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Matinee: 'Life Viewed From the Edge'
2 September 2023
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 516th in our series of Saturday matinees today: Life Viewed from the Edge.
This 3:24 video is a behind-the-scenes video of Colorado photographer Jason Weiss as he mountain climbs with his photographic gear through the night and early morning hours to catch sunrise at the summmit.
Life Viewed From the Edge is the title that appears on the video but the Vimeo title is the more descriptive if more pedestrian High Altitutide Mountain Photography, which describes the Miami native's penchant after growing up in a state that doesn't have mountains. None at all. The highest point is Britton Hill near Paxton at 345 feet. Hardly even a hill.
"I climb for hours in the night to shoot sunrise from a summit, capturing rare compositions from up high," he writes. "Without the aid of drone or aircraft, I carry all my climbing and camera gear to show the feats we can reach if we step outside our comfort zones."
There are drone shots in this behind-the-scenes video but that's not how he does his photography. He doesn't use a GoPro, either, for his fine art images.
He does carry a Nikon Z 7 along with Z system optics, including the 14-30 f4, 24-200 f4-6.3, 20 f1.8 and a 200-500 f5.6 Nikkor. He relies on a Gitzo Traveler carbon fiber tripod and Really Right Stuff's BH-30 ball head for his panoramic compositions.
You may want to take a tranquilizer before watching Weiss climb because that GoPro is mounted on his helmet and the view is often looking down. Way down.
Even at the summit, as he scoots along ridges or naviates narrow peaks, it's disorienting stuff. You'll have to look at his galleries to see what he's after. But he's shot in Colorado, Canada, the Himalayas, Montana, Alasks, South America, Wyoming, the Pacific Northwest, California, Arizona and the Swiss Alps.
We kept looking away from the video, shaking our head and muttering, "Just insane." But what a view.