THE BLOG

29
Jul

Updated Gear List for 2022

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CAMERAS
Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2 w/ EF and PL lens mounts
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K (BMPCC6K)
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 2.7K

MONITORING
Portkeys LH5P 5.5 inch daylight-viewable monitor with Bluetooth camera control
Smartview Duo rackmount 8 inch monitors
Blackmagic ATEM Mini Pro live switcher

LENSES
Tokina 11-16 F2.8 zoom lens
Canon 16-35 F2.8 L ii zoom lens
Canon 24-105 F4 L IS zoom lens
Canon 18-135 F3.8-5.6 zoom lens
Nikon (EF converted) modified 50mm F1.4 prime lens

PROFESSIONAL TRIPODS
Sachtler FSB6 fluid head and tripod legs with 70mm bowl
Manfrotto 701 compact fluid head with carbon fiber legs
Micro slider 18in carbon fiber slider for Sachtler
YC Onion 32in motorized slider with gimbal interlink

GIMBAL STABILIZATION
DJI Ronin S gimbal with rigging accessories
Tilta Nucleus Nano wireless follow focus

MATTE BOX AND CINEMA RIGGING
Zacuto follow focus for 15mm rods
Zacuto baseplate with 15mm rods
SmallRig mini matte box with french flag
Chrosziel matte box with rotating filter trays, french flag
Schneider 4×4 polarizing filter
Schneider 4×4 ND filters

SHOULDER RIG
Zacuto shoulder rig for 15mm rods
Zacuto handgrip and chest brace for 15mm rods

AUDIO
Sennheiser G2 wireless lavalier microphone kit
Tascam DR-10L lavalier with audio recorder
Rode NT-G2 condenser shotgun microphone kit
Custom audio cables for in-camera recording

DRONE
DJI Phantom 4 Pro quadcopter kit
NVIDIA Shield 9 inch tablet dedicated to drone
PolarPro ND and PL filter set

LIGHTING
Lowell Rifa 1000 watt softbox light with diffusion
Aputure Light Dome II softbox with various diffusion and grid
Amaran 200x COB light w/ bowens mount
Amaran P60c LED panel, w/ softbox and grid
Lee Colortran 650 watt light w/ barndoors, dichroic filter
Vijim LED on-camera bi-color light
Two 7 ft light stands
6 ft small light stand
Matthews C-stand with 40″ arm
Impact heavy duty C-stand with 40″ arm
Sandbags, 15lbs and 25lbs
Sandbag with lead shot “shotbag”, 20lb
4x4ft frame with silk diffusion
18x34in frame with silk diffusion
Bounce boards, negative fill
Various clamps, grip accessories

If your production requires additional equipment, just ask!
Rentals can be incorporated into flat rate projects.

12
Jul

The Gift of a Heart

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Photo of heart transplant recipient talking to his smiling daughter

In this touching story, a heart transplant recipient forms a lifelong bond with the daughter of his heart donor. For this 10-minute episode on Health Central, I was camera operator for the dialogue sequences, drone pilot, and gimbal camera operator.

Watch the full video HERE

18
Jun

Testing Autotrack on the Phantom 4 Pro

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One of the most surprising things about DJI’s updated Autotrack feature is that it doesn’t just follow a moving subject at a set distance. It organically tracks the subject, panning up and down and changing distance from the subject to keep it in frame. The result is a much more organic, natural camera movement than one might expect.

19
Mar

Chef Jonathan Zaragoza for Vitamix

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Filmed and edited by Michael Thomas for Vitamix. Jonathan Zaragoza’s restaurant only serves one thing: the most incredible birria you’ve ever experienced. But behind the laser-like focus of his family restaurant, Zaragoza is a surprisingly inventive chef with Michelin-level plating skills.

17
Feb

Still Photography for Vitamix

Posted by / Uncategorized

These dishes were as delicious as they look!

15
Sep

Chef Holly Jivin at Bazaar, Los Angeles

Posted by / Behind the scenes, Compositing, Narrative

Bazaar is a fascinating restaurant in Beverly Hills, decorated with artifacts and curiosities from around the world. It’s also a dark and challenging environment to film in due to reflective surfaces. I used nearly 2000 watts of light just to raise the overall light level in the room, in addition to the interview lights used to illuminate our chef’s face.

Here’s a before and after of the color correction process…

23
Aug

Product photography for “Color” brand screen protectors

Posted by / Compositing, Still photography

We’ve done a wide range of images for Color brand screen protectors. Clean, crisp product images were shot against a white background, “live” shots of the product in use were captured with models, and additional images were created to highlight the products’ durability.

Color did a major promotion with Instagram, paying influencers with massive followings to post photos of their phones in front of an interesting scene, with the scene visible on screen. The image of the train seen here was one of several examples that were used to promote the campaign and inspire the influencers to go out and get interesting perspectives. The image itself is a composite of two images of the train, with the screen image simulated.

23
Nov

Packaging design for “Color” brand screen protectors

Posted by / Compositing, Still photography

Nordstrom placed a major order with our client, Color Glass, and the chain’s buyers had some specific requests regarding the packaging. Produced by Monark using Adobe Illustrator, the final packaging has a clean look, and employs glossy finishes and embossed UV coatings. This product was a success at Nordstrom, and the national retailer subsequently requested custom designed screen protectors with stars and other details, for which Monark produced both the product design files and the packaging. The images in this post were snapped by my client when the packaging arrived, so this is a packaging design example only, not an example of product photography!

23
Oct

PSA for a Silicon Valley Charitable Organization

Posted by / Behind the scenes, Compositing

In this promotional video, Jed York, CEO of the San Francisco 49ers, introduces several prominent recipients of grant funding from the Mission City Community Fund.
Working closely with the organization’s leadership and the SF 49ers, I wrote the script for this piece, filmed the interviews using a two camera setup, and edited the final piece for screening at a Silicon Valley gala event.

05
Mar

Los Arbolitos timelapse

Posted by / Compositing, Timelapse

Sometimes you have to make a shot work, even if it’s not initially what you hoped for.
This timelapse was filmed over a period of more than three hours, with 30 second exposures at 45 second intervals. The footage was initially a disappointment: the frames were underexposed, lacking in contrast, and the light in the VW van flicked on for only a brief second. Worst of all, the camera’s sensor overloaded, resulting in a large number of “stuck” pixels across the sky.
AfterEffects was used to correct exposure (as well as possible) and to track and remove stuck pixels. Finally, the light in the van was spread over a greater number of frames and gradually faded out using mattes and layers.
I particularly liked the effect of the stars from the opposite side of the sky reflected in the van’s windows.

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