Out there’s a land that time don’t command
Wanna be the first to arrive
No time for ponderin’ why I’m-a wanderin’
Not while the…

To the ends of the earth, would you follow me
There’s a world that was meant for our eyes to see
To the ends of the earth, would you follow me
If you will have a say my goodbyes to me

— Lord Huron

Photos taken on the Torres del Paine full circuit in Patagonia. We trekked 86 miles in 8 days, and these photographs don’t give the park near the credit it’s beauty deserves. Kelsey describes it in much more eloquently; check out her Pisco Sour post and brilliant summary over on Happyolks.

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There were some 180 of us that headed out in a caravan of buses, 149 incredibly brave souls of whom would toe the start line, anticipating what they couldn’t on that ride out to camp one. Sunset and night fall, we watched as the Milky Way lit up the sky, lights out then sunrise, and Racing the Planet‘s 9th Atacama Crossing was born.

I am really not sure what to say after this point. You see, this is where everything melds into a world that almost becomes indescribable. We became a tribe, a group of survivors. The runners became the warriors, the support staff and volunteers a small link to the precious resources of any desert, water and shade. It just all happened, and I had the best seat in the house.

Thiago Diz, who is an incredible human, photographer and now lifelong friend (he was along to photograph the brilliant story of the blind Brazilian Vladmi dos Santos and guide Alex for Outside Magazine Brazil), myself and our driver Christian, set forth. Chasing after the best vantage points, we traveled some 250km+ by car and 70km+ by foot throughout the week. We witnessed the warriors fly down thousand foot sand dunes, trudge through knee deep river crossings, salt flats, Mars like terrain, all between 8,000 and 10,000 feet of altitude.

There were no showers. Just a will. Deep down, to do everything possible to get from the start line to the first check point, then reassess and get to the next. One step at a time. Freeze dried food and lukewarm water became a luxury each night. I didn’t experience the exact same journey, but by the second day, I could feel the athletes pain, through their eyes, posture, blisters. Running along side, climbing mountains of crumbling volcanic ash deposits, sitting in the rivers, I tried to get the closest to the journey as possible without distracting or slowing it.

And what an incredible display of pushing the human experience to the edge I witnessed. Some may question why anyone would ever subject themselves to such a brutal mental and physical challenge, and I think the athletes themselves would all admit to asking that very question at least twice a day, but that’s the part no one will ever know unless you too experience the ultimate triumph you feel at the finish line.

When I was walking backwards on course the 3.5k from check point four on stage four to a makeshift water station in the middle of the 104 degree salt flats, I came across Andrew Espin of South Africa who summed it up as he ran by, “It has now officially changed from a running to a religious experience.”

There are so many more words I could type to convey the feelings deep within, the many lives we lived, the brother and sisterhoods developed, but I want to pause, and allow it all to soak in.

Thank you so much Racing the Planet staff, Alina, Sam, Ross, Mary, Alistair, and all the volunteers. A huge thank you to all the athletes who allowed me to run along side you shooting away and get all up in your grill when you were exhausted.

And an even bigger thank you to my new brother, Thiago Diz, who pushed me to dig deeper to get the best possible shot. You can see a shot of Thiago flying down the dunes taking a photograph of Vlad and Alex about halfway down below.

Cheers to you all until the next time we meet…Gobi anyone?!

The following are some of my favorite images from the week. You can see the entire collection at Racing the Planet’s Atacama Crossing photo display.

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When Mike originally proposed shooting a brand film for his new business, and conveniently added the potential of also photographing his wedding, I smiled. Then a week later he tossed a wedding video into the mix, just to keep things interesting. Couldn’t have been more stoked to hang out with Mel and Mike over their wedding weekend. I grabbed Adam and we each tossed two cameras over our shoulders and captured their super rad, light, beautiful day in stills and motion. (also, huge thanks to Ali for editing the stills…insane.)

Mike and Mel —

Your love is rich. The positive energy radiates, and it was special to stand behind bushes and chase you around for a day, watching as you committed to each other a lifetime of adventures and a winding journey through stages and chapters of great mystery, struggle, and powerful love. Thank you for inviting Adam and I to capture a brilliant celebration of it all. Cheers to the next 75 years!

Wedding location :: Calamigos Ranch, Malibu

Check out our grading process using VSCO filters here.

