Pennsylvania Game Commission: Wildlife Documentaries

Pennsylvania's Wildlife Documentary Series

and

PENNSYLVANIA ELK: Reclaiming The Alleghenies

To the best of my knowledge the Pennsylvania Game Commission has produced detailed video documentaries on three species. Harold “Hal” Korber did most of the shooting, video production, and editing. It is possible that assistants aided him at times in certain aspects of the work.

The first was, “On the Trail of Pennsylvania's Black Bear”. This 100-minute video documented a year in the life of the black bear along with quite a bit of information about bears and bear management. It was narrated by Dr. Gary Alt, who was later to gain fame, or notoriety, depending on ones’ point of view, as the architect of a whitetail deer management plan designed to drastically reduce Pennsylvania’s deer herd.

This was followed by, “Pennsylvania Whitetails: Living with Change,” which was 75 minutes in length and was two years in the making. Land Management Officer, David R. Koppenhaver of Bedford County, narrated it, although if I recall correctly he was a District Conservation Officer at the time. I had the privilege of working in his land management group, and on my promotion to Maintenance Supervisor, he became my immediate supervisor.

Pennsylvania Elk “Reclaiming The Alleghenies” is an 85-minute production, which was released on VHS video in 1999. It was shot in the approximate time period of 1995-1998. It was narrated by then PGC Elk Biologist, Rawland “Rawley” Cogan.

All of these videos are available yet today from The PGC Outdoor Shop, but they are in VHS only. They were introduced at about $30.00 each, but are now selling for $5.00 each.

As I mentioned in previous postings, Billie Cromwell shot significant portions of the elk video with the Canon L2 camcorder. His preferred lens was the Canon 35-350 L with the EOS adapter.

My Canon L2 with 35-350mm L : Billie Cromwell used a rig like this to shoot the elk video.

Hal Korber is an excellent cameraman, but he had to use what the PGC provided him. Initially this was a monstrous S/VHS industrial camcorder, but during the course of the shooting he was provided with either Mini-Dv or DV-Cam equipment. The S/VHS footage had a colorcast and noisy areas in the image. It is easily possible to tell this camera from the others.

Mini-DV was the hot new prosumer format and DV-Cam was similar but more geared to the professional market., These formats should have been superior to the Hi-8 format of the L2 and in fact most likely was on a sheet of written specifications. In actual use, the superb Canon optics outweighed any advantage gained by the Mini-Dv format and it is difficult to tell footage from these cameras apart. I well remember Hal telling us that we definitely did not need new camcorders. In spite of the performance of the new equipment, he was still impressed by the image the analog L2s delivered.

The bottom line was that Hal had a limited amount of time to shoot, with tremendous pressures to bring this complex project to completion, while also dealing with other demands on his time. Hal did shoot the interview portions and also quite a bit of the wildlife segments, but it was a tremendous advantage to have Billie available with his L2 to assist in the wildlife shooting aspect.. The 35-350 was approximately the equivalent of a 89mm-1890mm zoom lens, in 35mm still camera terms. This enabled Billie to take stunning video in many situations where Hal could not.

Distant Meadow: Canon 10-D 28-135 mm at 28mm

Herd in same meadow: Canon L2 with 400mm Telephoto.

I didn't keep records of specific shots with the L2, but to the best of my recollection the above shot was taken with an old Spiratone 400mm pre-set lens which was between $50-$75.00 new in 1974. This lens was not very sharp and standard definition video does not make excellent stills, but this does give one a decent idea of the long range ability of this outfit and how it enabled Billie to really "reach out" and get outstanding footage.

To be continued:

This Camera Changed My LIfe!

The Canon L2-A Life Changing Camera!

Canon L2 with 75-300 Canon IS: Elk County Pennsylvania

When I acquired the L2 in 1997 I was an avid squirrel, woodchuck, and turkey hunter, but my first and foremost interest was hunting the whitetail deer, whether it be with gun or camera.

A favorite activity was hunting turkeys in the fall, which coincided with the mating season of the whitetail deer or “the rut” as it is commonly known. I acquired my first SLR, a Minolta SRT 101 in 1974 and from that point on usually had a camera along. When I changed to video in late 1990, the SLRs were replaced by a VHS camcorder. I didn’t carry a tripod so that I could also have the firearm along.

This approach worked well for several years, but over a period of time I found that I enjoyed the whitetail photography and video recording more than the turkey hunting, and often wanted to kill a turkey quickly so I could put the firearm away and concentrate on the photography. Although I didn’t have inkling at the time, this compromise situation was about to change.

As I mentioned earlier, I bought a used L2 camcorder in May of 1997. That fall I bought a Canon 75-300 EF IS zoom lens on the recommendation of the same Kim Morris who introduced me to the long lenses on the Canon L cameras. This lens worked quite well and became a favorite until I replaced it with the Canon 35-350 L.


I was literally like “a kid in a candy store” with this outfit. For the first time I was able to really reach out and get video footage. Where previously one had to hide in blinds to get subjects close enough, now larger animals such as deer and elk could be photographed at extremely long range so I was able to range over the countryside in search of wildlife and still get good detailed video footage.

One drawback was that the L2 required the use of a tripod in almost all cases. In time I came to realize that this applied to all camcorders as I became very aware and intolerant of shaky footage. However, with the L2 and the powerful lenses it was even difficult in some cases to get good footage with a tripod because of vibration.

When fall arrived I realized that I had to choose between my old methods of operation or I could leave the firearm at home and pursue the wildlife with the camera. When it came to the crucial test the camera won out, at least until deer season.

I did hunt deer that year, but a new way of looking at things was surfacing almost unbeknownst to me. I videotaped a nice nine-point several times in the fall of 1996. To my surprise I saw and recorded him that summer on a farm less than a mile from where I saw him in the fall. He was definitely the same buck, but he was now a large ten-point. When rutting season arrived he moved back into the area and I recorded him on numerous occasions. One day I realized that there was no way I would shoot him with the rifle if I saw him in deer season. Even though I had not encountered him at close range and he had not bonded with me, I now viewed him through different eyes and felt a bond with him. As luck would have it I did not encounter him and so was not put to the test, but I am certain that I would have let him live.

That was one factor, but another of equal importance was that this camera caused me to spend more time afield and to see animals doing things I had never witnessed before. I began to identify with them, and changed from observing and photographing them as possible targets of a hunt, to photographing the animals and interacting with them being the entire reason for being in the field. This may not have the excitement of putting an animal down with a bullet, but to me it had a much deeper satisfaction and I felt much better about things at the end of the day. As one gets older, they require less and less excitement anyway.

The following year I only took the rifle one day on a half-hearted walk into the mountain. I hunted one morning and evening with the muzzleloader and that was it. My gun hunting was over!

Within a year this camera would inspire me to travel to Shenandoah National Park and in 2001 to Cades Cove in The Great Smoky Mountains

Young Bull Browsing In Spring: Althugh not taken with the L2, that camera was responsible for renewing my interest in still photography and I got the Minolta's back in service in 1999 and changed to Canon DSLRs in 1999.

To Be Continued: