California Road Trip

If you read this blog, it might seem like my life is one big vacation. While you could make a convincing argument about that, once in a while I do need a break from the long hours on set and behind the computer. Steffy needed to use the last of her paid time off (a foreign concept to me), so I planned this trip to California. We have both always dreamed of road tripping around in an old VW bus, so when I found a place that rents them it was a done deal. We spent the week on the road in this amazing '77 pop top and went to LA, Big Sur, Monterey, Carmel, and King's Canyon. I was totally off the grid, no computer, no phone service, and no call times. It was a breath of fresh air and I feel ready to take on 2014! Hopefully i'll find time to develop all my 35mm film to share here soon.

El Paso Aerials

Here are a couple of snaps from my trip to El Paso. I've been to Austin before but this was a totally different side of Texas. It's desolate and sprawling, but I can appreciate the beauty in any mountainous landscape since I live in such a flat place. We did some fun driving shots and then shots of downtown El Paso and Juarez. I was unprepared for the windy, 40 degree weather but had an amazing time. I promise to start bringing a real camera on some of these trips soon, but i'm still getting used to the whole having a blog thing (and the new iphone camera really is fantastic). Tomorrow i'll spend the day in airports but Wednesday me and Steffy are off for another amazing adventure in California! 

How to get your foot in the door

I developed a tactic years ago that has served me well in this industry. The first step is when you find a job that interests you, find literally every piece of information about it, and then read it all over and over until you think you know what you're talking about. Then, find someone who does that job or has a connection to that job and offer to work for them for free, and pester them (gracefully) until they accept your offer. Once you get your foot in the door, if you work your hardest and show real passion, you can end up finding work for yourself. Using that strategy, i was able to fulfill my nerd fantasy of working with remote operated aerial cameras. It took a while, lots of days working for free and doing errands and runs, but i eventually scored my first paid job in Las Vegas and Nevada as a tech for a Ford commercial. Yesterday i did a prep for an aerial job that i am going to be the tech on in El Paso, Texas for the new Dumb & Dumber movie. I leave thursday morning and we shoot Friday. I'm really excited for this one, so i thought i would share some photos from past jobs and i'll be sure to share more when i get back next week.