GorillaPod by Joby

Awhile back LowePro and Joby sent me some really awesome bags and accessories. The bags I use all the time, but up until this point I never had an opportunity to put the GorillaPod Focus to use. Last weekend I was working on a photography/video project with an ammo company called Battle Born Munitions outside of Reno, NV. The first day I shot some footage inside their warehouse and the following day we went off the grid to capture footage of their ammo in action. While we were out there I used a 3 camera setup which consisted of two Nikon D7000s and one GoPro Hero3 Silver Edition. I had the GoPro on a tripod near a steel target about 250 yards away from where we were shooting and I had both of the Nikons focusing on the shooters. The GorillaPod came in handy because I was able to set it up really low to the ground to capture some cool video footage from a lower vantage point and on top of that my steady cam rig broke and the GorillaPod actually worked as a good substitute. I think they should create some accessories to transform the GorillaPod into a highly portable on the go steady cam rig. Anyway, here's a shot of the GorillaPod on the ground in front of the firing line, it was shot with my iPhone so it's not the greatest of shots, but you can see how the GorillaPod was placed and used.

A Day in San Diego

These are some old photos I just dug up from a few years ago, they were all shot using my Nikon D5000 and taken from Point Loma in San Diego and might give you a different perspective of the city than one you typically see in photos.

Sailing

Here's another old shot from the archives. This was also taken with my old Nikon D5000. I saw these sailboats and took this shot from the end of Point Loma (San Diego, CA) overlooking the Pacific Ocean just before sunset.

A Look Back . . . Uruguay

Back in September of 2007 I spent about a week in Buenos Aires, Argentina meeting with my friends at 3Dar to discuss future projects. While I was there I wanted to take a trip across the Rio de la Plata to visit the town of Colonia de Sacramento in Uruguay. After a long night hanging out with my new female friends (I ended up traveling with them for a month 3 months after this trip) at an Irish Pub called Kilkenny, I boarded the Buque Bus and headed across the river. Here are a few shots from the trip:

Photographer Spotlight - Carsten Peter

German photographer Carsten Peter is definitely one of my top 10 favorite photographers which is why he's in my Photographer Spotlight. I first encountered his work when I saw a series of photos he had taken in Hang Son Doong Cave in Vietnam for National Geographic. Upon seeing the photos I immediately looked him up to check out more of what he has done. It turns out he's a World Photo Press award winner as well as an Emmy winner and regular contributor to National Geographic. He's taken amazing photos all over the world, in deep cave systems, volcanos and tornados. If you have a moment check out the video I've included and his photos as well. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

An interview with German photographer Carsten Peter about his photo story of Hang Son Doong in Vietnam, believed to be the largest cave on earth.

William Painter on Location with Arsenic Magazine

On Thursday I was in Venice Beach, CA shooting for another project with Arsenic Magazine. This particular project was a collaboration with writer/director/producer Scott Z. Burns (Bourne Ultimatum, Contagion, The Informant) and DP Bryan Newman. I was shooting stills for Arsenic as well as some behind the scenes footage. In between takes I was able to leave the set to shoot a few outdoor shots with the beautiful models Alyssa Smith and Tatiana Dieteman represented by Next Model Management. It was really bright out when we were shooting, luckily William Painter was there to provide some comfort from the midday sun.