Telling the story of Motocross with Garrett - Red Creative

Get ready for an adrenaline-fueled dive into the world of motorsports and action sports filmmaking with Garrett, a seasoned filmmaker who's mastered the art of capturing the heart-pounding moments on the track.

In this episode, we unravel Garrett's journey, starting from the grassroots of dirt bike racing, where he began filming on his phone. Discover the pivotal moments that propelled him into the realm of professional equipment and hear firsthand the tips and tricks that have shaped his filmmaking career.

Whether you're an aspiring filmmaker hungry for insights or a seasoned pro looking to elevate your craft, this podcast is your backstage pass to the thrilling world of motorsports cinematography. Tune in for a riveting conversation that transcends the lens, exploring the dynamic intersection of passion, skill, and the pursuit of capturing high-octane moments.

Gear up for a cinematic adventure with Garrett and discover what it takes to make every frame a masterpiece.

Transcript

Hey, what's up, guys? I have Garrett here with Red Creative. Him and I met a while back now, I think at a flat track race officially, and I wanted to have him on the podcast for a while now. So I have him here.

Do you want to just introduce yourself a little bit further than what I already have? Yeah. Hey, what's up, guys? Yeah, I'm Garrett with Red Creative, and I have been filming motorsports for going on four years now. Always had an interest in movies and stuff, but just with going to the races, I kind of really was able to get into filming through that.

So obviously, this podcast is like a photography podcast. I'm just kind of curious because I don't know that your upbringing in it or whatever, did you start in photography or did you start with film, or how did you get to where you are today? What's your background story? I actually have very little photography experience. That's something I've been trying to get into lately.

I picked up a $200 stills camera, and that's been kind of fun to play around with. So it just kind of made me want like a mirrorless. It's a 70, so it's kind of cool because it's a little bit older technology.

But anyways, growing up, my mom raised us on classic movies, like singing in the rain, like musicals. We loved musicals growing up, and she really kind of, I don't know, just gave us an appreciation for really good storytelling and stuff like that. So I always loved movies, especially just interesting ones from there.

I had a friend that got into short films, and he was going to contests and stuff, and so I was trying to hang out with him and kind of pick up what I could, but at the time, I think the technology just, it was still pretty expensive to get into it, and I just didn't really have the resources for that. So I volunteered at the LDS Film Festival a couple of years with him. And after that, I kind of lost interest.

I think I did some dumb stuff at home with like a handicam or whatever. But other than that, I kind of lost interest in making videos until I was. I got back into dirt bikes in my twenty s and I was obviously not wanting to go anywhere serious with it, but I really wanted to be good at it.

So I started filming myself with my cell phone just to kind of critique my form. I think at the time, that's when instabangers really started popping off. So I was like, oh, okay, yeah, I'll put some music to it, make a cool little edit, whatever.

And at the time, I also had like a little clothing brand that I was getting going again with a budy of mine. And so I was like, oh yeah, I can put together these little edits on the weekends and kind of show what we're up to and help promote the brand. And that turned into like, oh, the next season we went to all of RMX series and we're doing a video for every weekend and kind of just showing what the races were like from there.

And I was shooting at that point, I was all in my cell phone and it was, I mean, honestly, anytime people ask me about cameras, I usually point them to some of the lower end cameras. But seriously, just your phone and getting like Filmic Pro and Lumetri or Lumafusion. Yeah, those two apps are, you get those on your phone and you can do so much just with that.

So I had that. And then I think the season after that first season, the promoter came to us and offered to buy us a camera and just have us keep doing that, but just do it at a higher quality with an actual camera. And at the time, I was kind of looking into using an actual camera and getting more into the film world.

And I have to credit, I did a post actually earlier this week. There's a local guy that was filming a little bit and seeing his stuff and how good it was because he was on like an A 73 with some really fast lenses, but seeing his stuff for some reason made it click to like, oh, I need a camera. If I want to make this stuff look really good, I need to get an actual camera.

And then, yeah, from there it was like filming the races was awesome. I was doing some personal edits here and there. Got kind of burnout on that after that first season because I was cranking them out, dude, and I was getting so burnt out doing it.

Trying to find new songs for each kid. Yeah, eventually after that, I started doing little gigs here and there for guys that I had kind of come in contact with. After that, I started filming for RMX series, like doing some actual just coverage for their highlights and stuff.

I brought you on that one weekend to help me cover that. And then, yeah, now I work at Oz marketing, who does all of young Automotive's video stuff. So that's full time now, and it's cool to be able to focus all of my energy on video now instead of like cutting concrete all day and thinking about all the things that I want to do.

Then I get home and because I have a family, I have to give them my time. And so I don't do anything with my video until they all go to bed. And then it's like I've got 2 hours, two to 3 hours to work on stuff or for a while there, I was standing up till like two or three in the morning trying to do stuff.

