It’s Time

The bags are packed, the camera gear cleaned and stowed away.

The Adventure begins!

One for the Record Books

Last night was the coldest night ever recorded in Cedar Rapids. We bottomed out at -29F. It’s looking like tonight is shaping up to be about as cold.

Sadie the nature dog who usually doesn’t mind going outside in the snow wasn’t having any part of that last night.

All this cold and the amount of snow we’ve had so far this year has everyone talking if we’ll have another flood once things start to melt.

We’re already ahead of last years snowfall by quite a bit in some parts of the state:

Snow fall totals from this year versus last year:

Cedar Rapids
This year: 25.2”
Last year: 23.3”

Dubuque
This year: 44.0”
Last year: 24.5”

Iowa City
This year: 21.5”
Last year: 22.9”

Waterloo
This year: 34.9”
Last year: 17.9”

I was just thinking this afternoon that in a few days we’ll be in temps that are over 100 degrees warmer than what we are right now.

But for now, we’ll stay close to the fireplace and dream of warmer days.

The Journey of a Lifetime

Safari, the Swahili word for “journey”. Later this month we’ll be taking a journey to Africa.

Many months in the planning, this trip is an incredible opportunity to film some of the most amazing wildlife on the planet.

Although I’m really not at liberty to discuss why we’re going, rest assured, I’ll be working as hard as I can to get the best footage possible.

Internet access is sketchy at best in the areas we’ll be traveling but I’ll try to post updates wherever I can. We have a fantastic guide who has worked tirelessly to provide us the best opportunities possible. He’s a wildlife photographer as well so he understands what we need to get the best footage.

It’s just mind boggling the amount of planning that has to go into a trip like this. Every detail has to be worked out in order to make everything run smoothly. Yet, even with all this planning, we’re still at the mercy of the weather and the wildlife.

You can keep track of the countdown to our departure on our website.

Welcome to 2009!

It’s hard to believe that another year has past. 2008 was certainly a roller coaster of a year for Silver Phoenix. Hopefully the changes we put in place last year will start to pay off in 2009.

Some choices were very hard to make, others much easier. All of them whether good or bad were changes I felt had to be made in order to move Silver Phoenix forward.

But enough about the past. The past can’t be changed so why dwell on it?

This year will be a busy one for me. In addition to shooting all the HD footage for Silver Phoenix, I’ve taken on the role of marketer as well.

Marketing doesn’t come to me as easily as shooting with the camera. I think it’s rare to find someone who has both great natural born artistic talent and savvy marketing sense. I also believe that with enough hard work, you can become proficient at both. So now you’re just as likely to find me reading a book on marketing as one on wildlife behavior.

So what does this mean for 2009? Big things. In fact for several months now we’ve been planning for a major trip that’s coming up this month.
Where are we going and why? Well, you’ll have to wait a bit for that one.

I’m also starting work on a feature length documentary. The goal is to have it finished by early 2010. The subject matter might surprise you but I think it’s a great story. I’ll fill you in more on this one too in a later post.

I hope all of you said goodbye to 2008 in style and I hope that 2009 brings you closer to the things you hold dearest in life.

Happy New Year!!