A Career Highlight

I got a sales report yesterday indicating this clip sold:


It just so happens that this is one of the first clips I made with my Inspire 2/X5s drone, and while it was one of many to come, it did not make the grade (explanation below), but happily, several others did.

I refer to the chance encounter and unbelievable luck I had a couple years ago, when shooting eagles and winter scenics north of Haines, Alaska. I ran into some rather dedicated-looking people on assignment with a really large camera (and even bigger lens) and as they were passing, mentioned I thought they were not "simply shooting for stock" as I was then, with my ghetto FS700 and Odyssey 7Q+. Making it a short story, they asked if I knew any drone operators. Well ... yes, I mentioned! Me! But sadly, a Phantom 4 Pro is simply not good enough. For them they needed Inspire 2/X5s or better (they were doing some 4K HDR thing and needed the RAW). Well, it just happened that I had been considering such, and also had then the funds to do it, so I did. I wasn't hired directly by them, as between shipping time, problems with the unit (grrrr!), problems with the weather (preventing the necessary shots) and other issues, but in the end, I was able to use the experience as excuse to buy a drone/camera system way better than I usually need, and to also ... and here's the thing: Get some of my footage into a documentary of the finest kind, with Sir David Attenborough's voice over my footage.

Yes, friends, this was a high point of my career. It really is a dream come true. To walk for a short time in the shadow of these giants: the dedication, the skills, the immeasurable professionalism and exquisite production quality. It is not a thing of pride, either. In fact I feel truly humbled and was deeply honored to have been a small part of this production. I learned a lot, and also saw how shy I was from the mark ... made the grade, but it took all of my effort and more luck.

I was not able to work with them directly, but I got the concept of what they needed and sent them proxies, (over 2 months!) and they got what they needed from me. Our agreement allowed me to use the similar clips from my efforts, but that the actual clips they purchased from me were lifetime exclusive. But the clip I linked to above was one of the first I deemed decent enough to send them, and I am happy to see that it sold.

At any rate, I hope you get a chance to check this production out. When you see it, know that the aerial shots in the Netflix series "Our Planet" Episode "Forests" (episode 8 I think) and look at the eagles segment ... Hey! those are my shots!

Wow. Dream come true indeed. Hence this posting in "Inspiration".

Cheers!

Gene

That's cool! :-)
And, big congrats, must be nice to see your clips in "Our Planet"
We're watching the series now. I'll think of you when we get to the forest.

Thank you! Hope you enjoy it all.

Thanks for sharing.



One of my highlights so far in the stock media business goes back to the Solar Eclipse that happened in the USA on August 21, 2017. Knowing that the area of totality would cross my home town was very exciting to the point that I had scheduled that day off from my day job 1 year in advance.

A couple weeks before the solar eclipse I had uploaded the above clip of me, my wife and 2 of my kids.

A few days before the big solar eclipse event I was driving with my family and got a Messenger message from an old friend. She was congratulating me on my Denny's commercial. At this point I had no idea how the above clip had been used, let alone who the buyer had been. I think from the time the clip was approved on Pond5 until that message was only a little over a week. To make a long story, longer :-) I quickly put two and two together and realized Denny's had used the clip to make a national commercial about their Mooncake special (i.e. pancakes) in celebration of the solar eclipse.

Over the next few days we heard from lots of family and friends from various parts of the country that saw us on the commercial. My fifteen minutes of fame had occurred and I was known around my house as "Mooncake Mike" for a while.

The solar eclipse day came and it was one of the coolest natural phenomenon things I had ever experienced.

That night a bunch of my family met us at our local Dennys and we had dinner. Once the employees learned who we were they all came out and we took a group picture. They even gave me an employee discount on the bill.

It was cool experience all the way around.

Here is the commercial: https://youtu.be/QI2xVOhqXB4

That's amazing. It's always frustrating not knowing where your footage is being used unless you happen to come across it watching TV or Youtube etc. The thrill of seeing it in a major documentary is even better. Well done!

Two great stories... congratulations. As much as I enjoy good documentaries, I think the "Mooncakes" commercial is fantastic. Great idea and a well-done concept.

Congrats, Mizamook! Surely that's a thing to be proud of!

David A. is fortunate they found YOU! Congratulations!

Outstanding! Congratulations!

Very cool and very inspiring!!! Thanks for sharing!