So now that I don't have to do that, I still do it a little bit here and there, but now that I don't have to do that, it's so much more. Oh, I don't know how to put it. It's just nice to be able to put all of my energy into video and being.

Getting better at that. That's my path. Nice.

No, I like that. That was cool. I guess my thinking too with that.

Like you sAid, you were burned out like a ton. I'm guessing there was a lot of learning that was also occurring during some of that, between going from the phone to an actual camera and then figuring out probably more editing software and different stuff. Yeah.

When I went to the camera before that, when I first started doing those weekend videos again, I got to give credit to another budy of mine who's kind of mentored me this whole time and just kind of been a good someone to bounce off my work and kind of give me some very critical feedback and just be completely, 100% honest with me. And that's so critical to getting better. It helps if your friend's not a dick about it, so luckily he's not.

But no, one thing talking with him was that I really wanted to nail down, I guess, just proper composition before I got a camera, because I guess it really wanted to be like I didn't want to throw down on a camera until I knew that I could use it properly. And there still was a big learning curve once I did get a camera. But I really wanted to make sure that at least composition wise, I knew what I was doing and exposure and that kind of stuff.

And that's where the Filmic Pro app is so nice because it gives you those tools that a camera has. And obviously it's not going to give you the same look, but it just gets you familiar with those kind of basic tools that you need to run a camera. Yeah, it's nice to have a mentor.

I'm trying to think if I've ever. No, I don't know if. I mean, outside of maybe some YouTube videos.

I don't know, just having someone to give you some honest feedback and not just honest feedback, but someone that knows what to look, it's like because, yeah, I've had my budy Eric, so he's a gaffer in the film industry. He's worked on the chosen and stuff. So he's been doing it for a long time.

But then my other guy, that is Wes from Verb Moto, he's also been another huge asset for helping me grow because he's filmed a Moto for, oh, I don't even know, he's like one of the, like they were doing instabangers before Instabangers were a thing, before Instagram was a thing. They were going to all the amateur races, basically kind of showing who are the up and comers and showing them on video at those amateur nationals. He was another big asset for just like, especially specifically for the Moto filming because there isn't a lot of resources for that or even just action sports filming in general.

Having someone that is in that field that you want to pursue helps a lot to have someone like that that can kind of give you some insight into what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. Well, I know you had me go out there and film that. I think partly, and I feel bad a little bit because, well, I rented the C 70, right, but I should have probably just shot on my one DX mark three, because for one, I don't know, the focus was just not, it's a little bit more of a beast with a C 70.

It's good. But there's just certain things that the one DX just does for me. And then two, the screen isn't as bright, and I was just using that rather than like a monitor.

So there's that. So then maybe that's a strike, too. And then the third thing, and I think this was just me because I haven't been around a racetrack that much, per se, or around that, that much.

So I'd be like, I'm filming it. And then the head would go up. It's a struggle.

Anyway. That said, obviously, even me, there's things that can be learned, I think, from anybody that's in a different niche or whatever. And I think that's really why I wanted to have you on here a little bit, was maybe to kind of share some tips or whatever that you might have for someone that wants to kind of go that route.

Actually, I've shot one episode of a series that I've been wanting to do for a long time, talking about specifically filming outdoors and more specifically action sports or even more specifically dirt bikes. But yeah, I started editing it and I just have not had time to get around to it. But yeah, I guess the first thing, yeah, the camera.

I'm a big fan of using what you're familiar with, even if it's a lesser camera than what is available to you, if you know how to run it, that is going to be the better camera. At the end of the day, if you are going to rent a bigger camera for a project, definitely rent it ahead of time. Maybe you won't make as much on the project, but I would say rent it ahead of time and just get familiar with it.

The first year I went and filmed Red Bull imagination, he said that they were filming on. I think I ended up shooting on an XF 605, and I had never used, I don't know what you call it, it's not a handy cam, but I guess just a camcorder type camera. I'd never used one before, so that kind of made me really nervous when he told me that, because I thought we were going to be using like, I don't know, DSLR.

Looking back, it's like, yeah, why would we have been shooting a Red Bull project on those cameras? But anyways, I actually spent my own money and rented an XF 405 a few weekends before just to try and kind of see where the controls were at and figure, you know, kind of get used to just using the camera. And honestly, if I was just covering races, if that was 100% of what I was doing, I would probably just buy an XF 605 or 705, whatever it is, for that because it's nice to not have to swap out lenses. It's got the built in NDS and I mean, for the price.

It's so killer. That experience kind of really drove home, like, right tool for the right job. And I use my C 70 for filming races now, and so it's a little much, but it's because I've only got one video camera I just need it to be able to do everything.

I would definitely say, just really get familiar with your camera and learn its limitations. Because once you learn how to use it within its limitations, you're going to be way better than using a better camera that you aren't quite sure where the limits are. Yeah, definitely.

