The Vlog Experience
I never take videos - I almost exclusively take pictures. I take a ton of pictures when we are on bike trips. I look back fondly on these memories, I might make an Instagram post, and Nate uses the pics in his adventure blog.
This time around I wanted to try something different - capture some of our bicycle adventuring antics in video form. I've been inspired by world bicycle tourists like Rolling Existence and cyclingabout. And while I may not be doing a sick bike tour around the world and I may also never be the person that sets down my camera to capture me biking into a sunset just to turn around and bike back to retrieve my camera, I figured I could still capture some decent footage with my iPhone and see how I vibe with the videography experience.
Capturing the Video. This was the most difficult part for me. I'm just way more likely to take pictures. I enjoy taking pictures. I feel awkward and silly having my phone out for minutes at a time on the bike instead of just whipping it out, snapping a pic, and putting it away. It almost takes away from the experience on the bike? Maybe these experiences aren't meant to be revisited in moving image - maybe they are meant to be captured statically with the sounds and feeling of the ride left only in my memories. I tend to turn the camera too quickly or take too short of a video. With time and active effort this is something that could get easier, but for a longer trip I think I'd just want a GoPro to capture the best parts of the ride. I'm never going to be taking video during the most thrilling descents or hardest climbs. I'm going to be living it.
Voice Notes. I was undecided on whether or not I would include any of the videos where I'm voicing over the video or videoing myself speaking. I hate listening to myself speak so much that I've managed to avoid ever recording a video of myself for my job as a remote software engineer. I would much rather do a live demo and never watch the recording than record a video to make sure the demo works and re-watch it. But I powered through on this trip and even enjoyed what some of the voice-over clips added to the video.
Editing. This was enjoyable in every aspect. It was fun to choose music and layer it over the video. I enjoyed figuring out what I wanted the video transitions to look like and deciding how I wanted to show the route as a part of the video.
Watching. I'm a sucker for the little memory videos that the photos app puts together. This is like that but better because I made it. I've watched the video a few times already and it makes me smile every time and now I can continue to go back when I want to think about that wet, grueling bikepacking trip through Vermontshire.
So here it is - my silly little bikepacking video and first foray into the vlogosphere. Bikepacking Vermontshire