Behind My Why

Behind My 'Why"

The topic of 'Why do I do what I do?' is often spoken about in the circle of entrepreneurs and business professionals.  Business coaches tout it as the most important piece of information a budding mogul must know.  Countless interviewers ask this question every day, hoping for someone to have a quick soundbite that sparks of genius and true inspiration, and acts as a divine predictor of future potential.  But often this question is misleading.

August, Ga. 2019

The why as a singularity is pointless.  How many of us approach any activity with a singular purpose or reason?  Do you clean the house to keep germs down or to make it look pretty?  Apply this to any task in your life and let me know if you find anything different.  I haven't.  And I'm not expecting to, either.

When I applied this line of thinking to my own drive and desire in my career, I actually found three very specific reasons I decided to become a cinematographer.  Creativity, Camaraderie, and Cool Gear.  Let me explain.

Creativity is a lifestyle.  It applies to laying brick, fixing a car, or making motion pictures.  It is not so much a choice but a way of life.  In my early thought patterns, artists were simply someone who created art.  But as I grow older, and hopefully wiser, I see artists as someone who can't help putting their passion for aesthetics into everything they do.  Some of the artists I admire commit to sketching, writing, music, and painting in addition to their professional responsibilities.   Most put as much thought into their personal environment as they do into their craft.  This is the essence of the 'artists' lifestyle'.  

Charlotte, NC 2022

For the varied reasons I mention above, the group of people who gravitate towards the film industry are some of the most interesting people I've ever met.  These are people who commit to unknown work days, at crazy hours, in often inclimate weather.  And yet in this group of people has the discipline to apply their artistic process to almost every area of their life.  Check out the build of a camera by any first-rate AC or the beautiful cable runs set up by a talented electric rigging team and you'll see the proof.  And it is within these challenges on the constant quest for excellence that relationships form.  Finding like-minded colleagues in a challenging environment, those with whom you share values and find trust, makes the draw to filmmaking so much more powerful.

Last but not lease, as filmmakers, we use some pretty cool gear.  While it's always nice to play with the big expensive toys put out by the top manufactures, the opportunity to work with unique and quirky equipment, some of it so very inexpensive, to make something new and interesting always gets us excited.  And then there is the vintage gear.  Oh, yes.  Vintage lenses have been a boon in the recent years, and a rapidly growing online market.  But vintage lighting is also fun.  Well, I use vintage loosely.  Many of these old lights are the lights I grew up on.  Hot lights.  The old Mole Richardson fresnels and scoops have been some of my favorites since I started in the early 90's. Whenever a call comes in for a hotlight lighting package, the nostalgia takes over.  And it goes beyond that.  Using tools designed specifically to work with image capture on film in a modern digital workspace allows for a blending of techniques.  The

Gettysburg, PA. 2022

higher sensitivity capture and increased dynamic range mixed with the more focused light beams and higher powered lights makes for some fun problem solving.

This year I will hit 30 years as a cinematographer, photographer, and artist.  And much of the above has occurred as a non-sequitur in that timespan.  But the overall joy of the industry, regardless of the struggles, has not changed.

And that is my "Why".