Daily Archives: May 16, 2013

Talk Story: GoPro Wordsmithing

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Just over a year ago, my husband, Ed, and I did our first SUP downwind event. It was a short, 3-mile fun race off the north shore of Maui from Paia to Kanaha Beach Park. (story here). Four days later, Ed had rotator cuff surgery, a 6 month road back to paddling that included lots of pain, rehab and determination.  Through all of that we had the plan to return to Maui on May 11, 2013 in order to do the full-out 8 mile run from Maliko Gulch to Kanaha beach Park no matter what. The weather, a fresh, large swell and little wind made the “no matter what” a bit more than we’d expected – but we did it!

As adventures, even of the “bucket list” kind fade over time, there’s something we can all do to preserve them for ourselves and anyone else who’d like to share with us.  Using a GoPro camera and any of the various mounting accessories, capturing active adventures is as easy as pushing a button and getting out there.

Making the story something that friends and family will enjoy as much as you (star of the show) do requires a little more time and planning. Using great tools available from GoPro, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker or any number of easy and inexpensive editing tools you have the ability to take hours of action and collect in smaller buckets of interesting and quality segments.  Adding the right music is usually the most fun lots of us.

The next part takes a bit more time. Watch your project from start to finish again and again. Watch it with someone who wasn’t with you during the action. What do they wonder about, WOW about or seem most interested in?  What questions come up?  Once you really “know” your visual story you are ready to do some “wordsmithing.”  The more you practice the art of magical and creative wordplay , while still maintaining the essence of the story the more comfortable you will be as a wordsmith.  We may not ever become a master at crafting new words or cobbling together fresh phrases but we can add substance to our videos by adding a carefully scripted dialog from time to time.

This video, Reflections – SUP Lifestyle is a bit long but it solidly inspired me to try harder on my video scripting.  VIDEO SAMPLE: This is a 4 minute example made from over 3 hours of GoPro footage.  I’d love to hear your comments and link to projects you’re proud of.

Images and Story: GoPro Easy

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Along with the millions of others who have strapped a GoPro to their head, chest, helmet, bike, boat, surfboard or SUP board, we are having a blast making video stories.  Our stories aren’t the most incredible, extreme or unusual – they are simply “Our” stories. You have plenty of your own, right? And watching memories come alive in sight, sound, music and images is priceless!

There are moments between the adventure of letting the GoPro roll in the action and getting the finished, edited project that could be confusing or frustrating. I am discovering that things can be easier once I leap across and learning plateau and minimize my own “user-errors.”

Luckily, avid GoPro fans from near and far have posted exactly the YouTube video we need to answer nearly any question we type into a search box. It’s truly amazing.  Adding to that support is the GoPro site itself.  Recently, I discovered an additional resource – the call back after an online form e-mail question I submitted.  GoPro is a company 100% focused on making our experience with their products the best it can be.

Are yopu wondering what my question was? The one that I couldn’t find and answer to and finally submitted it online?  Look at the video below.  In some of the sequences there is a gray shading on the left side. The footage that has that gray l;ine came from a GoPro Hero Silver edition we took straight from the box, charged and set out to use (without updating the firmware).

How would we know we should have updated the firmware? We had actually gotten an e-mail from GoPro a week before. in the excitement of going to Hawaii to standup paddle, we ignored it. Our mistake.  Once we accomplished the very easy task of downloading the update all subsequent footage was perfect!  What a cool fix, quick and easy.

SUP Maui: Glassy Goodness

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Have you ever had that oh-so-comfortable pair of shoes you wear way beyond their fashion or appearance window? How about your “lucky” baseball glove or standup paddle you hesitate to change? Anyone who knows me well knows that when I get equipment that works for me I stick with it.

Fortunately, the team at Naish Maui Pro Center (cool story about their team here )combines excellent advice and careful guidance as they encouraged me to try the Naish Hokua 9’0″ during our recent trip to Maui.

