Japan Home Movie

I took so many photos in Japan but didn’t really make it a priority to take videos (as usual). I always love when I stumble upon an old clip from our travels, but it’s usually something silly like one of us dancing in a hotel room or something we thought was amusing at the time. Those videos usually just end up on Instagram stories or never to be seen by the public, on a hard drive.

We did manage to string together this video of a bunch of clips from our time in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Every time I watch it I want to go back to Japan ASAP. But it also makes me wish I spent a little time thinking about making compelling videos instead of it being an afterthought.

About a decade ago, we bought a tiny octopus-like device with flexible arms called a Joby Gorillapod. It was meant to screw our little point-and-shoot camera onto so that we could wrap it around a tree or prop it up on a bench to get pictures of the two of us when we were traveling alone and didn’t want to ask another tourist. So, when Joby reached out to us to see if we’d like to try something from their new range of equipment, we thought it would be fun given we were early adopters ;) JOBY has an entire section on their website dedicated to phone tripods and devices that are perfect for people who want to make creative videos.

I'm looking forward to trying out the gear they sent us. We already have a large rig for our Sony and a big clunky old tripod for the DSLR, so the Gorillapod Mobile Rig will be lightweight compared to the two - which means it’s more likely we’ll actually reach for it and makes it easier to travel with.

If you’re curious to see us testing it out, find me and on Instagram where I’ll be posting about using the rig in my stories in the upcoming weeks. - Mina