Happiness is a warm 5DM3

The new Canon 5D Mark III has arrived. Can't tell you how excited I am. Lots to set up, we need to start shooting tomorrow and I'm going to spend my night at a Radiohead show in Newark, New Jersey. Tomorrow I teach an all day Final Cut Pro class at Downtown Community Television. So much to do, so little time.

Here is the first shot I took with the new 5DM3 and the Canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens of my Mark II and other goodies on the couch. Can't wait to experiment with the shallow depth of field this set-up will give me!

5DM3

Bit the bullet and bought the Canon 5D Mark III today. Considered the 7D and 60D and even the T3i but in the end we broke the Nomadic Frames bank and bought the best. The Mark III joins our Mark II to help us shoot our documentaries world wide. We're in an undisclosed location in New Jersey this weekend shooting four short docs for TripFilms.com. We'll let you know when they are done.

Best Travel Film: The Way

My favorite travel film in recent years, The Way (2010). Directed by Emilio Estevez staring his father Martin Sheen whose character is inspired to hike the thousands of years old, Medieval "El Camino de Santiago" Pilgrimage through Spain. Do yourself a favor and see it. Have tissues on hand.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Cordoba, Argentina
2006

Two laptops, multiple hard drives, Lonely Planet travel book, too many plug adaptors and Yerba Maté tea got me through the edit which we uploaded to Current TV on questionable Internet lines. Good times with Global Transmission Media.

The video I was editing, A Patagonia Refuge, is up for a 2012 Trippy Award. Would love for you to follow the link below, sign up for a TripFilms.com account (very easy, no spam) and vote for it. Its under the 8th category down, Destination Profile. Thank you.

http://www.tripfilms.com/polls.sdo?pollID=30

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Peace Boat
South China Sea
2004

Filmmaking isn't easy. Sometimes you have to go the extra mile. I was shooting a fashion show on the Japanese Peace Boat (www.peaceboat.org) back in 2004 when they asked me to be in the show. They gave me the Kimono but not the Samurai sword I asked for. Good fun.

http://www.peaceboat.org/english/voyg/pv/46/spe/s3/index.html

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Sea View Game & Lion Park
25 minutes outside Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Vân playing with a baby lion. Similar to a heavy house cat but much more intense. We could have played with these little guys all day (there were three). If you make it to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, you need to go to this place.

www.seaviewgamepark.co.za/

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Cusco, Peru
March 2001

Vân & Morgan (and random pooch) standing beside the amazing Sacsayhuaman wall outside the Peruvian city of Cusco, the former capital of the great Inca Empire. "Scientists" believe hundreds of men dragged each of these stones to the site with rope but we all know it was aliens who built this. One of the most impressive things I've seen in my life, maybe more impressive than Machu Picchu itself.

Spent the weekend on Fire Island scouting a possible travel story. Great weekend, thanks Pete & Sarah.