Bill Gates is amazing!
Filed under: Random | 1 Comment
Tags: Batman, Bill & Melinda Gates, Bill Gates, Charity, Microsoft, Philanthropy
10 Favorite Reads of 2011
Hello Everyone!
Yes, I know it is not the best literature in the world (why I used the word “favorite” and not “best”), but here are my top ten reads of 2011… Well, I read them in 2011. I have no idea if most of them were published in 2011. They are in alphabetical order because they are SO different that I can’t possibly rank and compare them.
The Autobiography of an Execution by David R. Row
See my full review here. The Autobiography of an Execution is the definitive case AGAINST the death penalty in the U.S. I already strongly opposed the death penalty, but this book completely reaffirmed my beliefs and gave me even more reasons to disagree with it. If you are for or against the death penalty you should read this book– it gives a gripping view of the legal and human side of death row in Texas. Legal death penalty stuff may sound boring, but it was actually a total page-turner. (If you like this book, check out Into the Abyss, a new Herzog documentary on the death penalty).
Bossypants by Tina Fey
If you watch NBC’s hit show 30 Rock you know that Tina Fey is hands-down one of the funniest comedians of our time. Bossypants is no exception. This memoir covers many topics including her awkward childhood, her years on SNL and the conception of 30 Rock. If you love Tina Fey, I highly recommend buying the Audiobook, read by Fey herself. Her jokes are a lot funnier when you hear her deliver them and she does some pretty awesome voices.
The Camera Assistant’s Manual by David E. Elkins
Yes, this is a very nerdy pic to include on my top 10 list, but this book has been my bible since moving to LA. If you need to know any information about motion picture cameras, go here first. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a lot of information on digital cameras, but it gives you a very detailed account of what is required of each job in the camera department, as well as huge amounts of camera information in general. I read this book in college, but now I keep it in my car in case I have to look up anything on set.
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Columbine is one of the most thorough non-fiction books I have ever read in my life. Dave Cullen spent 10 years researching and writing this complete account of the tragic Columbine High School shooting in April 1999 and he pieced it together in hundreds of pages that attempt to uncover every Columbine truth and every media-made Columbine fiction. The book is fascinating, horrifying, and impeccably written. If you love non-fiction this book will rivet you.
Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: Authorized Adaptation by Tim Hamilton
When I first read Fahrenheit 451 at the end of 6th grade, I hated it. I read it later in high school and I loved it. Now I consider it one of my favorite books, and have reread it multiple times since. I was thus pleased to see that Ray Bradbury has authorized the graphic novel adaptations of several of his books. Let me tell you, Fahrenheit 451 is AMAZING in graphic novel form. It is one of the most beautifully illustrated graphic novels I have ever read. The color palette is so beautiful, the style and cinematic way of telling the story is just so perfect. If you love graphic novels or Fahrenheit 451, or both, check it out!
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
Ever since the rise of Twilight I’ve been skeptical of the INSANELY popular teen series…es. My dear friend Julian, however, told me I should read The Hunger Games and he was totally right. Numero Uno (The Hunger Games) is AWESOME, Numero dos (Catching Fire) is not that great but you have to get through it because Numbero Tres (Mockingjay) is great. They are pretty sappy at times (keep in mind that they were originally meant for teen girls, i.e. they have a little too much mushy love stuff– especially in #2, which is probably why I didn’t like it) but it’s definitely a fun read with great characters. Read it before the movie comes out in 2012.
Is Everyone Else Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Is Everyone Else Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) is another great memoir by a popular TV comedienne. Mindy writes for, produces and stars in NBC’s hit TV show The Office, which I have also been a fan of for years. Like Tina Fey’s memoir, Mindy spends half of the book telling awkward childhood stories and then moves onto her rise in the TV world with Conan and The Office. I enjoyed Tina Fey and Mindy Kaling’s books so much that I bought copies of them for several friends this Christmas. That being said, I think you have to be a girl (or a gay guy?) to appreciate half of Mindy Kaling’s book, whereas Tina Fey’s is more universally funny. Either way, it was a quick, hilarious read.
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
Read my full review here. A Stolen Life is the incredible memoir of Jaycee Dugard, who was abducted by two strangers on her way to school in 1991 at age 11. For the next eighteen years, she was held in captivity by Phillip and Nancy Garrido until her rescue in 2009. She endured years of sexual and psychological abuse and gave birth to two daughters with her captor, the first when she was only 14 years old. If you love non-fiction you will love this book, unless you have small children, in which case wait a few years to read this or you will become paranoid by this insane survival story.
