Tasmania Footage days 3 and 4.

The work we have been doing here in Tasmania for days 3 and 4 of the race. Enjoy!! I did! Production by NothinButShorts:International

Today's Camera Positions

Each picture is a different camera position from today. Just today. Another sweet day in Tasmania.

On the Coast, Finish and the Race goes On...

 As the race leaders rounded Rocky Cape, Tasmania yesterday and today I was fortunate enough to be stationed on the section of coast in the picture. This is the actual GPS report from my spot tracker as I was sitting there waiting for teams.

Film location on Rocky Cape Tasmania, Spot Tracker

The race winner and leaders came in last night and this morning. I apparently showed up in a Live UStream feed. The pictures are screen captures of you friendly unshaven, stinky cloths, three days without a shower, starving, Tasmanian cameraman in action at the finish. The race goes on for the mid field of racers for the next 4 days. I go back out into the field tomorrow to record the carnage Tasmania has wrought on the racers. There is suffering everywhere.

Mugging for the camera.

Interviewing the 1st place team.

More Footage from the AR Worlds in Tasmania

The following clip was from Day two of the race. Most of the ground shots are from my 10hr trek down to the rappel and out the Canyon. This was one of the most epic sections of the race. I am still impressed my Sony NX70 survived the 7 hours of river crossings. I was also impressed I was able to keep up with the 5th place team in this bush and on the river.

Jurassic Park and Deep in Middle Earth, just Another Day at the Office

AAAARGGGHHHH!!! AHHHHH!! Grimacing yells broken by hyperventilating gasps shattered the sounds of a waterfall setting that could only be in Jurassic Park. They plunged in and crawled out, from rock to rock, crossing the base of the waterfall. Nearly naked, all of my clothes and gear in a dry bag, I commit to the river. I jump in after the team, the shock of the cold water forcing wails and gasps for air. There is not turning back now. I will travel the next 7 hours down the Vale River, near hypothermic, falling, bashing my knees and shins on the rock, swimming, crossing the river nearly 20 times, forcing my body though thick bush and filming. Yes, filming the whole way trying to stay with a world class adventure racing team in 10th place. I am moving so fast not even the leaches can stay with me. My latest passenger burst, spilling my blood, when he is smashed as my arm collides with a rock catching my fall.

Cameraman Erik Nachtrieb turns the camera on himself while swimming the canyon

The day before, I climbed deep into middle earth. The cavern opened into a beautiful display of dripping limestone, and I went deeper. Pushing myself through a gap in the rock about the size of, well about the size of me. I slip though, crouch and move forward, alone in the pitch black. The ceiling begins to drop forcing me to my knees, forcing me into the water running along the bottom of the passage, the ceiling pushed more as I dropped to my belly in the water and scurried along the bottom holding my camera out in front of me. In one foot of water with about a foot and a half of air between the water and the rock above me I found my camera hovel to wait, in the pitch black, in the water, in 2.5ft of space, waiting for teams to slither by.

What will tomorrow bring?!?!

The video I shot in the cave can be seen in the embedded video.

8inch Cave Spiders, Beach Training and we are off!

Test running my bush gear.

Ready to head out to film the race today. This is about how my work day breaks down, starting in the AM. The race begins.

I will start out filming on a boat off the shore of Tasmania, among Great White Sharks and Whales for the first kayak leg. I will then be heading into thick bush for a few hours. Coming out of the bush, I will then make my way down into a limestone cave where I will shimmy my way through narrow spaces, to film in the pitch black, chest deep in water for two hours with spiders the size of dinner plates. No kidding!

All business on the Tasmanian beach

Not a bad day at work I would say.

You can follow my spot tracker here to see where I am at...
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=03FC9zvUL1riYyH1yD1HamvmJ82uEGKjv

Follow the racers spot trackers and daily uploads of video, blogs, pictures and other stuff put up by the race organization.
http://www.arworldseries.com/

The Full Race Course Fly Over...Where we will film this week!!

Check out the Full Course fly over released today. The 2011 Adventure Racing World Championships: Tasmania, starts tomorrow...and so do we!!! Cameras going to the field!!
 

Near Collision, Night Recon and Snake Rescue Plan

It was dark and he was coming at me fast. There was much room to move. Anticipating, I start veering right to avoid a collision. He keeps coming both of us angling to the right. There isn’t going to be any room to get by.  My brow narrows, senses heightened, we come in close on each other, at the last second I determine he’s not going to give me space. I swerve hard left careening of the hallway wall as my head spins right. Our eyes lock. His look says,  you’re an odd bloke. Apparently, Tasmanians walk on the left hand side of the hallway of the hotel as well as drive on the left.

