Adam Smith Camera/Steadicam/Gaffer/Drone

Latest Instagram Posts

adamsteadi

#nofilter #iphone15pro #magichour #goldenhourphoto

#nofilter #iphone15pro #magichour #goldenhourphotography #goldenhourlight #goldenhour #obx #outerbanks

In April of 2014 I shot a #civilwar #shortfilm “

In April of 2014 I shot a #civilwar #shortfilm “The Walk.” While the budget was very low the images we created still hold up to this day. This was my first real dive into creating #cinemalike images with a camera that was revolutionary in it’s time for replicating #filmgrain with a #digitalsensor . Only light used in this setup was an old #arri 575 #hmi for the #upstagekey . The barn helped provide numerous #shaftsofsunlight that bounced all over the place. #sonyf35 #sonyf35cinealta #cookevarotal #cookevarotal20x100 #covergentdesign7q

#todaysoffice #featurefilm #venice2 #cookeanamorph

#todaysoffice #featurefilm #venice2 #cookeanamorphic #steadicamoperator #steadicamlife #steadicam #steadicamm2 #steadicamm1 #steadicamvolt

#todaysoffice #carstuff #griplife #phantom #phanto

#todaysoffice #carstuff #griplife #phantom #phantomcam #toyota

Sometimes you don’t want to know everything. In

Sometimes you don’t want to know everything. In the short film #sixesandsevens we were shooting on the only period #steamtrain that exists on the East Coast. Towards the end of the day the train personnel got quite pushy with us; insisting that we were running out of time and needed to go back to the station. At the time I didn’t know why they were so pushy. What I did not know was that if the train ran out of water it would have exploded! #arrisr3 #arrisr3super16mm #sr3 #16mmfilm #16mm #westernfilm #steamdiesel #dieselpower
#dieselpowertrain #explosion

Back in April, director Ryan Hammaker and I got to

Back in April, director Ryan Hammaker and I got to attend the #jimthorpefilmfestival . Our short film #sixesandsevens won in the Local Hero spot. #cinematographer #cinematography #alexaminilf #arriraw #opengate #arrisignatureprimes #arrisr3 #16mmfilm #zeisssuperspeedsmk3

#gaffer #gafferlife #astera #titantube #titantubes

#gaffer #gafferlife #astera #titantube #titantubes #unraveled #shortfilm

In 2015 #melbrooks was doing a new kind of #standu

In 2015 #melbrooks was doing a new kind of #standupcomedy tour called "A Hilarious Live Conversation With Mel Brooks." In a nutshell it was his personal take on some of his most famous movies. Fortunately I got the call to come out and shoot footage for a 30 second spot. One of the most genuine and down to earth cinema legends I have encountered. He turned around and shook my hand before going on stage. #classact #melbrooksmovies #blazingsaddles #historyoftheworld #canon #canonc100 #atomosninja2

#wickedinventions can now be seen on #Prime . It o

#wickedinventions can now be seen on #Prime . It originally aired through #discoveryasia . I plane hopped to 16 different cities in 2015-16 as a #onemanband crew. I was tasked with capturing the manufacturing process of an #invention and also do an interview all in the same day. It was exhilarating and tiring. #polarissnowmobiles was one of those stops I had in Minnesota right near the Canadian border. One of the coolest things about working behind the camera is living vicariously through it. Every day is literally a new day, and on the majority of these days its an all new crew of people. #canon #c100 #atomosninja2 #kessler2ndshooter #kessler #arri #arrijunior150 #rodentg3

I've been flying drones professionally for over 10

I've been flying drones professionally for over 10 years now, but this was the first time #flyingblind for most of the shot. I was first up for the day. Once my #inspire2 reached the edge of the quarry I had to #tilt and #pedastool down at the same time. I had a #spotter below which made the flight legal. After about a dozen takes we got it. #droneoperator #dronephotography #dji #appleproresraw #6k #chrissyhoulahan #politicalspot

#iphonephotography #nofilter #shaftsoflight #magic

#iphonephotography #nofilter #shaftsoflight #magichour #goldenhour

This was the #losmandy #studiodolly portion of the

This was the #losmandy #studiodolly portion of the #chrissyhoulahan spot. Again, specifically chosen to keep a very specific distance and height in relation to actor and the camera lens so every shot matched for the edit. This also made it easier to switch over to the #cameracar #scorpius and keep those measurements the same. AC #mitchmalpica #hardmount #bts #archer2 #arriamira #g70x

Some behind the scenes of the #chrissyhoulahan spo

Some behind the scenes of the #chrissyhoulahan spot. AC #mitchmalpica #jimmundell #cameracar #losmandy studio dolly #hardmount #scorpius #motionhouse #bts #cameramotion #archer2 #arriamira #g70x

The first time I had the chance to work with #chri

The first time I had the chance to work with #chrissyhoulahan was 6 years ago. She was running for re-election in Congress. The spot was really unique. I never saw anything like it before. I was #Steadicam on this and at the time my rig was the #archer2 . My job was to keep the subject as close to the center mark of the frame as possible; and additionally the camera had to be at a fixed height so the cuts would be smooth from actor to actor. My AC #mitchmalpica used a rope to find the same distance to the camera for every shot; then we would adjust accordingly. We were using my #losmandy studio dolly as a hard mount on the sidewalks; as well as Jim Mundells #scorpius #cameracar #motionhouse #cameramotion

More than 15 years ago I was introduced to #Steadi

More than 15 years ago I was introduced to #Steadicam through what you could consider an uncanny coincidence. I had an interview at #qvc for a video production role, and admittedly at the time I was quite green. The interviewer asked me if I had any previous experience in #gimbals or #camerastabilizersystems and I was honest and said no. He then told me about a workshop I should check out that was only 20 minutes down the road, and well… I left that interview with no job, but with a newfound obsession. This interview arguably changed my path forward in almost every way.

