ADVENTURE REFUGEE.COM

Jumping with Jhonathan Florez

2011-11-20T14:10:00.001-08:00

I am often approached about commercial concepts for products or people and I need to come up with a vision for the story, the script and the visuals that are going to convey the concept with the richest media we can create with our timeline and budget.

I use several tools to help flush out the vision from the client and from my mind on how best to capture the attention of our target audience. Recently, AR teamed up with Jhonathan Florez to create a promotional video and to tell his story as a skydiving wing-suit-flying maniac.

The first step was to figure out “who” we would be speaking to. Jhonathan is attempting to set three Guinness world records in the coming months and he is seeking sponsorship and promotion of the jumps he will be making from 32,000 ft. To capture that audience we need to express his passion for what he does, his drive and give him some credibility as he goes out and attempts something that has never been done before.

Find videos that work. Jhonathan sent me several videos that he thought captured the environment that we would be shooting in. Airplanes, parachutes and wingsuits, all these would be new to me as far as shooting and we needed to get a baseline for what we would be trying to accomplish.
Secondly, I always need to visualize how the story might play out when we deliver it. For this I use the classic storyboard method. This is nothing new but it works wonders for getting the ideas for shots down on paper and to show the client what you are thinking visually. Here is a basic time lapse of the storyboard that I did for JF.

As the production went on I created another storyboard to help organize the production into sections with bookends to help categorize our scenes and too create transitions. With this specific project we needed to shoot plenty of b-roll footage because the interviews of JF where not scripted so ultimately it would be told documentary style with the voice over leading the editing. Considering that we had three production days to complete the shooting we needed to be shooting any chance we had to get the quality of shots we were going for. Those shots included time lapses of the airstrip, the clouds and people, while at the same time capturing shots from the air on Go Pro cameras and with DSLR’s from the plane and on the ground.

We were fortunate to have Brian Drake, JF’s wingman, to shoot the footage of JF from the air. We used the new GoPro HD2 for this shooting and the shots turned out to have great color and resolution especially compared to the older Go Pro Hero HD camera.

While having access to the airstrip was great we had scripted a base jump into our storyboard and we needed to shoot that in very low light as to not attract attention. This was unique for the AR crew and we decided to bring Isaac Joslin in with an RC quad copter to fly up next to JF while he was on the tower. This provided an angle of view that helped tell the story of commitment and establish JF as a professional flyer.

While on the ground we used a 5ft Kessler CineSlider to give movement to the shots and help emphasize the environment while on the ground. We ended up using the slider inside of an old airplane in the “bone yard” with a great effect. Having a monitor for these shot was essential. We used a 7” Marshal that helped me frame shots and check focus which was important for the racking shots.

Overall, we had a great time and the last few days have been working on the editing process and creating a rhythm that will keep the audience engaged and connected to JF because he is, most definitely a worthy entertainer and athlete with great promise.

We had excellent help with our staff, Matthew Donaldson, Patrick Egan, Isaac Joslin, Ryan Hudson and all the other folks at the drop zone that made this thing happen. I can't wait to show off what we did.

Stay tuned for the release of our short on Adventure Refugee TV.

James

Omma Video

2011-10-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

This week I am working with Omma at their Mobile, Video and Social Conference. Once again I have been gifted to learn and work at the same time. Although, the learning curve about marketing techniques, ad spots and all the rest has been quite steep I have been able to adapt some of the social tools that where introduced to me by Paul Barron from DigitalCoco.com
Those social tools, illustrated by the trending Twitter feed displayed to the left of the stage with my logo and comments occasionally displayed along with those of major advertising firms form across the country allowed the idea of social networking on the corporate level to sink in and give a real life effect to the digital world.
It’s not often that I write about the conference gigs that I do to keep afloat but this seemed to stick out as an opportunity to grow the network in which I work. You can check out more at

www.mediapost.com/

From
http://www.adventurerefugee.com/2011/10/omma-video/

New Adventure Refugee Production Website Up...

2011-09-29T13:50:00.001-07:00

Check out our new production website...

www.adventurerefugee.com

Mountain Biking Mash UP...

2011-05-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

A Music Video for John G by Robin Hong and me as DP

2011-03-29T22:32:00.000-07:00

Fish Out of Water Commercial...

2011-03-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

Ganghis Grill Commercials

2011-02-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

These videos were created for Ganghis Grill a Mongolian BBQ eatery that has 1000 stores. I am currently working on another commercial for them now while these two are airing nationally. This is my first national commercial series as a director and shooter. We had a ton of fun making these.

These Are The Breaks from James Adamson on Vimeo.

Mount Your Horses Ganghis Khan Commercial from James Adamson on Vimeo.

The Fluid Race Team

2011-02-05T20:57:00.000-08:00

When I see bikes being raced, I want to race bikes . That much is clearer to me after having my mouth watering all day while watching $6000 bikes zipping by. I wanted to be competitive and ride until my heart pounded out of my chest, and all the suffering involved in climbing up hills on two wheels sounded so good in my mind. I love that stuff.

Today I spent taking pictures of what I love about bikes. The people that ride them and how they chase each other in a way that creates communities and friendships that bridge all people. The Fluid cycling team is a great example of a community building team that has great riders and excellent coaching. These guys live by their commitment to the sport. Nathan Chaszeyka and his wife Melinda run Endurance Addiction a cutting edge endurance-couching outfit in Las Vegas and are the directors of this amateur racing team. It’s impressive what these guys know about the human body and how they apply it to themselves and their athletes.

All the guys put their heart in to the race, which was called The Boulevard Road Race. It took place near the Mexican border within the United States. San Diego County is beautiful this time of year, especially running around a racecourse trying to take good photos with very few opportunities.

In the Desert

2011-02-04T09:13:00.001-08:00

The weather in Las Vegas remained cold yesterday but the people were out in numbers climbing and riding. It’s great to be in the desert and remain active even thought it’s the middle of winter. I wanted to do some climbing after riding in the morning, after all I am on vacation. I’ve been trying to seek out some people to take photos of so I found a great bouldering area right outside of Vegas called the Central Kraft.
The rock quality at Kraft is nothing short of spectacular sandstone. I have climbed quite a bit of sandstone around the country and the Red Rock Canyon has to have some of the best anywhere. I met up with a few guys from Tucson and we climbed what seemed to be the classics of the area. I’m not that strong of a boulderer (?) so I climbed for a while and then started to take pictures when we started in to the V5-V6 range. The sun was going down and it was a good time to watch Eric and his friend (sorry, cannot remember his name. I know, I’m working on it) from Germany pull down hard on some small holds and overhanging slopers.
We exchanged stories of illegal camping in national parks and soon we where all friends. It’s funny how we can all relate to some things as climbers. No matter what language we speak or what kind of rock it is, when it’s hard or fun or whatever, just a glance at the other guy can say so much about what that person is thinking and feeling.
It was quiet out there with some houses in the distance and I could see the smoke start to settle in the valley from people coming home from work and lighting their fires. Inside, I wished the sun wasn’t going down. I wanted to stay and keep climbing and taking photos. It was like getting on a plane from some far off land when you don’t really want to go home. The kind of day that you don’t want to end but your fingers are torn up and your legs wobble under the weight of your backpack. Yesterday was that type of day.

Today I am heading to San Diego to take pictures for the Fluid Cycling Team. They have a series of men and women’s races out there so I’ll be cheering my friends on and taking some action shots. I have been taking many more pictures than usual. I mostly do video work now and I've missed working to take better photos. Now I find myself taking the photos that I really want to be working on in the outdoors and on adventures. I’ll keep posting them. It’s Fun.

The Cure

2011-02-01T12:33:00.001-08:00

There's nothing quite like an adventure to take the mind off of problems that seem to be taking up all the space in there. I headed to the desert after a hard month. It's been lonely in a mid winter sense. The drive was long and when I arrived my mind was spinning. I left Truckee in a state that I'd never been in before. I felt lost and directionless and i tried to think of reasons to stay in the Sierras for a few more weeks until I could find more photo work or directing work but that was just an excuse so that I wouldn't have to come all the way out here and face the calmness and the quite of the desert and really get some perspective on what's happening in life, not only to me but those around me, all of us, really.

Matt Mienzer and I have been climbing together for about 10 years now and it feels strange to say that. Time has started to fly and climbing has become the way that I reconnect with old friends and rediscover my connection to the earth. Around the time when we first met I came to the desert and climbed the Moonlight Buttress, in Zion National Park, with him in 2000. It was my first big wall climb and it started a revolution in my life as to what types of climbing were possible for me. Since then i've been out to the desert many times but never back to Zion. It feels good to be back and to be camping along the river in freezing temperatures. It brings back memories of the old days and makes room for the new.

We decided to climb on Mt. Kinesava. It seemed like a good adventure climb with a nice treat at the end, indian petroglyphs. The drawings carved in to the sand stone depict the indians herding the big horn sheep to the edge of the bluff and forcing
them over the cliff walls to their waiting families below.

I almost became one of those meals when a hold blew out and I flew about 20 feet backward in a cartwheel from the boulder problem and slide toward the edge of the 2000 ft cliff. I thought I was going for the big one as the edge approached. My hands slid across the sandstone and it took the skin right off as I tried to stop my body and backpack from getting closer to the edge. I almost met my end but just as I slid off the edge I could see another smaller ledge about 6 feet below. My body hit it, head first and I jumped up happy to be alive. I took my helmet off and looked at it, huge dent. I'm glad that I had it on. Bloody and sandy we continued to climb toward the top of the cliff and when we arrived on top we where greeted with a grassy meadow perched on top of this beautiful mountain and of course the petroglyphs.

That is certainly a change of pace from the climbing gyms and ski resorts littered with x-girlfriends. There has been something missing from my life for a long time. I have had a feeling creeping in on me that somehow I have been doing something wrong. That I have somehow been doing things badly and a constant anxiety has been hanging around ever since I can remember. I think that it has been there for so long that I was unaware of it's existence. It's been hard to ask for things that are important to me, like somehow they didn't matter. Strangely, only pursuing financial success and developing the "dream" could stave off the feeling that I constantly needed to be doing something to further my career. Screw all that.
I guess the reason that I'm saying it here is that I really believe that it matters what people are thinking and doing even if the ideas are still in development. To what extend these photos or stories effect people I have little idea but I do know that writing and experiencing life on this level brings me great relief from a society that seems to only focus on how many deals you can make and how good you look doing it. What really matters is the relationships that you make when your out, fully exposed to the world, unhidden and free. Let go and see what happens.

Here are some photos from the current adventure.

The First National Commercial Series

2011-01-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

Things have been crazy with the holidays but we managed to complete our first national commercial series in record time and style. The two 30 sec. spots where for Genghis Khan Grill. They came to us for some funny spots that would get the attention of their market and I think we did that. Here are a few pictures from the shooting.

Here are a few videos that we haven't put out.... Enjoy.

2010-11-20T20:18:00.001-08:00

The Little King Treading Water from James Adamson on Vimeo.

SpinDrift from James Adamson on Vimeo.

Lee Bannon & Chuuwee, 6 Feet Deep, HNR Mixtape from James Adamson on Vimeo.

DZR Commercial "The Lazy Man"

2010-11-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

This is the new commercial that I directed shot and edited for DZR and there new Loafer shoe. Lee Eisenhower acts out the part perfectly in this comedy viral destined for bicycle greatness.

The Return of the Lazy Man To Bike Shoes from James Adamson on Vimeo.

The Seasons Coming...

2010-10-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

I want to go back to Utah soon. Ice climbing and skiing in the back country. I"m going homeless. I miss you snow.

Provo P.O.V from Ian Provo on Vimeo.

Spindrift wins 4 awards at the San Jose 48 Hour Project

2010-09-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Spindrift won best director (Allison Ayer), best cinematographer (me), best set design and best use of genre. We worked our asses off to get this film done and it paid off. You can see the write up here.