And I love the C 70 because of the internal ND filter and all. It's a great camera, but it is also sometimes more than it needs to be, for sure. Yeah.

For me, it's like one thing I've loved about using it is especially just filming outdoors all the time. Right now I'm not doing it as much, but I would say for the most part, I'm probably 80% to 90%. Filming outside and having a camera with that kind of dynamic range is so nice when you're editing because you can still keep your details in the highlights and your details in the shadows.

Because that's something I notice with a lot of newer filmers, is just not exposing an image correctly. I feel like with the Moto filmers specifically, I guess I haven't really paid attention much to any other genres of beginner filmers. It seems like they expose for the shadows rather than the highlights.

This is the opposite of what you would want to do in the outdoors. And that's not 100% true all the time. It just depends on what your subject is.

If you're trying to cover a race, like what I'm doing, I would definitely. If I had a camera that had. If I was shooting eight bit rather than ten or twelve bit, I would be exposing for the highlights.

Because that's the majority of what's going to be in the image. Because it just doesn't look good when on a lower budget camera, when your sky's. I mean, your sky is going to be blown out probably most of the time, but if you can at least see your subject, that's better.

Yeah, there's just been a few that I've seen that the composition and stuff is good, but their exposure is just off. And that's where I've had a few people reach out to me asking for camera recommendations. And I used a blackmagic pocket four K for over a year and for $1,000.

It's such a good camera. You have to get used to manual focus, which isn't. I feel like everybody should learn that skill.

But for the quality you get out of a camera, it's such a good buy. There's some things that are annoying about it, like the form factor. It's hard to slap that thing on a gimbal.

Even my C 70s, it can balance on a gimbal. But that blackmagic is just not a great body for that type of stuff. But I don't know how I wandered off into camp bodies.

No, you're good. I mean, that's kind of like what the next question really is. The next question that I have here is favorite lenser wise.

So it can be camera. But I guess you could answer the lens question also. I guess at this point that is hard because it really depends on what I'm filming.

Because honestly, the two lenses I've used the most, it's hard too. So yeah, the two lenses I've used the most in the last year are the 7200 when I'm at the races, like that thing pretty much stays glued to my camera all day long because I can get close enough for other stuff. But if I'm trying to just cover racing, I'm trying to not have to move as much and be able to just focus on what's happening on the track.

And so if I'm trying to shoot a highlight video of a class at a race, I'll usually shoot wider than if say, I was like shooting someone's personal edit because I'm trying to capture any of the action that's going on. And so it's hard to do that when you're so tight in there. Sometimes you can, but it depends on how you've got your shot composed and everything.

Yeah. So the 7200 for like race stuff, sometimes even a 100 to 400 would be nice just for that little extra distance. Just depends on the track.

For anything that's not race coverage. I would say probably my 18 to 35. I use that before I was working Oz.

I was using that on everything just because it's such a crisp image for such a cheap lens. And I don't know, it's just got such a professional look to it. It's awesome.

I've honestly thought about swapping out my 24 to 105 for a sick. Because I have a Canon 24 to 105 and I've thought about swapping that out for a sigma just so that they match better. Just because there is a little bit of cut o difference.

But then, see, it's hard because before I had my 7200, my 24 to 105 pretty much stayed glued on my camera. Especially for documentary type stuff that's such a useful lens. That's probably the one I recommend to anybody that asks me about lenses starting out because you get a really good wide, and you can get some really good tights on that one lens.

So that's probably one of the most usable ranges, I think, if you have to have just one lens. Yeah, I like that answer and completely agree with that because it's like you said, if you have to have just one lens. And it's nice too, especially if you're running and gunning kind of stuff, you don't want to always be switching and swapping a lens.

And then I guess since we're talking about more video with this episode, if you look at any big set production with a cinema lens that Zooms, that's the only lens. And that's probably the only lens that ever lives on that camera. Yeah, especially for video.

For me, the less I have to swap a lens out, the better. So right now I'm getting really into vintage lenses. Picked up Helios 44.

I got a cine modded one, and I love it. But now I got to get a wide lens to match it because that's my only vintage lens. And so if I try and use my 24 to 105 or eight, two, three to five, it does not match up at all.

Swirly Boca aside, it does not look the same. So I've actually been looking at vintage zoom lenses. So that's probably next on my purchase list is either a vintage zoom or the wide.

Probably the vintage zoom. Just because I want to be able to. This year, I kind of want to do some trips on some single track and just got an F stop bag to throw all my stuff in.

And so I want to be able to take my camera out on the trails and get some cool footage, like out in the backcountry. So that's where I really like to have a vintage lens. Just to have a little bit more character, but also to have some decent variety in the types of shots I can get.

That sounds cool. Yeah. So I guess the next question I've got here is what has been some of your most recent work project that you've been working on or a favorite project? And if you want to elaborate more, I think that would be cool.

On the single track stuff, it just sounded neat and cool or like where that idea came from, or you take it however you want to take it. Sweet. Yeah.