We are still hold up in the hotel, well for at least 5-6hrs of sleep each night. The camera team is gelling well as we have already had about a 5 day adventure ourselves. We look forward to shooting in the bush, the actual race. We have one more day in town and then the race start. The teams get the maps tomorrow. Our camera team has already been over the course, by car, helicopter and on foot. The teams are in for likely the most amazing race produced in many years.

Erik's reaction to the course during a night recon.

The original plan for later in the race. “Erik. We’re going to drop you on the road at 5AM. Head into the bush on this section. It’s a really rugged section. When we flew over it looked epic mate. You're probably going to be in there 10hrs or more filming. Look for teams, travel with them, film the story, pop off, wait, find another team and we will pick you up at the end of the end of your excursion. Make sure you have all of your safety gear. If your bitten by a snake, apply a soft tourniquet, set off your SOS rescue beacon, don’t move to keep the venom from circulating and we’ll come get you, well eventually. Don’t worry mate, you have about 12-24hrs before you're dead.” Tasmania has three snakes. All three deadly.  The only snakes in Tasmania are deadly. It happens to be the beginning of snake season. Perfect.

Erik, Mike and Tim on a day time recon.

That was the plan a day ago. The new plan. “Erik, mate. We just talked to one of the guys who created the course. No way you are going in there alone. It’s to dodgy and dense. We decided you're are not allowed to enter the bush in that section without a team. Stay with them until you know where you are. Wait for another team and travel with them. If your alone out there, we will never get you back out. So, keep moving at a forward pace filming, and you must get out of there by dark. You must. Snakes are the least of your worries mate. Perfect.

Tasmanian Devil Ginger Beer!

I’m 30% excited, 70% scared. Getting lost or bitten by a deadly snake, both happen to be my primary concern. I love Tasmania. I am about to find out if I am as tough as I think I am.

Top Secret! Course Recon and Cameras

Exhausted and an early morning. I can't speak of my day as it is Classified under the title...We went over the maps and reconed 2/3 of the course. What can I share...Hope they are prepared.

Tim on the 5D with the 400 2.8!!

If you're really intuitive you can make part of the course in Mike's Sand map.

How are we going to shoot this long shot?

Erik explaining a top secret Tasmanian location.

Crayfish, Attack Leaches and Breaking the Law

Today’s advice: “I was standing for about 5 minutes in the bush and I had 6 leaches on my trousers. One of them mid thigh! Look out for those mate.” Camera man and colleague Tim conveys to me. “You’re going to need salt in your socks and rubbed on your shoes. But likely you are going to be covered in them anyways. You’re really going into the shit this week.”

Blogging for the 5 of you reading this. :)

In the midst of 80 teams of 4 descending onto Burnie Tasmania, likely over 400 people including media, life goes on. A misty morning in a the sleepy harbor of Stanly I catch a fishing boat slipping in to unload. Stacked high with wooden pots they begin raising boxes of crayfish or what I would call huge lobsters. Beautiful red and irritated they were destined for dinner.

Making our way back along the Tasmanian beaches I capture tidal pools, seaweed and sponges of amazing color, oranges, neon greens and muted yellow. Beautiful but redundant after about 30min. I wanted some action.  Something dynamic, a wild animal.

I decide the rocky beach area just in town might afford us some creatures. We heard penguins were around at times. If not, we can get waves splashing on rocks, I guess.

Stepping over the beach boardwalk fence on the rocks I work my way down towards the water. “Get out of there. Now!” My grandmothers voice calls out irritated. I turn to see a furious sweet older lady with an official name tag glaring at me. Startled I make my way up, away from the surf crashing behind me, to understand what she is saying. I stop just on the other side of the fence amongst some rocks with the sweet lady furiously insisting I, “Get out now!”

Right before the brilliant idea of going over the fence.

“I’m just walking down to the rocks. Is there a problem?” “Get out!, Get out” Wow, this woman is rather insistent and not one for taking pause for explanations. I ease myself out as she now calms herself. “I take it a can’t be in there?”

After listening to her, I study the area I was tromping through, deciding how I would film the endangered 8 inch tall penguins amongst the rocks of their fragile nesting grounds where I now notice the eggs.

Approximately 15 I’m sorries, I had no idea, and holding myself back from pointing out absolutely no signs anywhere to be seen, we are invited back for a private viewing of the penguins at dark, as they emerge from the ocean. She turned out to be a truly gracious  lady to a truly oblivious imbecile. As amazing as that might seem, I will have you know that penguins turn into little penguin statues, not making for good footage, when you cast a huge LED light panel on them.

I will search for action elsewhere. Maybe attack leaches will prove interesting in a few days. (photos to come later)