My crush of the moment is the host of Top Chef Padma Lakshmi. She’s a cook, an author, actress and former super model. Oh yeah; Ms. Lakshmi is everything a food loving photographer and movie phile could want. She’s also a humanitarian and ambassador for the United Nations and I hear she also likes Star Trek; which makes her a geek. And one more thing: she has a badass scar on her right arm from injuries she sustained during an automobile accident when she was young.
And she photographs well.
Returning to the celebration last night I set up a single monolight off in the corner to be my “flash” during the presentation and father-daughter dance. It worked well, however I am quite sick of that song “Butterfly Kisses” and its use at an event other than a wedding. Whatever; I got some great shots of the little chick cryiing so, woo-hoo.
Asthe night went on I noticed a woman dancing by herself. I would look over and make eye contact with her a few times as she smiled back. Eventually she sat down to rest and we continued to eye each other. When she got up again she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the dance floor.
“Let’s dance,” she said. And dance we did, camera sheathed below my arm as I led her across the dance floor.
“Are you married,” she asked.
“No. Are you?”
“I’m divorced. Two years.”
It turns out she’s 36, her 15 year old daughter and the birthday girl are best friends and that’s how she wound up being at the event. When I started making her dizzy with all the spinning I confessed I didn’t do a lot of dancing at social occasions. She said I was getting better. By the end of the night my camera gear was back in my car and I was on the dance floor with her for three more songs. She likes the booming, rapping, gettin’ jiggy wit it music. And I was more than fine with her gettin’ jiggy wit me. Before we went our separate ways I got her phone number and formally introduced myself to her.
Her name is Cindy and I think I’ll give her a call sometime.
I’m shooting a quinceanera today in Pharr. I usually don’t shoot events like this but I decided to do this one as a favor to a friend (who would also be good on paying me). I shot about 80 pictures during the afternoon ceremony, including group photos, and I expect to shoot about twice that many in the hour I’ll be at the reception tonight. Should be interesting. I’ve already caught two of the little girls looking at me. Eesh. I hope they were just looking at my camera; but probably they weren’t.
Robert Rozak of Juiced Link just sent me some information on his low-noise preamplifier for field audio acquisition for video production. Rozak claims his product records less hiss than the industry standard Sound Devices MixPre or even the popular BeachTek DXA models. He also claims that his Juiced Link product works well with the Canon HV20, a popular alternative to independent filmmakers needing to make the High Definition switch inexpensively, a claim which is apparently supported by users.
I do not personally use any indie filmmaking gear yet as I am still extremely focused on my photography. But when I do take the plunge, I will seriously consider Juiced Link for connecting XLR audio equipment to my HV20 or 30; the product looks solid and it’s also inexpensive. It also doesn’t weigh a lot so it should help ballast the tiny camera atop a Steadicam Merlin.
Check it out and tell Robert I sent ya.
I got a nice compliment from two people in a conversation that had nothing to do with me until I walked by. Eric, one of the master control operators, was in a discussion with Donnie, the master control chief, about how he felt like he didn’t have much in the way of creativity and was basically stuck doing jobs consisting of menial labor. Donnie was countering the point in her normal girlie way when I walked by to grab a clipboard and Eric said “not like Jason. He’s gifted. He shouldn’t even be down here. He needs to get out of the Valley and go to some market somewhere that will appreciate him.”
I paused and awaited a barrage of cynical laughter when Donnie chimed in: “I agree. Jason has so much talent that it practically oozes out of him. Like he’s gonna slip on it and fall down.”
I just stood there. I didn’t know how to respond so, after a moment of them staring at me I said, “I guess that’s why I’m The Guy.” I paused. “I’d normally have something funny to say right now, but I don’t.” With that I sheepishly walked back to my desk.
Tomorrow I have a news promo to shoot and edit, another Havana spot to produce and my regular daily chores along with a model shoot after work with a petite Ukrainian hottie named Anna who reallyreallyreally wants to work with me. Also, next week I begin work on my book project. I have the models in play and I’m ready. Should be fun.
They killed Callie! Tori killed Callie! Wha-what…what the frak?! But, I love Callie. Aawh!
Brooke White of this season’s American Idol is my crush of the moment.
Any woman who can play the piano and sing is super-ultra-mega hot to me. I think she needs to lay off the piano playing and concentrate on the singing since American Idol is a singing competition, but whatever; she’s super-ultra-mega hot. Alicia Keys is hot for all the same reasons. Keys, however, is way more talented than Ms. White.
So, Alicia Keys: wanna wrestle? We can duet on Ebony And Ivory. Me and you; let’s do it.
Oh, and today’s the due date for federal taxes here in the U.S. and I’m sure many of us are running around like headless chickens. But I did mine in January, so no worries here.
So there’s this chick called Stacie Ponder and her website, Final Girl, is a blog that attempts to explore the horror flicks from the ’70s and ’80s. You know? Back when horror movies were actually kinda scary. I stumbled on her site by doing a Google search for Steven Williams, but only because I was trying to remember who the hell Black Jack Savage was. Yeah, don’t ask.
And to think I just saw John Carpenter’s The Thing this past Friday after BSG. Which reminds me: Ms. Ponder’s most amazing attribute thus far? She wants to hump Battlestar Galactica. That makes her sexy in my book. So, onward Stacie Ponder! Let us share this fruitful blogosphere and, thusly, multiply our hit counts.
Last night I shot footage for a commercial I’ll be working on today for a brand new local night club called Havana Club & Grill. Edward went with me and we started shooting around 8pm, but it became clear to him that he didn’t need to be there so I dropped him back off at the office and I continued shooting until 2am. I almost hooked up with a girl, too. An aspiring lawyer, actually. She got me to dance with her as I held the heavy camera. As it turns out, I can’t dance, so she pretty much lost interest. But she gave good face for the camera so I’m gonna use her for the spot (she is the girl who spins into camera, slightly obscured by dancing arms immediately following a whip-pan of the bar). I’m cool like that. Fun, though.
Following is the video I shot and edited from that evening and is used as background footage for the final commercial. The music was recorded live as a complete eight-minute performance and I edited key elements from the song into the thirty second version you hear in the final spot. Enjoy.
iPhone users click here to watch the video.
I saved Ana, one of the sales chicks, from a client-related jam she put herself in and she said to me “you…are a god” and “I know: you’re bad ass.” See? Proof that I’m awesome. Was there ever any doubt? Not on my blog, bitches.
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