Social Distancing

A film.

“The Lonely Road”

Guided by no man.

Navigated by all who wander.

Ridden by those who seek.

-JeffreyByrnes

*To watch the film please click on the image below.*

Joshua Tree

Click the play button to watch the video below.

You either love the desert or you hate the desert, a phrase I heard some time in 2019. I forgot who said it but its trivial at this point because I learned very quickly that I love the desert. The following film was produced in 2018 when we visited Joshua Tree for the first time. Well before I heard those words I knew the desert had a hold on me.

We started our day early in the morning entering the park sometime after 7:30. I took with me a Sony a6300 and a Nikon F4. When I wasn’t shooting with one I was rolling with the other and vice versa. At this moment I have only scanned about half of the 14+ rolls I shot that day. Don’t judge me for over shooting, like I said it was my/our first time there. I could have spent days in the park making photos. Sometime in the near future I plan to return for camping trip. It has been a few years since I have overnighted in a tent. I am not sure what mode of domicile I would use for camping in a desert. Id probably lean towards a vehicle that would keep us safe from all sorts of things that crawl around.

We did a fair amount of walking. No major hiking, but as evident by the film we did do quite a bit of exploring. I wanted this film to capture what I feel the desert is and can be, a very weird place. If I was to close my eyes and imagine the Sahara Desert, I would think of camels, Egypt, large expanses of sand. In comparison, when I think of Joshua Tree, I think of Indians, I think of Crows (something I see a lot of in Joshua Tree), and I would imagine some sort of spiritual quest or trip. I found Joshua Tree to be inspiring. So much so that I returned literally 1 year later, October 2019 and photographed a model there. The photos ended up being published. I will be sharing those shortly. But for now enjoy my first trip into Joshua Tree.

Filmmaking: Future Work

When DSLR's started coming out with video I freaked out. I was reading, at the time, in all the major publications that clients were requesting still photographers to implement their skills and talents into video work for them. I said to my business partner at the time, "not me." I had no plans to enter the world of video. It was more foreign to me than Poland. (Im 51% polish and have a few awesome polish friends.) I am happy to say that the "not me" is no longer. 

I have been playing with the video feature on my DSLR's for a few years now. I am not a filmmaker, per se. I work with video as an integration into some of he work I do. I am however inspired. My close friend Scott, mentor, filmmaker, editor, award winning dude for his work, has inspired me. Recently he was telling me, mentoring me, providing feedback and cautioning me to be careful on my approach to a particular subject matter that I wanted to produce a small doc around. I took his advice. I am taking his advice, which is, "Go out and produce a small 3-5 minute doc" and have some cred to stand on. I am doing just that. 

This evening I will begin working on a film. I will be filming today and tomorrow and cutting over the next few days, week. My hardship with film/video/filmmaking is not the technical, per se, that stuff can easily be figured out. As Scott has told me, the only difference between still and motion is just that motion. Motion is a moving picture. Set your shot, set your focus, plan, execute and you are on your way. During a conversation one night at dinner, he held his hand up making a frame. He said, sometimes it is about waiting for the shot to happen. He had his hand framed up in a way that showed part of a bar, part of a register. A moment after he said, "watch," the bartender walked into the shot and did an action. He pulled his hands away and looked over at me. What he said next is a blur. I was to enthralled with the simple, yet powerful lesson he showed me. From that moment on I have been more critical of everything I see, every action that takes place around me. I see in frames, photographs, and my mind is always on, always composing. 

Since then I have made a few little pieces. I have worked with Scott and another friend Jesse on the set of an award winning film, traveled with Scott for some film work, and have seen how things work on the inside. I am hooked. I have been working with a top real estate agent, producing work for her. Every day I shoot, edit, I am trying new things, expanding my skills with editing and post-production. Just this past week I took my audio recorder off auto mode, played with the levels, and received the best sound I have yet to record. You can see that example below. You can also watch a behind the scenes video of me shooting an editorial back in September. There is also a film I produced for a "Pop-Up Restaurant" back in April 2012.

http://www.jeffreybphotography.com/motion/