The Walking Dead Compendium One
I read a few issues of The Walking Dead sometime during college, but the rise in popularity of AMC’s TV series The Walking Dead (based on the graphic novels) inspired me to read the entire Compendium One (literally thousands of pages of Walking Dead). There’s not doubt in my mind that Volume 1: Days Gone By is the best, so if you want to dip your toe in the water before going balls to the wall with Walking Dead I suggest purchasing just that one and seeing what you think.
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Truth be told, I still haven’t finished 11/22/63… but it is totally awesome. Totally awesome, but INSANELY long. I started the book a week ago and am probably halfway through it. The jacket description doesn’t really give you a good idea of the book– basically, it’s about a professor in 2011 who finds a portal back to 1958 and is convinced by a dying man that he should spend 5 years in the past in a radical attempt to stop JFK’s assassination, change history and solve all of 2011′s problems. Based in fact (not the time traveling, everything else) and TOTALLY riveting, I highly recommend this book, if you have the time. I’m listening to a great version from Audible, which makes it a lot easier for me to find the time. Still, it’s over 32 hours long.
Filed under: Book Reviews | 2 Comments
Tags: 11/22/63, 30 Rock, A Stolen Life, AMC, Bossypants, Catching Fire, Columbine, Columbine High School, Dave Cullen, David E Elkins, David R Row, Death Penalty, Fahrenheit 451, Graphic Novels, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Jaycee Dugard, Memoir, Mindy Kaling, Mockingjay, NBC, Non-Fiction, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Suzanne Collins, The Autobiography of an Execution, The Camera Assistant's Manual, The Hunger Games, The Office, The Walking Dead, Tim Hamilton, Tina Fey, Twilight
A few Boston photos…
Hello Friends and Family! I’m in Boston this week visiting old friends and I thought I would post some photos from Peter, Trevor and my Boston Commons walk this afternoon. Check it out…
Piece of the Boston skyline as seen from the Boston Commons.
Trevor and Peter comparing camera settings.
The Public Gardens
So many geese!
A glowing tree at sunset
George Washington and the Boston skyline
Curly rope lights on Newbury Street
Cute yogurt logo… Don’t remember what the store was called.
More soon…
Filed under: Boston, Helena Bowen Photography, Photography | 1 Comment
Tags: Boston, Boston Commons, Boston skyline, Canon 7D, Public Gardens, Sunset
Never Again, Vistaprint
For years I have been a loyal Vistaprint customer– spending hundreds of dollars on business cards, calendars, return address labels, photo mugs, greeting cards, etc. featuring my photography. I have ordered several beautiful sets of photo business cards in the past for both myself and my mother. This fall, I ordered a new set of business cards and I kid you not, it looks like the deranged 5-year-old children that live below me printed the cards at home and cut them out by hand. I tried writing Vistaprint a letter of complaint in attempt to either A) get a new, nice, properly printed set of cards or B) my money back. No response. I said “never again, Vistaprint!” and ignored them for a few months… but was lured back by their Cyber Monday photo calendar sale thinking maybe they’ll get it right this time and that maybe the business cards were a fluke. Last year, I bought photo calendars from Vistaprint (on Cyber Monday, for the same price) and they look beautiful… This year, I eagerly opened my set of calendars and almost threw them across the room. The printing looks ATROCIOUS. They reduced the contrast of every photo to as low as it gets, the color is a far cry from the originals AND to add insult to injury, there are streaky vertical lines in each photo. NEVER AGAIN. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough money to get them reprinted at another company, so instead I will publicly proclaim my utter disgust with Vistaprint’s drastic decline in quality and repost the photos included in my calendar here. Apologies to everyone who was looking forward to my calendar this year; I really wish the printing did my photos justice.
Vistaprint, when you screw up you make ME look bad too. Never again.
Click for a larger version:
2012 PHOTO CALENDAR
Filed under: Helena Bowen Photography, Photography | 2 Comments
Tags: Don't Use Vistaprint, photography, Printing Service, Vistaprint, Vistaprint Sucks
For LOTR Fans
Hello Friends and Family!