So as far as favorite projects I did last year, I mean, working on Red Bull imagination is always really cool just for one event aside, because that's a crazy cool event to be at, just to watch, let alone film. It's just really cool to rub shoulders with all of those other filmers, because they bring in all the top Moto filmers in there to come help out and film that event. And it's so cool to, on the downtime when you're not filming the event, just talk shop with everybody and kind of see what everybody's different approach is to know the same subject that we're all filming.

Yeah, that was a cool one. But as far as, like. So I was doing a series with coalescence or with verb last year called coalescence.

And that was kind of my pet project that I pitched to them. And then I shot on my own the year before. And then we released it on verb kind of the beginning of last year.

That's when I really loved, because I don't know where this thought came from, but I've really been focused on how to bring non moto people into Moto and get them interested. Because to me, Moto, I mean, I've grown up riding and granted, I wasn't always as into it as I am now. Just kind of funny just because I was into it since I was a kid.

But once I actually started racing and stuff, that's when I just completely nerded out on it. So that's kind of been my focus for a while. And I'm trying to do some things with my current job to expand on that.

Just because they own young power sports owns quite a few dealerships in Utah. So coalescence is basically a series. It's a mini doc series where I've tried to show the diversity of the people that are at the races.

Because I think when I've talked to people outside of Moto, they kind of just assume that if you race a dirt bike, then you must be going professional or you must be professional to some level. And that is so far from the truth. There are a lot of people that are trying to go professional, but at the races you have such a wide variety of people.

And I think that's one of the cool parts about it as a sport, is that you can't Go play a comp like a coed soccer game with a real player. Maybe you can, I don't know, but at least in most sports, I have not heard of stuff like that happening. They're usually like, the professional athletes are very secluded from the fans.

But with Moto, you can go ride the same track as one of those guys when they're out on a test day and go chat them up in the pits at Supercross or motocross events. So just having that diversity at one track, I think is so interesting. And so the first episode I did a vet rider who turns out I've known him for a minute, but it turns out he actually works for NASA.

Yeah, it's like, what? Okay, so just another like, yeah, you just never know who you're going to meet out on the track. And then there was a kid who'd kind of been riding desert and got into racing and was kind of over ball sports, but he got really into racing. And then the other one was a former professional who was trying to bring his kid into it.

And still in production or post production for the latest episode, which is going to be following the Rao family. And they're the only family to ever. The only family to ever qualify at Loretta's.

So father, mother, son. That's cool. That should be coming out here soon.

Yeah, it's been a really cool one. And this one, Wes came and helped me film it. I wasn't able to go to Loretta, so they got a bunch of footage from there and it's a really cool story.

So I'm really excited for when that comes out. And I'm going to try and pursue a couple of other stories this year with that. So that's like the mini doc stuff.

I really enjoy that. And I'm still learning a ton with how to put a story together. So that's probably my biggest passion, is just getting better at telling stories.

As far as more artsy stuff, though, I did have one that I was super stoked on just over between December and January. Or I guess it was like December. We shot the first part in December and I had to wait till they were coming down to the Mesquite track in February.

But it was a bike build that one of the guys from the races hit me up to do. And it was funny because at first I think we were just thinking like, oh, we'll just do some cool shots of the bike and these parts. Because he got, like a bunch of really trick parts to put on it.

Yeah, we'll just find a really cool location. It'd be fairly cut and dry. I think he told me what song he wanted to do it to, and I just started getting some cool shot ideas and I was like, okay, I want to go big on this.

Actually, I think we could really go all out on this. So he was awesome enough to pay me for my time and efforts on this. I didn't have to do it for free, which I always appreciate.

People like that that are like, hey, how much do you charge? Okay, yeah, no problem. I love dealing with people like that, because money aside, it just shows respect for the time and effort that you're putting into it. Yeah, but anyway, so that one was one where I spent a good majority of that money.

I mean, most of my money that I make doing video before I was full time went to just gear and software or whatever, like, anything I could do to try and just up my level. And so for this one, I actually paid my budy Eric to come and gaffe for me. And so he brought all his lights.

We pulled his trailer up there with all his lights set up. So he used, like, a 600 d over the top of the bike with my big softbox. And that was one where I tried to plan it out as much as I could beforehand.

We got super lucky because before we decided we were going to shoot it up in Idaho Falls, where he's from, the rider, I was looking for industrial spots around town, and I could not find anything for the life of me that didn't cost an arm and a leg to rent out or that, I don't know, I wanted something that was kind of, like, dark and dingy. Yeah. It just turned out that this guy had a buddy who owns several warehouses in Idaho Falls, sent me some pictures of one.

I was like, oh, dude, yes, yes, that's where we're doing it. Plus, it was free, so that helped with that end of. It was kind of cool because it was one of those things where we got there, and I kind of had an idea of how I wanted things to look.

