Michelle and I went down to North Carolina this year for The Green Race, a world-famous, and world-respected, kayak competition down the Green River Narrows.
Normally I would have spent the afternoon shooting still images, but I recently picked up a GoPro HD Hero video camera and wanted to put it through some of its paces at the race. I built a special jib-type device which would give me an additional 6 feet of reach, allowing me to get the camera place that others couldn’t. It was a bit of a trial-and-error day, learning what the camera and I were capable of doing, but it was a blast. Here is the video I put together from some of my favorite footage that I collected.
A little about The Green Race:
No doubt the single most famous, most respected, and most competitive creek race on the planet, the annual Green Race remains a fabulous and homespun little affair held each Fall on the steepest section of western North Carolina’s Green River Narrows. Local boaters train here for much of the year due to the reliable flows, and people come from literally around the world to compete. More than five hundred friends and family members either hike or paddle in to watch and cheer on every racer, scattering themselves along the river’s boulders and bedrock near the photogenic signature rapid called Gorilla — a.k.a. “The Monkey” — heart and soul of the entire run.
The paint roller rig:
Well done. Really nice looks at Gorilla.
Thanks Clark. I had a great time at the event, and I hope I’m able to make it back next year!
Hey, Derek,
I sure enjoyed your video here–thanks for sharing it. I was impressed with your boom rig for the GoPro: a neat solution there. Would you care to share any details about how you set that up? I recently got the GoPro camera and would like to build a similar setup. I understand you used a paint roller on a pole, but I’m curious about how exactly you rigged the camera to the roller mechanism to obtain and keep a good frame.
Thanks again–good luck in your continuing photography ventures.
-Chris
Hi Chris,
It’s a pretty simple setup. I used a 4″ paint roller (the smallest I could get at the local Home Depot). If you still have the black, plastic base that the camera came attached to when you purchased it, that’s what I attached to the paint roller. I just cut it down to size and actually used zip-ties to hold it on. Then I could use one of the quick-release mounts. I’ll add a couple of pictures to the post.