Category Archives: Video

Day Trip to Point Dume, Malibu / Iron Man’s Home

March 22, 2015 Road Trip Randy Leave a comment

Point Dume – One of Malibu’s Top Scenic Spots

Remember that scene in Iron Man 3 where Tony Stark’s home gets blown up!? Where his mansion goes crumbling into the Pacific?? (That wasn’t a spoiler, by the way. That scene is in the trailer.) Anyway, not too long ago I went to Malibu, specifically to where that tragedy took place. Point Dume. Anyone can go visit the exact location. It’s a very beautiful area. It doesn’t surprise me at all that Tony chose it for his home.

tony stark home — This is Malibu in the middle of **winter**! But let’s be honest. It looks the same in the summer.

I took a day trip to Point Dume with my friend Charles. Malibu has plenty of great places to visit, but what makes Point Dume special is that it encompasses everything you imagine Malibu to be, in one place. It has an incredible view of the ocean from a bluff, access to Zuma Beach on the right, a rocky coastline on the left, all backdropped by huge homes (which managed to escape the attack on Tony’s undamaged, from what I could tell) and the Santa Monica mountain range. If you’re short on time, but want to see Malibu, I highly recommend Point Dume. You can even drive through the mountains to get there, which is an experience in itself. The only bad thing is that this “state beach” only has eight, maybe 12, parking spots. No joke. What kind of state park only has a few spots?! Welcome to California, Randy.

point dume 2 — This dude was probably looking for some Iron Man swag in the water.

Visiting Malibu and Point Dume was definitely a fun day trip. I’d love to eventually go to all of the big SoCal beaches and see which obnoxiously wealthy beach community I like best.

You may have noticed I add a video in most of my posts. Since I work in television, I’ve decided I want to start being a little more active in my craft during my free time. I’m hoping to improve my skills beyond “excellent lunch ordering” and “great binder organization.” So I’ve been bringing my camera along on my road trips to practice filming and editing more. Here’s my latest from Point Dume:

Have you been to Malibu? What are your favorite spots?

Photos, Reviews, Video

GoPro Hero 4 Black: Making Average People Look Cool

January 18, 2015 Road Trip Randy 5 Comments

Snowboarding with the GoPro Hero 4 Black – Review and Experience

I’m certainly no snowboarding prodigy. I can’t do any cool tricks, jump on any sweet rails, or land any big air jumps. The coolest thing I’ve probably ever done on a snowboard is accidentally doing a flip over my friend on the mogul hill and nearly taking off his head. Don’t ask me why we were in the mogul area. It’s clearly not built for snowboarders. Regardless of my lack of extreme skill, I love snowboarding. I pretty much only go straight down the hill or weave in and out of annoying skiers, but I love it.

When you watch cool snowboarding videos on YouTube, you usually see snowboarders doing really amazing things. For example, you’ll likely see guys doing triple backflips, holding their GoPro in one hand and eating a corn dog in another. That’s not me. Like I said, I usually just stick to barreling down the hill. So when I brought my GoPro to a recent snowboarding trip, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Was there going to be anything remotely interesting in the the pictures I take? Could I still make a cool video even though I can’t do an intentional backflip? Yes.

What I especially like about the GoPro is how well you can make yourself look like a badass.

GoPro Hero 4 black snowboarding — Doesn’t it look like I’m capable of doing a triple backflip while eating a corn dog?

I’ve also noticed how narcissistic I’ve become since getting the GoPro. I’ve taken more selfies since buying the GoPro Hero 4 Black than in my entire life. Oh well, all great things have their flaws (I’m referring to the GoPro, not me, of course).

This is my first GoPro. I bought the high-end model with a few accessories. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been testing out the GoPro’s capabilities. I took it to Griffith Observatory and Malibu. I tested it in my car as a dash cam. I even set it up to take a nighttime time-lapse of the sky and stars. I had yet to test out its video capabilities until I came home to Michigan for the Christmas holiday. I made the snowboarding video below.

Here’s what I love about the GoPro Hero 4 Black

-Excellent photo and video quality. And the color is so vivd straight out of the camera.

-Even when pointed into the sun, the camera can produce great images.

-Easy to use and carry. All the accessories are quick to mount with this camera.

-4k and 2.7k capabilities. I shot in 1080p for a variety of reasons, but those higher options are there for you, if you need them.

-Shots are surprisingly stable for being on a snowboard.

And here’s that video I made. No corn dogs or badass tricks for you to see, but I hope you still like it.

Note: Michigan isn’t known for its mountains. Don’t judge us by the hills we snowboard on!

If you can do sweet tricks, or you enjoy capturing every moment from the bathroom to the outdoors, or you just want a solid camera to take on a fun road trip, the GoPro Hero 4 Black is the way to go. Personally, I can’t wait to take this on my next road trip because it’s so versatile and can get the shots I can’t get with my DSLR.

It may sound like I’m reviewing this product in exchange for money. I wish that were the case!!! But, no, I’m reviewing it because I’m just that excited about how awesome it is…and because I wanted a reason to show you how badass I look in those pictures.

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In other news, I’m back in California. I picked up a Post PA gig for six months and hopefully this one will help me on my quest to become an editor. In the meantime, I’m itching to go snowboarding on a real mountain and take another weekend road trip somewhere in SoCal. Any suggestions?

California, Road Trips, Video

Palm Springs Road Trip Preview

September 16, 2014 Road Trip Randy 2 Comments

I went to Palm Springs this weekend. September is the wrong month to go (unless you enjoy 115 degree temperatures and closed mountains). More on that in a later post. Here’s a 7-second time lapse I made of Palm Springs at night with Mt. San Jacinto in the background.

HD. Full Screen. HD. Full Screen.

EDIT: I just realized you can’t see any of the stars in the video 😦 I’m going back to YouTube.

ROAD TRIP RANDY