GoPro Hero3 Black Review and First Look

UPDATE: I have a new post about speculation surrounding a new Hero 4
Check it out, click here.
and a new video check it out, click here.

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I bought a new GoPro Hero3 Black Edition a few months ago, and

have finally given a little thought to how it's going.

Here is the link to my review on Youtube, click here. 

If you buy any of the new Hero3 models you need to check to

make sure the firmware is up to date, check here. 

I have made a few videos using the Hero3 Black Edition and

will be making more in the months to come.

Check out the playlist on my Youtube Channel.

Below are some photos of the Hero3

If you have any question please leave them here or over

in the comments section on the video.

GoPro Hero Family Portrait

Smaller and lighter.

The Hero3 Black Edition comes with the wifi remote.

New water proof case latch.

Flat lens on water proof case.

Documenting Monarchs

It seems like I spend my life documenting things.

Nature being my favorite.
I keep a garden full of plants to attract and feed a variety of critters.
One of the regular visitors to our garden hotel/restaurant resort are Monarchs.
I never get sick of watching them do their thing.
I use a mobile earthbox to place Monarch egg covered milkweed
on my screened lanai.  This gives them some protection from birds
and wasps, it also lets me keep a close eye on their development.
Many times the caterpillars set up their chrysalis in places that
are not very photo friendly, but occasionally I get lucky.
This past month I had several new Monarchs do their thing
and one last week in a very photo friendly place, the door jam.

Here is a video of most of the transformation, click here.

The process can take hours, I have many cameras but I find
my Sony HDR-CX150 best for the job. I had to record several
hours, two weeks apart, to get the essential peak action.
Very cool.

Siesta Drum Part 2

Part 2

Sometimes you just have too much raw tape.

So.

We made a second edit.

Here is the second video we created, Click Here.

We shot this video with three cameras, a Canon 7D, T4i and

a GoPro Hero3Blk.

This version was edited by the lovely Miss Getawaymoments.

What am I talking about?  See my last post here.

The Siesta Key drum circle on Sunday nights is a fun experience 

you should not miss.

Below are some photos I shot with my Canon 7D.

Enjoy!

 

Siesta Key Sunset, Drums and Light Dancers

My big sister taught me the word serendipity when I was a kid.

I have been enjoying it ever since.

Sunday night we went down to Siesta Key to watch the sunset,

I shot a Panning Time-Lapse with my new GoPro Hero3 Black Edition.

No big deal.

We chose Siesta because they have a drum circle on Sunday nights,

we had wanted to check it out but always seemed to miss it.

Not this time.

I get comments on my YouTube channel all the time,

many declare "GoPro's are for sports"

OK

As I have stated many times on this blog before, I will try anything

with a camera once.  One of the nice new features of the

GoPro Hero3 is that it is much more light sensitive.

The exposure is still all automatic, but they added exposure lock
 in time-lapse interval mode.

Which makes bulb like shots possible.

So, serendipity!

Here is the video I shot entirely on the Hero3 Blk click here.

below are a few of the stills, cropped for action.

All the footage was shot in time-lapse interval mode.

1 frame every second.

If you can go out to Siesta on a Sunday night and check

out the show, do it.

You will have fun.

and who knows, serendipity might find you.

life, will find a way

You buy a house.

Ink has barely dried.

You see your first crack,

life.

As you tend to your yard you notice funny things.

Plants grow where you least expect,

sometimes in impossible places.

Places I could never coax a plant to grow.

Usually weeds, find a way.

But this summer a flower started it's fight.

For weeks I watched as a little flower

squeezed it's way into a crack in front of my garage.

It's position was perfect, centered on the right stall

of the garage, any vehicle coming or going

would pass right over.

I first shot footage of the flower for a

Philip Bloom short film challenge.  

I didn't make the deadline.

But here you go, the challenge, create a sequence.

Enjoy.

life, will find a way.

Homemade Toy Rockets

I learned how to make homemade rockets from scratch in shop class

in middle school.  Yes, I know "what is shop class" something most

schools got rid of and I think one of the reasons our country is in

trouble.  Making toy rockets from cardboard tubes and paper

teaches a young mind many things.  Not that I'm completely

against buying a kit at the store, but a rocket you build on your own

is your creation. Watching it fly, figuring out why it flew the way

it did is exactly the kind of exercise a young mind needs.

This Christmas I made a few homemade toy rockets for my Godson.

He is a little young to build and shoot them himself but I figured

the time had come to introduce him to the most fun you will ever

have in six seconds.

Here is a link to the video I shot of the launches.  Click here.

I shot the launches with a GoPro Hero3 Black Edition.

At the end of the video I slowed them down to 5% to see how well the camera captured it.

  All of these shots were captured at 720p at 120fps.
This is an interesting example because we were launching right around sunset.
It's visual stunning in person and a good test for the new Hero3 in a low light situation.

Want to see more?  My Godson is the son of DSLR expert and fellow blogger

ChadSorianoPhotoBlog.  He posted some more photos and a video he

shot of the launches with a Canon EOS M over on his blog, check it out.

Canon T4i Night Flying Time-Lapse

"Why would you want to do that?"

This was the question posed to me by a flight attendant when I told her

that I was shooting a time-lapse out the window of my most recent

commercial flight. Uhhhhh ...... cause it's cool?

I get that all the time.  If your reading this I'm guessing you get it.

I don't sit still very well, if I have a camera I will be shooting.

On my most recent night flight home, on a new 737-900, I noticed

that the paneling under the window was quite smooth, so would it

support a suction cup holding my Canon T4i? Could I get the very

elusive night flying time-lapse?  Yes and no.

  It worked, but it also failed twice.

  

Here are the results, click here.

The camera was set to ISO 1600, with an EFS 10-22 lens.

I shot 6 second exposures @3.5 every two seconds.

The camera was mounted using a Fat Gecko suction cup. Sorry

no pictures of the set-up.  It was like trying to do surgery in a phone booth.

The hardest thing about trying to pull this off is light leaks, see below, the

way airliner windows are designed it makes it very hard.  I used my

navy blue action fleece to cover the top of the lens. There are several frames

where you can see light intrusion, interesting attempt but not really

ready for prime time.  Now if I had access to a private jet with clean windows 

I could probably dial this in, but until then you get what you can.

For more information about doing time-lapses with a CanonT4i and the 

intervalometer I use check out my previous post here.