Rob, Rambling - A lot of things interest me...

Bus Stops Are A Bit Different In Venice…

(via my Vimeo)

The water bus was one of the highlights of my trip to Venice a few weeks back. That sounds like something a bit odd to say, but it was a cool way to see a lot of the city quite quickly.

Our hotel was on the Lido, about 10 minutes from the main Venice islands, so we had to cross the lagoon every day to go do stuff, as well as get to the airport. The bus route from right outside our hotel handily went all the way up the Grand Canal, via St Mark’s Square, which was incredibly handy.

I found it so funny to be stood there, waiting for a bus whilst bobbing up and down. I’ve never felt seasick queueing for a bus before…

The buses themselves were fantastic, pretty much what you’d expect from a bus on water. We always stood outside, soaking up the sights and sounds, which I can highly recommend.

Orca-Watching in Iceland

(via my Vimeo)

Yep, part two of my whale-watching trip in Iceland a couple of months back. After the dolphins, we were heading back to shore when a message came over the radio that a pod of orcas (aka killer whales) had been spotted in the area.

We eventually spotted some fins a little way off, and before long there was a big pod of them around us, ranging from a mature, large adult male (the really tall fin in the video) down to a few calves. They got really close to the boat, and were quite incredible to watch.

It’s quite fantastic how smooth and sleek they are, given their size and bulk. They came out of the water a lot more than the dolphins did too, which made for an amazing sight. I think the best footage of them is from about 1:30 to 2:00, and then the last 30 seconds or so. But watch the rest of it anyway!

The first minute is the same as my dolphin-watching video, just so it is self-standing as a narrative by itself as well.

Dolphin-Watching in Iceland

(via my Vimeo)

I’ve finally got round to finishing the video of the dolphins I saw whilst in Iceland with the girlfriend at the start of December. Procrastination is a wonderful thing.

The boat trip we were on was theoretically a whale-watching excursion, but there are loads of dolphins in Reykjavik bay too, and it was a pod of these that we first came across. A little later, we saw a big pod of orcas (killer whales) too, so stay tuned for that video when I find some time.

They were really playful, swimming alongside, in front of, and underneath our boat, constantly coming up above the waves in ones and twos.

It really was quite the experience being out there and seeing them so up close. It’s astounding just how quick they are, and swiftly they can change direction. Their colours were also a bit of a surprise, as I hadn’t expected quite so much white/pale grey on their top halves, which you can quite clearly see when they get really close to the boat.

Oh, and there’s a brief cameo from the girlfriend at the start, as well as my tortured narration throughout. There was a guide on the boat, and it’s her voice you can generally hear describing the dolphins.

Looking Out From Waterloo Bridge

(via my Vimeo)

Filmed from the top deck of a bus the other evening, as we headed south across Waterloo Bridge. London looks freaking awesome lit up at night.

Monsoon in London

(via my Vimeo)

There was a brief burst of torrential rain this afternoon, and I grabbed my camera to record some of it. It was really damn loud, and we were a bit worried that soon it’d be flowing down the inside of the windows.

I need to re-edit this video, as I left a couple of the clips a bit too long. Something to do tomorrow night…

London Eye by Night

I was out and about on the Southbank one evening last week, and had my camera with me for once. I figured that I could take a few shots of the London Eye from some interesting angles, and put together a little montage.

I really like how it’s turned out, especially with the amount of purple set against the very black night sky. Yes, I need to get myself a tripod, because it was bloody cold and my hands were shaking a little!

Details of the backing track are on the Vimeo page.

Guide to Playing Cricket

(via my Youtube)

I put this together from a load of clips that I took whilst a group of mates and I had a day of cricket the other weekend. It’s a tongue-in-cheek guide to playing cricket, basically mocking our uselessness. I’m in the blue shorts and white t-shirt with headphones on it.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out, and the quality of my little Flip camera continues to surprise me. The sound is sometimes a touch low, but in general it gives fantastic performance for such a small camera.

Definitely worth watching in HD as well. Especially as it took my computer hours to render, and then a further couple of hours to upload!

Via my youtube.

And this is how I spent my Saturday. I was back home, so all the boys took a day of playing cricket before going out in the evening. Of course, it was drinking all day long, so the night got very messy very quickly.

I had my camera with me, and eventually we found the ideal spot for it during cricket. This is a mate’s first ball, and he got bowled LBW absolutely plum in front of the stumps, but wouldn’t admit it.

The screen on my camera is pretty small, so I’ve edited the clip for all to see just how obviously he got out. Bit of an in-joke, I guess, but it was fun to edit and put together.

Oh, and I’m in the white t-shirt in the top-left corner.