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Cameraless

I was cameraless this week. It was great. Sort of. Okay, maybe not completely cameraless. I still had four 35mm stills film bodies, three mini DV cameras, and five high speed film motion cameras, all sitting on the shelf, along with the water housings for those. But I loaned my Canon 5DM2 system out and sold my Rebel T1i, in preparation for buying the new RebelT2i. (Wow, that Rebel was so new it had only seen 3000 frames before the new one was released.) Canon (along with Apple) has been blowing my mind the past few years. We spoke, they

A Fall Fantasy

Nothing deep to share. Or is there? The past weeks have allowed me a lot of time and effort to delve into what many consider to be my forte, which is shooting surfing, nature,  beach culture and lifestyle. So this blog is devoted to showing a few of the sights seen this last several weeks of Fall. It is a teensy sampling of over 1200 final images collected. The culmination of a huge number of commercial, editorial and personal interest projects. Thanks to the beautiful place that I live in, and all my wonderful friends, commercial clients and publications for

Vulnerability

Everyone must learn to deal with issues involving trust. In our craft, or art, because a certain aspect of photography is subjective and it’s validity may be cheered or denigrated by a viewer, depending on where that viewer hails from morally, spiritually, or sociologically, it is des rigeur to put ourselves out on an emotional limb so to speak, when we share our work. So there is risk involved. On many levels. Is my subject valid, am I good enough technically, am I going to be accepted by enough of the commercial market to get a return on all my

The Artist as Asset

Well, I am home again. Sort of. Bali, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Central Coast California for a half day. It has been a long last month or so of being “on the road” building assets, which basically means creating content in stills and motion picture to be used in roughly a dozen ongoing projects. The Canon 5D Mark 2 established itself as a ground breaking piece of equipment for someone like me. The things that a creative operator can do with it will prove to re define cinematography as time passes. Here is a great link that details some of

Bali Journal 5: Sacrosanct

Just because something is sacred does not mean that it is exempt from entropy and the physical laws of change. In fact, being sacred may mean that every force in this world is immediately set in motion with the express purpose of subverting that consecrated thing. It is the world’s way. Sacred refers to being set apart for a specific purpose. The dictionary defines it as the state of being connected to God. The word is derived from the Latin word sacrare, which is a verb. That means it denotes action, motion, interaction, etc. But if a thing is truly

Bali Journal 3: A Day Apart….

Sometimes will drop into your life announced. But in our case we had plenty of advance warning. A couple years back, Donna and I had met David Booth and learned of the work he had accomplished through his organization, East Bali Poverty Project. This morning, as we rolled down the gravel drive of Villa Gayatri in Ubud, with Gusti at the wheel, planning, hope and circumstance had four of Donna’s company icons-ambassadors and film maker Aaron Marcelino  aboard for the 2 hour drive into the mountains of East Bali. We had been invited to attend a festival where most of

A Bali Journal: 2

Another amazing day here on Bali. Fashion and art imaging work followed by carefully choreographed motion picture work. So happy to have Aaron Marcelino on board. He worked his first stint ever as a Director today and did pretty darned well. Spent several hours in Denpassar interviewing East Bali Poverty Project’s David Booth and learned more of the amazing story of redemption of a remote tribe in the mountains of East Bali. One of the more incredible tales I have ever heard, it was hard to keep a clear eye as tears kept wanting to come. I will save the

A Bali Journal: 1

Uneventful smooth sky sailing into Bali, and here we are in one of the most beautiful locations I have ever seen. David Booth and Sam Holcomb of East Bali Poverty project “get it” when “it” means hospitality apparently. The villa they arranged for us to rent in Ubud is far and away the most amazing location I have shot in. I will save the description for the images which hopefully I can scare up time to post. Long days ahead. Colorful and bright, dark and pulsating, with a richness  that one from a society with less dimension, would appreciate and

Organic Reprisal

We leave the troubled shores of the US soon, for the exotic environs of Indonesia where Donna Von Hoesslin’s creative muse lies, on the Isle of Bali. We are a tightly knit crew, who all will donate time and our own efforts in a collaborative endeavor to contribute to something that matters, and in the process, create something beautiful and compelling. The excursion will be a little different than Donna’s usual solo pilgrimage to her mecca of creativity and harmonic bliss. This time she brings along a group of young women whose names have become synonymous with her Ventura based

Tribe Makers

My girlfriend Donna’s video, “Passages”  is now up on the Intuit Website, you can view it here. The video whose production I have blogged a bit about, is the requirement necessary for grant payment.  If you VOTE for her at the videos end, and find it in your space to provide a comment, your generosity could propel her story into winning a place in the final five.  She would use the funds to grow her business which not only positively affects the town of Ventura in which we live, but an array of incredible women. You can vote the video

Categories

Cameraless

I was cameraless this week. It was great. Sort of. Okay, maybe not completely cameraless. I still had four 35mm stills film bodies, three mini DV cameras, and five high speed film motion cameras, all sitting on the shelf, along

A Fall Fantasy

Nothing deep to share. Or is there? The past weeks have allowed me a lot of time and effort to delve into what many consider to be my forte, which is shooting surfing, nature,  beach culture and lifestyle. So this

Vulnerability

Everyone must learn to deal with issues involving trust. In our craft, or art, because a certain aspect of photography is subjective and it’s validity may be cheered or denigrated by a viewer, depending on where that viewer hails from

The Artist as Asset

Well, I am home again. Sort of. Bali, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Central Coast California for a half day. It has been a long last month or so of being “on the road” building assets, which basically means creating content

Bali Journal 5: Sacrosanct

Just because something is sacred does not mean that it is exempt from entropy and the physical laws of change. In fact, being sacred may mean that every force in this world is immediately set in motion with the express

Bali Journal 3: A Day Apart….

Sometimes will drop into your life announced. But in our case we had plenty of advance warning. A couple years back, Donna and I had met David Booth and learned of the work he had accomplished through his organization, East

A Bali Journal: 2

Another amazing day here on Bali. Fashion and art imaging work followed by carefully choreographed motion picture work. So happy to have Aaron Marcelino on board. He worked his first stint ever as a Director today and did pretty darned

A Bali Journal: 1

Uneventful smooth sky sailing into Bali, and here we are in one of the most beautiful locations I have ever seen. David Booth and Sam Holcomb of East Bali Poverty project “get it” when “it” means hospitality apparently. The villa

Organic Reprisal

We leave the troubled shores of the US soon, for the exotic environs of Indonesia where Donna Von Hoesslin’s creative muse lies, on the Isle of Bali. We are a tightly knit crew, who all will donate time and our

Tribe Makers

My girlfriend Donna’s video, “Passages”  is now up on the Intuit Website, you can view it here. The video whose production I have blogged a bit about, is the requirement necessary for grant payment.  If you VOTE for her at