Weather Shift was shot on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. I started the trip in my 1986 Toyota Van wagon from Oregon’s central coast and it was quite the adventure. The weather in November can be finicky in the Pacific Northwest and this was definitely the case on the trip. Apart from dealing with the weather, I also had my brakes go out on the van as I was cruising through the forest of Washington State late at night. Kind of freaky when you’re barreling down back country roads and you get no compression in your brakes. Since I was getting pretty close to the ferry in Port Angeles, I ended up pressing on so I could get to a mechanic the next day as to not miss out on any surf. Oh, the fun of owning an old beat up van…
When I got into Victoria I met up with Ben and Steve for beers to talk game plan. The swell was looking decent so we ended up shooting the next three days. I tramped around the Island for about a week shooting the stunning beauty that Vancouver Island has to offer. One of the hardest parts of shooting in such wet weather is dealing with the condensation in your camera. I lost a telephoto lens to the conditions when I was up there which was a bummer, but such is the life of an adventure filmmaker. The lens was a sacrifice to the gods, paying my respect that technology is no match for mother nature. It was great to put the camera away for some of the time and hit up a couple surf sessions dodging logs and thick kelp. We tend to do things just a little bit different in Cascadia. I’m proud to call it home.
Words and pictures don’t even describe the immense beauty of this part of the world. It seems quite desolate and rugged. It really makes you understand the importance of preserving this part of the world from big oil and man’s impact. More than ever, we need to be vigilant in keeping these expansive areas protected.
Weather Shift from HYPERION on Vimeo.
