Adventure Documentary Session in Fort Worth, Texas

I’ve been recording audio from my life for a long time. It’s like journal entries for my ears: trickles of campsite streams, tropical wind blowing acres of wild island bush like an infinite chorus of maracas, conversations *with* birds, and countless hours of the people in my life. and a voicemail my grandma left me in tears when I sent her the first family photo.

I’ll always be fond of the first multimedia production I created. I started using video and audio in my projects in 2016, and . On comissioned photo shoot there were a few moments where I thought audio or video recording was better. I did it in one of those pure creation moments, where you’re just following what feels natural. . It’s still one of my favorite multimedia productions, and I think it’s because it was such a natural creation.

If I’m totally honest: I never really know what I’m going to produce from a session or wedding. Even the best-laid plans guarantee that I’ll be surprised by something and curious about what we didn’t expect.

I made this entirely with one camera, one lens, and one small audio recorder. Chelsea and Mack would probably tell you the time we spent together was effortless at most.

Originally I pitched this idea of an Adventure Documentary Session to Mack as we were brainstorming how to make a photo session happen for Chelsea’s birthday. I was shooting out of town that week and offered to fly in for an afternoon, get me from the airport and we’d just adventure around for a while on a date day, and then drop me back off… and they jumped with me.

We had no plans to make a video. In fact I don’t think they knew I took any footage besides the photos they commissioned. The audio and video was naturally in the moment inspired for me, and I had no idea what would come of the audio and video clips… they just felt right in the moment.

We just spent time as they would naturally spend an ideal day off together. The Zoo is one of their favorite hangs, as well as…. well, everything in the video.

You’re welcome to skip right down and play the video.

This entry is also about my new idea. New ideas are scary, and through their openness and authenticity, and without even knowing it, Chelsea and Mack helped me overcome my new-idea-fear and show it’s actually a very good idea. So I’m putting it out there, because I want to do this for more people, and I truly believe in it as a powerful documentary method.

I think I’m going to call this idea an Adventure Documentary Session (feel free to make a more apt suggestion in the comments after viewing the video below!) because I want it to work for all kinds of people and all sorts of lives, and especially people who enjoy their life and relationships as an adventure.

Here’s the deal, and exactly what I did for Chelsea and Mack: I fly in to your city, you pick me up at the airport, we go on an adventure together, I’ll document the adventure- and more importantly your relationship(s)- and then you drop me back off at the airport later that night. A few weeks later I’ll deliver something special.

“You” could be your whole family, you and your partner, your group of best friends, or a pairing I haven’t yet imagined. Depending on flights I figure we can get 5-12 hours of adventure out of this (I was with this pair for 7 hours). And adventure needn’t be of grand NatGeo scale, although it could be. Chelsea and Mack planned their favorite play date and I went along like a friendly 3rd wheel; I didn’t make any suggestions (except a few really nice portraits on the fly), this is purely Chelsea and Mack.

My primary goal is to create an essay of photographs that give the most authentic insight into who you are, how you relate, and your energy with life. If I can gather a little video and audio, like I did for this session, then I’d also create a multimedia piece like what you’ll find below. All this is done very organically, and very minimally- I don’t want your adventurous day to feel like a production itself. I made this entirely with one camera, one lens, and one small audio recorder. Chelsea and Mack would probably tell you the time we spent together was effortless at most.

And I found with the extra time (my conventional sessions are 20-90 minutes) and freedom there’s virtually no pressure to do or be anything for me or the camera. I took the same number of pictures for Chelsea and Mack over 7 hours as I do at a typical 90 minute photo session. It’s not about getting MORE photos, it’s about getting DEEPER and making more IMPORTANT and AUTHENTIC photos.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, reactions, and interests in the comments under the video. And when you’d like to chat about scheduling your own Adventure Documentary Session, simply send me a note!