This summer has been an amazing creative and community based celebration for me. Our goals and dreams have started to materialize and I see the future as a bright and shining example of hard work and collaboration. There are several things lining up in the future, music videos, narratives, documentary projects and photo installations. The sun is rising on the horizon.

I am heading out to the Maine Media Workshop for a Masters DP course in late October and I'm very excited to learn more about the craft from some amazingly talented people who have deep experience in the art and business.
I am also diving into the application processes for graduate school as it has always been a huge dream of mine to proceed with my journalism education and combine my digital art with my journalism background. I dread the GRE. :)

Setting Up Custom User Settings On The 5D and 7D for Video

2010-09-03T14:32:00.000-07:00

This blog is meant to show how to memorize your custom user setting for your 5D and 7D cameras. I have been repeatedly asked to show people how to save the setting so that the camera does not switch back to the usual setting or arbitrary setting that the camera is in while in manual mode. Saving the custom settings under the user setting (C1-3) allows you to set one for indoor, another for outdoor and another for photo mode or however you like you camera setup. Another way to set it up is an Aperture Priority or Speed Priority and Manual Mode, either way you slice it this is how you do it.

First, turn the user knob to the selected mode (M-Av-Tv) that you want to save for your first user setting (C-1).

Second, set the camera to the desired ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed for the specific lighting situation.

Third, go into the menu and find the Camera User Settings tab and enter the sub menu.

From here you will be asked if you’d like to register. Yes I do.

Then you can choose which profile you would like to place your custom settings under. In this case we will set ours under C-1.

Exit the menu and then switch the camera to user setting one. Your custom manual settings should be the same. Now turn it to another setting and back to check and see if they have been save properly. Repeat as desired to add more custom settings to C-2 and C-3.

BREAKING NEWS

2010-08-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to report that we've finished another film for the San Jose 48 hour film race competition. Matt Donaldson, Allison Ayer and I put together a great cast and team to get Spindrift done. The film turned out awesome and we showed it for the first time last night in San Jose. The crowd cheered loudly when it was done. Spindrift was the last movie to play of the night before a retrospective session that a small crowd attended. Allison and I watch another one of her films from this years San Francisco 48 hour race.
All around me I have great people and I really am loving putting together these great short films and being involved with people who share a similar vision. Allison and I also put some work together for another film called Contrition for the San Francisco 7x7. That film won the best screen play and I was nominated for best cinematographer and Allison for best director.
The Sacramento 10x10 was a huge win for us also. We really enjoyed that win and I was really grateful for the Sacramento crowd that put us up on the stage to get those awards.
Tomorrow I head to work on a music video for the Fairfield band Slowburn. We have shot 6 days on the video with several locations, sets, cars and actors. It's a big 60s time piece. It's going to be a success.
All and all this month has been fantastic. Things are falling in to place and it's been a great ride.

Thanks,
James

The Sacramento 10x10 Best Film, Best Actor, Best Acting Ensemble

2010-08-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well there was a while when it didn't look good for the win. The crowd didn't make much noise during our movie and I was doubtful that we would win. But when the festival president said "The Little King Treading Water" we knew that we had done something great. I feel good about it. It was a small battle but it was decisive. We took home the crystal awards and I spent the week trying to figure out how to make a larger longer film. For that we will need a budget. Larger than the $140 we spent on this one. Many things are on my mind right now. Most of them not helped by the large amount of Entourage that I have been digesting.
Our crew should be proud. I am. But like Bob Marley said "Don't be to proud today." It's time to move on. My life is out of control. All I think about it media, how to make it, who to make it with, make it bigger and better all the time. Where will it take us. I don't know but I do know that the harder I work at it the better it feels. Happiness and serenity comes with a job well done.
Thanks to all those that helped me get this far. Those dead and alive. Your memories live in all my actions.

Film Races and Glory....

2010-07-23T02:02:00.000-07:00

I completed two film races last week and I hope to have a good showing. The first was a film called The Little King Treading Water and it will be showing at the Sacramento Int. Film Festival on August 1. The second was a film called Misfire and that film will be showing at the San Francisco film week something... I'll check that out. Anyway, here are some screen shots of the raw footage.

In a change of course...

2010-07-11T18:54:00.000-07:00

In a change of course I have started to seek out artist and people to create compelling work with. I have come to the point where I realize there is NO MONEY out there right now for people to make great artistic venture so I'm not going to wait around for it to happen. I've been hitting the street everyday taking pictures and shooting video. I'm developing even though I'm not getting paid. I have found little work lately. Mostly because this is a low point in production but also because people have simply run out of money. All over the internet people want you to work for free. They want you to work on their speck ideas and create something wonderful in hopes that they'll get paid and then you'll get paid. Not likely. Not now.
If I'm not going to get paid I'm going to make things that I feel great about. ART. Not commercials for free. Sorry. Mostly I've taken to shooting people that I've been around lately. Here are some more of those photos:

New Portraits

2010-07-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have been working to evolve as a shooter and to explore areas in photography that I have not had a chance to in a while. Videography has really taken over and I shoot short films and commercials mostly. That leaves little room for the classic picture taking which is why I got in this in the first place.
Mike Chavez introduced me to a website called 13th witness. The picture showed an advanced editing process that I liked. I didn't much care for all the subject matter but I do like the images. This fit in to a theme that I have been seeing in my own work that relates to the lack of post production knowledge. Most of my time has been spent behind the camera and I spend less and less time it seems behind the computer. This has resulted in a stagnation of post production skills.
I have set out to correct this trend by introducing an After Effects work flow in to my video post and also a stylized shooting method into my portrait photography.
Here are a few photos that I have taken this week...

A New Reel...

2010-06-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

Over the last two years I have shot hundreds, if not thousands of hours of footage for all sorts of productions big and small. Some of these projects I have directed and I have had the opportunity to work for some great producers and directors. This reel represents my cinema style but it does not contain all of my current footage because I am waiting for those final versions to be released. I am currently editing an interview reel as well. That reel will represent a somewhat different feel combining location shooting and audio. I have built a small production studio in San Francisco's SOMA district where I've been working for the last month. This space, filled with other artists and liked minded people has helped me hone my energy and get aligned with the next steps in the process.
Thanks to all that made this year a huge success for me and my crew! Currently some of these shorts are showing at festivals around the world. So stay tuned for some great new projects that are currently in production.

Director-DP-Editor Reel from James Adamson on Vimeo.

Social Networking...

2010-05-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Recently I have found my friends have been having quite a bit of luck with social networking to score work. Facebook and Twitter have taken off and everyone seems to be on those networks so I have added those features to my website. I had to do a bit more programing that I really wanted to but it is a trade that I am willing to take for the prospective payoff. My website gets about 40 hits a day currently which is alright for a portfolio site but I'd like to be attracting more clients and prospective work so I'm going to add a google and facebook campaign for viral videos. This requires a little funding to throw at the issue but from what I have gathered it is money well spent.
I started to use google adwords a while back and I had hits but the amount of money that I was spending was getting little done. I was needing to spend about $5 per day to really direct traffic in the area to my video site. With that amount of money being spent I really need to have a fat wallet and some patience with the money to start seeing the results. I am going to start this back up now that I have my site up to date and the linked videos and crew involved in the layout.
A few things that I added to the site this week include a new front page layout that is more video centered. I felt like the old design said "I work with photos" and that the video page was just a side note. Now the site says "I do video" and I like that because that's really what pays the bill. I also like that because people whom I'm looking to have an artistic venture with can see that i am passionate about what I do.
The other features that I add where to my bio page where I added the facebook link and the twitter and blog link as mentioned above. But I also added a "the crew" link where you can find some of the bios of the guys that i work with and links to their sites. Now, I don't hire these guys all the time but professionally we rely on each other to get the job done and to stimulate projects. I find it is worth including them in as much stuff as I can helps. Including adding them to my portfolio site, which is really a site for all of use to show work that we have done off.

Writing Screen Plays...

2010-05-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I really sat down and wanted to convey a story with just words. I spent years trying to tell stories with images and audio clips and now I find myself wanting to develop and direct content that has the depth of real life. I started to research the fundamentals of screen writing online but I could not find a curriculum that suited me. While browsing through a book store on Haight St. here in San Francisco I found a book called

The Portable Film School

. This book is unique because it teaches through exercises, kinda like learning another language and taking a language course at home. I have found the assignments, if you will, very interesting. They have helped me gain respect for the art while at the same time expanding my capability of writing and visualizing.
I come from a background in journalism where I learned to write the facts in order of importance. In screen writing it is quite different of course. I would encourage you took pick this book up and do the exercises to expand your production horizons.
In many on the online tutorials and in this book it talks about using software to help you write the scripts and plays. I was introduced to a program called Celtx a while back and now that I am in full swing with production this tool has astounded me. There are many features but just a few of mention, it memorizes your characters, it auto fills for you, It is easy to navigate and it allows you to plan out shots. I don't plan on doing that in this program but it may work well for some.
The program that I have started to use for story boarding has been talked about a lot because it is an Iphone app. The app is made by Cinemek and is called Hitchcock. This program is a great tool that I have used to create comprehensive storyboards to show clients. Get it and use it, or don't get it at all because it costs more than most apps $20.
With these tools and a little ambition you maybe able to write and direct the next Hollywood (or bollywood) hit.

The New Studio..

2010-05-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well the new studio is coming together and with the help of friends and family we may almost be done. Casey Koerner is painting a mural on the walls as I write this. This new studio represents a few things in the evolution of my image work and the work of my crew. We have reached the point where a place to create has become a primal need for the animal within us. I find myself needing and wanting a place to meet and create. A place to bring us together and facilitate the art of visual creation and how best to apply that to the markets that we are trying to reach. More pictures will come as I get a wider lens and some murals on the walls.

A few things in there area have come to light including an event in July "Seven Day Film Festival" This event is put on by a community organization know at the Ninth Street Independent Film Center. Located right around the corner they have been involved since the early 80s. This competition will be a great way to get to know people in the area.

Here are a few pics of Casey getting it done...

Already TV Spot WIth HUF's Keith Hufnagel

2010-04-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

I was informed in the last few days that an interview that I shot a few months ago had been put up online. Sean Richards the lead man at Already TV had me come out and shoot this interview and b-roll for his website start up. We went by the HUF labs and sat down for a talk then went around SF for some more shooting of the stores and merchandise. Fun day. Thanks to Lennon also who interviewed Keith.

