How To Shoot Wildlife - Photoshoot That Is

An article in a national newspaper once said that Romania is home to one third of the large carnivores in Europe, another third belongs to Russia and the last third is scattered across the remaining continental Europe.

There's no doubt here you will find the largest variety of wildlife, like nowhere else on The Old Continent. And by wildlife I mean wild animals roaming free in the Carpathian forests - not in enclosed reserves like in western Europe.

As a mountaineer and outdoor enthusiast I often encountered wildlife on and off trails but I rarely caught any still photos or videos. Last autumn for example (2009), I was riding downhill my mountain-bike and I passed by two beautiful adult stags. I got scared of them, they got scared of me and they took off through the raspberry bushes, puffing nervously. Had I been wearing a GoPro camera on my bike helmet then, I would have shared some nice footage with you...

Since I've met Sebastian Mastahac, a passionate photographer, mountaineer and mountain guide, I gained more interest in wildlife photography. He's the man who knows the hidden spots for taking photos of bear, deer, owl, stag, chamois, wild boar, hawk, lynx and so on. He promised to take me bear shooting in the summer and I`m looking forward to that!

I asked him to give us some tips and ethic rules for taking wildlife photography:

Use a non scented soap before going outdoor hoping for an encounter with wild animals. Any hint of fragrance, deodorant, antiperspirant will be noticed by the animal - they have a fine smell sense - and they'll leave the spot so you wouldn't even know they were there.
Smoking or lighting a fire will scare them off as well.
Don't put any pressure on the animal! Be a distant and stealthy observer. This is the only way you will get the shots of your dreams with the animal in its natural habitat, showing normal behavior.
Never interfere with animals during their rut season, when they're nesting or when they nurture their young - this is especially dangerous with bears. Never put yourself between the mother bear and her cubs; chances are you may get killed!
Patience is of utmost importance. You may go in the woods ten times in a row and not get anything, not even a squirrel and then when you're waiting for your deer to appear, a silent lynx comes into view and you desperately press the shutter button over and over again. That's the reward nature gives to you for being patient and for respecting and protecting wildlife!
The best tactic is to learn where the animal hangs out and then find a good hide where you can observe it. Make sure the animal is never cornered - leave it some running way in case it sees or feels you.
There is no photography more important than the peace of the animals! They are in their home, unaware of you who are trying to immortalize them with your newly bought DSLR camera. If you cause them any trouble for that photo then you should reconsider what you're doing. Get yourself a telephoto lens and keep your distance!
Be sure to know as much as you can about taking photos and about the specific gear you carry with you. From exposure time to setting your tripod you must master it all! There's no time for testing when the subject is there for only a few seconds.

If you are a wildlife photographer in need for a guide to show you where to take shots in Carpathian Mountains then drop an email to Sebastian at ma5tac[@]yahoo.com and he'll be more than happy to assist you.

Camera gear used for taking the above and below photos:

Canon EOS 40D
Canon telephoto lens 300mm F4
Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Canon telephoto lens 500 mm F4
Nikon D3
Nikon telephoto lens 400 mm F2.8

Bear photos out of focus due to unexpected encounter

- poor light and overexposed

A proof that even experts make their mistakes. But it's a known fact there's no other way of becoming proficient than going through failures ;-).

Respect nature!

Aliens T shirt - Discovering The Modern Caveman - Caving Vector Design

Buy this Alien T-shirt

I can honestly say I miss caving... It's also a bit harder to find people willing to go caving, considering one has to crawl through small and muddy places in order to see the beauties of the subterranean world.

When doing it obsessively, this outdoor activity becomes very gear dependent: ropes, acetylene lighting system, bolts for vertical advancing, helmet, harness, rope clamp, etc. Not having all of these is not an impediment for the passionate caver as most caving clubs offer this type of equipment for their members.

Enjoy darkness wearing a headlamp!

Download this drawing for your shirt - right click/save image as...

Download this drawing for your shirt - right click/save image as...

Is GoPro HD Camera Suitable for Cold Environments? - Winter Mountaineering

Clear weather is a rare commodity in high mountains. Every time the mighty internet tells me the sky will be blue, I get the itch to go outdoors for another adventure. Since I've got my GoPro camera, the desire is even higher.

