The Darby Shakedown at Turkey Creek

As with taking photographs, so it is with shooting video - you can do a whole lot of it, but that doesn't mean most of it's going to be worth viewing. After a morning hiking at and playing in Turkey Creek at Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson, here is all I have to offer from the video from that outing.

This and other photos and videos of Darby can be found here.

A Day-Hike at the Sipsey Wilderness' Borden Trail

Now that you've seen some photos and read the compelling tales, here's some video footage from our day-hike on the Borden Trail at the Sipsey Wilderness in the Bankhead National Forest.

Other posts from this little hike can be found here: Part 1 and Part 2.

Dog Day Afternoons with Darby

Here's a snippet of what life is like for Darby and me while Anna is at work - while the cat is away, the mice are at play. Originally, I set up this time lapse video with my GoPro HD HERO2 camera so that we could find out what Darby does while we're gone and she's left to roam the house, but since that was so incredibly uneventful, there's no need to share it.

The Spindle Ball

Over the course the last fifteen months, I have really loved my Canon Rebel T2i (at Amazon); now granted, I wish I could justify the purchase of a Canon 5D MkII, but that's neither here nor there. I really feel like I have pushed the limits of the T2i in many regards and gotten as much out of it as it is capable of producing, but that being said, there is one feature of the camera that I have allowed to go largely underutilized: video. And mostly that's because good video is really difficult to do, and the set-up for doing it particularly well is rather expensive.

But on the occasion exhibited below I was suddenly struck with an idea while sitting at the kitchen table. It involved my Tokina AT-X 35mm macro lens (at Amazon), the T2i, and an ornament that decorates the table's centerpiece. Let me know what you think of this little abstract video; I'm partial to it, but I think that's largely out of obligation due to the extraordinary number of takes and amount of time invested.

How do you feel about this video "The Spindle Ball"?

Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover, Alabama

Somehow, I have managed to live in the Birmingham area for 8+ years without knowing of the existence of Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover. Well, now that I know, I expect I'll probably be a semi-regular visitor. With several miles of trails and a variety of scenery, Moss Rock Preserve is a pretty nice way to spend a day outdoors. It has the makings of allowing your hike or bouldering to be easy or difficult as you'd like.

Panorama of Boulder Field at Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover, Alabama

Knowing almost nothing about the place, a couple of friends and I went to Friday to visit the preserve. I don't think we really had any particular expectations, and were thus pretty pleased with what we found there.

Ornaments Dangling over Hurricane Creek, Moss Rock Preserve

High Falls at Moss Rock Preserve

The below video is really just us enjoying ourselves. If you're looking for some footage that's just going to knock your socks off, this isn't it; but we did have a good time with our silly foolishness.

All photos shot with Panasonic LX3 and video on GoPro Hero2

Technorati Tags: alabama, birmingham, gopro hero2, moss rock, moss rock preserve, panasonic lx3

Russell Forest Run in Alexander City

This weekend I participated in the Russell Forest Run in Alexander City, Alabama, at the Russell Lands on Lake Martin. There were two races hosted, a 5K and a 10K; I ran the latter. The morning promised to be cold, but about the time the cannon fired (a literal cannon) to kick off the race, the sun had risen high enough to start warming things up a bit.

The literature regarding the race described the course as "challenging," but I just assumed that's because it was a trail run rather than a road course. I was incorrect. The hills on the course were almost unbearable. Rolling hills. Long steady inclines. Creeping inclines that sneak up on you until your quads start screaming. It seemed like on this largely out-and-back course, we were running uphill both ways, in some sort of geographical anomaly.

Best thing I saw all day - Finish

I was particularly excited about this race for several reasons: 1) it was my first race back since my foot injury in November that sidelined me after the Huntsville Half Marathon; 2) it was my first race of this distance - a 10K; and 3) I had my GoPro Hero2 strapped to my head ready to do an awesome time lapse video of the race (this contraption drew more than a few unabashed, gawking stares). The footage started off nicely, but something happened immediately after the starter cannon fired, and the GoPro quit recording. I has very disheartened at the end of the race when I discovered this.

Nevertheless, the first sixteen seconds of video and a few photos from the race can be found in the video below.

My finishing time of 56:53 was significantly slower than the pace I had set out for, but I was happy enough considering how unprepared I was for those hellacious hills.

Technorati Tags: alabama, 10k, alexander city, gopro hero2, lake martin, photos, russell forest run