We were kind of worried about light coming in from the windows, but actually, I think on my YouTube page, it's on my. I don't know if you can see the full image on my cover picture, but I think I've got. If you just go to the video, you'll see the shot.

But there's, like, did a wide shot, like, pushing into the bike and then turning. And that's probably one of my favorite shots because of the difference in color from the light coming in over the boxes or whatever. That was kind of around because there was, like, the blue light from the daylight coming in up and over, and we hazed it up as much as we could.

But then there was, like, the warm light that was hitting the bike and kind of lighting up the ground. And so it just created really cool kind of some leading lines to the bike. And I love leading lines, dude.

I love shooting wide. Everyone should love leading lines. The whole point of, I guess, is drawing the viewer's eye to the subject, whatever that subject is.

Oh, yeah, it's funny. If there's one thing that I've actually kind of hated about getting into video, it's that I can't not dissect a shot when I'm watching a movie or anything. My budy told me about this when I first started getting into it, and he was like, all I watch now is adult cartoons because I can just shut my brain off when I watch.

Really? Yeah. And now I totally get it, dude. I still watch shows a lot, but now it's more like, I watched seven the other day with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, and the story was awesome and super depressing.

But the whole time just thinking, like, oh, man, I love this shot. Like, all the color on, like, all these. It's like anytime you get involved in something that you understand how it works, you just can't shut your brain off as far as those things, when you see other things out of the environment that usually see them, I guess, if that makes sense.

No, it does, and that's definitely true. I think it was probably one of the first dates that I had with my wife. We went out to a movie and I fully nerded out.

Like, I'm sitting there watching this. I'm watching this. Yeah, seriously, it was bad.

I don't even remember what it might have been. Dune. It might have been the new Dune.

But the way we were watching it, and I was all like, did you see the way they cut that? Let me explain what just happened. And it was just like, I don't need to explain it. And you're in the theater, too.

Yeah, I was just like, better. Oh, my God. I was like, yeah.

Did you see that? Look at. And there was no need for me to be doing that. But I get fully where you're at.

Yeah, it was good, though. My wife hates it when I do that. I try and do it all the time.

She's like, will you just shut up and let me watch the show? Yeah, I don't think I do it as much. I try and really just shut my brain off sometimes. But I think it's good to have that bit of mindset when you're watching stuff, because being able to dissect a film or video and see how it was shot or how it was lit or how it was cut or edited helps you to figure out sometimes.

Yeah, it's nice to see the behind the scenes, but sometimes it's fun to figure out how you would do that and then watch the behind the scenes and then figure out they did it. Better. Or actually, the way that I was thinking that they did, that would be better.

Yeah. Dude, one of my favorite BTS videos is probably it's for the Lighthouse. Have you ever seen that with Robert Pattinson? And can't think of the other guy's name, the Green Goblin from the first Spider man movies.

William. William Defoe. Dude, it's so.

I really liked it. I had my budy watch, and he was like, it was okay. Like the movie itself.

But we both agreed that the behind the scenes was super cool because it's a black and white film, but they tried to make it as authentically, like, black and white film as possible. To the extent where they went to Panavision and basically told them, give us the oldest lenses you've got in your rental house. So they had to fit those to new bodies or whatever to use on the newer cameras, or.

I don't even remember what camera they shot it on. I assume it was film, but then they actually had, like, a custom made blue filter, I think. Yeah, I think it was blue because I think everybody usually uses red because that softens everything up a little bit.

But they used a custom blue filter to make it look, like, extra gritty and really bring out that really fine detail and kind of just give it that kind of dingy look. And, dude, just the look of it is so cool looking. Yeah, it's super cool.

I'll have to check it out now. Yeah, it's awesome. I feel like we've kind of nailed the.

Let's see. Yeah. My next question here is, favorite thing to shoot, basically.

So you've kind of said Moto. I don't know that I've ever seen this. You usually shoot a lot of motocross.

I'm just curious if you've ever shot track, like GP type Moto GP. Oh, no, I haven't. Well, I did a video for Motool when Bagger Racing League first got started.

I think their first round was here in Utah at the Utah Motorsports campus. So that was the first time I'd shot anything like that. And I brought my budy Dylan along, who's actually now my boss.

I brought him along to help me just cover it, because I just wanted to make sure we were getting as much coverage as possible of the event. But, yeah, so that was my first time doing that. And I had him on the long lens.

Now I'm really wishing I could have been on it just to get those shots, just because I love getting those shots on the track. But that was the first time I did that. I would love to shoot.

Oh, I did the flat track race, so that was kind of a different type of event to film. That one is interesting because it's like with Moto, I have a really good relationship with the promoter, and so he just kind of lets me go wherever as long as I'm being safe. And so I'm really able to get a lot more variety than I think I would anywhere else.