It wasn't easy for any of us to take part in this tour. We partied, stayed up until late in the night, drinking beer - two days in a row - and the thought of quitting was born in all our minds. We, climbers and mountaineers, always have to fight our sloth when it comes to actually getting something done... Nevertheless, we gathered somehow and left the city at 1.00 PM Saturday (instead of 6.00 AM).

We were supposed to climb Zanoaga ridge and then descend from the main ridge of Fagaras mountains. We couldn't do it... It's simply too long and hard and it needs to be approached with better logistics and time management.

So even though this was a sort of failure, we still had our little victory: we discovered the hunting cabin and a new path that leads down from the mountain. Next time, this will enable us to hike faster through the forest into the alpine zone, avoiding the exhausting three hour ordeal between mountain pines (approx. one km).

My biggest mistake in this winter mountaineering tour was not taking my camera in my sleeping bag overnight. I left it in my backpack and the frost depleted the battery. The following day I was able to shoot just a few clips, two or three seconds long... For this reason, I'm a bit disappointed by GoPro technology and I advise you to carry an extra battery when shooting in cold weather. Also keep your camera in a warm place (inner pocket) when not in use.

And since I started criticizing GoPro, I can add a little more: I'm not particularly impressed by the firmness of the clickable mounts (quick release buckles and adhesive mounts). The buckle moves and thus if you have the long arm of the camera in place it means you'll have a shaky footage - which is silly for an action sports camera! After all, it's designed to shoot at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour and with the moving arm I can't see how you can get a smooth footage!? I fixed this problem by adding three layers of duct tape (stripes) as you can see here and here.

Other things to consider when going on the mountains in wintertime:

Make sure your base layer of clothing (close fitted) is made of technical fabrics (wool & Coolmax, etc) for your quick dry comfort. The benefit is twofold: no need for additional clothing (less weight in your backpack) and less exposure to dampness and cold for you.
Carry a pair of two fingered winter gloves. As your fingers are held together, you'll get your hands warm much faster than in regular five fingered gloves. No need to buy expensive stuff - a pair made of a basic waterproof fabric and an inner fleece will do just fine.
Never underestimate the power of a warm meal and a good fire. If you can get any of these then do it. A hot meal provides nourishment and needs less calories for digestion and a fire will always lift your morale. I always carry matches and my camping mini stove - if I'm not allowed to make a fire then at least I can brew (tea, hot soup, stew).
If it's cold (minus zero Celsius or lower) then it's advisable to put your boots in your sleeping bag so you'll have them warm and soft the following day. Put them in a plastic bag and you don't have to worry about mud or snow.
Gather as much information as you can about the route you're going to climb - guide books, websites, outdoor blogs, forums, GPS trails and people. Before leaving, I gave a call to Iulian Cozma, and asked some directions which he kindly gave to us. He's a professional mountain guide and he's been doing this for more than ten years - perhaps the man who knows Fagaras mountains like no one else in Romania.

Photos by Alex Scurtu (Cannon PowerShot 100 SX) and me (GoPro HD)

Enjoy outdoors safely!

We slept outside, being covered with a tent's flysheet

Bear Grylls Style - spruce tree and bilberry bush tea

Blowing hot air into my gloves

The cabin used by capercaillie hunters
(one flew just a few meters away from me; a grouse, not a hunter)

Paul Robinson on Bouldering

A short video featuring Paul Robinson - a well known boulderer who visited our climbing gym last year.

Cheap GoPro - GoPro HD Best Price Is On Amazon.com

Update 2: GoPro has released the GoPro HD 2 and it's possible that the HD Hero won't be manufactured anymore. They only offer it through selected retailers now. However you can still get it on Amazon and E-bay.

Update: It seems that you can get the best price for GoPro HD camera on Amazon.com. You can buy it at a price of $ 212.99 (this price will vary) and get FREE shipping as well if you chose the Super Saver Shipping option (and if you don't mind waiting up to 8 days for your parcel to arrive - I wouldn't!). Click here to see for yourself.

Amazon seems to move large quantities of product and that's why they can offer low prices for such a sought after product, like the GoPro HD Hero is. So if you're looking for GoPro HD best price, check out Amazon.com.

The same goes for the GoPro LCD Display. It's cheaper on Amazon.

Why they don't show the price right on the product page?

