Drew_Geraci

I had a fantastic time filming the eclipse last week but it wasn't without some challenge! The first area I set up in got super clouded in about 2 hours before show time so I made a game-time decision to drive an hour north to find a clearer spot and it paid off!! Here are 3 of my favorite shots; the first one shows all of the phases of totality, the second is more of an artistic shot of the eclipse and the 3rd is a composite I made using a 5 bracketed stacked photo. All of these were shot on my Sony A7RV + 200-600 + 2x Extender. Can't wait to see more photos from everyone else's journey!!

Thanks so much for having me Jessica & Stormy!! Always wonderful chatting with everyone and if anyone wants to reach out feel free to at info@district7.com or my Instagram @DrewGiggity and can't wait to see what you all create!!

The biggest technique I have and utilize currently is my post-production techniques when it comes to crafting the image in post. There's so much more you can do now than you could in the past so the options are endless during the creation process.

There's always failtures along the way but a lot of times it's due to things that are out of my control or the productions control. There are lots of times where weather and unexpected people have caused shots or full production days to be a wash which is really unfortunate. Most of the time though we complete the project as directed and things go swimmingly 🙂

Facebook Question: "Have you ever failed to capture something while you were on the job?"

Biggest mistakes are choosing the wrong interval (usually too slow or far between) and then setting up a tripod in an area that has a vibration or the potential to hit by people while shooting. Once something hits the tripod leg or moves the camera event slightly the shot is dead. This use to happen to me all the time but now I safeguard against it because having to reshoot something isn't fun at all, haha. Especially if it takes hours to do.

Lots of reasons I chose to go with Sony!! I use to be a canon shooter until I tried the A7S and after that I was hooked. The quality of the sensor, the AF technology and all of the new GM lenses make it a no brainer for me. My Sony's make my job much easier to preform and allow me to do what I need to. That sounded super scripted and rehearsed but I promise it wasn't!!!

It definitely can be!! The best thing to do is start small and just keep experimenting with your craft :) It's not something that happens overnight but with repetition you'll get there :)

I don't have any 'regular' projects I work on but I always try to go out and shoot something new and unique as often as I can. Getting into a rut of not creating content is difficult to get out of so you constantly have to be trying new things (even if they fail). As for comparing a photo project to a video project, they're quite similar but a video project usually requires a lot more planning and logistics compared to photo. Both have their own unique challenges but I'd say I approach them very similarly which makes it easy 🙂

I started with a single camera and lens and then built up from there. In todays world I think leveraging social media is the way to start and then move from there to commercial/advertising and then snow ball it into higher end film/TV work if that's the way you want to go. Believe in yourself and your talent and you'll go far! Just be consistent and don't give up. It took me 2-4 years to get established before I started doing the kind of work I wanted to do. Just keep busy and keep creating 🙂

For me, everything revolves around Davinci Resolve; I shoot RAW from my A1/A7RV, trascode my raw AWR to DNG and then edit everything natively inside of DR. It has the highest quality of color correction and options especially if you want to do day to night editing or exposure ramping

ALL OF IT. Hahaha, But yeah, I love my Sony A1, A7RV, A7SIII, FX3,6 and Venice. I have a pretty wide range in terms of use and value but each kit has its own benefit for what I do. What about yourself?

Cinema lenses are a personal preference honestly. Each type has it's own special characteristics, and there's a wide range of cost to each of those. For me, I love my Tokina Vista Primes, Cooke S6s, Master Primes/ Master Anamorphics, and Atlas Anamorphics. If you really want a solid, and cinematic looking lens, the Atlas are my favorites. They've got a wide range and they're super lightweight (comparatively) and I love their look.

It's definitely easier to shoot timelapses today than it was 15 years ago!! The technology has improved so much that anyone can do it now and it's very cheap to do. The only difference is the quality type, and for me, nothing will ever beat shooting individual raw frames to compile a sequence. In the past we had to carry around power generators and giant motion control sliders to get the shots we wanted, now everything fits into a backpack and it's much easier to produce/use the hardware.

Via Instagram - "Is it easier or harder to shoot timelapses these days?"

Absolutely!! I had the chance to use some Arri Master Anamorphics and the look/feel of those timelapses are some of my favorites. The character the cinema lenses lend to the scene immerses the viewer much better than non-prime cinema lenses.

I currently do all of my own Social media but a helper would be wonderful, haha. Social media is 85% of the job now so it's super important.

What about yourself? Any shot you're eyeing to get?

Multi-day, multi-pass motion control of a city going through multiple season changes is one of the shots that I've always wanted to snag... just need to find a location that's secure enough to leave a $20k system running for 8 months out of the year, haha

For the longest time word of mouth was the best way to find new clients (and probably still is) but I've found a lot of sucess by putting out personal projects and then leveraging social media to find clients that want similar things done (and then reaching out to their PR/PA dept to start a conversation

As of late business has been pretty awful thanks to the Hollywood shutdown so working on the passion projects is where it's at! In the past it was very difficult to do but with how slow in the industry is now it makes it much more convenient to work on them... Just wish there was more funding out there!! hah

My dream collaboration would be to work with a large group of like minded timelapse shooters to create one epic film and then to have it released on the big screen. I've already worked for my idol (Steven Spielberg) so that ones been checked off, haha

I usually do weekly or bi-monthly checkups on long-term systems. I also make sure to utilize remote monitoring so I know that camera is good to go and still operating even when I'm not there.

The longest shot I've done has been 18 months working for Apple... and it looked amazing until the entire project got canceled, haha. No one will ever see the shot unfortunately :(

The best tip -- run! Hahaha, just kidding. The best tip for these kind of shots is making sure you have an enclosure that's water proof and has continuous power (and a stable/steady) place to film from. A lot of times if the camera is placed on a structure it will absorb and show vibration which is bad. I'm a big fan of digging holes, putting in a large wooden pylon, and then setting up a Photo Sentinel for shots needing to run longer than 2 weeks.