Raw reality comes into focus from behind the lens.
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have landed on my portfolio page. Take some time to enjoy some of my recent creations. Besides writing, photography and video productions, I'm exploring the deeper technical and artistic aspects of video editing. I am open to creative collaborations, so contact me for that, or to just say hi.
Recent Productions
Surrender
Suki always knew the law was just a job. But she didn't know just how much she was sacrificing, until she surrendered.
In 2007, I wrote this off-beat, mainstream short story. Late last year I wanted to bring it to life in video. But, not having the resources, skill or time to make it an actual movie-like project with actors and all, I thought I'd experiment and see if I could pull it off using only stock assets.
It was definitely challenging, requiring many hours sourcing the video, SFX and still images. Then, there were all the challenges of getting a group of disparate clips, recorded on a wide variety of equipment, to work together from an emotional and technical perspective. I also had to spend many hours doing compositing and color correction to make various scenes match up.
In short, it's not easy, but it is definitely possible with luck, access to a large collection of stock, and a deep interest in editing video. I hope you enjoy it, as much as I enjoyed making it.
Rocky Hiking at Its Best
Come on a journey through geologic time and enjoy some enchanting scenery. Inks Lake State Park sits on top of some of the oldest rocks in the world. You'll see some quartz crystals and quartzite veins, learn a little about how the area was born from earth's earliest sediments and submerge yourself in a peaceful outdoor adventure.
We Do It
We hikers have a lot of reasons for hitting the trails. But as this short suggests, there is one that stands above all the others. Fast moving hiking scenes with stirring march music: "Northwest Wind" by Hans Johnson.
The Meridian Experience
Take a hike with me at the Meridian State Park where you'll enjoy a couple of trails, cross some bridges, see lots of important landscapes and immerse your ears in quiet. Oh, and there is some cool music too.
A Hike Within A Hike
I drifted away on this hike on the trails to Gorman Falls and Gorman Spring. It was a beautiful fall day, full of sunshine and later, some nice breezes. The feeling brought me back to a time when I was 12 years old, hiking alone and terribly lost. But in those days, the one big difference was, it was cold. What I discovered that day, has been like a north star for me all my life.
Natural PLaces
This 5 part compilation of short videos explores the essence of natural places. Themes cover winter, water, solitude, wind and mountains. Each segment is set to relaxing and inspiring music encouraging you to drift away in the scenery and the deeper meanings of natural places to human beings.
Watery Wonders
When we go into the natural world, we gravitate to watery places. Water is survival but it also beckons us to explore. The valleys were cut by water in two of its forms - solid and liquid. The pulse of the earth's oceans, lakes and rivers is the pulse of its climate and the essence of its life. This celebration of water in natural places is the 5th and final video in the series on natural places.
Climbing Texas' Tallest
From a distance, Guadalupe Peak in far west Texas looks like a liesurely uphill hike in sparse surroundings. But on the ground at its base, staring up at it, you know you are in for a challenge. This is one you need to go and do for yourself because the scenery and wildness of this place will stay with you forever. Watching this video will help you prepare. And if you are an armchair hiker, hopefully this will entertain you for four minutes.
24 Hours in New Mexico's Devil Canyon, Hiking Upstream of the Frisco Box
In 2003, hikers Tom Bice and James Rishe struck out to explore Devil Canyon on New Mexico's San Francisco River. I went along and filmed the adventure with my then-state-of-the-art Canon XL1s recorder. Today, I wish the resolution was higher, and if you find the show is too pixelated when watching on a desktop browser, simply reduce the size of your browser window until the view is acceptable. For me, this was one of my most memorable trips into the wilderness. Sadly, Tom Bice passed away in 2023. This video is dedicated to him.
Devil Canyon is an adventure in exploration as you work your way between its massive rock walls. On our journey we discovered lots of life and nature's abundance, even in this place ravaged by extreme water levels, and wild weather. We planned our trip carefully to have the lowest chance we'd get caught by a flash flood in the canyon. The trip was in September and we had glorious weather for hiking and camping.
Follow along with Tom and Jim, get tips on hiking and camping gear and enjoy the flora and fauna they highlight. They face some tricky situations, but being well-experienced in the outdoors they keep the drama to a minimum. As you watch, you are traveling back 20 years and seeing this area of New Mexico as it used to be. Enjoy an armchair experience of hiking through a magnificent canyon with rock walls towering hundreds of feet overhead while water, slick rocks and tough terrain lay in the path.
Mountains
On the day this video, "Mountains," debuted on YouTube, I was climbing Texas's highest peak, Guadalupe at 8,751 feet and 8.13 miles round trip of rocky, unforgiving trail. I had prepared for 3-1/2 months, but on that morning, staring up at the challenge, I was still totally unsure I had even a chance of making it to the top. Mountains can uniquely challenge us, but like so many things in life, when we prepare to meet challenges, and have faith in our abilities, we find strengths we didn’t know we had.
This video combines some of my own mountain footage with some stock video. It starts out on a journey I took in 2017 to climb New Mexico's tallest peak, Mt. Wheeler (13,167 ft). From there, you travel across many peaks and valleys with people doing what they love to do, in the mountains. Ben Winwood's incredible "Irish Mountains" composition will make you heart soar along with nature's spectacle.
Windblown Places
The second video in the series about natural places. This one finds the beauty and messages in natural places buffeted by wind. It includes a beautiful musical score.
Winter Places/Winter Feelings
The cold, snow and ice encourage the best in us, and the worst. This short music video explores how winter affects our feelings and what it brings out in us.
Wild Life
Wild animals and birds have a lot more going on in their minds then we give them credit for. This video explores animal and bird behavior that we don't often see.
Infrastructure: America's Missing Link
A few years ago, America's civil engineers reported that every household in the country loses about $3,800 per year from inadequate or nonexistent infrastructure. It's a steep price to pay in that regard, but what of the lost human potential? This trailer for a longer show on infrastructure lays out the case.
Birds and Phones
Vertical video is gaining popularity as well as very short videos (attention spans apparently can't keep up). This is an example of a short, vertical video promoting smartphone skins with birds on them.
Other Worldly Lighting
The 2nd and third video clip in this video are public domain video clips of a coronal mass ejection on our sun. The clips come from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. These were filmed in August 2012. But, guess what? There is still periodically a hotbed of CME activity going on. These ejections travel fast, often between 180 and 100 kilometers per second.
Although the current CMEs have been polite and not messed with our electrical infrastructure too much, I’ve got a few clips in here that show examples of what can happen when CMEs resort to bullying. It’s not pretty. Imagine no lights, air conditioning or internet, and you get the idea.
BUT, CMEs also give us extraordinary aurora borealis, AKA northern lights! Which you can see at the end. So, even though things might start tense and dangerous, in the end all is okay, and we can enjoy some extraordinary natural lighting effects.