Capturing Summer in Slow Motion with the DJI Action 5 Pro + ND32 Filter
- gear4greatness
- Jul 14, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 6, 2025
🌞 Capturing Summer in Slow Motion with the DJI Action 5 Pro + ND32 Filter
Some cinematic moments just happen — they catch you off guard, right when you weren’t even planning to film. 💭 On a scorching summer afternoon, I found myself standing by a public fountain, watching the light dance across the water. The air shimmered, the droplets sparkled, and I knew there was something there — something worth slowing down. All I had was my DJI Action 5 Pro, a ND32 filter, and a few spare minutes. 🎥 No gimbal, no tripod, no setup. Just instinct. I hit record, shifted into 4K 120fps, and let the moment unfold.
The simplicity of this setup was exactly what made it work. ⚙️ The Action 5 Pro is such a capable camera for spontaneous filming — lightweight, pocketable, and surprisingly cinematic when handled right. The ND32 filter instantly became the unsung hero, taking that harsh summer glare and turning it into something buttery smooth. 🌊 It let me lower the shutter speed enough to introduce natural motion blur — the kind that makes moving water look alive instead of twitchy. Without that filter, the highlights would’ve blown out, reflections would’ve turned harsh, and the whole mood would’ve been lost to overexposure. But with it, the water looked like silk, every ripple flowing in rhythm with the light. ✨
Filming handheld added something organic to the footage — a soft, breathing movement that made the slow motion feel personal instead of robotic. I just moved with the rhythm of the fountain, framing intuitively, letting the camera float with me. 🌬️ When I brought the clips into post, D-Log gave me room to shape the mood. I added warm tones to mirror the heat of the day, lifted the mids slightly, and boosted the blues just enough to make the highlights dance. The water came alive with detail — golden where the sun hit, cobalt in the shadows, glimmering like paint on glass. 🎨
Capturing Summer in Slow Motion with the DJI Action 5 Pro + ND32 Filter
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🌄 Final Thoughts
That shoot reminded me of something I often forget — that creativity thrives in simplicity. 💡 You don’t need a team, or a big setup, or a storyboard. Sometimes all you need is light, motion, and curiosity. Standing there in front of that fountain, camera in hand, I realized that filmmaking isn’t about capturing perfection — it’s about responding to what moves you in the moment. The Action 5 Pro and ND32 filter didn’t just record water — they helped me record the feeling of summer itself. ☀️
The way the droplets shimmered under the slow-motion playback felt almost surreal — each one catching a reflection of the sky, breaking apart, reforming, flowing again. It was like watching time breathe. That’s the beauty of shooting at 120fps — it lets you see details your eyes could never catch, fragments of beauty that exist for just a fraction of a second. 💧
Editing those clips later, I realized this wasn’t about testing gear — it was about remembering why I film in the first place. It’s to feel something. To turn an ordinary moment into a moving piece of memory. 🌈 The ND32 taught me patience, the camera rewarded spontaneity, and together they turned stillness into rhythm.
When I finished the final grade and hit play, I sat back and smiled. 🎬 The water rippled in slow motion, sunlight flickering across the surface like brushstrokes. It wasn’t just a shot — it was a heartbeat frozen in light. That’s the kind of moment I chase, the kind that reminds me why I’ll always keep a camera close — not to control the world, but to see it differently when it decides to show its magic. 🌞
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