Chase Jarvis Blog: POV Photography: One Helluva Bird's Eye View

POV photography has come a long way. I've long had a serious interest in it, but this video by José Luis Ortiz (and behind the scenes photographed here by Erwan Grey) brings a whole new meaning to helmet cam. Couldn't pass on sharing this...

It used to be a pie in the sky idea to get a "birds-eye" view. Then we made cameras smaller, and we attached them to remote control helicopters. Now we're just strapping them straight to eagles!? Sure some pro cine guys could argue this footage has some room to grow--say smooth cam in Final Cut Pro--but don't tell me this isn't amazing. Props for the innovation, guys.

Dig at the 5:50 and after 7:00 mark the kind of speeds at which this raptor is diving. I'm excited to see where this type of video can go. Can I please watch this bird hunt?

Photo of the rig and addt'l POV stuff after the jump.
--

Photo by Erwan Grey.

The whole story, in Spanish, plus lots more of Erwan's photos here. Thx NotCot!

[Makes my Chase Jarvis TECH: POV Photography video look like child's play.]
[Guy Ritchie, however, sure has figured it out with some help from Nike.]

Labels: inspiration, videos

29 Comments:

Chase 'n Kell said...: Incredible.

I have done that with the remote control planes and helicopters, but that is closer to what man dreams of when wanting to fly in my mind.

Thanks Chase!; 12:02 PM
Nicholas Critelli said...: Mad props on the idea!
I've seen these birds hunt around JFK in NY, they use them to keep the flocks out of flight paths to lower bird strikes. Seeing the real bird's eye view is something else altogether.
Thanks for sharing.

-N; 12:04 PM
J Sandifer said...: Sick video...thanks for bringing it to our attention!; 12:11 PM
Chrissy Perkins said...: Incredible view. Just awesome. Thanks for sharing!; 12:24 PM
Celso Miranda said...: This footage is astonishing... Kind of makes you want to grow some wings...

And the speed... Makes me breathless to see the acceleration and deceleration that these birds can do. Thanks for the share.; 12:50 PM
Ryan Smith said...: I've been wanting to do something like this with my dog, but haven't been able to figure out how to mount a camera to her head.

This gives me motivation to film her running through the forest.

Awesome footage!; 1:11 PM
Larry Ockene said...: Reminds me of a Sam Easterson video installation that was at ICP a few years ago as part of Ecotopia, titled "Animal, Vegetable, Video". Sam outfits critters large and small with video cameras. The range was amazing - flys, tarantulas, armadillos, falcons, cows, tumbleweeds and more. His original site is no longer active, but you can find a few videos and still frames at natureholdsmycamera.com, YouTube, etc.; 1:57 PM
Craig Lee said...: Wow! That is an amazing video. I've always been partial to raptors, thus it was awesome to see that.

Next I would like to see a similar set-up with a dolphin or porpoise. I saw some video like that from National Geographic where they mounted cameras to penguins. But, to do the same for dolphins in a pod ... that would be incredible.; 2:10 PM
Rick Lohre said...: Kickin'!!!
Anyone remember "The Beastmaster" movie from 1982?; 2:14 PM
Chaz Circa:1984 said...: If you ever wondered what flying would be like outside of a vehichle or man made object, this is it. Very amazing video.; 2:22 PM
ves said...: I could watch this all day long.....well......sort of. This is a great video.; 2:49 PM
Zak.Shelhamer said...: Holy smokes thats so next level, way better then my pov!; 3:24 PM
Zak.Shelhamer said...: those dives are the sickest too! Chase I wanna see you get one of the waterproof pov cams that gopro makes and strap it to a fish, I bet they see some crazy stuff.; 3:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Gotta love min 5:50 onwards of this... Very nice stuff; 5:41 PM
danno said...: super bad ass. good post chase

rocksteady,
danno~; 5:52 PM
Glockoma said...: Raptors, particularly eagles, are my favorite subjects...this is too cool...thanks for sharing Chase!!; 5:59 PM
Glockoma said...: Raptors, particularly eagles, are my favorite subjects...this is too cool...thanks for sharing Chase!!; 6:01 PM
Ricardo said...: You guys are sick !; 6:30 PM
fas said...: That is certainly awesome. Seeing it so close for the first time.; 5:17 AM
www.andrewkemmis.com said...: Holy Crap!!; 9:00 AM
Cynthia Wood said...: if the rig is attached to the eagle's underside (as shown in the still photograph), why does the video appear to have the rig attached to the eagle's back...? just curious.; 9:47 AM
Adam said...: Stunning.; 4:35 PM
Marcos G. Meider said...: This post has been removed by the author.; 4:49 PM
Marcos G. Meider said...: Chase, I first saw POV in wildlife on a BBC Documentary called "ANIMAL CAMERA" where Steve Leonard explains the secret behind the of birds of prey in flight. Check it out!.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lswBDZuL-8w; 4:54 PM
Tim Knight said...: Now that I am completely airsick, I'll move on to the next entry.; 3:56 PM
Paul Lambert said...: Holly Cr*&#$

After watching this video for the second time, I know I am going to some wide and crazy dream tonight.
Paul Lambert; 10:23 AM
Marcvs said...: F***ing with wildlife minding its own business... Why didn't I think of this?!; 7:43 PM
Evan said...: Had a friend try this out over the weekend, except he was in a glider. He used two cameras, one on the tail and one in the cockpit. It gives you a similar feeling but a little more smooth in flight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB5SYLU8UbkI love this concept of POV photography and video.; 8:23 AM
Austin Photographer said...: incredible. I will be sending that to my peeps shortly. Thanks for passing this along.; 1:06 PM