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Kelsey read me this tweet this evening and it sparked the same fire I had when I wrote my last post on storytelling (also sparked by an interesting conversation with Karsh/Hagan’s CD Matt Ingwalson). But this time, I wanted to write an open letter directed at those who are creating these commercials. If you are a creative director, writer, producer, director, or anyone else anywhere along the process, I urge you to at least acknowledge this request. There is some passion behind this one, believe me.

Dear Content Creators,

This is our time.

For so long, we’ve been trapped in a world of linear thinking, a structure that defined the exact amount of time, words, and images you were allowed to show. It’s been a formula; introduce the product, tell audience why they need it, and then add call to action. It’s product first, it’s about finding the quickest way to obtain the potential consumers emotional need to desire said product. And it’s painful. Regardless of how beautiful the imagery was, how great the actors were, how produced, polished, thought out, if we continue to create content around our products, we will continue to push our audience to click the mute button, to dread the moments between the ‘action’.

We need to move forward together, through this deep sand, and onto a much more solidified surface.

I believe in a new form of storytelling. Of creating a tribe, a definition of who your organization is at the core, the beliefs, the truths of why this organization exist. Of what you fall back on regardless of the hardest of struggles or the grandest of victories. Speak truth to your people, the people who also hold those beliefs close to their hearts. Because at your core, you’re not a product, or a platform or a sellable entity. At your core you are a human, a soul that not only believes you can be the best at what you are doing, but you are constantly working for that exact thing. At your core, you are built of love, life, movement, of non-physical items. Let’s start treating our storytelling the same.

Tell stories, ones that have emotion behind them, for your tribe. If we collectively take this idea on, can we begin to redefine the structure? With the digital shift of what has previously been defined as broadcast, we are only going to get more targeted, have a better handle of who will see our stories, of who might be interested what we have to say. Can we together start selling the idea that we aren’t just an item, but rather an important part of the definition of the life they are living. This isn’t the beginning of this idea, yet a reminder as this new era flood of media exponentially grows. As a brilliant start, let us take Cary Fukunaga’s, Sleepwalking in the Rift, as a beautiful example.

May I plea to please use those 3 minutes we have, to enlighten, inspire, and educate. Let’s use this time to better our world, define the hidden paths we are running down, allow people to connect with our core, our ultimate purpose.

I know we are capable, more than ever, of achieve a higher level of storytelling. We are equipped with the perfect tide, we just need to commit, all of us.

to breaking old rules and not looking back,

S

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I’ve been on a trail of thinking recently, really desiring taking my work to a deeper level. Going from producing videos, to producing meaningful stories. My initial journaling and thoughts the past three to four months has been to spend more time investing in the story of the company, the people, the culture, what they believe, why they come to work every day. Less about the product, more about the tribe. Inspired by Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk philosophy of the golden circle, I asked myself, could I make every project I create, work from the inside out. I began pitching it to current clients, getting them excited about trying a completely new approach on future projects. Then I shot Fin Art. Still feeling premature in the development of this new thought process, I just went for it. And when cutting the interview, I tried to pull out only the pieces that really moved forward the anatomy of who they are at the core and why they live how they live, rather than facts about their creations.

But then Salomon’s vimeo likes feed dropped a whole new element into view. VW Polo by Casper Balslev and Lincoln the Spark by Christopher Hewitt made my mind take one more step. For those companies who have already told their culture story, how can we reach out, with the same inside out rule in mind, and tell the product story. I am fascinated by the way Casper was able to make the story of VW about the viewer and not the product, even when the spot was advertising just that.

“You’re in the drivers seat. Not just about cars, but of our company too. It’s you who fuels us. Your A to B. Every man, every woman, every family, everywhere, needs to get somewhere. The Polo isn’t just built on a production line, it’s built on principal. That the power of innovation and quality, is for all. We call it, the Polo Principal.”

He worked from the inside out. We care about you, your needs. Whether your a male, female, married or not. This is about a principal that you should have the best, regardless of who you are. We are not just a company of machines putting screws in place and welding medal, but a company that wants you on board the decision room of a central piece of your life. Oh, and by the way, we sell cars.

The thought process and idea is still fluid and growing, but this is the direction I want to start working from, the inside out.

