We hit up Mount Baker on Sunday for Opening Day. A big storm had finally given our coast the snow we needed to get back on the hills.

I tell you — Baker on Opening Day is a good, good thing. Especially when it snows 20 inches just before you arrive.

I put together a quick video of our day. It’s not great in terms of editing since I threw it together in about 45 minutes so I apologize for the quality. It’s not at all indicative of the HD snowboarding movie I’m working on, but it was fun to do. I apologize for the shaky cam and focusing. I’m still getting used to using the camera. I’m hoping after a few more sessions I’ll have the hang of it. ENJOY! Click the image above to watch it on Vimeo, or you can right-click save as here to download the original movie. (You will probably want VLC Player to watch it.)

We woke up at 6 AM and were off by 6:30. It was still snowing when we left the apartment building. It was nice not to have to deal with many slow Vancouver drivers in the snow at that time, too. A bit of a wait at the USA border (and no Nexus lines at the Sumas crossing, BOO!)… and we were on our way.

We got to Baker just shortly after the first chairs went up. Everyone in the line of cars we were in turned off at the lower parking lot, so we continued up to the upper parking lot… we had our doubts if it was open, but sure enough it was! There was no waits for the chairs, and only 1 in 4 chairs actually had anyone on them.

It was pretty much untracked when we got up there. The area under the chairlift (see picture above) had a few lines, but everywhere else we hiked it was completely untouched. Awesome!

Our first turns of the day, we hiked for about 15 minutes to a spot on the Pan Dome face. This was where we decided to drop in.

First turns in powder were a little shaky for me, but Allan tore it up pretty good. What a feeling to not ride over anyone’s tracks!

Of course, I decided to turn on the GoPro camera on that run and lost it in the powder. I was so upset. I spent about an hour climbing up the face where I had ridden, digging and searching for the camera. Allan met me at the top and we spent another couple hours looking for it. No luck. Yup. You heard me. I freaking lost my new camera! I don’t know what I’m going to do now.

Well, we still had a great time. We stopped for lunch in a half empty cafeteria and then got a few more runs in that day. Legs were burning and tired, but it was exhilarating to be out again!

Can’t wait to go back to Baker. We’ll see where we hit up next! Tomorrow, I go to Trevor Linden’s Retirement Game… *sniff*.

As promised here is the video that I took with the GoPro Hero 5 Camera on my favourite drive in the whole world — the drive between Tofino and Nanaimo. I quickly edited this video in Adobe Premiere CS3. It’s about 2 minutes long. Bonus points if you know what the final location in the clip is!

I love photography, don’t get me wrong. But lately I’ve been looking for a new project (as if I’m not already busy enough!)… and I think it’s going to be video.

Now that I’ve got a helmet camera, and my DSLR, I feel like a video camera would be a great addition to my love for documenting my activities and those around me.

I’ve been watching a lot of snowboarding and surfing movies lately, and I’m getting inspired to cut my own moving pictures together to music and voiceovers.

I have a dilemma though. I can’t decide between getting a DSLR that does video, or getting a video camera. It may seem like a no-brainer to go with a video camera for video, but let me present to you the pros and cons of what I’m considering. I need your help!

My Goal

To be able to put together a high quality cinema-like surfing/snowboarding movie that can do well in most conditions, including low-light conditions, and be able to capture high speed action.

The Video Camera Option

Photo Credit: Canon.com website

I’d likely go for a consumer video camera, since I can’t afford to buy a $5k+ pro HD camera at this point in my life, especially not for something I’m just wanting to experiment around with at this point. I’m thinking either: a cheaper camera like the Canon Vixia HF11 (records to Flash memory), or a more expensive Canon XH A1 (3 CCDs).

Pros
- Tried and tested, a video camera will be able to auto-focus and capture high speed action
- Small and easy to handle
- Can capture long, continuous shots.. hours upon hours
- Some additional lenses (e.g. fisheye or wide angle) are available and not too expensive

Cons
- I’m not experienced with video
- Getting into a whole new system of accessories and add-ons to buy
- Needing to hold/bring two different cameras (the video camera and my DSLR)
- More moving parts to break

The DSLR Camera with Video Option

Photo Credit: The NikonUSA.com website

The newest generation of DSLRs are starting to come out with some limited video options. The Canon ones look really nice, but unfortunately I’ve already built my Nikon collection so I’m not going to switch. Thus, the only option for me is the Nikon D90. It’s basically the same as my D80, but with more features from the Nikon D3 and the FULL HD video capability. It’s an extremely intruiging idea.

Pros
- I can sell my D80 and only pay marginally more for an upgrade to the D90
- With that savings, I can pick up some nicer lenses for it
- I already have TONS of lenses that can be used with the camera, so all my video would reap the benefits of having those lenses (e.g. fisheye video, telephoto video, wide angle etc)
- Only one camera to carry around
- I know the camera very very well and feel comfortable with it, I could milk the depth of field options and exposure etc
- Already got all the accessories for it
- I get a nice step-up to a newer/nicer DSLR too!

Cons
- Limited to 5 minute video clips
- The video functionality is new and untested
- Auto-focus might struggle with high speed action?
- Need to buy much bigger memory cards

So basically, I’m stuck. I love the idea of just using one camera and using all my lenses, but I’m worried that the Nikon D90 might not do as good video as just having a video camera along. All the videos I’ve been watching on YouTube for both the Nikon D90 and the Canon camcorders I’ve been researching look comparable… but I would think they would look completely different blown up on an HDTV.

Any suggestions?