes, I may post some of my October hunting trip. Thanks for the prod to do this.

[Philip Tschersich]

Cheers, folks! I do hope a few more people get their feet wet with video TR’s. It is a process, and don’t get discouraged if your first one doesn’t produce the exact results you had envisioned. It is iterative and gets stronger with practice, like any skill.

I tend to find that individual style and personality seems to come across more in video clip choices and how one edits their material than with the somewhat more conservative and dare I say, formulaic, blog-style TR’s that rely heavily on the written word to accompany it. It you are a good photographer and a good writer, then a series of images and words are very powerful. For others, video can be a creative outlet. Both have their place, I just started this thread to plumb what the relative paucity of video TR’s might stem from…

happy shooting, no matter the medium. :^)

[diego dean]

Great video Philip, the scenery and especially those bear shots are just incredible.

I agree that the GE lines in my White Clouds video are distracting, even more so because they are moving from side to side. That was something that I just could not figure out within the program to correct. It was important to me to have that in the video to give it a sense of scale, and because showing the path brings back memories not shown within the video itself.

I agree that ones personality really is brought to light in how they choose to film and edit their videos, they become fairly personal works of art!!

The video below is what really made me want to get into filming some of my trips. The editing is superb, its short, keeps your attention, minimal talking, and you really get a feel of the place. One day I hope to be able to produce something as good.

Boundary Waters https://vimeo.com/60947124

Here is another video that I did this past spring of the Buffalo River in Arkansas.

Buffalo River https://youtu.be/hq7zIzARViI

Id like to see a subforum here at backpackinglight set up just for video reviews of trips, I think it would be a great addition!!

[Ian]

Philip,

Your videos are exceptional and I take notes when watching them.  I’ve shot and edited a few and I’ve been pretty disappointment with the results.  I realize that for me to get to where I want to be, I need to keep shooting and learning.

Below is a link to my 2015 Seven Devils hike.  I put in a lot of work on this one and was discouraged with the result.  I definitely want better stabilization.  I’m enamored with the idea of 4k, not that I necessarily want to produce content at that resolution but so I can create panning shots from footage that was filmed static and I can do more stabilization in post without taking too large of a hit in resolution.  As of right now, my computer struggles enough with the 1080 files I’m currently working with so I’m not going to explore this too much until I replace it.

I have a stabilizer that I’ve figured out how to walk with with my A6000.  I’d eventually like to get a lightweight fluid head for cleaner panning shots.

[jscott]

 

My problem with taking photos and videos of every little thing that I do, or even fantastic things that I do like backpacking, is that the recording of the events starts to take precedence over the lived experience. I don’t want to be directing myself in a movie, or thinking about how my experience will look on camera to future viewers, while I’m in the midst of things. So I stopped taking even a still camera, after many years of photographing the wilderness. But even then I was photographing the wilderness, not “my trip”.

My landlord is part of a travel club that gathers to present slide shows of their trips abroad. I think that this is exactly what we do when we share our wilderness trips with each other in video or still format. It’s a good thing to do, and I enjoy these reports. But I’m not expecting Bunuel. Our trips are very formulaic, in terms of narrative, when it comes down to it; although not in terms of their meaning to us personally–trips can be transformative, ecstatic, devastating, boring–in other words, involve subjective states that are best expressed through words, in my opinion. It’s that disjunction between the gob-smacking views that everyone has seen recorded a hundred times, and the immediate lived impact and meaning these have, that create the true narrative of a trip. A lot of this is ultimately incommunicable. It remains a secret with us, a surplus that we can never tell. To a certain extent, recording trips for others is futile.

anyway, the equipment is too heavy.

[Philip Tschersich]

You make some good points, but I think also sort of miss the main point. The objective of making a movie TR is not to make sure you can convey every subtlety and nuance of an experience with 100% fidelity, but rather to convey a sense of place that the viewer is then allowed to interpret in any way they wish. It’s to (hopefully) inspire and stimulate, not replicate. Heck, two people traveling together on the same trip will come away with different experiences. I’m under no illusion that someone watching one of my videos will know what a salmonberry tastes like or feels the exact way I did when running into a brown bear in dense brush. I just hope they feel something.

Cheers, and again, great discussion.

[Ben C]

I don’t do video because I don’t want to detract from my enjoyment of my walk. Not to overstate, but a quick photo sometimes detracts a little. I would think that fooling with a camera over significant time while backpacking would detract quite a bit. I love that you do videos for my enjoyment. Maybe I am too selfish with my trail time. Or maybe I’ll try it out sometime.

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