I find that the way I have the most fun and am able to do the most work I’m proud of is to find an emotional connection to the people in every project. That’s what keeps inspiring me to be creative with my work.
This is a photo of me in Juneau, Alaska, a massive camera rig hidden underneath the thin protection of a Glad™ plastic trash bag. I was shooting a documentary in the area, meeting all kinds of people and learning about an area that was completely alien to me.
When I started my career I was lucky when I could get one of my teachers to hook me up with a small gig for no pay so that I could get some experience with my cheap DSLR and maybe someday get enough videos together to create a reel that I could feel good about. I would stay afterschool, writing and editing with my friend Christian, creating all kinds of ridiculous short films. Our Broadcasting teacher enjoyed our efforts (or took pity on us, more likely) and offered to show some of our films on the school announcements.
This got our creative juices flowing and also gave us some kind of notoriety around school. People were watching our films. Sure, they were forced to watch them by their teacher, but they were still watching them nonetheless. So we created funny characters for the school news. Cody Silk. Trevor Leather. We did skits based on current events and holidays.
It was a sweet little gig that gave us all kinds of laughs and some real experience using cameras with interchangeable lenses - something we couldn’t afford on our own. At home, we had some old Flip cameras - $60 toy cameras that we would try to make YouTube videos on. We shot some zombie films - one called Dead Horizon that is probably floating around somewhere.
When I was a child, I remember watching movies like The Abyss and Alien with my grandpa and being completely immersed and enveloped by the colors, the lighting, the atmosphere. I remember craving the knowledge behind that magic. I wanted to be a part of the in-crowd, of the grips, of the cameramen, the Spielbergs of the world. The real life magicians. I spent a lot of time unsure how exactly you join those ranks, and even more time listening to people who in their best intentions reminded me that only a very small amount of people get to work their dream job.
I remember this photo, it was only a few days ago as of writing this. I remember the soft, cold 20 degree wind. I remember feeling a sense of childish pride in the ironic genius of using a cheap trash bag to protect a cinema camera from water. I remember feeling my feet strong and steady in the 4th new city I traveled to that year.
What I don’t remember is exactly how I ended up with my dream job. One that lets me travel, meet new people, and gives me experiences that I can measure up against the timeline of my own life like reading a book you have a close connection to. But every so often, on the shores of a place I’ve never heard of like Juneau, Alaska, I stop for a minute and I try to think about where I am.
