Shooting slow motion Alexa Mini for Park One Sydney

I recently shot a stunning nature commercial for the new Sydney property Park One Seasons on my new Alexa Mini. As an Asia Pacific based Director of Photography (DOP), my role as a Brisbane based cinematographer allows me to capture the beauty of nature in unique ways.

The project was themed around nature, and so we shot on my Arri Alexa Mini and cranked up the camera to 200 frames per second to capture some amazing macro shots. A native giant blue bee and a butterfly were my favourite shots that we captured. The film required a number of shots filmed with hazers in a forest, so with the help of our awesome crew and some innovation, we pulled off some amazing moody shots, and the client was very happy.

There is nothing like shooting nature shots with the Alexa Mini – the colours just beam out of the screen. We also shot a tiny macro shot of a blue pink water lily flower, and with some water spritz at 200 frames per second on a 100mm macro lens, the shot was just stunning. The Alexa Mini is such a versatile camera and so easy to use. One of my favourite aspects is the built-in ND filters, which make it so easy to shoot wide open on the lens without having to put any glass in front of it.

One of my other favourite shots was a macro of a tiny ant crawling along the stem of a leaf. We just had to keep rolling until the ant crawled along the right section of the leaf. You have to have patience when you shoot nature, and I find it's a good idea to make your camera rig as user-friendly as possible, utilizing a lightweight tripod and keeping the camera as light as possible. I will have a link up soon.