I just about fell out of my chair when, half a minute into the video, a few seconds of climbing footage of one of my best friends Tommy Caldwell appeared. The clip was pulled from footage I had shot in 2008 of Tommy on his longtime project: free climbing the Dawn Wall of El Capitan. Click here to watch the full video project.

Seeing my clip in this context really hit hard. I sat back in my chair and took a moment to reflect on the significance of what I had just seen. 

Click the player above to watch the Facebook Redesign video

This footage came from a memorable, cool project I was intimately involved with. I was working with Josh Lowell, Brett Lowell and Cooper Roberts of Big UP Productions to shoot video for their feature-length film Progression. The film profiled an elite crop of climbing visionaries and their individual efforts to advance difficulty in disparate disciplines of the sport. Tommy was featured because he has almost single-handedly pushed big-wall free climbing on El Cap to new levels. His latest effort on the futuristic Dawn Wall has become something of an apotheosis of his life and experience as a rock climber.

The game-changing Nikon D90, the world’s first DSLR with video-recording capabilities, had just debuted. I brought it with me as I got into position 2,000 feet up the sheer flanks of El Capitan with Tommy. This was one of the very first times I shot video with a DSLR, and it absolutely changed the direction of my professional life and passion. Shooting Tommy on what was (and still is) arguably the most futuristic rock climb on earth, and then being able to share this story—what it looks like, feels like, sounds like—with the climbing world at large, felt like I had just stepped through the proverbial rabbit hole. Now, an entire new universe exploded open before me. DSLR video was the future.

El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, CA.
BTS photo of Corey Rich shooting RAW stills and HD video with the Nikon D90 and a conventional video camera at hand (which was never used) ©Tommy Caldwell

But more than anything, it was meaningful to see Tommy, one of my best friends and a guy I’ve grown up with, being used as the poster boy for why and how Facebook is going to become more interesting. It speaks legions about climbing that this behemoth of a company finds our sport visually powerful enough to use to convey their own message. 

I don’t need to tell you that social media, particularly Facebook, plays an El Cap-sized role in how we communicate with our friends, family, colleagues and even our role models—for instance, Tommy Caldwell, who has famously and unprecedentedly shared his ongoing efforts on the Dawn Wall via his Facebook page. You could make a strong argument that without the DSLR video cameras rolling, and without the ability to share photos, videos and status updates instantaneously through the iPhone, then Tommy’s efforts on the Dawn Wall wouldn’t matter because they would go untold. Somehow the impact, the significance of the most difficult human endeavors, like free climbing the Dawn Wall, are inexorably linked to our abilities to share these stories through visuals and social media.

There are the storytellers: guys like myself, Josh, Brett and Cooper. There are the heroes of the story: guys like Tommy. And then, there’s Facebook, which plays the role of bringing the audience, virtually the entire world now. One of the reasons Facebook has been so successful is that it is constantly changing and reinventing itself to improve its ability to share humanity’s great unfolding narrative. What I took away from the Facebook redesign commercial was affirmation that telling stories matters—"bright, beautiful stories,” in their own words. I think that’s right on.

It's exciting, as we move into 2013, to watch Nikon continue to roll out advanced filmmaking tools in the HD-SLR motion world. For both myself and Nikon, it started several years back with the release of the Nikon D90 and has continued to evolve with every new release of Nikon's HD-SLR cameras. I feel very honored to be part of the new Nikon Cinema website, that showcases Nikon's top filmmaking tools and was launched last week at South by Southwest (SXSW). My film "WHY" and "HOW of WHY", which I created with an amazingly talented team, over a year ago to help launch the release of Nikon's flagship FX-format HD-SLR - Nikon D4, is one of three major features on the Nikon Cinema site. If you're not familiar with my films "WHY" and  "HOW of WHY", the behind the scenes look at how we created "WHY", please visit our motion portfolio where you can view both videos. If you would like to read more about "WHY" and "HOW of WHY", check out our previous production blog posts: Nikon D4 Project: Part One + Part Two.