DSLR Rig and Audio

2010-04-22T11:03:00.000-07:00

I have done more documentary shooting and run and gun style narrative film making lately and my need for sound directly in to the camera has increased. This type of shooting requires sound be in the camera, both for reference and for a quick cut. I have spent more hours than I care to mention lining up audio with slates and wave forms with the old 5D Mll in camera mic audio than I care to mention. So when I started to use this new system I was relieved.
The way that it works, at least with my rig, is I use the H4N as a mic pre amp. I have mounted it to the back of my shoulder rig and run a splitter off of the line out / headphone outlet and then run a mini cable to the camera while still being able to monitor the audio from the headphones. Now, if you are using this system you need to be careful because you can not monitor, on camera, the audio levels so you must use the bars on the H4N and get a feel through the head phones of what your levels are like. Of course you'll need to set the levels on manual in the new 5D firmware. I choose to keep them very low, maybe 3 or so clicks from mute and use the pre amps in the H4N rather than the cheap ones in the camera. This results in less noise and a bit more control by using the two volume settings on the H4N ( headphone / record volumes).
Another obstacle with using the H4N is the amount of battery power that it sucks up. When using mics that need phantom power be prepared to change many batteries. I use a mic that takes a AA so it reduces the amount of juice that the H4N sucks up. Here are a few pictures of what the rig looks like when set up with Zeiss lenses and a Light Panels Micro Pro light to take away some of the face shadow for indoor run and gun. These pictures where taken while covering a political rally for the legalization and taxation of marijuana in California on 420. This was through a LA production house called www.newlovefilms.com

Off Road Adventure Refugee

2010-04-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

4-18-10

San Francisco was beginning to irritate me beyond belief. I love the town but I needed a break from running my own business and hustling my ass off to pay the astronomical bills. Nixon, my cousin, was under the impression for the last few weeks that he was going to get an expensive car for nothing from a older guy who has been hot on his ass. Strange, I know. Well, I bought in to the whole thing and was ready for a grand road trip up the north coast to Seattle for a long weekend in the new car. Well, the day came to leave and then another day and no call. Finally, a call came and the car was coming that day so I got packed and waited and also went and picked up my friend Casey in Oakland so that he could come with us to Fort Bragg because he needed a ride.
Soon after getting back from Oakland the call came that the car had some sort of problem and we were not getting it till Monday. Another convenient delay and I started to get a bit angry so I made some calls. The sales person at the dealership in Marin was very nice. “Nope, the cars here and ready to go, no problems, we’re just waiting for the payment.” Of course you are, and the round guy playing daddy war bucks is pulling me around now and yanking my chain. “Fuck that,” I muttered.
Casey watched as I packed my bags and got ready to go after I laid down for a bit and had a shower to calm the senses because I was steaming. We jumped in the truck and headed up highway 1.
The sun started to set and the drive was beautiful. The road started to wind and we stopped for gas and drove in the dark until we reached Fort Bragg. It was 12 am or so when we arrived and we checked in to our hotel and then fell asleep.
The next morning it was brisk but the sun was out and we jumped in the truck to go explore the mountains and the roads around the town. I pulled out the map and searched for the closest way into the forest. Oh, there we go. And we drove down oak and out off the pavement and into the forest.
We talked and drove along the dirt road and watched the ground get more saturated with mud and the road get narrower. We passed a few formidable obstacles but nothing to bad. Fairly deep mud holes where on the road but one could drive around them so I was not bothered. We laughed and talked and looked around. The road got a bit harder and we continued on until we came up to a mud puddle that we could not drive around. There was a hole in the brush next to us and I thought for a minute that we should go that way but at the last minute I decided to gun it and bash through the mud and get to the other side like we had done behind us.
We accelerated and water splashed on the sides of us. The truck struggled and we shook back and forth for a minute without going forward. The engine was spinning the tires but we were not moving. I also noticed that we were at ground level. I looked out the open window and down at the ground to find that the truck had sunk up to the doors and the mud was coming in to the cab. Oh shit! Casey had a look of fear on his face. Oh, I forgot to mention that we needed to be back at 1:30 for a press conference for a mural that Casey put on the famous Skunk Train that runs through the redwoods. Later we found out that they had a symphony there and everything.
It was clear by the feeling in my stomach that we had ourselves in a bad situation. Let me think, 9 miles from nowhere, no shovel, no winch, no high jack, yah we’re total fucked. But we smiled and stayed in the moment as well as we could. Casey climbed out in to the mud lake and I switched shoes with some I had in the back trying not to get them in the mud that was already in the cab. I climbed out through the window and on to the shore to asses the situation. Yah, we’re totally fucked.
Casey, just then, took off his shirt and jumped in to the mud lake. “Let get to it…. Hahahahah!” I laughed at his enthusiasm and stripped my valuables off and stepped in to the depths of this brown soup to see what my truck was buried in. What we found was not good. The mud was thick and bottomless. We began to dig a diversion canal for the water to run off and that worked to get about 7 inches of water out of the hole, and frankly that didn’t do shit. We tried the truck again after putting logs under the tires and trying to prop it up. It laughed at us with a gulp as the truck sunk deep and our glances at each other got more pronounced and ended each time with a laugh or a FUCK.

Finally, we decided that Casey should walk for help and that I would watch the truck and maybe keep digging in hopes of getting out…. Yah right. We Casey walked down the road and I tried to find some more would and think of some magic trick to get the truck out. Nothing came of my intense thinking. I sat in the sun and day dreamed of Casey returning rapidly with a giant truck with food and a winch. I thought I could hear them coming about 100 times until I gave up on my mind and just started to make a sun dial to keep track of time as I dozed off and listened to the buzzing.
Then I heard something getting closer. It sounded like a motorbike so I was not very excited at first but then I could see another Toyota coming down the road with a bike behind it. The pulled up quickly and Casey popped out of the truck smiling with Lynda and Jay, hands on their hips smoking and serious looking at the truck. “That’s really buried.” Said Jay, and immediately Lynda turned around and started to unload chains.
Now, I’m no movie buff but I think that she was in Terminator II. She was the mother of John Connor. She was wearing combat boots and black fatigues and she was serious as a heart attack. At one point in the ordeal she turned to me and said, “Out here, everything is balls to the wall, or your fucked.” And she meant it.

We hooked up a few ropes to the bumper and they all broke. I was a bit discouraged and then we hooked up some chains after much groveling in the mud to find the hole in the frame. Then with a force that in rarely scene in nature and mechanics’ two truck, gassed and exploding off the ground pulled the truck out. It must have looked like a black truck being born from that deep mud pit. I almost lost my truck to that hole. Finally, in a furry we had the truck out.
I wish the story would have ended there but we were not to get off that easy. We jumped in the truck and started to drive. Winding through the forest on the road. Lynda was far ahead of us and we caught up to her and could see her truck struggling through the mud pits and ruts with a rampage like ferocity, unmatched by any person in recent memory. This started to get crazy.
Lynda was driving like a bat out of hell and smoking a cigarette while driving with both hands. Her dog in the back riding the truck like a rodeo king and the other dog waiting patiently while the truck made awful sounds trying to make it up the steeps. Then the white smoke started to creep from her truck and suddenly after several attempts to make it up the hill her truck could not move any longer and she jumped out proclaiming that her clutch was out as she lit up another cigarette.
My truck was running like shit as well since it had just been in 4 feet of mud. So I barely got it up the hill and we tried to pull her up but it was no use. We dove back to her house to pick up some more chains but decided that it was a waste of time and sent Jay back with the bike to get her while we watched her kid, also named James. It was a bit strange to be standing in between 3 trailer homes with a truck covered in mud and a kid with down syndrome, trash every where, completely covered in mud. It reminded both Casey and I of a little movie called Deliverance. The theme song played in my head as the kid started to hit Casey with a stick and I took pictures to remember not only the way we looked but also where we had ended up on this strange day.

We ended up saying good-by and heading down the road with the truck barely running and getting back to our hotel just as the sun was going down. Took off our cloths, ordered pizza, showered and said our prayers that we didn’t have to spend the night out there in the mud.
The truck still does not run right but I got it running better than it was so tomorrow I’ll go get the cats cleaned out and get my ass back to SF for some more work so that the adventures can continue.

James

More Commercials and Soon More Shorts

2010-04-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

I have been working overtime with 5D to get the most out of the camera lately. Here are a few commercials that I have either shot all or part with the Canon 5D mark ll.

Skip Barber Super Bike Racing School from James Adamson on Vimeo.

And this one...

Operation... Vandal from James Adamson on Vimeo.

I am now approaching 150 days of shooting with the 5D MKll. I have done every kind of work with this camera except under water and a few other things that involve thing that can not be discussed openly... Hah hah. What ever. Recently, I have run in to the problem of the sensor not being as sensitive to light as it was when I first bought the camera. But I have remedied that problem by turning the lights up a bit. Simple, not elegant, but i can't send the camera back with back to back work for the next few months. All I can do now is wait for Canon to announce the new 1ds Mark lv which I am very excited about.

Star Map... Online

2010-03-22T22:42:00.000-07:00

This is a video we just finished for the film contest on Vimeo that is sponsored by Canon. There are a few other chapters before this so the story may seem a bit sparse but really if you are interested in this great project than take time to watch the other videos and follow along.

STAR MAP from James Adamson on Vimeo.

A new approach...

2010-02-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

I have added a few new things to my website that have increased the traffic. Those things are add words from google and a few new videos that I found online that I have done in the last year and a half. The reason for this advancement is that I am trying to center myself in the viral marketing world as a way for companies to get a great video that will help propel their product in front of the eyes of their prospective client base.
My experience with viral marketing started way back in college when i was working as the multimedia editor for the college news website. There has been many revolutions in my ideas about online viral videos starting when videos barely played online. Now we have the access that we have always dreamed. In the last few days google announced that they we started to instal even faster high speed internet networks as tests for a super fast system that could deliver even high quality web resources.

I have had a vision of traveling around the world helping people and the last week I have spent trying to get a network of aid groups and NGOs together that want and need media packages and videos for their sites and online media centers. these videos could help raise money for their causes. I would love to travel around working for the greater good producing these short film to raise awareness for people who have committed their lives to help the lives of others. I maybe able to put a smile on a few faces along the way to. ;)

I have sent out 50 or so emails and I hope to get some word about what direction that I need to go into get this idea off the ground. A while back I started a nonprofit call the Environmental Media Project. This was an idea that I had to send or deliver cheap video cameras to environmentally impacted areas and have the locals send the media back and have volunteers here edit the video and create an online channel where these videos would help extend their personal and community stories around the globe. My cousin, Nick Little brought that idea back up the other day. We had a dream of traveling across the globe together getting these cameras to people and it still may happen.

Mutiny

2010-02-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

MUTINY from James Adamson on Vimeo.

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!

A sunny survival...

2010-01-31T22:14:00.000-08:00

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.

Water DIY:
http://www.aqsolutions.org/resources/DIY.pdf

Wind Power:
http://www.mdpub.com/Wind_Turbine/

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9ndgg_how-to-build-a-wind-turbine-with-pv_tech

Solar Power:
http://www.mdpub.com/SolarPanel/index.html

A Short Helmet Cam Video From Kirkwood

2010-01-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

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.

Kirkwood Powder Day Helmet Cam Shots from James Adamson on Vimeo.

Life Notes

2010-01-10T23:50:00.000-08:00

. 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?

Searching for motivation...

2010-01-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

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.

James

2010 PLAN

2010-01-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

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 video of '09

2010-01-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

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.

Lights and Water from James Adamson on Vimeo.

Videos.... There are a lot of them... I make them and so do others

2009-11-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

Origami In the Pursuit of Perfection from MABONA ORIGAMI on Vimeo.

This is an amazing video that I found around Vimeo...

Mascot Collisions from James Adamson on Vimeo.

This is a video that I produced recently with my friend Lee Eisenhower and others.

Operation Spicy Pepper

2009-10-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

Operation Spicy Pepper is a comedy short made for the Mill Valley Film Festival's 10-hour Film Race. This event was put on by Cinema Sports.

This is a short film about the burn.
A coworker's prank goes beyond
the norm and extends in to the
supernatural.

The ingredients:
1. Secret Document
2. A Shaman
3. A Spicy Pepper

Produced by the Pearl Handle Revolvers:

James Adamson
Aaron Leroux
Lee Eisenhower
Damien Warren

This was shot on a 5D Mll with 35mm and 85mm lenses. Edited in FCP and done in 9 hours. I also used Magic Lantern firm ware and a sony stereo mic. This worked great for editing speed because I did not have to covert the footage to match the audio.

Enjoy the burn!

Operation Spicy Pepper from James Adamson on Vimeo.

2009-10-14T04:05:00.001-07:00

This is the most epic road trip time lapse I've ever seen.

Light and Water

2009-10-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

This is a video that I shot for a 1 minute short competition on Vimeo. The rules were simple. Don't do anything but shoot one shot, no movement, no cuts, no sound, just one shot. This was shot with a 5D and a zeiss 85mm lens.

Lights and Water from James Adamson on Vimeo.

