Believe in Tomorrow's Children Charity Auction Photos 1 of 2

As promised a while back here are photos from the Believe in Tomorrow's Children 30th Anniversary Charity Auction at M and T Bank Stadium. It was a great event to say the least. Great people, food, items for auction...it was a blast, I was very honored to be the official photographer for the event. So here are the first set of photos from the night.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2009 film The Ugly Truth, after wrestling with the Jell-O twins, Gerard Butler ad-libbed the line "I can still taste you. You know what I mean."

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

La Cakerie Grand Opening

Today I was with my friend Zach (not the one from the pictures put up yesterday), shooting some footage of the grand opening of the new bakery, La Cakerie in Towson. Zach has contact with the owners and investors of the company and he was asked to film the grand opening today and asked me to tag along, so since I had another client postpone on me, I was able to come and work as a second shooter. It was cool, I got to get all the smooth artsy cut in shots while he focused primarily on getting the wide angle stuff so it was a great pair. The place is in a nice little part of Towson and if you have the time it is worth checking out, the food is delicious and they have great prices on everything. La Cakerie!

In addition to that, I am working on some photo edits for the charity event I did last weekend, I am sorting through a lot of them and if it wasn't for the hurricane I would have had them done a lot sooner but Sandy kind of slowed things down since I didn't have power...however here we are and they should be finished soon. Got some other things coming down the pipeline right now but I am waiting for things to flesh out before I go too deep in discussion with them.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1987 film Masters of the Universe, the reptilian henchman Saurod's throat was made to expand and contract by having the performer, Pons Maar, blow into a tube that ran from his mouth to the throat of his costume.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Back to the Roots

So today was a day for me to get back to my roots in the world of photography. After taking the trip to Rocks State Park on Saturday I really felt connected to nature again, it was nice, I haven't felt that way in a while. After that day it took me back to the days going hiking with my family and having a blast at different parks. After that flood of memories and taking nature photos again I decided to go out on a nice day trip today. I went out to North Point State Park which is about five minutes from my house and just walked around. After walking I managed to get a few cool pictures including one that I am super duper duper proud of, but I am not saying why...just check back tomorrow to see the picture. Also I experimented more with HDR photography without a model, just landscapes to see if I have an eye for it at all. It was nice to connect with nature and snap photos all at the same time. Tomorrow I am thinking of heading up to Fort Howard Park but we will see, maybe I will try to find someplace new to explore.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2004 film Man on Fire, Writer Brian Helgeland first saw the original Man on Fire when he was renting videos in the late-'80s. He walked in to the video store where Quentin Tarantino was working, and asked what was good. Tarantino recommended Man on Fire.

RIP Tony Scott and Phyllis Diller

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Big Stuff Coming

So today I had a pretty sweet business meeting/interview with an actor I used to work with on a couple of past projects, Nick H. He is a great guy and invited me to meet with some people at the company he works for called Neo Niche Strategies, they are a company which seems to just recently start investing in video production and Nick is sort of the head guy for everything. Well he invited me down as I said and I have been offered two gigs one a small photobooth gig at a county fair down in Virginia and the other is a lucrative gig as an editor which would involve a lot of travel. The second gig would take me away from Maryland for 5 weeks, with a week break in between, I am excited and hope it all works out because this gig would be huge for me! When I know more about it trust me I will be sure to update it here. Wish me luck!

Random Movie Fact: In the 2005 film Cinderella Man, the cinematographer invented a "tire-cam" which is a camera cushioned inside a tire and behind Plexiglas. This allowed the professional boxers to hit the tire to create realistic reactions from a first-person point-of-view.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Foley Work and Scouting

So today was a big day for the foley work on my upcoming short film Voicebox. I was up at a local sound studio [kp] mag, they do great work you should go check them out if you are in Maryland and need any help with foley work or sound recording. Nice little studio for sure! We got through the majority of it today and will officially finish up tomorrow sometime in the day. After all that I had to go down to Fort Howard Park to do some scouting on a music video coming up on Wednesday. Today we picked the filming spot in the park and tomorrow we will be testing lights for the shoot. Finally we will be filming the performance end of the video on Wednesday. After that we will work on the story part but that is later down the road. Keep in the loop and on the lookout for Voicebox!

Random Movie Fact: Marlon Brando reputedly suggested that his cameo role as Jor-El be by him in voice over only, with the character's image onscreen being a glowing, levitating green bagel. Unsure if Brando was joking or not, the film's producers formally rejected the suggestion.

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

Honfest Day 2

So today is the second day of shooting for Honfest 2012. Yesterday was long and filled with lots of sun exposure but overall a cool time. For me it was the longest I have ever been to Hampden and when the streets are all closed the day it was, it was pretty cool. Today I gotta get some of the interesting looking food they have to offer, I saw a crab pizza yesterday and it looked so good, hopefully I will have enough time to get one. Also yesterday was the start of the big Baltimore's Best Hon competition which was funny, and today they crown the winner so if you have time stop on down. There is food, beer, free stuff, and cool people so go on down and have a ball, if I wasn't helping film the event I know I would be.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

It Has Been Fun

It has been a whirlwind of a week that is for sure. From losing family to graduation to being on a multimillion dollar set things have been crazy. Today is really the first day in a little while I have had absolutely nothing going on and it is a little weird. My girl is out of town visiting her father and it seems like a lot of people are busy so I don't know what I am going to do today. I want to finish up Voicebox but at the same time I want to take a break from that. I also want to do some freelance work but haven't been having much luck landing a new gig for anyone. I have two music videos to do but I still have to formulate videos for them. So we will see where today goes....

