Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Quiet on the Set
I hope everyone is enjoying the White Marlin Open and looking forward to this month’s many other tournaments. Whether catching a big fish, small fish, first fish or prize winning fish, capturing the moment on video is a great way to remember and enjoy the moment for years. Unfortunately, as we all know, having the right equipment when the fish are ready is hard to do.
There are many systems and products on the market that are designed to help you capture video of your fishing trip. A top of the line system would include multiple HD cameras strategically placed on the boat, feeding an on-board recorder. At the other end of the spectrum is the now common Smartphone that you just take out and start recording. Many popular videos have been recorded by a simple Smartphone. What’s best for you? Let’s review the popular options.
Depending on the size of your boat, mounting multiple cameras feeding into a digital video recorder (DVR) can be set-up with guidance from the equipment manufacturer or a professional marine electronics company. Mounting the cameras, running the wires and configuring the system may take some professional assistance and a fair amount of time.
There are marine retailers who sell pre-packed kits that include all the necessary hardware to install an onboard camera system. These systems benefit from the ability to capture multiple streams of digital video for playback at a later time and the ability to transfer the video from the DVR to a computer where the video footage can be edited.
The smart phone, whether Apple iOS or Android, both now offer great video capture ability, including the ability to record in High Definition (HD). The newest iPhone can capture video at 1080p HD at 60 frames per second. Features like slow motion and time-lapse are great options and easy for most anybody to learn if you have the patience to study the owner’s manual. Using a phone as a video camera seems like a good way to capture video, but taking a $600+ phone out on a boat to use a video camera may not be the best option.
A good alternative is an action camera, with the GoPro brand owning a majority of the market. If you are not familiar with the GoPro camera, it is a compact, versatile camera in a waterproof case. GoPro currently offers five different models, starting at $130. The GoPro uses a very wide angle lens that allows you to easily capture high definition video from most vantage points, since you do not have to be perfectly steady or pointed exactly on the subject you are filming to get great results. The Garmin VIRB action camera is also a great camera, even better if you have a newer Garmin chart plotter that feeds data into the camera to track and overlay how fast, how far, how deep and how intense the moment truly was. The Garmin VIRB starts at $269.
Having a camera in the right place and ready to go is always a challenge. A fixed mount for an action camera on the boat is a great way to cover the fishing activity and the camera’s recording controls can usually be operated viewed by a remote. Some cameras allow you to record in a loop, allowing you to stop the camera and have the last period of video saved. Mounting the camera on a stick or pole and placing it as close as possible to the action is a great way to record images that make you feel like you are there. Often, these poles and mounts are designed to be used to record underwater action while fishing or bringing a fish to the boat. There are many companies that sell pre-engineered camera mounts to be used while boating or fishing, often making use of equipment you may already own.
Some of the most exciting fishing videos are the ones where the action camera is lowered into the water and towed behind the boat with the bait. A local charter boat, “Pumping Hard”, was one of the originators of attaching a GoPro camera behind their trolling dredge. Mike Burt, mate on the “Pumping Hard”, indicated their GoPro footage was recently featured on the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week series. If you were wondering, an action camera’s wireless signal does not work underwater. If you want to shoot underwater, you would start recording before you send the camera overboard and review your footage after you bring the camera back on-board the boat.
Garrett Penley, Professional mate and filmmaker, indicated it was easy to capture the video but hard to take the time to sit down and edit the video into a short, action packed clip.
Garrett spends a lot of time at home carefully watching his captured footage to select only the best segments to be used to create an enjoyable and exciting video. Garrett uses a combination of Instagram and YouTube to share his videos with friends and followers.
Some of the best video editing software packages are available at no cost. This software can be used to create a short video from the hours of video you have after days of fishing.
Garrett uses the free Windows Movie Maker software to edit and create his videos. GoPro users can download the free GoPro studio software and Apple users can use iMovie to edit videos. Whichever software you use, be sure to edit your videos to include your best action clips to keep it interesting and enjoyable to the viewers. Garrett indicated that videos over 10 minutes are too long to keep peoples interest, and videos running 6 minutes or less seemed best.
No matter what method you choose to record your fishing trip, don’t let the videos get lost on a memory card. Edit them to create a interesting and entertaining clip to share with family, friends and the Coastal Fisherman .
Captain Steve Katz is the owner of Steve’s Marine Service and holds NMEA, AMEI and NMEA2000 certificates along with ABYC Master Technician certification and factory training from many manufacturers..