ZEISS 85MM 1.4 ZE FOR VIDEO

2009-10-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to get a Zeiss 85mm 1.4 ze today for my Canon 5D Mll. After reading the reviews of this lens I was a bit skeptical both of the lens and the reviews. I had to see for my self. My first impression of the lens, it's built like a Benz (not a C class). I had a chance to shoot a short video with it tonight and as I had imagined it created great contrast. The bokeh is very creamy compared to the 85mm 1.8 canon lens and for the video purposes that precisely what I am after. I wanted to see how the lens shot video not photos. I know that the reviews state that it does not perform that well against the canon glass but really it does in many ways. The contrast is amazing and the focus is fast because I do it. I always do it, either with a follow focus or with my hand. Shooting video requires manual focus and this lens is a dream to work with in that regard. There is a lot of negative feeling about the edge and corner sharpness. Well, I don't have corners, really, I am shooting in 16:9 so that really doesn't matter. What matters to me is a distinct look that sets the lens apart from other glass in it's class, and this lens has a look and a feel. Zeiss has a good lens here. I think that the color depth and the contrast are great. For video this lens will work great. I can't wait to take it out.

James

Return to Cocktail Town...

2009-10-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

These are shots from the 5d video...the one of the drink being poured is the 7D....

I have been shooting a great series for the folks up in Portland, Oregon at Ricochet Partners. We have been traveling around San Francisco shooting in bars and restaurants capturing the feeling and excitement of the drink menus and the creative and talented people that put them together. This art is called Mixology.
I do not drink but I have seen some amazing drinks being made in some splendid restraints and I am greatful to be part of putting something together that brings people great tastes.. The Ricochet Partner, Jeanne, Peter and Ron are coming out with a book called, something like Cocktail Town. And these videos are to help promote the book and website.
We have been using a mix of cameras but the last few days of production have been shot on video DSLRs. We have used the 5D Mll on every shoot and we have mixed and matched the 7D and the EX1 in for various applications. The 5D footage looks great. Especially with the contrast brought up.
In the last few shoots I have left the cameras Wide Open in color and contrast and sharpness so that it will be workable in post. I have learned a lot about how to work with the video DSLRs in different environments. The shooting techniques are different than regular video cameras and there are limitations along with areas to grow and expand into, including the low light ability of these cameras.
Lighting is hard in bar environments as there are mirrors and shining glass everywhere but we have been successful at taking advantage of the low light sensitivity to keep the set from getting to hot.

I returned the 7D

2009-10-08T18:02:00.001-07:00

I returned the Canon 7D without problem today to the store where I purchased it at. I also returned the wide 16-35mm L ll lens that I bought with it because I don't really need anything that wide if I'm not using a crop sensor. I really liked the lens. Sharp, sharp, sharp. I will be sticking to my primes 35, 50 and 85mm Canon.
I really didn't want to take the 7D back but I really didn't want to wait for Canon to recall the cameras or have to ship it back through UPS which is a huge risk. The camera could easily be broken and then I would have a broken camera that doesn't work. Not good.

I sent a letter to Canon and this is the response that they sent me:

"This is not normal operation standards on this camera as you can
imagine. At this time we have no received other reports regarding this
issue so I am glad that you wrote in to let us know about it. I have
also forwarded your comments to Canon USA through our Customer Feedback
process regarding this overheating on your EOS 7D camera. This process
allows us to capture important feedback from our valued customers. As
we constantly strive to improve our products and services, your comments
are vital to our continued success."

"Thank you for your reply regarding your EOS 7D. We value you as a Canon
customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you. I am sorry to
hear that your camera is overheating during video recording.

We have no known issues with the EOS 7D that we sell.

Canon USA has made no announcements regarding the development or release
Of a firmware update related to the issue you have described.

I would be more than happy to send you a shipping label to cover the
Cost of shipping into the factory."

Yah, thanks but, no thanks. I'll be happier with my money back and I'll wait this one out from the bleachers not the sidelines. I'd rather be able to leave the game when I want and come back if the score changes. I don't want the coach yelling at me when it's time to play and the camera doesn't turn on.
This issue does not seem to be something that will be fixed with a firm ware update so sticking it out for that was not an option.

Another thing that I found out today is that when a sensor heats up each degree Fahrenheit adds twice the noise to the picture. So as the camera heats up you are loosing all that great color and contrast information that you paid so much for. That's not good either.
I’ll tell you something, the 5D Mll shoot great video, you get a shallow depth of field with the full frame, and it does not over heat, it even looks better. Go with the look not the versatility, if that’s what your after at this point by a Sony EX1.

7D Over Heats

2009-10-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

I have been shooting with the 7D and the 5D Mll for the last week and I have found that the 7D over heats at around 7 minutes after running, off and on, for about 1/2 an hour. It makes it very hard to work with a camera that wants to shut off. This camera is not a full said and done solution to a video camera. I wish it was. But unfortunately it is not.
I am a firm believer in the video DLSR craze and I think that canon, when it comes out with the 1D Mark lV, will have eventually put everything together that we need in a DSLR package. I hope.

When the 7D starts to overheat a small red heat signal comes up on screen as a warning. This is not good and at least it warns you. I guess it will be back to the ex-1 for now.

Solving Audio Issues on the 5D and 7D

2009-10-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

I have been working with Ron Spencer to solve on set audio issues on the Canon 5d and 7D. I have switched to a full DSLR camera outfit that was a big leap for me in to the unknown in a way. i had compared the 5D and 7D footage many times to the Sony pmw-ex1 and I was tired of it coming up short and simply not looking very good compared. That said the EX-1 is a great camera. One thing that I will miss is the great on board sound capability that it offered. It is widely known that the Canon DSLR line does horrible audio.
There are a few solutions to this problem that have come out, the best and cheap option to improve the audio quality is to install Magic Lantern and add some sort of stereo mic to the camera hot shoe. This kit might cost as much as $200 but it will increase the unusable audio to audible.
That said, there are a few other options. The Zoom H4N is a hot item and I just picked one up. Great sound, and again, cost effective. The third option is probably the Juice Link preamp and Magic Lantern combo and mic. This option will also work if you have a wireless lav setup I will be switching to this for my should rig when it comes in the mail. All this really depends on what you need to do and what audience you are hitting.

Tomorrow I will be running the 7D and the 5D setup as a two camera set up. The 7D will be wide and fixed and the 5D will be on a redrock shoulder mount with follow focus. I will have a stereo mic on the 5D and a Rode mic on the 7D, while the zoom will be on a boom with a shotgun mic. There should be some good sound out of all that.

Revenge for Men

2009-10-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is a commercial idea that Lee Eisenhower and I went out and shot to see if we could create a look and feel similar to something shot on film. This was shot with a 5D Mark ll and a normal lens and a Red Rock follow focus. It was also colored in Magic Bullet Looks.

Music: Mon Ami M'a Donne, Edith Piaf

Written and Produced By:
James Adamson
Lee Eisenhower

Acted by:
Lee Eisenhower

Directed, Shot and Edited by:
James Adamson

Revenge For Men from James Adamson on Vimeo.

The New 7D

2009-09-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well I did not think that I would be writing this blog entry with the above title anytime soon but good fortune has fallen on to me. I got a call to come and pick up my new 7D today but I really didn't have the money as I am switching from my EX1 to this camera and I need to have the money from that camera to work with. However, the stipulation to get the 7D was that I had to be there within one hour to pick it up. Hmmmm, I need to come up with $2000. Well, I made some calls and bang I was picking the new 7D up and running home to play with the new toy.

Here are some pictures of the fleet of cameras starting with the incredible G9 that Canon has dumbed down but added a better lens to recently. Then of course the 7D and then the 5D Mark ll. The picture that I took is low quality because they came from my only other camera, my iPhone.

My indicial thought about the 7D are good. The camera holds better than the 5D Mll and the controls are upgraded to be more user friendly toward the video crowd. The on/off switch is on the top, which is a nice change if you mount you camera to anything for video equipment. It has a dedicated record button and a video switch, which turns Live View on, and it stays on. My initial thoughts about the video quality are that it does not have the low light capability that the 5D Mll has with its full frame but it works as well as anything out there in it's class or better. You don't need a $2500 lens adapter anymore to create a film look.
I have a 10-hour film race this weekend that I will use the two cameras side by side in and then I will post the video to vimeo so that we can see the differences.

James

Wise Avenues

2009-09-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

Lee Eisenhower and I finished our short.

Wise Avenues is a short film about an average guy (Lee Eisenhower) who falls on hard times and then abruptly finds an even harder time when he is stumbled upon by a few street thugs. Then he is trapped between warring parties.

It's real short and it was done in a short amount of time. We needed a project to learn from and this was it. We had hoped to shoot a trailer for a fake feature length film contest but that didn't workout so we ended up shooting some action scenes from the movie. This is what we got when we put them together. It was decided that we would work them in to a short film that we could use as a learning tool. This was my first real attempt to direct, edit and shoot a short film with narrative principles that also had audio and a larger story line that was meant to be told quickly (6 min). Lee and I have worked on commercials together but getting this together was a learning experience and it ended great. With a low/no budget and the two of us we muscled through to come out with this piece.

I have to make a note here that Lee came through with Magic Bullet Suite so that we could get the color done. It made the movie pop the way that we had envisioned it. Thanks for that, again, Lee. I also want to thank Nate Chaszeyka for the software that he helped me with.

Thanks for all the help guys... in the credits.

We shot this on the Sony Ex-1 and the Canon 5D mark ll. Both cameras performed well but they excelled at different things so it was a good balance having them both active. Edited in FCP, Logic and Magic Bullet.

Wise Avenues from James Adamson on Vimeo.

A Big Weekend In San Francisco

2009-08-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a long stretch of great performances and acting from friends and rock stars here in San Francisco. I was pleased to have shot for SF Station at the second annual Outside Lands Festival this weekend where we where witness to many great shows. One of my favorite acts was the band Portugal, the Man. Basically, they rocked out on the smallest stage and had the crowd stuck with their mouths open.

I also worked in the mornings on a short film for an upcoming contest in NY. Lee Eisenhower and I worked endlessly to get this script written and produced over the last few weeks and I think that it is coming together quite nicely. Thanks to the 9 guys that made it possible.

I'm taking today off at home, doing laundry and eating food for the first time in a few days so I'll be updating the blog tomorrow with more media. Thanks.

SAN FRANCISCO AT NIGHT

2009-08-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

San Francisco At Night from James Adamson on Vimeo.

Sheldon Woo: Bay Area Artist

2009-08-23T11:41:00.001-07:00

Sheldon Woo: Bay Area Artist from James Adamson on Vimeo.

I put this footage together over the last few weeks while working with Sheldon to produce a jean jacket for the Old Spice competition. Enjoy.

Finding the story within...

2009-08-22T23:26:00.000-07:00

Photo by Abbey Leroux

Today I started to read A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain. In the preface they introduced the idea of a narrative plank that has holes every six inches that are square cut outs. In these holes are where the author inserts antidotes and other objects to give the audience bights of mystery and humor, sorrow and vision. I enjoyed reading about the tact at which Twain worked with his storytelling principles and how I might apply them to the screenplays and stories that I tell. After all, Twain was a fiction writer that used journalism as a tool.

There is a way of storytelling that uses the pain of a situation to create comedy through the depth of humor. The first thing that popped in to my head that had that type of humor was an argument I was in with a few French men in Nepal. The whole thing was comedy when looked at from a certain perspective. However, in some ways it was very sad and near the end of a great and deep spell of delusion. I have a feeling that this story, when told properly, can illustrate both the insanity of life and the ability for growth that can come from such deep tragedy and self-loathing.

In “The Wise Avenues,” the screenplay that I am pulling together with Lee Eisenhower, we are attempting to tell the story of two people on the street. One that “fell down” and one that has tried to “rise up.” These characters have been vaguely developed at this point but I see that bringing humor to our story will have a much-needed balance to the dark story that we have started to tell.
This type of approach will also play in to Lee’s acting style and personality allowing him to show different sides of a character and the charm that can come from a person fully exposed to the elements of the street.

