3:30am: “GRAB THE HOOK!” Mike Horn yells at Tristan. The mizzen sail on the back mast is jammed. The wind is blowing at 40+ mph and we can’t steer. We’ve got to get a hook in that sail and pull it down. We’re surfing down the face of waves, only narrowly keeping the boat pointed in the right direction so we don’t blow over in the nearly 4 meter breaking seas. Frankly speaking, getting to... read more ›
Oct
05
Oct
01
Whoa. Pinch myself. I'm today en route to China on an epic assignment for the luxury watch brand Panerai, sailing this here 105 foot sailboat through the South China Sea from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and across to Taiwan in a mere 8 days. And I was just recently given this cool news: I can share with you the adventures of this campaign along the way. Assuming I can get satellite uploads from the middle... read more ›
Sep
27
Without a doubt, one of our most popular posts of 2010 has been this post where we outline in detail our photo and video workflow from capture to delivery of digital assets to clients. Every step is included in that post or video, but EVEN THEN we had a huge number of questions about it. As in hundreds and hundreds. Questions that are important and deserve answers. That's the reason we've decided to dedicate an... read more ›
Sep
14
A while back I got call from the Nikon mothership which put the very first HDdSLR--the Nikon D90--into my hands months before the world had seen that technology. I won’t ever forget that experience. That little camera kicked off this whole craze of photo and video convergence that we’re swimming in today. Well...low and behold, a few months ago I got another one of those calls from Nikon. “Chase-san. We have a new... read more ›
Aug
27
You recall that fancy 1000 frames per second cinema camera called the Phantom that I love so much (that was the feature camera from this project)? Well they've got a new one out...the Phantom Flex and it shoots 1250 fps now at full 1080 HD. Well the New York Times Magazine (that's right, editorial....) is shooting motion these days. Renowned Director of Photography there, Kathy Ryan, hired photographer Dewey Nicks to shoot some tennis stars.... read more ›
Aug
06
Polaroid has still got it after all these years. As proof, and for some Friday fun, check out this 1970's retro how-to video/advert/documentary. Still cool and amazingly poignant. Polaroid - the original social network. Snap a picture, show your friends = Create. Share Sustain. Note the range, accessibility and the diversity. Pretty impressive. Reminder to check out the Impossible Project, plus one of my recent Polaroid snapshots after the jump.Continue reading
Jul
27
Have you seen the recent viral ad from Levi's of a guy walking across America wearing Levi jeans? Pretty simple, but pretty cool. [Maybe the walking thing was inspired by this similar concept in Toronto?] Anyway, this video here shows us how they pulled it off using just one camera, a tripod, 14 days, a few thousand photos, a few thousand miles, a protractor, a string, and a bit of math. Sign me... read more ›
Jun
17
95% of the gear I use to create high-end advertising images, videos, and commercials is the highest end stuff you can buy. Tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment and production often comes together for much of the commercial work you see. This gear all serves its purpose, and there's good reason for every single piece of it, but.... PROBLEM: I understand that, for a huge cross section of this community,... read more ›
Jun
07
I wish I had a better plan, but I’m trying to make a film about the world right now through my eyes. I’m trying to use some of this technology we have right now, like our cinema truck and our snowmobile systems and our helicopter systems, to tell the story of the world today in a different way. -Curt MorganWhat do you get when you get when you combine some military spec gyro stabilization with... read more ›
May
11
If you were like me, then it wasn't long ago that you were prophesying that "before long" we'd have implants or cameras on us at all times that recorded everything we see. Well, welcome to the the future. They're not implants, and of course you look like a Cylon if you actually sported these suckers, but the spectacles pictured here are getting closer to the future of 24/7 coverage of human life. There have certainly... read more ›
