When I frame and light a shot I think, "How would this look as a still image?"  Could it stand on it's own?  A few of my clients have done this, pulling frames for websites, movie posters and even for printed material.

The tricky part for me is everyone is moving...

Here are some frame grabs from my first feature, "shadows"

Frequently I'm asked about controlling depth of field using 2/3" chip cameras.  In the above DAY INTERIOR shot I wanted deep focus so I could see all the actors clearly.  Now, look at the shot below.

Nadia Valenzuela gives Alex Petrovitch a peck on the cheek.  Here we are outside and I shot this at the bottom of the barrel with a slightly longer lens to soften up the background.

Robyn August teaches Jenna Allen to play tennis.  The entire "film" was shot with a Fuji 5mm-50mm zoom and this was shot at 30mm.  You don't need to be on a 200mm lens to achieve a shallow depth of field.

Victoria De Mare takes a swim.  Shot in the natural shade... if natural shade is a 4X4 solid.  Note the direct sunlight hitting the pool in the b.g.  A reflector gives her a little grease.

Erinn Koch standing in the shade.  The F900 holds the direct sunlight coming through the trees and on the grass.  Only the walkway behind her right forearm loses detail. 

Adam Fleck speaks.  Note the mirror in the b.g.  It is reflecting the exterior and there isn't any ND on the windows.

Shellah Garrett gets surprised.  Eric Sears gaffed the film for me and to thank him I gave him DP credit.  He talked me into letting the "moonlight" go full blue to save both time and money (expendables).  This also gave us a little more stop and the full blue is fun!

Derrick Wayne Smith senses something behind him.  Don't worry, it's just the camera crew.  I shot SHADOWS at 24 (23.98) P without shutter so the shutter speed is basically 1/24th of a second.  This gives me a stop more than shooting with 1/48th shutter like a film camera but it also gives me more blur.  Even I'm amazed how sharp these images are Not only is Derrick turning his head but this is a frame from a (slow) dolly shot.

Monica is about to "connect" with Derrick.  This is how the average night shots are lit including the scene below

Monica with another man, this time it's Robyn.  This is a still frame during a lightning flash.  I wanted the lightning to overexpose but the F900 tries to hold the detail... damn it. 

Rebecca Wilkins and Vinnie Bilancio have a little fun.  This was shot a little down to contrast with the lightening.

Rebecca is caught during a lightning flash.  She's not having a very good day.  I don't mean because she's being stabbed but because there is so much Karo syrup on her, Rebecca is actually glued to the sheets!

And Vinnie's not doing much better.  That tile floor is cold!

Kim Balcerzak is scared... that she'll be glued to the sheets soon.  Again, shot a little down so I had someplace to go with the lightening.

The lightening was created by a 1200 PAR HMI just outside the window.

There's a lot of (I hope) intentional humor in the film.  Derrick kept the crew laughing.

Alex's nose is about 6 inches off a 5mm lens for a comedic effect.  Okay, one more comment about depth of field.  By keeping the subject close to the lens the background still softens up with a 5 mm lens.

Here are a few Behind-The-Scene shots.