It was great to get out on the lake at least once this season. I don’t begrudge my absence from the weekend schools, the mid-week sessions, and the sold-out Ice Dice events. But I do notice it.
Of course the fact that V and I have taken on the worlds biggest and best project (creating a universe incarnate) has influenced my ability to spend time out on the ice. But probably tied with that, is the mere fact that the WRX is still parked. I have had studded tires on the e30 since November, so there is no good reason to have kept the car away from the Ghost. But taking that car skating required a motivation that was external to the vehicle, whereas the WRX seemed to have a homing beacon that would take you there without much thought. The extra motivation that finally got me out in the Bimmer was a desire to play with video.
I bought a GoPro Hero 4 two years ago but was annoyed with my inability to pair the camera to my phone for remote control abilities so I just up and took it back – but I continued to think a lot about wanting to get cool footage that captures the joy of driving. Yes that would hopefully include action like drifting around ice tracks, but also the relatively everydayc activities such as night-time urban scoots or cruising local secondaries.
So lately a miriad of events got me interested enough to buy a GoPro knockoff that claims similar performance. Unfortunately, the wifi-remote pairing did not comply on this camera either on my fist trip out with it. So instead of being able to control the filming from in the car, I killed the battery after only 4 shots because our priority was to drive instead of stopping the car to get out and check/alter/cycle videography. Overexposed backgrounds of snow, combined with viewing angles that don’t show much resulted in a batch of lacklustre video.
I lust after a camera that will fly behind, above and around me – because I fantasize that tantalizing video would be produced without effort . But for the moment I will try to double down and focus some efforts toward:
A] figuring out and debugging the features of the hardware in my hands (it’s not you, it’s me?)
B] playing with mounts and doing the work to get shots from different angles (internal, external, off-car)
C] editing (time spent)
I am reminded that the e30 should probably get a project summary. This is especially true since I am falling in love with it and may or may not hold on to it for longer than I figured (which would mean ‘investing’ into it…)
I also shared with Q that I think I could write 30 seperate entries about all of it’s little charms.
In the mean-time, have an Instagram.
