Defender's Day

So yesterday I took a bunch of pictures of Defender's Day at Fort Howard State Park. It was my first year going and it was a cool experience. I hope next year I can stay until the actual battle but this year was still a lot of fun. Posted below are the pictures from the event for you consideration, let me know what you think.

Random Movie Fact: In the 2005 film The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach originally wanted Wes Anderson to direct but Anderson convinced Baumbach to direct it himself, due to the film being very personal to Baumbach.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Photo Day!

So today was officially photo day to say the least. In the morning I went to Defender's Day at Fort Howard Park which is an annual reenactment of the Battle of North Point during the war of 1812. I went up to take cool photos and see the sights. It was a lot of fun and the costumes were amazing, the actors really made everything look authentic...if it was just them there I would have thought I just went into a time machine. It was a fun time for sure, kinda stinks I couldn't stay to see the whole battle reenactment but I had to go off to another photoshoot. The second shoot today was originally supposed to be headshots for an actor but they ended up cancelling due to an emergency. So I was left with a studio I reserved but no photos so I frantically hit up everyone on my phone to take photos. Finally two old friends who are dating now took me up on my free photo offer so I managed to get them to swing by and take photos of just him, and them together as a couple. It was a win win win for everyone, they got free photos, I got to use a studio setting for the first time, and also got to take portrait/couple photos for the first time so I got a lot of experience out of it. Today was a good day with lots to do, tiring but rewarding.

Random Movie Fact: In the 1992 film Dead Alive or Braindead, 300 liters of fake blood was used in the final scene of the film.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

North Point Park Trip

So here are the collection of photos I took yesterday on my journey through North Point State Park. I love the way all the photos turned out but I have to say I am most proud of the picture I got of the deer. I walked a little ways down a trail where I remember seeing deer before so I was hoping to have a repeat of that luck from years ago. Low and behold just a few minutes in the trail and there is one just standing there looking at me. So I start going crazy trying to take a bunch of pictures. Unluckily however my zoom lens is on a 24-105mm so I wasn't able to get zoomed in close enough to it for an amazing picture but I think it is still cool to get it on digital. Well enough about my trip, here are my photos...enjoy!

Random Movie Fact: The 2007 film Disturbia was filmed on location in the cities of Whittier, California and Pasadena, California. The homes of Kale and Mr. Turner, which were supposed to be next door to each other, were actually located in two different cities.

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

What we like about...

Daniel Hess

Everyday I see this old piece of paper that my 11th grade teacher Ms. Brown printed out and laminated for everyone in the class. It is something that I have kept all these years and it makes me smile even on a bad day. She made everyone in the class write one nice thing about every other person in the class. It was a corny thing we had to do for homework that turned into something pretty cool. I just wanted to share the comments I got on the paper.

"I like how you put a lot of energy into everything. Your hard work is noticed."

"He's smart and has pretty eyes (dun-dun-dun)."

"Dan is helpful and will explain things to me."

"Dan is very smart."

"He's very smart and won't think twice about helping out."

"Dan has a future in rapping. He makes awesome raps."

"Dan is very funny and can handle criticism well."

"Dan is very hard-working."

"Dan explains things to me when I am confused."

"He talks to everyone!"

"Dan always does more than he has to."

"He's good at being involved in school."

"The fact that Dan sits next to Marina and her laugh shows he's a strong individual."

After all that my teacher added a comment to the bottom.

"Dan - I truly appreciate your diligence, your positive attitude, and your playfulness (except the orange incident). You are my philosopher, and you will go far in life."  -Miss Brown.

This takes me back to a simpler time when school seemed hard and every day was a new adventure. Now a days it is all work and little play. I loved high school and will always miss it, I guess I can be an overly nostalgic guy but that was a time when I felt like the whole world was in my backyard. A time when I had so many friends...a time where nothing could get me down. 

Thanks for the support,

Daniel Hess

HDR Test

The meeting about using my old high school didn't go as well as I had hoped today so I decided to do something I have been wanting to do to cheer me up. Without further ado here is my first HDR test, I call this photo The Trailer.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess

Big Changes For Tomorrow

So today I have been running myself ragged in a day that should have been a lot more chill, mainly because my morning class got cancelled but I didn't realize it until after I got up to Towson which sucked. So after being up for all that time I went back home took a shower then got my hair cut, then came back for an audio interview, now I am going to class, then ditching my last class in favor of talking with a good friend about being DP for my next big film project.

Tomorrow is making me nervous because I have the all important meeting with the principal of my old high school. This is vital to the film because I need this location since the majority of the story takes place at the high school, if I get shot down it will be devastating. We will see how it goes but I shaved the beard and cut the hair and bought a nice outfit all for tomorrow. It is huge to me.

Other than that I can really start to see all the shots I want for the film and the vision is really starting to come to life which is exciting because the more concrete idea I have, the better it will be come filming time.

Thanks for the support,
Daniel Hess