Oh I was invited back on set for the big budget film I was on last Tuesday...it looks like this coming Tuesday I will be back in action helping out, this time up in Annapolis. I am excited and nervous as always but it seems like after this next day I will be on set a lot more which is pretty exciting! This is huge for my resume and for me!

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Finalizing Everything

Now that I have a smartphone I have been busier than ever message everyone and making sure I have all the details settled for filming this Saturday. It is all about getting the first few shots done and getting my groove back. I am so nervous for the first shot it is insane, but like I just said once I get that over it is all pretty smooth sailing from there. I have all the actors down and call times are all set now so things are at the final stretch. I still have to STORYBOARD though which is going to suck because I need so much focus just to get that all of out the way. I have off all day Friday so with any luck I will be able to do it then so I know how I want everything to look. Still so much to remember and such little time, oh crap I thought it was Tuesday for a second but alas it is Thursday. T minus less than two days and counting.

Oh yeah things are getting resolved with the 72 Hour Film Festival fiasco this year and I may possibly be able to get reimbursed too so we will see.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Win the Lottery

Got my Mega Millions ticket so I hope I win the lottery tonight, got two one for me and one for my girl. Wish me luck everyone and I hope the best for everyone else too because we could all use the money.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Filming Filming Filming

Well today was my last full weekend off I took for filming The Cat, which is sad but true :(

Anyway on Saturday they felt like filming wasn't going to take that long so I got the day off which was nice because I needed it. Late Friday night I was up at Mania Music Group's studio discussing video possibilities until about 2 am, maybe later. We got a lot done that night and we are ready to go with music videos but we had to stay up late to figure it out. So Saturday I got up at 11 am and just sort of chilled with my day (a little bit of editing Love Is Undead on the side). The rest of my day was spent chilling with my friend Zach and watching the new Conan: The Barbarian which was ok.

Sunday I woke up early again to get ready for filming which took place in Havre De Grace, which is a really nice small town. We had a little bit of setbacks today but we managed to get a few shots in and even got a few locals involved in filming which was cool. From there we went to Everett's house and watched footage, then called it a day. There is still some more filming to go which I will try to get off for in the future. Next week we will not be filming since it Everett's b-day weekend so HAPPY BIRTHDAY in advance to him. It has been a great experience and I can't wait to see a finished product which will be here soon!

As far as other things got a lot going on this week coming up including school work which I have pushed off until last minute again lol and a few business meetings. I hope I don't die!

Thanks for the love,
Daniel Hess

Closing Door Opening Windows

So yesterday was a day dedicated to closing doors all around me. Today in the other hand I see small windows opening up which could lead to further things. I just got an email from a guy I met in one of my EMF classes who contacted me about a possible internship which would give me the possibility of professional experience either in a studio or on set...either of which would be a huge contribution to my future as a professional. I am again very excited to see what happens. That is only problem with this industry is that it is a constant rollercoaster where one day will be huge, another will be free fall, and long periods of waiting in between.

What is on tape for tonight? I had an opportunity to have two gigs tonight (a concert and a dj event) however I do not really see either one working out...not because I am trying to be a jerk I just need more time for me at this point, I am dead tired from the travel over these past few months and want to stay home for more than a small amount of time...that is what this week has been for. Plus tonight I am going to start editing Love is Undead finally, hopefully by the end of the night I will have a rough cut ready to go off of. I just want to churn it out in time for the Maryland Film Festival.

Class is starting in an hour then I am going to get the lead out.

Thanks for the love,
Daniel Hess

Day 3 Filming

Today is day 3 of filming The Cat which I am very excited for. It is going to be a mainly outdoors shoot by the looks of it so I am not looking forward to that, because it is coooooold outside but I have a lot of layers so I will be ok. The location is about an hour away in Darlington Maryland but morning drives are always nice so it will be fun. I am smart this time and I am going to bring my camera so that way I have lots of pics from the day of shooting which I will be posting up as soon as I can. It is nice just recording sound and not having to worry about the editing process for once (just a random thought).

Then tonight I will be up late prepping the set down my grandmother's old house for Love is Undead shoot day four...yes only day four, but it will be the last day, for real this time.

Thanks for the love,
Daniel Hess

Webers Farm

This year me and my girlfriend Ashley decided to go up to Webers Farm for a day just to see it again. The last time I went I was a young kid and barely remembered it so it was nice to see it again. Ashley had never been so it was her first time. While the place is made for kids and we really only got a few hours out of the trip it was still a lot of fun. I think what made it was the intense fall theme on the farm, I usually am not a big fan of fall but this year I see how great it can be. Of course while I was there I took a ton of pictures just to keep raising my experience up and decided to upload them here for everyone to see. Let me know what you think and if there are things I can improve upon let me know as well.

Thanks,
Dan