Video Log

I took Cooper for a walk near my mother’s house in Ojai this afternoon. He’s been sequestered since the rains began a few weeks back and in dire need of some running around. I obliged but he had to pose for me. He’s such a great dog and what a personality!

During this morning’s high tide, the large Pacific swell flooded the beach and pushed back through the drainage up into San Jon Road right underneath HWY 101 causing quite a scene. Before I broke out the video camera, cars were driving through the water. Once the Ventura Police Department shut down the southbound part of the road, it wasn’t quite as exciting.

What started out as a video daily turned into a long-term PSA for my friends over at the Humane Society of Ventura County. I was going to do a daily on how the economy has impacted pet owners who have had to give up their dogs. Getting the shelter director on tape was the easy part, finding a person who gave up their dog to go on tape, not so easy. Nonetheless, I had enough interview to do a PSA. The idea was to make it available to the HS for their Website, or for any other purpose, they set me up with several of their staff and volunteers to capture some behind-the-scenes stuff. The bad news was it took me nine months to complete this. Regardless, if it can help my friends over at the shelter (www.humanesocietyvc.org), then more power to it.

Early one morning a few of us from the faculty and staff of the Picture Kentucky workshop went hunting for elk in rural Knott County. Charlie Logsden, wildlife biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife helped us track elk with a bugle call. We weren’t let down.

David LaBelle began his Pictures With Purpose 2009 workshop today from his home in Oak View, Calif. His opening comments set the tone for the workhop in the days to come. This is just a clip from today.

For the past few weeks I’ve ventured over to Lake Casitas to do a daily on their Astronomy Night program they have going on. Over the course of the summer, Ernest Underhay leads a program about the stars, the moon, planets and everything else that’s found in our night sky. Open to the public, the two-hour gathering is informational, funny and a chance for those in attendance to look at the stars through a telescope, provided by the lake. Last night was my second night filming, I believe my last. I cut this trailer this morning just to get something done and over to my contact at the Lake, in case they wanted to use it on their Website. In the next week or so I’ll cut the full version.

Let the color’s continue… Funny how things never turn out exactly like you thought they would. Such is the live of a visual storyteller. Sometimes they turn out better! There are several colors left in my head to capture and share. Green came and went with the Spring weather. Summer is here and ripe with colors, white being one of my favorites. Initially I wanted to film the kite surfers against a white sky but just today decided to add some foreground elements to the shot. Boy am I glad I did. Anyway, just another in the line of colors and motion that I’ve been playing with.

On my way to NAB in Vegas, I had the bright idea of shooting the sunrise over the a “carpet of orange” at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve SNR in Lancaster… Well, despite the warnings from their official site that peak has passed about two weeks earlier, I decided to give it a go, nonetheless. It seemed like a good plan, you know, like I did when I shot the sunrise about 20 years earlier when I was a photo student at Ventura College. That was a magical time, the poppies were in full bloom, the light was beautiful and a hot air balloon came up from the other side of the hill. Wow, what a shot! No problem, this time I’ll shoot it on video and make it even better… Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong. What did I learn from this shoot… No need to invest that kind of time and energy if NOTHING is going to happen. I was lucky to get what I did.

There were several clips from my Sunday Sunrise Service shoot that I considered pulling for other reasons, this was kind of that. Before the service, I was playing with the overcranking feature of the EX1 camera and new that I would need some audio. So, I set the camera up to shoot/record the drum circle that was when I noticed some guy strining up a rope on a tree on the side of the hill. What was he doing? I waited to find out. Anyway, just for fun. Enjoy.

Put up or shut up…? Well, I can’t really be a video journalist if I don’t tell stories with a video camera and one of the best ways I can think to learn is to DO… So this morning I woke up early and went and did a piece on the Easter Sunrise Service at Lake Casitas Recreation Area. The people at the Ojai Valley Community Church were great to work with, giving me all the access and information I needed. A few hours (and 40 minutes of footage) later, I fueled up with coffee and spent the next three hours cutting a 1:20 short. I’ve sent it to my friends at the Star to see if they want it for their Website, www.venturacountystar.com and will then cut a longer version for the OVCC for their site. Glad it’s done… now it’s time to enjoy Easter.