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This project has been a bit of a departure from my more typical routine of shooting shooting car chases, fights, and explosions on major feature film action units.  On this film I am operating B camera along with A camera/Stedicam operator Dave Thompson under the helm of the very visual and Belgium born Director of Photography Jo Willems.  It has been a great experience to be involved with the shooting of a film from beginning to end, working closely with the director and DP and all of the actors as the script unfolds onto film.

Our camera package consists of two Arriflex LT camera bodies and one ST body along with a set of Cook S4 primes, the Angenieux 24-290mm, 15-40mm, and the 28-76mm.  We are shooting a handful of scenes with the Canon EOS 5D and 1DMKIV which I have had a lot of experience with over the last few months on other projects although not for the big screen.  We shot some tests last week with the 1DMKIV and the Canon L series lenses and saw the footage projected and the results were quite good.

We have two weeks left on this film and then I will head home for some quality family time in June before heading to New Mexico in July where I will begin work on another big action unit for the feature film “Cowboys & Aliens” directed by Jon Favreau.  More to come soon….

This was a quick one day shoot for me which now gives me time to prepare for the feature “The Dark Fields” I will be working on over the next several weeks in New York and Philadelphia.  Stay tuned and as I will be posting throughout the project.

Our camera package consisted of an Arri 435, the Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm, and a set of Zeiss Master Primes.  When the producers told me that the ski area would not be able to accommodate the production with any snowmobile or snowcat support once the ski area opened, I knew the easiest way to work would be out of a variety of Lowe Pro camera packs.  Having had years of experience shooting on the snow, in the mountains, and in remote locations with a limited crew, I knew exactly how to most effectively pull this job off.  My first call was to my long time First AC Tod Boyle based in Denver, Colorado.  Tod and I have done countless jobs together in the mountains and in the snow.  So, I was confident that Tod would have no problem making things run smoothly with regards to the camera package and transport.

In all, we spent a day scouting and three days shooting in and around the town of Aspen, Highlands Ski area, and the Roaring Fork Valley.  One day was dedicated to shooting aerials and the remaining two days were spent shooting at the Aspen Highlands ski area.

Shooting someone else shooting is a bit unusual. However, Tyler and I were both interested in capturing the best and most dynamic imagery possible and we worked well in tandem finding the best angles and best light to shoot in.  Unlike most shoots where you are working on the ground, most of this job required both Tyler and I to be hanging off ropes alongside the ice climbing talent and having the ability to move up and down the ropes as necessary in order to get the shooting angles we needed.  I brought in my good friend and safety rigger, Ted Mahon, from Aspen Colorado to help establish anchors and manage ropes to allow Tyler and I to work freely and independently of each other.  Tyler was shooting stills using the Canon 1DMKIV and the EOS 5DMK2 and I was shooting HD using the Sony EX-3.  As you might imagine, working in this way and in this kind of environment things take longer than normal.  All said and done, Tyler and I shot while hanging off the ropes for the better part of the day before getting to solid ground where Tyler shot portraits of our climbing talent Mary Harlan.

Shoots like these are always great because they allow me to combine my passions of climbing and capturing great imagery.  I also enjoyed this shoot because I rarely have the chance to watch a still photographer at work in the field. So, this was a great opportunity to see all that is involved with a photo shoot. For the most part, Tyler was shooting in a naturally lit environment at the mercy of mother nature.  For the Adobe piece, Tyler will take the images through the Lightroom workflow in order to demonstrate the powerful photography software program.  Keep an eye on Adobe’s website this spring for the piece featuring Canon Explorer of Light Tyler Stableford.

Well known for his adventure and lifestyle photography as well as being a Canon Explorer of Light photographer, Tyler decided to embark on a personal documentary project allowing him to shoot motion with the same Canon DSLR’s he typically uses to shoot stills.  Because Tyler had little to no experience shooting motion he hired me to work alongside him for part of his “mini-doc” project and guide him as he explored working in this new medium.  Tyler chose Heath and his bid for the 2010 Paralympic Games because Heath’s story is a compelling one with him losing his legs in a grenade blast and despite never having skied before  Heath has become one of the best disabled skiers competing today.  The story will follow Heath through his training and racing regime as he prepares to compete in the 2010 Paralympics.

Because Tyler is always using the most recent Canon DSLR’s his equipment quiver consisted of several canon 5D Mark II and 1D Mark IV bodies and a plethora of lenses.  The majority of the shooting we did was with the 5D’s due to it having the full frame sensor however we also shot extensively with the 1DMKIV’s as well.  We were using Canon L Series lenses which were fantastic and my favorites being the 85mm t1.4 and the 17mm tilt shift lenses.

