Is It Worth Making Your Own Snowboard Clips?

by Fraser
Updated:

Why do the likes of you and I take a video camera with us when we go snowboarding?

The obvious answer, I suppose, is that we want to record ourselves and our friends/family, snowboarding, so that we can watch it back later. There’s nothing wrong with that; nothing at all. But do I sometimes spend too much time on it? Do you?

A couple of things have prompted this post. First, I was sorting through a bunch of camcorder tapes, working out which ones were from last year. In doing so I watched quite a bit of the video we took. It was fun, but I didn’t see a lot of good stuff, and I say that in relation to how many times we took a camera up with us. In the two seasons prior to last season, I ended up with some footage that I thought was a step forward. Some off-piste stuff, some nice natural hits, the type of stuff I’d like to get more of. But I didn’t see much of that this time around.

And the second thing was an article I read in a magazine asking “Do good photos matter?” The article was asking if the average reader of a snowboard magazine is really bothered about good quality photos; would they rather see photos of their mates?

Incidentally I think the answer is “yes”. When I read a snowboard magazine and look at the pictures, some of them make me stop and think how the hell do they do that? or that looks so awesome I want to be there. The relavent point here is that it reminded me that for photogaphers and video makers, it’s their job. Making a video part can take a whole season. I know there are stories of riders who put things together in a really short period of time, but on the whole, it’s a big job that takes a lot of effort.

If I’m shredding for two weeks of the winter and I score a couple of good powder days, do I want to be worrying about getting some footage? Or should I just be enjoying the moment?

I do think that making a video of your snowboarding matters. At least, it does to me. I love watching over my snowboarding experiences. It’s good for remembering the times. It’s good for analysis and similarly it’s good for progression. It gets me excited about going snowboarding. And most importantly it’s fun. I like making the video clip.

But I do worry that my goals are perhaps unrealistic. Unjustified. To get better footage than what I’ve been getting it’s more compramise on the actual riding. How about just leaving the camera at home?

Who knows? What are your thoughts?

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