You are here: Home / Archives for 720p

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge

DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge is part of a network of refuges devoted to preserving and restoring increasingly scarce habitat for migratory waterfowl and other wildlife. The refuge is comprised of 8,358 acres in Iowa and Nebraska and lies in the Missouri River Valley floodplain on a former meander of the Missouri River.

Each year, especially during the fall, spectacular flights of up to 500,000 ducks and geese mark the changing seasons along this traditional waterfowl flyway.

Once an oxbow of the Missouri River, DeSoto provides a crucial resting and feeding spot for migratory waterfowl as the flee the snow covered lands of their Arctic nesting grounds.

Filming this spectacle can be hit and miss. The drive South is fueled by Winter storms that cover their feeding grounds with snow and freeze their ponds and lakes. The largest concentration usually takes place in Fall around November and December. Flocks of 20,000 or more birds can arrive in a single day. They’ll stay at DeSoto until the Winter storms push them farther South until they reach their wintering grounds on the Gulf Coast.

As of this post, the flocks have yet to arrive.

Earthbeats – Quotations to Inspire

Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he’s been given. But up to now he hasn’t been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wildlife’s become extinct, the climate’s ruined and the land grows poorer and uglier every day.

Anton Chekhov

Seeing the Possibilities

One of the questions I’m often asked is how do I capture such beautiful imagery.
It’s a hard question for me to answer. It’s not that I’m reluctant to share some secret technique ( there really isn’t one ), it’s that I really don’t know the answer.

While composition and exposure can be taught, seeing the possibilities in a scene where there may appear to be none is much harder to explain. I think a lot of it is something you’re just born with.

I’ve been a dreamer my entire life. In my world of daydreams, there are never any limitations. I can be anyone, do anything, go anywhere. I think that allows me to look at the real world in different ways than just the current reality that’s in front of me.

I my latest film, “The River”, I scouted locations for the opening sequence. I was looking for something that would have a big impact and set the tone for the rest of the film.

This was the first place I scouted, a local state park which had great access to the Cedar River.

Really not much to look at. Certainly wouldn’t put it in the film as is. But, I saw the potential.

So I began checking sunrise times and position. I also checked the weather reports every night to make sure the morning sky would be clear. Nothing worse than traveling to a location to capture the sunrise only to find clouds blocking the sun.

By seeing the possibility in the location and a little planning I wound up with this.

Certainly much more impact as an opening shot than what I had seen when scouting this location.

What People are saying about “The River”

Fantastic cinematography


You are a master at the “big cinema” feel to your films, your artistry with your camera work… you are an inspiration.


Wow! This was amazingly shot.


From beginning the end, your Film was just magic.


Quite stirring.


This film moved me!


This was a true piece of art.


In simple words, a masterpiece of work.

“The River”, my latest film, is now available for viewing here.
I’d appreciate if you have the time to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the film.
I hope you enjoy it.

“The River” Rolling Along

It’s been a lot of hard work but “The River” is done! It’s even finished a couple days before the deadline.

I had originally planned on documenting the entire process here. But, once it things started to go together, I didn’t want to spoil the impact of seeing it by giving you a lot of behind the scenes info.

So, once the film is up for viewing, I’ll post a link and then I can go into some of the details on how this film came together.

I think it’s one of the best films I’ve entered in the challenge to date.

Once you have an opportunity to see it, please post a comment and let me know what you think.

The Broken Silence

I was reading another filmmakers blog the other day about people purposely creating noise to ruin their shots.

I’ve run into the same situation myself on numerous occasions. Mostly it seems to occur when I’m shooting close to a road or in areas where larger groups of people happen to be.

Some people take great delight in honking horns, yelling, peeling out in their vehicles, whatever they can think of to be disruptive.
I’m not quite sure what the reasoning is behind it all. It seems that whenever you’re in an area that is easily accessible to the public, you have these issues.

As soon as you get fifty yards off the road and hike down a trail, people suddenly develop manners. They’ll wait for you to finish a shot. They will stop talking if it looks like you’re filming. They’ll take a different path to not scare away your subject.

I think it all boils down to these people have respect for nature and wildlife. It’s like they feel you’ve taken the effort to go beyond the being tourist driving down the road with their camcorder hanging out the window as they talk on their cell phone.

When you lose sight of the roads, the general stores, the ice cream shops, you enter a world where the horn honkers are too lazy to venture. You only come across people that truly respect nature and enjoy the solitude it can provide.

Of course, it’s a two way street. If I see people approaching, I’ll hold off on taking a shot or I’ll take the time to explain what I’m shooting and why.

Off the road, people have respect for you and your gear. I wish that were true everywhere and not just off the beaten path. I don’t know how many times I’ve been to places like Mt. Rushmore’s observation deck and had people grab my camera on the tripod and start turning it try and get a better view of the Presidents. I usually point the camera down or away from the subject to discourage this practice. One guy was even upset that I had the lens cap on and he couldn’t see anything.

Sometimes you can’t help but shoot near the road or on a boardwalk crowded with people. You just have to grin and bear it. Most days though I find myself grinning. Not because I think these people are funny but because I tend to record a lot of my footage in slow motion. When I do that, my camera doesn’t record any audio. So they can hoot and holler all they want, they’ll never ruin a shot.

But, sometimes whenever it gets to be too much, I just step off the road and enter a world where people have respect for each other and their surroundings. If only the rest of the world could be that way.

The Big Picture

On a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, I was stopped by a park ranger who was directing traffic around a slew of vehicles pulled over on the side of the road. From my car window I could see still photographers lined up alongside the road with their 600f4’s and 800f5.6’s all trained in the direction of a nearby rock formation. Driving closer I saw that they were trying to photograph coyote pups whose mother had created a den unusually close to the road.

Orange traffic cones were placed to corral the photographers into a more manageable area. Cones were on the other side of the road to keep them from getting any closer than they already were to the den.

As I watched the photographers jockey for position, tripod legs intertwined, elbow to elbow, each trying to get just that one step closer to the den, it got me thinking about my own work.

For years I was cut from the same cloth as those still photographers. It was always “Have to fill the frame. Need to get in closer.” When I had a 300mm lens, I wished for that 600mm so I could fill the frame that much more. It was always about getting in as tight as I could to get that animal right in your face.

I still flip through still photography magazines to keep up with what’s going on in the still world. While there have been huge advances in camera technology, the song is still the same. How to get closer, how to fill the frame. I see it a lot in film and video too. Everyone’s trying to get just a little bit closer than the next guy.

But I discovered by doing that I was only getting part of the picture. I realized that day at the coyote den that I had been changing my shooting style without really being conscious of it. I had discovered the big picture.

I’m not even sure when it started to happen but I was starting to back up, to open up the frame, to let a little more in.
It became more important to me to get the animal in its environment than to get a frame filling shot.
An animal and its environment are so intertwined, it made no sense to me to include one and not the other.

Whenever I see imagery of a farmer, they’re always shown next to a barn or tractor. Businessmen are always shown in front of a fancy building or behind a big executive desk. Why isn’t it the same for wildlife? Why do most people chose to ignore the habitat that wildlife call home?

Is it because most people never get a chance to see wildlife up close and personal?

Whatever the reason, I continue to see people driving wildlife away by trying to get just one step closer. As for me, I’m content to step back away from the crowds in order to see the big picture.

« Previous Page