Back story: I have paddled flatwater, downwind and surfed on an Amundson 11’3″ for the past 4 years. As an all-round SUP board it has served me happily and well.  During the 12 months between May 2012 and May 2013 I caught exactly 4 waves and surfed a total of 2 hours at Pacific City on the Oregon coast.  To say the least, my surf skills had not been honed or improved. Moving toward the sort of high performance boards in the Naish Hokua line seemed, well, scary! I was used to a barge under foot not the v-design of the Hokua.

Outrageous, wonderful surprise!  The first minute out on the water with the Naish Hokua 9′ 0″ had me knocking knee wobbly, then it clicked. A mere paddle stroke or two had the Hokua accelerating steadily. The first thigh high glassy swell rose over the mid tide reef at Launiupoko so I went for it – and caught it!  All day I played from that start. Late take-offs? The Hokua and I laughed our way down the faces, it seemed made to rise out of the water and with a mild press of my back foot I could get a lot of tail kick right or left. This had never been part of my skill set before!  The Hokua has a super nice “between-the-feet” feel that allowed plenty of fun while waiting between sets and just paddling over the gin clear water above the reef.

While the 9’0″ is great for riders 30-60 lbs heavier than I am, even at my age, size and weight it felt zippy, maneuverable and tons of fun!  If you’ve been sticking with the SUP board that’s been your go-to equipment for some time, take a demo, rent a Naish Hokua if you get the chance. You may fall crazy in love like we did – see GoPro video below for the full story!

Maliko Musings: Olukai Ho’olaule’a

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When experienced standup paddlers describe the downwind run you are about to do the very next day and they say, “It’s going to be harrowing, huge swells and very little wind,” that does not build confidence!

The start of the 2013 Olukai Ho'olaule'a at Maliko Gulch

The start of the 2013 Olukai Ho’olaule’a at Maliko Gulch

Those very conditions greeted 336 SUP downwind racers at the 5th Olukai Ho’olaule’a on May 11.  Little did I know as I paddled out of the Maliko Gulch what was in store.  The tide was flowing in, the swells delivered confused chop and the wind clocked toward our faces as we paddled past the reefs and cliffs about a mile and a quarter straight out to sea and the starting line.  I believed the waves would be my nemesis, but one wave in particular delivered the defining moment of that all-round incredible event!  Here’s the story:

Like most of the participants, I spent a great deal of time paddling on my knees, really getting a challenging balance workout while going for the glides or taking some head-first dunks into the confused sea.  When I had feet under me, eyes on the horizon and my paddle technique cranking out smoothly, holy cow, the Naish 14′ Glide I was riding accelerated with glee and practically begged to connect those glides. Exhilarating stuff for sure. Light as a feather, my KIALOA Hulu paddle powered me through chop and (YAY!) let me brace, balance and avoid plenty of wipeouts.

From the very first paddle stroke, as fellow participants were lifted – then disappeared – behind the swells, my fear was that I’d not be able to negotiate the beach landing. All along the shoreline from Hookipa to Kanaha and points in between the swells met reefs and created a wall of crushing white-water challenge. About 75 minutes into the race Kanaha and the life guard stand was in view. I was paddling near Sean Sweet of Sweet Waterwear when I heard him say, “Judy, look right!”

Defining moment, uncaught wave of the day. And that was a good thing!

Defining moment, uncaught wave of the day. And that was a good thing!

I braced my paddle in the water to my right, swung my eyes over and looked straight up into a building and breaking wall of gray-green and foaming wave. There was just one reaction, and it surprised the living daylight out of me – I was like, “Yeah!” and went for it. Went for it as in, “I want to catch this thing.”  Lucky for me, very lucky, the water was deep enough that instead of crushing right onto me, it re-built as a pillowing swell and swept neatly under my Glide. Also lucky for me, I realized how much I love being in the ocean, riding waves, being part of a huge community of like-spirited paddlers and enjoying the fruits of much practice and training. It’s all a very cool journey.

It’s tough to put into words the impact an event like one’s first Maliko Gulch downwind run delivers. Instread, here’s a 4 minute video that tells the tale. Much appreciation (listed in the credits at the end) go to Naish International  (Haiku), KIALOA Paddles, GoPro, and Suzie Cooney, CPT.