By all means, these concepts are far from new. These are old practices that I am just learning, but I hope that I can continue to gather theories and ideas that will help give my films a meaningful purpose. For so long, I’ve focused on the act of filming as the key element, rather than how that act plays such a minor role in the greater purpose of telling the story. A shift I am really stoked to move forward with.

The photographs are outtakes from our most recent Happyolks post. Kels’ just updated her site/branding and did a brilliant job. Her ability to run a blog as successful as Happyolks, with a full time job is insane. So proud of and am constantly inspired by her.

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There is an old mechanics shop south of downtown Denver on Bayaud where you’ll find Rob, Ben, their pup Lola, and the creative epicenter of Fin Art. Longtime friends and Colorado natives, Rob and Ben spend their days here practicing craftsmanship with friends, PBR, airplane wings, old conveyor belt parts, and copious amounts of sawdust.

I met them on a Wednesday in August and knew by Saturday that these were the good kind. The kind of folks you want in your life, to keep you real and keep you pursuing the authentic versions of your life you strive so hard to live. They say doing what you love is the key to success, but Rob and Ben don’t really give a hoot about notoriety or money, they just care about working with their hands and making people happy.

After six days of shooting spread over a couple weeks, I walked away from the shop and sat at my desk to sort through hours of footage and felt both empowered and inspired by their sense of purpose. Although the nature of our work is different, the starts seem almost identical. We venture into an old junk yard, sort through piles of unique material, and must summon every bit of resourcefulness to make something new, authentic, and valuable for the world.

It’s through these journeys we ultimately find out a little more about ourselves, leaving little pieces of our old identity hidden in each creation as we go, and discovering brand new layers of who we wish to become. Our art becomes a translation of who we are. The subtle curves, colors, textures that make up the final piece, all playing their own role.

Whether there is actually ever a finished product is yet to be determined. We will though, always be refining, growing, and pushing forth. One piece at a time.

Special thanks to Ben, Rob and James (in order of appearance of last three photos). I can’t thank you guys enough for inviting me in, sharing a few whiskey shots, and completely forgetting I was there to capture your story. Looking forward to seeing you go forth. Cheers.

Check out more goods on their site here :: finartco.com  // And if you want to own your own piece from Fin Art, stop by Revampt or FactoryMade where they sell individual home/office pieces.

Project filmed, photographed, edited by myself Shaun Boyte, with the help of a handful of trusted creatives who gave me brilliant feedback and pushed me to make this project what it is. Article written by Kelsey Brown.

Music by: Tony Anderson // The Music Bed

To see more uncut footage, take a peek at the broll edit.

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Shipping content has to be the most important priority when you are uncomfortable with your work. Ira Glass’ comments on this subject are more than relatable for me, as they describe the very blood flowing within my ambitious soul. Sitting in my old leather swivel chair originally manufactured in Alabama some time before my dad was born, I stare at a screen pouring out the work of some many brilliant artist over my desk like a filled can of fresh paint. I print screen shots, hang them for inspiration, use the like button on Vimeo like a mask allowing me to take another gasp of oxygen. But it’s more like spinning wheels in mud at this point. There is no way I can sort through every video uploaded by another master of the craft and still maintain the ability to produce my own work at the same time. So instead of getting frustrated, I simply keep shipping.

I think one of the most important qualities I picked up from working at an agency is the importance of responding to clients and turning over work as promptly as quality permits. Whether it was responding within minutes of emails hitting the inbox or pushing content well before due dates, the philosophy was simple, the more work we can produce and get out the door, the more revenue we can raise and most importantly, the more time we will have to go after the next project we really care about. This idea of holding onto projects like they are children you fear won’t return when they depart to college, was a foreign concept.

As I took the leap into the freelance world, I look back and can’t thank the old creative team at the agency enough for that one over encompassing lesson. I continually challenge myself to, as Ira Glass says, “Do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work.” It’s the only way I feel I’ll be able to really bridge that gap of the work I am producing now and the work I know I am capable of.

I am thankful that I have a partner who has the same theory. And to observe her taking on the same challenges, struggles, internal wrestling matches with her own work is a beautiful reminder that we are not alone. This is something so many creatives go through.

