Alister Chapman on stalking Killer Giants in the Sky
Opening Scene:
USA. Tornado country.
It’s in the middle of a flat grassy field.
The sky looks like the end of the world.
A figure in the distance freezes.
Not out of fear.
He’s actually transfixed for a moment on the looming dark swirling behemoth. Beguiled by the destructive mass, building power by the second.?Drawing strength from the circling air currents.
The man, ready for action is Alister Chapman, rally driver, film producer, freelance Director of Photography, electronic degree holder and most?notably, dedicated monster storm chaser.
Clearly Alister is no ordinary man.
Unlike most of us, he does not run from danger.?It might be fair to say, people like Alister run towards situations many of us would rather avoid.
His skill as a weather cinematographer is improved considerably by his eagerness to accept high risk.?His willingness to be on the front line in such extraordinary conditions.
Over the years, he has learned much about himself and the equipment needed to capture shots he has been obsessed by.
When it came to choosing camera tripods here’s what he’s learned:
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What's good about Miller Solo tripods:
"The Solo is unlike most professional video tripods as the legs are of the single tube, telescoping variety as opposed to the more traditional double tube variety.
They are constructed from Carbon Fiber, so they are very light, yet they can extend very heigh (1.87m for the legs alone), which is a great thing to have on news shoots or at an event or conference where you need to get the camera up above the heads of an audience. There is no mid level or floor spreader with this tripod, the spread of the legs is governed by latches at the tops of the legs that have 3 different positions, each one restricting the maximum leg spread by a different amount.?
At the same time as being able to go very tall by lifting a latch at the top of each tripod leg the legs extend outwards almost flat to the ground and this allows you to get very low down at a height similar to a Hi-Hat yet the tripod remains very stable and solid."
One of the things that really took me by surprise with the Compass 15 head was the smoothness of the pan and tilt drag. This really is one of the best tripod heads that I have ever owned. The pan and tilt drag really is silky smooth and there is no perceptible backlash. It really is a delight to use. It’s so good that I think I’m going to have to take a close look at some of Millers larger tripods for when I want a heavy weight option. Smooth, slow pans were easy to achieve, even at longer focal lengths. One small criticism of the tripod kit is that the single tube Solo legs twist a little more than most traditional double tube tripod legs, but then that’s the price you pay for going light weight.
How much kit does Alister carry for storm chasing?
?"I don’t have an assistant on these shoots so have to do all the kit lugging myself.
As well as the camera kit there is also 20kg of additional equipment needed to get real time weather data via satellite, two way radios, laptops, hard hats and safety gear.
So anything I can do to save weight and bulk else where is welcome and the Solo tripod scores highly for portability."
The Prize? Capturing the terrifying beauty of killer storms:
Alister Chapman shares his thoughts and professional advice on his blog, xdcam-user.com. He has been an ambassador for Miller since 2013.
We appreciate the support of professionals like Alister who use our product for their work and present helpful feedback on Miller's engineering and design.