My Why
As a kid, dirt and trucks mattered to me. Playing construction man in the back yard, I built buildings and their stories. I got lost in the fantasy. Loved it.
Some back story: in 1968 I viewed my first time-lapse film. It was a 366 frame, 16mm color film of the building of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland. I was well into my photography journey by then and knew enough to appreciate the investment of time required to make a film over a 366 day period: every day the photographer climbed up a tall ladder, held the camera steady, took one picture and climbed down. Repeated this task 365 times, didn’t make a mistake and all the pictures lined up perfectly! It was magical. I was hooked. Had the details completely wrong but I was hooked.
As a young professional photographer I opted for the confines and control of a commercial studio. I turned it into a co-op early on and we maintained happy clients, developed steady work and shared a lot of laughs. The long-term goal was always to refocus my lens on construction and industrial subject matter. When digital photography and the rebirth of time-lapse converged, it was time to move.
My Work
In 2011 my first time-lapse inquiry arrived from the world famous Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. A time-lapse was requested to document the process of rebuilding the first Japanese tea house built in the US post WWII. 11 films later and we’re still working together. I keep my clients happy.
I think like an artist, shoot like a director and edit like a storyteller. I show up often, arrive early and stay late to capture the intricate dance that is the building process. Each time-lapse film represents a fantastical journey that I get to tell through time-lapse and video.
So the next time you’re looking for a great time-lapse film, hire the kid who loves trucks and dirt:
