DIGIDIARY

September 2006 Destined for a 4 week shoot in Turkey. Long days, hot weather but the pictures were exceptional with the XDCAM HD 350. The chopper shoot of around 4 days was made easier with the combined use of the over- cranking feature on the camera and a special gyro kit. This shoot comprised 3 x one hour documentaries, the first aired on Christmas Day here on the Nine Network. "The Three Fathers Of Christmas" , the second documentary will 'air' in Easter 2007. Time and date yet to be announced.

March 2006 A brief respite from "Aussie Icons" to one in the US. (Mt Rushmore seen through mist and snow) A quick assignment in Rapid City, South Dakota, a continuation of "The Circle Of Courage" project. Extreme cold, like -13C and the XDCAM was fine - wish I could say the same about my hands. The bison just happened to be in the area at the time. Snap!

February 2006 The 2nd series of "Icon Towns of Australia" commences. This time to encompass all states of Australia. First up was Goulburn in NSW where we hit the headlines - so to speak. The other shot is of the remnants of the original (convict built) Hume Highway. Looking forward to this one. you can keep track of the shoot via "XDCAM Notes" - sort of a production blog, see how it goes. Production is scheduled to finish around June 2006.

November 2005 Back in the USA, Philadelphia this time, this job is all interviews and luckily inside - there's a cold snap and the temperature is down to 2 degrees Celsius. Got a chance to have a quick look around though. "Give me Liberty..." - ironic to forsake it just to see these icons of freedom with security the way it is these days.

October / November 2005 An assignment for SVT Sweden Television. The Swedish Royal family visited Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Central Australia. Then it was off to a chilly Philly (Philadelphia) for an 8 day assignment.

August 2005 Hey, hold every thing! ' Classical Destinations' - shot on HDCAM - the hosting segments with Simon Callow and 2nd Unit shots around the 'destinations' of Helsinki, Vienna, Salzburg, Budapest and Pisa. Must admit it's nice working in HDCAM, but miss the versatility of XD. Not that I'm complaining at locations like these! 1st Unit DOP was Paul Moss who shot the majority ftg during the Euro winter. Program ‘aired’ on SBS in Australia and BBC World elsewhere.

April 2005 Circle Of Courage - A special project on 'at risk' behavior in rural communities. Has potential of being a 'hard hitting' doco. Six cyclists and support crew, traverse Australia from West to East to bring attention to their project. More interviews and a writer yet to be found before completion. The shot is of the southern coastline of Australia - just off the Nulabor Plain in Western Australia.

November 2004 Icon Towns Of Australia - Lots of travel around NSW, Australia for this History Channel segments and one off special. Retracing history of the 'icon" towns featuring host Scott McGregor. Of special note was the matched frame feature in the XDCAM set up.  Being able to match historic photos of yesteryear with the moving images of today. The ease of finding the 'photo' pre-shot on disc and when matched you just have to hit 'record' - too easy! The program gave me an appreciation of the great community spirit of rural Australia. Sadly lacking in our cities.

6 June 2004 Receiving the new camera from Paul Maroni of Sony Australia - the first XDCAM to be delivered in the country.
Prepping to return to the UK for final Satellite series in July.

March 2004 Trying out the XDCAM PDW530 at a Sony demonstration evening, hoping to take delivery real soon now.
Good bye tape!

January Feburary 2004 Bit of a summer break then returned to the UK for a special satellite production. Snow after the show! It was supposed to be Spring!

June, July 2003 A trip to Italy and France as voluntary cameraman and photographer for Australia's "Golden Kangaroos" Marching Band. Hopefully a documentary will ensue with the 20 hours of footage I shot. Format was DVCAM, the camera, a Sony PDX10 in 16:9 mode. Looking forward to playing around with the footage on FCP 4. Also shot some 300 graphics for a new series on Seven Network "Bush Tales". Don't you just love shooting graphics?

Healthy Food segment from "Taking Charge Of Your Health"
April May 2003 Lot's of travel, over the last few months with non stop airports and flying in the States, Sweden and the UK for a 'Health' DVD. Oops, almost forgot NewZealand. I took note of everything these guys said! "Taking Charge Of Your Health" will be released on 7 DVDs. Having a well earned break, well recovery, from a throat operation. Back on the road soon, within Australia this time.

FEBRUARY 2003 Current affairs program recommences. A weekend shoot, Digital Betacam with Pilates Released as a DVD. Confirmed for a 1 week job in New Zealand starting in March. And a day shooting a gynecological procedure in operating theatre. Things must be looking up. Ouch!

November / December 2006 A return to Europe (different documentary) including Egypt, England, Scotland and Ireland. Scotland and Ireland are new to me but with a name like Hamilton, is felt like familiar territory. This shoot completed half of the series, the other half will continue the journey in March of 2007. The project is for Anglican Media here in Sydney with a working title of "The Christ Files' . Pictures Left to Right: Egypt, St Andrews Cathedral, Scotland,and London UK ."anyone got the time?' The production is using the XDCAM PDW530.
The program ‘aired’ on the 7 Network. Easter 2008.

March / April 2008 An XDCAM HD assignment for Wesley Media here in Sydney. It involved a quick trip around Australia (4 days) to basically shoot interviews. Additional footage was mainly shot in the early hours of the morning - hence this video essay “Morning Light”

May 2008 One of the first shoots I did on the EX-1 XDCAM HD camera. A music video titled “Sound Of Longing” written and performed by Ashley Morse and edited by Lachlan Hamilton. You can see the HD version by double clicking the image.

Nov 2010 Final sequence for a one hour documentary “Silent Night: a simple melody” Shot on the PMW 350. Shot on location in Austria (apart from this one shot in Sydney)