It’s uber-awkward being in high school.

In 9th grade, I was a music kid and played in everything from pit orchestra to pep band.

High school marching band armed me with one mantra: heal toe, heal toe, heal toe, heal toe, roll your foot.

This mantra is basically a set of instructions to the “roll step”, which was paramount to marching band. It was our band director’s hope that we, as a bunch of awkward saxophone- and tuba-wielding 13 year-olds—in a costume that looked something like a bad rendition of the British uniform from the War of 1812 with a 3-foot tall faux-fur white hat (oh, I hope all pictures have been destroyed)—would glide past the audience come parade time.

This we did not do. More like we bobbled, uncomfortably.

But the “roll step” saying stuck with me, and to this day it works as a rule of thumb any time I’m walking with a camera, even with a MoVi. Yet, with it running constantly through my head, uneven terrain and any number of small obstacles can make good form and the right camera tool not quite enough.

For example, when trekking through the forest.[Read More…]