Here are the shots that I managed to get focused. Again big thanks to Pro Photo Rental!

Over the course of the 10 hours in the car I had plenty of time to contemplate what great photo project I was going to shoot for that weekend… However, the best I could come up with was just to rip off an idea I saw my friend Danny do a few years ago. Shoot a lot of photos and make a fast sequence slide show.

Our weekend in Kansas: 483 photos into a 2:30 video, enjoy.

Here is a first for the site, and also how I know I’ve made it. I have finally talked someone into writing a guest post for me. The the honor of first appropriately goes to Mr. Nicholas Jaouen, owner of thejaouen.com, the 3D GoPro rig, fat skis, big bikes, and numerous other assets that would make most nerds feel pretty inadequate. Mr. Jaouen, you have the floor:

With the wild success of the last 3D film, MTB 3D, by Brandon, Ben and I (Jaouen), it was decided that we needed to test out our camera on other sports as well. So, about a week ago, I took it upon myself to film some skiing in 3D. I arrived at Arapahoe Basin in time to watch the first chair go up, on both Saturday and Sunday. The goal of the trip was to film a wide variety of shots. That meant that I would need some moguls, park and “big mountain” riding. To get the big mountain shots, I climbed up to the top of the mountain and dropped a line named “Second Notch”. On the first day, I tried to drop it with some thinner skis (Line Chronics). The snow was crusty and immediately after making it through the tight upper section, my skis slid out from under me. At the end of the day, I drove home kicking myself for not having skied the line cleanly. The following morning, the line was even harder. Sun bake had turned the whole bowl into a sheet of boiler plate ice. My second attempt was executed on some wider skis, but still had the same outcome. After the narrow, steep upper section, there was no way to dump speed before the rock hard sluff field that followed. Regardless of my poor skiing, the 3D footage looks pretty good.

I feel like 3D much better captures the sketchiness of some lines; especially tight rocky lines. Speed seems easier to capture as well. I have filmed a lot of straight lines, but until now, only in 2D. In 3D, the lines seem to take on more life. Park is park. It seems that park footage looks awesome in any number of dimensions. Now that we know more about what we can do, and what looks cool in 3D on snow, you can look forward to more ski footage next season. Until then, watch out for more 3D footage of biking, swimming, camping, and whatever else we decide to shoot.

If you need some instruction on how to view this video in 3D, check out The 3D Experiment post.

Thanks Jaouen!

Vail is one of the last resorts to close (except Loveland and Abasin, of course, who are open for what seems like forever) and is renown for having one of the best, somewhat unsanctioned, closing day party in Colorado. Top of chair 4 at 4PM is the place to be on that coveted last day. The scene feels very local, as most tourists have optioned the beach. The costumes everyone wears on “last day” is something I can’t really explain, but it sure is fun!

Hotdoggers Jeny and Ben

The scene

It was Easter Sunday…

Best make-shift table EVER!

Lesson in rock

Jeny

Amen!

Everyone at last day is your friend

The one and only Ron Tarson, who also gets credit for dressing all of us!

Also, had a holster with tequila in it

Never seen em’ look better

See ya next year, time to dust off the bikes and golf clubs.

EDIT 8/3/2011 – Ben, after being tasked to cut up the GoPro footy from the last day, finally got around to making a little video. Nice job Ben! A few words from Ben:

As Brandon did mention, I finally managed to put together a short video from the footage shot on the last day of Vail. This season was one of the best seasons in recent memory and it was only fitting that on Vail’s last day Old Man Winter decided to drop another 6″ of the white stuff. The conditions were great, so we decided to start the day with some Chair 11 laps, and then head out to Blue Sky for one last cornice drop. Of course the highlight of the last day of Vail is never the skiing, but the crowd and the 4 at 4 celebration.

I find myself constantly amazed by the creativity and energy put forth by the skiing (and snowboarding) community when it comes to wearing costumes and partying. I do believe the only thing running through a skiers head on the last day is how much booze can be bodily carried up the mountain and how utterly ridiculous they can look doing it. Needless to say, it is a day that should not be missed. A special thanks goes to our friend Derek who allowed us access to his closet full of the awesome one-pieces shown in the photos and in the video.

Anyway, enjoy the video, it is short and sweet, and hopefully captures a bit of what was like to stand in the crowd during the 4 at 4 party and celebrate an end to a truly unbelievable season.