Long time no speak (unless you’ve checked my other blog). Just thought I’d share some awesome videos from Peter Jackson’s Facebook about the production of The Hobbit. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan or filmmaking junkie, you’ll love these films.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments
Tags: 3D, 48 fps, Behind-the-Scenes, Filmmaking, Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, RED Epic, The Hobbit
I recently finished reading The Autobiography of an Execution by Texas death penalty lawyer David R. Dow and I would highly recommend it, despite it’s deeply depressing nature. David Dow has worked for years defending death row inmates in the state that has the greatest affinity for killing them, with an execution rate 4 times that any other state. I’m sure this fact was recently brought to your attention by the Republican presidential debates. Unfortunately for Dow (and as it seems, all death penalty lawyers in Texas), he has worked on hundreds of cases and hardly ever saves his clients lives. The book briefly covers many cases, but focuses on one: that of Henry Quaker (a pseudonym to retain lawyer-client confidentiality), a man convicted of the murder of his wife and children who everyone knows to be innocent. Unfortunately, Quaker had an incompetent trial lawyer who did absolutely nothing to defend him and he was effortlessly sent to death row. As Quaker’s execution date approaches, Dow and his team of lawyers works tirelessly to exploit every possible legal avenue to save Quaker and prove his innocence. However, they run into countless roadblocks in the American legal system that make it nearly impossible to do their job. This book is not only a sobering account of the death penalty in the U.S., but also a testimony to how messed up the American legal system can be. One of the most interesting passages of Dow’s book speaks of how the American legal system was founded upon a lack of accountability and responsibility. A juror can hide among the jury, a judge can hide behind the jury, a supreme court judge can hide behind the other six, etc. He argues that sentencing a man to death is much easier when each person can pass the blame to another.
The book is fascinating and hard to put down because Quaker’s case reads like a legal thriller. Dow also includes many endearing stories of his personal life, his wife and his son. Be prepared for a healthy dose of lawyer hero-complex, though, but what can you expect from someone who tirelessly and hopelessly fights for what seems to be a lost cause? In spite of his ego, I give Dow a lot of credit– I could never work in a profession where I constantly lost and watched my clients die.
I am still adamantly opposed to the death penalty, but the number one thing I took away from this book is that I do not want Rick Perry as president in 2012. If you’re on the fence about either issue, I strongly suggest reading this book.
Filed under: Book Reviews | 2 Comments
Tags: 2012 Presidential Campaign, David R. Dow, Execution, Govenor Perry, Lawyer, Rick Perry, Texas, The Autobiography of an Execution, U.S. Legal System
Museum of the Moving Image
On Wednesday, I decided to go down to New York one last time before moving across the country. I spent most of my day going to my favorite places (Tasty D-Lite = priority #1, The Strand, Saints Alp, B&H, Union Square etc.)
Worth the drive to NY on its own:
I also took a trip out to Astoria (in Queens) to the Museum of the Moving Image. I’d been there once before, but they had a really cool Jim Hensen (Muppets) exhibit and a few new items from Black Swan. For any cinephile, the museum is AWESOME, because it has tons of old props, costumes, etc. from classic movies BUT for the technically-inclined, it also has a phenomenal selection of old movie cameras, sound gear, editing equipment, projectors, dollies, cranes, lights, etc. that are displayed chronologically to show the progression of technology. Even if you aren’t a die-hard movie enthusiast, there are tons of hands-on exhibits, such as one where you get to create your own stop-motion animation and one where you get to try ADR (automated dialogue replacement, aka “dubbing”) on The Wizard of Oz. If you’re ever in NYC, I highly recommend it. Here are some of the cooler things at the museum (Muppets excluded, because that exhibit is “no photo”):
One of the original Chewbacca masks (made out of yak hair) and Jim Carrey’s head cast and mask for The Mask.
A mouthpiece that Marlon Brando wore for The Godfather to make his cheeks puff out the way they do in the movie. No wonder it’s hard to hear what he’s saying!
The hair piece and glue Robert DeNiro wore in Taxi Driver. I always assumed it was his own hair, but apparently not…
Mrs. Doubtfire mask
All the make-up used in Sex and the City. Upper left is Charlotte, upper right is Samantha, lower left is Carrie and lower right is Miranda.
Masks from the Elephant Man. Bummer about the reflections :\ but you can more or less see them.
Blue prints for Hannibals cage in Silence of the Lambs.
A model of Buffalo Bill’s creepy basement in Silence of the Lambs, complete with well. “Put the lotion in the basket!”
Dresses from (L to R): Samson & Delilah (1949), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Dress from Mildred Pierce (2011)
A model of the Roxy Theater (1988) in New York which seated 5,800 people.
A long line of vintage cameras, sigh 
The three-strip Technicolor camera was the 1st commercial full-color motion picture camera and it used 3 separate strips of black and white film (rolling at the same time). Each film only recorded part of the color spectrum and combined, they could reproduce the entire spectrum. This camera was used to shoot famous movies such as The Wizard of Oz (1939) and Gone with the Wind (1939). In the 1950s, Kodak came up with its own color process that required only 1 strip of film which made this camera obsolete.
Close-up of the inside. I do NOT envy the AC’s having to load the camera essentially three times!
