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Mar 4, 2020
Million Dollar Challenge Awardee Baki Zainal has a personality bigger than the smile on his face in his featured clip-and you can't help but smile, too, as you watch him execute a textbook waterslide launch.
All this considered, it makes perfect sense to learn that Baki's day job is working as a TV personality. In Baki's own words, his current gig has him climbing mountains, trekking through rain forests, riding on water buffalo and more. All in a days work, right?!
Read on to learn more about Baki, his tips on using GoPro and his participation in the HERO8 MAX Million Dollar Challenge.
GoPro: When did you first start using GoPro?
Baki: The first time I ever used a GoPro was on my TV show. I host a Chinese travel program in Malaysia, and the crew would constantly get me to hold on to a GoPro as to record my POV and my personal reactions. I really liked the results, so my manager at that time got me a HERO4 as my Christmas present. I remember how excited and how proud I was walking into adventures and outings with my buddies with my own GoPro in hand-plus, it was the latest model at that time. I even got a customized body kit sticker for my HERO4 so that it would stand out from the others. She even had a name; I called her Jane.
For years, Jane followed me on my bike touring sessions, my dives and more. And then, I became part of the GoPro Family, and I remember the moment I got my HERO7 Black. I was working with the latest Sony and Canon cameras at the time, and I was told that the technology was getting so much more convenient on GoPro and it was easier to edit my own videos on the GoPro App. (I am a noob when it comes to tech) So I embraced the challenge and took the HERO7 for a spin, and boy oh boy! By the end of the night, I was in the airport flying home, and I had a two minute video edited by myself and ready to share! I have not turned back and constantly have a GoPro in either my bag or in my pocket.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by bakizainal (@bakizainal) on Feb 3, 2020 at 5:23pm PST
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What's your favorite new feature?
Well, I don't know if this is for everyone, but I realized that, slowly but surely, I begin to have a fave function in the GoPro. For me, my fave in the HERO8 is LiveBurst*.
I constantly look for opportunities to use the camera to capture jump shots or be the cool guy at parties ( ) who has a camera with a wide enough angle to fit everyone in the selfie. Or just being able to take nice, pretty selfies with my mom when I bring her on my adventures and travels. My mom can't understand a selfie pose, so she keeps moving. With the LiveBurst, I get to choose that perfect candid shot of her.
*PRO TIP: LiveBurst is best for capture the action and feelings of the moment. It captures a 3-second 4K video, or the equivalent to 90 12MP still frames.
What inspired your awarded clip?
My Million Dollar video was taken in an extreme waterpark in Penang, Malaysia. A few of my friends and I just came off a shoot, and it was a weekday, so I was like: Let's go to the waterpark. It will be less crowded!
This water slide seemed really crazy because it's a free fall that ends with you being catapulted into a 5-meter deep pool. I was like: Yup, that sound like fun! I had set up my HERO8 by the pool and decided to take my MAX onto the slide. There were so many things running through my head at that time-the free fall, the pool, etc.-but I knew I wanted to take a selfie of myself midair for the Gram. When I previewed the shot, I knew I need to post the whole video.
Did you think you had a Million Dollar shot?
My friends told me the video was really funny, especially my facial reaction. I was not really satisfied with it because there was a water drop on the lens. But I remembered that a fellow GoPro Fam member, @BareKiwi, once said: Your ordinary might be some else's extraordinary, so I decided to submit the clip. In fact, after those words, I kept sending in clips of me traveling, diving and out with my mom for GoPro Awards-not just for the Million Dollar Challenge but to see if I have improved and if GoPro would pick up my stuff for their social media.
How do you plan to use your $22,222USD earnings?
This is just cray cray cherry on top. For sure, the three things I want do with the money are:
Bring Mom on more of our Mom Son oversea trips (maybe even Mecca and use GoPro there).
Fund a little project I have going on with the sea gypsy on a little island in Sabah.
Have a solo trip out to either the highlands of Mongolia, Petra or even Iceland.
Watch the full Million Dollar Challenge HERO8 MAX video here.
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