Also, in the spotlight on the Nikon Cinema site are two films definitely worth taking a closer look, created by fantastic filmmakers, photographers and colleagues that I think the world of. Please take a few minutes to check out Sandro's "JOY RIDE", created to launch the Nikon D800 and Florian & Salomon Schultz's film "CHASING THE LIGHT" showcasing the Nikon D600 and while you are there check out the fascinating film made to celebrate Nikon's 80th anniversary of NIKKOR photographic lenses.

I hope you enjoy the films, now get out there and shoot some motion. 

At the CES show in January, I met with the folks at SanDisk and we spoke about how the technology behind flash memory-based, solid-state drives (SSD) has really arrived.

In fact, during a climbing expedition to Pakistan last summer, I only shot to SSD. I used SanDisk Extreme Pro CompactFlash and SD memory cards in my DSLR. Our Atomos Ninja II, during interviews, recorded to SanDisk solid state drives. Even my MacBook Pro is solid-state. 

SanDisk put together this great web spot, which features me discussing some of the major benefits of SSD technology and how important it was to the success of our expedition to Pakistan last summer. Please check it out: SanDisk SSD Video Production Workflow

Screen grab from the SanDisk "SSDs Enable Extreme Video Production Workflow" video. Click image above to watch the video.

Expedition climbers and adventure photographers are alike in that so much of our success depends on having the right equipment that can stand up to the harshest, most rugged conditions on the planet. SanDisk’s new SSD drives have been as important and reliable to my still/motion work as a rope is to my climbing. This is equipment that instills faith, which is exactly what you want when traveling to a place with so many unknown variables, like the Karakoram.  

The Karakoram Range in Pakistan is one of the world's most impressive, and savage, mountain ranges. The topography is extremely wild and varied. The Karakoram is most famous for having K2, the second highest mountain in the world, but I'd argue that the collection of dramatic granite spires known as the Trango Towers are really what make this area spectacular.

Last summer I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to climb and shoot an ascent of Trango Tower (20,623 feet) with famed Austrian alpinists David Lama and Peter Ortner for Mammut, and the stakes were high. I had only one chance to get all the content I needed, and I didn't want to miss it. 

(right) Nikon dual camera interview set up with David Lama (left) Corey Rich interviews climber David Lama.

We were shooting for television, a short film for a film festival, and still photos for an international ad campaign. This is a massive amount of data, and I put all of my faith in SanDisk's SSD technology to capture literally a mountain's worth of photos and video. The SSD drive is an exceptional new tool and now, a permanent addition to my kit.

Reaching the summit of Trango Tower was experience I'll never forget, and fortunately I had the right tools to help me document this incredible expedition, from camera to drives to rope. 

(To read more about our trip, check out a past post giving you all the behind the scenes details: http://news.coreyrich.com/2013/01/corey-rich-documents-expedition-in-pakistan.html)

My kit included: Nikon D600, D800, and D4 cameras and a variety of Nikon Nikkor lenses; SanDisk SSD drives and SanDisk Extreme Pro CF and SD cards; Litepanels LED Lighting; Schneider B+W Filters, Lite Pro Gear, Lowepro, Manfrotto imaging accessories and Clif Bar.

Last July, we spent three action-packed days shooting for Columbia Sportswear's Spring 2013 campaign, which is just now launching on their website. Click here to check out a little teaser. Many more images will be used in print collateral later this summer and fall, and new imagery will continue to appear on the website as the campaign unfolds.

It’s always a pleasure to see companies use authentic images from the field, especially when it’s our own backyard: the incredible Lake Tahoe Basin. Over three days we shot with a cast of locals and friends, sun-up to sunset, and captured them doing what they do best: trail running and hiking on the incredible network of trails surrounding South Lake Tahoe, camping in the high peaks, and kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding in the Lake itself.

