I have owned professional video or 16mm film cameras since 1990.  However, in these twenty years of ownership I have never shot or produced what might be called a personal project or project for personal artistic development.

I seem to strike up conversations nearly wherever I go.  Most of the subjects are something common like the weather or business or politics (if that can be called common these days).

But,  some of these conversations have been more in depth.  A few have lingered in my mind for years.

Recently, I’ve realized that some of the people I’ve been lucky enough to talk to have something to say that should be heard by more folks than just me.  How to approach and go about this is a huge question.   All of the corporate and television “documentary” work I’ve shot has been heavily scripted.  My conversations with these “normal” strangers just doesn’t fit into traditional production methods of big cameras, large equipment, scripts, and crew.  The spontaneity and the “realness” of these conversations would be lost with a traditional production approach.

I’d been playing around with the new Canon 5DMKII DSLR camera shooting snippets of video in different locations.  But, until this “proof of concept” piece I had done nothing more than look at the 5DMKII footage on a 42” panel or 24” computer or 15” laptop screens.

I was in Savannah at the end of April for a workshop on Street Portraiture (still photography).  I had brought along a couple of pieces of video related gear just in case an opportunity presented itself for motion shooting.  Due to the pace of the workshop there just wasn’t time earlier in the week to shoot any motion footage.

On the afternoon of the last day of the workshop, on the last assignment, I decided that I should not leave Savannah without attempting to see whether my far-fetched idea of bare minimum shooting with a DSLR to tell a motion visual story was possible.

I did not have enough time with Jabulani to capture a full motion story.  The sun was setting and Jabulani was done working for the day and was waiting for me to finish.  So, I wasn’t able to shoot proper cut-aways, additional sound, etc.  This was a quick and dirty “proof of concept” attempt.  Could I capture a slice of a person’s life with the bare minimum of equipment (an equipment list I could easily walk though town with and not attract attention)?

The story told through my still picture assignment is about a palm weaver who makes and sells hand-crafted items to tourists while they wait and watch.  The motion piece with sound tells a completely different story, one that could never be told without sound and is enhanced by motion images.

Any comments would be appreciated!