And as I continue to trudge through this awkward teenager phase I feel I am going through with my craft, I look at every project as one piece of a train ticket I’ll use to ride to a new station of melding creativity. The brilliant thing about this phase or station as I see it, is I feel each project is an incrementally bigger piece of the stub than the last. I am more thankful than ever that though overwhelming it can be, the Vimeo:Pintrest:Twitter world of constant incredible work, is also a massive pool of thoughtful suggestions and ideas to build from.

The project woven into this blog was for a great company here in Denver called Mile High Mountaineering or MHM Gear. And is a prime example of responding, shipping, and using inspiration to build a project. I received an email last Thursday afternoon looking to have a video produced no later than today. 6 days. Of which I had a shoot on Monday and no time Sunday to work on. 4 days. Luckily I had just wrapped a project that morning and had the ability to shift a few non-time critical edits around. So we hopped on it. I added up something just under 35 hours I was able to spend on it from the initial email to the product you see above. A pure thrill of finding talent, locations, filming and a couple days hanging with the magic mouse. By no means is it oscar worthy, nor a piece I don’t wish I could spend another day or two tweaking, but I think it’s a piece that makes me look at the lessons I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been at this.

I’ll write about doing all of this solo on a different day, but in short, I need to say thank you to all those who help me through the process of creation. I started this project sorting through an hours worth of Vimeo films for ideas and then on to picking through searchable Pintrest boards for title inspiration to help fill the 90 seconds which was the initial cut. And then it was helped along by Kelsey’s occasional and somewhat subtle wince and other sets of eyes from friends in Michigan and New York, and finally the talent tossing over a couple little tweaks. I’ve got a theory about this new world agency of creative minds clashing in productive ways to help move along this little creature down a path unknown.

Is it perfect. By no means. But I will continue to ship. As much as I can, as quickly as quality deems reasonable. As I walk around looking for another scrap, I must continue to remind myself to be filled with patience and allow due process in building my ticket, which may be departing soon, to the next un-perfect place I will begin the search all over again.

Thanks to Corbyn and the Bove’s for allowing me to capture them on camera.  The above photos were taken in-between shots. You gotta check out what Adam and Ali are up to on the other side of the lens, huge shout out to having rad, talented friends!

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I recently heard Apple is about to take over and revolutionize yet another industry that many think is nearly impossible to change, television, and I believe if they don’t someone should and will. Give it two years to be implemented and another five and the way we watch said ‘TV’ will be completely changed.

We’ve been through this before, well not me, but my parents have. When this foreign and magical new technology called Cable was introduced, it opened up a world of possibilities. Instead of sending signal through the heavily trafficked sky, we can send as much and more with a massive improvement in quality through underground wires. Then we got the big dish. Another big step to sending more channels to our boob tubes, but this time, from anywhere you could see stars and had electricity.

These all fit the same mold, sending you an analog or digital signal to watch content that is completely controlled by someone far away determining how long the show was going to be. In the 1960′s the break down of an hour long block of content contained 51 minutes of show and 9 minutes of commercials, today we only see 42 minutes of a show for each hour we watch (not including sports like soccer which have a running time that is unstoppable). But then a brilliant company came along, TiVo, and said, hey, we should be able to watch whatever show we want, whenever we want. And if you’re a sports fan, you now had the ability to prove that his foot did hit inbounds, long before the ref ever makes his official reversal call on the field or watch that walk off grand slam over and over again. A huge leap in broadcast, but it also came with a built in speed bump for advertisers who lost a bit of their control and could easily and often be paused and fast forwarded through. In desperation, they threw handfuls of sand on the fire by trying to keeping their logo on the screen longer, but it was no match for 4X warp speed controls. Then we start talking about the financial system and the entire system is debunked. You pay for content in huge chunks: local, basic, standard, platinum, and gold packages, with no choice for an option to just watch only the content you care for, like say, Mad Men, SportsCenter and the local news. You have to buy into the platinum with TLC, E! and the Cartoon Network.

So with that problem came another great solution: Hulu and Netflix. They are the apple pie to many college students and the people who choose to not live life by a television set. Combine that with a GoogleTV or Rubik’s tv box and you’ve practically have the world in front of your eyes. And then the individual channels took notice and were forced to get on board, offering paid online subscriptions to watch content anytime, anywhere. Take HBO for example, if you buy into HBO through your carrier subscription, you can watch their content on your Television, online and on your mobile. But the kicker, “through your carrier”. So it gets close, yet still doesn’t answer to the call of today’s standards. We still have all the issues of the past. How do we pay for all of this, why is it coming from so many different carriers and the bigger question; why can’t I just pay for what I want to watch, in one place, one easy to use system that is ubiquitous between your TV, computer and mobile.

