March 19, 2012 First storm of the year! It's linear, but I'll take it!

Huh, our first storm of the season and it ends up being marginally severe. Better than the usual messy, featureless hailers which start the race to October. Shot between Buffalo, MN and Rockford, MN.





I need to get more experience with the new vid cam. With my VX2100 and PD170 I didn't have to "think" about what to do. After using them for 4 years, it all came as an automatic reflex. Now it was "did I set the infinity lock?" DARN IT! "Do I have the white balance where I want it?" DARN IT!!! After fumbling around, I did manage a few second of "useable" video. Encoding ACVHD files is also more involved than I thought. Still playing around with codecs to get the highest quality possible using flash. Maybe flash isn't the way to go. I need to get better...again.


Somehow I dropped the thumb screw for one of the quick release plates as the shelf overtook me. Screw it. With the dirt and sand getting blown into my eyes and moderate to heavy rain falling, I decided to leave it. Cailyn and I returned to the field approach today and sure enough, less than 3 inches from the little pile of rocks I made as a marker was the thumb screw. Note to self: always bring both tripods with regardless so this won't be an issue again.