Last night...and today

So yesterday definetly took a number out on me but was a lot of fun. I had two photography gigs, one sort of last minute and the other I was booked for a while in advance. The first was promotional pictures for a DJ which were taken at my friends studio. The DJ brought in his gear and a few different outfits so it was cool to do those photos, a good experience. After that I had to head back home and gear up (literally) for the next event which was a birthday party at The Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore City. I ran a two camera system for this event, my 5D Mark III with my 24-105 f4 L lens, and the other my parents T3I camera with an 85 usm lens. It was a familiar area of the city and parking was a breeze so the trip wasn't too bad and when I arrived around 8:30pm I had plenty of time to get prepared. It was a cool party with good music, people, and food so what more can you ask for?

I will say the one thing that bugged me had nothing to do with the people, it had a lot to do with my camera. Once the party started the lighting was dim, I mean as dim as it gets, it felt like a degree away from pitch black. I accounted for this by having a flash on both my cameras, however with the 24-105 the biggest issue was focusing...Since it was so dark the lens had nothing to grab focus to and the flash I was using is an older one that probably has been eclipsed several times over by newer flashes. I think in the future I will look for something that can provide continuous light for me to focus from and then flash, or hopefully the recent purchase of a 50mm usm lens will do the trick because that 85mm was just way too tight in on people to get really great photos from. I love the 85 lens but I saw last night that it just does not work in a tight room. I still got some great photos though, just rambling about lenses.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1997 film The Game, David Fincher claimed in an interview in UK film magazine Empire, that there is a can of haggis in every scene of the movie. This was done as a joke, because "Haggis" is the nickname of cinematographer Harris Savides.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Day After B-Day

So yesterday was my birthday and it was a lot of fun! My girlfriend Ashley treated me to a day out at Ocean City and it was so cool. My friend Chris was visiting his sister down there and he hung with us for a good chunk of the day and it was a nice time. I got to go swimming in the ocean, riding all the awesome waves, I got pinched on my pinky toe by a crab, and I had a nice crabcake dinner. It was a good day and I can't thank Ashley enough for a wonderful and relaxing birthday. Oh and here is a pic of me chilling on the beach yesterday.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2008 film Iron Man, Ghostface Killah, a long-time fan of the Iron Man comics (he uses the aliases "Ironman" and "Tony Starks", titled his 1996 album "Ironman" and samples clips of Iron Man), got a cameo as a Dubai tycoon. However, his scene was cut from the final film. Jon Favreau apologized to Ghostface and used his "We Celebrate" video in the film.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Birthday!

Today is my birthday, going to Ocean City all day to relax and hang at the beach! Going to be a fun and relaxing day!

Random Movie Fact: In the 1981 film The Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell twisted his ankle on a root while running down a steep hill, and Sam Raimi and Robert G. Tapert decided to tease him by poking his injury with sticks, thus causing Campbell to have an obvious limp in some scenes.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Happy Easter!

Today my family had their annual Easter Party and it was pretty sweet, so I took a bunch a photos from it and then decided to upload them here..oh these were all taken by new Canon 5D Mark III btw.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Fresh Week Fresh Jobs

So as another week sets in upon me I have already begun booking gigs for the weekend, which seems to be the time when everything goes down. Right now I am talking to the people over at IBN sports to see if they want me to film both championship games this Friday or just one. For those who don't know the High School football season ends this Friday 11/18/11 with a bunch of championship games. At 2pm I found out that Good Counsel is playing its game at Navy Stadium, then at 8pm Gilman has its game at Johnny Unitas Stadium here at Towson University. I am hoping to do both but since I couldn't do both this past Friday I don't know if they will have as much faith in me. I got it worked out though so I should be good on both.

Not only that but this Thursday as long as I can work out a ride situation I am going to try to go to the Get Down to film my DJ buddy Sean since it a sort of birthday bash/dj gig for him. If I can make it should be the last piece of footage I need to do his promo video which I have been working on since last year only because working with him is a little sporatic and my schedule is hard to work out on short notice. We will see.

Finally this Sunday is another day for sound recording on set of The Cat which has been nothing but wonderful. I am very much looking forward to it!

Thanks for the love,
Daniel Hess

The Weekend Was A Success

Well this weekend past was a huge success, however draining it was. Dogfest at the Baltimore Humane Society was great, all kinds of dogs and people and events all at once. A lot bigger than I expected to be but it was a lot of fun.

The football game ended up being Bishop Mcnamera vs. Good Counsel which was at Bishop Mcnamera High School. It took an hour and ten minutes to get there from the Human Society and it was a pretty boring game. Good Counsel killed it 35-0 over Mcnamera.

After that came the Funk Formal which we got to a little early since we thought the DJ was going to get there early but we got in for free and it was a unique party which I have never experienced before. The fact that it was in a graffiti filled alley in the city was awesome and there was all kinds of fun stuff going on, arcarde machines, movies playing, full bar. Not an ordinary party by any means. I am so glad to have been invited by Sean (the DJ) and to have been able to make it no matter how tired I was.

The next day I had to get up at 5:30 am after being out til 2:30 am to get to New Jersey. Thank god Ashley was there to help me get up because I couldn't do it at all, she had to actually pick me up out of bed...it was bad. It was a long drive in a packed van but seeing the Statue Of Liberty and the museums all around it was awesome. The ferry ride was cool and I got some amazing pictures to say the least. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

Well that was my weekend in a nutshell, easy to type out but a crazy experience that will not soon be forgotten. This Wednesday we are wrapping up shooting on my zombie short film as well, so October has by far proven to be the busiest and most fun month so far for myself and To Tony Productions. Wish me luck and I will have pictures/videos soon guys.

Thanks for all the love,
Dan