Because we were typically shooting on snow in very bright sunlight and Tyler wanted to shoot at with a shallow stop we had to stack several stops of ND in front of the lenses so as to shoot at 24P or 30P and nearly wide open with an ASA at 200.  Having shot a lot of skiing over the years, I was well prepared for the task at hand.  However, it was very challenging to follow the action while looking through either the on-camera LCD monitor or the external 7″ Marshall monitor in bright daylight.  Fortunately for us, we had several pieces of equipment on hand from the likes of Zacuto and Red Rock Micro all of which made shooting motion with the DSLR’s more user friendly because we were able to configure each camera to shoot in a more traditional cinema style set. up.

The later half of the week I was shooting for the 2010 Eddie Bauer Christmas Holiday campaign.  This was a bit of an unusual shoot for me as this shoot was primarily designed as a still shoot and I was to working along side NYC based still photographer Didier Gault . I have worked along side plenty of still shooters before but typically they are on board a shoot I am directing and they work into my shoot.  On this particular shoot however I was having to work into Didier’s shoot and as I expected it was a bit of a challenge.  Unlike cinematographers, still shooters only need their models or “talent” to walk a few steps or move through an action only so far as they shoot several frames to capture a good image. However in my case I need the talent to walk several steps and carry their look all the way through an entire action so as to capture the action from beginning to end.  Needless to say this was a tricky scenario for me, especially at first.  Several times as I was capturing a great moment my camera would get bumped by Didier as he moved over to shoot from a different angle or the hair and makeup folks would walk into my frame to make an adjustment to the models.  Most difficult was when Didier or the Art Director would say “Great, got it!’ and the models would fall out of character right in the middle of my shot.  The fact is this was nobody’s fault in particular.  As photographers and cinematographers we have different needs  and the only way to blend the two shooting styles in my opinion is to either have two separate units shooting or double the length of the shoot so as to allow the still shooter to get what they need and me to get what I need.   Despite the challenges, Didier and I developed a rhythm and we were both able to capture great imagery of our models.

We shot at some beautiful locations including the 1,717 acre Marabou Ranch located just outside of Steamboat. At our disposal we had amazing landscape, dozens of horses, a beautiful barn, corral, and all things ranch.

Just on the heels of Africa I was off to Texas to shoot on a campaign for Toyota with my colleagues at VRA.  Director/Cameraman Allan Vajda was at the helm of the shoot with Executive Producer Joe Ramey keeping things running smoothly.  I was brought on to shoot aerials and additional ground camera as was Joey Cicio who was on board in the Pursuit Arm.  The majority of the shoot revolved around a complicated stunt sequence where three car carriers loaded with new Toyota trucks, SUV’s, and sedans made there way down 3000′ of an airport runway as an assortment of Toyotas came into formation from behind.  In all we had five camera rolling with me in the heli shooting an Arri 235, Cicio in the Pursuit Arm with an Arricam LT, and a Canon EOS 1DMKIV, 5D, & 7D rigged on each carrier.  Flying aerials was veteran aerial pilot Rod Tinney, owner of Air Center Helicopters, who was hands down one of the best pilots I have ever flown aerials with.

Following the stunt sequence we were into the Toyota plant shooting car assembly with both the Arricam LT and the Canon 1DMKIV.  I had a Canon 800mm lens on the 1D and between the portability and the low light capability of the Canon I was blown away.  There is no doubt that these cameras are becoming an integral part of the motion picture process. We continued to use the 1DMKIV for interviews with the Toyota plant employees and again we were blown away by the image quality and ease of using the Canons.

All in all a fantastic time and a very successful shoot thanks to a fantastic crew and the great agency folks at the Intermark Group and Saatchi.

Morning light on Kilimanjaro

Summit On The Summit-Kilimanjaro was a great success with every member of the expedition and film crew reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa at 19,341′ and one of the famed Seven Summits, on January 12, 2010.   The logistics and planning for this shoot were no small feat with 45 members making up the expedition including film crew.  In addition to the team I was working with shooting content for Summit On The Summit, Radical Media was also on board with four DP/sound crews in place to shoot a MTV documentary about the climb which will air on MTV March 14th.   Thomson Safaris did an incredible job of putting the infrastructure in place to handle the group size and provide for a great trip.  This certainly had to be one of the wettest trips I have been on in recent years with daily rainfall which turned to snow as we moved hire up the mountain.  Our summit day was cold, snowy, and wet with limited visibility though despite the conditions everyone made it to the top.

Our equipment quiver consisted of a Sony EX-3 HD camera and the Canon EOS 5D MKII and 7D DSLR’s with a variety of lenses.  All of the gear performed very well considering the less than ideal weather conditions we had to contend with as well as the cold temps at high altitude.  Tune into MTV on March 14th to learn more about the expedition

It was a fantastic project to be a part of and kudos to Kenna and the production team for pulling off what was certainly no small feat.

Mt. Meru as seen from Kilimanjaro