Director of photography Art Adams knew he wanted to look through cameras for a living at the age of 12. After ten years in Hollywood working on feature films, TV series, commercials, music videos, visual effects and docs he returned to his native San Francisco Bay Area, where he currently shoots commercials and high-end corporate marketing and branding projects. When Art isn’t shooting he consults on product design and marketing for a number of motion picture equipment manufacturers. His clients have included Sony, Arri, Canon, Tiffen, Schneider Optics, PRG, Cineo Lighting, Element Labs, Sound Devices and DSC Labs. His writing has appeared in HD Video Pro, American Cinematographer, Australian Cinematographer, Camera Operator Magazine and ProVideo Coalition. He is a current member of the International Cinematographers Guild, and a past active member of the SOC and SMPTE.
Since my college days I’ve been driven to learn how other DP’s light: what units they use, where they put them, how they blend them together. Behind-the-scenes photos, while immensely helpful, are rare these days, but I’ve found significant lighting…
On heels of my recent article/brain dump on lenses, here are some thoughts on filters: why they’re good, when they’re bad, and why digital filters never look the same. Filters never add, they always subtract. For example, a warming filter…
I don’t know a ton about lenses. I’ve always focused on cameras and film technology, but I’m slowly building a library of information in my head—partially from what I’ve learned over history, and partially from new experience. Here’s a short…
Several people commented that the base flesh tone exposures in my CineGear presentation looked “dark.” I did a little research and I think I know what’s going on… Not long after the Sony F55 became widely available the DP of…
Here’s part two of my CineGear presentation, in which I take an uncomfortably close look at flesh tone and overexposure… First, read Part One. Then, watch this video: I’m fascinated by over- and under-exposure. When I shot film I almost…
Adam Wilt and I put on a show at CineGear about the Sony F55. Here’s part one of my side of the talk, possibly with more information than I gave at the time. Adam focused on functionality, while I focused…
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve lost jobs because I don’t own a camera. And I’m okay with that. Those aren’t the jobs I want. Here’s why… When I started out in this industry everything dramatic was…
I’ve done a lot of testing with the Sony F55, and I’ve shot a couple of 4K projects in XAVC, but until recently I hadn’t used this camera for green screen. Sony’s implementation of XAVC uses 4:2:2 sampling, which can…
Mark your calendar: Saturday, June 7th, at 2:45pm, in the Sherry Lansing Theater at Paramount. Adam Wilt and I will spend an hour discussing “The Sony F55: Swiss Army Knife of Cameras.” We’ve got videos to show and slides to…
Due to the success of last year’s lighting class Abel Cine has asked me to come back and do it again. So I am: “How to Light Faces: Hard Light, Soft Light and Damage Control” It will be held on…