Jamie Stuart - Man In A Blizzard or Idiot With A Tripod

Yes, I keep telling folks this is what is possible. You do have to have talent. Equipment can help but if you don't take the opportunity when it comes knocking on the door (or falling from the sky) what good is it?

This is Jamie Stuart who knocked out a great video from the ThunderSnow that hit NYC in December 2010.



Somehow I landed on Roger Ebert's page at the Chicago Sun Times. Nothing pleases an ex-snow bunny more than to watch a blizzard from an extreme distance. This video brought all the wet soppyness without the frostbite.

The Particulars:

• Canon D7 dSLR with macro filters on the lens during the day
• Converted some of the video from H.264 into ProRes 422 (No I never heard of ProRes 422 before either)
  
• Edited in Final Cut Pro
• Exported into Quicktime
  

More on how he did it:

Early on, I was able to vary things a little more -- I used macro diopters for the close-ups during the day shots, my portable slider for the dolly shots and also, a 75-300 zoom for the rooftop shots. I was more limited at night because of the weather conditions, so I stuck with my 24mm, 50mm and 85mm -- all of which are manual Nikon lenses. Which meant that in the middle of that maelstrom I was changing lenses, wiping off the lenses and manually focusing/adjusting each shot.

All I can say is that I shot some rain footage but it isn't anywhere as good as his snow. But he has given me ideas. And some quivers of thought. For more information on Jamie Stuart visit his site.