Here's a quote from Amazon's terms that explains it:

Because our price on this item is lower than the manufacturer's "minimum advertised price," the manufacturer does not allow us to show you our price until you take further action, such as placing the item in your shopping cart, or in some cases, proceeding to the final checkout stage. The steps required depend on the details of the manufacturer's minimum advertised price policy. Taking these steps allows Amazon to show you our price consistent with our goal of always offering you the lowest possible prices on the widest selection of products.

This won't require you to purchase the product. You can easily remove it from your cart if you decide not to buy it.

Today I've received my very own GoPro® HD Video Camera and from now on I should be able to better document all my outdoor adventures - climbing, mountain biking or whatever.

Before buying it though, I wrote an email to GoPro asking them:
1 If they ship to Europe - Romania
2 Where can I buy one in Europe (online store)
They replied and told me: "Yes, we ship to Romania using Fed Ex economy (24$)" and one dealer for Europe is X-tremevideo.com.

I also wrote an email to another online store in Romania and I asked them why is there such a big price difference for the same camera between Europe and USA to which they replied: "If an item costs X dollars in USA it will cost the same amount in Europe but in Euros to which add other taxes and fees.".

So I eventually decided to buy the camera and a 32 GB SDHC Kingston memory card directly from GoPro Official Store and I don't regret I did so. The total amount paid for the gear + shipping + VAT + custom duties + handling fees was 389 Euros (or 557 $) and it's still lower than any price I could find here in Europe.

My first experience after shooting a few small clips was seasoned with disappointment BUT I came to learn that the problem was not in my camera but in my video player (or perhaps my computer - Dell 1525 Inspiron - Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 2 GB RAM).

The default settings for video mode is 1280x960 pixels at 30 fps, which offers the most vertical viewing area of all resolutions. Later, when I played the footage on my computer, I could only hear the audio while the video came out like a succession of still images. I consulted a few online resources and found out about Splash Lite Player - designed to play all your High Definition MPEG-2 and AVC/H.264 camcorder clips and movies, incredibly fast, smooth and without problems. You don't need any additional codecs. Download, install, watch. It takes about one second to start application and High Definition video playback!

As the output file format from GoPro HD Helmet Hero camera is MP4, I said I have to give it a shot in trying this new player and see if there is any difference in rendering my footage. It was! My clip showed smooth and clean, audio and video being perfectly synchronized.

Now I need to see which video editor to use for HD. Can anyone help me with suggestions?

Looking forward to hit the mountains on clear skies! Cheers!

My first video shot with GoPro - lower resolution after compressing with VirtualDub

And here are more recent GoPro clips:

Winter Mountaineering in Fagaras Mountains

DIY Steadicam for GoPro Video Test

I Peed Myself - Am I a Pussy?

Since I can remember, I've always had emotional problems when I needed to see a doctor. I can't tell whether I get this fainting sensation from the white walls or from the doctor who's supposed to make me better but it's something I have no control over.

What normally happens is this: I visit the doctor (dentist or whatever) and when the consulting starts to be a little more serious I pass through a fainting sensation accompanied by nausea, temporary loss of sight (I see black), my skins turns pale and of course I get a weakness in my knees which causes me to fall in case I don't find something or someone near to lean onto. If this happens when I'm at a new doctor, one who doesn't know I have this problem, the embarrassment makes this experience even more dramatic. But after I get some fresh air and wash my face with cold water I become animated again and the doctor can do his thing with me. Basically I get through a low point, I'm still conscious, and then I come back again ready to be abused by the merciless physician or surgeon.

In order to get a sense of how lame I can be, you should know that once I fainted during an X ray consultation - I had a problem with my right collarbone. I was standing in front of the X ray cannon (some Siemens apparatus) and as it started scanning me, I begun to think about the harmful rays that were penetrating me and then my knees went loose and I lost my sight and... Bang! Next thing I knew I was lying on the floor. A few minutes later I was viewing my X ray results on a display, joking with my doctor...

So I know I have this problem and my doctors know it as well, thus they are patient with me and I'm comfortable with them knowing it coz then I know I won't make a fool out of myself every time I need them. I get to their clinic, tell them my problem, they start fixing it, I faint, they wait, I come back online, they go on fixing me and we're done!

