• The Pier - Saint Petersburg, FL
  Date: January 14, 2008 - 1508 Hours ET
  Location: 'The Pier', Saint Petersburg, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  05:14 [ 138 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Video taken at The Pier located in Saint Petersburg, Fla., January 14, 2008.

• Niagara Falls - Prospect Point - Aug 19, 2009
  Date: August 19, 2009 - 1736 Hours ET
  Location: Prospect Point, Niagara Falls, NY
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  Lens Used: Raynox 1.7x Wide-angle
  18:20 [ 511 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Niagara Falls - Prospect Point, August 19, 2009.

• Niagara Falls - 'Maid Of The Mist' tour - Aug 19, 2009
  Date: August 19, 2009 - 1900 Hours ET
  Location: Prospect Point Boat Dock, Niagara Falls, NY
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portraight, Auto-iris / Auto-focus
  11:03 [ 308 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Maid of the Mist tour. August 19, 2009 - 06:00 PM EST. We got on from the American side, beneath the Prospect Point tower.

• Niagara Falls - Fireworks Show - Aug 19, 2009 Date: August 19, 2009 - 2100 Hours ET
  Location: Prospect Point, Niagara Falls, NY
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Fireworks / Manual Focus
  07:30 [ 511 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Niagara Falls Fireworks - Prospect Point, August 19, 2009 - 09:00 PM EST. This was an awesome show. Very nice. Worth sticking around and waiting for. The position we picked was a good one and we got to see the whole show without anyone sticking their heads and/or bodies in front of us.

• Niagara Falls - 'Cave of the Winds' Walk - Aug 20, 2009
  Date: August 20, 2009 - 1519 Hours ET
  Location: Beneath the Bridal Veils Falls, Niagara Falls, NY
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait, Auto-iris / Auto-focus
  21:29 [ 602 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Cave of the Winds walking tour. I thought this was actually pretty and interesting. There was a wait for the elevator down and back up again, but it was worth it. You got to get really close to the churning rapid wake of the falls, and very close to the bottom of the Bridal Veils falls (on the 'Hurricane Deck'). There was plenty to see and it provided for plenty of footage.

• Niagara Falls - Terrapin Point- Aug 20, 2009
  Date: August 20, 2009 - 1724 Hours ET
  Location: Terrapin Point, Niagara Falls, NY
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait, Auto-iris / Auto-focus
  21:40 [ 604 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Terrapin Point. August 20, 2009.

• Bahamas Vacation 2011 - Chapter 1
  Date: March 6-8, 2011
  Location: Gainesville, FL to Hialeah
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: (various)
  04:31 [ 55 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  First chapter of the Bahamas Vacation Video. This version is improved from the 'rough draft' video (see farther below). Touched it up a bit. Broke it up into smaller "chapters" for online use. This chapter deals with the drive from Gainesville to the Hialeah campground. Yah, yah. I know. Poor wittle Mustang needs a wash. (sigh!)

• Bahamas Vacation 2011 - Chapter 2
  Date: March 06, 2011
  Location: Hialeah to Port of Miami
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: (various)
  10:21 [ 127 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Driving to the Port of Miami. Arrival at the Port. Boarding the ship. Checking out our room and the ship. Exporing a little.

• Bahamas Vacation 2011 - Chapter 3
  Date: March 07, 2011
  Location: Port of Miami to Freeport
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: (various)
  09:25 [ 116 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Leaving the Port of Miami and heading out to Freeport.

• Bahamas Vacation 2011 - Chapter 4
  Date: March 08, 2011
  Location: Arriving at Freeport, Bahamas
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: (various)
  06:20 [ 78 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Ships in the ocean. Beautiful sunrise at sea. Arrival at Freeport.

• Bahamas Vacation 2011 - Chapter 5
  Date: March 08, 2011
  Location: Visiting Freeport
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: (various)
  11:44 [ 144 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  Disembarking the ship. Driving to the Garden of the Groves. Scenes from the Garden. Visiting the Straw Market at the port.

