Capturing Slow Motion at The Forks: Skating with the DJI Action 5 Pro
- gear4greatness
- Feb 24, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 17, 2025
By Gear 4 Greatness
🛷 Capturing Slow Motion at The Forks: Skating with the DJI Action 5 Pro
There’s something special about winter at The Forks — the way the cold air wraps around you, the way the sounds soften under the snow, and how the skating trails feel like they connect the whole city together. ❄️✨ Every time I go down there with a camera, I feel like I’m stepping into a little pocket of Winnipeg magic. The ice glows under the afternoon sun, the river breeze carries this crisp, unmistakable winter smell, and people move across the frozen surface like they’re part of a quiet dance. This time, I brought the DJI Action 5 Pro with one goal: capture slow-motion skating that actually feels like The Forks — the glides, the turns, the bursts of energy, and that calm winter rhythm that makes it such a perfect place to film.
The moment I hit record, I could feel the stabilization kick in — that smooth, steady, almost gimbal-like quality the Action 5 Pro has when it’s in its element. I shot everything in 4K 120fps, and right away I could tell the footage was going to have that glossy, cinematic look I love. There’s something about seeing a skate blade slice across the ice at one-fifth speed that makes you appreciate the movement differently. The little sprays of snow, the subtle shifts in balance, the way someone’s shadow stretches out across the rink — slow motion turns all of it into something almost poetic. And filming mid-afternoon, with the sun floating low and warm, the light wrapped itself around the skaters in this beautiful golden outline that made every shot feel alive. 🎥🌄
I handheld the camera at first, letting the movements of my wrist shape the footage, but what impressed me was how the Action 5 Pro stayed locked in no matter how quickly people moved. When someone zipped past me, the camera tracked the motion effortlessly, and the rolling shutter stayed in check even during fast directional pans. Later, I mounted it to my chest so I could skate alongside people — and that POV footage brought the whole experience even closer. You could see the ice reflecting the sky, hear faint skate sounds, and feel that rush of being in the middle of winter movement. The cold wasn’t too harsh that day, maybe -5°C, but the air still had that bite that keeps you awake and present. And as golden hour crept in, the rink shifted from bright white to soft amber, creating a natural warmth in the footage that felt like The Forks in its best light.
When I got home and pulled everything into CapCut Pro, the footage came to life even more. The 4K 120fps clips slowed beautifully, giving me clean, detailed sequences of every glide and crossover. Speed ramping felt natural — like letting a moment swell and then release. I added a bit of contrast, lifted the shadows, and warmed up the mid-tones to enhance that late-winter glow I saw on the ice. Paired with some soft ambient music and just a hint of natural skate sounds, the whole edit clicked into place. There’s something satisfying about seeing raw footage transform into something emotional and immersive, especially when you know exactly how it felt to be there in the cold holding that camera.
What I love most about filming at The Forks with the Action 5 Pro is that it feels effortless — like the camera understands the environment. The wide field of view pulled in the skyline, the runners passing by, the little kids learning to skate, and all that winter energy that makes The Forks feel alive. Shooting slow motion out there wasn’t just technical — it felt like capturing the heartbeat of a winter afternoon, one glide at a time. 💭❄️🎥
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🌄 FINAL THOUGHTS
There’s a certain calm that settles over you at The Forks in winter, especially when you’re holding a camera and watching the world move in slow motion. The cold air sharpens your senses, the sounds soften, and the whole place feels suspended — like you’re inside a snow globe that’s still turning. Filming slow-motion skating brought me right into that feeling. It reminded me how beautiful simple movement can be when you pause time just enough to study it. The way skaters lean, the way the ice reacts, the way sunlight wraps around everything — all of it becomes clearer, quieter, and more emotional in slow motion.
What I took away from this shoot was how well the DJI Action 5 Pro blends into real-life storytelling. It didn’t fight me. It didn’t complicate things. It just let me capture what I was seeing, exactly how I was seeing it, with a level of clarity and smoothness that brought the footage to life. It taught me again that good gear doesn’t just help you film better — it helps you notice more. It makes you pay attention to the tiny details you’d normally miss, and those little details are often what make winter moments feel meaningful.
And on a deeper level, watching slow-motion footage of The Forks made me think about how we move through life. Most days we rush — from one task to the next, one moment to the next — barely noticing the things happening around us. But slowing down, even through a camera lens, reveals the beauty that’s already there: the reflections in the ice, the sway of someone’s step, the glow of the sky just before sunset. It’s a reminder that there’s a rhythm to life that’s easy to miss unless you stop and breathe it in.
If I had to leave this shoot with one line, it would be this:Sometimes slowing down is the only way to really see how beautiful the moment already was.
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