Over the years I've kicked out a bunch of vids shooting from the skies on commercial gigs, like here, here, here and here for starters. But occasionally, on the heels of a commercial assignment based out of a particularly stunning location, I'll treat myself to some heli time shooting my ongoing aerial fine art project (personal work with dose of adventure). In fact, I've documented these adventures before — like here in New... read more ›
1.5K reads
Aug
27
Oct
07
While in Belize a couple months ago, I took the opportunity to field test a new iPhone case designed for action sports photography + video. (I'm a big fan of field testing new tech/gadgets; see my out-of-the-box successes with the DJI quadcopter---> here). Without getting in the weeds here, let's be honest. We're not aiming for the Oscars with this footage, but I'm not gonna lie... I quite frequently need a little breather... read more ›
1.4K reads
Aug
30
The dreaded rut. That feeling of being exhausted of your precious creative juice. How to break out? For me, a change my scenery -- specifically an amazing location for your photo or video shoot-- has always been the closest thing to a magic bullet that I've ever experienced. Sometimes this means shooting in a different studio, at an abandoned building, a trip to the mountains or, gasp, even that blown-out building on other side of... read more ›
1.3K reads
Aug
13
Although I've mixed a whole lotta R/C helicopters into shoots, there are many more times in my profession when climbing into a real A-star is essential to get the shot. A recent assignment in the Caribbean presented another on of those lovely occasions...and while I've touched on shooting film + photos from a helicopter in some past posts, I've never gone deep on the how-to of shooting from a heli. And before you... read more ›
2.2K reads
Aug
06
Because there are few establishing shots that can compete with the one you get above 250 feet, I frequently take my shoots airborne. Whether it's yanking the doors off a Bell Ranger traditional style or the...ahem...new school way of sending an 8-bladed octo-copter to do the dirty work, if it's outdoors these days, aerial footage is, well, the new black. Neither option mentioned above is cheap, however. I've been paying thru the mega-schnoz... read more ›
2.6K reads
Jul
24
I've been shooting religiously with GoPro cameras since they came out way back in the day. Love those little monsters. At a minimum, I travel with three or more Hero3's for any shoot - I've just found they just come in super-duper handy for all sortsa great stuff. BUT.... taking into account mounts, memory cards, chargers, spare batteries and all miscellany associated with the GoPro and you've got yourself quite a load of... read more ›
4K reads
Jul
10
Quick share here..... a short while back I took my very first trip to Belize for what turned into a really, really (2 reallys - or now that's three) high value, pain-free shoot. I've been so very lucky to have shot in some of the most spectacular places in the world -- and just added Belize to that list. We banged out a fun BTS vid to share some of the splendor, but... read more ›
695 reads
Jun
18
Small cameras with big sensors are clearly an important part of the future. From the shockingly affordable cinema cameras from Blackmagic Designs to my beloved Olympus E-M5, it's clear to see that camera manufacturers are responding to a demand for compact camera systems. Sony is up there toward the front of the "big sensor/small camera" charge and seem to be pushing the technology forward, with last years Cybershot RX100, and now this years Cybershot RX1,... read more ›
4.1K reads
Apr
24
If you've been following along socially you're in the know that I'm on a commercial assignment in Belize that targets the life and wonder of the world's water, lakes, oceans, etc. [...You might remember this video of the SuperPod of dolphins from the South African leg of this campaign with long time friend Mike Horn...] In short, I can't say enough good stuff about Belize. It's seemingly impossible to take a bad photo here...even without... read more ›
499 reads