My Blue Heaven

​I love going north on a story. The landscape and the people are always compelling. I have just returned from northern Ontario. I will post links to the pieces when I have completed them.

This post is about a small moment on a long day.

I was scouting a location for a shot. An important part of my job is, with the producer, helping a camera operator (shooter) find the right place to record the most compelling material. It's a team effort. I shoot stills and, occasionally, video. Sometimes we agree to split up; on this shoot I shot still images from one location while he shot video from another. The day before, I shot video and stills from one vantage point while he and the producer went downriver to get a boat to get the action from a different angle. 

My research at this spot required a short hike through the trees. No complaints. Yes, there were bugs but down by the water, I found a huge patch of wild blueberries.

It was a lucky discovery. We were working through lunch to get the job done and were forced to wait by the river for quite awhile. But I had a beautiful crop of blueberries at my feet. They were delicious.

But wait. There's more.

The ideal location for the shooter and his video camera, we all agreed, was on the other side of the river. So he clambered down a steep slope. I passed him his camera and tripod. The producer climbed down to give him water.

​Then he discovered he was surrounded by ...  raspberries.

We waited.
He ate. I ate.

The action finally happened.
We got different angles. And different berries.

All good.