Sean Stiegmeier

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

It’s exquisite footage and it was taken in his own time with his own money. I think that designation as both a videographer and photographer will be one that will crop up more and more in the years to come with high-definition video being introduced to digital still cameras. It’s also allowed for a great number of individuals and small businesses to go about designing and marketing their own video steadicam and support rigs. In the past these devices have been exclusively used by large production companies and studios but as Hi-Def video cameras get smaller and smaller so do the barriers to entry when it comes to support systems.

Yesterday he uploaded a video of the support system he used for the tracking effect in the Iceland video.  The apparatus fits in a ski bag and cost less than a grand to put together.  You can see a video of it here:

Dynamic Perception Timelapse Dolly.

By far the prettiest DIY shoulder rig I’ve seen is this one by Jonathan Bergqvist from Sweden.

And the award for ‘ballsiest thing to do with $5000 worth of camera equipment’ goes to this guy from Texas.  Shine on you crazy diamond.