On to another note, I have almost completed a short documentary on Sheldon Woo. He is an artist and also an old friend that is now living in San Francisco. We began our relationship at Tower Records in Sacramento, California and we have continues, although sometimes at a distance, a great relationship of art and music. We both are pursuing our art as professionals and have made major advancements toward every artist’s goal of being self-sufficient.
The documentary is short and does little more than paint a portrait of Sheldon and what his current artwork is like. I would like to go deeper in to what his personal life is like but I have time in the future to get some more material together. For now I will paint this media portrait and use it for both of our promotion. I think that the piece will end up being about 3 minutes long and will mostly rely on his interview for audio commentary.

iPhone Pictures Using Toy Camera...

2009-08-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have been taking pictures with my iPhone over the last few days using an app called Toy Camera by Takayuki Faukatsu. This app works very well when you are not going for quality but rather you are trying to get what you can artistically out of what you have. It's like having a Holga Camera in your pocket at all times. I like it. For $1.99, it's a deal.

Mecca One Radio

2009-08-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

Last night I worked in Santa Clara for Mecca One Radio. The shoot lasted a few hours and took place at an Islamic Community Center. The speakers were inspiring in their commitment and depth. I found the event helped me personally understand more about the culture and religion of Islam. I am grateful to have been a part of the production team that included Omair Ali, Spencer McCall http://penandbanjo.com/ among others who made the program possible.

Swaggasaurus

2009-08-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sheldon Woo and I have been working on a jean jacket with an Old Spice logo on it for a competition that they have on their website. We completed the jacket and the photo shoot just in time and posted to the website just before the deadline. Below are some pictures from the shoot and the jacket. We also shot a making of video which we will use for promotional purposes in a short film about Sheldon and his art.

OLD SPICE LINK

Hope, A Portrait

2009-08-08T11:26:00.001-07:00

This is a short video which I shot on a Canon 5D markll over the last month. i used all natural light and shot the video while working on journalism projects and commercial shoots. The camera is great. I haven't had a chance to use the RedRock Micro rig that is up next in the arsenal. That set up includes a follow focus which is vital to video. I will also be using the hoodman Loupe soon, as I just sent out for it. This camera is great and is an excellent addition to my sony ex-1. I have been studying lens adapters and I think that I will be getting one soon to work on a short film this fall.

HOPE, A Portrait from James Adamson on Vimeo.

www.jamesadamson.com

Creating a layout--Out of an Idea

2009-08-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

Sheldon Woo, a local Bay Area cat and I came together on another project. The assignment is to create a jean jacket layout with a dinosaur and a sports car and the words 'old spice swagger' and then air brush it on the back. We came up with an idea and I found a jean jacket on Haight St. for $21. We finished the design tonight and it looks like a movie cover. I look forward to seeing how Sheldon sprays the print.
Sheldon has a long history of graffiti art and generally sick brain funk. He has been working in the TL of San Francisco at a shop called Bay Fitted. The shop does custom works on shirt and just about anything else you need design on. The styles are strait urban and clean. Stop by if your wondering around down town and need a sick fit.

Lens Hunting...

2009-08-01T00:32:00.000-07:00

I rested today after starting my new job in San Francisco. I am working as a window cleaner for a great company here in the city. We do expensive homes that require rappels from the roof. I would compare the climbing and decending to climbing a 10-pitch aid route, an easy one. I like the work and it will provide great photographic scenery from the roofs all over the city.

I have been on the hunt for a lens to use this weekend. I have a shoot on Sunday that requires a 24-105 Canon lens but I have not been able to rent one. So I have been trying to buy a used one to use for this shoot and then resell it. Ideally, I would buy an L series lens but I don’t have the money right now so I am rounding up what I have to make it work. It will come together one way or another.

I was invited to a ball game tonight and I got a chance to take some pictures there.

In my search for a lens I ran in to a guy named Subir who pointed me in the direction of cinema5d.com a great site that features forums about the Canon 5D Mark ll. He also pointed me to a forum where I could jimmy a hoodloupe for my camera… Here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/235915-attaching-hoodloupe.html

While looking around in the ‘box of truth,’ I found the site of Danfung Dennis, a freelance photojournalist, who works around the world covering epic struggles.

http://www.danfungdennis.com/index.html
He is very talented and I aspire to do something like this. I see the style in his photos and I have yet to gain this level of quality but I am working everyday to obtain just that. ;}

I Found Work....

2009-07-29T21:41:00.000-07:00

I have found some work finally and I think that it will work out just fine. I am excited to see what an income looks like after 3 months of barely getting by. I have been taking photos but I have spent most of my time lately scrapping together rent and other money for bills and such. Now that some of those worries are gone for a few weeks I will have the oppurtunity to work on my short film project 'A Portrait.'
This project is a series of moving portraits of people in their environments. There are several scenes with varing people and places. I look forward to putting it together, soon. I have yet to figure out how it will all fit together. I don't really know what I'm trying to say with the piece but I think that it will play out on it's own. "The one that cares least wins." I have tried to stick by that when it comes to my art work and what people think or get from it. As long as it comes from the soul, not just mine but from the world around, then we might have something unique and real.

The theme lately is of hope in my life. Everyday is a journey for me right now. I have been all over on this roller coaster and now I have found what looks like a path toward the light. Where will it end up? I don't know and frankly I won't be bothered with that now. I'll deal with that when it comes.

Peace.

Also, I purchased www.JamesAdamson.com the other day when it opened up. I also bought another site called Media Mofia. I like this name. It maybe part of a marketing campaign for the media crew that I have been working with.

Love,

james

Philip Bloom or Zach Wise...

2009-07-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

In some ways I am going through a stage of very fundamental decisions in my life. Everyday it seems that I come up against some kind of barrier that must be climbed or somehow understood and then passed or taken into the fold as part of myself and understanding.

I have come up against a divide in the road, a fork of paths to where I want to be and I don't exactly know where the next step lies. This is a fundamental choice as my career and knowledge progresses beyond that of normal production and camera work in to a realm of creative advancement and style. I have the ability to go to new places, as long as I apply myself and stay focused and true and of course without fear. Fear has been what has stopped me for so long from making the hard committing choices that are needed in going forward with life. An advancement from real progression and tough decisions. That chance has come again. I am willing to look at it straight and put one foot in front of the other.

It is clear that I am committed to production and with that comes a whole industry of jobs and sectors which all pay and provide content to the world. Now it is my turn to decide where I want to put my time and energy and where it will be best spent in the service of the greater good. Where will my skills and my life have the most positive effect?

I have found two people who have the jobs that I look to as dream jobs for me. One, Philip Bloom, is a Director of Photography and travels the world shooting just about anything with his cameras, video and DSLR. He is very talented but I think that with much practice that I may be able to obtain those skills. I respect his work and I like the life style that he leads or so it seems to me that it looks like something I could get used to. Philipbloom

The second person and arguably the unsung hero in this world is Zach Wise. Although, I have had little knowledge of him recently I came across his site and that of the New York Times while searching for journalism completed with the Canon 5D Mark ll which I now own. His site DigitalArtWork.Net is an example of what I have long strived for as a journalist and multimedia producer but have lacked the commitment and the edge. Wise's site represents the advancement of news multimedia. His projects like "Mojave" have combined the google earth approach with the information being displayed in the slide show, and not just a slide show but a comprehensive news piece that is told in a way that the Internet is the only medium, currently, that can hold it. These stories create an interactive interface that gives far more information to the viewer than that of a simple slide show or news clip. This is very advanced stuff. While at SFSU I tried to work with info graphics but I was too 'busy' to learn the tools of the trade, Flash being the bread and butter of this type of advanced story telling. I worked on a few projects that were slide shows with menus and a few info graphic projects.

My current webstie:
Adventure Refugee

Here are a few examples of my work there:
MIlitary Recruitment
Election Coverage
Commute Info graphic

I learned these techniques from Andrew Devigal who was or still is working for the New York Times as their multimedia editor. His site:Interactive Narratives is a fantastic way to stay up on what is happening on the progression of multimedia on the Internet. Unfortunately I was not committed to the medium and so went my own way. Well, I have returned with a smile and eager hands.

So now I am wondering if I should buckle down and learn the advanced flash that has always kept me from producing that which I have aspired to bring to the productions that I do. Or do I work harder with commercial work and editing, possibly Adobe After Affects, and continue to seek editor jobs and DP jobs on commercial advertising projects and narrative work?

Don't get me wrong, either way I have a lifetime of knowledge to gain but I have a feeling that I need to commit to a style and work toward mastering that. There is a possibility that I could mix the two styles... Into what, I don't really know.

Finding work right now seems almost impossible but I am heading out today to make that happen. I am open to almost anything so... there has to be something. I think that the shotgun blast approach with my media skill set right now is probably the best bet but I am going to buckle down this week and learn some more advanced production techniques and for those choice picks I need to think about the time commitment and direction that I want to follow.

Journalism...Still #1

2009-07-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

The main thing missing from what I am doing right now is the lack of a cohesive journalistic story. I have been working a neighborhood for good pictures but now I feel the time has come to go deeper and find a comprehensive multimedia story to cover and work a project out of. I want to put the photo and video aspect together with an audio voice over and some interview or story telling aspect. I now have the skills and the experience to tell a story in a fashion that I have dreamed of. One that puts all these things together on the net. I have the tools and the knowledge, finally, along with connections on the street and visual principles to connect it all together in an HD video.
I have long planned on doing 50% non-profit work and 50% for profit or commercial work. That has become more of a reality in the last few months with the work on POPTENT and other sites including mine.
The Environmental Media Project is still up and my listing is still current. I want to pursue that but I must make some money to eat and pay the bills, first. It does seem as though some work has come my way and I will either be editing or shooting by the end of the month. Please!

Well, it's good night and back to work tomorrow.

James

Some New Galleries...

2009-07-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

I put a few more galleries up under my photo page today. They should be up there in a few minutes. I am watching them load on my FTP software as I write. I am feeling better today with some more resumes out there and some progress on my website and with the next commercial project.

Lee and I went downtown and scouted for the next shoots. I am going to do some time lapse work for the next commercial that we are planning. They will be urban with light streaks and the sun rising. I am not going to use the one from my reel. I can do a better one now that I have some more experience with them. I haven't shown anybody, except the special ones, the new series of time lapses that I have been working on at night throughout the city. "wow' the colors.

So I am still going down this road and thinking to myself "what ever it takes." Nick is asleep in the coach and I am typing frantically on the keys to get this out before my attention goes back to HTML programing, which I don't like that much.

The ups and downs right now are hard to handle some times but I am making progress on all fronts and I feel like it is coming true slowly and quickly sometimes. I have been waiting to do all this for a while and now it can all come about.
Nathan, my good friend from Los Vegas is on his way tomorrow to stay at my place for the weekend and run a long foot race on Saturday. Good luck to him.

This site is taking to long to load....

James

A Funny Video

2009-07-15T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Evolution Of Man Cleaning from James Adamson on Vimeo.

NO WORK....

2009-07-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for work everyday for as long as I have lived in my apartment. That hasn't been that long but I am tired of reading about how I can become the greatest sales person on the planet and earn a trillion + a year for nothing, from home. I've searched every job site known to man and I have found a few things but after 300+ resumes sent out and a handful of responses I have started to wonder if I need to pack up my stuff and put it in my truck and go and take photos of people who are starving so that I can be grateful that I have food.

I have the desire and drive to work my ass off.

I would rather be eating out of a tin can on the side of El Capitan hanging in my aiders with no sleep and bleeding fingers, than waiting in vein for responses and posts in front of the computer. It's torture. I can take pictures there too. Maybe I can even sell them. Oh, the Park Service sold that too.

This is scary for me. I have a real fear that this won't work out for me. Today seems grey and I don't really know if I"m just down because the sky is foggy and I've been in front of the computer trying to get down to the truth about the situation at hand. I have been really aware and going with the flow but I am kinda lost right now in the unknowing. I just needed to talk to the universe and ask for some help. Hey, maybe i'll get that help when I pack my stuff again and move on. It's been great working on commercials and taking thousands of photos these last few months in SF. If this is the way that I leave it, then so be it. I love the mountains to and at least I left it with some images that will forever be in my mind.

