So if you know me personally, you know that I love anything with two wheels.  The only other “job” that I have had (other then working as a filmmaker) was as a bicycle mechanic in high school and college.  This two wheeled passion has evolved into working on and fixing up vintage motorcycles, mostly Hondas.

There is an amazing vintage motorcycle shop in Philadelphia called “Liberty Vintage” run by an awesome dude named Adam.  I have always wanted to do a short doc on the shop, and the other week I found myself in Philly with all my gear, so I called him up and he was game.

Its easy to get caught up in real life, paying the bills, and working on other people’s project, etc… but I decided that I really wanted to & needed to do a personal project,  something that from start to finish I can call my own.  Hanging around Adam’s shop for two days was great, and the footage I got was even better.  I typically hate editing, but I can’t wait to start this edit!

A few weeks ago I shot another round of TV spots for Susquehanna Bank.  Once again Scott Whitham was directing, Shooters Post and Transfer was producing and the agency was Aloysius Butler & Clark. Like before, we shot on the 5d mkII.  The spots are finished, color corrected and should be hitting the air shortly!

I’ve been working on a number of projects with Scott.  We have also been working on a project for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia which has involved several days of shooting in the hospital plus a short trip to North Carolina.

I had a fun shoot with the guys at ART 21 last week. We shot with photographer Lucas Blalock. Lucas works for Vik Muniz so we started the day shooting in Vik’s Brooklyn studio. What a cool space (my dream space!).

We then followed Lucas over to Griffin Editions, a fine art photography print shop in Brooklyn. There we had a sneak peak of some new work by Vik Muniz. Griffin Editions was also an extremely awesome space, but I may be bias due to my love for anything photography related.

We finished up the day shooting with Lucas at his apartment / studio. We had a fun time trekking across an iced covered roofs to get some shots of the JMZ train. We shot vertie all day, and despite a sore back, it was a really great day of shooting!!!

I spent last weekend working on ART 21′s New York Up Close web series. This time we were shooting Whispering Pines 10 a one-act opera by artist Shana Moulton in collaboration with composer Nick Hallett. The opera was an interesting mix between performance, video projection and pop/opera songs. We spent most of the time shooting at the New Museum followed by a later performance at The Delancey.

Once again we were shooting all cinema vertie on the 5d mkII. I have dialed in a pretty good system for vertie on that camera. I also recently picked up a Canon 24mm f1.4 with still photography in mind, but its proving to be much more useful for video then I originally imaged. A funny side note, I bought the lens off a stranger on craigslist who happened to be the DP of Gossip Girl.

Last month I headed to London for a week to produce and direct a web series for PUMA. The three part web series is about a top ranked youth soccer team that won a chance to go train with the Tottenham Hot Spurs, a premier league team from the UK.

The web series follow the young players as they arrive at the Tottenham training and go through various coaching sessions with THFC coaches. We also shoot the boys sight seeing and going to the Tottenham vs. Chelsea match. Other highlights include shooting interviews with Peter Crouch and Clive Allen and having great access to all of THFC.

I have to admit before this trip I was not the biggest soccer… err futbol… fan but this trip and experience have given me a new respect and interest in the sport. I now have a favorite futball team, the Tottenham Hot Spurs!

This past december I started working on a really great on-going web series for PBS’s Art 21. Art 21 is best known for their long running broadcast show of the same name. This web series takes a bit of a detour from the typical show in both content and style.

New York Up Close, the title of the web series, features young and upcoming artist in NYC. The shooting style also takes a departure from the show by utilizing all HDSLRs.

So far the shoots have ranges from studios in Bushwick to galleries in Chelsea to non-profit spaces in both Lower Manhattan and the Bronx. What’s also ironic is the fact this is my first on-going project in NYC. I tend to travel so much for work its been really refreshing getting to know different parts of my city.

I wrapped up production on the Smirnoff NighLife Exchange project this past weekend with a final shoot in Toronto. Keep an eye on www.smirnoff.com for upcoming webisode. An hour special will also be broadcasting in various countries across the globe later this year.

On a completely different note, a while ago my friends and I started a motorcycle blog called www.ChinontheTank.com. With the winter fast approaching I’ve been trying to get in some riding. I also have some motorcycle and camping photos I hope to get up on my blog soon!

I’ve been traveling like crazy the last few weeks.  First up was a short shoot in Toronto for the Smirnoff Night Life Exchange project… followed by less then 36 hours in NYC before heading to Argentina!

I spent all of last week shooting in Buenos Aires for the same project!  What a beautiful city!  I was really excited to go to Argentina, I’m really fascinated with South America but the only other country I have been to there is Colombia.  Spending a week in BA was almost a tease, it just made me want to take off for Patagonia!

I was lucky enough to end up with a little free time in Buenos Aires and shot a handful of photos, keep an eye on my blog for a small update!

This past August was a bit slow, so I spent most of the month riding my motorcycle, going camping and enjoying the summer with friends! However, literally on September 1st things went from crazy slow to crazy busy!

I spent the past week in Berlin, Germany shooting a web project for Shirmoff and MTV international. The project ended up being pretty cool. It turned out to be a mix between a profile piece and a travel show. We shot on the EX1 in a very traditional docu style…. nothing to fancy.

I have always wanted to go to Berlin and the city didn’t disappoint! In fact because of the segment, I got to see and go to some pretty cool spots in the city. This was just the first leg of the project, I hit the road (or should I say “air”) next week for another shoot in another great city!

Earlier this month I headed down to New Orleans to work with the non-profit Rethink. This is my 4th year shooting and producing a project for them. Rethink. is always one of my favorite gigs and I really enjoy the long term working relationship I have with them. Plus each year I work with Colin M. Lenton, a great photographer and also one of my best friends.

Tracing my work through Rethink. is also interesting. The first year (2007) I shot the project on the DVX100a, last year it was the HPX170 and this year it was all shot on the 5d mkII. I’m particularly happy with the interviews, which I shot at 1250 ISO with only one 500watt light source, quite a change of pace from a lot of other shoots i’ve been doing.