THE SHORT STORY …

Photographer and cinematographer who puts too much time, heart and feelings into everything I do. Along the way I have been very fortunate to come across and learn from amazing people. They allowed me to be me, with a little guidance and wrangling. When Hired for my vision I like to let the persons essence and soul peak out and reveal itself. That moment when the subject and the artist step into the same path and you just know you’ve got it. Those moments keep me coming back again and again

I am also an extrordinarily fortunate father of a beautiful boy who stold my past life and freedom. But he replaced it with things that I didn’t even know I needed and made me a better person for it …

THE LONG STORY …

With the wind to my back I have been lucky to stumble from one beautiful moment to the next. The aggressive coaxing of a loving parent convinced me to get my head screwed on straight. College would be the direction a construction worker from western New York would follow. My relationship with photography was by accident. The Brick City of Rochester Institute of Technology accidentally placed me in their photography curriculum. Coming from an art background a contact sheet full of final images seemed like a no brainer and the beginning of my love for still images began.

Brooklyn would be my next stop. Assisting photographers and living on coffee and slices of pizza in Manhatten became the norm. Along the way I started lighting fashion shows and TRL on MTV. Thats where I first became interested in Camerman. After a beautiful photo shoot I did with a musician and reporter for CNN. He offered to set up an interview with the person that does the hiring for Camerman at CNN. Without any camera experience. My eagerness and a portfolio that showed I understood composition would be enough to give me an opportunity. After a brief stint at CNN. Luck would come my way again, and an offer to operate camera for Late Night With Conan O’brien presented itself. I was also fortunate enough to work on other productions and events that happened in New York City. But my Masterclass began operating camera for Conan. This would become my home for years to come.

Cut to twenty years later and a move cross country to California. I was being paid to get an education in comedy. Shooting music on a daily basis was amazing on its own. However, That was only half the day. The other half was spent watching Conan and his writers grind out the funnies daily. Conan’s ability to take a lengthy and rough around the edges piece and trim it up to where it needed to be for show was very influential on me. If that wasn’t enough education, I then began my education in cinematography. Conan’s Show on TBS would embark on a 12 country world tour over the next few years. Thats when I realized I had so much to learn and so far to go. We shot Conan running all around the world from morning to night and all over again. Thou we were just shooting comedy. It demanded that I need to be able to jump out of a moving van, run down the street up a stairwell and then stop in a strangers living room for heartfelt interview in one spot for an hour all in one take. As luck would have it Conan was a great boss and fond of the spirits. Our evening bonding sessions after long days made the grind and occasional aggravations an after thought …

After every trip I would agonizingly looking back and wish I had shot it better. Luckily now I look forward with all that experience and know how to shoot it better. When people ask me which was my favorite trip. I tell them I haven’t had it yet … so lets pack our bags put the winds to our back and do it all over again

Technically I have been forced to love every camera package that I have to use. In the color science world. Arri has a beautiful skin tone, but I am really liking the direction Sony is going in. For stills, I love the Image and skin tones my Hasselblad 907X produces. After that I lean towards Canons color science for the way they handle skin tone in the 35mm format. Lens wise you can’t go wrong with a set of prime Cooke or Zeiss lenses. Lately I have fallon down the rabbit hole of old Russian lenses. The way they knock the digital edge off and surround the subject with a beautiful “ bokeh” is my choice for story telling.