Critical Mass

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Here's another Hyperlapse video I have created. This time Critical Mass Chicago of August 2014 is the subject. Biking around Chicago was an amazing time with such a large group of mostly-positive people. 

It's a bit shaky due to my iPhone 5 only being mounted with a Joby GorillaPod and a Glif+. Also, the Hyperlapse was processed at 8x, but I then doubled that speed when editing it together in iMovie. This reduces the amount of stabilization that Hyperlapse automatically provides. It was a sacrifice I chose to make in order to get the video to be of a reasonable length. Without the 2x speed increase in iMovie, the video would have been well over 10 minutes long.

Sidenote: does anyone know of any better iPhone mounts out there for handlebars that will allow for video to be recorded? 

This is a Hyperlapse video taken on Friday, August 29, 2014 of Chicago's Critical Mass. The route starts in downtown Chicago's Loop at Daley Plaza and then heads to Chicago's south side. Music track is "34 Ghosts IV" by Nine Inch Nails, available on the 'Ghosts I-IV.'


My First Hyperlapse Experiment

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Instagram released an interesting new app the other day called Hyperlapse. It's a clean app, with only one button to record. I hooked up my Joby Gorillapod for iPhone to my Surly's handlebars and hoped for the best after hitting play. While the ride was very bumpy, Hyperlapse performed admirably. I chose to have it play back the video at 10x normal play speed to compress the nearly 30 minutes of video into approximately two minutes. Check out the video below and let me know what you think. 

You can also get a great overview of Hyperlapse from Instagram's blog here.

Storm Front in Lostant, Illinois

While driving out of Chicago on June 21 to head to my good friend Brittiney's wedding at Camp Wokanda (pictures coming soon), I took Highway 39 south and was being chased by this massive storm front the whole way. The air was cold instantly and the wind was very strong. Eventually, I stopped in Lacon to grab something to eat. There it started hailing and the streets flooded instantly. Quite a lot of power behind these ominous clouds. 

A storm front moving south near Lostant, Illinois. 

A storm front moving south near Lostant, Illinois. 

Time Lapse Experiments in Chicago

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I rode out to the lakefront with my buddy Jeff on Monday, June 17, 2013 and we hung out to watch the weird weather. We encountered a lot of awesome sights that day, rolling lightning clouds, rains surrounding us to the north and south but just missing us, huge waves of sand being blown in the wind and most impressively, a double rainbow. I had my iPhone 5 with me and experimented with some time lapse video using my GorillaPod, Glif+ and an app called iLapse. I also had a lot of photos taken. Check it out below.

My Surly Long Haul Trucker, posing in front of Lake Michigan.

My Surly Long Haul Trucker, posing in front of Lake Michigan.

The wondrous, magnificent DOUBLE RAINBOW! Click on it to make it huge. 

The wondrous, magnificent DOUBLE RAINBOW! Click on it to make it huge. 

A panorama of the storms to the north and south of my location, including the double rainbow off to the left. Click on it to see it as wide as your browser. Make it full screen!

A panorama of the storms to the north and south of my location, including the double rainbow off to the left. Click on it to see it as wide as your browser. Make it full screen!

Chicago Skyline from Olive Park

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This photo was taken on my iPhone and edited on my iPad in Snapseed (which is currently on sale for free in the App Store). It was shot from Olive Park just north of Navy Pier. Did you know Olive Park is named after Pfc. Milton L. Olive, III, the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War? According to Wikipedia: "At the age of 18, Olive sacrificed his life to save others by smothering a live grenade." Terrifying.