Do It Again...

 

Off to Sturgis once again.  Solo... Joan is not a fan of the noise and the traffic, and I get that.

I tried some new things with cameras; some worked better than others.  Rather than pour over hours of video, I grabbed a few snapshots from those video clips.  Leaving Hart Ranch, I had the Go 3 mounted on the "chin" of my helmet, but I did clear out some of the mounts...

 I think that view will be good for some video - I like the "rider's point of view."

The traffic coming east from Sturgis was heavier than the west-bound traffic heading towards Sturgis.  In years past, I have considered the Wednesday of the Rally to be the busiest, outside of the weekend.  Now that the Rally starts on a Friday instead of a Monday and takes in two weekends, it is anybody's guess on the busiest day(s).  It sure seemed like a lot of bikes loaded with gear and RVs and toyhaulers rolling east.  If history repeats itself, there will be more people arriving for this weekend.  But last year, the final Sunday was surprisingly light for traffic.

Rolling into Sturgis, there wasn't much of a wait at each of the stoplights and stop signs (placed to keep traffic moving slow through town).  I timed it to get to Sturgis just after the "noon photo" where the crowd fills up the traffic lanes on the first block of Main Street, to be in the "official daily photo."  There were parking slots available in each of the first 3 blocks - another sign that the crowd is smaller today?  I parked the bike and got my photo/video gear ready.  It was my first chance to use the clip that holds the Go 3 camera on the bill of a cap...

This was just OK for what I was shooting... I guess I am used to framing the shot the way I like.  I tried using the "action pod" part of the Go 3 to monitor what I was shooting, but then the camera was pointed down... or I held that pod up and it got in the shot.  This usage may take some more practice.  ;-)

Next different gear: using the DJI gimbal with my phone...

This actually worked pretty good.  The iPhone 14 Pro does a good job with video.  But, it is a bit more obtrusive.  I used the Insta360 One X2 for some riding shots down Main Street, but I didn't walk around with it this time.  This is the easiest camera to shoot with, but takes more time in editing after the fact.  And, it is definitely easier to move through the crowd with the X2 on a selfie stick.

A couple photos with the phone/gimbal...

I see if time allows me to work up all the different video I shot today... at some later point.  It is all downloaded, so just a matter of working it up in video production software.  Later.