Mark Hensley Photography ( AKA MH2Photo )

Slow Motion Testing on the Sony NEX FS700 at 240 FPS

admin — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:32:19 +0000

I have recently begun using the Sony FS700 for video capture. I know I will still be using my Canons as well but I plan on doing most of my primary shooting on the FS700 unless specified by my customers. That said I needed to get a little test time on the new baby and what better way to test out slow motion than a video shoot at the beach with my beautiful wife and a nice flowing dress to catch the wind. We had a lot of fun right until the mosquitoes showed up,,, by the thousands then I had to carry her across a hot parking lot to the car to save her from being eaten alive. It was worth though as we got some pretty good footage. here is a sample of what the FS700 can do in its 240FPS mode.

Dark Minds Director of Photography and Principal Cinematographer

admin — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:55:12 +0000

I have been working with DiBacco Films for some time now and we reached an agreement that will have me filming my second film for them starting this July 20th. The movie is called Dark Minds, here is the story synopsis:

Jennifer Williams is a professional psychic that has helped the local police solve open case crimes in the past. She has a track record with the local detectives and solved a national case that had huge media attention a few years back. Dr. Fenton is a psychiatrist that is also a psyhic but no one knows that he has psychic abilities. While Jennifer uses her abilities to help solve crimes and fix the patients she has, Fenton is using his abilities to molest young girls and have sex with them under hypnosis. The bridge between the two is Beverly, a confused 20 something that is searching for answers and still grieving over her parents death. While Jennifer tries to help Beverly, Fentons goal is to seduce her. The two paths cross when Jennifer finds out that Fenton has been destroying the Innocence of young girls for years. Jennifer sets out to stop Fenton from hurting Beverly and anyone else. It’s an emotional battle of wills that all takes place in the unnavigable maze we call the mind.

More information on the cast can be found here at IMDB: Dark Minds on IMDB

The Armory South Portland Maine

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 04:37:29 +0000

This morning I met with Eric Anderson, well known local special effects artist, and spent some time walking around the Armory located in South Portland Maine. The Armory served as a national guard outpost for many years. Once it was abandoned it eventually made is way back into the hands of the town of South Portland.

Seeking a creative use for the space the town council has been working with Hollywood veteran production designer and art director Eric Matheson who has worked on such films as Empire Falls, The Cider House Rules, and Amistad to name only a few.

Mr. Matheson is leading the Fore River Sound Stage company and is spearheading the efforts to renovate the aging armory and configure it to become a focal point for film production here in the state of Maine and New England. Clearly there is work to be done but given the natural beauty of our state and depth of talent that can be found here and through out New England it seems only fitting that there should be more opportunities for major film production here in Maine. If you agree please feel free to contact your congressman and ask the hard questions on state initiatives and incentives for the film industry. Who knows perhaps someday a film about Maine will actually be able to be filmed here as well.

A big thanks to Eric Matheson and Eric Anderson for letting me spend some time in this remarkable space.

Vacationland Bowling and Recreation Center Promo Video and TV Spot

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:48:16 +0000

Through our good friends at VR Marketing we had the pleasure of developing a business promotional video for Vacationland Bowling and Recreation Center located in Saco Maine. The goal of the video was to showcase the fun that can be had for all ages at Vacationland Bowling. Ry Russel of VR Marketing directed our extras who of course had a blast bowling on the Candlestick lanes. We even gave them a taste of “Glow Bowling” where the normal lights are turned off and the disco lights kick in changing an already fun evening into a real party. To further promote Vacationland Bowling and Recreation Center as a great way to beat cabin fever we have spun their promo video into a 30 second TV commercial which will be aired on WGME 13 soon. Here is the commercial.

Fashion Without Limits Empowering Disabled Maine

admin — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:05:04 +0000

I mentioned in my last post that Whitney and I worked at a fashion show this past Friday. That show was hosted by Fashionable Giving of which we have become the official photographers and videographers. This event was held on behalf Miss Wheelchair Maine Monica Quimby and the Advocacy Organization. With the Christmas holiday so close it seemed only fitting for the theme of the show to take on a Christmas flare. To that end Lingerie De Amor and “Restless Threads” of Saco provided both Christmas and Boutique wear for the models. Here are just some of the photos we took that evening. As you can see it was a very festive event!!!

