GoPro underwater focus fix

The GoPro HD Hero video camera has created a huge buzz this year. It is a small super wide angle video camera with a rugged underwater housing and several mountings for different applications: you can attach it on your car, boat, helmet, bike, wrist, fishing rod, guitar, model helicopter, plane, skateboard… Basically anywhere! It’s small and handy and films with a maximum 170 degree angle (720p or 920p HD). You can also switch to a narrower view of 127 degrees and get full 1080p HD. Well, read all about the specs elsewhere, this blog is not about that.

There’s namely one big disadvantage with the GoPro HD Hero. The underwater picture is blurry and out of focus. As they say on the GoPro official webpage: Please note that due to the curved lens of the waterproof housing for the HD HERO camera and standard def Wide HERO cameras, you will notice a slight loss of sharpness with underwater images.

I can tell you this loss of sharpness is not ”slight”. It’s a matter of being able to use the material or not.

Luckily, there’s a way of getting around this problem. Either you can order a special underwater housing from a second party manufacturer, or you can do as I did, modify your housing yourself. It’s easy, fast and cheap. Here we go, gopro:

You need:

• GoPro underwater housing
• Philips Avent baby bottle (probably some other brands do as well)
• Hobby knife
• Saw
• Sand paper
• UV-filter ø 58 mm
• Black permanent marker
• Epoxy glue

See the instructions on the following slide show:

This modified housing works great on the narrower 127 degree angle. The superwide angle captures some of the ring in the corners. However, I prefer the narrower view and the full HD when shooting underwater.

The result? See for yourself:

Huge trout – incredible!

Here’s a sneak peek for one of the upcoming blogs. Håvard caught this huge trout on one of our recent trips. Stay tuned, we’ll tell all about it later!

Super size trout

Short Report

Hi!

I just came back from Vadsø/Varangerfestivalen, where I had the great honour and privilege to play with the legendary Polish trumpetplayer Tomasz Stanko and his quintet.

I was substituting for the band’s regular guitarplayer, and it was so much fun! Tomasz’ compositions are really fascinating, totally open but still structured. Beautiful pieces.
The interplay of the group was very strong, and it was a true joy for me to play with those cats.

Some pics:

PS! Leaving for this summer’s last Lapland adventure on saturday. One week in the wild, hunting for big browntrout. Can’t wait (I’m bringing a (better) camera)!

Picture gallery from the north

Here are some pictures from one of the recent Jazz and Fly Fishing trips. Let’s start with the introduction:

Tour coming up!

It’s time for a tour in Finland now! In a couple of days we’ll be off for some gigs and fishing, and the producers will reveal first glimpses of the JFF television documentary series. We haven’t seen any of it, so it’s pretty exciting. Will we be making fools of ourselves in front of the audience that we will play for? That’s very exciting…

We’ll start off with a gig and a documentary preview in Helsinki and then head for a fishing spot called Eco-Rapids in North-Eastern Finland. The place known for the ecological values in fishing regulations in the area. Despite rather strong fishing pressure the waters and the fish population are kept as natural as possible. We will be visiting some of the many rivers and lakes in the area. Our aim is to catch one of the big trout that swim in those waters. Trout over 60 centimeters is not a rarity there…

After a couple of days of fishing we’ll have another gig in Jyväskylä in Central Finland, again with the documentary as starters. It’s so nice to be on tour again!

Here are some gig details for all of you who want to pay a visit!

Saturday 12.6.2010 19–23 @ Kapsäkki, Hämeentie 68, Helsinki
19:00 TV-documentary preview
21:00 Jazz & Fly Fishing band
Tickets 10 eur from www.lippu.fi and at the venue

Thursday 17.6.2010 19.30 – 23.30 @ Poppari, Puistokatu 2-4, Jyväskylä
19:30 TV-documentary preview
21:30 Jazz & Fly Fishing band
Tickets 7/5 eur at the venue

Urban Fly Fishing in Oslo

Urban trout – just another urban legend?

No! Check this out:

The Silver Rush

Here’s my answer to Håvard’s video gear madness. Chaplin didn’t have the super colors and stereo mics, we don’t need them either.
But the music! Duke Ellington and his orchestra played jazz when jazz was young and the fish were big. And Fredrik’s monster trout is finally revealed here!

Spring fishing in Ransarån

Vegard Veberg from the Norwegian magazine Jakt & Fiske came with me to the spectacular lower Ransarån in late May 2009. He wrote an excellent article about our adventures , and it was published in the latest issue of Jakt & Fiske. You can se a preview on their website: http://jaktogfiske.net/id/1804.0

PS! Tapani and yours truly are going there in early June this year, and I´m really looking forward to that trip! The fishing there is pretty tricky and very exciting – sight-fishing in crystal clear water with big arctic char and trout cruising along the banks. Poor Joona and Fredrik are busy with other stuff, and cannot make it. I guess they´re kind of jealous…  Mohahahahhahahahahah! Mohahahahah! Mohahahahhahaha!

Ransarån is just one of the interesting waters in the Kultsjödalen area. Satsån, Vojmån, Kultsjöån, Saxån and the Stekkenjokk plateau are other places where it´s well worth spending a week or two.

You can check out Ransarån and the Kultsjödalen area here: www.kultsjogarden.se/index.php

Ransarån

The JFF High Life

The tent woke us up automatically after the temperature in the morning sunshine reached 55C. It was good to take a morning swim in the river although the water was way too cold. Finally, we had the time to do some serious fishing without too much hurry. Did we catch anything? Yes we did.

On the last days eve in the tundra we had a concert and a fish feast at the base camp. We weren’t expecting any audience, but something nice happened, you’ll hear about it later.

Ransarån

This area holds some beautiful fishing waters that all have more or less the same name: Ransan, Ransaran, Ransarån, Ransaren…  We took the boat at lower Ransarån  to get across the lake Ransan. Our target was to go to the river-mouth of the upper Ransarån and hike upstream to find a good camping spot.

Taking the easy way across the lake

It was a very nice hike by the reindeer trail. Looking at the pools and streams our anticipation for the fishing was quickly building. Fredrik took the time to pick up some mushrooms. We ate them.

Håvard doing the Bear Song

The border of Sweden and Norway is amazing when it comes to scenic views and good fishing. The upper Ransarån is a versatile river in a bigger water system. The wildlife here is still very abundant, and during the boat trip I heard some stories of encounters with the bear. Since the area is one of the most densely populated bear territories in northern scandinavia, the stories were not hard for me to believe. But we weren’t here for the bear. I had a feeling we could easily spend two weeks exploring these waters and finding the best holding spots for the trout.

Fredrik's trout

As the sun went down, we were ready. And when it comes to fishing, night is the time when things really start cooking.