The Mitchell VistaVision camera (1954) shot film horizontally to produce a larger negative. White Christmas (1954) and Vertigo (1958) were shot on this camera.
A big old Mole Richardson light from the 1930s. Amazing how they still look pretty much the same.
One of the original animatronic Yoda’s
A neck-stretching mechanism used in Black Swan (2010) as shown in use below:
The Tyrell Skyscraper from Blade Runner (1982). Because sets were so expensive to construct, they just shot this miniature and made it look like the full-sized thing.
An 1897 Edison Projecting Kinetoscope — one of the first projecting options for theaters. It sold for $100 back in the day– a lot of money at its time, I’m sure.
That’s all for the Museum of Moving Images!
Filed under: New York, Travel | Leave a Comment
Tags: ADR, Automated Dialogue Replacement, Black Swan, Blade Runner, Chewbacca, Costume Design, Dangerous Liaisons, Edison Projecting Kinetoscope, Film lighting, Filmmaking, Gone with the Wind, Honeymoon in Vegas, Jim Carrey, Jim Hensen, Lighting, Make-Up, Marlon Brando, Masks, Mildred Pierce, Mole Richardson, Movies, Mrs. Doubfire, Muppets, Museum of the Moving Image, New York City, Robert DeNiro, Roxy Theater, Samson & Delilah, Set Design, Sex and the City, Star Wars, Stop-Motion Animation, Tasty D-Lite, Taxi Driver, Technicolor, The Elephant Man, The Godfather, The Mask, The Silence of the Lambs, The Wizard of Oz, Vertigo, VistaVision, White Christmas, Wigs, Yoda
Two Blog-Related Announcements
Hello Friends and Family!
Two blog-related announcements for you today:
1) I finally have a real domain name for this blog (instead of having .wordpress at the end of everything – lame). My primary domain is now helenasblog.com. If you type in dpgirl.wordpress.com, it will redirect to the new address.
2) Trevor and I will begin our epic cross-country road trip in 3 days. We’ve started this blog: http://throadtrip.com Please follow us for updates and pictures! (P.S. I did NOT choose the name T-H-Road Trip.com. Regardless of the fact that it stands for Trevor and Helena’s road trip, “throad” is not a pleasant word…)
More blogs soon
Filed under: Travel | Leave a Comment
Tags: Road Trip
Veronika Ballerina on Vimeo
Hello Friends and Family!
Veronika Ballerina (a musical I shot for Film 3) is now on Vimeo! Go check it out. It has a slow European old-school start, but make sure and stay til the end for the huge musical number!
Click here for the full short: http://vimeo.com/25200501
Filed under: Boston University, Cinematography, Helena Bowen Photography, Personal Projects, Photography, Veronika Ballerina | Leave a Comment
Tags: Black and white film, Cinematography, Comedy Musical, Film 3, Jon Z, Veronika Ballerina, Vimeo
No, friends and family, I didn’t secretly get married without telling you. This blog is about my first job as a wedding videographer and what I learned from it.
Ever since I got my first “real” camera, I’ve wanted to photograph weddings. Unlike most girls who look at wedding magazines and think “someday my wedding will be just like this!” I think, “I could shoot that.” After hearing Trevor complain and complain about shooting weddings (sorry hun, can’t sympathize), Peter and I finally got our first wedding videography job! Of course, what I’d really love to do is still wedding photography, but after graduating with a BS in Film Production, shooting a wedding should be cake, right?
Luckily Trevor (who interned for a wedding videography company) gave us tons of tips and advice before the wedding so we were well prepared, but looking back at the footage there are a lot of things I’ll do differently next time.
Here’s a list of things I learned from my first wedding. Hopefully any photographers or videographers who stumble across this blog will learn from my successes and mistakes.
1. Shoot with a partner! Working with another person was TOTALLY invaluable. Sure you make less money with a partner, but you get so much better coverage and are way less stressed. When I went to go shoot prep with the groom, Peter made sure we didn’t miss anything good with the bride. When Peter set up our third camera, I was able to shoot the Bride getting dressed. When Peter ran out of cards, I had an extra one. When my lens wasn’t fast enough, Peter had a better one, etc. etc. I can imagine being a solo wedding photographer, but I would never want to be a solo wedding videographer. More than anything, it’s just more fun to have you friend come along with you!
2. Shoot with a tripod or monopod as much as you can! After the Bride and Groom’s prep and before the ceremony, Peter and I walked around the hotel and got “details” of the wedding– the fountain with the guests in the background, the wedding cake, close-ups of the flowers, the ice sculpture, the food, the champagne, etc. Of course, I made the stupid mistake of foregoing my tripod for the convenience of handheld. Wrong! I should’ve known better, and of course all the footage I shot during and after the wedding (on my tripod) turned out much, much better. Stability is always worth the extra effort when you’re watching the final product. It just looks so much more professional!