The creative team at Columbia Sportswear was amazing to work with, too, offering some great direction and interesting ideas. We are excited to see Columbia roll out with these images now, and look forward to more later this year.

A big thanks to the team at Columbia for the opportunity to work and play in our backyard and to all of our friends and crew in Tahoe for helping make this shoot happen. To the talent and our good friends in the photos above thanks so much for your hard work during the shoot. Sean Haverstock, Carol Wheeler, Tucker Cannon, and Jaden de Gregory are pictured in the images above.

It started with a phone call. ”We want you to shoot skiing, alpine climbing, and glaciers in the middle of August.” This is the type of challenge we really thrive on!

                                                                    THE CHALLENGE

We had been tasked with finding dramatic, aw-inspiring terrain as the backdrop to shoot the new Polartec Alpha® campaign. A handful of well designed sketches from the creative team at Doner and our client at Polartec challenged us to depict athletes performing highly aerobic activities in out-of-this-world landscapes. Polartec Alpha® is a breakthrough in thermal performance fabric technology. The free exchange of air flow that prevents overheating and provides adventurers new breathable puffy insulation can now be taken anywhere and used in rigorous activities and extreme environments. Polartec Alpha®  changes the way puffy fabric technology will be used and worn around the world.

Polartec Alpha® Campaign Approach Shot                                    Polartec Alpha® Campaign Skinning Shot                       -Damian Benegas + Pip Hunt                                                        -Damian Benegas + Pip Hunt              

                                                                  THE LOCATION

Doner, an award winning an ad agency based in Detroit - Michigan, is accustomed to developing creative for high end international brands. For this project, Doner anchored their beautifully designed campaign and concept on dramatic, vertigo inducing climbing and high alpine expedition imagery. It was fun to learn that Doner used one of my favorite photographs of Craig Lubben crack climbing over Lake Powell, as inspiration for one of their concept drawings. From the beginning it was obvious that we needed to find an authentic environment that met the high standards of Doner’s creative. We needed terrain that accurately represented the natural elements, technical challenge and extreme weather conditions in which adventurers would use Polartec Alpha® technology.  Location was paramount to the success of our project.

Doner Creative sketch inspired by Corey's image of Craig Lubben climbing in Lake Powell, Utah

It was August in the States as our still and video production got under way and we needed a winter location that would allow us to shoot our three main shots: an approach, a skinning and an alpine climbing shot, along with accompanying video elements. Additionally, we needed to shoot two studio athlete portraits, video interviews and general adventure video b-roll footage to supplement the existing Polartec NeoShell® campaign. Given the time of year, our budget, our production timetable, creative deadlines and athlete availability our location options quickly narrowed. We scoured the globe, looking for one location where we could produce all of our content. We researched New Zealand, France, Ecuador, Chile, the US & Canadian Rockies, Alaska, and ultimately ended up in Northern Patagonia, Argentina despite the fact that it’s infamous for some of the world’s worst weather. 


                                                                       THE TEAM

We spoke with several of the world’s top adventure athletes and found the perfect fit with Willie and Damian Benegas, twin brothers from Argentina with enough collective high alpine mountaineering experience to make your jaw drop. We rounded out our talent roster with Pip Hunt, a young, energetic, bad ass free-skier making her name in the industry from her home in Jackson, WY. With location and athletes locked up, we needed to sort our equipment and finalize the camera crew and production team before we could hit the road. The shots quickly defined the physical and technical requirements that we needed. Our crew had to be highly skilled and capable of delivering in high alpine mountain environments and our equipment needed to be lightweight, yet capable of capturing high quality content while exposed to cold temperatures for long durations.

Polartec Alpha® video, please click image to view video

Our strategy is to always hire the most over qualified and experienced crew possible. Our guides, athletes, film and production teams could physically hold their own in the mountains and had strong problem solving, creative personalities. Weather delays, big location moves, long strenuous set ups, below freezing temperatures and technical rigging days were expected. Led by Benegas Brothers Expeditions (BBE), our local production team could not have been better suited to meet the high demands and technical challenges of our shot list. BBE’s incredible skill level, athleticism, local knowledge and long history of guiding expeditions on the world’s tallest peaks, gave us the ability to move spontaneously and freely create throughout our production. Our crew gave us the versatility we needed to pull off our aggressive schedule. We could not have done it without them!

