Issue 06 is a bit different. I’ve been deep into editing my latest commercial shoot in Colorado for the Siena Valley Club, and I thought it'd be interesting to show you how we made it all happen and show you some of my favorite photos from the project.
I recently came back from a 10-day shoot near Carbondale, Colorado, where we shot gravel biking, dirt biking, horseback riding, trail running, a film festival, athletic rowing, and families having fun outside. These are my favorite shoots because there are a lot of moving pieces, the stakes are high, and it’s all on a condensed timeline. It forces everyone to focus intensely for a short period of time — I imagine it’s like going to battle. You have your team, your goals, and you’ve spent months preparing everything. All you have to do now is go. It truly is a rush rallying teams of 20-30 people into very remote locations to create movie magic.
The Setups
On any given day of these shoots, as the director and creative director, I have to make tens of decisions.
What time do we start rolling?
What if there’s a thunderstorm brewing?
Where do I place this or that prop?
Do we roll sound here?
Do we shoot FPV here?
What do you want to film? What movements?
Do I want the riders staggered or single file?
Do I like the black pants or the jeans for this rider?
How about for the guitarist — orange or white dress shirt?
Want a blanket there? Which one?
On and on… No matter how much you prep, there’s aways a lot of decisions to make at any given moment, and it has taken me years to realize that my job is often to just make the damn decision. That’s it. Obviously, the more good decisions I make, the better, but you only know if it was a good one in hindsight. Just reflecting on the fact that the act of deciding is what matters has brought me a lot peace and serenity. Knowing the most important thing you can do at your job is essential, so I recommend spending a few minutes this week pondering on what is really needed from you. Alright, let’s dive into this shoot!
I. Row Boat
Here, the client shared the opening scene of the movie The Notebook with Ryan Gosling (If you remember I shared that scene at the bottom of issue 02 as inspiration. Upon studying, it looks like that scene was shot at sunset, featured minimal compositions, and the sun played just as important role as the character rowing the boat. So, we had to find: a suitable lake to row on, a strong rowing talent, and hope for a perfect sunrise.
II. Gravel Biking
One of the best parts of Siena Valley Club is the proximity to world-class gravel biking. You can imagine that as a cyclist, I have been pushing hard for us to shoot it here… What is very important to me is showing that cycling is fun, and is best done in groups of friends. I really want to avoid photographing solo riders in big scenes, because although it looks cool, it can also be boring and lonely. Cycling is better with friends, and I want to show that! To add more context to our day, we decided to pair cycling with espresso, which is one of the oldest pairings since Roman times.
You might be wondering why there’s a keyboard on the roof of the Land Rover. If you have been following my IG stories, you will know that we have captured the entire soundtrack of these films in the field. So I decided to simply leave the piano there after the pianist was done as a nod to the previous scene for the film.
III. Families Outside
This was one of the cruxes of the shoot: capturing large families having fun in the sun in multiple locations at family-oriented times of the day (neither sunset nor sunrise). We ended up focusing on a lake at one of the clients’ property, doing swimming, BBQ, and hiking shots. Then we moved a smaller group higher up the mountain to shoot some motorized fun.
IV. Dirt biking
One of the biggest assets our client has is access to Forest Service land with tons of OVH/ Jeep trails, so it is always a big focus of our shoots there. Just like biking, I’m interested in showing that riding is fun with friends. Also, we aim to elevate it beyond just "riding photos" and put emphasis on the lifestyle around it, so the theme was moto-camping. We had a “4x4 chef” come up to cook pizzas over the fire for our riders, and set up a nice camp overlooking the Carbondale valley, just a 30-minute ride from the client’s property.
V. Trail Riding
This was our best shoot day, with the weather lining up perfectly. As my second shooter Evan Ruderman put it, “It was a bad day to be a banger.” Big, puffy clouds built up all morning over our location, and our horseback riders were incredible to work with. It’s not always easy working with horses because… well… they’re animals and they don’t always do exactly as they’re told. They don’t behave like humans or dirt bikes, so I’m always a bit worried before days like this one.
VI. Trail Running
Keeping in line with our summer theme, we left trail running for the last day of the shoot. One of the recurring challenges I run into is permitting. Whenever you bring a crew anywhere to do a "proper" shoot, you definitely need insurance and permits from the U.S. Forest Service. As it turns out, most of the coolest landscapes are within wilderness boundaries, which are very hard, if not impossible, to get permits for. So my challenge is always finding locations that are: A. Scenic and B. Not in wilderness.
That’s how we landed on the upper part of this trail, which is just a few miles from the wilderness boundary, but still offers great views.
All of these images were edited on my newly released AS1 Essentials Lightroom Presets. They’re the shortcut for anyone who wants to improve their editing. Consider getting them if you liked the edits. Use code ASNL for 20% off today.
Watching
A brief History of Jon Baldessari (edited by Max Joseph)
Whenever I’m feeling uninspired about video editing I go through Max Joseph’s work — there’s a great interview about his workflow on Digital Spaghetti.
Listening
Blood Red Moon by Luke Darling
Part of my research for these shoots involves music. I love getting into the atmosphere of what I’m about to shoot. During that research, I stumbled upon Luke’s work and loved the fact that he’s only got one track on Spotify.
Danny Smith edits this newsletter
Love hearing about the behind the scenes of your job. So incredibly fascinating. Appreciate you breaking it down for all of us. Keep it up, you are doing a fantastic job with this newsletter.
Thanks for sharing your thought process! Beautiful images!