Prep work. Tomorrow Baltimore, this weekend Philly.

Drew & Stephanie | Santa Clarita, CA Wedding Feature

Today's Sidekick #c100

B-Rad Intern

Yesterday, I was filming with the C100 and it's a lot of fun but filming with my new intern Brandon (B-Rad) is even better. He's been killing it and I'm excited to see what happens this year. He's smart, a fast learner and will be a really talented filmmaker some day. Here's a couple photo's from a shoot we did with a professor yesterday.

Using the Tamrac Big Wheels Speedroller 2x here, which is my go to bag for anything I do.

It's BBQ time

All the essentials on one tray. Chaili is the best wife in the world.

At Wedding With Friends

Foothill Church - The Move Campaign

Our church is making the move to a new property and they partnered with us to create a campaign film to help jumpstart the process, show the vision and get people excited. The cool thing about this was seeing how far the church has come in such a short period of time. It's been almost 6 years since the last move and now they are taking a big leap of faith and doing it again. Below you can see a few behind the scenes photos. Our goal was to do a three camera set up with an all black background but the wide shot was the most difficult.  It needed to be a full body composition, where Pastor Chris was separated from the all black background. I think it turned out pretty well, given the equipment we had and the time frame we did it in.

Of course no shot would be possible with out bring all my equipment in a Tamrac Evolution 9 bag. Wish I had my new bags, bringing this much equipment would have been a lot easy if I only had two bags. Read more about that post here All You Need In Two Tamrac Bags.

Why these two pro's choose the Canon C100

Lately I've been really interesting in this camera and have probably spent way to much time researching but I wanted to share two interesting articles that have changed my mind. Not because the C100 is the end all camera that has everything, but because both Eyan E. Walters and Stillmotion are all about the story and no matter what the tools are at the end of the day they choose to that first and then pick their camera.

Why 1080P is Better than 4k (or Why I Choose the Canon C100) by Ryan E. Waters

Filming Pulse by Stillmotion

All You Need in Two Tamrac Bags

I received two new bags from Tamrac last week and decided to put them to the test for a series of small productions I’ve been working on recently. Though smaller in scope, each shoot requires many accessories, including multiple cameras, mics, and more. And of course, the location is often far from my car. I’m typically carrying four or five bags of various sizes, by myself. So I turned to Tamrac  to find an easier solution. They previously helped me find a great bag, the Tamrac Evolution 9, to use on an 11 day back packing trip.

For my current productions, I was searching for a two-bag solution with wheels and the capacity to fit my kit. I usually bring two cameras, lenses, mics, two tripods, a slider, and a Lowel Pro Light kit. With that in mind, Tamrac recommended the Big Wheels Speed Roller 2x for cameras, and the Medium Rolling Studio for gear. The best part is I can use them when I travel. The Big Wheels Speed Roller 2x falls within carry-on guidelines, which would make it a breeze to use when flying.

Packing has never been simpler. These bags are easy to rearrange, and the dividers have great padding while remaining sturdy. The Speed Roller includes numerous pockets for small items, a laptop pocket, and straps that hold the top upright so the door doesn’t flop onto the ground when you’re trying to access things quickly. The Rolling Studio feels really sturdy, and is well padded in case you need to check gear when traveling. My favorite feature is the top pocket: it’s large and I used it to store fast flags and a reflector for quick access.

Overall, I would recommend these bags for anyone looking to simplify their productions. Tamrac has always been my go-to for protecting my gear. I’m looking forward to testing them further on my next production. 

Collaborating with Friends

I've been working on a new film this past month. I can't release it yet, but I wanted to share some screen grabs from the edit. We've been filming everywhere on campus and in Azusa, including hauling a jib up Garcia trail for a sunset shoot. The view was perfect because a small wind storm the day before cleared out all the smog. I also want to say a big thanks to all the students, friends, and my wife Chaili who helped me out. Ya'll are awesome! Thanks for collaborating with me to make this film happen.

Are we missing some important part of life that we'll never have again?

Graduation is around the corner

Last year I made this film for the graduating class of 2012. They were an incredible group of students with so much passion and excitement. They even coordinated a flash mob that interrupted the ceremony, which made it even more memorable than my own graduation.

Insta-jib shot

I've been working on a project the past couple weeks. It's a story about three students journeys, learning, and experiences during their time at APU.

5k in Color

My wife put on this awesome County Fair event for her job and during the event there was a 5k run but not just any normal run it was a 5k in color. When you started off your t-shirt was white as snow and by the end of it your t-shirt, well your entire body was covered in a rainbow of colors. So I decided I'd grab my glide cam, wrap my camera in a custom tapped zip lock bag and film it. Why not?! I mostly stayed out of the color stations because I didn't want my camera to be coated with paint by the end of it. The zip lock back held up nicely and the only thing that was hard was seeing through it as the paint slowly blurred the viewfinder on the back. Afterwards I took of the bag and my camera was completely paint free. :)

Filming in the Wilderness

Here is the video I produced from the 11 day back packing trip into Ansel Adams Wilderness. It's about a student named Todd and his experience through out the journey.

I'm on Tamrac's Blog

Last summer a project took me on an 11-day backpacking trip with students into the Ansel Adams Wilderness in Northern California. I love to hike, so I was excited about this trip. Capturing the beauty of the outdoors would be the easy part. But 11 days on the trail also presented a few challenges. No showers, for instance. No outlets to charge my batteries either, which meant packing in plenty of extra batteries. Packing light? Not really an option.

The biggest challenge was finding a bag that would hold all my gear and keep it dust free, dry, and ready to go at a moment’s notice. The bag also had to fit inside the main compartment of my large backpacking pack, and be easy to use as a daypack. After researching my options, I landed on the Tamrac Evolution 9. It offered all the compartments and pouches I wanted, and looked like it was built for the rugged outdoors, including a rubber bottom to protect it from the dirt. It even came with a rain cover, and how could I say no to that? (That rain cover came in handy.

Here is a short video showing Andrew Koskela and I using the bag. 

Check out Tamrac's post on their blog!

http://blog.tamrac.com/2012-10-02-evo-9-and-zipshot-spend-11-days-in-yosemite/

Dr. Robert Mullins and a Archaeological Dig

Here is the film that I made from the trip to Israel in 2012. It was a fourteen day trip full of long bus rides, hot hot shooting conditions and lots of delicious food. If you ever have the chance to visit Israel, do not hesitate. Go!