New Projects with Gabriella

I was in LA the past two weekends to meet up with my good friend Gabriella who was visiting from Hungary. She and I have known each other for a few years and try to meet up whenever she's in LA. We've shot together a few times in the past and from our first meeting we've thrown around the idea of doing some sort of road trip project together in Europe. Recently I've been talking to a friend of mine at a production house based in Silverlake and we've been trying to develop this idea a bit more. This past Friday the three of us were able to meet while Gaby was in town and he gave us a homework assignment which was for us to shoot a bit of random content of ourselves that can be used to help put the pitch together. Since we didn't have a whole lot of time to do something cool before Gaby left town we decided to throw a GoPro in the car while driving around LA to show us interacting with one another. I'll shoot some more content of myself over the next month that will show some behind the scenes stuff at a photo shoot, content of an ammo project in Nevada and South Africa, and a wine project I'm working on up in Santa Barbara County. Gabriella will shoot a bit of content back home in Budapest and then we'll throw together a little 3 minute reel.

In West Hollywood on our way to Urth Caffé for some boba.

Wearing eyewear provided by our good friends at William Painter.

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 Wandering In Tijuana

Yesterday morning I packed my Nikon and Custom SLR gear into my Lowepro Slingshot and headed across the border into Tijuana where I met up with my friend and fellow photographer Hugo. I've been to TJ numerous times, but never really got to explore the city beyond places that are within walking distance of the border. So yesterday Hugo drove me around to some places that I probably would have never seen. We stopped by some fish markets, a farmers market, drove up to a nice neighborhood that had a great vantage point with a view of San Diego and Coronado from a Mexican perspective, and finished the day at a small park. While in Mexico I did do something somewhat touristy which I never do when I travel anywhere else, I had a Caesar Salad at the restaurant where it was invented . . . it was good.

While south of the border I was able to snap a few quick promo shots for my favorite sunglass brand, William Painter.