Corporate Head Shots with VR Marketing

admin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:29:09 +0000

The past week has been a busy one. A fashion show on Friday, shooting on a short film Saturday and Sunday and more filming for a local photographer and his video blog on Monday. What does all this mean, lots of editing to be done. On Friday I mentioned that Whitney and I worked at a fashion show put on by Fashionable Giving a non profit organization that selects a new charitable organization for each event they hold. This last event they had everything covered except for an MC for the event. Luckily at the last minute Ry Russel of VR Marketing stepped up to MC the event and did a fine job. While we were getting ready for the show that day we had some time to pop off a couple of quick images of Ry and his business partner Sean Violette. Sometimes both location and the natural light can lend to a nice head shot as was the case this day. here are some of photos of guys looking good.

Photo Session with Investment Engineering

admin — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:49:15 +0000

This past week I had the pleasure of working with an engineering firm located right here in my home town of Yarmouth Maine. To make it even more interesting their offices were located in the old Spar Hawk Mill which is where I first worked when I came to Maine some fifteenth years ago. Back then I came to join a young little software company called Kepware now Kepware Technologies. So it was good to be back in the building were I got my start here in Maine. One interesting little side note regarding the Spar Hawk mill is the rumored ghost that still wonders the old wooden floor boards of the mill. I didn’t get in to a lot of details with the guys at Investment Engineering as we had just met and I like to let folks get to know me a little before they find out I’m a little crazy, Just Kidding,, maybe…

Well our friendly ghost didn’t make an appearance which was just fine since we had a busy day taking photos of the team. The goal for the shoot was to create a set of photos that was a mix of somewhat classical head shots along with some images that were more stock like in their appearance. As you can see from the selection below I think we accomplished that fairly well.

Demonstration of the Technicolor CineStyle settings for Canon Cameras

admin — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:28:12 +0000

I use my Canon DSLRs to capture both stills and video. As a still camera you always have the option of capturing you photos in the RAW form which gives you a tremendous amount of data to work with when manipulating the image. In video mode however the camera must do everything it can to reduce the amount of data it is generating in order to get as much video onto the limited space of a memory card. I know, it’s kinda hard to think of a 16 Gig or 32 gig memory card as limited but when it comes to video they are just that. With this in mind the camera does what it can to fit the video image into a small 8 bit color space. In the process of doing this a lot of information can be lost from the video image. This lost data can make it very hard to “grade” film term, for adjusting the look. So the good folks at Technicolor developed a better picture style for the Canon cameras which gets much more visual data into the video than would normally be possible. This extra data makes editing and coloring the video much easier. Here is a video I made to demonstrate how much additional data is captured when using the CineStyle profile. When you watch this you will find yourself saying “I like the look of the Standard profile best” and that’s fine but this is what you might want as an end result after you edit, not what comes right out of the camera. Here is the demonstration:

The CineStyle profile can be found here at the Technicolor web site, CineStyle Profile for Canon Cameras .

30 Second TV Spot for Crystal Events and Design

admin — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 15:50:39 +0000

This past week we filmed a 30 second TV spot for local business owner Crystal Rogers of Crystal Events and Design. I met Crystal as a result of our Zombie Kickball video that she saw on one of the local social networking sites. We developed the concept for this ad over the course of two meetings. After submitting some potential actors for the piece Crystal made her selection and we were off to the races. Filming took about four hours. I had some help from my son Alex and my friend Scott both of whom made the paper explosion possible. I have included some behind the scenes photos so you can see how the video was shot. If you are a small business owner here in Maine and need to promote your company, products, or services please give us a call. I am sure we can craft and fun and exciting video for you.

Portland Zombie Kickball 2011

admin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 04:28:12 +0000

Sometimes you just have to get out and do something just for the fun of it. Today was just such a day. Each year a since 2006 a group of very dedicated members of the undead get together to play a friendly game of Kickball here in Portland Maine on our beautiful Eastern Prom. Its a great event for all that come to watch. A lot of the folks really pull out all the stops when it comes to their costume and makeup but judge for yourself. Here is a little video I put together using my trusty Canon 60D and Panasonic GH2.

I would also like to thank Pete Witham & The Cozmik Zombies for letting me use their song “I Wanna Be A Zombie”. Find this song and more at:

http://www.reverbnation.com/petewitham