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Surf in Namibia shot on Red Epic

vincent kardasik

vincent kardasik

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This clip was shot in Namibia last July with French Pro surfer Jeremy Flores.
Somewhere on the African Coast runs an incredible wave which is considered by some specialists as the best "left" in the World.
85% of the video was shot with the Red Epic-M #620, the rest of the footage is a mix of Cineflex, 5D Mark III and Drift HD.

 
Thanks a lot for your nicely shot and cut film!

Some technical questions:

I'm planning a shoot in Mozambique and was wondering how you protected the Epic from the salty sea spray? Any issue with humidity? Did you use any raincover?

Thanks.

Patrick
 
Very well Done....
What lens did you use on the Epic???
 
Ditto on the sea salt question. I'm assuming you were on a longer lens and staying pretty far back? Also, did you mainly work with a tripod? We've been getting more adventurous with our Dana Dolly system shooting outside. Not the most ideal when you don't have the smoothest of surfaces but certainly awesome for quick set-ups.
 
Patrick Tresch said:
Thanks a lot for your nicely shot and cut film!

Some technical questions:

I'm planning a shoot in Mozambique and was wondering how you protected the Epic from the salty sea spray? Any issue with humidity? Did you use any raincover?

Thanks.

Patrick
Click to expand...

Thanks Patrick.

Last year I've ordered a custom rain cover from Elain Fasula (http://www.ombre.us/).

I use it most of the time except when the temperature gets too high, if it's the case, I just cover the camera with a nylon cover and let the fan breath.

For now I never had any issue with humidity with the Red One or the Epic and I spent half of my time shooting on the beach.

I try to clean the body of the camera after every session.

I shot in Mozambique last June and work conditions were OK, we just had to protect the camera from the dust.
 
David Birdy said:
Very well Done....
What lens did you use on the Epic???
Click to expand...

Kieran Moreira said:
Ditto on the sea salt question. I'm assuming you were on a longer lens and staying pretty far back? Also, did you mainly work with a tripod? We've been getting more adventurous with our Dana Dolly system shooting outside. Not the most ideal when you don't have the smoothest of surfaces but certainly awesome for quick set-ups.
Click to expand...

Kieran, David,

Some of the stuff were shot with a bad Canon 100-400 IS Lens, not good at all to keep your focus accurate on such a long wave. The rest was shot with my Red Pro 300mm, one of my favorite lens.

I didn't have my whole kit with me as we were on a fashion shoot in Mozambique and we left for Namibia at the last minute when we saw the forecast.

I wish I had with me my Canon 150-600, it would have made my job easier.

As a tripod I used a Miller Arrow 55.

Regarding the dolly, it would have been hard to set-up one over there as you need to be high because the wave is under the sea level so we shot from the back of a pick-up truck.

As Curt Morgan from Brainfarm used to say, on tricky surfaces, the Cineflex is the best dolly ever.
 
As a lifelong cinematographer and photographer of surfing around the world myself, including over 5 years now with Red cameras, let me say this Vincent: "Nice work!"

Yes, a stock Canon 150-600 would have made the shooting easier. I've used one to shoot surfing extensively - the last time was at monster Mavericks. Love that lens! Mine is a stock 150-600 with a Century PL mount only conversion. I've found that the push/pull knob on the stock lens enables tracking sports action and wildlife, while simultaneously rack in focus. Once the new Canon EF 200-400 f4 IS with internal 1.4x starts shipping I'll also get one of those and use it. The Sigma 120-300 f2.8 is also a good surf shooting lens, with a 1.4x available for extra focal length.

Great choice on the Miller Arrow 55 for your tripod. That's what I've used for over 5 years now with Red One and Epic. I use the Sprinter II CF 2-stage, mid-spreader legs and the Solo 1505 CF spreaderless legs as needed. I also use the Miller Compass 25 head with both those legs sets for Epic setups weighing 32 pounds or less.

