The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest structure of its kind in the world, spanning more than 24 miles. While driving across, you cannot see the other side, and it takes a good 30 mins to get across it.

We arrived in New Orleans yesterday and this is what welcomed us. This mad-made behemoth was under water when Katrina hit. Now it stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of the people of New Orleans, dazzling all those who traverse it

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Counterpunch.com has an interesting article on Katrina’s two year anniversary. Read it here: Katrina Two Years Later, by Bill Quigley

When I my initial filming in June 2007, I had brought the following camera equipment with me:

.5x Wide Angle Lens – Recommended for any type of shooting…except closeups.

Two D8 (Digital8/Hi8) Camcorders – One that belonged to me, and the other being my friend’s.

Generic RadioShack Microphone – After two years of much use and abuse, the mic was beginning to not work on me. I figured, this is its last trip.

Borrowed a Panasonic GS80 – Good camera for sub $300 range.

Since filming last time was mostly interviews and people, this setup wasn’t so bad. I did realize that when I shot the outdoor sequences I would need more appropriate equipment. This time around since most of my shooting will be outdoors I decided to purchase some new equipment.

I bought the following:

Zoom H4 Handy – Wav audio recording at 96Khz

Sennheiser MKE300 — I needed a shotgun mic, and according to people’s recommendations, this was the best one to get under $300.

Sony MDR-M150 Headphones – I had these last time I went, but my little sisters broke them. Bought the same exact pair. Excellent set of headphones. Don’t let your little siblings play with your equipment with out supervision.

Hoya Polarizing Filter — Without this, outdoor shots will appear washed out or extremely bright.

Panasonic GS80 – Its a good camera if you don’t want to spend more than $300. I bought this out of necessity. Some of the down sides to this camera is that there isn’t much manual control. One can adjust the iris, shutter, and focus, but only through the ‘joystick’ which isn’t very convenient. There is not mic jack or even a headphone jack. It’s one of the reasons why I bought the Zoom H4 Handy.

.38x Super Wide Angle Lens – Since I want to grab the imagery of the outdoors, I figured this would be appropriate.

Just to show you the difference with and w/o a wide angle lens:

Without the .38x Super Wide Angle Lens

With the .38x Super Wide Angle Lens

One of the challenges I found was mounting the z4 Handy with the camera and mic. I decided to detach the slate from my tripod and “MacGuyver” it the camera and H4 Handy. This is what I resulted with:

Pretty good if you ask me

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Filming Locations – places I want to film:

• French Corridor
• St. Bernard Parish Chalmette
• 9th Ward
• 17 St. Canal
• Food & Aid Distribution Centers
• More personal stories of individuals involved in Katrina…

What moves you into action? What drives you?

This website you are currently reading is a result of coaching sessions I took from Sensei (Muhammad Alshareef) from when he started his GoBeyond coaching services. I was made to think differently and look at things from a much different paradigm than I have in the past, bringing a whole new passion and level of energy to the things I do.

In July I was challenged to make a commercial for the upcoming DiscoverULife launch. After working a good 15 hrs on the commercial, I delivered the video I thought I was done until I get a reponse saying, “good stuff. Ma sha Allah. Let’s make it even better.”

“You’re killin me here!“, I thought to myself.

I read past the changes that were requested. He ended the email with, “Y’know I was writing the web page text for 3 hours straight, no internet access, straight writing. And then it all crashed, it didn’t save. I was like, subhan Allah, Allah is guiding me to write a 2nd draft. I almost got to the point where whatever i do for discoverULife, I feel like not saving it, to force myself to do a 2nd draft and not settle for the first. ”

Pushing past the time constraints and frustration, I believe this is my best trailer yet