A little bit of storytime here:

Going back through the archives, one of my most interesting shoots was photographing Bobby Beausoleil, a member of the Manson Family, in maximum security prison. There is an earlier post about this here.

When the prison doors close, it’s hard sound like you’ve never experienced. Walking the line for real was nothing like the Johnny Cash song.

I was ready with a tightly packed camera bag.

I took 3 cameras with me to the shoot: Nikon F3, Nikon FM, and a Nikon F which was my insurance. As a fully manual, non-metered film camera, this would always be my go-to. You could hammer nails with it all day, and it would still shoot straight, as the expression goes.

Plus a changing bag, a Vivitar 283 flash with batteries, and plenty of Kodak Tri-X, and Ektachrome.

I asked Bobby to tell me his side of the story, while photographing him for this assignment. Yes, I had a guard and a social worker with me at all times.

Hearing the details of a murder was chilling, and photographing the person who committed that murder was another level.

In this video, I briefly go over some of the details, including the basics of how i got the assignment.

If you would like more details of this shoot,  you can find those here.

More stories in the archives.

The latest addition to the Wacom family of tablets, the MovinkPad 11 is a super slim, stand-alone Android tablet, and a Wacom pen based drawing surface, with the heritage of the celebrated Cintiq series. A mouthful, right?

I will never forget visiting a feature film post production studio, where an artist was working on one of the earliest full size Cintiq monitors. You know the one where you are actually working on the image with a Wacom pen on the screen. Not the usual working surface, where your hand eye coordination must be fluid and organic.
Making adjustments directly on the image on the screen.

Since then, I have been tracking the genesis of this product, and honestly, this latest iteration does everything I hoped for. And with the added advantage of being a standalone tablet.

You can load up the MovinkPad 11 with programs and content when wired, then take the tablet and work conveniently with the Wacom pen and no wires. The Movink is sitting in a Twelve South adjustable tablet stand for the photos but a great item to pack for travel.

My fave program to work on is Lightroom, and once loaded and content added, I was able to do all my normal work on a couch using the touch sensitive pen. Here are some examples of my photos on the MovinkPad 11 in Lightroom.

And each subsequent screen has samples of the LR tools coupled with an image.

To get the images off the tablet, you can wi-fi it to a computer, or phone, or wait till you wire it to your main workstation.

Wacom Pro Pen 3 is battery-free, supports and has 3 side buttons. It allows for customized weight, grip, and nibs (3 are included)

How thin is this tablet?

Although currently in BETA, You can use the tablet wired to your computer as an additional screen with the include USB-C cable, when needed. A bit of a process to set up, which is probably why it’s in BETA.  Have a look at the video in the link, here. It’s called the Instant Pen Display .

Plus once you are working with your main computer, you connect MovinkPad 11 with 1 USB-C cable (included) and edit directly onto your images like the original Cintiq.

BTW, My normal desktop workflow always includes a secondary screen.

I know what you are thinking: doesn’t an iPad do the same? 
Well yes, and no. Both are standalone tablets, but some major differences are:
A: the pen- Apple pen needs to be charged, Wacom pen doesn’t. If you have ever been using the Apple pen and it runs out of juice, you will love the Wacom!
B: They both use apps available in the Google Play Store,
C: Wacom is designed for Android, but worked when wired into my MAC laptop.
D: Price – Movink is about ½ the cost depending on model, it could be more.
E: iPad lets you add an SSD for additional storage, Movink is locked at 128GB.
F: Movink has a matte screen, and iPad is super glossy

You still get all the features of most stand-alone tablets like web access, search engines, app store, built in speakers, etc.. At about 1/2 the cost of an iPad.

As an extremely light tablet, the MovinkPad 11 is an easy choice to put into my camera bag, and with the optional protective case it travels well.

This has been primarily marketed to illustrators, and I totally get that.  With an included drawing program, a sketch artist is up and running fast. My goal has been to see how this works with photos.

To be clear, this is an Android OS, although I was able to use the Adobe programs , with no problem.

Is this tablet for you? With all the comparison features, check your personal workflow for your decision.

For me, being able to sit with a tablet, not think about a charged pen, and use my daily programs is a winner.

Pretty darn good IMHO. I hope next gen allows for additional storage using an external SSD.

Specs & Key Features

• MediaTek G99 CPU
• 8GB RAM | 128GB Storage
• 11.5″ 2200 x 1440 IPS Touchscreen
• 9.6 x 6.3″ Active Area
• Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) | Bluetooth 5.2
• 1 x USB-C 2.0 Port
• 8192 Levels of Pen Pressure Sensitivity
• 5MP Front Camera | 4.7MP Rear Camera
• Includes Wacom Pro Pen 3 & Nibs
• Android 14 OS

In a new series exploring the world from Pole To Pole, Nat Geo not only shares the environments you may never see, this particular episode discovers a new form of energy: arctic phytoplankton. Scientist/Oceanographer Allison Fong  found that they can photosynthesize and hold to energy longer than ever thought possible. This incredible find is invaluable because, by seeing change in phytoplankton, they can predict what the future holds when ice melts.

