Check Out Turn & Burn on Discovery Channel

Check out the crazy antics of JD and crew on a 3D Reality Show I was Stereographer / Camera Operator on this Spring.
It's currently airing in 2D on Discovery Channel Mondays 10/9c (Also check you local listings).
Here's a link to the Promo:
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/turn-and-burn

Adventure Girls Shoot

Somebody has to Direct these women. Why not?!

Daydream Shoot

From wild raves to wild landscapes. I've been out shooting it all. Last fall 2 of us were sent out by Discovery Channel to film some amazing landscapes. I was basically told "here's the camera, go film, see you in a few weeks." This was for sure my dream job for 2012.

 Boating down the Rio Grande

Chapel Of The Holy Cross in Sedona. Who thinks up these things?

 Nothing like a sunrise in Monument Valley

Amazing Grand Tetons

Never get tired of New York City

Electric Zoo 2012

It's been a long time comin' since the latest post.  I've been doing some pretty amazing gigs over the last couple of years, so I thought I'd do a little catch up.

3D kept going strong as we went out to do some filming at the Electric Zoo Music Festival 2012 in New York City. We put up 3D video of world renowned DJ's on LED panels across the stage along with some amazing graphics. Can anyone say mind blowing!

I've been to a few of these in my day, but nothing compares to how far these events have come. Over 100k people a day for 3 days. Pretty nutty scene.

PERU

Wow! What a trip so far. We flew into Lima. A beautiful approach as we passed the majestic Andes on the left. It was unfortunately just a layover. We then flew up into the mountains to a small town called Cusco, at 11,000’. 

A beautiful town very similar to old European ones; narrow cobblestone streets surrounded by great old buildings and picturesque mountains.

Seems every building is made with 500 year old stone from Inca ruins. They have to leave the stone where it was and integrate the building around it. It makes for amazing looking structures all around the town. 

I especially love the doors around town.

It’s hard acclimating to the altitude while working. We get winded just walking up the streets, but have gotten used to it after spending the week.

We’ve had some great meals! Every night is something different. I tried Alpaca and thought it was really similar to beef. But, can’t bring myself around to try the town favorite, Guinea Pig. Every restaurant has a pizzaria. Hey! I lika the Pizza ya know.

It’s really amazing seeing some of the Peruvians in their everyday clothing. I never imagined they really wear these clothes all the time. Before coming here I just thought it was how they used to dress in the past, or for festivals.

They actually wear these outfits all the time. When the Spanish took over, they assigned each region with their own look i.e. beaded jackets and hats. It was great to see how they carry their babies too.

How 'bout those Llamas! Pretty cool, but you have to watch out from them spitting on you.

After a week in Cusco, we started our journey to Machu Picchu. It was a 2 hour bus ride, followed by a beautiful 2 hour train ride through the Andes.

The mountains are amazing the way they shoot so vertically up with the clouds surrounding them.

We stayed at the base of Machu Picchu in a village called Aguas Calientes. It exists only as stopping point for tourist going up to Machu Picchu, so it was a little touristy and pricey. It's completely surrounded by massive shear cliffs, so you can't see Machu Picchu from there. Here's the main street.

We started our assent with a bus ride up the side of the cliffs to a trail head that leads to Machu Picchu. The gear proved to be a challenge for moving around the site, and we drew a lot of attention. Thankfully we had a lot of help, and came up with the idea of carrying the camera like the Arc Of The Covenant.

The trail leading up to Machu Picchu is great. There's so much excitement in the air as everyone waits to see it for the first time. You zig zag a bit, come over a ridge, and…There it is!!!

Unbelievable! Completely breathtaking. Ok, well part of it was 'cause we just hiked up with all the gear. But Machu Picchu is truly an amazingly beautiful place. And of course the saying goes, pictures can't do it justice.

So just a brief history for you. It was built as a place to hide from the Spanish. There were only about 200 people living here, including the King and all the people who served him. It was completely self sufficient, and had a nature spring that provided water that is still flowing today, and they would grow crops on the terraces.

It's an amazing place, and between Cusco and Machu Picchu, this could go down as the best trip we've had. But we won't know until we hit Easter Island. So off we go. Miss you all. Talk soon.

Guatemalan Jungle / El Mirador

This place is unbelievable. It's like nothing I've ever seen or done. It doesn't get any deeper in the jungle than this. We are in a remote archeology camp for the ancient Miya city called El Mirador. The nearest roads are 80 miles away, so all transportation is by helicopter.

Our gear being sent to El Mirador

Landing in the jungle.

It's about 90 degrees and 90% humidity everyday and drops to about 80 degrees at night. We're staying in tents, and sweat all day and night. At least the tents have cots with foam padding. It's pretty comfortable. A large tarp over the tent stops monkeys from dropping things, or heavy rain, from destroying the tent. 

There's no hot water, but after 12 hours of working in these conditions a cold shower feels amazing. You just have to watch out for Tarantulas and Scorpions lurking in the corners.

Here's a Spider Monkey that was watching me by the tent.

There's endless animals everywhere. Spider Monkeys like to jump in the trees over us. The Howler Monkeys are a little more elusive, but their sounds are insane. It seems everywhere we turn there's a spider the size of my hand that would knock you out in 10 minutes if it bit you. Of course the loudest thing going all the time are the locust. It's almost deafening. They say there's lots of snakes and jaguars, but we haven't seen any.

The jungle noises can be crazy day or night. Here's a recording I did from my tent one night. The growls are the Howler monkeys.

HIT PLAY

For breakfast we eat eggs, black beans, rice, and thick fresh tortillas. If we're lucky she'll throw in Plantains. For lunch we eat, black beans, rice, spam, and tortillas. For dinner she mixes it up and we have black beans, rice, and canned hot dogs. I don't think I'll be going for Mexican food for awhile after when I get home. No cold drinks. Only water from the reservoir the Maya built 1000's of years ago. Oh how good a cold beer would be right now.

The kitchen 

 The dining area

We set out with the gear by 7AM. The front mule carries the gear, the background mules carry the water.

We're shooting the site, but it's challenging because 90% of it was taken over by the jungle since it was built almost 2000 years ago. It was a pretty flat area, so anytime you climb a hill or small mountain, it's an ancient temple of some sort. They've done an amazing job mapping the area with lasers.

We've managed to get some great shots of the places they've uncovered though. It makes for great 3D!

Yesterday we climbed over 250 feet up to the top of the biggest temple, El Dante. They've only uncovered the top, but the views are 360 degrees of a sea of green jungle. They say there are 40 other ancient cities out there that haven't been uncovered. El Mirador is thought to be the largest at 5 sq. miles.

It's an extremely challenging job, but amazing to be here, and exciting to know were doing something cutting edge that no one else has ever done. Now if someone would just buy a 3D TV, we can keep it up!

Guatemala

Guatemala is amazing! We got out of Guatemala City pretty quick and have planted ourselves at the lakeside village of Flores. We're about 45 mins. from Tikal, which is one of the largest Maya archaeological sites ever found. It's was a huge city surrounded by beautiful lush jungle, and they've only excavated a small potion of it.

We've definitely returned to hot humid weather. It's proven to be really challenging for the cameras and has caused some delays. We put in 12-14 hours a day, but usually get back in time to still jump in the lake. We just have to watch out for the crocs!

Sometimes in Cali you forget about the night sky, but it's stunning here. We can clearly see the Milky Way and millions of stars. I went out and had a little fun with my camera.

I'm really excited we're leaving for the deep jungle tomorrow. We head to another massive Maya site called El Mirador. The only way in is by helicopter, and we'll be sleeping in tents in an archeology camp. Should be an amazing experience.