James

Contemplating a Redesign...

2009-07-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

I am looking in to a redesign of my website. I thought that I might be able to go through and change a few things that were bugging me without redoing the whole thing, unfortunately I was wrong. If I want to change the look of the Nav I am going to have to redo each page. This will take a while, I assure you.

The main things that I want to change:
Add Adamsonvisual.com and make a few cards with my name on them
Take audio tab down and replace with blog tab
Change the Bio tab to About
Add a comment feature for new projects and news postings (advanced)
Add two new series of pictures to the gallery page
Add what I do and can do!!!
Video Editing
Videography
Photography
Webdesign
Audio Editing
Multimedia Production

Add an equipment and rates page
Add a links page
Add a password resume page
Add letters of reference
Add links to other work and websites that I have done and designed

Rejoin Flicker and update Facebook to direct traffic to the website
Exposure Room

I feel like these things are little but each one adds something and as a whole they mean a lot for traffic and users of my site. I am looking for a jobs so hard that i can't afford to not have everything technically perfect. THis will take time but I think that I can pull it together.

Nathan, a close friend, suggested that Lee and I make a serious commercial now and then a sexy one to balance out the content of our commercial reels. I agree. We can't do the CKY stuff forever, although it is funny and edgy.

Sunday Production....

2009-07-12T13:12:00.001-07:00

I have been moving rapidly with the river of energy and the waves of fear that appear and then dissolve. I have been battling through my financial problems with hard work and networking. Work has been very hard to find but I have remained positive and I have put my energy out there.
Today I went and took some portraits in the Haight and then did some street photo stuff. I got a few good ones on this fishing trip. I wake up early and do this a lot. I call it fishing because it feels the same to me. If I were surrounded by bushes on the side of the lake it might be the same as standing on the side walk in the city. I catch some fish and throw them back and others I take home to see how they taste.
I have spent at least a month working on taking photos this way. It is very meditative.
I came home and updated my website with some of these images. I"ll put some in here.

Saturday... I even slept in tell 6:55am

2009-07-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

In recent weeks my sleeping has been limited due to high production volume and stress but today I slept in until 6:55 am and I feel great. Yesterday, Lee and I finished another commercial for the Old Spice people on Poptent.com. Lee was over at 7:30am and we worked in to the late morning to get that done. Then I went to a production meeting over on divisidaro. Gino, a fellow San Franciscan with an idea for a food network channel on the internet.... Can't say more, wanted to talk about doing some video.
From there it was back to the house and then out on the bike, across town to UPS in the Mission for a package of over priced parts for my helmet camera that is currently mounted on my bike.
I am putting together some street scenes for my reel so I am taking them from my bike running through traffic. Doesn't look that good yet but I am getting there.

I have another guy sleeping on my couch. Not a surprise since that has been the case for most of my life here in SF. He is getting a place this week and needed some help. I'll put out my hand.

I posted the video and then went out on the bike again for a spin and some pull ups in the park. Then we tried to go to a zombie dance/ thriller thing down in Union Sqare, saw and accident and then it turned out to be a bust. Weak.

The new commercial can be seen here:
Link

james

THE 4TH

2009-07-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

I woke up to a typical summer day in San Francisco. It felt like 8:30 but I had slept in until 10 because there was no light. Since I won't be doing any partying like the majority of large Americans on this day of independance, I'll be heading to the Fillmore Jazz Festival. Abbey and I are heading down there in a few and I hope to take some more pics. The pictures that I have been shoot lately have been mostly of street life here in San Francisco. There is a very deep and dark street culture that has plenty of drugs and social sickness to photograph on these streets. It's not hard to find.
I also start a video journal that I hope to keep up for the next 27 days that will hopefully illuminate some of my charactoristics about myself, not just my bad spelling and grammer. HAH!

Lee Eisenhower and I completed a commercial the other day and that can be found here:

Have a great day!

Awareness

2009-06-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a week of success even though nothing has come to me except freedom from worry and movement in a direction that i feel has a meaning and purpose. I have completed projects that I wanted to for a long time, finished websites, rounded up work, stayed conscious and connected.

I completed my reel which can be viewed here:
http://vimeo.com/5313670

I finished this website:
http://www.killweather.com/

I also was asked this week to install 5 more pan photos from my personal collection here around the Bay Area at Planite Granite Gyms. This is another hit that I am going in the right direction. Everything is moving. Each second.

A Productive Day Here In San Francisco

2009-06-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day for work. I felt at peace on the computer and the code and clicks flowed out of me. I had no remorse for the time that I spent stretching and meditating while I took short breaks. I have found a new peace here in SF. I moved in to an apartment up near USF and I have found that living closer to all my folks including people that I don't really know has given me some hope for humanity. I don't really know why, I guess the sunset really is depressing.

I haven't written in this blog for a long time and I hope to do so starting now. My life has changed very much over the last 8 months and I have taken a new course with my spiritual fitness as well as my climbing and overall life patterns. I have been sober and repairing or correcting the things that I had drifted away from in search of myself while sacrificing the very things that I wished to become close to.

I am in a far better spot than I really have been since my mother died 19 years ago. I don't feel the anguish set in on my anymore, I feel forgiveness for people. I am learning to let people be who they are, not who I want them to be. Also, I am not trying to become what I think others want me to be. It's strange how simple this all sounds right now but how complex it seemed just a short time ago, wrapped up in a life that wasn't mine and trying to survive off of the rations that I gave myself to stay alive.

Many times I went in to the mountains to find god and I never found him. I would come back wounded and egotistical because of my exploits but I was never fulfilled. I could have died out there finding nothing. I had a calm state come over me the other day though sitting on my couch. I remembered this lake behind the "Mushroom Cap" in Yosemite, a beautiful lake with mist from the cold morning, hanging over it and the dawn sky lighting it and reflecting off of the perfectly still water. With the earth dropping in on the sides and the soft forest whispering in It's soft voice.
I remember and visualized what it would be like to sit there and just be, like the water, letting my mind drift in the movement the is all things.

I have been thinking about that place, not knowing if it really exists but in my mind that's all I need. That mirror to the heavens, my heaven.

That's what life has been like lately, filled with the freedom that not being fearful gives you. I battled fear with all the weapons that I had. Through myself at it and came back starved for love and salvation. I never truly turned inward and looked at what was driving me to do these things that lacked grace but had hard man written all over them.

I'm still down though. I think that I can be far more successful now in my endevers. Striving for serenity not pain or the abolition of it. I am here every minute. Give me a call old friends and lets talk and go climbing.

Love,
James

The New Site

2009-02-28T21:56:00.000-08:00

I’m going to start this thing off right by letting it all go out of me and on to the page. Strange how things play themselves out and the war torn survive. I’m here in San Francisco and I just finished my website and I’ve been moving closer to my dreams. Free from all that was once a burden now I have found the universe on my side. It has been hard for humanity to be locked headstrong in a battle for what is right and just. My fight has come and I am grateful that I have had a chance to see my strength and the strength of others to forgive the wrongs that I have done to them.
Yesterday I had the names of my dead parents tattooed on my upper thighs to remind me of the every changing and urgent nature of life. That ink and all the tears that I have cried both in self pity and in grief for those in the world that suffer, have led me to the place that I am now. Powerful with the ever shining grace that I’ve gained from the universe and the recognition that I, James, am not god but an inspirational soul at work to give as much as I can back to those that have inhabited this earth with me. Humanity of every race and creed together under one roof of stars, we all wonder at, amazed and distracted at times from our true meaning.
This website and the photos I have taken and put here are a portrait of what my life and adventures have been like and I hope that we, together can help one another through those things that require more than a simple thought or decision but a movement of ideas and consciousness that helps us all evolve together. Peacefully.

Too our peace,

James

A NEW YEAR AND NEW OUTLOOK

2008-12-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

I have been feeling more whole that I really have felt in maybe 20 years. It’s been a long time since I felt a real feeling of self-love. I can finally see how everything is conspiring to help me and how the universe is trust worthy because it is pulling me in the direction of positively and has been since I decided to undertake the decision to accept that I am not the one running the show. It is warm here in cold San Francisco, finally I understand.
My influence has expanded so much since the path became clear. I have talked to many people who share a goal of helping the world to better it’s self. I am seeing finally what this positive love can do for humanity. Open your eyes and let the light shine out upon the world that god has created. We are here for some reason, to cultivate love in the universe. Are we lost? We will survive together with lessons learned from letting the universal knowledge flow from our spirits. This is the way, the true way to live. I must open the channel in my body to accept the spirit within and allow the light to shine in here and warm the heart and mind with radiant beauty. It is time to open the windows and breath in the intuition of the saints and bath in the water afforded to all of use by the universe. We must unite and exist beyond war. We are good and life is meant to balance the dark. It must flow like water.

LANDS END WITH DJ AND HIS DAD

2008-12-27T22:42:00.001-08:00

It was a good night out there.

ON THE HUNT FOR WORK

2008-12-27T15:46:00.001-08:00

Hello,

It has been a week of awakening here in San Francisco. My stars have been aligned as I push forward in to the life that I never thought possible. I have made progress in looking for meaningful work in the media production industry and have been considered for a position as the Director of Photography for a project connected to TED.com . I am very interested to see who I will meet and be exposed to. This could be a very big change for me to be involved in a full-scale production that utilizes my skills for the greater good. I am smiling.
I have more grace everyday as I pursue a path that has light and strength in it. Where I would collapse in my mind and bend in the face of my own pain and lack of mobility I have now found a high calling to serve and find something to benefit those around me. Not just in my small circle of friends but humanity at large. I feel more connected now than ever before in my life just by making a few changes in the way that the light passes through me and on to the world and realizing my part in that shedding of the truth. I am so pleased and grateful. Thank you.
I have noticed some changes happening in my physiology and they have not been that painful but it will be a while before my body is back to full strength. I cannot see the damage that has been done to the inside nor that which has been done to my mind for I am only me, in the now and I cannot protract myself from the past to compare so I will not worry about such things. I will do all I can to pursue a graceful path through service and I have hope that the path will provide a place for me to use my skills, acquired along the way, to play an important role in society.

It is Written

2008-12-27T00:46:00.000-08:00

My Friends.

There is a will in man to do right and just for the Universe. I have struggled with the pain of not pursuing this drive for a long time now. The sentiment of it has haunted me, a fear in my stomach of being an old man with nobody to tell my story because there was none.
I have no stories of the men and women whom have died around me. No great things that they accomplished they only surrounded themselves in pain. Drank themselves or smoked themselves to death. I WILL NOT DO THE SAME. Remember me universe for I will shine my light through strength and fear less advance through the dark that once ruled my life and come to realize something for humanity. May grace be with us all.
Tears have been on my face everyday. A smile as well, for it is in this fact that I know now that I am living.
I walked along the ocean today with an old friend and his father taking pictures and stumbling over the rocks as the sun went down in the late afternoon. It seemed so early yet so tranquil. Serenity. I will know serenity. Peace and harmony.
Harmony, not because it is chance but because it is aligned. Aligned by and infinite force which has a role in all things and actions. who am I to interrupt.
My life is changing rapidly and I would like to find a job gathering media. I want to travel. Once again I maybe able to take on the hard ships of social atrocity. I may be able to deal and to heal as a mediator. As I clean up and my head becomes clear issues become solvable and soon my soul will be free to float and do the will and true nature of my spirit. It has been my spirit that has saved me, unrelenting and driving. My spirit, strong and bright will take that flash light and look in to the dark places in my soul and help to solve my issues and medicate them with love and foresight, vision and strength. Please, put your hand on my shoulder and show me the way. I beg of you. I must feel and see. I must understand through experience and learn through life what I must to survive. I will live.

