A patsy disobeys the Boss and heads for the beach. This video has a taste and feel to it.
We used what we could to make this video here in San Francisco with no budget. Our crew is great and we love to work on these types of projects when ever they are presented. We tried to make a short video that would carry the story along to the next chapter while utilizing the great quality of the 5D with the mix of shots that we employed.
Thanks to Canon and Vimeo for putting this on. We look forward to seeing what the other teams come up with.
This is the second chapter in the Story Behind the Still for the Canon / Vimeo contest.
This was shot on the Canon 5D MKII, with an assortment of Cannon and Zeiss Lenses.
Starring: Lee Eisenhower Director: James Adamson Written By: Aaron Leroux Take That Vimeo! Ha!
The basic human needs are air, water, food, shelter and clothing. Over the recent month I have become increasingly interested in how to provide those things in case of a disaster or a collapse in the economic system, as we know it. I have long been interested in what we take for granted around us, the water that runs from our taps, the electricity that comes from the plugs in our walls and the food that comes from the store. If these things that we depend on where to one day be gone and the local population, including your family and loved ones, where without basic necessity how might you construct a water treatment facility to help your community to keep drinking clean water? Waiting for the rescue may not be an option as we have recently scene by the grizzly crisis in Haiti and the sad response to the disaster in New Orleans. It is important, and I think often overlooked in our society, the critical role that civil engineering plays in providing the basic necessities for surviving in the world. I have come to the realization that through all my education I know very little about how to create the basic machines and systems to maintain and sustain a high quality life. The basic knowledge to develop this type of infrastructure, on a small scale, can be found on the Internet and in the local library. Another basic thing that I have found is my ability to work on my own vehicle. Armed with the knowledge that I gained from the Internet I replaced gaskets on my truck motor and installed the sensors that needed to be replaced to turn the check engine light off. I saved myself $350 by doing it myself. The by-product: understanding far more about how my vehicle works and with this knowledge I can continue to repair it indefinitely. I must also point out that my brother taught me a great deal about how to work on vehicles in just six hours by replacing the entire suspension system on my truck. This change is not just about saving money it is about being able to keep equipment running after it’s engineered life span is over. As the mantra goes: reduce, reuse, and recycle. There has been a systematic aging process created in a product design by the designers called planned obsolesces. This degrading that happens over a certain period of time has been planned so that the consumer has to replace the product and is under pressure to do so or be without. This is a huge inefficiency built into the system specifically to increase profits. It is also responsible for large amounts of environmental waste. With this in mind it is difficult for me to think about buying a new vehicle that I cannot work on or find parts for. Beyond the desire to keep things running efficiently around me I found myself wanting to install renewable energy in the new location where I plan to move. I found several DIY (DO-IT-YOURSELF) pages for both wind turbines and solar panels. Those resources where very easy to follow and I will take that knowledge and start to stack up the equipment and tools that I need to build and maintain the systems. Some of those links can be found below. My goal is not only to educate myself to maintain the status quo but to expand my knowledge so that I maybe able to apply these systems abroad and add some of my own invention to the puzzle. This information should be taught to our students and there ought to be some basic engineering classes. If we continue to cut education and reduce our population to videogame playing junk food eating, uneducated people we will continue to suffer.
I Shot the video from my helmet cam last week during a huge set of storms that hit the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I was in Lake Tahoe enjoying the powder at Kirkwood. Hanging out with some friends.
. Today was really interesting for many reasons and I have been feeling constant pain from attachment lately. I have made many mistakes but today I feel wiser than before but somehow more confused. I still have a longing deep inside to find something, to find the source and be apart of it once again.
I find that this feeling subsides when I meditate and I become more connected with what is. I struggle to accept ‘what is’ and I have trouble wanting to keep that, which is so freely given by life. Somehow I think that I own it. Sometimes I feel afloat on an ocean and that I have no direction but I know that I must continue to live.
What has it all come to? I have grown closer to god and I cannot turn my back on it any longer. Dishonesty within myself is poison. Things have changed, and now, when I am at drift, I cannot turn and run, I must listen and be more connected and more alive waiting for the breath of earth to remove my pain. My life is but the universe speaking about the balance of infinite things and I know deeply that I have begun to walk the right path. The effort must be applied to becoming more aligned with the design of the infinite wisdom of the universe and not with what I seek and desire. This is the key to the success that will free me from my drifting at sea.
