No. 2 - Summer 2024, Wrapped
Looking back at a busy summer of work, travel and growth
Summer 2024 was one of the busiest seasons of my career thus far. In early May, I traveled to Seville alongside my close friend and frequent collaborator, Jonah Markowitz , to shoot content for a partnership between Capital One and a travel curation company called Prior.
We arrived a few days before The Feria and were able to capture footage at Feria del Caballo in the city of Jerez. Andalucía is a beautiful part of the world, and it was exciting to work there and visually capture such a rich and vibrant culture.
63 Raw Acres Launch
Upon returning to California from Seville, while editing the three deliverables we had agreed on for the Seville job, I jumped right back into some long-term work for a new vineyard here in Napa: 63 Raw Acres at the Top of Soda Canyon.
63 Raw Acres is a long-term commission where I get the rare opportunity to document the process of someone starting a vineyard in the 21st century, here in Napa, CA, through both cinema and photography. It’s rare because at this point, there really aren’t any “new” vineyards. Property is scarce, and property with growing permits is even scarcer.
Cory Wagner, the man and entrepreneur behind it all, published our first film together at the beginning of June. You can take a look at the short doc here:
The approach is definitely small in scale, but it’s been nice to get back to some documentary-style roots and explore more storytelling devices in the edit through intercutting archival and multimedia sequences.
We are in the final stages of revisions for Episode 2 right now and should be sharing that soon(ish).
Hilton
Right after the first episode of 63 Raw Acres dropped, I found myself back on the road in mid-June on a stills-only job for Hilton Signia and Hilton for Business.
The shoot started somewhat local to me at the Signia in San Jose. From there, we traveled to the Signia in Atlanta. Overall, it was three shoot days—two alongside the motion team and one stills-only day. Each day was jam-packed with setups and its own unique challenges. Nothing out of the norm for any commercial shoot, though.
I felt fortunate to have an excellent lighting tech, Joel Barhamand, travel with me throughout the project. Joel is an excellent photographer in his own right, so he came to set with a clear understanding of motivated lighting in large spaces. I wanted to stay as wide as possible in most scenes to show off the spaces, and Joel was always hustling to create unobtrusive and motivated lighting setups.
Overall, the shoot and accompanying travel went well, and I’m hopeful there will be more chances to jam with the Hilton crew again.
EuroSummer (™)
Upon getting back home from the Hilton gig, Jonah and I went right into prep for the second leg of our project with Capital One and Prior. We headed to Paris the first week of July to capture more content for a curated cardholder trip. This marked my first time visiting Paris and kicked off a month-long work trip to Europe, spanning four countries.
Paris for the First Time
Yeah, I mean, Paris lived up to the hype. The fact that Jonah and I were capturing content as part of an already-organized, curated cardholder trip meant we got to do things and access places that most people don’t, unless they’re paying an exorbitant amount of money—filming a private dinner at Musée Picasso, shopping for cheese and produce with Dominique Crenn, capturing the fireworks display over the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day from a private balcony in the 16th arrondissement … casual things like that. It was a work trip that didn’t really feel like work, and even though none of what we captured is worth displaying in the portfolio (at least in the way we delivered it to the client), it was an experience we wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Paris was also memorable because I picked up an M10 Mono LeitzWetzlar from the Leica Store Beaumarchais while I was there. I’d traded some gear for an M11 Mono in 2023 and regrettably sold it earlier this year, so when I found this M10 Mono for a good price, I bit the bullet and went for it. I only had a 75mm Summicron with me, but it felt right to be putzing around Paris for the first time, capturing it in black and white.
TLC in Athens
From Paris, I traveled to Barcelona for a week of R&R, and from there I went to Athens, Greece, to direct and photograph Episode #6 of a branded series I’ve been working on for the last year and a half for Marriott’s Luxury Collection. The creative for this episode revolved around music in Athens and the Hotel Grande Bretagne. My good buddy and frequent collaborator, Jared Levy, lensed the episode. This was the fourth episode Jared has shot, and after we wrapped, he went on to shoot his fifth episode in Venice, Italy. Like all of the Luxury Collection jobs I’ve worked on, our production timeline was super truncated and incredibly packed. We got there, scouted, shot over two days, and then I flew back to NorCal to do laundry and get a haircut before flying back to Europe for a two-week trip through Sicily.
Sicily
An amazing couple weeks trekking all over the island of Sicily with my love.
Casting Wide Nets
Needless to say, the summer was filled with a lot of fun jobs that included quite a lot of travel—and a lot of laughs. It’s not lost on me that the last year and change have presented challenges for many in our industry, so I hope this doesn’t come across as a sort of shit post or an opportunity to show off. It’s a recap for sure, and definitely an opportunity for me to share a lot of my favorite images from the road—but most importantly, it’s a way for me to segue into how all of this work came to be.
One of the reasons I’m challenging myself with this Substack is to share how I’ve been able to sustain myself as a freelance director and photographer, with the hope that my approach to getting work might offer some insights to other aspiring creatives. All of this work, in one way or another, came from casting a wide net. Nets, actually. The times I’ve struggled in this industry have been some of the most illuminating for me as a professional, because struggling has always reminded me that unless I’m doing outreach and cultivating relationships, I’m not going to work.
It’s not about being pushy or annoying; it’s about sharing your work with the right people, grabbing coffees, sending catch-up emails, or just letting an EP know you dig the work they’ve been putting out. If you don’t feel great about something you’ve been working on or just finished, and you don’t want to get hired to do more of the same, don’t share it. Don’t post it. Wait until you have something to show that you’re proud of. It will mean more down the line.
What Would You Like?
The biggest thing I want for Ground(ed) Glass is to be helpful and resourceful for the people putting time into reading it. What are some topics you’d like to hear more about in the future? Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments or reach out via email at groundedglassco@gmail.com.
Good stuff,
I subscribed to you. I hope you’ll subscribe to me too. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
I hope today’s a good day.