Help Me Help Haiti: The Intro

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So awhile back, I shot at the Portage Theater in Chicago for an event called “Help Me, Help Haiti”. I feel like I’ve been non-stop shooting of late, so this is extraordinarily late for me to post, haha. Anyway, the event was put together by Jen DeLeon who I had met a week before I signed on to do the event.

One of the things I was asked to make was an intro video to kick off the show, but I wanted to do something a little more fancy than just lazily throw together some photos of the performers off of Google. So I decided to shoot the performers while they were going through sound check and render a slideshow on the spot with photos and video. Sounded like a good plan, right?

Well, I was a little flustered when I looked in my camera bag and found that my CF card reader had decided to wander off, but luckily Mclaren, one of the other photogs on location, had his handy. FHEW! Thanks again, Mclaren! I thought I was going to have to make a mad dash to Calumet. Anyway, despite some technical difficulties and time issues, I managed to get the vid completed before the show started and this is the result.

Stay tuned for some more photos from the show! I promise you won’t have to wait long, haha.

Nurses 4 Haiti: The Photography

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So if you’ve been following the blog, you’d know UMG (along with Mix Media sponsored the Nurses 4 Haiti event at Filipiniana restaurant last Friday. RJ (DJ Rex) from Mix Media got there early to set up and I wasn’t too far behind to start shooting some set up photos and video.

As people started filing in as 8pm approached, you could tell it was going to be a packed house. Some of my friends actually weren’t able to grab seats, but every one of them stuck around to support the cause and the artists performing. Thanks for coming out guys! Anyway, as I mentioned in my previous blog, Chris put together a great lineup of performers – including TK Proposal, Manny Garcia, Alan Tiongson & Francis Perfecto and the recent Battle of the Bamboo champions – KAPWA.

At the end of the event, the Haiti-bound ER nurses came up and expressed their thanks for the support…though I’m sure we all felt that their contributions for the Haitian people was the support that truly deserved praise. I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone when I say thank you for being so selfless and doing what you’re doing. It’s not only an amazing journey of unselfish aid, but the N4H cause has also has brought more of us together to support and educate others on these worldwide matters through our collective talents.

I had so much fun shooting, connecting with new people and catching up with friends. Thanks again to Chris for putting this all together! If you guys are still feeling philanthropic (or couldn’t make it to the N4H event at Filipiniana) don’t worry…there’s another one this Friday, March 12 at the Portage Theater called Help Me, Help Haiti. You can check out more info on Jen Deleon’s blog. I won’t be scarfing down any kare kare this time around, but I’ll still be the guy snapping photos and video if you’ve got time to swing by. Hope to see you then!

Nurses 4 Haiti: Come Support!

As we all know, Haiti had been struck by serious devastation only a few short months ago. And with the even more recent misfortunes in Chile, relief efforts are, unfortunately, spread even more thin. The economic tides that we have been stricken with (for what seems like an eternity) have made it extremely difficult for many to monetarily donate to the relief, but there are ways to provide meaningful assistance without having to break the bank.

In addition to supplemental efforts that I posted up on the Selfless blog, my friend Chris had recently informed me of a local event he put together to support Nurses 4 Haiti. The guys over at Mix Media and UMG jumped on board to help with the event along with some great performers like TK Proposal, Manny Garcia, Alan Tiongson & Francis Perfecto.

We’re all coming out to the Nurse 4 Haiti event to share our collective talents, enjoy some great food and good company and, of course, support the cause. I’m sure I speak for all of us in saying that we’d love to see you come by, say hello and take a seat at Filipiniana this Friday, March 5th for the event. So far over 150 people have RSVP’d, so if you’re looking for UMG, I’ll be the guy juggling a camera and some kare kare. See you all Friday!