                                                                    THE GEAR

Our team relied on BBE’s complex rigging setups to get Dane Henry and me into the most desirable camera positions. We carried two sets of cameras and lenses into the mountains; one for stills and one for motion. We wanted small compact camera packages. Each kit consisted of one Nikon D800 body, SanDisk Extreme Pro CF and SD cards and a selection of Nikkor glass: 16mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/4, and a 70-200mm f/2.8.


(L) Crew reviewing footage from RC Helicopter (C) Dane Henry + Lucas Jacboson operate the jib (R) Another day in the office for Corey Rich

Upon arrival, our teams never stopped moving. We were constantly monitoring the weather and shifting our shoot schedule to maximize our weather windows. Our lightweight Full HD Nikon D800 camera system, allowed us to move freely within our locations while still providing the high resolution, 36 mega pixel image quality the project required. During our inevitable weather days, we planned to shoot the Polartec NeoShell® portraits. Traveling with all of our studio lighting gear, 2 x Profoto 7b packs, 2 x Litepanels kits and Chimera light modifiers, we turned our rental home into a make shift studio. There’s nothing like carrying several hundred pounds of lighting equipment half way around the world, but we knew if we were missing any gear it would be impossible to source additional lighting equipment in Patagonia.

Polartec NeoShell® portrait ads. Pip Hunt and Willie Benegas.

                                                                    THE ADVENTURE

We had a few close calls; we saw our good friend Mike “Patrol” Hagadorn, narrowly escape a fall through glacial ice into a frozen lake, thankfully saved by the quick thinking of a man who has summited Mt. Everest  22 times - Mr. Guillermo “Willie” Benegas. We watched Pip Hunt take a world class front flip / head plant, while shooting ski turns in a remote backcountry location. We almost had to send a search party for our good friend and client, Allon Cohne, who took a wide turn on a lunch break powder run. Fortunately, Allon had a few extra Clif Bars and hiked his way back to the shoot location. Hagadorn showed his piloting credentials, by ditching an RC helicopter camera into the side of the mountain, avoiding what surely would have been a several thousand foot tumble and the end of one of our RC helicopters and Nikon D800.

                                                        THE GRATITUDE

In the end, the shoot was a huge success; we captured stunning still images and video,  made new friends and had a blast in the process. Doesn’t get any better than that! This entire shoot and project would not have come about without the support, commitment, creativity and friendship of Allon Cohne and the entire team at Polartec. Also, a huge thanks the creative team at Doner, Murray White, Virgil Adams, Judy Ratcliffe, Kellie Kafantaris, Rich Toltzman, Theresa Bland and Karen Frey for adding their brilliant vision to this project. Additional thanks to Nikon for the most cutting edge camera and lens technology, Schneider and B+W Filters for helping protect our glass and making beautiful ND’s and glass grads, Lowepro for safely getting our gear into the mountains, Litepanels, Profoto and Chimera for helping us light our portraits on location, Clif Bar for fueling us on the hill and Julie Schaffner at Revo for protecting our eyes and making us look cool at the same time. Also, a huge thanks to Pip Hunt and the incredible crew at Benegas Brothers Expeditions; Willie & Damian Benegas, Georgina Davenport, Lucas Jacobson, Tomas Aquilo, Pablo Pontoriero, Inaki Odriozola, Adelina Odriozola, Indio, Alvar Puente. Without our camera crew and production teams we’d still be carrying loads of gear out of the mountains - huge thanks to Dane Henry (DP), Mike Hagadorn (Camera Assistant + RC Heli Pilot), Marina Rich (Make-up + Hair + Gourmet Chef), Josh Dick (Producer) and Julia Arcamone (Production Assistant).