I am having some trouble explaining what i feel right now. my mind is winding with the desire to go on, to help, to serve. I am trying to find it but I know that it will come. It has only been a week since I dove in to this but I have committed to the path and I realize now that this is exactly where I need to be to make all the dreams of my life come true. All the real dreams.

The Cloud Garden

2008-12-25T00:29:00.001-08:00

After months of trying to get the image from the South West Ridge of Ama Dablam printed, mounted and hung it is finally done. Mickey from Planet Granite and I put the final touches on the big photo and now its on the wall with a little description of what it is and where it was taken. I also listed the adventurerefugee.com website in hopes of stirring up some work and or projects in the field.

The next step for me is to find part or full-time work to fill in the money gap and start working hard to get the Center for Environmental Media off of the ground. I have circulated an email containing the proposed mission statement to a few hearty souls and have honestly gotten mixed answers back but that is not discuraging me from helping the world some how through service to the high meaning in life.

Below I have attach the mission statement, comment if you will. Or even just to let me know people are reading.

Thanks james

Our mission at Center for Environmental Journalism (CEJ) is to provide media production hardware and education for the gathering and distribution of environmental multi-media by grassroots organizations in remote or controlled environments. By providing these recourses to local journalist and activists the across the world at large we will benefit from the insight into of dramatically impacted and socially charged global communities around the earth.

Furthermore, it it’s the goal of CEJ to provide not onlymore than production services, we also but to plan to develop a website that encompasses not just the media collected from these impacted areas but also to help organize these motivated story tellers through forums and online databases. By providing local and regional journalists and activists with camcorder and audio collection devises that have an easily transportable hard disc (SD Cards) that can be sent back to CEJ for post-production .
Through this, direct to the activist scenario, we have provided the power to the people that need it most, “media agents.” It seems as though finding the right people to gather the media is large task, however, the world, especially people in these impacted areas such as the Amazon River Basin and rain forests around the globe, Fisherman and mountaineers alike, have a story to tell and are trying to find ways to expose both atrocities and impacts of human civilization on the environment around them. CEJ is here to empower them and catalog these stories from these first hand accounts.
Fundraising will also be done on the website and media kits will be awarded and sent to those that have a story to tell. The media kits will be low cost but will be able to produce high quality, slide show ready, media so that CEJ can go on the road and champion the storytelling and grassroots nature of the media collected by locals for the world at large.

Looking for Work

2008-12-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

Well after stringing together work for almost two years... well maybe more, I'm looking for a permanent position some where to spend my days looking at a monitor and punching keys. I've tried to fight the establishment and find a way to make an income and allow myself the freedom to collect and distribute media and I have failed.

In this economy nobody wants to pay to see pictures of places they wish they could be. More and more people are settling in to their lives, homes, and television shows. Their IPhone and Internet dating services have become what was once a call to get out I am one of them. Please, let it snow so I can go to Tahoe and ride my board. Fuck climate change its screwing all the thrill seekers and killing the economy. Get the CIA to wack it. Damn climate change.

There was a time when I tried to find myself on the tops of mountains all over the world. Running from my problems because it seemed as though the great mountaineers had it figured out. They're hard. I've had to be hard to survive my childhood and now I'm getting older and still living like I'm fighting a ghost. Ghost can't brawl they just walk through walls and shit. I've become weak from running while I'm supposed to be resting. I once looked at the city in a negative way, waiting at the door step with my toes curled around the mantle waiting for the gun shot so I could take off up in to the hills on to the rocks and forget the madness that engulfed me while entrenched here in San Francisco. Well, I have lost that fight. I have given up. I am getting sober.

I however, have found some meaning, some strength and even some space from my pain. Hell, I found myself almost dead here in SF in my house and I'm wondering why I'm not risking my life reporting with a camera and a voice recorder from some remote location in the third world. Well, the simple answer is that I've become to comfortable with things here and we all have.

If you've read this far you'll know this is a true rant. Thank god, its about time. I've almost died so many times that I'm tired of telling all the stories to new people I meet. I think its about time that I listen to some stories from others, take their picture and put it online and make it nice and pretty so people will look at it. That's what I'm good at. I guess.

Thanks for all the good times, crazy life. I'll see you when you visit me in my normal life that is healthy and doesn't give me liver damage. I'll miss you in my subconscious.

Your Old Friend Who had to Give you Up...

James

I back...

2008-07-07T14:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. The guiding season is in full tilt so my time has been spent else where. The weather here in california is blazing and the smoke from fires around the state have filled the air with particles. This is not very good for cardio exercise.

I've been taking many pictures lately. There are some below.

james

Hard At Work

2008-01-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

I've been working my ass off at home trying to get this media out. It seems like my trash can is fill with double coffee cups and crumpled up note book paper. That's because it is, the little voice in my head tells me.

I set off ten pictures to Photoshelter.com in hopes they will accept my work and help me find prospective buyers for my photography work. I also have another lead with Jon Mitchell a gentlemen that I met in Nepal. We may work out a deal to have a shared photo data base. We will see.

In other news some of the BIG prints will be done soon in time to have the buyers look at them before they drop the big buck to have them framed. Very expensive. I feel blessed if they do it just because of the overall cost.

The rain is here so I've been in my office all day working on voice overs, video editing, photo editing and web development. My computer is holding on well under the use. Thank the universe. Not god. Blah, Blah and blah.

I put up a new version of the AR site so take a look if anybody is reading this. The AR stands for adventurerefugee.com.

Good Night. I've got to get away from this thing.

James

Bikes

2007-12-15T22:36:00.000-08:00

The crew and I started shooting for "Bikes." I road my bike around and did track stands and jumped transitions for the camera while they tweaked the camera. Jesse, Matt, and Robert the camera guy. Robert's a pro. It comes out in everything he does. We all learned from him today. It's great that he's volunteering to help us because we have no money to pay him, especially at his $700-a-day pay rate. Ouch!

Tomorrow we head to Marin to shoot some action scenes on the bike, including a road gap jump, exciting.

I was driving home today after working and thinking for 12 hours non-stop and thought, "I'd still be doing this if I had millions of dollars. I love what I do." That's a good sign that I'm headed in the right direction.

We have another project that we will hopefully be able to raise some money for after "Bikes" is finished. That idea is top secret so stay tuned.

James

The SF Project

2007-12-14T20:44:00.001-08:00

Work on the SF Project has started again. I've been waking up at 6 am to go and shoot the city. Today was not very fruitful but I did get this picture. I find that the city alone is hard to shoot and I don't like it as a subject unless something unusual is happening. People that live in the city, on the streets, with tired faces and high contrasts both in character and mind, inspire me more than cold buildings.
I am searching for the strength to shoot people as they are, to interupt their lives and pull their stories from them, a journalist of photo. It is hard to do and it takes courage. This picture takes little of the previous but it says something about America, about the fences between people, dividing us. Making the people of the world feel as though they are individual. This is not true, we are one. Collectively, we are a race, separate we are grains of sand, together we are the duns watching the sunset across the ocean.

Las Vegas and Beyond

2007-12-12T19:58:00.000-08:00

I just returned from Las Vegas with filled with energy. My dear friend Nathan Cheszeyka and I had a successful meeting in the town of darkness. I flew down there to deliver the Nepal documentary footage to him. Nate works as a professional editor and also does camera work in Las Vegas and So. Cal.

I also met his brother Clay, a talented film maker who helped us out by setting up a shoot with his giant HD camera. Clay is a good guy whom I hope to work with in the future.

Nate and I did almost 75 miles of road biking while I was there. See the desert on a bike is better than from a car.

My laptop died in Vegas. The powerbook has to be sent in for repair. I think the drive could not handle all the abuse that Leopard, Apple's new OS X update, was putting on the system. I hope it's cheap.

more later....

A FEW MORE

2007-11-23T00:57:00.002-08:00

MORE PICS

2007-11-23T00:55:00.000-08:00

Some Random Pic's From The Trip

2007-11-23T00:42:00.000-08:00

The Next Step... Making Money

2007-11-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

I visited a website recently named Shadowdetails.com. It is a website of a photographer featured in a recent issue of Photoshop Magazine. The reason that I bring his site up is that he is doing something that I am aspiring to do. Although, his training is different than mine we have similar ideas for what we want to accomplish and similar audiences. The good thing is his site features some of the same resources, a blog, a photo show case and soon to be a link to PhotoShelter.com. GOOD, I'm headed in the right direction!
The thing that his site does not have and that mine will soon show case is the narrative portions. This is the part of the my site that will soon shine with movies and story telling and my photos will be secondary but hopefully not far off. There is much time to be had in the holiday season for getting fat and sitting in front of the computer doing work. I'll take the extra pounds on to get the website up and running the way that I want and also to get my media together for up coming events.
I plan on putting together a slide show for local audiences around the bay with the media from the Nepal trip and the other training that logan and I did before our trip. Part of the trouble of putting all this stuff together is that it takes so much time and effort that does not apply to making money. So I'd better put something together, as an investment, to make money or gives me the opportunity to make money later.

On to the next project...

2007-11-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Now that the excitement is gone after my return from Nepal I’ve come up with a few projects. The two most relevant to this blog are exciting and very different. The first is a physical goal and for the most part a life goal. The objective is to climb Astroman in Yosemite. It is a big goal but it is within my realm.
The second and much less impressive to the untrained eye is to put together a slide show / movie of my trip to Nepal to show at local shops. I have been entertaining the idea of making a short movie out of footage for the Banff Film Festival. There seems to be quite a lot of help around me to get the job done and come out with a product that could actually entertain a mass audience. Amazing.

I am waiting to put some photos from the trip up until I have edited an put a © mark on them for the thieving population out there. Although, I guess if they actually wanted my photos I might be happy about that.

Thanks,

james

We're Home

2007-11-12T07:54:00.001-08:00

Both Logan and I have made it back home from Nepal. Logan arrived yesterday to Oakland and we sat down for a quick photo link up and then he was off. LIfe is good here and I've been eating anything that comes close to my mouth. Training starts today for the next objective in the spring. Something a little closer to home.

See you soon,

James

After This Trip

2007-11-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of time to think on this trip, stuck in a tent or belaying somebody up the side of a cliff, sitting in a buddist monastary and listening to the sounds of chanting and the crash, boom, bang, broooom of horns and other strange sounding instruments.
My mind has cleared and in there a clearer vision of what I want out of life and the means to get to that place have unfolded. Within the mountains here I have found an inner trust of myself and the decisions that come from my heart to finally shine in my adventures through writing and photography. In this place I am free. I feel like a religious man out here. Spinning the prayer wheels and putting my hands together in praise and graditude.
Spirituality, here at least for me is within the meditation of the climb. The clearness that comes while I'm holding on to my two ice tools and I transend the fear and pain of hanging on above a 2,000 foot cliff at 20,000 ft. I would compare it to that of deep meditation. A walking, moving meditation of sorts. Life here is simple, get up and boil water, then eat and start your day. The evening ends in reverse. Know that I am getting ready to return to society, I am faced with the thought of wondering how I will take what I have learned here and apply it to my life in San Francisco. If there is only one thing that i will continue to use as a montra it is 'anything is possible.'
The doubts that I have had in my life about pursuing my dreams have dissipated on this trip and the paths to those dreams have been illuminated by realizing my right to living the thoughts that I have and the dreams that paramount my life. I have been looking for the release all along, for a mentor to explain to me how to unlock the universal wisdom that is within me. I can finally see the mirror in front of me that shows that I have become what i have thought about in my dreams already. I am here fullfilling one of my lifes biggest dreams. Climbing and photographing the Himilaya. My thoughts got me here, why can't I manipulate those same thoughts in to infinite possibilities for myself? I can and I will.

