Some Bow Drill / Photography Practice

[Mistwalker]

My oldest daughter wanted some pointers on certain aspects of photography so I got her to shoot a series of photos of me using a bow drill. I thought it would serve a couple of purposes. The different shades of colors of the subjects of individual files would be a good exercise in dealing with specular, defused, and reflected light, plus it would help her work on composition, detail, and perspective, and also she would learn a little more about a useful skill in the process. Besides, winter is coming so after a loooong HOT summer the practice sure wasn't going to hurt me any. She messed up some on a couple of the shots, but all in all I don’t think she did too bad.


Splitting and shaping some cedar for a spindle

Stripping off some bark for tinder. We were talking while I prepped the tinder and forgot to take any pics of rolling and fluffing the cedar bark…

I used a hearth board and bow I already had on hand so these are shots of getting the coal and blowing the tinder bundle into flame. She got smoked out at one point and got a good lesson in perspective through the lens, when to move, and the fact that getting the shot can often mean suffering some physical discomfort.

I should have used an A frame type kindling set up, but went with a star shape because it was quicker. It did give us a chance to discuss why the other would have been better to use and I set up a small one just to show her later, but fire was still achieved and she still learned how to turn the burning tinder into an actual fire.

You should have seen the look I got when I said “next time it’ll be me behind the camera and you operating the bow”…..


.

 

[pokesalad]

Absolutely great pics mistwalker. I love the fact that you are teaching your daughter these skills. I have been trying to think of a good way to get my daughter more interested and I think this might do just the trick! You are an inspiration.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Wonderful sequence of pictures. First class!

 

[caine]

Very Nice. That Tops feels great doesnt

 

[LMT66]

Nice bowdrill and great photography!

 

[Mistwalker]

Absolutely great pics mistwalker. I love the fact that you are teaching your daughter these skills. I have been trying to think of a good way to get my daughter more interested and I think this might do just the trick! You are an inspiration.

Thanks, I thought she did pretty well too. I started teaching her fire craft years ago when we used to go hiking together a llot more often. She can start a fire on a rainy day using chemical tinder or fatwood and a ferro rod or a lighter, but she is just hesitant to actually try the bow drill. I think I have her about ready to give it a shot.

Wonderful sequence of pictures. First class!

Thanks, she made me pretty proud. She has been working on her shooting a lot lately.

Very Nice. That Tops feels great doesnt

Yeah, it does feel good, a lot of the good feeling for me is in the durability of the full tang with that blade and handle shape over a stick tang. I also like the indexing notches next to the guard and the bow drill divots...and the tang extension.

Nice bowdrill and great photography!

Thanks man, she's gotten a lot better over the last couple of years. She's only recently started getting into the SLR.

 

[sicily02]

That is pretty cool Brian, lessions she wil have with with her the rest of her life. She really took some great photos.

Bryan

 

[kgd]

Good stuff Mist - its a real pleasure having someone do the shooting isn't it? Also, gotta take advantage of the light from those light cloud cover days when you can!

 

[Mistwalker]

That is pretty cool Brian, lessions she wil have with with her the rest of her life. She really took some great photos.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan, she is getting better, I may have to start using her as an assistant

The whole point was to sneak the learning part in under the radar

Good stuff Mist - its a real pleasure having someone do the shooting isn't it? Also, gotta take advantage of the light from those light cloud cover days when you can!

Oh most definitely, much easier than timers and remotes can be at times. Lol, it's autumn here, there should be a lot of those for the next little bit...it's foggy and rainy today, wish I were in the woods. With any luck it will be like this tomorrow too

 

[coaldigger]

Good Stuff 'Ol Bud ! Thanks for sharing.

 

[craig anthony]

Hey Brian,

Great post, I always enjoy reading your stuff and the pic's are fantastic. Almost through with my move, waiting on a job offer, then once complete will be able get out there with my boys and pratice some skills with them. Looking forward to your next post.

Peace,
Craig

 

[mtnfolk mike]

great stuff Brian.. your daughter did an awesome job on the pics..:thumbup:

 

[ml100]

Yes, excellent in every way.:thumbup:

 

[Mistwalker]

Good Stuff 'Ol Bud ! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks man, glad you liked the post.

BTW, I didn't actually forget about the flint, I just didn't have a lot on hand when my brother snagged what I had for a friend of his from an area where there isn't any. I went after more in the heat of the summer and after several strikes of a heavy hammer and a few wasted large pieces decided to drop back and research flint harvesting and waited till cooler weather. All the blood drawn from the flying shards drove the mosquitoes nuts and they damned near drove me nuts. When I get back up there next week I'll grab some more.

Hey Brian,

Great post, I always enjoy reading your stuff and the pic's are fantastic. Almost through with my move, waiting on a job offer, then once complete will be able get out there with my boys and pratice some skills with them. Looking forward to your next post.

Peace,
Craig

Thanks Craig,

Glad you enjoy the threads, she's getting good enough to be a good assistant...now that she is heading into the Navy...

Rabbit season and deer season will be here soon so the Hunter sheath will be getting a lot of carry. Even if it doesn't get carried the knife gets drawn and sheathed at least a half dozen times a day. It's still doing very well, and I'm still loving it ! :thumbup:

great stuff Brian.. your daughter did an awesome job on the pics..:thumbup:

Thanks Mike, the more she shoots the more improvement in her work I see and the more she makes me proud. Now...lol, if i can just get her to try the bow drill or flint and still and not be quite so hung up on a ferro rod or lighter.

Yes, excellent in every way.:thumbup:

Thank you for the compliments, I'll pass that along to Sarah.

 

[HornyToad]

I kept expecting to see that "tinder" you keep on your chin to go up in flames.

 

[trailbum]

Great post, this is a skill I really need to work on. Thanks.

 

[Mistwalker]

I kept expecting to see that "tinder" you keep on your chin to go up in flames.

Lol, I've singed it a bit a few times, but never burned it off

Great post, this is a skill I really need to work on. Thanks.

Thanks man. It can be intimidating at first but really not all that hard to do with a little practice. Plus I think it's fun and i get a lot of satisfaction from getting fire without using flames or sparks.

 

[Los Angeles]

Thanks for the photos!

 

[sambo.]

my $0.02:

she needs to watch her shutter speeds. some of these are shot at 1/30s or less.

this is fine when you want the blur of the motion, but be careful you don't get camera movement in there as well.

all in all, nice work. Nikon D3000, nice camera.

 

[Mistwalker]

my $0.02:

she needs to watch her shutter speeds. some of these are shot at 1/30s or less.

this is fine when you want the blur of the motion, but be careful you don't get camera movement in there as well.

all in all, nice work. Nikon D3000, nice camera.

Yeah, we had to talk about making adjustments in the shutter speeds and aperture settings at certain times, like because there was more available light when looking straight across at something than when aiming at the dark ground in the shadows and also more available light when not zoomed in. Plus we had to discuss hand movement. She is getting there though.