This trip was one of those unforgettable journeys that will last a lifetime; dreamed up by Sonnie Trotter and Tommy Caldwell while climbing in Canada. Tommy’s wife, Becca, and myself tagged along as the photo team, working together to document the trip. 

Malta is an incredibly unique climbing destination.  Some of the benefits included friendly local climbers, great food, cold beer, and endless amounts of unclimbed rock over the Mediterranean. We made the trip around this time last year.  The water was cold and pretty darn rough which made for some adventurous climbing as Sonnie will attest to (see photo sequence above).  On one of the stormiest days, with high winds and rough waters, we found ourselves climbing illegally in a limestone quarry; very graphic environment and perfect parallel finger cracks. For this opportunity we implemented the old methodology which is, “It’s easier to beg for forgiveness than ask permission.” And the good news is no one got arrested.

After having such a great experience with Sonnie, Tommy, and Becca I know I'll return to Malta; but next time, I’m bringing my wife Marina! Now less than a year later both my wife and Tommy’s wife are pregnant.  Next trip to Malta will be with our kids, it’s the perfect family climbing destination. I can’t wait!

Special thanks to Andrew Warrington for being an incredible tour guide and host in Malta, and thanks to Black Diamond for supporting our adventure!

Ok, I’m done daydreaming about Malta.  Back to cleaning out my email inbox.

To check out the complete catalog visit:  http://catalog.blackdiamondequipment.com/rockclimbing2012/en_us/

Weather always plays a huge part in the success of any production and on a shoot last December in the Fijian Islands, we really tested our luck. Working for Nikon we were hired to shoot some new images and video for the Nikon WP-N2 waterproof housing campaign. The WP-N2 is an incredible accessory to the beautifully compact Nikon 1 mirror-less camera system and allows users to expand their creativity into underwater environments, even at depths of 130 feet. The small, lightweight and versatile design of the WP-N2 really compliments the Nikon 1 J3 and Nikon 1 S1 systems and was a lot of fun to shoot with and easy use. 

We wanted to shoot in the best possible underwater conditions to capture these shots and had a short window of time to make it happen. While analyzing global weather conditions, water clarity, species diversity and reef health, water temperatures, and local production support, our team decided that Fiji would give us the best chances of success to create the images we had in mind during this time of year. The scuba diving in Fiji is world class with a variety of beautiful dive locations and landscapes to choose from, coral reefs and species diversity flourish as strong currents move around the islands. 

The threat of impending weather in Fiji was on our radar as we finalized our plans to travel, however we still felt we had good odds. As soon as we landed the threat of real weather became more of a reality and ultimately imminent. A large cyclone was tracking over Samoa and locals on the island predicted the storm would do a one-eighty, turn around, pick up momentum and head right towards the Fijian Islands. Sure enough the locals were right, the cyclone was headed our way. Our condensed schedule became even tighter as we needed to pack in as much shooting as possible. Overnight water clarity around the islands lost its gin clear visibility as strong winds, currents and warming temperatures increased the amount of sediment in the water column. Fortunately, with the support of Sam Campbell and Mark Synder of Wet Art Productions and the dive crew at VoliVoli, we logged a few giant days and tons of time underwater allowing us to get what we needed before cyclone Evan hit Fiji. 

In the end, Evan turned into a category 4 storm and caused major damage on Fiji. Thankfully, no casualties occurred in the massive storm and Fijians, including our new friends, we are able to shake it off and quickly dry out after the storm passed. Special thanks to Nikon, Alexx at NAI'A, Wet Art Productions, Volivoli, Joe Tul and Leah Stone our dive models, Lowepro, Clif Bar, X-Rite and Backscatter camera shop in Monterey, CA for all of their help and support.

30 second sample video clip shot with the Nikon WP-N2 Waterproof Housing and the Nikon 1 system. 

