I am excited for a new opportunity that I am pursuing, I have the opportunity to work on a large video project over the next year. There will be a variety of projects from cut & dry how-to videos to some amazing ambassador documentaries.
To follow the progress of this project visit:Marshall Radio TV
These videos will be particularly interesting to anybody who has an interest in birds of prey, falconry, animal husbandry and training, radio telemetry, and video shot on an HDDSLR.
This first video is covering a lecture given by Ed Pitcher of Malad, ID discussing his new book “The Flying of Falcons” an amazing treatise on seeing the big picture. One of my favorite aspects of the book was the universal nature of the principles and how they can be applied to personal relationships.
Recently had the opportunity to head down to Nevada to shoot some climbing and lifestyle imagery. The athletes and setting were the ideal escape from the weak snowpack in the Wasatch, and I came away with some great images.
Here Grace Rich poses down for some pack shots with Pine Creek Canyon in the background. I used a Singh Ray 3 stop Reverse Grad ND filter to hold back the bright sky in this image as well as strobe fired remotely to camera left to highlight the pack a little more.
Jai Dub Hackett gets it done on Ying Yang .11a This image was shot using a Nikon T/S lens. Using this lens allowed me carefully control the depth of field in the image as well as compose multiple images without have to move the actual sensor plane.
Another use of the Singh Ray 3 stop reverse grad ND. The composition of this image brings the viewer into the circular rock pile in the foreground and throughout the remainder of the image using color and form. Being able to hold back the bright sky and maintain a balanced exposure was critical to the creative control of this image, and without the Singh Ray filters would have been impossible.
On the first evening into Red Rocks State Park, I eyed an amazing looking dihedral (inside corner) from the road that faced east. I knew in the evening the corner would be lit with the warm evening light, and planned accordingly with the athletes to be there shooting in the evening. Then Grace decided to crush it and pull out this rose move on this .10d mixed route.
Mike Portanda working Ying Yang .11a We stumbled on this climb totally unknown and were rewarded with some of the most aesthetic climbing I have ever witnessed. The leading lines bring the viewer into the Mike’s eyes and convey his story of moving upward. These shots are hard to get and often times involve a bit of luck, but have the technical foundation to be able to capture an image when the opportunity presents itself is critical. Study you camera and it’s control as to be able to quickly setup and execute the shot. I used a Pocket Wizard to remotely trigger a strobe being held by a friend above the climber to bring out the details in the face and eyes.
Mike Portanda once again crushing it on some .13a at the Gallery in Red Rocks. I had Mike set the ropes on this route, ascended the ropes and then setup a remotely fired strobe above the crux moves. This allowed me to be able to stop down the exposure for the ambient light to get the deep colors and moody feeling while still firing the strobe and capturing the detail in his face that helps convey the emotion of him sending a hard route.
Often times a whole different story is told by simply moving the camera angle up or down a few inches or changing a lens. This image is an example of using a different perspective, but rather than a few inches, I had to sprint across a gully and scramble up a small cliff to capture this image of Mike Portanda on Yin Yang .11a Once again a remotely fire strobe is allowing me to lower the ambient exposure and really bring out the texture and color of the rock.
And finally the opus of the trip, this image was created shortly after the image above of the rock ring. As the clouds moved in started to block the sunrise, I happened to turn around and see those clouds were focusing the sunlight onto a specific section of Red Rocks and truly highlighting what Red Rocks is all about. I quickly switched compositions, changed filter to a Singh Ray 2 stop soft step Grad ND and used a new technique I had learned about using the tilt/shift lens to create images closer to what a large format camera would create with the increased depth of field and compositional possibilities. By shifting the lens from its very bottom extreme to its top extreme allowed to capture a full scene including the important foreground elements that lead the eye through the image. Again being able to execute these techniques quickly is the key, the light came and went in less than a minute and I had to setup and shoot 4 images in that time frame to create this image.