Colombia

A couple of weeks ago I was back out in Colombia shooting a new project with New Zealand based speciality coffee company Flight Coffee. It was an unexpected trip and one brought about by my jaunt in the same area back in January.

I originally went out there with the intention to shoot some interesting people and places with the hope of coming back with at least one film for the portfolio. In the end I shot and cut three which was a bonus, including the fantastic and very original Ometepe Bilingual School story which you can see here.

After seeing my original personal project about Miguel at the El Fenix Community Wetmill, Flight Coffee kindly asked me to visit once more for a second round of filming to capture the wetmill in a little more detail for their upcoming campaign film.

There's no sign of things slowing down for Christmas just yet with another trip overseas planned, this time closer to home, for a 4 day shoot in Paris and the launch of two really exciting personal projects next month. The results of which to follow soon!

Morocco with Akasha Retreats

This week has seen me working on some gorgeous footage that I shot in Taghazout, Morocco with new wellness brand Akasha.

The founder, Amy Patsalides invited me to join her on Akashas very first yoga retreat which took place at the beautiful Mountain Riad, overlooking the Moroccan coastline.

During the 5 day shoot we found ourselves in valleys, up mountains, on beaches and surrounded by palm and argan oil trees, a fantastic trip that has produced some spectacular footage.

Snowbombing in Austria

The last couple of months have seen me working with some new clients, new agencies and new collaborators so it's been jam packed whilst still trying to squeeze in some extra hours in the park on those hot sunny days.

In August I began work with the brilliant Lovers, an agency with a difference, more of a global creative community. The way Lovers works is progressive, with the agency hand picking freelancers best suited for a project rather than leaning on in-house staff who may not be as suited in the role.

Our collaboration was for the re-brand of Mayrhofen based winter festival Snowbombing where I was tasked with creating a brand film for the new website.

As well as a new agency collaboration i've also been working with lifestyle photographer heavyweight Michael Heffernan. Michael and I shot a test in East London a couple of weeks back whilst dodging police to get 'the shot'.

Venturing South

I found myself south of the Thames at the weekend and thrown well into that 'buzzing vibe' that's now often closely associated with Peckham Rye. It could have just been the warm sun accentuating everyones energy and boosting local moods but whatever it was, I liked it.

I was booked to shoot 3 days at the first ever Peckham Rye Music Festival and sometimes with these types of event it's easy to assume they'll all fall into the same category; wasted people, lots of mud, bad music and hard work.

However this was not to be the case at all and the weekend flew by in a flash of 80 fantastic artists, 10 local venues and a real good atmosphere. Kudos to founder and organiser Glenn Middleditch for his many months of preparation and ability to remain calm under pressure!

Having looked through the footage I know we're going to get a couple of really great films out of the shoot, time to start editing...

It's Nice That Our Documentary is featured on It's Nice That.

What a good start to the week. Super slick design website It's Nice That are running a feature on myself and photographer Chris Baker's latest documentary offering The Legacy of Wells Coates.

The film centers on modernist architect Wells Coates and two of his most famous projects, Embassy Court in Brighton and The Isokon Building in Hampstead, London.

These two buildings have wonderful stories. Although there is no direct connection to each other apart from Wells Coates himself, they both went through exactly the same rollercoaster of falling into mass disrepair, being on the brink of being demolished, before being rescued and returned to their former glory. 

We believe Wells Coates deserves to be celebrated and bought to the masses, hopefully this film helps to open up that awareness just that little bit more.

You can see the full feature on It's Nice That here.

Based on the photo series The Legacy of Wells Coates.
bakerworld.co.uk/home/the-legacy-of-wells-coates/the-legacy-of-wells-coates/

Ometepe Bilingual School | Nicaragua

I recently finished a short documentary shot on my travels in Nicaragua and am glad to see it online and speaking out about the wonderful work of Alvaro Molaro, owner of the Hacienda Merida on Ometepe Island and founder of the Ometepe Bilingual School.

The beautiful Ometepe Island situated right in the middle of Lake Nicaragua currently receives an average of three tons of plastic waste daily, a high percentage of which is generated by the bottled water business and soda drinks. Despite being made a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2010 the island is beginning to suffocate under the weight of its pollution problem.

Alvaro has been running his hostel on the island for over 20 years and has taken the initiative to create a system where by he can re-use the plastic waste to build a local school whilst also injecting money back into the local community.

Check out his inspiring story here.

Yoga Flow

This week saw me complete a lovely little film for My Yoga London, the yoga buffs who connect yoga to Londoners by providing comprehensive lists of teachers and studios throughout the city.

This was a really enjoyable shoot for me and being a part-time yogi myself I felt even more drawn to capture to beauty and strength of a flow routine in a unique and engaging way.

Shooting Abroad

For the last 7 weeks I've been making my way around Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua shooting a selection of short form projects on topics ranging from speciality coffee in the mountains of Armenia to the environmental efforts of those based on the tiny island of Ometepe.

This adventure has been just that; a real adventure, and for me the joy of travel filmmaking is in the unknown, the unexpected and the unforeseen situations in which we find ourselves purely by opening up to those around us. It does make me question just how much more we could experience in our day to day lives if we were to apply these principles of living to our everyday routine.

In the coming weeks I will be editing these projects together and collaborating with some online publications to showcase the work.