And especially on that flat track race, you're very limited. So trying to get a good variety of shots, it's very difficult, especially because you and I were on the inside of that. So we were kind of locked in once we were down there.

But see, I'm trying to think. I mean, I did Red Bull imagination. That was different just because of the event, but also the cameras we were shooting on.

And just a different style of know, kind of like what I was talking about earlier, where you're not trying to get the cool, super tight shots very. I don't know what you'd call it. You see a lot of it on Instagram.

But we were trying to do just way more, like broadcast style, just show the scale, everything, and shoot wider than you normally would just to kind of show how big these jumps were that they were doing. Yeah, I'd love to shoot, like, as far as motorsports go. I mean, this is probably.

I don't know if this would ever happen, but shooting Isle of Man would be insane. That would be so cool. That would be cool.

No, the reason I kind of asked that, honestly, I need to have my dad's friend on the podcast. I don't even know that he shoots anymore, but he's, like, my dad's childhood friend. And I think this is partly why I got drawn into photography.

But I think since we're on the subject of motorsports and, mean, I was probably, like, five years old or whatever, or not even born yet, and he lives in Portland, but he would go to the motorcycle races on the weekend and shoot with film photos and then go home for the week and do the whole dark room thing and then bring those images back the next weekend and show some of the guys in the pits, like, hey, look, I shot this, but a lot of it was on road track. It was that. And I guess my dad has always shared the story of him and his buddy Phil.

They went down to Laguna Seca and the ticket or whatever that my dad had let him ride his motorcycle on. Anyway, that's kind of my drawn. I guess that's kind of why I have always been drawn to the motorcycle stuff is because he would do, like, a trip every summer and he would bring his portfolio deck of that previous year or whatever he had shot, and I would see these pictures that you would see in magazines and he would pull it out.

And I'm like, dude, this is sick. And I think ever since, that's what drew me into photography. And then ultimately, now I'm doing in this day and age, I feel like video and photo kind of go hand in hand together a little bit.

So that's why I asked. Long story, long story, long story. That's why I asked.

It's funny because on the opposite end of that, like I said, I love shooting Moto. I think, honestly, the end of the day, that is definitely, like, my preferred thing to shoot because I've been doing it so long. So I kind of know the shots that I need to get and all that type of stuff.

But on the opposite end of that, though, there has definitely been times where, dude, it's just like, I get sick of it for a bit, and I'm like, I can't think of any other angles to get. It's just when you're watching everybody else's very creative videos, you're like, this stuff is all the same angles. It's all the same shots.

There's not a lot of room for creativity. And that's why, honestly, anytime I find a new filmer, especially if they're local, I'll go follow them. Mainly just because I want to see if somebody has a different take on something that maybe I haven't thought of before.

I've curated my personal, or I guess not my personal, my red creative Instagram, just to try and pick up any kind of inspiration I can from other filmers. Because I think that's something that every filmer deals with at some point is just kind of running out of ideas. And, yeah, you just hit a wall at some point because it's cool.

I like filming the races because there's a lot of action going on, but you just don't get to mess with lighting. You kind of are trying to just adapt to whatever lighting you're given, and so you don't get a lot of chance to practice controlling light and modifying it. And so that was one thing that I was really stoked to do that bike build video, is that I had a chance to actually combine the two and do Some cool lighting and get some cool action shots on the track.

That's pretty cool. Kind of what you said aligns perfectly with that because it's like, and I guess I say it aligns perfectly, but I fully understand what you're getting at because it's like, I had the opportunity to shoot at the Hawkenheim ring in Germany when I was stationed over there. That was one thing I did was I reached out to my dad's friend, I said, hey, how do I set myself up on the right spot for these shots? And he's like, put the sun at your back.

And then I showed him the images later and he goes, so you like to do panning shots? Because I put my shutter speed on, like one over 100 and just caught the motion blur of these cars going by. But, yeah, it was just interesting. But I guess I can totally relate to that because you are kind of subject to the time of the race and then the lighting of the day, and you don't get any more.

I think the things that you get to play with really is just composition. And that's about it. Yeah, that's where I feel, like, tough sometimes.

Yeah. And that's where I feel like shooting outdoors, it helps a little bit more having a camera that can capture more dynamic range, just to help you out a little bit with whatever lighting you're given, especially in those harder lighting conditions. And like you said, having someone point out something that maybe you're not aware of.

I had that the first project I filmed for verb, because I did a video for chant Timus, when verb first came back and we were shooting, so it was supposed to be me and Wes, and then his sciatica got way bad right before. And so I was like, all right, well, I'm still going to have you go out and do it. And I just trust that.

Here are a couple of things I want you to focus on out there, because I think one was right before I met him, I had just got a 75 to 300 lens, which is my first long lens. It's a $75 lens, at least that's how much I paid for it. So it's super cheap, super low quality glass.

But I was just stoked to have a long lens fiNally. And so I used the crap out of that thing. I didn't do any wide shots for a while.