A few weeks ago as I was sitting at my desk, a gchat message popped up on my screen from Mr. Nicholas Jaouen, he had big news. Tone isn’t always the easiest thing to convey via text, however Mr. Jaouen’s tone was apparent and cyrstal clear. He sounded more like a 10-year-old on December 23rd right after having found Christmas presents hidden in the upstairs linen closet. He was so excited I could almost hear the stutter in his keystrokes as his fingers struggled to keep up with his thoughts. He eventually went on to explain that he had just ordered the 3D kit for the GoPro cameras we all now have and love so much. My initial response was “wow, that’s pretty cool and all, but what are we going to do with 3D footage?”. Mr. Jaouen, being the cultured techno-nerd that he is, continued to inform me that GoPro had acquired a company called CineForm and was giving away software to conform the left and right images (necessary for 3D) into one 3D video file. As he continued to brief me on the basics of 3D video workflow I was becoming just as excited as the stutter-typing 10-year-old he was. After we both cooled off a bit, we started to make plans to run this intriguing new gizmo thru it’s paces as soon as it arrived… it arrived on Monday, we shot on Saturday.

It seems a little funny that I feel like we’re on cutting edge and kinda cool for shooting a little video in 3D, when we all know that 3D has been around for years and years. However what is new is the barrage of popularity that 3D is now getting thanks some more elegant technology, movies like Avatar and every TV manufacturer trying to sell us the “next big thing”. 3D has made a comeback and it looks like it very well may be our “next big thing” in film and broadcast. Chances are that you are probably reading this on your computer/Phone/iPad screen, all of which are not 3D devices (yet) and so we are forced fall back on earlier forms of 3D tech for our current 3D viewing . Some people like Mr. Jaouen for example have the ability to do the cross-eyed viewing method but others like myself cannot and will have to use the tried and true red/cyan glasses or anaglyph to be technically correct. The next step is to determine what method is going to work for you.

3D Viewing Methods

Cross-Eyed Method – This is a bit weird but I’m told when done correctly will provide pretty good image quality. I have never been able to get this method to work for me so I’m not really qualified to give instructions on how to do it. Basically the method is that you cross your eyes and view a “side-by-side” formatted 3D video. You attempt to force your left eye to view only the right image, and your right eye to view only the left image, this should create a third image in the middle of your vision that will appear in 3D. Here is a video that will explain this method better than I can.

Anaglyph Glasses Method – Probably the method most of you are familiar with, all you need to do is grab a pair of those weird red/cyan glasses and watch an anaglyph formatted 3D video. The down sides to this method are that the red/cyan glasses create a funky color cast on the video, and the quality isn’t what you may have seen in the theaters with the RealD 3D technology.

Hang in there, we are getting to the video I promise, next topic YouTube.

YouTube for 3D

YouTube has put in place a pretty robust 3D viewing experience, it allows me to upload a side-by-side formatted 3D video and handles the conversion into other formats on the fly. By default YouTube is set to use “Red/Cyan Glasses” which means if you have those glasses you don’t need to do anything more then press play. If for some reason you are seeing a side-by-side image instead of a strange red/cyan blurry image, follow the steps below to tell YouTube that you want to use anaglyph glasses. This is also the procedure for choosing any other 3D viewing device, including no device, which means you are opting for the cross-eyed method.

First locate the 3D options button on the YouTube video player, and select “Other Options”. You will have to press play for this button to appear.

You will be taken to another page where you can choose what 3D viewing device you want to use. Select “Red/Cyan” under the Colored Glasses options.

You are now taken to another page with a test video formatted for the viewing device you have chosen, if you can view the video, click the “It works! Take me back to my video” button.

You are now setup for watching YouTube videos in 3D! You should only need to do this once as YouTube will remember your settings. If you are using anaglyph glasses to view the video you have a few more options that you can play with to make the video look different, depending on your personal preference. These options are found under that same 3D options button on the YouTube player. You have the choice to view the video in “Full Color”, “Optimized (Dubois)”, or “Grayscale”, really all this does is change the color of the video. Personally I like the grayscale option, it eliminates the weird color cast that the anaglyph glasses create and seems to be a little easier on my eyes, but play around and see what mode works best for you. Since the video is in 3D you will have the best experience if you turn the quality up to 720p.

Now that you have read my entire post on making a 3D video and showing you how to view it, Mr. Jaouen, Señor Reese, and myself present MTB3D enjoy.

PS: I ordered a bunch of anaglyph glasses from amazon, so if you are just dying to see the 3D awesomeness, contact me via the contact form here on the site or drop me a line somewhere online and I’ll send you a pair.

Oh and if you’re diggin’ the 3D vibe we are throwing out here, mash that like or tweet button so all your friends can know how cool your other friends (us) are.

