Sounds Like a Movement Recap
Well I'm a little late on posting this, as the event was months ago, but check out the recap video I put together for the Sounds Like a Movement Beachside Roots event!
-joel.
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DEAR READER
NASA
Sweet Seals For You, Always
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tannertan36

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RMH

Kiana Khansmith
2025 on Tumblr: Trends That Defined the Year
ojovivo

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dirt enthusiast
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Peter Solarz
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
TVSTRANGERTHINGS

titsay
Misplaced Lens Cap

Product Placement

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Sounds Like a Movement Recap
Well I'm a little late on posting this, as the event was months ago, but check out the recap video I put together for the Sounds Like a Movement Beachside Roots event!
-joel.
Israelite Mockumentary
I've been MIA lately, working on one of our latest storytelling videos for Tru. This project has been a ton of work, but has been a lot of fun too. Above is a screen shot from the mockumentary we did about the Israelites wandering in the desert. We'll be posting a trailer soon.
It was great to work with Kroh Media and a bunch of old friends on this project, and I'm super pumped on how it turned out.
More to come...
-joel.
One of my favorite parts of my job is being able to shoot in my studio so often. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have this much top of the line gear at my disposal, and that I have a place to call home. Now I just gotta silence that air conditioner...
There's More to Wedding Photography than the Pictures
Last night I had the privilege of actually attending (and not working) a wedding. In fact, this is probably the first wedding I've attended (besides my own) where I was not holding a camera for a majority of the time.
I couldn't help but notice how intrusive the photographers were. They had absolutely no regard for the guests and their enjoyment of the wedding. I was looking at one the photographer's back for a good 30% of the ceremony (I was sitting in the fourth row) and then during the ceremonial dances, the two photographers were under no further than 5 to 10 feet away from the couple, holding LED lights and also using flashes. I couldn't help but feeling like I was at a photoshoot, and not a wedding.
I'm sure that as a result of the photographers' proximity to the action, that their pictures will turn out great, but I would venture to say that there is more to wedding photography than great pictures.
This ultimately led me to thinking about the photographers I have been blessed to shoot with in the past, and what a great job they've done of staying incognito, and still getting that great shot. Of course, nobody using a flash and standing while everyone else is sitting is going to stay completely invisible, but they have done a great job of not interfering with the guests' experience, that the couple has obviously worked so hard to create.
I'd like to use this post to encourage anyone looking for a photographer for their wedding to consider more than what their portfolio looks like, but to also get a recommendation from a friend who has had that person shoot their wedding, or another (unbiased) vendor. I'm more than happy to recommend photographers who do a great job with getting the pretty pictures, and still stay out of the way.
-joel.
Tru Gathering Session Intros
These are the session intros I did for the 2011 Tru Gathering. It was great to get the opportunity to be creative and really "dream" about what we wanted to do with these. I love how they turned out and tied in with the theme of the conference. Take a look!
-joel.
Tru Gathering 2011
As some of you know, last week was our second annual Tru Gathering. I put together around 7 different video pieces for the conference, as well as running the "Photo Op" section where people could come with their team and get their picture taken. It was such an amazing time, but I can't say I'm not a little relieved to have all of the work off my chest. I'll be posting videos soon.
-joel.
Took this photo as a resource for Tru. Nothing too extreme, but I loved the shot.
-joel.
Couch Shoot
Last week Jonas and I schlepped this couch all around Orange County to shoot for the "Dream Book" that will be handed out at this year's Tru Gathering. It was a bit of a pain taking the couch out to these unique locations, but it was well worth it in the end.
Video soon to come!
From the Sky (OC Easter)
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to shoot for the OC Easter event, and I'd definitely say I had the best seat in the house. For the first half of the 11AM service I went up and shot from a helicopter. Huge thanks to Mark from Helistream for taking me up in their R22. It was a great/ terrifying experience, as I am partially afraid of heights and there was no door on the helicopter.
Below is the video that ROCKHARBOR put together to recap the event. I was one of several people shooting that day, so some of these shots are mine. It was great to be a part of such an incredible event.
Cheyenne's Grad Shoot
Last weekend my wife and I shot graduation photos for her sister Cheyenne. I had a ton of fun shooting them, and am super happy with how they turned out. I want to shoot photos more often! Take a look...
Sounds Like a Movement - Beachside Roots Promo
I shot & cut the above video for Sounds Like a Movement and Whole Foods Huntington Beach. Should be a super fun event for a good cause! Shot this one on my 60D and ran audio direct into the camera. Saved myself some time not having to run pluraleyes through everything.
