SMART Technologies had me film their project with Douglasdale School in Calgary and the Royal Canadian Navy. Using SMART’s display technology, the school was able to link with the sailors on the HMCS Calgary for a series of learning opportunities. I was able to spend the day conducting interviews and capturing the interaction between the students, teachers and technology. It was a busy morning. The kids were very excited to get an in class visit from some of the officers they’ve been communicating with. I shot this on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K and handled the sound and lighting as well.
Mike Weir for Golf Town
I recently had the opportunity to shoot a feature piece for Golf Town. Masters champion and Canadian golfing legend Mike Weir came to town for the Shaw Classic but was first able to spend a day with some lucky kids in a development camp at Cottonwood Golf Club in Calgary. The kids were able to talk to Mike and receive one-on-one teaching from the pro. This was one of my first projects coming out of Covid lockdowns. Shot on a Sony F7 MK II.
2019 Canadian Championship Promo
As the abbreviated 2020 Canadian Premiere League season plays out in Prince Edward Island, I thought I’d look back at last season, which I was privileged to be a part of covering Cavalry FC for OneSoccer. I shot all of the training footage and interviews which was then edited by the CPL for this promotional video. Once we recover from this weird year, I hope to be back on the sidelines for the 2021 season.
U Technologies
I’ve been proud to help U Technologies, a Calgary based LED manufacturer in their push to market their product across social media and their website. So far we’ve done videos for Flores + Pine and the Carriage House Inn, who’ve prominently used UTech’s RGB LED’s in their renovations.
2020 Exposure Festival
The 2020 Exposure photography festival is now running through February 29th at galleries and spaces all over Calgary. I have the immense honor of having one of my photos chosen as part of the ‘Emerging Photographers Showcase’.
’Star Dancer’ is one of my long exposure photos from the 2019 Calgary Stampede midway. It’s a composite of four different shots. All about 5 - 7 second exposures. I really loved this one as it shows almost a transformation as the ride starts and builds up to a full 360 degree swing. I am really proud to be on display at Contemporary Calgary in their new space along side the other amazing Alberta photographers.
North and Company
North and Company in Lethbridge recently hired me to film a retirement video for their founding partner and namesake, Phil North. Phil’s legacy in the practice of law throughout Southern Alberta will last for a long time and it was quite clear his colleagues will miss him greatly.
My 2019 Highlight Reel
2019 was another terrific year for me creatively and professionally. In addition to finishing my 6th season with the Calgary Flames organization, I joined MediaPro for the inaugural season of the Canadian Premiere League, covering Cavalry FC for OneSoccer. This was such an amazing opportunity. I was embedded with the team as they had as historic first season, culminating with an appearance in the CPL Championship.
2019 saw me travel to Banff, Edmonton, Lethbridge and Vancouver for work. I was able to expand my freelance work in to real estate, politics and short film.
2020 has me continuing with the Flames organization in my seventh season and potentially a return to hosting and shooting Cavalry FC for OneSoccer.
Thank you to everyone who continues to hire, support and recommend me for work and here’s to a successful 2020 to all of us.
Beakerhead Spectacle 2019
As promised, I was able to take my new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K for a real good run. What better venue to test a camera than the visual spectacle that is Beakerhead. This year Beakerhead changed the name of their premier night from ‘Beakernight’ to ‘Spectacle’. Big ticket price and a change of venue to Princes Island Park from the old Fort Calgary location. After spending a couple hours there it occurred to me that this “spectacle” was a combination of past events. A fun chemical mixture of ‘4 to 6’, ‘That Thing In the Desert’ and Beakernight. The result was a sold out event with lots of new attractions this year.
The BMPCC 6K performed amazingly. The low light performance was terrific. The colors were fantastic. With a full Tilta build up and a V-mount battery the camera lasted the full evening and handled great. I edited the whole piece on Blackmagic’s, Davinci Resolve. Apart from teaching myself a new program it was easy to assemble a basic edit. The colour correction tab is like a different language. I look forward to tackling it on future projects.