It is an amazing thing to stumble upon a whole new level of production, through a ground-breaking invention that literally changed the film industry forever. Steadicam introduced to me parts of the industry I had never seen before. #garrettbrown invented the Steadicam and it was introduced in 1975 by Cinema Product Corporation, later having been acquired by #tiffen . Garrett’s numerous film credits include #rocky , #theshining , and #starwars . Not only was he an amazing operator, but he is an amazing human being. Garrett was so nice to have lent me his personal #archer2 kit for a no budget short we were putting together at the time. Having owned 2 different Steadicam rigs up to this point, I knew this was going to be my next rig.

Yep, that’s a horrible looking Steadicam build with the Panasonic AG HVX200a. The first camera we owned that shot true digital onto #p2 cards media. No longer did we have to load #minidv tapes into a drive.

This was the first shot up on the last day we had

This was the first shot up on the last day we had in #brasenhillmansion for the #westernfilm #sixesandsevens . Elizabeth Ball plays Chloe Mather, a wife dealing with a husband with the onset of dementia. We needed to be quick because this was only a 1/2 day as opposed to a full 12 hrs. The mansion was rented the next day and a cleaning crew was set to come in late afternoon. Cast and crew were staying there during filming; so not only did we need to wrap out all equipment after shooting, but we also had to depart the mansion ourselves.

I initially had the plan to send a #menacearm out the window of an adjacent room for our #keylight and do a few minor tweaks from the interior such as #negativefill and perhaps a #hairlight , even an #aputureb7c for a bathroom light, but I made the decision that we go with 100% natural light for this scene; a rarity. I was happy with the level of #contrast but I was also able to hold detail in the #highlights with the window shears. The G&E team could then go ahead and pre-light our next scene.

Scheduling your day around the sun is paramount. I couldn’t schedule this scene with the sun on the other side of the mansion for #indirectlighting so I decided to put it in the very beginning of our day when the sun was just coming up on the same side of the mansion. This is typically #goldenhour which creates a beautiful #softlight but the #filmgods continued to bless us with an overcast day, creating even more natural #softlighting .

I try to approach every image on set like a painting. Every minute decision has a massive impact. A stroke of light here, a pop there, etc. Keep adding or taking away light until it serves the story well.

The reason this image works for me is because of the layers of depth naturally found in this amazing bathroom. I decided to add even more depth; by framing in on the sides the bathroom door opening. The image goes from light / dark / light / dark throughout the frame. Depth can be created with natural light as long as you schedule your day properly. #cinematography #cinematographer #cinematographerlife #alexaminilf #arrisignatureprimes #sixesandsevens #westernfilm

20 years ago this month the #canonxl2 camera hit t

20 years ago this month the #canonxl2 camera hit the scene. I may have shot more content on this camera than any other camera I've had my hands on. $3,000 for a prosumer camera that was a huge upgrade from the #canonxl1 . It was the 2nd prosumer camera released after the #panasonicagdvx100 capable of shooting in #24p , so it was our introduction to capturing film-like images. It also shot in 30p and 60i. While the camera was digital, we were still capturing to #dvtape at the time. It could shoot in 4:3 and 16:9 and it used a 3-CCD image-sensor system, which assigned a separate 1/3″ pixel to each primary color of red, blue, and green. The lens mount was interchangeable so you could swap out your EF lenses instead of using the stock zoom; which may be the reason for me becoming a #canon user for the next 18 years. Really smart of Canon at the time. Yep, that is my future wife in the background who at the time helped us out with our interviews based on #alternativeenergy !

Horror Films are fun to light! I say this because

Horror Films are fun to light! I say this because most of them are shot at night. “Delicious” was not any different. During the day the sun often creates natural light that can be inconsistent and as a #cinematographer the most difficult thing we encounter on set is creating continuity of light from shot to shot within a scene. In this shot I placed 2 #aputure600d in an upstage key outside the window gelled with 1/4 #ctb to give it that ever so slightly blue moonlight look. One 600d is the #hardlight , the other is punched through a 12x12 #halosilk creating the #softlight . Both are going through a #cucoloris . Inside we further shaped the light with black window shears and #haze . I needed a return on the actors face; so I color matched the light being created by the 600d’s with my #sekonicc800 and dialed that into an #asteraax1 tube that bounced into a photo umbrella. I originally wanted to have a #rogerdeakins #covelighting setup but we didn’t have the space. The director Ryan Hammaker wanted the shelves in the garage to be covered by white cloth which also gave me some return which further created depth in the image; but I didn’t want that depth everywhere. So I added some #negativefill to the left side of the frame giving the actor much contrast on her face. #alexamini #opengate #scope

After 5 days thats a wrap on “Unraveled.” Shor

After 5 days thats a wrap on “Unraveled.” Short Film Written and Directed by Yale Fried. Cinematography by Isaak Popkin. #gaffer #gafferlife #losmandydolly #danadolly #aputure600d #asteratitan

#Losmandydolly #Unraveled

#Losmandydolly #Unraveled

Load More Follow Me On Instagram