Motivation comes at strange times. For me, the gears began turning sometime before 5 a.m., just after setting up a sunrise time lapse. As I crawled back into bed, I noticed Eric sleeping peacefully on the bunk above me. “Didn’t Eric say we could abuse him for any task and he would still by psyched to be in such a cool place? … why yes, I think he did … how far could I take this generosity?” As I continued this internal monologue, working out the details, the size of the pack Eric would be carrying got larger and larger. Whenever my motivation seemed to waiver, I would quickly imagine one less heavy item in my pack, moving it to Eric’s. Over breakfast, I broke the news.

One mile and 100 yards from the parking lot of the Monteverde Reserve lies the tree where Greg chose to hang his cloud collecting harps. The cloud collectors play a key role in data collection for Greg’s research and thus were a high priority on the shot list. The remote location, combined with the aerial activity that would take place made it a perfect location for the camera jib … I should rephrase that. The action of stringing the cloud collectors would be great to capture with the jib. The remote location was in no way conducive to the latter. This is where Eric would come in to play.

The day before the harps were scheduled to be hung was completely devoted to lugging the jib to location. Tarps, ropes, tripods, sections of jib framing, cables, and weights were stuffed and lashed into and onto packs. As Eric and I hefted the first of two 70 lb. loads onto our backs, tourists stared and guides shook their heads. We were asked if were going to the moon, and even pointed out as a rare species in the forest. The trail starts off on a nicely groomed path, rolling over several small ridges and valleys. At the half way point we veered off on a trail designated for the more adventuresome tourist. On dry days with a light load some caution should be used on its muddy and loose stepped slopes. The rain and the load, of course, did little to improve its condition. At the one mile mark we rested for a moment, took a deep breath and turned right. What is to the right you might ask? Well, not a trail. In fact, on initial inspection, one might say a wall. 100 yards of wet, densely vined, heavily foliated, closely packed limbs and downed debris lay between us and the desired destination. Most of the time,you cannot see your feet and thorned palms threatened any mislaid hands. Thoroughly drenched in a nice mixture of sweat, mud and rain, the packs crashed down at the base of the fog harp tree. One more trip and the camera jib would officially be “on location”.

The shoot day, while very busy, was extremely successful. All four of the harps were hung from the tree as layers of cloud raced through the canopy. Operating the jib was cramped amongst the forest, but in a way, we were trying to capture just that effect. Upon the day’s completion, we wrapped the jib carefully in tarps and headed off down the trail. Too much work had gone into its transport for just a day of shooting. Plus, there was a really cool looking stream nearby that looked like it could use a little camera time….

Colin  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The impressive mass of luggage I brought to the airport on July 7th had not so much to do with cameras. A few bags of climbing equipment, a modest duffel for clothing and a few hard cases with odds and ends amassed to a semi-passable amount of gear. At least for a two month long trip. Where the line was definitively crossed between a heavily burdened vacationer and “Oh my god, what the hell are you doing??!” came with the camera jib arm. (For those not familiar with a camera jib, it is simply a long lever balanced on a fulcrum with a camera on one end and weights on the other. It makes for some impressive dynamic shots (I certainly hope this is the case!), especially when objects are above head height. 

This particular camera jib measures 12 feet in length. Despite breaking down into smaller pieces it happily fills up a large hard case measuring 6′x2′x2′ and tips the scales at (… well at least with a carefully positioned hand to lighten the airport scale), 98 lbs. Next comes the jib support. A massive beast of welded steel disguised in the form of a tripod. Not an ounce of material was wasted in its construction. I can attest that every last pound is accounted for … again and again and again.

A few hundred dollars later and a good deal of grunting from baggage attendants in Denver, Miami, and San Jose, I heaved a groaning luggage cart through customs and into the waiting arms of Greg and Drew. Greg jabbed sarcastically, “Damn Colin, forget anything?”

While in San Jose we made a final run for small last minute goods. As we strolled into a Central American version of Walmart, I awkwardly proposed another item to add to our list. “So, Greg, I am thinking we will need about 50 lbs of free weights … ” While Greg did not respond verbally, his smirked look of confusion quickly melted into genuine concern. As two, 13 kilo barbells beeped through checkout, I could not help feeling like my sanity was still being questioned.

The jib made its Costa Rican debut about a month ago. It is a very selfish tool as it takes a good amount of everybody’s time and effort. (With that in mind, I eagerly ask for 4th and 5th takes as I gleam ear to ear at the images coming through the monitor. That said, whenever I mention the jib from here on out, please assume ‘we’.) WE … brought the jib down to the strangler fig by our house. The plan was to shoot a climbing sequence to illustrate the general ins-and-outs of rigging a tree and ascending into the canopy. Now, as the fig is not your everyday tree, we decided to take advantage of its “not your everyday” attributes. We put the jib inside the tree.

Surrounded by spiraling vines and large trunks reaching over 100 feet into the sky, the camera jib swung, dipped and elevated around all aspects tree climbing. (Being able to follow a climber at eye level, at close proximity, for the first 15 feet of their ascent is just another step closer to being in their shoes … and hey, that is a lot better than smelling them!)

After a long day of climbing and shooting, not to mention being at the downhill end of our trek, the jib, tripod, weights, cameras, climbing gear, and climbers trudged slowly back up to the house. After reviewing footage that evening, it was painfully clear that the jib would be destined for more remote locations.

Best,

Colin