And that was one thing that he told me is like, hey, on this shot, and same thing, like panning shots, all I was doing is following riders. And so that was one thing he told me is like, hey, for one, I want you to try and do more wide shots, and I want you to try to do more static shots and let the rider move through the that. I think that still might be one of my favorite.

It's one of my top list of some of the favorite videos I've done. Just because, for one, that track is just so beautiful. I think all the Idaho tracks just kill it when it comes to backdrop, especially that one, because it's kind of, like, set down into where it's built.

So all you really see when you're on the track is just green rolling hills and mountains all around. It's amazing. I love it.

And so that helped with that. But also having someone to be like, hey, I want you to focus on this rather than this, because you kind of got a bad habit of doing that. That helps so much for growth and just kind of realizing what areas you need to, I guess, do better on, especially for shots.

Because I think, like I said, when you get a different lens, a different focal length or something, like, you kind of get obsessed for a little bit with trying to get those types of shots. Yeah, that's true. If you're like, oh, I've got this long lens.

And I'm like, it's brand new for you, or whatever, you might pigeonhole yourself into only capturing a certain style or whatever. I had a gimbal at one point before I had the one I have now, and I used it for a split second, and then I got my blackmagic, so I couldn't use it anymore. And I thought about getting another gimbal, but I think at the time, gimbals have been hot for a while.

I think now you're seeing a lot more videos of, oh, this is why you shouldn't buy a gimbal. I avoided buying another gimbal for a long time because specifically that reason, I didn't want to use it as a crutch for my filming, which I think it's kind of hard with Moto filming anyways, because you're not going to use a 7200 on a gimbal. You could, but it'd be really hard to keep up with the action.

So then I finally did get another gimbal, and I think because I put it off for so long and I kind of worked on those other areas first. I don't rely on it so much to get shots. It's way more of just one of the many tools to add to the overall variety of shots I can put into a video.

You've used any video tripods or a Monopod for anything or yourself. I finally got a fluid head and, oh, my gosh, I haven't really used it as a fluid head for filming yet, but just for interviews. And yeah, I haven't used it races, but I have used it for small, little.

I think we went to Idaho Falls and used it for some slow panning shots, like following a car or just moving across like a building. Oh, my God, I should have got one so long ago because I've been using just this cheap $50 tripod forever. And for interview stuff, it's fine.

It'll hold my camera and it won't move or anything. I can trust it. But as far as, like, I think when I very first got it, I tried to do some panning shots at a race and it was like just sticking the whole got.

I guess that's my truck right now. But yeah, I got the Manfrotto. Never remember the name of the specific tripod, but honestly, it's the ideal setup for the stuff I do because it's just like quick, like unclamped legs fall out, clamp back, good to go.

Fold them up. I can walk around with it. It's heavy duty, it's an aluminum, and it's got the fluid head.

Now I need the carbon fiber one so I can throw it on the back of my F stop bag because I threw it on just to see how much weight it would add. And I don't know. I don't know if I could lug that thing around.

It's a beast. Yeah, I feel like just the video heads, I've got one, but I feel like the video heads just by themselves with tripod or like, they're just. Yeah, yeah.

It's funny because I asked another moto filmer who's been around a long time, Steve Hoggelstein. So he's cool because he wOn, I want to say, three gold medals. I know at least two in the real Moto competition for X Games.

And he. Are you familiar with those ones where they do, like, it's like a minute and a half edit, basically. It's like they can go wherever they want.

It's like, basically just kind of like a short film contest for Moto. And I think they've stopped it now, which kind of bums me out because that was one of my goals, was to be able to get on that contest and do one. But anyway, so he won.

I know of at least two medals doing that, but it was cool because not only was he filming, but he was riding in them as well. So he had to pack all his own gear and stuff. So I asked him, hey, how do you pack around your stuff, because at the time, I was going to the dunes a lot and I was bringing the camera, so I was like, what kind of pack can I throw my camera stuff in so it doesn't get damaged? Easy to carry around.

And he recommended the F stop bag. And this was like two, three years ago that he recommended this. I finally got it the other day.

I was like, when you're doing these shoots, what tripod do you bring? It's like, oh, the Sackler. Just a $3,000 tripod. Of course you are.

I mean, I get it. He's filming on like, a red epic with Fujinon, 18 to 90s. You got to have something that could support that, but then also be light.

But it's like, yeah, I can't really afford a sack clear at the moment. Yeah, well, I get having a good support, but also I think sometimes you can find yourself overkilling it a little bit. Yeah, it's another one of those.

Right tool for the right job. And for that, if you're using that kind of camera on those bigger shoots. Yeah, for sure, get a high end tripod like that.

But right now, there's no way I can justify a $3,000 tripod. Yeah, no, that's the reason why I asked it, because you were saying something about having one on your pack. I feel like a monopod.

They have the fluid bottom. I don't know if you've seen those. I think I have, yeah.