Last time though... it was different. The nurse was preparing the needle as to puncture my index finger - they needed a drop of my blood to see the sugar level - at which point I said to her: "I may faint at this". She punctured me and - Bang! I went offline as never before. My luck was I was seated and I only fell sideways, leaning on the wall (the chair was in the corner of the room). It was an instant faint, unlike the usual ones, and I really lost my conscience for a few tens of seconds.

I cannot tell you how bad was the wakening... I was in a state where I had flashbacks of the surrounding reality mixed with recent memories and I could hear pieces of voice but nothing intelligible. I realized I'm in an awful state - and, in my mind, I started begging the skies to get me out of there. I'm not the best christian but I cried out for help... It was painful, confusing, and it seemed to never stop - I guess I can call it my little hell experience.

Finally all those flashbacks started to fade and then I began to hear the nurses' voice and, and gained my sight and full conscience again. The nurse asked me: "Is it always like this?" and I said: "No. This was awful..." and then she said "You had convulsions and you wet your pants.". As I sat down in the chair, I looked down and saw my wet pants and urine dripping from the edge of the chair, spreading slowly on the floor. I had peed myself and was feeling terribly weak. I just couldn't recover from the weakness even after I got fresh air and washed my face.

To make a long story short:

a friend came and took me from the clinic to the neurology hospital
from there I was taken by ambulance to the county hospital
I had vomited a few times to this point
they took blood for analysis (this was definitely another fainting opportunity but for some reason I didn't pass out)
they put a plastic tube in my vein on which came the juice that brought me back to full power - my first ever perfusion
they took urine samples
they scanned my heart a few times
they took blood again for more tests, from my other arm (again I didn't faint, I guess I became stubborn in being online)
they didn't find anything and said I'm as healthy as an ox but they recommended me to go back to neurology hospital and do some more tests and stay in the hospital a few days
the ambulance took me back to neurology hospital
dinner time had passed so I escaped from the hospital and went out to eat (my girlfriend was with me from point one)
I came back, slept in a room with other five patients (old men)
the doctors made all possible tests the next day
I asked them to release me as I was feeling strong
I was out of the hospital late in the afternoon

Doctor's conclusions:

I'm super healthy
I have a slow heart rate which is normal for endurance athletes
I should see a psychotherapist for getting rid of my fear of doctors, hospitals and needles
the faint might have happened because I was on an empty stomach (I ate my oats porridge at 8.30 in the morning and I was at the clinic for blood sugar tests at 12.30)

So that's me! I climb free solo, I go outdoors a lot, I jump off cliffs, I swim underwater almost 40 meters, I seek bear encounters, I do bungee swings, I pursue thrilling experiences and yet I'm such a ~~pussy~~ weak freak...

During my short stay in the hospital the nurses asked me what kind of a man was I. Man, was I angry... They were chuckling and smiling as I sat down and told them my story. And now I ask: Why isn't a man allowed to be weak (on certain aspects at least)?! Yes I am a man and I'm afraid of doctors! And that's all there is to it.

I'm not afraid of doing lots of other things but this is something I cannot overcome by myself. However, it's saddening to see the joy on others' people faces when they discover a weakness that someone else has. If it's embarrassing for the weak person then it brings even broader smiles and laughter on their faces.

I have one message for those people: keep staying strong coz I love being weak!
Cheers!

P.S. Those two days (in December 2009) I wore my peed dark gray jeans. I didn't want clean clothes to be brought to me as it seemed to be too much of a hassle. The pee dried and one couldn't tell whether I wet my pants by looking at them but perhaps by smelling the air around me. I wouldn't know coz nobody told me... Oh yes, I had my dinner in a restaurant that evening :-)

Computed tomography

Feeding the pigeons - my entertainment while staying in hospital

Mountain Bike Jerseys & T-shirts by Highball

Services:
Action sportswear design & manufacturing - custom apparel: cycling jerseys, t shirt screen printing

Fabric for cycling apparel - micro mesh polyester or full textured polyester, imprinted by sublimation method (non fading), breathable, stretchable, textured, shiny, wicks moisture for quick-dry comfort.

T shirts for screen printing - Fruit of The Loom 100% Cotton

Request quote and info about MOQ via contact page.

PORTFOLIO

Goal0 Elite & Highball Bike Jerseys made for Goal0 (Goal Zero) - manufacturer of solar panels, batteries and lighting systems for adventurers and outdoor lovers - located in Utah, USA