Check out this month's issue of Rock and Ice Magazine, featuring my words and pictures, to get a taste of our 2011 trip to the Arrigetch Peaks in the Brooks Range, Alaska. I was accompanied by my great friends and fellow climbers Tommy Caldwell, Hayden Kennedy, Todd Offenbacher, Tommy Thompson, and Dane Henry. Like all climbing expeditions, this trip into the Arrigetch Peaks had some close-calls, a lot of laughs, plenty of suffering and amazing granite. I really wanted this article to highlight the climbing aspect of the expedition, we had such a small weather window that it was a miracle Tommy, Hayden, and myself were able to reach the summit of a new route.  I don't want to give too much away, so if you're interested please check out Rock & Ice's March 2013 issue, on stands now, to read more about our trip. Also you can visit our website and watch a video about our adventure on Vimeo.

A huge thanks to my old friend Tommy Baynard and Trans-Global Group for the opportunity to be a part of their hit TV show, "Flying Wild Alaska" on Discovery and for your vision to make this awesome adventure a reality! Additional thanks to Nikon, Polartec, Patagonia and Revo for their support. Christian Beckwith and Jeff Jackson, thank you both for your brilliant word-smithing and mad editing skills.We couldn't have done it without any of you. 

To read more about our trip and the making of "Flying Wild Alaska" read our previous posts here.

The Overview:
Pakistan’s Karakoram is one of the great mountain ranges on earth, and as a climber it’s a place I’ve held in my imagination for over half of my life. I went there for Mammut, a Swiss outdoor apparel and equipment maker, last year to  document a climbing expedition on Trango Tower (20,623 feet) with elite climbers David Lama and Peter Ortner. Along the way we  pushed the limits of  high altitude filmmaking  by being the first to use a remote controlled helicopter with camera at elevations over 22,000 ft. The end result has changed the way people will film in the most remote high altitude mountain regions and push the craft of visual storytelling. Most importantly we had a fantastic adventure in a truly wild place and managed to stand on the summit of Trango Tower.

The Inspiration:
Two out of the past three seasons I went to Patagonia with renowned alpine climber David Lama as he attempted to free climb Cerro Torre on assignment for Red Bull. Throughout the course of our Cerro Torre project, David and I shared stories, ideas and dreamed up our next big adventure. While waiting out bad weather and sipping  Argentine red wine, the idea to collaborate on a project in Pakistan was born.

(L) BTS Corey Rich (C + R) Remo Masina operating RC Helicopter.

I love to tell stories with my work. When David explained the details of the expedition and that he and his climbing partner, Peter Ortner, wanted to free climb Eternal Flame on Trango Tower (a three thousand foot rock spire deep in the Karakoram Mountains) I couldn’t pass up the chance to document both the challenges and triumphs of the journey in a place I had always dreamed of visiting.  The project was funded by Mammut as part of their 150 Year Anniversary, "Biggest Peak Project".

This trip would be the highest altitude climbing expedition that the three of us had ever attempted. As an experienced climber myself, it felt reassuring to be going with great athletes and friends. Peter and David would be testing themselves at the same time I would be testing myself. It would be a great
opportunity to construct a very powerful narrative while  utilizing all of my skills as an athlete, an
adventurer, a climber, a director, a photojournalist, and a travel fanatic.

David Lama climbing Eternal Flame, Trango Tower. Karakoram, Pakistan.

The Plan:
Going deep into Pakistan our expedition required a small footprint and lean production model. The plan was for me to climb with David and Peter and shoot video and stills, while my assistant stationed near base camp monitored a second camera angle. The emphasis for shooting was roughly 80% video and 20% stills.

I brought along Andrew Peacock as my camera assistant. Not only is Andrew a great assistant, he is a fellow Aurora Photos contributor, emergency room doctor, excellent athlete, and long time friend. He was charged with managing the media assets, carrying heavy loads and capturing secondary stills and video.

