The Social Freelancer: Media, Music, TV & Film

The life of a freelance video professional is a strange one, no doubt. It’s “feast or famine” as the old saying goes. Financially, it was a dreadful ending to 2010 and a sluggish awakening of the business starting this year. Now, at last, things are starting to look up (fingers crossed it continues).

Hong Kong Night - Image courtesy TravelGent

Last week I was shooting a health education PR piece on the west side of San Antonio, Texas. This week I am traveling to Hong Kong with my good friend and colleague in the business, Max Warren of Imagemax Productions.

An international trip opportunity doesn’t pop up in my world very often, so it’s quite exciting. Thanks Max!
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Top 20 Signs you’ve been in television (or film production) business too long…

20. Your dining room is set up for 3-point lighting.
19. Your date says to pick her up in 45 minutes and you wonder if she meant drop-frame or non-drop-frame
18. You replaced your trusty hemostat with a lavaliere clip.
17. Your family videos are preceded by :30 bars and tone.
16. You run into a guy who says he’s gonna shoot the Governor and you remind him to get some good B-roll.
15. The photography on the 6:00 news makes you laugh.
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“The Golden Hour” is an elusive time, one of God’s miracles that happens twice a day, whether we notice or not.
Just after sunrise and just before dusk everyday the sun gets low in the sky, making the shadows long and deep, giving definition and a certain quality to the subject that has been sought out by visual artists for centuries. Prior to photography, painters would often set up their easels in these spots in the day, when the light is just right.
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Recently, on the spur of the moment, my wife Lauren and I decided to take a one day road trip… somewhere. We do this occasionally (I would say not often enough) for some very simple reasons:

Why the Getaway?

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Originally posted on Feb. 16, 2009: The Aquarium Concept
If you like these ideas please follow The Aquarium Concept on Twitter
This dude has one awesome “real” aquarium >>

The Aquarium Concept.

Pretty sight, isn’t it? It’s not mine, in fact, I have never had success taking care of tropical fish. It’s just not my “thing”, even though I enjoy scenes like this. I do have an “aquarium” of sorts, but it has no glass, rock or water, only thoughts and dreams. My aquarium was a total mess for a long time, until I came to terms with this:

In order for things to flourish, they must have a good environment. This goes for people and fish and ideas too. You can have an aquarium, with some beautiful young fish but if you don’t take care of them (as I found out at age 10) soon algae grows in the tank, the fish start looking sickly, and then die off. Sounds simple, and it is, but looking at your life and your goals this way takes a little practice. It’s the same with ideas, projects, art, poetry, music, film, video, job search, family relations; whatever the passion, the aquarium concept holds true.
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