Posts from — August 2010

(how’s that for alliteration?!)

There have been several times over the course of the summer that interns, students and people going into their first job in the real world of television have asked me for advice – they want to know the secret to becoming needed, liked and successful.  Often, I end up telling many stories, and hope they can pick up the essential truths.  Then, I send them to my archived blog post “employment advice” and hope they’ve learned something and put it in practice.  I really like my original list of ten pieces of sage advice, but I’ve now added another ten.  These are great tips for those getting their first job and for the rest of us they should be common practice.  If not, there’s still time to change!  Here they are: [Read more →]

Those of us who love adventure travel – especially when we have a camera in our hands – are a unique group.  When danger stops lurking and jumps out at you, we first push “record” and frame a shot before we look for a place to take cover.  When we return home, the stories of being shot at, abducted, held prisioner…make great conversation and cause our sane friends and loved ones to wonder what exactly is wrong with us.

But sometimes it goes horribly wrong.  Today I grieve for the family of Brian Carderelli, a 21 year old shooter who died doing what he loved – covering humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan.  He graduated last year and already was making an impact in the world because of his talent with a camera and sense of service.  His facebook page lists the Bible and God among his main interests.  WORLD Magazine mentions him in the very last line of their excellent article; but the story gives a sense of who he was by the people he associated with.  They were doing the Lord’s work, and died in His service.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.  Psalm 116:15

I recently joined the DSLR video revolution (see my post: “converted in vegas”) and have been shooting full 1080p HD video on a Canon 7d. I’m loving the images and I’m putting up with the funky workarounds. (Note: these cameras were not designed for shooting video. Yes, they make great pictures, but there’s a bit of voodoo needed to make this technological alchemy work.)

When I called this a revolution, I wasn’t overstating the case. These relatively cheap “stills” cameras are attacking the establishment’s traditional video cameras and blowing them away with incredible results. Kinda like a video tea party.  You gotta love a good revolution, but I’m warning you, there’s a dark side and I’m here – as a lone voice crying out in this unmapped territory – to at least warn of the very real danger lurking seductively in the shadows.   Don’t blame me. You’ve been warned. [Read more →]

This is the third, and probably final, installment in my posts of lessons from my latest project.  The first was on communication, second on contracts and this is about the money.  If money isn’t all that important to you, then don’t waste your time reading any further. But, if you need to get paid what you’re worth to provide the necessities of life (bills, food, housing, a new camera, etc.), then read on… [Read more →]

As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been overseeing a large project for a major ministry and although I’ve been working professionally in television for more than 30 years, this project has brought to light some important things that I do automatically but, it turns out, are not standard operating procedure.  Last time I hit on a big communications issue; this time its on business.

Want to save yourself some headaches, keep from looking like an idiot, and reduce the chance of pissing off your client?  Read on… [Read more →]