Orlando Live Timelapse

Photo’s of April 2010

Photo’s of March 2010

Hulcher 70

Today I had the oppertunity to talk with Wayne Harvey, owner of an aerial Photography company that operated out of orlando from the 70′s threw the 90′s. These picture are of the absolutely gorgeous Hulcher 70 70mm film camera with a Pentax 200mm lens. Look for more on this camera in the future.

Lazy Accident

The following pictures where taken at the Lazy Accident, a short film involving a rather interesting plot. I don’t want to give it away, I’ll simply leave you with the behind the scenes photo’s.

The low light for the shoot proved very interesting, but as often as possible I tried to keep the iso low. The shoot also showcased the need for a very wide lens for coverage on getting everything in the shot. The Pre Ai lenses offered lower light ability hence lower ISO’s, however the lack of image stabilization hurt in combination with the low shutter speeds. It was a very fun balancing act of having the right lens on at the right moment.

I have nothing but compliments for the cast and crew, who worked efficiently threw out the entire shoot, burning threw difficult shots effectively as if they had been doing it professionally for years. Thank you everyone involved and Gayatri Normatovov for the opportunity.

Last Night Launch of the Shuttle: Night 2

[Nikon D5000 with 300mm Pre-AI @ 1/400th f/8 ISO200]

Success! The rescheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor went off this morning without a hitch. Conditions could not have been more perfect. The wind and cloud cover which had been present the night before disappeared creating a gorgeous shooting environment for all in attendance. The photo above was one of 2 that had been taken before the shuttle left the frame and I manned the video camera.

Video taken of the Event was beyond my expectations, unfortunately I have lost the exact settings that I shot Video at for the launch but as I recall it was around 1/600th @ f/8. Expect a full video of the event in the coming month.

Last Night Launch of the Shuttle: Night 1

Night 1:

Threw a friend named Lynne I was able to acquire a position at the VIP section at the last night launch of the Space Shuttle. We where covering the event with the Canon XH G1, Canon 7D, Nikon D90, and Nikon D5000. I was manning the XH G1 and the D5000 with 300mm Pre-AI Fixed Lens. The G1 was a joy to set up, was able to get good framing and was prepped to shoot far before planned launchtime and took some very good B-Roll. The camera image stabilizes like a champ.

Some complications arose during prep with the D5000. My Opteka remote shutter was not firing consistently (last time I buy off brand), resulting in the need to manually press the shutter button. Fortunately I was able to use the delayed shutter release mode to somewhat mitigate the shake caused by my hand. Unfortunately another complication arose in the wind hitting the glass and causing it to shake. The tripod I was using, a Sunpak 800I UT, just didn’t cut it with the wind at that focal length.

As the shuttle never launched, hopefully I will be able to sort out the remote shutter issue and aquire/modify a more stable tripod. I will be at the same position tonight for hopefully a successful launch.

VLMC: The Next Big Thing in Editing

Imagine, if you will, a completely open source multitrack video editor with plugin capability.

The VideoLAN team is working on just such a project right now

VLC is my go to media player, it has a simple interface and supports every piece of video that I have thrown at it. And from the video above, VLCM seems to hold to that same level of quality.

Now I know there are some detractors to these open source editors, and for good reason. Most independent free editors fail due to the following reasons:

1. Lack of Support, both from the community and creators.
2. Missing Features/File Support
3. An overly complicated Interface.

VLMC already, if the video’s are accurate, has a very clean and simple interface, and the VLC backend +plugin support implies no lack of features. Additionally the support for this program, should it be widely released, will be much larger than the other due to the popularity of the VLC brand already and the community support of VideoLAN.

Unfortunately, while they have the git repository for the program on the site, I’m not a code monkey, and have been trying desperately for a compiled version. If anyone has a link to step-by-step instructions please let me know.

Official Site : http://vlmc.org/

Urban Aqua

Hardware: Canon HV30
Software: After Effects CS4

The concept was a plot based juxtaposition. Showing visually rain starting, coming down, then evaporating. Then running that in a loop showing the water cycle in a calm relaxing manner.

Technically wise the purpose of the project was experimenting with the time remapping features of after effects and to utilized unique and soft editing techniques to aid in the feeling of the piece.

The video would Ideally would be played on a large wall at 48 fps.

Recommended Rental: Baraka

Director: Ron Fricke
Director of Photography: Ron Fricke
Format: 70mm
Year: 1992

Shot entirely on glorious 70mm, Baraka plays like an alien documentary on the human race and the planet. Imagine, if you will, a more mellow version of BBC’s Planet Earth with no narrator and no order, with human culture mixed in with the beauty of nature. The film uses juxtaposition almost exclusively as a storytelling technique. In an early opening sequence a monkey is bathing in a natural hot spring surrounded by snow. The creature nods of for a second gently closing his eyes and we are presented with a timelapse of the roaming across the sky.

Later the beating of music similar to blood pumping from a heart moixed with the image of a city traffic.

One thing that makes this Blu-Ray special is the way the transfer was handled. It was scanned from the origional 70mm source at 8k for this release. And the image quality truely must be seen to be believed. I’d even go as far as saying it is above the level of Planet earth in mind blowing detail.

The film does something that films rarely do, have the ability to give you chills with it’s later scenes. I highly recommend anyone who has a passion for visual feasts look into this film.

You can watch an earlier film of Ron Fricke, Cronos, online for free: http://www.hulu.com/watch/87520/chronos This ealier work of his was shot on IMAX.