Over the last year it has become clear that I cannot listen to the voices in my head, the ego, for guidance. The ego acts in self-serving and manipulative ways that seek to enrich only its-self. This is the source of pain. The layers of my pain have started to divulge a comprehensive pattern of self-seeking combined with grasping at that which is not mine. This and at the same time holding on to what I have to tightly. This only takes the life out of what you straggle so hard, people, places and things.
This is the true battleground for me. This is one of the most classic of fights between good and evil. Here, between the skirmishes, in the dust with sunrays pouring through, I can see both the life that light creates and the death that evil births in the dark. I have no hand from my mind. My heart, connected to that which is ancient and filled with knowledge, the essence of my being. I witness the true crusader that stands and acts with every breath to bring light and awareness. I cannot think the path, I must see it, and act upon it. It is the act of faith that encompasses grace. I have started to see the signs of synchronicity in my life from these acts of faith and I am astonished by the grace that I have been granted in these times.
I have begun to ask for guidance and the path has become illuminated. From this stand point the trail looks steep at times but I do not fully grasp the plan or the contour of the slopes ahead but again how can I?
I could write a poem about the efforts to get in front of the computer to edit video but I'll save you the pain. I will however, try and make a statement for all those out there that want me to get their great videos to them... Soon folks, you'll have your santa videos and your laughs!
I'm going in... the depths of my hard drive will be explored.
If I'm not back in a day... call Abbey and send food and coffee.
Well, welcome to the new year and I hope that your wishes come true.
I have decided to move out of San Francisco in the late spring and start a new life in Lake Tahoe. There are several reasons for this and not very many draw backs as this is strictly a life style improvement as Abbey and I are outdoor people. There are going to be several steps to taking this move on. Foremost, I want to say that our plan does not include leaving the Bay Area entirely and never returning. We love San Francisco and will be coming back often because I hope to continue to work here as well as other places nationally and internationally.
The rough plan for my business is to continue to arrange gigs in the Bay while continuing to promote my photography and videography. This is the primary point to which I am writing this blog. I want to document and show the steps too how I make a transition from being based here in the Bay Area to pushing into other markets and creating more opportunities for myself at home and abroad.
As anyone who is ever lived in San Francisco will tell you, the cost of living is high, very high. I struggle as a freelancer to make it now-and-then and I feel that it is not necessary for me to be in the city at all times since a large portion of my work is done either in the field or behind the computer at home (a lot). I really don't need to be at a specific location and this is the point to which we want to change the location to be closer to the mountains and the sports which we are so involved in already.
For more than a year now, I have been on a spiritual journey that has helped me start to live the life that I have always dreamed of. The dreams of material possessions have given way to feelings of content and experience based dreams with loved ones. My life has really changed and my drive has shifted to creating imagery that reflects not only the human spirit but the natural setting that it exists in. This landscape, both in the city and in the mountains, holds us and helps us to return to the most basic principles of awareness and connectedness with the universe at large as long as we take time to see it. I feel most at peace in the mountains sitting and talking or climbing with friends, taking pictures and bringing those experiences back from my mecca, a place of peace and serenity in the calm tide of mother earth, as a refugee with tales of a far off lands back in the city, sharing images and stories with those that have a willingness to listen and experience some of it themselves. That is my purpose.
There is a certain amount of fear involved in leaving a place where you are comfortable. I have fear about not being able to make it and those will be there, growing smaller as time goes on. These fears will not hold me back from experiencing life's great adventure. Life gives back what you give to it I have found that to be the truth. With that adage, I know that if I continue to evolve in my skill and passion that I will be able to live free and in beauty.
Here's to all our successes!!!!!
I have been developing a plan so stay tuned to see how in unfolds.
Vimeo voted "Lights and Water" in the top 25 videos of '09
This was a great honor for me. The short video has produced great results. It has had over 35,000 plays and 850 likes on vimeo. I really am happy to see that people like it so much.
I have been very busy and with the holidays and all I have been cramped for time. However, over the next few weeks I have some time to get a new reel put together and play with some footage that I have taken over the last 6 months. It's about time!
Last night I spent time to get the holiday photos out to family and friends. Thanks all for the great times. I had the best Christmas that I can remember.