• Bahamas Vacation - The 'Rough Draft' Video
  Date: March 6-8, 2011
  Location: Gainesville, FL to Freeport, Bahamas
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: (various)
  30:43 [ 217.7 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  This was the PRELIMINARY video, covering just the first part of Bahamas vacation. This first rough draft version only covers up to the arrival at Freeport harbor. Just to show everybody the progress. The FINAL version (see above) was changed a little. For this vacation video I tried to experiment a lot with various background music, changing scenes on musical beats, special effects, and played around a LOT with the software's video stabilization feature, which sometimes worked great, sometimes not. I have almost 12 hours of total video covering this and I 'budgetted' 2 hours for the final movie, and will break the vacation up into 8 parts. 2 hours = 120 minutes. 120 minutes / 8 parts = 15 minutes *allowed* budget per section. I'm only halfway done, right now, covering five parts, and I'm already a little overbudget on the middle parts. Not an easy job. I have a seriously mean and ruthless editing/cutting job to do. For example, we have Gainesville to Hialeah (done); Hialeah to the Port of Miami (done); Miami to Freeport (done); Freeport itself (done); Freeport to Nassau; Nassau to Great Stirrup Cay; GSC to Miami; Miami to the Keys; and the Keys to Home. I'm trying to decide if I want to make the Keys one part or break it up into two days/parts. The map effects apparently cannot be background faded like in the Indiana Jones movies. But I may have discovered a way to force that to happen, anyway. I have to get ingenious, but I think I can make it happen. (Done.) I forgot to add us LEAVING Gainesville. I can fake that and add it in. (Done.) Want to figure out a way to do outside shots of the car as we drive (done), and some shots of the front wheel spinning as we drive along. I think I can do that. (Wasn't able to do that this time around. Maybe next video.) For the parasailing video, I'm bummed that I didn't think to bring my mini camera on my tee shirt so that I had some shots of what it was like while actually UP there. (sigh) I have shots of us all in the boat, leaving the marina. I have shots of Kathy and I going up, and coming down. I have shots of us all in the boat, coming back. I don't have external shots, which I should have thought about before we left the marina. I could have waited until the boat left with the second load of people and videoed THEM leaving the marina, and then ran to the edge of the docking pier and videoed the boat heading out into the open ocean. (sigh) I didn't think about that. (Next time.) All sorts of things to think about when making this video. I'm thinking the end product will have to be a low-res/low quality version for online and the real product will be placed on a DVD with a menu, and I'll distribute THAT to family members. I used a lot of background music soundtrack to help the movie along. I think I chose fairly well and that it's turning out fairly decently.

• Disney Cruise Ship Fireworks - March 08, 2011
  Date: March 08, 2011 - 2234 Hours EST
  Location: Between Freeport and Nassau, Bermuda
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Nighttime / Sunset
  02:14 [ 14.7 MB ] [ Widescreen format ]

  Aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship Norwegian Sky, while Kathy got ready for dinner, I stepped out onto our cabin's balcony and experimented with the camera a little and took some shots of the stars and of the ocean flowing under the ship. Then we headed out to the 'specialty' restaurant that we'd made reservations for. We'd just finished our dinner in Cagney's Steakhouse, located in the starboard aft section of the ship on Deck 12, and we were ordering dessert, when suddenly I noticed fireworks had begun to appear over another cruise ship visible off our stern. I quickly grabbed my camera and began taking video. One of the waiters told us that it was a Disney ship and added that they apparently have little fireworks boats which fire off the fireworks at a distance from the ship. (Unable to confirm that, though.)

• Key West - Parasailing, Part 1 - Mar 13, 2011
  Date: March 13, 2011 - 1315 Hours EDT
  Location: Off Key West, FL
  Camera Used: Sony MVC-CD350
  Camera Mode: (unknown)
  00:53 [ 18.4 MB ] [ Standard 4:3 format ]

  Kathy and I going parasailing over the waters of Key West. This is video of us as we took off from the back of the boat. Our own adventure lasted about ten minutes. There were 12 people on our boat. The trip lasted about an hour. So each pair of us got about ten minutes. Attendant took 5 photographs of us, and 2 videos using his own camera. The VIEW from up there was pretty awesome. There were other parasailers - maybe 4 or 5 others on the horizon, a few random ships, a marker bouy or two, a cruise ship docked in the dock a mile or so away, and nothing but lots of crystal blue water everywhere beneath and around you. It wasn't as windy as I thought it would be, either. Just a nice gentle breeze, allowing you to talk at a fairly low volume. It was actually very peaceful up there, and the ride was very smooth - going up, while cruising, and as we were coming in. I recommend EVERYONE try this. It isn't the least bit scary at all. No herky-jerky motions, no thumps or bumps. Just peace and quiet while you're up there. I think I'm going to do this from now on *every* time I go on any sort of a water vacation. Oh and...rent a SeaDoo for sure! We didn't do that this time around. (This video only shows the video that the employee took of us going up, and coming back.) Other scenes that I took myself from the boat will be in the main vacation video.

• Key West - Parasailing, Part 2 - Mar 13, 2011
  Date: March 13, 2011 - 1323 Hours EDT
  Location: Off Key West, FL
  Camera Used: Sony MVC-CD350
  Camera Mode: (unknown)
  01:18 [ 27.3 MB ] [ Standard 4:3 format ]

  Kathy and I going parasailing over the waters of Key West. This is video of us returning to the boat.

  Here are some photos, too...

  • 20110313-01 - Pre-flight
  • 20110313-02 - Pre-flight
  • 20110313-03 - Pre-flight
  • 20110313-04 - Pre-flight Thumbs Up
  • 20110313-05 - Pre-flight Kissy
  • 20110313-06 - In The Air
  • 20110313-07 - In The Air
  • 20110313-08 - In The Air
  • 20110313-09 - In The Air

• Key West Sunset With Boat
  Date: March 13, 2011 - 7:32 PM ET
  Location: Key West, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  2:35 [ 142 MB ] [ widescreen format ] [ ALTERNATE: You Tube ]

  Sunset at Key West. Couldn't have PLANNED a shot with a boat crossing the sun like this. I really lucked out, there. It was such a beautiful shot! The sun set atop some key in the distance. Caught it from the moment it touched the horizon up until it disappeared below it.

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