Oh the Places You'll Go(Pro)
Pictures have always been a great way of keeping memories alive and with the revolutionizing of technology, it's no surprise the ways of capturing life's best moments are getting better. Now, not only can you upload and share photos instantly to things like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, but you can now literally take your camera ANYWHERE and do almost ANYTHING. The GoPro camera is taking the world by storm and is the latest and greatest thing to take on any adventure or trip.
The idea of the GoPro was started back in 2002 by Nick Woodman, the 36-year-old founder and CEO. He never planned to to redefine the market of digital imaging. Instead, he just wanted to shoot somewhat decent photos of the surfing he and his friends did. Unfortunately, the only way to get high-quality action shots then was to drag a cameraman with a wide-angled lens with you through the wave barrel, but that was highly unlikely! This got Woodman to start thinking about making a wrist strap that could possibly protect the camera from the water while surfing, but allow it to pop the camera up to get the “golden shot” and fold back down again after the photo was taken. He spent years trying to perfect the strap, but in the end, the straps weren’t his problem. The technology was. It seemed that just about every camera he used would flood or break after wiping out and after all the trial and error, Nick Woodman discovered that he shouldn’t create a strap company, but a camera company instead! It then took him a good two years to find a Chinese company that made inexpensive, reusable cameras for snorkelers and who were willing to modify their design to accept strap mounts, but the two years were definitely worth the wait! The company landed its first customer in 2004 to a Japanese distributor that ordered 100 cameras.
By the time 2005 rolled around, GoPro cameras still only had two employees: Nick and his friend Neil Dana. But, the two friends managed to create their first digital camera in 2006 (all the cameras prior were still using film) and Nick decided to fulfill his dream of enrolling in auto-racing school. He tried to use his camera in this new element by attaching it to the roll bar on the car, but the camera had evolved enough to handle this. The vibrations from the car completely destroyed the internal parts of the camera and rattled the batteries. But what truly brought the GoPro to what it is today was the buying of YouTube by Google in the fall of 2006. The camera was redesigned a little bit and more focus was brought to the quality of video rather than just photos(according to Woodman, the qualities of digital cameras’ video shooting weren’t that great”). Thanks to the ability to upload and share photos to YouTube, the sales of the GoPro tripled that year and have continued at a similar pace ever since.
As it turns out, even though the camera was designed specifically for surfers, the good surf camera translates perfectly well to other action sports! It's a very lightweight, compact, waterproof, and wearable/ mountable camera and has the ability to capture both video and photographs with various settings and styles. It’s the perfect companion for anyone! Whether you’re the professional getting that perfect shot or an amateur trying to figure out which shot to get, the quality of the GoPro remains the same for both. You don’t need any fancy lens for this camera! You can also use this camera on just about anything with the help from some mounts. It can be attached to a helmet, the end of a surfboard, suction-cupped to a car windshield, put on the end of a “selfie-stick”, or even attached to the chest or back of a dog, lion, bird, etc… The possibilities are endless!
For more GoPro action, ideas, tricks and tips, you can check out GoPro’s YouTube account (which I highly recommend), as well as their Twitter and Instagram for the videos and photos of the day!