We witnessed an outcry from the world for change after NBC clearly wasn’t ready for the new media age demands at the 2012 London Olympics. And this is where one of the big three (Apple, Google, or Amazon) have been presented an opportunity to merge what the world has all individually created, into a more refined and updated viewing experience. And it might look a little bit like this:

You walk in from work, flip on your screen (or clap or ask Siri, different strokes for different folks), tell it what you want to watch, and it starts the episode/show/sporting event from where you left it when you were sitting on the train 10 minutes previously. You then turn on your mobile phone app and it automatically switches over as you walk out to put the chicken on the grill. But we’ve seen that ad for DirectTV, so what makes it revolutionary?

It’s from one source, and you only buy the exact content you want. So when you walk into work the next morning and your co-worker asks if you saw the new show from Discovery, you can purchase the content immediately to watch on your way home. I am a 23 year old filmmaker, loyal to the Rockies and Broncos, watch Mad Men for its cinematography and Modern Family to escape long days. So I purchase only the Rockies games from MLB, Broncos games from NFL (probably purchase the RedZone channel too), then buy Mad Men and Modern Family individually. All easily through a one click purchase. That $80 cable bill gets tossed for a $15 one and the cash goes directly to support the content I want to watch.

I relate the eminent change to cable and dish companies to what’s happening in the oil and gas industry, except tech moves 30 times as fast. Eventually, we will all drive alternative energy cars, but the big oil companies are going to fight it off as long as possible as they have a system they know and trust will bring in billions a year. So there’s the prompt for Exxon to air commercials to share their interest in life after oil, yet in all actuality only spend 1% of their profits in that sector. It’s the same with cable and dish, with DirectTV now offering their biggest seller, NFL Ticket on mobile and giving the ability to set your DVR from anywhere online. A small and valiant effort to keep up with times, but it’s too little too late in a game that’s about to completely shifted in a different direction.

Apple and Google already have app store structures than have been tested over years and Amazon taught them both how to run a successful store. So now it’s just up to one of them to convince the media buyers that targeted advertising is the way of the future. Think of it this way advertisers, each person has to login to access their purchased content, and just like Facebook, you can now target ad’s directly to specific targeted individuals. It’s nothing revolutionary, but still impossible in today’s system, and is a win for everyone.

So then it just comes down to getting the networks to allow the shift, and once they realize it will change their system in a brilliant way, it’ll be a domino effect. One network will offer it, we will all demand it, and they will all follow. Think New York Times being convinced by Apple to create an app, and then the rest of the news world was forced to follow as paper became to outdated in a fast paced world. Once the conversion happens, the networks will act more like studio’s. They will fund and support content that is demanded. Giving away free pilots of new shows and then they’ll watch how it plays both on downloads/views, but now also on the playing fields of social networks. It becomes much more interactive. We as people begin to support exactly what we want as networks compete for our attention, forcing the content to be relavent and meaningful. Shows like The Hills and Jersey Shore (worst rated on IMDB with over 5,000 votes) won’t occupy our valuable time, and funding will be cut with direct support from viewers instead of advertisers. Oh, and hey Nielsen, your ratings will not only be immediate, they’ll be perfectly accurate. Sending out survey’s was so 1950.

It all may seem so obvious, and we’ve all been wanting this some modified version of this system for a few years. Fortunately, the audience who was so frustrated over the lack of on-demand content deemed ‘prime time’ by NBC in London, due to advertising agreements, now has a voice. Thanks Jack Dorsey.

I am not much of a TV watcher myself, and that’s exactly why this system is so brilliant. Having the ability to watch what I want, when and where I want it, and only pay for that said content, is a beautiful thing…and so close.

camera: 5DM2 + 50mm 1.4

edit: LR4 + new VSCO Film Pack 2 (Kodak Porta 400 NC) with modifications

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I finally took my camera out yesterday at Piney Lake and made a few photographs.

Location: Piney Lake (north from Vail)

Camera: 5Dm2 + 50mm 1.4

Edit: LR4 + VSCO Film

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