My favorite part of this video is the animated logo I put together for the end. Simple but cool.
-joel.
Canon 60D -- Why I'm a Believer
A random set of circumstances led me to adding a Canon 60D to my camera quiver. Though at first I was admittedly a bit bummed that I would not be adding another 7D to the collection, the 60D has been an excellent addition.
First I'll start with what I DON'T like about the camera: As soon as I pulled the camera out of the box, I was extremely disappointed with the size, and feel. It feels a lot more plastic-y and amateurish than the 7D and 5D's do. It's also significantly smaller, which I wasn't happy with because I tend to like a bit bigger camera body. The addition of the battery grip pretty much fixed that issue though. The other thing I noticed right out of the gate was the buttons-- they absolutely suck. I'm not entirely sure why Canon decided to scrimp on the buttons, but off the bat I was super disappointed with the overall feeling I got holding the camera, especially in comparison to my 7D. Also beyond cosmetics, it sucked to have to pick up SDHC cards when I already have around 100gb worth of CF cards, and I was also disappointed that my timelapse remote would not work with the 60D. But then I took the camera on it's first shoot...
Now Here's Why It's a Winner: Obviously, the first thing I fell in love with about this camera was it's flip out screen. As a video guy first, and a photographer second, the functionality of the flip out screen is fantastic. Also, the screen seems a bit more vibrant than that of the 7D, but admittedly that could also be because the 60D was brand new and my 7D is already well used. The next thing I noticed was how awesome the placement was of the buttons I had originally hated. Because of the flip out screen, all of the controls are on the right hand side of the camera, making it super easy to switch your settings with just your right hand without having to adjust your grip. Next, I noticed a feature that the 7D does not have is adjustable audio levels in video mode. This is huge for me, because it negates the need to bring an H4N everywhere I go and then sync it up later. I'm also playing with recording audio onto my H4N, and then going out from that to the camera, so I do not need to sync, but have the reference audio if necessary. The last thing the 60D has going for it is it's price. It retails for $999.99 as opposed to the 7D's $1699 (you can find better on eBay).
But What About the Image? Another phenomenal thing about the 60D is that the image is almost identical to the 7D. Though I have not gone into extensive testing of grain patterns, moire, and the rest, the images are identical to the naked eye. Both cameras boast an 18MP sensor, and shoot at identical video frame rates and resolution. The 7D shoots more images per second in photo mode, but being that I am a video guy first (and I'm not usually shooting sports), that does not play that huge of a factor for me. I highly recommend the 60D, especially for anyone on a budget, who is trying to get their foot in the door in the HDSLR world. I'd say pick up the 60D and put that extra money into an extra lens or two.
-joel.
OCEaster.com
Though I had nothing to do with this, I feel the need to post this.
Check out www.oceaster.com.
Mad props to the ROCKHARBOR communications team for putting together this awesome, super creative site for this year's Easter at the Fairgrounds. It absolutely blew me away.
-joel.
Tru Gathering Promo
So I finished this Promo for the Tru Gathering 2011 on Monday. I'm super proud of this piece, because I shot and edited the whole thing (well except for the footage from last year) in less than a day. We needed to push this thing out online as quickly as possible, but because of everyones' crazy schedules, we ended up not being able to shoot until the day I needed to have the project done by.
On a side note, I'm super excited for this event too. Last year's was tons of fun, and we have a lot of big plans for this years'.
Enjoy!
-joel.
Simple Backgrounds
This one's for my fellow videographers and camera people. I've been playing a lot lately with simple, solid, colored backgrounds. Despite their current "in-ness" I really like the way they place the focus solely on the subject, getting rid of a lot of the distraction of having real location behind your subject. You can get super creative with the lighting too, keeping the subject overlit, underlit, or creating an extremely dramatic contrast. Since most of the stuff I shoot is promotional and upbeat, I keep things pretty tame, but you can get real creative, real easily. All you need is a colored wall! If anyone has any other cool examples feel free to post!
The photo above is a screenshot of a shoot I just did for David C. Cook's Rio curriculum.
-joel.
Smokey Eyed Make-Up Tutorial with Cassie Scerbo and Carlene K!
Here is the next make-up tutorial I shot and edited for Carlene K Cosmetics. Thanks to these videos, I am now semi-fluent in the language of make-up (my wife can confirm this). These are always super fun to work on though, and it's always a pleasure to work with Carlene.
This video highlights the work Carlene did in Travis Garland's "Everything Right Now" music video on Cassie as Travis's "Bond Girl."
Enjoy!
-joel.
Everything Right Now -- Online!
Hey everyone,
This video is a collaboration between Travis Garland, myself, and Akili Shine of PropagandaChamp.com. We shot this on almost no budget, but we loved the song and believed in the project, and are super excited with how it came out. Hope you enjoy it.
Interesting little fact-- Travis hates cigarettes, so we actually had a smoke double for the extreme close up. He never inhaled.
Repost if you like it!
-joel.
PS- Behind the scenes photos and video soon to come.