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Patagonia: They/ThemFor Lor Sabourin, climbing is more than a sport; it’s a way of exploring identity and building resilience in the face of adversity. They/Them follows Lor, a trans climber, into the sandstone canyons of Northern Arizona, on a journey to piece together one of the hardest and most inspiring routes of their life. By embracing the strength in vulnerability, Lor has found the space to thrive and build a climbing community that others like themself can call home. Lightforce Media had the opportunity to contribute all of the aerial imagery for this film.    …
Canon Japan – Pixus Great Challenge CommercialTUSAYAN, AZ – Pretty cool commercial, right?  I got to spend a few days on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon working with the talented Holger Leue and three awesome fellows from Canon Japan to make this really unique concept a reality.  Light was measured and metered, and dozens of other measurements were taken to replicate the correct perspective of actually being in the Grand Canyon half a world away in a studio in Japan.  I have to say that I’m quite impressed with the concept, execution, and attention to detail that it took to create a monster print from thousands of individual prints and then light the final product in a way that emulated the sun.…
Gnarly Bay Films – The Time TravelersDear internet, I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. Sometimes, you just get too busy actually working to write about the work later on – but you didn’t come hear to read my excuses… FLAGSTAFF, AZ – It’s 0300, 21 degrees out, and stupidly windy – another wonderful day in Flagstaff. Yet thankfully the coffee is hot and the warm smiles of friends meeting up quickly puts the weather from our minds. We’re all meeting up at zero dark thirty so that we can pile into a haul truck that rides about as well as a 2×4 and bounce down diamond creek road to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There, we’ll hop on the Colorado River with a bunch of guys from the US Mens Rowing Team who are fixing to take their shot at history. SUNRISE…
Can you Spy On Someone With a Drone?FLAGSTAFF, AZ – In light of the recent efforts of several municipalities to create some rather obtuse and misguided legislation relating to the use of drones, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on the matter.  The municipalities in question are quite concerned that folks are going to start spying on them with drones.  Despite the fact that traditional cameras are a much more powerful tool for spying on someone, these municipalities seem hell-bent on keeping drones out of their local airspace (which also happens to be the FAA’s jurisdiction, not theirs.).  So I wanted to put it out there just how ineffective the average drone is for spying on someone. There’s a great video (there’s probably a lot more than one) on YouTube that quite effectively explains just how bad even a several thousand dollar drone (a DJI Inspire…
Epic Grand Canyon Hike: A 650-Mile Challenge Videos Posted!Did you read the article in National Geographic Magazine about the Grand Canyon and the threats it is currently facing?  Do you want more Epic Grand Canyon Epicness?  Do you want to see more of Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko’s adventure?  Then you probably should watch all three parts here: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/160812-ngm-grand-canyon-part-1?source=relatedvideo http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/160812-ngm-grand-canyon-part-2?source=relatedvideo http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/magazine/161102-ngm-grand-canyon-part-3?source=relatedvideo I feel really honored and thankful to have been a small part of Pete and Kevin’s adventure, and that some of my shots are used in these videos.…
Lightforce Media Assisted Nat Geo Expedition of the Grand Canyon Goes to PrintFLAGSTAFF, AZ – Today, National Geographic published online and in National Geographic Magazine the story of Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko’s epic 650+ mile through hike of the Grand Canyon.  Pete and Kevin took on this 70+ day expedition to better understand this wonder of the world and the threats that are facing the Grand Canyon.  Lightforce Media, is honored to have played a very small part in helping Kevin and Pete tell this story. Please read the full article here: Are We Losing The Grand Canyon? To see what we did to help Pete and Kevin out, please check out our other blog posts.  …
Commercials for Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra Home TourFLAGSTAFF, AZ – Lightforce Media, LLC is pleased to share two new commercials that were made to promote the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra’s 12th annual home tour.  The two commercials, a 30-second, and a minute and thirty second commercial can be viewed below.  The goal with these commercials was to take a different approach to advertising – instead of the flashy, fast paced adverts that we’re accustomed to, the idea was to be slow and elegant, and really show the beauty and unique design of some of these houses.  Using as much aerial footage as possible was a must.  We’ve all seen houses from ground level, but how often have a you seen a house from the air?…
FAA Announces Part 107 Rules and Stops Accepting 333 Exemption ApplicationsWASHINGTON – Today, the leadership off the Federal Aircraft Administration (FAA) announced their long anticipated Part 107 rules for the integration of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS).  At the same time they announced Part 107, the FAA removed the webpages from their websites that related to the 333 Exemption process, indicating that they are no longer accepting exemption applications.  Part 107 rules will cover the vast majority UAS operations when they become codified law in sixty days.  Below is a list Summarizing what types of UAS Part 107 affects, and what the new remote pilot in command certificate will look like. Stay tuned for more information on the integration of Part 107.  Source.   Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (25 kg). Visual line-of-sight (VLOS) only; the unmanned aircraft must remain within VLOS of the remote…
Confluence Project: Lil’cleo Solar Production BoatFLAGSTAFF, AZ – How do you power a film production in the Grand Canyon, where there aren’t any power outlets?  The conventional answer may be to use a generator, but generators are loud and require fuel and other care to keep them happy.  So instead of dealing with all of that noise, we opted to make a smaller version of the ‘Cleopatra,’ the solar production boat that was used on the 21-day BBC operation Grand Canyon project.  For this trip, I designed and built a frame that would mount on the back of a J rig and hold a bunch of Goal Zero Rigid Solar Panels.  After determining what our power needs would be, Harlan and I decided on a frame that would hold six solar Goal Zero Boulder 90-watt panels.  I hopped into Solidworks and came up with this:…