#spinpod

*Featured on the official GoPro channel on 18th November, 2014*

A video dedicated to the devoutness of the Tibetan people. As an autonomous region of China, Tibet is a predominantly Buddhist culture. Many of the people I've observed - both young and old - are deeply religious. I wanted to showcase the various kinds of devotion they show towards Buddhism. In my opinion, their religious culture poses a stark contrast to the officially atheist country of China. Whether it's prostration, praying, spinning prayer wheels, volunteering at monasteries or walking a kora, the Buddhist faith can be seen propagating everywhere. As some claim China is slowly culturally assimilating Tibet and edging out local natives to make way for more Han Chinese migration, religion seems to be their one way of making a difference. And it's true: Chinese language dominates especially in Lhasa, and there is a constant heavy security presence since the riots of 2008. When I first stepped into Lhasa it really felt like any other Chinese city - and I was quite dismayed. Only venturing out farther along our route to Everest Base Camp (or, 'Qomolangma' as it's called in Tibet) did I see the Tibet I wanted to see.

Shot during a 2-week excursion throughout Tibet in July 2014.

Technical notes: Armed with my new Feiyu G3 Ultra 3-axis gimbal, I wanted to discipline myself and try to use the GoPro to shoot a narrative or more artistic video. I'm shooting mostly on 1080/50 Protune so I couldn't preview what I was seeing. There were also some 720/100 scenes which were up-rezzed with InstantHD. The setup can be at times conspicuous as it's like I'm holding a medical scanner! It got quite odd looks at times.

Gear: Shot entirely on GoPro HERO 3+ Feiyu G3 Ultra gimbal Spinpod