Levi is the newest addition to our MPEX sales team, and while he loves photography, he’s also a dedicated outdoorsman. When Moishe found out that he and Levi shared a love of archery, they decided to take a trip to Velocity Archery Range.

I was more than happy to tag along. Archery is not an activity I had any particular interest in (at least before I went to the range), but I did have an interest in capturing some footage and making a video. The obvious choice here was the GoPro HD Hero3+ on a CYH Bow Mount, in addition to another GoPro on a tripod that would watch the target and a Canon EOS 70D and Tokina 11-16 lens for extra coverage.

Velocity Archery Range was only a 20 minute drive from the store, tucked away in a quiet, obscure lot among several warehouses. The range itself is located in a huge warehouse, with several movable targets tacked to bales stacked on wheeled pallets so that, if you were new to archery, you could shorten and lengthen the distance between you and your target. There were also rows of 3-D targets in the forms of deer, cougars, bears, dinosaurs, and yes, zombies.

We were sharing a range with several other archery enthusiasts, including kids who were taking classes. Archers fired off arrows for several minutes, then when everyone was done, a red light turned on to indicate that it was safe to walk onto the range floor and retrieve your arrows. It was cool to see this system work so flawlessly and to see everyone there act with patience, consideration, and congeniality. It all lent to a laid back vibe that I really enjoyed.

However, this also meant the window for us to set up our various cameras and GoPros was small, so we had to make sure the angles were right. The folks at Velocity were kind enough to allow us to set up one GoPro hanging over a target on the range, with our 70D on a tripod that was also on the range floor. I was a little nervous about one of the arrows hitting a GoPro, but Moishe and Levi were both confident enough in their abilities, and for good reason. These guys were aces.

It was especially fun for me to see Moishe in his element. We’re a family at MPEX, but he’s also my boss, so it was great to see him in a more casual environment, practicing a hobby he loves.

Moishe and Levi fired arrows for a good hour or so, during which I had a blast directing the GoPros and 70D with two iPhones (mine and Levi’s) running the indescribably necessary GoPro app in my hands.

Then Moishe asked if I wanted to give it a try. Like I said, archery was never high on my list of hobbies, mostly because I’m accident-prone and thus have a strong aversion to sharp things that fly really, really fast through the air. But Moishe promised that after I tried it once I would be hooked, so I tucked away all my anxiety, slapped on a trigger release on my wrist, pulled back the bow and let the arrow fly.

He wasn’t kidding. What I’m sure was a goofy, childlike expression came over my face, and I immediately grabbed for another arrow. And another. And another. I was an archery convert.

To edit the video, I used Adobe Premiere Elements 11, which I find to be simple, intuitive and not at all limiting for the kind of quick, simple edits I needed. The key was finding the right song, as I needed to sync the action up with the music, but once I found a good tune, it was as simple as creating beat markers on the editing timeline and cutting the action where appropriate.

If you’re looking for a good indoor range, check out Velocity Archery Range. They offer lessons, they’re good people, and they are amenable to GoPros.

All stills taken with a Fuji X100S