A gaper is a skiier or snowboarder who is completely clueless. Usually distinguished by their bright colored clothes and a gaper gap, the gap between goggles and a helmet/hat.

The whole crew on the “beach” at Arapahoe Basin

Gaper Day to most skiers is a day on the mountain where people will wear “gaper clothes” and imitate gapers. This ultimately translates into a day of wearing neon or jeans, and throwing daffys and spread eagles off of every bump or jump in sight. Some folks like to make gaper day into a day to torment and make fun of tourists that are actual gapers, but that seems to be reserved to those who are a bit more malicious and less about having fun skiing and drinking beers. Gaper Day is about fun and hilarity found in old school neon, trying to find enough air to rip a perfect double twister spread and occasionally telling your friends how much better you are than them. So like Biggie said, If ya don’t know, now ya know.

The venue was Arapahoe Basin, which is a great place to be for any spring skiing day when the “beach” comes alive with tailgaters adorn with BBQ grills and beer kegs in the snow. Add Gaper Day to a spring day on the A-Basin beach, and garnish with some 80′s tunes blasting in the background and you have a great way to spend any ski day.

Don’t want to pull a hammy!

Steezin’ out

Blue Steel, but I hear Magnum is going to blow us all away

Take a lap, chill, repeat

Duke!

Ben and some careful razor work

Just too much fun on skis for one day really… Look for a repeat on the last day of Vail.

This year I was lucky enough to receive an invite to join the society for an awesome day of Denver bars crawling and bowling. It was a great day, filled with more fun than any other Presidents Day I had ever experienced. Of course I took the camera along, check out some of my favorite takes from the day, and if you want to read some more about what the Presidents Day Society is about and what membership entails, head on over to the Official Charter on the official site.

Chester A. Arthur

The Society at Sam’s #3 in Denver

Boarding “LimoBus Force One”

On board “LimoBus Force One”

Ulysses S. Grant striking in “South” Denver

Ulysses

Woodrow Wilson

Lincoln and Wash strolling down Colfax

Chet on the chug, Linc with disapproval

Harding gettin’ after it hard

Big thanks to the Society for allowing me to take part, I can’t wait until next year’s festivities! If you want to check out more photos from the day check out the full gallery over in the photos section.

The Full Photo Set

Music cred: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

January 5 – First time shooting sporting clays

February 13 – Afternoon tea on Valentine’s Day with Jeny at the Brown Palace in Denver.

March 5 – My first ever look at Corbet’s Couloir in Jackson Hole, WY.

March 7 – Danny in Jackson after obeying the shirt and showing us the time of our lives.

March 7 – A quick snap at Grand Teton National Park on my way out of Jackson.

April 24 – Girls and their wine…

May 26 – Jeny reading a guide book and looking up at the Oculus in the Pantheon, Rome

May 26 – Danica in St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City

May 26 – Vatican City at dusk

May 26 – Trevi Fountain at night, the crowd here is always like this, I have no idea how a photo of this fountain is taken without people in it?

May 27 – Ponte Vecchio, Florence

May 28 - Danica and Vespas, Radda in Chianti

May 28 – Florence men walking home, Florence

May 31 – Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre from a water taxi heading to Monterrosso

June 1 – Vernazza in the Cinque Terre at dusk

June 26 – Beautiful San Juan’s of Colorado at sunset from HWY 550

July 10 – Two Columbines on a hike in the James Peak Wilderness

July 10 – Ben and Duke at the Jaouen property

July 31 – At Crankworx in Winter Park, very cool event to see things you never thought possible on a bike

August 28 – Jeny on top of South Arapaho Peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Longs Peak distant center

September 11 – Camping at the Homestake Reservoir near Vail

September 18 – Ron and Bud working the crowd at Oktoberfest in Vail

September 25 – Hiking to Navajo Peak in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, definitely the best hike I did this year

October 17 – Mom and Aunt Lynda after completing the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk, 60 miles in three days, IMPRESSIVE!

October 17 – A US Airways plane landing in Philadelphia as the moon is starting to rise

November 6 – Surfing at Daytona Beach

December 21 – Lunar eclipse on the winter solstice, the first lunar eclipse I’ve ever seen in person

Well that’s it, hopefully 2011 is a better year in photos for me, like a mentioned above I am making it a goal to shoot more this year. Also I’m trying out a new blog format here, inspired by Boston’s Big Picture, let me know if you like it or if it’s too overwhelming in the comments below. Happy 2011!