And I've thought about picking up just like a cheaper one that's like one of the cheaper carbon fiber manfrottos. I think they have ones with the same head, but they're not as beefy because mine's pretty beefy and it's fully aluminum, so it's a pretty heavy tripod for what it is. But, yeah, I've thought about just getting a smaller one because I think even when I do do that stuff, because I want to do.

I think, yeah, I mentioned earlier I want to do some stuff filming on single track. Not necessarily for any project in particular, but I've always wanted to do some stuff with my dad because he's really hardcore into single track. And I've always wanted to capture that.

So I want to get this bag to be able to haul my camera gear out there. But again, for stuff like that, I'll probably minimize the gear I have in my bag because right now I've got all my lenses and everything I can fit in at the moment, just because I can. And I'm just taking it to work.

But I'll definitely strip it down for stuff like that. So then the bigger tripod might not be as bad, but I think I'd still probably want to rock a lighter set up for that. So the last and final question for this is tips for people starting out or wanting to get into.

Usually the questions photography, but video? Well, the nice thing is I think the basic principles are pretty much the same. So I would say I recommend a lot of people like these newer canons that are coming out for cameras like the R seven or the R eight, because that's what I would have bought if I was starting over again. I'd get one of those.

But honestly, I think shooting on my phone helped a lot with just not having to worry about the camera and just focusing on good composition. Because I think you can get really caught up in camera bodies and lenses and gear and whatnot. But at the end of the day, if you don't know how to use it, your stuff's always going to look the same.

So I would say for sure, just study composition and what good composition looks like and learning how to get those shots. A good way to practice that is just finding your favorite videos and trying to mimic those same types of shots, whether it's the lighting or the angle or the frame rate, whatever. Just mimicking other people's work can really help you learn how to get those types of shots.

A good way to utilize your phone and be able to kind of practice using camera stuff is the Filmic Pro app and Lumafusion. I feel like those helped me so much. Especially Lumafusion.

Going from editing on my phone to editing on a computer. Because I already kind of had a basic knowledge of how editing worked. Because Lumafusion is a fairly.

It's not comparable to premiere or any of those other NLEs, but it is the same process, I guess. And they have some very, a lot more in depth tools than some of the other phone app editors have. So my phone crashed a bunch trying to use it.

Your phone will get hot, that app. When my brother was asking me about starting a YouTube channel, he goes, how do I edit these on my phone? He's like, lumafusion. And make sure you get a phone with a ton of storage if you're going to film on your phone.

Because I used to have like a 258 or whatever it is, and I was dumb and I got a 128 on my phone now, and I'm constantly having to sync with iCloud. Luckily, I don't film. It's mostly just like BTS stuff and family stuff on my phone now, but it's still like having to constantly sync to iCloud.

So, yeah, make sure you get a phone with a lot of storage if you're going to film on your phone. Trying to think. No.

Yeah. Good composition and learning how to get good shots without a crazy good camera, I'd say, is a big one. Another one is if you can try and nerd out on how to use the camera and use all those tools because, yeah, I just have seen too many people with a good camera goof it up and other people with lower cameras put out really good stuff.

Honestly, it's funny because I switched from a $2,000 setup to now my camera setup is probably like $6,000 setup. And I still see people using the same camera I used to use putting out probably better stuff than I am, and I'm just like, oh, it just makes, it just really drives that frustrating. How did you do that? They're like, I just had a lens and a body and that was about it.

No monitor, fancy lights or whatever. You shot that on a GoPro? Yeah. That explains it.

Yeah. If you're filming outdoors, definitely pay attention to the lighting because one thing when I'm filming at the races, the biggest thing I pay attention to and kind of how I plan where I'm going to be at on the track throughout the day is where the sun's going to be. And so I try and backlight almost the majority of my shots.

Probably like 75% to 85% of my shots. I try to backlight. And so I will basically try and start out on one end of the track and work my way to the other one, but try and do all backlit shots that way.

And then because the sun, I'm shooting all day, so by the end of the day, I'll try and be on the other side of maybe that same section or whatever and getting a different angle, but with still, like a backlit shot or doesn't have to be 100% backlit, but just getting that good light to shadow ratio and that's thinking maybe some of the newer guys, just not knowing those lighting principles, understand it. It's like everything is about light. That at the end of the day, is what makes your stuff look good.

It's just using light to the best of your ability, I guess, or what you can do with it, I guess, to kind of wrap this up. Where can people find your work at the moment? I'm like almost 100% on Instagram. I don't really post a ton on YouTube or TikTok trying to do better.

Like I said, I've been working on a short little series of just quick tips like this for my YouTube channel. But for right now, I post pretty much everything to. So that's red creative, right? Yeah.

So it's at Red Creative Media. Nice. Well, thanks again, Garrett.

Appreciate you being on here. Yeah, no problem, man. Anytime.

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