I know, I know. Lots to absorb, so just enjoy the brilliant footage and the story of the expedition.

Phytoplankton samples under a microscope aboard La Commandant Charcoat. (credit: National Geographic)

In short, this phytoplankton discovery under the North Pole helps scientists predict the future of the planet in regards to a newly discovered energy source.

Phytoplankton samples under a microscope aboard La Commandant Charcoat. (credit: National Geographic)

Premiering on 1/13 on Nat Geo, it streams on Disney+ and Hulu the following day

Tom Williams, the show runner, was invaluable giving insight into this episode.

To capture this incredible sojourn, they mixed ARRI Alexas, Sony Venices, and REDs, alongside Shotover rigs, traditional drones, and FPV drones.

Using pretty much every mount imaginable—many of them custom-built and 3D-printed—to get shots pushing through hundreds of miles of sea ice toward the North Pole.

La Commandant Charcoat breaks through the Arctic Ice heading for the North Pole. (credit: National Geographic)

La Commandant Charcoat cuts through the field ice in the Arctic. (credit: National Geographic)

You will be awed by the footage captured as the ice breaking ship, La Commandant Charcoat, makes it way to the North Pole, and the critical dive for samples.

Allison caught Nat Geos attention years ago through a project called MOSAiC, where scientists intentionally froze a research vessel into Arctic ice and lived there for six months. Pretty crazy, and that alone told them she was someone special.

She was challenged to help the team do something equally ambitious. Her work—alongside a much larger scientific community—is part of urgent, ongoing research into life within Arctic sea ice. This isn’t theoretical. By 2050, Arctic summer sea ice may disappear entirely, fundamentally changing the ecosystem it supports. Capturing that life now matters.

 This expedition was one of the hardest things they attempted in this series.

First, Alli had to dive under meter-thick ice at the North Pole to collect samples—already an extreme risk. Once collected, the organisms only live for a couple of days. The clock was immediately ticking.

Expedition Leader and Oceanographer Allison Fong prepares to dive under the Arctic Ice in search of samples. (credit: National Geographic)

Microscopic filming requires absolute stillness. Unfortunately, the lab was on an icebreaker smashing through sheet ice for hundreds of miles, shaking the ship constantly. The workaround was ingenious: a webcam on the bow, monitored from the lab, watching for a break in the ice—sometimes just seconds of calm water. When that moment came, everything had to be ready.

It worked just enough times to get what they needed.

At the North Pole, the crew was stripped down to one main drone operator, one assistant, and six drones—traditional and FPV.

And under the ice? Just one camera diver. That kind of diving is a highly specialized skill, and the risks increase exponentially with more people. The rule was simple: if one person had a problem, everyone surfaced immediately. So we trusted one extraordinary cameraman to carry that responsibility. No pressure at all.

There was no control room in the traditional sense—but kit maintenance became mission-critical. Being thousands of miles from manufacturers or repair shops, so the camera team worked around the clock. Conditions changed constantly. Blue skies could turn into zero-visibility blizzards in minutes. Everything had to be ready to roll at a moment’s notice.

And the to capture the phytoplankton, the microscopist, Jan van Ijken, is a master of his craft. He’s filmed phytoplankton many times—but never in the high Arctic, and never while setting up a microscopy lab on a moving icebreaker. He’s described it as one of the most difficult challenges of his career. There were moments he wasn’t sure it would work. Thankfully, dedication and patience won.

Nat Geo will always go deep and not only show you incredible images, but give you a world view as well.

Seems like a strong trend with the iPhone 17Pro becoming a perfect camera for capturing ProRes RAW content.

You need to have the right tools depending on whether you are handheld, using a cage, or a gimbal. Using the internal storage on the phone will not work for the files at their highest capture capability.

In this video , we’ll walk through some choices.

OWC is owning the CFExpress B media card world right now with the Atlas Ultra series with speed, less chance of overheating and a system that allows you to triple the speed.

Couple the card with their card reader and  free software, and you have a winner combo.

If you are looking to use a gimbal, the perfect design of the Planck SSD creates a slim attachment, with storage up to 2 TB. In addition they offer a creator hub, that makes it easy to shift to cage set-up and add in a mic receiver and power pass through.

Happy New Year!

For the first post of 2026, we’ll go with a video about a truly versatile tool: The HollyLand  Lark Max 2 mic system.

Sure you get a lot of accessories in the kit, but I was brought to this system for 1 main feature: The ability to monitor the audio recording in REAL TIME!

There are work arounds whether you are using a wired headset into a mirrorless camera, but hearing your audio with a phone, video camera like an Osmo Pocket 3, or any camera as it happens is not only a time saver, but a critical part of your content capture.

These mics have 32 Bit Float, internal recording capabilities, time code generation, ability to add additional lav mics.

That is another feature I was happy to discover reviewing this set-up: I could add a Sanken COS-11D high end mic, plugging into the mic via an included adaptor. To be fair, the included lav mics in the set are excellent, although when I am shooting a vid with my pro cameras, I’ll bring in the Sanken.

Here is what is in the 2 mic kit:

It can all be held in the included pouch.

More vids coming!