Village Rooftops

These were taken on a Spotify shoot a couple of months back, I had a lot of fun and met some cool people.

Spring in the Air

I made it through my first full winter EVER! It started to feel like it was never going to end for a minute there, but we took a trip to Florida for a wedding and came back to beautiful 40 degree sunny days. I got to celebrate with the most mesmerizing 3 hour flight shooting for a new TV show last Thursday...

Caribbean Cruising

I spent the first five days of November working on a Carnival cruise ship commercial in the Caribbean, which sounds great in theory. In reality, there's nothing romantic about running gear all over a ship full of guests and working 12-14 hours a day. It was just like a normal job, except that the ground was shifting and at the end of the day I went to sleep in a windowless room. Fun, right?

Up to Speed

Its been a REALLY long time since i've updated, I know! There has been so much going on, its been hard to keep up. A quick bulleted recap of the past month:

* We bought a house! It was a long and difficult process but we closed about 2 weeks ago.
* We're renovating a house! Its a long and difficult process that just began. Wish us luck.
* Lots of work! I've gotten really busy and exceeded all of my expectations for what might happen when I move to New York. Its been all different kinds of gigs which is fun and fast paced, but sometimes stressful. I also finished editing the Artisans pilot and sent it off to the network for finishing touches.
* Weddings, events, holidays - filling the gaps between work and house stuff

I haven't shot a roll of film in a month, and that is a tragedy. Here's a collection of iphone photos from various recent gigs.

San Juan del Sur

Earlier this month, I went down to Nicaragua to do some work on a reality show shooting in San Juan del Sur. I've spent a lot of time in Nicaragua (probably almost a year's worth of time) but never made it down to the south because I try to avoid touristy spots. I ended up having a great time and being blown away by the contrast from the north of the country, I may actually have to plan a surf trip there sometime (in the off season). 

Smart phones = Dumb people

I work in a field dominated by technology, and as a freelancer I live and die by emails, phone calls, and texts. That much is not really up for debate. However, I have been making an effort to try to spend less time worrying over the "fear of missing out" (FOMO). The goal is to continue to work, blog, and capture but to spend more of the time in between outdoors, reading, or doing something away from a screen. I've recently been encouraged by some great reads, such as:

"Reboot or die trying"
"Instant gratification"
"Nature connection will be the next big human trend"

This is more personal than what I usually share, but it is in no way a pledge/pact/philosophy, just an attempt to spend more time here:

And less time here:

Laughlin, Nevada

I just got booked today to go back to Laughlin, Nevada for the third time and realized that I never edited these photos from my last trip there. The job is for Ford trucks and we shoot on a beautiful but scorching hot section of highway. I snapped these photos on my Olympus XA2 of the camera car and the surrounding area. 400TX might have been the wrong film for shooting in bright desert sun, but its what was in the camera at the moment and that's just part of shooting film. Unless of course you have a Hasselblad and multiple film backs... one day. 

Flyin' Over the City

I think it's safe to say that this was one of my favorite days of work that i've ever had. The job was for channel 7 filming their news helicopter air to air and then recording stock footage around Manhattan. I rigged the camera in Long Island and then we flew over to the city, shooting for the afternoon and evening. Getting to see New York from such an amazing angle for so long (most helicopter tours are 12-15 minute and very expensive!) was mind blowing! 

The Artisans - NYC

We just wrapped up shooting for my new video in New York, and I had a blast. The locations were Acme Smoked Fish in Greenpoint, and Black Seed Bagels in Little Italy. The crew consisted of myself directing and shooting B camera, a producer, a second operator working the A camera, our talent, and a sound guy. Everything went well and I think the decision to use my new vintage lenses paid off. I wanted to give the show a unique look, and after a lot of research I picked up a Helios 44-2 58mm f2 and a Helios 135mm 2.8 lens. From my quick reviewing of the footage i've seen some really fantastic shots, my job now is to edit several hours worth of video into a 6-7 minute episode. Stay tuned for updates on the show's progress!

No Country for Camera Men

This week I was in the Nevada desert for a truck commercial. Unlike my normal cineflex shoots, this one had me mount it to a car instead of a helicopter. Using a gyro camera system on a car let us get perfectly stable shots while racing along at 100mph. This particular video was promoting the "toughness" of the truck, which is why we shot in the desert in the middle of summer when it was 108 degrees. It was definitely an endurance test, and as you can see from the second picture it got so hot that we had to take the back cover off of the camera to keep it from overheating. That being said, I love the landscapes out west and the incredible sunset almost made you forget the fact that you just impersonated a piece of bacon for 12 hours. 

Sunscreen + Bugspray

Two things you cannot live without in Florida when working outdoors are sunscreen and bugspray. Every work bag has some in it, and we wear floppy hats and long sleeves and wrap cool towels around our necks to fend off heat exhaustion. I've been on a very physical and hot shoot the past 2 days which has tested me but also made me appreciate the days I get to work aerial jobs in a small hanger. I also shot a piece for a friend of a friend who does pottery and will be editing it next week on my way to Nevada. There is something mesmerizing about the way clay spins on the wheel and i'm really excited to start reviewing my footage. I'll be bringing some film cameras to the desert because it's been more than a week since I shot any and they are calling to me!

Boston, Augusta and lots of layovers

The company which employs me for my aerial technician jobs, Active Camera Systems, recently received a new camera setup. It's made by a small company called Gyro Stabilized Systems, or GSS. It's more configurable than our other system, the Cineflex, but also much larger and takes longer to set up. I recently went to Boston to help out on it's first job and learn the ropes, which was great fun for a nerd such as myself. After that was over, I went to Augusta, Georgia to work on a commercial for a medical company at their HQ. Now i'm home in Miami and will be here without leaving all week for the first time in over a month. Luckily I have some cool jobs lined up and then next week I head to Nevada for a really fun shoot. The summer of 2014 continues to amaze!

Smoke, Rain and Sand

This past week it hit me that summer is officially here. I worked one day on the beach, another day in a botanical garden, and a third at a pro football player's house. Summer in Miami means three things, rain, heat, and bugs. We deal the best we can with bugspray and sunscreen by the gallon, as well as lots of water and cuban coffee. After working I spent the weekend in New York and will have some film to share soon!

Caffeine Overload

Today I woke up at the crack of 3:45AM for a car commercial, which is the way it goes sometimes when the shot list starts at sunrise. But when the crew are your friends, baking in the sun and chugging coffee all day isn't so bad. Tonight I can relax and watch the Heat and get ready for a different job tomorrow. Also I ordered a new medium format camera which i'll debut on the blog when it arrives next week!

Aerials over the Keys

How lucky do you have to be to fly around in a beautifully restored 1941 seaplane and call what you're doing "work"? Well I did more than just fly around, but that's exactly what happened on this day last week. I was working as a Cineflex technician on a commercial for a fashion brand that featured a seaplane. The day before the shoot I rigged everything up and made sure it was all working, and then the morning of we began our day at Opa Locka airport. The camera helicopter was to shoot the seaplane on the way down to the Keys, and then land for a refuel break at Marathon airport. I needed to be close by in case any problems came up with the camera, but there was no space for me in the helicopter, so thats how I ended up hitching a ride in the seaplane. The camera worked flawlessly so I was free to enjoy the ride and observe lots of cool marine life and scenery! It was definitely one that will be hard to top.