DCIM100GOPRO

When Collin Harrington originally sent us some still photos last summer from his GoPro Hero 2 that he took with his then new GoPro Remote, we knew the photography game in wakeboarding and wakeskating had changed a bit. Videos had already been changed drastically by the little devices, but not still photos. Collin was able to shoot some really cool, high quality stuff that was extremely close to print quality for the magazine. Then at the end of the year GoPro introduced the Hero 3 Black Edition and Collin again sent us some samples. This time we were blown away. The quality, resolution, dynamic range, and sharpness were all leaps and bounds better than the images from the Hero 2. We knew this time around we could get a cover, so we sent Collin on a mission to get some unique angles and keep us posted. What resulted were the shots in this article and the Gear Guide cover. It is pretty amazing to think that these days as a magazine we can send a rider out with the tiniest of cameras and get images that are quality enough for printing. Obviously a GoPro will never replace the professional photographers in any industry (how many fisheye-style shots can magazines and catalogs use?), but with the Hero 3 Black Edition there is another great tool out there for everybody, from the creative professionals to the weekend warriors who just want to get some cool-looking photos and video of their sunset session on the lake. Here is what our resident photographer and photo editor Garrett Cortese had to say about this month’s cover:

“In looking at the cover of the Alliance Wakeboard Magazine Gear Guide issue, a photo taken directly from a GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition camera, I can’t help but also look back and be amazed at just how much the world of photography has changed and advanced over the last decade. Ten years ago in 2002 I became the first photographer to have a digital photo spread published in Alliance Wakeboard Magazine, and as far as I know I was the first fully digital photographer in the industry, having never submitted a film negative or slide. That first digital spread in 2002 was photographed with a Canon EOS D30 (released in 2000); a 3.1 megapixel digital SLR. At the time it was very advanced for the price. I felt lucky to be using one and submitting digital photos to Alliance, something they were not used to (or very prepared for) at the time.

 Over the years advancements in technology have made digital processors faster, more powerful, and smaller. Apply that to photography and the results are obvious. The world is now dominated by digital photos and video; Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo. Cameras are found in phones, laptops, mp3 players, and everything in between. If you told me ten years ago that one day a cover of Alliance would be shot with a 15 megapixel camera that can shoot ten frames per second and is the size of about two rolls of 35mm film stuck together and is completely waterproof, I would have laughed. The GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition is basically the melding of a lot of the best parts of digital photography technology today into one little box. The fact that you can put the camera in so many hard-to-reach places and get such high quality photos and video is simply amazing. A GoPro will allow you the opportunity to document you and your friends’ riding in a unique, simple, and extremely fun way.” – Garrett Cortese, Photo Editor – Alliance Wakeboard Magazine

The Black Edition Hero 3 has a rear LCD, making it much easier to figure out what your shot is going to look like when you mount the camera

The Black Edition Hero 3 has a rear LCD, making it much easier to figure out what your shot is going to look like when you mount the camera

A shot like this is possible with a larger 35mm camera, but it would require a lot more effort and luck.

A shot like this is possible with a larger 35mm camera, but it would require a lot more effort and luck.

 

Collin mounts the waterproof GoPro remote to his handle and fires the camera as he's doing a trick in order to get crazy shots like this one

Collin mounts the waterproof GoPro remote to his handle and fires the camera as he’s doing a trick in order to get crazy shots like this one

 

New year, new camera, new gear... welcome to the future, future

New year, new camera, new gear… welcome to the future, future