No Sign of Life

I had a dancing good time shooting this music video for Black Whales.  It was produced by Michelle Dirkse and stars Jaime Karlovich.  Filmed with my beloved Sony FS5/Helix Jr combo.  

NBA Legend Bill Russell

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing NBA legend Bill Russell. The man has 11 NBA championships, an Olympic Gold Medal, and a Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian award bestowed by the President) from Barack Obama. When I asked him which of his accomplishments meant the most to him, he said it was his father telling him he was proud of him when he graduated college. Dads, take note.

New Year, New Toys.....err Tools!

I decided to spoil myself for 2016 and get a couple shiny new toys to make filmmaking life easier.  First up is the Sony FS5; a Super 35mm camera that's a run n gun cameraman's dream come true.  The camera shoots 4K onto dual (simultaneous if you want) SD cards, is compact, modular, and surprisingly light.  It also offers some awesome slow motion options in HD and has a revolutionary electronic variable ND filter that I guarantee will soon become a standard feature in all mid to high end video cameras.  Oh, and one battery lasts all day.  No more returning to my hotel room with my pockets full of tiny drained DSLR batteries at the end of a shoot day.  

Next up is my new Letus Helix Jr; an ultra compact brushless gimbal (think steadicam) that balances in no time and is adjustable via a handy iPhone app.  AND with its flat bottom design you can actually set it down on the ground without a stand.  Go ahead, look at the picture again.  I'll wait.... but seriously, the little added bonus not having to carry around a stand for this thing to rest on makes an enormous difference.  Perhaps my favorite thing about it though is that it fits, fully assembled with a camera mounted, in a carry-on size case.  No getting tossed around by TSA for this guy.  

I've got a shoot in a couple days that I'm going to shoot almost entirely with this setup pictured.  I'm stoked.  

Best Person in the World: Ivan Owen

I had the enormous pleasure of spending two days filming 3D printing genius Ivan Owen for ABC News’ Best Person in the World series.  Ivan is one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met, let alone captured on film.  Check out the short documentary below and let your heart flutter.

Copyright ABC News

Slow Down & Disneyland

Shot this with my iPhone 6.  

Seattle in 4K

I took my new Panasonic GH4 for a quick helicopter flight around Seattle for some 4K goodness.  All the aerial footage was shot handheld with the Panasonic 12-25mm f/2.8 lens.  Edited with Adobe Premiere, graded with Magic Bullet.

Portrait of a City

I was the director of photography and editor on this documentary on music culture in Seattle. It's based on Chase's book Seattle 100 and was co-produced by Chase Jarvis Inc and KCTS9. This one was a huge learning experience for me, being so involved in the process of adapting Chase's personal photo project into a television show, but the highlight was getting to spend two days on set with so many influencers in Seattle's music scene like John Roderick, Riz Rollins, Macklemore, John Richards, Megan Jasper, Joshua Roman, and the always right Charles Mudede.