akurod
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Behind The Lens
Location
You know it was my very first time working on a cattle run in West Texas and I found myself in a total different environment and it was me and my gear. The owner of a 700,000 acre ranch was awesome to work with.Time
We started at 5am in the morning getting the cowboys, horses, and trailers prepped for the location route. It was really cool to see how the process works (I learned a lot) and I was actually doing video, photo, and drone work. It was about 10am when I jumped on the Ranch Chuck Wagon.Lighting
You know it started out very cloudy and slowly the sun bloomed. The natural lighting is what really helped create the vibe. I always carry some 180 LEDs, 90 Daylight/90 Tungsten on camera lights that I use, but never had to pull those out.Equipment
That day I had a RED EPIC MX Cinema Camera, 2 Canon 5D Mark II, a set of Zeiss ZE SLR with a Canon EF Zoom lens, and a 3DR Drone using a GoProHERO4. I used the Canon 5D Mark II hand held with a Canon EF 24-105mm L 2.8 lens. (I love this lens)Inspiration
I’ve been running around hopping on trailers, horses, and trucks. I ran up to the Ranch Chuck Wagon (yes, a real wagon) and started packing my gear in the back wasting no time in herding the rest of the cattle (we had to move fast because of the cows following us) when I jumped in front or climbed on the wooding wheel as the cowboy reached for my hand to help me up as I sat to turn and get a shot from the back of the wagon I noticed Sleepy Little Cowboy (SLC) hiding and cuddling on top of canvas covers holding his cowboy hat. A moment or should I say a unexpected surprises was presenting it self and I simple captured it. The beauty of those moments of just being. THANK GOD (ANCESTORS) for CAMERAS. At the end of the day over 4000 cows showed up. It was really cool how they (cowboys) do what they do. Its funny the cowboys said the same thing about myself.Editing
The digital age has come along way... As a Cinematographer (DOP) digital was a secondary thing and nobody wanted to jump the wagon or take the risk that it would evolve or fadeaway. It seemed foreign and film was rolling it in. Now its the flow of our tomorrows... Being a documentary filmmaker I capture everything RAW with different codex using different software to edit with. My post with Sleepy Little Cowboy with a ISO @ 125 and a ND filter (Texas Sun can be brutal) I was able to get more of the visual details of what I was seeing and in photoshop I took my exposure up and offset to make the dust pop and pulled some saturation for the overall vision. With Curves I increased the contrast and adjusted my output&input, in Levels I made my midtones brighter, and color balance my highlights are up with a final touch of vibrance added. As a video editor I use to color correction in much the some way.In my camera bag
Doing documentary work my gear bag is a hand full from a RED EPIC MX Cinema Camera, to 2 Canon 5D Mark II, and 2 Canon 7Ds and sometimes a set of Zeiss ZE SLR: 18, 28, 35, 50, 85, 135mm and Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye, 24-70, 24-105, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM. All my gear is in pelican cases.Feedback
I’m always in the moment and always keep a open mind to what environment you are shooting in and be that environment, moment, and vibe. As a free spirited person I always ask before I go out in the field to guide me in that moment that will help me share my stories and express to my clients a vibe they may carry for ever. You know the beauty of my work Cinematographer/Photographer is Viewing life in a way that only some can connect and being a eye in the face of life...