Again - excellent work in your Namibia piece!
 
Steve Gibby said:
As a lifelong cinematographer and photographer of surfing around the world myself, including over 5 years now with Red cameras, let me say this Vincent: "Nice work!"

Yes, a stock Canon 150-600 would have made the shooting easier. I've used one to shoot surfing extensively - the last time was at monster Mavericks. Love that lens! Mine is a stock 150-600 with a Century PL mount only conversion. I've found that the push/pull knob on the stock lens enables tracking sports action and wildlife, while simultaneously rack in focus. Once the new Canon EF 200-400 f4 IS with internal 1.4x starts shipping I'll also get one of those and use it. The Sigma 120-300 f2.8 is also a good surf shooting lens, with a 1.4x available for extra focal length.

Great choice on the Miller Arrow 55 for your tripod. That's what I've used for over 5 years now with Red One and Epic. I use the Sprinter II CF 2-stage, mid-spreader legs and the Solo 1505 CF spreaderless legs as needed. I also use the Miller Compass 25 head with both those legs sets for Epic setups weighing 32 pounds or less.

Again - excellent work in your Namibia piece!
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your kind words Steve.

I picked up the Arrow 55 based on your posts on Reduser and I'm really happy with it, same thing for the Compass 25, it really does the job with a lighter Epic set-up.

Before you shot the Pipe Master in Hawaii, people used to say that the Red One would never be a camera for action sports and even more surfing... They were all wrong! You opened the door for us, huge thanks for that.
 
Christian Edwards said:
I hope you got out there and weren't just shooting!Love it.
Click to expand...

Thanks Christian.

My backside tube-riding skills are not as good as Jeremy's ones so I was only a spectator but this country is amazing beyond the waves there's tons of stuff to discover and to shoot.

I really enjoyed my time over there.
 
Thank you for those very kind words Vincent...

That December 2007 Pipe Masters was a challenge with the brand new Red One cameras, but it was awesome to break some new ground doing the first Red One surfing production, and actually the first Red One sports production of any kind. The footage ended up being partially cut into a Pipe Masters TV program that aired on Fuel TV (Fox), and was also used by Apple corporate clear up until last year for demonstration and hands on editing clips in Apple's traveling expos. I produced and directed the production, and shot the long lens footage from shore using my Red One "London" with an Optimo 12x. MIke Prickett shot the in-water footage using my Red One 0008 and my Red 18-50 in the custom PVC housing Mike Hasting quickly made for us. Ken Corben used our Red One "Hollywood" with another Red 18-50 on a Tyler mount in an A-Star helicopter for the aerials. That week was not just the first Red One multi-camera sports production, but also the earliest Red One in-water surfing action ever shot, and the first Red One aerial shooting of surfing. We had fun that week...

Looking back, I started shooting film stills of surfing in 1969, motion film in the mid-70's, and electronic motion in the late '70's. I've been way fortunate over the years to shoot surfing all over the world - Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Australia, and all over the Pacific. Most of it was documentary style television programs featuring the pro tours - ISP, ASP World Tour, HPAC (Hawaii), Bud Surf Tour, and others. But a lot of it has been freestyle grassroots surfing tracking exotic and unheard of locations.

I've loved every bit of it. I've shot lots of other genres besides sports, but I still shoot surfing when I can!

But this thread is a celebration of your surfing work, not mine. Have some great fun out there shooting surfing with Epic and the Miller tripods! In my opinion you've selected the very best camera and support kit for the work you're doing ;). Your work is excellent...there are no real limits for you.

Last thought: these are not well known points of industry trivia, but Oscar-winning Director Steven Soderburgh started his production career in the '70's as a surfing filmmaker, and in IMAX production, MacGillivray Freeman Films also had their start in surfing filmmaking in the '70's. The surfing media industry has spawned many filmmakers, cinematographers, and photographers who started there, and then also transitioned into a really diverse array of other genres of production.
 
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