First Impressions - BMPCC6K
So I finally took my BMPCC6K for a test drive. Everything here was shot in 4K/60p. My initial opinion is, there's a lot I like about this camera.
First off, turning it on and getting familiar with the menu and controls took about 20 min. Super intuitive, impressive. I went with the Sigma 18-35, which is a great combo. I'll eventually get this camera flying on my Ronin-S, as soon as my Tilta order comes in.
I'm recording straight to an SSD. Full 6K on a 1TB drive has a recording time of 77 minutes. There's also extra draw on the batteries. Speaking of which. The camera comes with a 3rd party LP-E6 and I picked up a few extras from Strobepro. The battery life is around 20 min. The camera also shut down around 30%. This is apparently common with 3rd party batteries. I will be addressing this with v-mount batteries in my Tilta build. There's a Ronin to 12V cable as well.
The auto-focus is hilarious. It shouldn't even have the button. It took 20 seconds to hunt and then gave up. The on-board mics are fairly good. You will definitely hear the cooling fan right below them in quiet spaces.
I'm looking forward to taking it out more once I get it built up. As it is, you can't really do much with it in a professional sense until you deal with power. It really holds it back. I did a quick grade in Premiere. My old laptop really didn't care for the thick ProRes files. Once I figured out editing with proxies though it went pretty well. Just have to tack on an extra hour or 8 to my workflow to make them. I like the sharpness. The dynamic range is fairly good. I'm coming from the Sony a6500 so, I'm fairly easy to impress at this point.
I'll let you guys know when I take it for another spin. I think my next opportunity will be Beakerhead or a Flames game. Which ever comes first. I'm looking to see how the 2.8k slo-mo looks and shooting in a more demanding environment.
Think Calgary Real Estate
David and Jeff are real estate agents here in Calgary who know exactly what message they’re trying to convey to potential clients but hadn’t had a lot of experience in video. I was able to help them translate their needs into a 90 second spot for their various social platforms. I wrote a script based on their messaging and then was able to work with them to really hammer it out into a product they would be happy with.
We were able to shoot everything in a day and ran ahead of schedule most of the day. With minimal coaching David and Jeff were able to share their messaging and were pretty natural on camera. The key was having a script and them knowing their brand and being able to easily talk about it.
I think this is a great example of the relaxing kind of shoot and quality of product I can deliver.
Alberta Election 2019
Elections are a super charged topic these days. Political advertising was not a field I had thought I would want to get involved in. After speaking with Greg Clark and his team after being recommended to them, I was more than happy to help them capture their messaging for this past election. While I don’t agree with all of the Alberta Party’s platform, I was happy to help a candidate for which inclusion and equality were important.
We ended up creating a longer form 45 second ad as well as four, 6 to 8 second spots that could be run as pre-roll ads on Youtube. The idea was to have each of the shorter ads touch on the most important topics to Greg and having the 45 second spot be a summary of all of them.
I was able to follow Greg around in early April, just a few days after the election had been called. We started at his office and then spent the day as Greg travelled throughout his constituency, meeting voters and sharing his message.
Glowfest 2019
A short video I made highlighting Glowfest 2019. It was a chilly Saturday evening, but it didn’t stop Calgarians from spending it experiencing a number of public art installations in YYC’s downtown core. The fest also includes live music, interactive light based art works and more. It was also a great opportunity to test some new gear in less than ideal conditions.
My 2018 Highlight Reel
Here is a collection of some the work I was privileged to do this year. My jobs took me to Banff, Lethbridge and Edmonton. This was my 5th season with the Calgary Flames. 5 years working with the Calgary Stampede which saw me shooting a number of projects for them as well as my usual job of working the Grandstand Show. I stepped outside my comfort zone and hopefully I continue to grow through 2019.
Flames Alumni Christmas Eve
I spent the morning of Christmas Eve chasing police cars, which is a fun change. The Calgary Flames Alumni in partnership with the Calgary Police Service and the help of the C of Red, put together a number of hampers for families in need. Donations included toys and gift cards for groceries. The players hope to grow the program next season.
