A Taste of San Francisco

Last Tuesday I got a call from Shane Mac asking me to come down to San Francisco and shoot some video of the Zaarly Team. The only catch was, I had to fly out on Thursday. I moved a few things around on the schedule and within a few hours I had an Orbitz trip itinerary in my inbox. When I arrived at the Zaarly office on Thursday morning, I quickly unpacked, set up shop and got ready to shoot.

The whole point of my presence down there was to get video interviews of the creators of Zaarly. There wasn't much of a script so it was hard for me to know what I needed to pull out of these guys. However, I quickly learned they didn't hire me to be a camera guy. Now this was a big realization to me. This was the point where I realized "I'm not a camera guy". Sure I like cameras and I use cameras but they're just tools. I'm a producer. I'm a director. I'm a story teller. So that means if all I'm doing is manning the camera and making sure the shot looks good, I'm not doing my job. My job is to help the person on camera tell a story. Whether that's through a photo or video it doesn't matter. That's my job and I wasn't doing it. These dudes were looking at me for direction. They were looking at me to do the work. They were looking at me because they hired me!

Once this all set in, I was able to switch gears and get to work. Things went really smoothly after that moment of realization. I made that mistake, and now I'll make every effort to not make it again. I was being an event photographer at a portrait session. I was waiting for things to happen and trying to capture them as they did. If I'm waiting for things to happen, I'm not directing. I need to make things happen. You need to make things happen!

This trip was incredible on several different accounts. I met a lot of great people in a very short period of time. Surround yourself with people who inspire and motivate and amazing opportunity awaits you. I truly believe that. Now keep in mind, it's only opportunity which only works if you take action. Take action!

Bo and Eric going over tasks for the flight home.

Meet Shane Mac. A dude who motivates and inspires.