A Not-So-Grand Vista At The Grand Canyon...

During a recent trip down to Las Vegas, I was able to break away from Sin City for a few days and make the (very long) road trip out to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon -- a destination that I've been wanting to see for nearly my entire life. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, a series of near zero-visibility storm fronts also decided to make that same trip out to the canyon while I was there, and my actual views of the 5000 foot deep gorge were few and far between.

So what did I see?

Guard rails... Lots and lots of guard rails....



In theory, there's a huge canyon just beyond and below this overlook...

The Trimpin Movie... Coming soon to a theater near you (and I hope you go see it).

People who innovate, design, create, and (for lack of a better phrase) push the boundries are often the sorts of folks who I hold the most respect for... One gentleman who I've held (and continue to hold) immeasurable amounts of respect for over the years is a German-born, Seattle-based, world-renowned composer, sculpture, inventor, programmer, designer, and MacArthur Genius Award winning mad scientist named -- simply -- Trimpin.



Trimpin (who goes by just that single name) has been creating music, musical instruments, interactive sculpture works, multi-media presentations, and just really, really cool stuff for more than two decades.


Trimpin creates, designs, and builds his works in a mad scientist laboratory, hidden deep within the bowels of suburban Seattle.


The lab itself is equal parts "Superman's Fortress of Solitude," "Thomas Edison's Menlo Park," and "Pee Wee's Playhouse."


Though jaw-droppingly proficient at computer technology, Trimpin himself does not own a cell phone or have an e-mail address.



Trimpin's compositions will never EVER make it to the Top 40 charts... But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Though his works are definitely not easy listening (perhaps "uneasy listening" would be a better description at times), his compositions are always wildly innovative, and guaranted to hold the attention of anyone hearing/seeing/experiencing the music.



Members of the Kronos Quartet with Trimpin.

From left to right: Jeffrey Ziegler, John Sherba, Hank Dutt, David Harrington, Trimpin.



A truly inventive film that premieres this weekend (March 14th, 2009) in Austin, Texas takes a "fly on the wall" approach to the documentation of Trimpin's creative process. And it's certainly worth anyone's while -- at least, anyone with an interest in art, music, media, sculpture, design, and creation -- to check out "Trimpin: The Sound of Invention".

Filmed over a two-and-half year period, "Trimpin: The Sound of Invention" is a fun (and often funny) exploration of Trimpin's life, music, inspirations, and -- most interestingly -- his mindset and creative process as he puts together his multi-media, interactive, musical pieces. Great (and often insightful) stuff. And this is certainly a documentary worth seeking out when it comes to your town.

Here's a trailer for the Austin premiere:



Please, support the arts. Go see this film.

Matt

P.S.: Full disclosure... I was involved with quite a few portions of this movie during its Seattle and Pacific Northwest filming. Peter Esmonde -- the Producer/Director/Cameraman -- brought me aboard early on to record many of the dialogue tracks, musical performances, and to shoot publicity photos as the documentary was being made.

P.P.S.: Below is one of my favorite images taken during the filming of this project:



This is a photo of Trimpin, shown surrounded by his "Sheng High" exhibit. For those of you who will be at the movie's premiere this weekend, a 20"X24" version of this image will be available for sale at "The Trimpin Gallery."

A Cool Way To Store Your Stuff...

Pelican Cases are -- without a doubt -- the safest and most secure way of storing and shipping camera gear (along with a whole lot of other things) when traveling from some Point "A" to a distant Point "B". The cases themselves are incredibly sturdy, they're relatively lightweight, cause no major problems at airports (aside from the outrageous "overage" fees that the airlines are charging these days), and come with an honest-to-god lifetime replacement guaranty that Pelican actually honors. Truly great stuff...

Nowadays, clients don't really seem to be flying photographers and/or their gear around as much as they did in the past, and so -- for myself at least -- the need for a super tough shipping case (or cases) has been reduced quite a bit. Speaking strictly on a personal basis, I'm finding that gigs are becoming more and more locally oriented and (again, from my own personal experience) less gear intensive than in previous years.

Yes, budgets are getting tighter (that's a whole 'nuther topic right there), but at the same time, the need for two or three full-sized equipment cases filled with stuff (i.e.: power packs, ginourmous strobe heads, and back-up gear) is greatly reduced when the call comes in to do a bare-bones "in town" editorial shoot.

In the image that's posted to the right, you can see the most basic lighting kit that I throw in my truck when working on any sort of run-n-gun editorial project: Two Vivitar 285's, three Pocket Wizards, various correction gels, battery charger, two Nasty Clamps, and some spare "AA" batteries (just in case the charger doesn't work). This is a mean and lean package, and perfect for most quickie shoots.

What you're also seeing in this photo is a very cool way of storing and protecting that lean and mean lighting kit -- with a Columbia Sporting Equipment "Ice Wind" Cooler .

What's so great about this particular cooler? Well, the Columbia version that I own perfectly -- and I do mean PERFECTLY -- holds Vivitar 285 strobes. The interior width of the cooler is about 1/4 inch wider than two Vivitars placed side by side (leaving plenty of room for all of the extra doo-dads). And if the kit is reconfigured just a bit, four Vivitar 285's will drop right into the cooler, leaving just enough space on top for four pocket wizards (as can be seen in the crappy picture to the left).


These coolers are extremely durable, with a hard plastic shell hidden underneath the outer fabric. The front pocket is also extremely handy, and is the place where spare batteries, gels, battery chargers, and power bars can be stored.

Oh! Did I mention that these coolers are cheap? I found mine at an outlet store for $9.99.

Obviously, other coolers will work just fine, and I encourage you -- when you've got a bit of spare time -- to take a basic lighting kit over to some nearby sporting goods store just to see what might work out for your particular gear set-up. Let me be clear, a cooler is not a substitute for a heavy duty Pelican Case... You'll still need that when flying with your equipment. On the other hand, coolers certainly work as a cheap, durable, and portable means of storing small equipment set-ups.

Matt

P.S.: You can also use a cooler to keep your beer chilled... If that's the sort of thing that you like to do.

P.S.S.: The rest of my kit for a (very) basic local editorial shoot? Well, a camera (obviously), three lenses, four 4 Gig cards, three camera batteries, two Chimera softboxes, a tripod, and two lighting stands. The camera, lenses, and cards all fit into a backpack quite nicely. And to have ready access to my support equipment, the tripod, Chimeras, and lighting stands always hang out in my truck.

P.P.S.S.: About three years back, I actually had one of my Pelican Cases beaten and cracked by the baggage handlers at the Vancouver (Canada) Airport. Pelican replaced the case free of charge.

P.P.P.S.S.: The folks at Pelican wanted to know just what the idiots well-mannered baggage handlers had done to my case. It seems that Pelican tests their cases by dropping them from the roof of a multi-storied building, and so they (the Pelican folks) were stunned that the my case had been damaged by the idiots in Vancouver the well-mannered baggage handlers.

A Dose of Cuteness...

Regular readers of this blog are probably a bit bored disgusted with the picture of a sheep's skull that's been parked on this site for more than a week, and so -- as an antidote to the previously posted death imagery -- the following two photos should provide a much needed dose of cuteness.






Cute, huh?






















Please, no references to "The Godfather."






Basic techie stuff: Shot with my Nikon D200 camera. Both images lit with a Vivitar 285 in a small Chimera softbox.