Fort De Soto Beach Park

Thirteen pounds of charcoal briquettes. Check. Ten pounds of marinated chicken. Check. Large bag of frozen corn on the cob. Check. Canon EOS Rebel T2i with EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS lens. Check. This may sound like a Thanksgiving feast but it is only a day trip to my favorite Fort De Soto Beach Park with the family.



While the entire Northeast suffers through another record blizzard, the Tampa Bay weather enjoys another 74 degree sunny day. The local beaches invade my ChadSorianoPhotoBlog like Gasparilla Pirates.



As you may have noticed, the "boss" is expecting. Six more weeks to be exact until the cameras are rolling and clicking. I may have to expand my hard drive space. Baby Serena in Full HD coming soon. Do you think the maternity ward has room for an IGUS Drylin Camera Slider?



Somehow this attempt at a family maternity shoot went horribly wrong. Cute sibling kisses turned into "Twilight" turmoil.



Let me leave a favorite video of mine from my past local beach visits.

You can view more pictures in my Fort De Soto Beach Park 2011 Gallery.

The Florida Aquarium and U.S. Navy Divers

My son's recent school field trip had an unexpected surprise at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa, Florida. The United States Navy Divers were putting on a small display in the Coral Reef Exhibit as part of many events scheduled for Tampa Bay Navy Week 2011.



As my son gazed at the plethora of sea life through the 12 inch thick acrylic window, I set my Canon EOS 5D Mark II to movie mode to capture the panoramic splendor of the 42 foot wide view of this man made Coral Reef.



Sharks and Stingrays to Seahorses and Sea Urchins filled the young minds of my son's Kindergarten class. My mind was filled with a Fish Fry and Fried Calamari.



I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with a EF 24-105mm f4L IS lens. The camera was paired with a Sennheiser MKE400 shotgun microphone for audio. The Youtube video was shot at 1080p at 29.97fps. I edited with iMovie'09 and used Quicktime to compress a 1gb h264 video file.



You can view more pictures and videos in my The Florida Aquarium Experience 2011 Gallery.

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IGUS Drylin Camera Slider Video Test Review

The eleven hundred dollar price tag derailed my temptation of the Philip Bloom Signature Edition Pocket Dolly by Kessler. Believe me, you get what you pay for in this day of age. His cinematic tool looks like a fabulous piece of machinery but a little steep in the wallet for most. A quick Google search came up with an unusual result. A German industrial manufacturer specializing in mechanical systems with polymer bearing technology called IGUS. Confused?



I did not believe this at first but a quick search of IGUS on Amazon.com came up with a surprising affordable camera slider solution. For one hundred and fifty dollars, you get a precision Drylin bearing slider on a four inch by three feet piece of metal rail. The IGUS W1080-B with pre drilled holes to be exact.



A Manfrotto 701 HDV fluid head and Benro Carbon Fiber legs from my friends at North Tampa Photography plus a quick trip to the local hardware store, you can be setup very quickly for your next cinematic masterpiece. Well, I would not call my quick holiday weekend production shoot at Hermano Family Dentistry anything but epic. Dental eye candy fits the description better.



I used a Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with EF 85mm f/1.2L, EF 35mm f/1.4L and the EF 17-40mm f/4L lenses. I paired the camera with the Sennheiser MKE 400 microphone for audio and used a Manfrotto 501 HDV fluid head for my other shots. The wonderful behind the scene photographs are provided by the "Time Lapse Guru", Getawaymoments.




The IGUS Drylin Camera Slider W1080-B is the perfect size to handle the heft of the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with a large lens with no problem. Anything heavier on either ends of the rail can be solved by a two tripod system. For even a lighter rig, you can support one end with full size legs and the other end with a monopod.



The IGUS Drylin Camera Slider Video Test was an astounding success. This great value for the money cinematic tool provided an invaluable element to this production. This unbeatable combination from IGUS paired with an HD Dslr is a "must have" especially compared to the more expensive Philip Bloom Signature Pocket Dolly. You will be seeing more of the IGUS Drylin Camera Slider in my future productions.

IGUS Drylin Camera Slider Preview

I would like to introduce my upcoming HDdslr video test with the IGUS Drylin W Camera Slider with much anticipation. No, it did not come out of the box assembled as you see in the iPhone 4 picture but with a fluid video head, tripod legs and a quick trip to Home Depot, you can be setup very quickly.



I have a small video production shoot this weekend and I thought this would a great test bed for this neat little rig. Of course, I will have the video, production shots and a brief review of the IGUS Drylin Camera Slider very soon after. Stay updated on my Facebook Fanpage and Twitter!

ICE! Experience at Gaylord Palms Resort

My family started the New Year with a visit to snow and ice. Not the horrible blizzard that plagued the Northeast which shut down entire cities but ICE! and SNOW! at Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, FL.



2011 started with an almost 80 degree day in sunny Florida. My nieces in Atlanta, GA could not agree more with the much warmer weather. Irony and the cold weather traveled with them on New Year's Day for a chilling tour of the fabulous ice village and sculptures of the ICE! Experience.



We were encapsulated with 9 degrees of Santa and his reindeer, an epic Nativity display of such awesome stature and the all time favorite ice slide. I do not want to forget the SNOW! portion of this winter wonderland. Slushy snow activities filled the other side of the event like snow tube racing and a snow playground.



Entering this 9 degree bliss with camera gear can be a challenge. Cold fingers combined with rapid battery loss from extreme lower temperatures did not compare to the effect of condensation. When you eventually leave an overwhelming ice display, your gear will turn into a sweating, dripping and foggy mess. My weather sealed Canon EOS 1D Mark IV survived. My sister's point and shoot literally froze to death.



A small tip to the condensation wary. Bring a gallon Ziplock plastic bag to seal your gear before you step outside into a warmer environment. The sweat will form outside of the Ziplock and not short circuit your gear into oblivion. Just wait till the photo equipment warms up until you open the Ziplock.



You can view more photos in the ICE! Experience at Gaylord Palms Resort 2011 Gallery. Shot with the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV with the EF 24-105mm f/4L IS, EF 70-200mm f/4L IS and the EF 35mm f/1.4L lens.