We also enlisted  RC helicopter pilot: 21 year-old Remo Masina. He captained a RC helicopter with mounted camera from Dedicam, a Swiss-based company. We brought two RC helicopters with us into Pakistan in our luggage and shipped another one as a backup, but we never saw the shipped RC helicopter again because it got confiscated somewhere along the way. Considering the political tensions of flying a remote controlled RC helicopter or drone in Pakistan, the high crash / failure rate of RC helicopters and the technical challenge  of flying a camera at such high elevations, I was initially very skeptical about  attempting to use the machines on the expedition. However, our luck in getting the two machines into the country and the Swiss precision of Remo's mind was the perfect combination for  filming with the RC helicopter at over 22,000 feet.

                                       (L) Lama and Ortner bivy on Sun Terrace (R) Ortner and Lama approaching the base of Eternal Flame.

The Objectives:
The primary challenge and objectives for the trip was to simultaneously create motion content for a global television show and The European Outdoor Film Tour (EOFT) and I also needed to capture hero still images that Mammut could use for all channels of their marketing and advertising. This directive kept me focused on capturing different narrative elements throughout the climb. The EOFT hand-picks a selection of the world's most outstanding adventure sports films and its program captures the  eyes of audiences in 9 countries across Europe, with 100 + event stops along the way.

I needed to capture content to create an 8-10 minute short film for the EOFT and I also needed to
capture footage for a 15-minute segment for a mainstream television audience that was distributed 
globally. As a video-focused shoot, I needed to go beyond looking for just stunning visuals. I had to capture sound and motion at high altitude while battling the elements in an extremely remote location. The RC helicopter was an essential tool in capturing and providing sophisticated establishing visuals.

My strategy was to initially capture the essence of any one scene with video and switch to still photography if the situation lent itself to a still moment. I used a Nikon D600 due to its ability to shoot both Full HD video and high resolution still images in the smallest FX form factor DSLR on the market today. In environments like the Karakoram, every  ounce of weight counts. I also selected functional light weight lenses, the Nikon AF-S 16-35mm f/4 G ED VR and the Nikon 70-200mm f/4 G ED VR. This allowed me to focus more time and energy on being creative and use less of my energy on managing equipment.

The Results:
The Trango Tower expedition was a success from start to finish. I produced high end content for a
globally distributed television show, a short film, titled “A New Perspective” was toured with 8 other inspiring projects in the 2012 E.O.F.T. and I captured still images for print and electronic advertising. 
Additionally our friend Rebecca Santana, a reporter for the Associated Press based in Islamabad,  Pakistan recognized the uniqueness of using RC helicopters or “drones” in a positive way in the Karakoram rather than for military purposes. Rebecca saw the value in the story and wrote an acclaimed piece  that got picked up by some of the top news outlets around the globe. Her article received global media attention and shed light on not only our project, but also on the majestic beauty of a region that has been sullied by years of intermittent fighting.

A selection of the news organizations around the globe that covered the expedition.

My experience in Pakistan proved that both video enabled DSLR cameras and RC helicopters have changed mountain shooting forever. Without a doubt the trip was a great success; on a personal level it was a life changing experience for the three of us and we made fantastic content allowing us to share our adventure and the magic of the Karakoram with others!   

This trip certainly would not have been possible without the critical support from the following people:

David Lama, Peter Ortner, Christian Gisi at Mammut, Andrew Peacock, all of the crew at Shipton Treks & Expeditions Pakistan, Rebecca Santana, Max Becherer, Florian Klinger at Red Bull, Todd Offenbacher, Hayden Kennedy, Blaine Deutsch, Julia Arcamone, Josh Dick and Christian Fernandez. I would additionally like to thank Nikon for allowing us to bring ligthweight prototype gear, Canyon Florey at Lite Pro Gear, Pat Grosswendt and Alan Ipakchian at Litepanels, Bryan Cole at ClifBar, Ryan Avery at Schneider Optics and the team at Nik Software.

An extra special thanks to my wife Marina for being so supportive and encouraging.