In-Depth Behind the Scenes Look
After 7 countries, dozens of locations, months of production and connecting with so many talented artists along the way, I’m so excited that Episode 1 of Moments in Time is finally available on YouTube! This series is something that we’ve wanted to create for years now, and it’s so cool to see it finally come to life. I truly hope you enjoy the adventure over the next 13 episodes as we explore and photograph so many unique and beautiful places.
A Forward and Humble Thanks
First of all, I want to thank my amazing wife Naomi Locardi for helping to put all of this together. She has been instrumental as a producer from concept to completion and continues to exceed my expectations as she manages the entire project and we continue to refine the episodes and supplemental content.
Next, I want to express my gratitude to my production team Valentina Vee and Andrey Misyuten. Valentina is a phenomenal director and she was able to stay on point with our goals through 7 countries and almost 9 weeks of continuous filming. Andrey was the perfect second shooter as we were able to move with agility through a multitude of locations. Mostly though, I’m thankful for all of the good times, awesome conversations, and of course, all the laughs we shared along the way!
I also want to thank our sponsors Flickr, Smugmug, and Fujifilm for trusting us from the beginning and for your continuous support throughout the production process. But my gratitude goes far beyond just the collaboration for this Moments in Time series–I’m so thankful for and truly value the friendships I’ve made over the many years of working together and for the support you’ve given me and the photography community.
Lastly, I want to thank all of the wonderful people that agreed to be part of the episodes. I feel blessed to count so many of you as friends. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us and for helping to make Moments in Time such an amazing experience.
Beyond Episode 1
Overall, I feel that it’s not just the places we visit that will make this series fun to watch, rather it’s all the amazing people we get to know along the way. But before we can meet with those people, sometimes we have to travel halfway around the world, and it doesn’t get much farther than the 11,000 mile journey from the East Coast of Florida to Singapore. Thankfully, I’m very good at sleeping on airplanes.
My first visit to Singapore was back in January of 2012 and I quickly fell in love with it. It wasn’t just the beautiful architecture for photography, it was also about all the amazing people I was able to meet. I was instantly welcomed into the community there and treated like a local. Since then, I’ve always considered Singapore to be my second home.
Arriving in Singapore for this project, we were fully energized and ready to explore and photograph the Lion City. On the way to meet up with my good friend Edward Tian, I ran into the motorcycle cowboy and he insisted on getting a photo together.
It made for the perfect segue into speaking to Edward about how Marina Bay is created from 100% reclaimed land that didn’t exist before. Singapore is one of the world leaders when it comes to creating new and sustainable land masses to build on.
In this episode, though the power of video editing makes it seem like I move quickly through each platform as we scout The Helix Bridge, we actually spent an entire afternoon on that bridge during a heat wave in 96°F weather! We had to keep going back to the mall to refill our water containers to keep from getting too dehydrated. Nearly suffering from heat stroke was worth the effort though since the segment turned into a solid tutorial about thoroughly scouting a location.
Of course, I couldn’t leave the area without getting a classic Merlion Shot! Edward captured this on film using the 1955 Rolleiflex 2.8D and we processed the film in the lab together the very next day.
Next, it was time to meet up with my friend and talented documentary photography Mindy Tan at her apartment. She shared some amazing images with me as we discussed how a large percentage of buildings in Singapore are actually government-subsidized public housing. It’s a way that Singapore takes care of its people as constant new development drives the living costs up each year.
After a great discussion about her process, we ventured out to a temple in Little India to get a street photography tutorial from Mindy herself. In the temple, she talks about how she likes to establish a connection with her subject by making herself known as a photographer. In other words, she doesn’t hide her camera. Instead, she makes it very obvious that she’s taking someone’s photo and teaches us how to subtly ask permission and approach a subject that you want to photograph.
Rounding out a stellar day in Singapore, during sunset I head back to Marina Bay to meet again with Edward as we photograph the world-class laser show. I explain quite a bit about why I want to set up my tripod away from the crowds and also how I previsualize my compositions by using my iPhone before I ever take out my camera.
Finally, nothing wraps up the evening better than good friends and amazing Singaporean street food.
Moments in Time – Flickr Community
In addition to the series, I wanted to create a way to connect with the community online, interact and continue the conversation. The Moments in Time Flickr Community is the perfect place to post images, ask us questions, and interact with the content from the show. We’re hoping that it also gives the community a way of becoming part of future episodes by helping direct us to new places and new people to highlight that you’d like to see featured. Definitely join the community to introduce yourself and say hello!
Moments in Time Episode 2 will continue in Singapore as I step really far out of my comfort zone and attempt to photograph a strange area that I’ve never visited before.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel below and continue the adventure with us.
Remember to join the conversation to receive sneak previews and special content in our Moments in Time Group on Flickr.
Captured entirely with Fujifilm X Series US. Check out the Gear Page to see the full list of gear we used during the production of the season of Moments in Time.