James

Maoist and Their Strong Hold

2007-11-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

Logan and I went to bed to the sound of clapping and cheering for no apparent reason. It seemed as though the crowd was listening to the speech of some leader near our hotel. There is a Maoist office flying an old Soviet flags directly accross from the Sargamatha National Park entrance. There is a strange feel in the air here. I can see it in the eyes of the population. There is anger in the eyes of the lower class and fear in the eyes of the upper and middle class. The people with money seem to be in denial about the state in which local politics have finally reached out to the lowest part of the population.
Nepal is divided in to a long standing class structure that seems to have been here since the begining of time, since kings where kings and peasents were peasents. The class structure will not be broken easily. However, as idealistic as seeing the class structure broken is, I have disdain for the communist movement and how it is being faught here.
In their enthusiasm, the Maoist have made many wrong manuverse. They have started to take young boys from villiages in to their army to strengthen and stabilze their control over those towns. I have heard from local sources that they enter villiages in large numbers where the people barrely have the means to feed themselves and demand to be fed. They demand money from trekkers and climbers in the north and the south, giving out small reciepts to those that pass and must pay. That money is used to buy weapons from accross the border and they are brought in without notice through the mountains from countries that border Nepal.
The air here is filled with resentment. I am affraid that it could turn in to an inner battle, much like what happened in Cambodia. We have heard news from within the Kumbu that the Maoist have smashed up a printing house for the national news paper. There was a bombing in Kathmandu a week before we flew in that targeted people at a transit station in downtown. It is painfull to watch these great people divided by ideaoloy, propoganda and terrorism. They are truly a great people.
In the streets there are loud speakers that men are carering shouting sloggins of the party. I'd write what they are saying but I don't understand.

Logan and I are trying to escape from this place. The airstripe is shrouded in fog and the flights have been stopped for the day. We hope that they will start again once it lifts. I want to leave this place and go to Kathmandu. There we will try and find tickets home. I will probably end up in LA and try to get a flight back to SF.

Until then,

James

Three Days From Nowhere

2007-11-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

Nireika is in the middle of nowhere. I mean it. Helicopters won't even fly there to get your body. Logan and I walked for three days to get to base camp and then waited for three more for the others to arrive. Mainly, Curt and Rob and then the other cool ER people that they brought with them. Po, CS, Mike and Mark and Christine, I think. Cool people from an Idaho hospital.
Logan had been feeling ill. I have video to prove it. So we were tent bound at 17,500 ft. for the hole time except one attempt at Kangchung which lasted till logan lost his cookies, or whatever he ate behind a rock and we went down to eat more. Kangchung look horrible anyway. It was a huge pile of loose rock that may have been good 5 years ago when snow was holding those peices in place.
Curt arrived with the crew and Logan decended to recover. I waited another day for Curt to recover from his hike and then we packed and got ready for the climb.
We left bc at around 4 and headed up the steep scree slope toward the Cho La Col. I was feeling strong and lead up the hill while Curt panted behind. We arrived at the gear stash that I put up there three day before when logan and I went to Kangchung. I decided then that I would climb Nirieka so I decieded to lock my fait by leaving the gear there.
Our toes and hands where cold but they warmed when we started up the glacier. Two hours later we found ourselves on the route. I was in the lead and the snow and Ice began to steepen as the ridge went toward the summit. Curt was not feeling well but I kept optimism in my mouth and we kept climbing. I took the extra rope and what ever I could to lighten Curts bag.
I lead some of the most exposed and steep snow and ice that I've been on to get us to our high point, shie of the summit. We made a wise decision to come down when we did. Curt was out of energy and I could do no more to overcome. We decended to the slope with V-threads and then rock horns and then down lead the snow slopes to the col and our on to the glacier.
I felt good about the climb. I wanted the summit, like always but it was to much on this day.

That night I slept and ate with dreams of home knowing that tomorrow I would be finally decending. In the morning I started to walk and didn't stop until 6pm. 20+ miles I walked to Namche. Normally a three day walk. I wanted out.

Logan and I are waiting for the porters to catch us and then we will go and wait for a flight to kathmandu. Then I will go to the airline and beg for an early flight home.

James

The Small Town Feel

2007-10-25T02:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Namche and feeling good to be out of the expedition life and back in to a small town. Logan stayed up in Pangboche and is with the bags. I needed some internet time to find out what's happening out there. Cali's burning up, i'ver heard. Not good.
I ran in to our other expedition team members and they plan on going up to Pangboche tomorrow and meeting Logan at the Sonam Lodge. This four room Hyatt in the middle of no where features a hole for a toilet and a view of Ama Dablam for 100 rupies a night, 65 cents. In this country you really get what you pay for but you can't pay more so you get what you get. It's a kind of forced culture shock. Wake up white people!
Namche is filled with travelers and I am one of the few that has been here for longer than two days. ONe day arriving and one leaving. The internet guy is a crack up.
I don't think that I talked about my friend A'yal (sp) getting frost bite yet so here it goes. That shit sucks. His toes looked like they had been boiled and he could hardly walk. We walked from the high camps on the mountain down to base camp keep his boots on. In part not to look at his feet and also to keep them intact. When I saw them it was hard to believe that the cold did that to his feet. Puss and purple ruled my vision and I prayed to what ever power keeps skin cells alive to help him with his feet.
Two days later a helicopter flew in to basecamp and pick him and another frost bite victim up from our expedition. I remember on the climb that my feet were cold so I stopped and loosened my boots to get more blood to my feet. My hands seemed to be warm until the last 1000 ft. of the mountain and then they seemed like logs. I pulled the down mitts out and had a hay-day with my axes on the perfect snow conditions. The end of my axe ripped through the snow like putting old coolers on the slope and killing them.

Gotta Go
james

We Made the Summit!

2007-10-24T01:29:00.000-07:00

We sat at camp 1 looking up at the mountain. The "a" team of "full service" members had moved up and we were waiting for our chance to use that expedition tents at camp 2 where space was limited. Ice was falling off the Dablam at at camp 3 nightly, the place of the '06 desaster that killed 6 people, so teams where jockeying for what little space was left at camp 2 to stage their summit pushes. There were no sights left, except one on the edge of the cliff where people climb up to the main ledge.
We heard this over the radio and decided that if we didn't move on that marginal spot we may get stuck with no summit bid.
We moved at around 11am to camp 2. We'd never been to camp 2 so the climbing was great. Our packs were heavy and we carried our small bibler I-tent. When we arrived everyone was surprised to see the two american boys had pushed up to the main group to summit. That night we boiled water and got ready for an early start. 2am. We needed to start that early because it was not possible to stop at camp 3 because of Ice fall. This detail made for a long day, from C2 to the summit and back in a day. HARD.
We left in frigid temps and climbed quickly to the base of the grey tower. From there we gained the mushroom ridge and then camp 3, where I didn't stay long. The summit slopes where covered in deep sugar snow and made going hard at 22,000 feet. I pushed ahead, since it was so cold, and started up toward the summit. Passing a few people on the way, the top was in perfect weather.
We could see 5 out of the 6 highest peaks in the world in front of us. The setting was amazing and with that the voice in my head said, "take pictures and get the fuck out of here." All in that order.
The way down was the true test. There must have been 50 diffrent repels to get back to camp 2. The day was about 14 hours long and took alot out of my.
The climbing was amazing. Rock, snow and ice. Ama Dablam has all the climbing to make one happy.

We made it down to base camp the next day. Tired and hungery.

Our new plan is to make our way to The other mountain and climb that as quickly as possible and then get home. We hope to leave KTM on the 6th. My fingers are crossed.

James

Meditation

2007-10-05T04:49:00.000-07:00

He whore a red cloke and sat outside of the monestary talking with us. He said that the next meditation session would be very special because the monks where celebrating.
"What are you celebrating?" I said.
"You will see."

Logan and I took off our shoes and sat against the wall were we could see 13 monks sitting. They started to chant and move from side to side. I shut my eyes and started to breath. I kept my breath regular focusing on the absence of time. THe illusion of time and the sence of relaxation. My neck relaxed and then my back and I fluidly moved around on the floor in to a comfortable possition to sit. As the meditation continued it became louder. Vibrant. Large horns and bells, voices and drums filled the room. A 20 foot golden Budda in the back of the room staired at us frozen in plaster. There were other people in the room now, I only concentrated on the chanting and the effects of the instuments on my mind. The sounds came in at the strangest times carrying my thoughts to new highest and reaffirming their connection to my soul.

I would change possion every so often. Still breathing heavily, the monks would break for a few seconds and then return to a deep, gutteral chant. My eyes were tearing at one point. Only thinking about time and the illusion of time. The universe and the signs that it feeds to us.

We sat until they kicked us out. We folded the rugs and decided that we would go back in the morning before we continued our hike toward Everest and the mountains we plan to climb.

James

Enlightenment

2007-10-03T23:52:00.000-07:00

From the trail today we could see Mt. Everest, Nutpse, and Ama Dablam, our objective. The clouds would over take them and then retreat to reveal the ridges and steep faces. Ama Dablam only came out for a moment and we saw our route, steep and spectacular. Logan and I left town for a few hours for a hike in the hills to help acclimate for the mountain. Along the way we cut off the beaten path and found one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been. Small trees hung over the stone trail that lead up a hill. On both sides 6000 meter peaks, rocky and glazed with snow shot in to the clouds. I could feel the satisfaction in my soul. In this place I am happy.

I met with a photojournalist yesterday who had the inside information on all the coming s and goings of the Himalaya. Jonathon, an English guy, had been posting pictures from the mountains via a sat. link. He gave me much insight in to international adventure photography and how to sell and network your photos and multimedia work. This part of the trip is really cracking open.
I woke up this morning and took photos of the mountains at around 4:30. The clouds began to glow and the prayer flags waved in the wind above a quiet town. I feel my photos coming alive now that I am putting more emotion in to them. Making my passion my reality is coming true. I'm very happy and driven right now.

Logan and I feel great, the mountain is going to be crowded and we plan on being on of the first groups up on the ridge. Our expedition is the first to arrive and the Sherpas are breaking trail above the ridge for their expeditions. Sherpas are STRONG. They carry 200 lb. loads up hills that my friend might die on. Hard.

We went up to another town on our hike that was in between two mountains. The trail through the town was divided by stones with Buddist montras carved in to them. Thousands of them pilled on to one another. Incredible. An old man saw the prayer beads on Logans neck and started to chant the montra. We talked for a while and he wished us luck. "Thank you."

We are strangers in a foreign land. We seek to climb mountain to test ourselves and to see some of the most beautiful places on earth, from the top. Out here it is extreme and so are we.

James

The Trek from Kathmandu to Namche

2007-10-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

Logan and I have arrived in the mountains. We are in the town of Namche which is at 11.000 ft. or soo. The town is surrounded by mountains. Big ones, with lots of steep sides. We plan on leaving for the Ama Dablam base camp tomorrow. We are strong and happy to be out of Kathmandu. Kathmandu is a crazy place. "Old Asia" style with dirty streets and strange food. The flight to Lukla was hair raising. the plain flew between two mountains and landed on an uphill landing strip about 150 yards long.

This is a big trip for the two of us. Our plans are big and we have all the food and equipment to complete the mountains.

Say tuned.

James

Finally Packed and Ready for the Mountains

2007-09-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to be done with the packing and know I can sit on my bags and wait for the plain to pick me up. I finally feel like I can be excited about the trip. Bills out of the way. All details worked out and extra energy to boot.
So I'll be updating this blog when I can. I brought a camera card reader to load images if I can. Hopefully a rich american expedition has a laptop to work on. Dreams, I know. Thanks to all that helped Logan and in preparation for this trip.
I have dreamed of going to Nepal for as long as I can remember. That dream is going to come true when I arrive in Kathmundu on Saturday.

Much Love to my Family and my Folks,

James Adamson

Half Dome TR

2007-09-21T14:32:00.000-07:00

Check out the Half Dome trip report at http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=453868.

We went to Yosemite to train for Nepal and got pelted with a storm. Good fun!