I just completed writing the VO for the introductory clip today. We’re assembling talent and the script is progressing.. warpspeed.
Author Archive
A short film is in the works, ABANDON DEEP SPACE NINE (Star Trek genre)
Posted in Captain's Personal Log, Music, Photography, Science Fiction, Video on February 19, 2013 by William HooksSample poster for upcoming documentary, OCCUPY LA (2013)
Posted in Photography, Photojournalism, Video on February 16, 2013 by William HooksPost-trip interviews being scheduled for inclusion in the documentary
Posted in Captain's Personal Log on February 9, 2013 by William HooksCurrent versions of ETERNAL GRANITE poster ads
Posted in Captain's Personal Log, Photography, Video on February 9, 2013 by William Hooks
3 more to follow…
My newest posters for the upcoming documentary
Posted in Photography, Travel on February 5, 2013 by William Hooks- Sequoia National Park, CA, October 2012
- Little Lakes Valley, Eastern Sierra, CA-December 2012
It was great fun creating these, and there will be several more to come. I hope that you enjoy them as well….
Some additional details:
Adobe Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 software
Nikon D600, various Nikkor lenses (Sequoia NP)
Canon DSLR (Little Lakes Valley)
It didn’t rain in southern CA yesterday, but…..
Posted in Photography on February 1, 2013 by William HooksMore thoughts about the Nikon D600 FX camera
Posted in Photography, Photojournalism, Reviews, Studio Portraiture, Video on February 1, 2013 by William HooksAfter several months of intensive use, these are some of my comments about the D600:
It continues to impress me with its overall versatility, good build quality, audio and video features and (actually) more resolution than I often need. One of the times when I find the 24MP files especially useful, though, is when required to crop heavily for print formats. I find that in most of these cases, the shoots cannot be rescheduled. Although I don’t have power aperture as on the D800/D4, it can be approximated by using a lens with an aperture ring.
While in a -15deg F snow camp in December, I was happy to observe that the battery functioned normally (!)
My experience with the camera has led me to use the battery grip moderately often, but in the field the ability to take a much lighter body and not sacrifice FX and feature set has been a huge advantage. Among the features I seem to be using most are in-camera HDR, timelapse, bracketing, and rapid switching between DX and FX format without the need to change lenses. Almost anything that avoids lens changes in the field is seen as a benefit for me- less to get inside the camera, faster operation, being able to push ISO and other attributes of the body to make the most use of each lens.
The menus have become even more intuitive with practice, and I have very few complaints regarding them. The control layout seems excellent to me…..
Los Angleles TIMES photo essay
Posted in Captain's Personal Log, Photography, Photojournalism on January 26, 2013 by William HooksMy standard Nikon setup for photojournalism
Posted in Photojournalism on January 19, 2013 by William HooksMy default setup includes a Nikon D600 with battery grip to incorporate a spare battery and make vertical shooting easy; I use a 24-70mm f/2.8 G Nikkor, allowing up to 24MP JPEG images in FX mode and smaller but very usable files in DX mode- where this lens approximates a 36-105mm f/2.8 zoom in coverage angles. Focus is in manual mode and I employ my RedRock Micro follow-focus ring on the lens to make focusing smoother- my hands are large, and it’s less work to grab it instead of the smaller-diameter lens ring.
The AF illuminator light is cancelled and beep is turned off, to be unobstrusive.
I carry a Nikon Coolpix S9100 which provides up to 20 seconds of recording for audio files per still image (for video, simply speak around the camera to engage the stereo mic) so that manual note-taking is almost completely eliminated. Because it doesn’t allow 24 FPS video, I set both cameras to 30 FPS to simplify video editing.
Flash is usually deactivated with both cameras. If I need flash for some reason, I’ll usually attach the SB-700 to the D600. The continuous frame rate of 5.5 FPS is usually adequate, and with these settings the buffer is most often sufficient for a burst of images.
Returning to part-time work as a radiologist after 14 month hiatus… and savoring winter
Posted in Captain's Personal Log on January 6, 2013 by William HooksLater this month, I expect to return to the universe of shifting electrons around on monitors and interpreting medical imaging studies. As much as possible, I hope to be able to continue enjoying my film-making and editing while moving on to new projects. Meanwhile, the winter’s in full swing and I intend to enjoy every time out there!
To all who follow my site- welcome to 2013 and may we all do better than last year, hopefully moving toward creating a society of which we can be proud for those yet to come.






