3. Shoot the ceremony video true multicam style. Peter and I kind of shot the ceremony multicam (like they do in sitcoms). We set up one wide static shot on the Panasonic HMC 150 and each had a roaming DSLR to cover the bride and the groom (pretty standard video “coverage”). Unfortunately, DSLRs can only shoot 12 minutes of video at a time, so we couldn’t do true multicam, where all 3 cameras run the duration of the show and are synced together by a slate. What I wish we’d done in retrospect (not that we had the resources) was use three cameras capable of shooting for long periods of time (HMC 150s for instance) and slated our footage at the beginning. That way, in post-production, we could have synced all three clips together in Avid (the best editing program for multicam) and then easily cut back and forth between different angles for the duration of the ceremony. This would make our lives MUCH easier and result in a much better ceremony video. The only downside to this plan is that you need enough money and resources to rent three cameras.
4. Get a better microphone! One thing that I’m really glad I did was walk around after the ceremony and ask guests for video messages to the bride and groom. I was afraid that my internal DSLR mic wasn’t sufficient enough and it did the job, but I would’ve been MUCH better off with a mounted shotgun mic. For the most part you can hear the cute messages they left for the bride and groom, but sometimes the background noise from the hotel is overwhelming and you lose what they’re saying.
For the ceremony, we miced the groom so that we could hear everything he, the bride and the officiant were saying without dealing with the trouble of micing the bride in her beautiful dress. It is much easier to mic a suit jacket!
5. Make conversation with the guests. As I walked around the champagne reception and got video messages from guests, I usually introduced myself by saying “Hi, my name is Helena and I’m the wedding videographer. Is there anything you would like to say to the bride and groom?” This worked very well and most people were excited and wanted me to record their message. However, in retrospect, what I wish I found out who the guests were (and wrote it down) so that I could’ve included that information in the edited video. Also, it would’ve been nice to know which people were more important than others. That’s not to say I would’ve skipped “less important” guests, but it would’ve been nice to know, for instance, when you’re about to shoot a message from the groom’s sister or the bride’s grandmother. If I had known who they were before they said “Hey Kristen it’s your Grammy!” I could have situated them in better light, gotten a better angle or made sure the location was better for the sound recording. I realized this immediately after I started shooting one of my last video messages, a charming old woman who turned out to be the Bride’s grandmother. I introduced myself and she nodded that she wanted to leave a message, but immediately after I hit record and she started talking, her teeth were totally covered in lipstick! In retrospect, I wish I would’ve stopped her and politely told her she had lipstick on her teeth, so the Bride’s grandmother wouldn’t be immortalized (in close up) with pink teeth, but I was inexperienced and shy enough not to know what to do. If I had a better conversation with her beforehand, the problem would have arisen before I clicked record.
6. White balance is gonna be a bitch! So make sure and bring something to help you white balance on the fly! The first room we were in– the Bride’s room– was a mess of many different light sources with many different Kelvin ratings (wah wah). I tried all the presets on my camera and nothing looked right but I couldn’t miss any of the good action, so I rolled with it. Still photographers have the luxury of A) Shooting in RAW, which makes it easy to adjust white balance in post and B) Flash, a controlled source of light. Unfortunately us videographers get screwed by low lighting and gross color temperature so we have to be prepared to compensate. I’m sure all of the Bride’s prep footage will turn out well with a hefty amount of color correction, but it would’ve been much easier if I got the right color temperature to start with!
7. Bring fast lenses! Of course, to bring fast lenses, you must be able to afford fast lenses (my problem). By the end of the night, the hotel was very dark and my f/2.8 lenses wouldn’t cut it anymore 
Luckily Peter had his f/1.8 lens for the last hour of the wedding. Of course, if we were still photographers this wouldn’t be a problem because of flash and the ability to drastically change shutter speed without affecting picture quality.
That’s all I can think of for now! Now that I’ve shot a wedding, I’m hoping it will be easier to get more wedding jobs. My next camera-related investment will probably be a f/1.8 lens or a flash, so that I can start getting stills jobs. That would be awesome!
Filed under: Cinematography, Helena Bowen Photography, Photography | Leave a Comment
Tags: Advice, Canon 60D, Canon 7D, Color Temperature, DSLR, Microphones, Monopods, Multicam, Panasonic HMC 150, Tips, Tripods, Videography, Wedding Photography, Wedding Videography, White Balance
Welcome!