Beakernight 2017
Beakerhead has announced their 2018 program schedule with such fantastical attractions as 'Dinner with Drones', 10 ft. Tesla Coils and more! So what better time than to relive 2017's Beakernight. This was my 4th year shooting video for the festival and the second time they got me to go up that god forsaken 300 ft crane. I hate heights but it turns out I love unique shots more.
Get all the info at beakerhead.com
Waterton National Park
Since moving to Pincher Creek this spring, I've been looking forward to being merely a half hour from so many beautiful locations. My finance and I decided to spend our afternoon in Waterton National Park, located just 30 minutes from our house. I have to admit, in the 20+ years I've lived in Alberta, I have never taken the trip down. We rectified this terrible error.
The damage from last years wildfires is still quite noticeable but nature has begun the process of repairing itself. In our afternoon visit we were able to try a couple of restaurants out. Waffleton served up some delicious waffles and coffee. The staff enthusiastically created a "Frankenwaffle" (their word) because we wanted to try both the berries and cream and smore waffles. After an hour of exploring the various shops we swung back around for Wieners of Waterton for a pretty solid hot dog experience.
We also stopped at the Prince of Whales hotel for a spectacular view of the lake. Evidence of how close the wildfires had gotten to the old building were evident. As we were exploring the interior a mother and her daughter stopped me. "I just heard a brown bear and her cubs are close by. You have a nice camera, I thought you should know." The tip paid off. Across a ridge and some brush were a mamma bear and three cubs. It's easy to get excited and forget that bears are efficient killing machines, especially with their young in tow. A Parks Canada officer was quick to arrive and make sure someone didn't get to adventurous with a selfie stick.
Even on an overcast day, Waterton has all the beauty of Banff and Canmore but is incredibly more relaxed. A yearly park pass and repeat visits are in order throughout the summer. Full gallery below.
Gear list: Sony a6500, Tamron 70-200 2.8, Sigma 18-35 1.8, Tiffen variable ND filter.
Fly YYC
I was hired to shoot the reveal of the Calgary Airport Authority’s new branding campaign. I was there to film the presentation by President and CEO Bob Sartor as well as the ‘branding expo’ following the talk. I was able to capture the presentation in it’s entirety for internal use and a shorter recap bringing all the parts together.
Sneak Peek - New YW Building In Inglewood
Had the privilege of shooting the first look at the YW's new building in Inglewood. YW's CEO, Sue Tomney was joined by members of the Government of Alberta (Hon. Joe Ceci and Hon. Sandra Jensen) to announce additional funding for the YW as they near completion of the new facility which will be able to house even more women in need and create a safer environment to host their programs.
2018 Women's March
An amazing turnout again for the 2018 Women's March. What is now an annual event, thousands of Calgarians, joining the MILLIONS around the world, marched to bring more attention to women's issues. I was more than happy to volunteer my camera and time to this incredibly important cause.
Winter Cocktails with Drinks and Beyond
The fine folks up at Drinks and Beyond teamed up with the staff at one of Edmonton's newest restaurants, The Holy Roller, to share some delicious winter cocktail recipes. The Holy Roller features a cafe in the front, open all day and the restaurant and bar in the back. Their speciality is "Detroit" style pizza (Rectangle shaped, deep-dish) and a top notch selection of cocktails and wine.
The shoot itself was super efficient. Chris and his staff know what they're doing and it didn't take long to capture these videos. My favourite was the Ginger Mulled Cider. All four videos are on display at Drinks and Beyond in Edmonton as well as online on their social media channels.
I shot these in 4k on my Sony a6500 on my Ronin-M gimbal at 16mm, but punched in a bit in post. I had been shooting a lot with the Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 but as wonderful as it is, I found it a bit too wide for some things, especially shooting on the Ronin. After this shoot I picked up a Sigma 18-35 which has some considerable advantages for shooting on a gimbal.