Like glue on the brain

Seldom is it that I have a story stuck in my mind for days on end. The last time I recall that happening was after I joined the air guard for a "private" helicopter flight. I was high on life for nearly two weeks after that experience. Sadly I haven't been soaring through the skies recently. I have however, been shooting some anchor paks for use this past weekend. Thats how I found myself in a tiny apartment with a man named Mason.

Though his apartment was probably the perfect size for a man and his dog, it was not perfect for shooting. To the right you can see Mason in his work space. He's a music producer, or as some say "DJ". He's damn good at it too. Unfortunately for a Photog wielding a 20 pound camera, his work space is not a friendly shooting environment. What you see in that photo is what I had. Roughly four feet by six, subtract the area of a man, divide that by two, then subtract the area of the light I had to set up to have any usable shots. Add a curious dog to that equation and you get the idea, it was tighter than tight.
I wasn't worried about having any sound, that was a given. Having enough shots for what I was told would be a long PKG, a little nervous. Scrap the wide shots, I had Close ups, Closer ups, and "Wheres my damn macro" shots.
One of the reasons this story is still in my head was how hard I had to work for it. I spent what seemed like hours holding my camera at arms length, above my head, and in many other 'strenuous to hold for a long time positions'. It was probably no more than a few minutes but I'm sticking to hours. Don't believe me? Check out my wicked Biceps.
The other reason it's stuck in my head, the music.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a sudden urge to go put on a bunch of glow stick jewelry and buy black lights.

Jokes on me

I focused on the steeple of the church 300 yards away and set the exposure just a little lower than it should have been. I wanted to make those clouds stand out and the colors in the sky pop. Through the viewfinder I saw the police cruiser slowly coast by the bottom of my shot. My gut told me to look up and watch the officer drive by, so I did. I watched as he drove a few parking spaces past my truck and pulled into one of the dozens of empty spaces lining the street.
"Great, just what I need." I thought. I couldn't help it, I loath dealing with people on power trips. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the officer stepped out of his patrol car and made his way over to me. I hit record right as he signaled to me and asked...
"Do you have a permit to film here?"
A fire roared to life within me. "Not again" I thought as he stepped ever closer. Memories of fires hoses aimed my way and threats of being tazered crossed my mind. I could have said so many things; "I'm not using film" "Yes" or even "No." Instead I went with the tried and tested...
"I'm on public property I don't need a permit." How far did I wan't to take this fight for a shot of clouds? 'All the way' I quickly decided.
I must have looked pissed as the officer froze, his face instantly showing signs of defeat.
"Wow, you shot that one down. I thought it would be a lot funnier than that." He said sadly.
Now I was the one who was confused. Then it crossed my mind, he had been joking!
"I saw you shooting and just stopped by to see what's up. Get's boring in this small town."
We spent the next few minutes chatting about life, the universe, and Biomass Power plants (I promise it wasn't as exciting as it sounds!). Somewhere between me asking if he would write me a ticket if I rounded the rotary at 50mph(He said no), and him asking how I intended to get the story back to Burlington and onto the TV in under the 2 hours my TomTom said it would take to drive back(I said I had a teleporter), Rachel stepped in and said we had to go finish shooting the story.

We don't make the news, we wait for it.

I often post stories that make my job look interesting. Compared to most jobs, it is. But for every helicopter ride, zip line, or castle made of ice, there are 5 school board meetings to stalk.
This video was shot by Paul Martin, a photog from across the pond, while he was waiting outside a courthouse. It shows perfectly what it's like to be a photog on a slow day.