F3 and the Cooke Panchos

Over the last few months I've been working on a project with the ad agency Draft FCB. Nothing to crazy, just some doc style interviews but if course with my typical creative flare added in. For this project we decided to go with the Sony F3 with a set of Cooke Pancho lenses (rented from Hello World Comm, great rental house by the way). We also had a set of Canon Tilt/Shift lenses rehoused into a PL mount lens. I have to admit after working mostly with my Canon Primes (mostly 1.2s and 1.4s) and Zeiss Super Speeds, the Cooke's felt slow, but since we had full crews and grip trucks at all locations, it was never a big issue.

The Cooke's did prove to be incredibly sharp. Even the 100mm with a double held up extremely well in sharpness. I felt like the cooke's shined the most in natural light, but then again utilizing natural light is kind of my thing so I'm a little bias.

The other thing I really liked about the F3/Cooke set up was the size and functionally. Most of my other work this year has been either on the 5d or the RED, so the F3/Cooke combo was a perfect middle ground. Something light enough to run around with, but something solid enough it felt like a proper camera package. Oh and running sound into the camera, being able to jam sync and having HDSDI out is also kinda nice!

After shoots in Nashville, Dallas and Baltimore area, the project is all warped up and I'm pretty bummed because it was a lot of fun! I just want to thank my amazing AC Nicholas Lindner (this trip may not have been as crazy as Bolivia but we still had an awesome time!) and all the local crew we worked with, especially Darrell Tawney of Commando Lighting. If you are ever in Dallas, hire him, you won't be let down.

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BOLIVIA

I absolutely love what I do for a living.  I just got back from a 20 day shoot in Bolivia.  We flew into La Paz, drove to the Chapare (in the amazon basin, around 1,000 feet above sea level) and worked there for a few days, then worked in the lovely city of Cochabamba (about 8,500 ft) and then ended the trip shooting on the side of a mountain at nearly 15,000 ft above sea level.  We went from shooting in the jungle to shooting in a silver mine, man what a wild trip!!!!!  Oh and the entire shoot was on the RED.  Yes, the RED.  Behind the scene photos to come! Driving out of La Paz.

The town of Villa Tunari, my first time in the Amazon Basin.

Jungle Roads /// Yes, we brought a dolly into the jungle.

The whole reason we went to the jungle was to film on Coca farms. These were legal farms, yet some of these plants still end up as cocaine.

We spent a lot of time on the road. We had an awesome Land Cruiser and a cargo van with all our gear. The roads in Bolivia are pretty insane. Thank god we had two awesome drivers. Thanks Macros and Ricky! You guys rocked!

Street vendor in Cochabamba

The high plateaus (around 13,000 feet) where simply amazing. Its like the wild west, unbelievable.

Another plateau shot.

And another. I was just completely blown away by these beautiful yet harsh landscapes.

Storm. Dust cloud /// Valley at sunset. A lot of Bolivia reminded me of the American West.

The city of Potosí, one of the highest cities in the world. That's the mountain we shot on the side of. Amazing!

We had a day off in Potosí for "Altitude acclimatization" -- First time I have EVER had a day off in the middle of a shoot for altitude acclimatization, so I walked around (slowly) and shot a few photos. Street vendor.

Women with cellphone, Potosí /// Street festival, Potosí.

View from the side of the mountain where we were shooting. This was my "office" for the week.

This is Nick, my wonderful amazing AC on the trip. We had a killer time, but how could you not when your shooting on a RED on the side of a mountain at 15,000 feet.

This is one of my favorite shoots. Miners chewing coco, Potosí.

Miner with a bag of coca, Potosí /// Women in traditional dress, La Paz.

CHINESE NEW YEARS

One of my new years resolutions was to shoot more still photos, so I headed out to Chinese New Years with my new-ish 24mm f1.4. I also wanted to play with Diptychs and 1x1 cropping. Here are a few results. Untitled Chinese New Years #1

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BERLIN! BUENOS AIRES! & LONDON!

I've been slacking hardcore about putting up photos.  But now that its the middle of the winter and I'm stuck inside on the weekend when I much rather be outside riding bikes, I figure its a good time to put up some photos! So this past fall I was traveling almost non-stop.  While shooting for the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange project I ended up going to Berlin, Buenos Aires and Toronto.  Then in December I headed to London to shoot a project for PUMA.  Here are a handful of photos from those trips!

BERLIN! I missed the charm of Europe, its been three years since I was there last. Berlin was awesome!

I loved this.

Jewish memorial.

Between some tech issues with the rental cameras and long hours, the shoot in Berlin was pretty tough, but staying at Hotel Adlon made up for the street. The hotel room was by far nicer then my apartment in NYC. Man, this place was sweet, the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at!

BUENOS AIRES!

Next up was a trip to Buenos Aires. I flew in a day early and got a chance to walk around and "scout" the city. I also stay an extra day and made it out to the Tigre Delta, which was really cool and reminded me a lot of New Orleans! Highlights included coffee, cafes and more coffee! Oh and the food, my god, the food. No matter where we went, we had amazing food!

La Recoleta Cemetery and a street musician.

La Boca neighborhood.

La Boca at sunset. Great light.

Lots of great and cheap coffee. Cafe creama was my favorite (picture cafe con leche)

and with coffee comes really cool coffee shops.

Boat ride through the Tigre delta.

gas station in the Tigre delta.

LONDON

The final international trip I took this fall was a week trip to London to shoot a project for PUMA. I was staying and shooting about 45 minutes outside of London, but I made it into London a few times to get dinner. The job was extremely demanding so I kinda took a break from my camera at night, but here are a few stills i snapped off.