Looking down the Yukon River

I took a second attempt at making a video looking down the Yukon River from the top of the Midnight Dome.

Here’s my view as I stood a few paces behind the tripod. I don’t like to move around while the camera is filming for fear of making rustling noises with my jacket. So I stand still and look ahead, being calm and still. It’s my meditation. This is why I’m doing this. I’m outside, peaceful and calm, and I’m soaking in the scenery. And you get to enjoy the moment with me, over and over again if you wish!

The chickadees, redpolls, and ravens joined me! While processing this video in Final Cut Pro, I played more with the Equalizer setting and did research about the frequency birds use (between 1,000 Hz and 8,000 Hz) so I could suppress the wind a bit and make sure the birds were audible. It worked for the first time! I’m improving!

Here’s my view to my left. Once in a while you can hear the metal clanging of the air sock on the metal pole.

To my right, I could see the Tombstone mountains in the distance.

And behind me was the top of the dome.

Here’s the final result:

I was surprised at how much wind hit the microphones, but I realized later my wind sock/dead cat cover wasn’t tightly cinched down. If I take away the wind noise in editing, then you can’t hear anything, including the birds. I’ve got a lot of things to learn to make these better, so I’ll keep trying! I have a million ideas for new videos once the snow recedes and I can get around. Right now, the snow is knee-high or deeper and it is difficult to get anywhere easily.