Scott Aichner + 1000fps
Not sure if it's lockdown here in the UK, or just the eternal search for something other than the usual surf industry surf content that has sent us deep into some internet rabbit holes. This time it's our tech fascination, slow motion has always been in our blood, back in the day I owned a Milliken DBM 5D 16mm film camera that cranked along at 500 frames per second, they were ex US/NASA military cams, and produced buttery smooth slow motion footage. Since then slow motion in digital, real slow motion, over 500fps, has always been a dream. Phantom cams are a little too pricey (£100k +), so when the chronos 2.1 from Kronatech appeared, capable of 1000fps in full HD, and available for the 'reasonable' £3500, it perked interest.
Enter Scott, whilst searching on Instagram for any surf users, a post from Scott with the 2.1 and an Essex Waterhousing appeared, and a sparkle entered our heart. For those of you that don't know, if you asked every surf photographer in the world to list the top five greatest water lensmen in the world ever, then Scott would be in every top five, and probably at number one for most. His art of placing himself in impossible positions at Pipe, Backdoor, Chopes and Puerto, on serious swells is legendary. His under the rail shots, epic giant fisheyes and impossible behind the surfer angles, all shot on film, often on medium format (so no fast drives), is next level stuff, and for a while his shots graced the covers of magazines globally every month.
Like a lot of photographers Scott moved on as the industry changed. But the joy of shooting barrels never truly leaves a surf photographers heart, and it has obviously not left Scott's and so finding his YouTube channel and the beginning of a new journey with this incredibly capable camera is a glimmer of excitement in a pretty bland online world. Take five minutes and start with this clip, Scott's positioning allows for the study of the intricate details of the inside of these little runners.
The dream now is obviously that Scott takes this back to the environments of backdoor and pipe, the possibilities are mouth watering.
This isn't all Scott has, we suggest you go subscribe to his YouTube channel HERE
And if you don't know much about Scott's photography, hit google, but here's a couple...
