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For some of you that may be following me on Twitter – you may have seen some video from a little over a week ago of our takeoff that I sent from my iPhone during the flight.

Here is a video that my pal Robert Caplin shot and that Laia Prats edited.  I’ve got to admit that I fell to the ground laughing when I heard their choice of music… that combined with some great onboard audio reminded me so much of the epic helicopter scene from “Apocalypse Now.”

If you want to see a slightly more “serious” version here’s New York Magazine’s video on this same shoot – if anything fast forward to second 0:46 for a shot of us flying less than 20 feet off the deck – now that shot is SICK. Read the rest of this entry »

I just wanted to point you towards a great project that photographer Tim Mantoani has been working on since 2006.  “Behind Photographs” is a series of portraits of “historic photographers and their images” shot with a 20X24 Polaroid camera.   The Polaroid camera he uses is a rare and mammoth view camera that is not easy to transport – let alone shoot with.  To date Tim has photographed more than 100 photographers.   Somehow I made it into that group which obviously questions his entire selection process.   I’ve got to say that this is to say the least – a very ambitious project – as you know that getting any photographer IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA – is close to impossible (let alone some of the best photographers in the world who are sure to be critical of your work!)

I  had a fantastic time for two reasons:  First, they scheduled my portrait session right after James Nachtwey – which was a huge honor for me on a number of levels.   Second – I NEVER have had a portrait made of me (unless I’m goofing around at the end of a shoot) in close to a decade – and definitely never with a 20X24 Polaroid.   On average Tim shot 1 maybe 2 Polaroids of each photographer – period.  So forget shooting at 10 frames a second or thousands of frames in a portrait session.  It brings it back to the ways things once were – and where they should be… nail the portrait in one, maybe two frames.

Check out Tim’s site here.

Mystery Gear...

Mystery Gear...

I sometimes wonder if it’s fair to others to share some cool stuff that’s being worked on – without giving them all of the details.   Definitely feels like a bit of a tease for sure.

Then I remind myself of how excited I feel about these things and how a smile is plastered on my face when I get to work with people on these things,  and I’m hoping to share some of that glee with others – albeit without ALL of the information.

Here is a collection of such pictures of prototypes that you’ll see out in the market prior to NAB.

I obviously can’t tell you exactly what these things do, what they will cost, exactly when they will be available – but I have gotten clearance from the people working on them to share these with you w/o a single additional word.  Hopefully you can take it for what it’s worth – and let your imaginations run wild.  I know my imagination is exploding to think of what you all will be able to do with this stuff once it becomes available!  Note that there are many companies working on these types of solutions at once – so it’s an exciting time.

I’m gearing up for a big shoot tonight and tomorrow night in LA and hope to be sharing more about the reason behind the shoot and how it involves you within a week from now. Read the rest of this entry »