It’s been awhile since I’ve written a blog so bear with me. A lot of things in my life have changed but one constant is my drive to visit all fifty states. A couple months ago I was lucky enough to get flown up to Anchorage, AK for a client that produces a crime show. I’ve shot for this client a number of times before but they hadn’t flown me somewhere yet. Needless to say, I was excited and ready for an adventure.
I traveled up to Alaska with a ton of cases. I think ten in total. Lots of lights, my slider, lenses, and the Sony FX3 got checked with United Airlines. My carry-on was the Sony FX9. I never check the A-CAM. I’m too paranoid.
The schedule was tight so there was little time to explore but I snuck in a quick hike to take some pictures of Alaska’s beautiful landscapes.
I spent most of my time in two different air-b’n’b’s shooting multiple 4 hour long interviews. My Sony FX9 was paired with the Zeiss Batis 40mm f2.0 and the Zeiss Batis 85mm f1.8 was on the FX3. There was an interview or two where I used the Sony 100-400mm on my B-CAM instead of the 85mm. It just all depended on the space I had to work with.
I’ve had Nanlite’s in my kit now for a couple years and I absolutely love them. I’m usually using the Nanlite 300 and a Par-120 soft box for my key. This trip was no different. The look of the show is super moody and dramatic so most of the time I’m ND’ing windows, dial in a nice key light, and maybe use a Nanlite 60 to hit the background somewhere and I’m good to go.
On top of running cameras and lights I’m also getting my “Zoom” on. Our producer was working remote so I had to set up my laptop and connect both cameras to my computer so I could show her the shots via Zoom. It’s easy to do at this point thanks to Covid and the world being on lock down for awhile. Remember that? Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it. Anyways, one positive that came out of all that is everyone at Go To Team is a “Zoom Ninja.” We can show you exactly what the shot looks like via Zoom, plus we can hit a switch and you’ll hear what the audio guy hears too. It’s pretty cool.
After a couple long days of shooting long interviews it was time to shoot a ton of scenics and locations related to the crime scene. The biggest challenge was the rain and keeping the gear dry. Other than the rain we had a really smooth day jumping from location to location with the FX9 and MYT Slider. All the b-roll was high-speed /48fps.
Oh, by the way, I literally saw a mamma moose and a baby moose walking through a parking lot. Yes, I got that b-roll.
I had a great time out in Alaska. I still can’t believe clients trust me to not only tell their story but on top of that they will fly me thousands of miles from home to do it. That’s really cool and it never gets old.
On to the next one.