MGM Bright Spot Commercial BTS

DIrected a Spot for MGM NATIONAL HARBOR. ( Unit stills Tremont Media )

Neighborhood Nature

I come from a sports background. What does that mean? It means that training has been ingrained in my mind and in order to succeed you must practice. I would spend hours at the court either working on a move or working on my jumpshot or even my handle. When I found was that the more I got in the gym the easier it was for me play. Moving into visual storyTelling created a need for the same framework. So I had to find things that I could do to train my eye and to sharpen my sword. What I came up with was just going out and shooting. I treated my camera like it was a basketball. I will go around my neighborhood and shoot plants. I would shoot plants as though they were people I would shoot plans as though I was filming a commercial but more importantly I was shooting plants to get reps. I find myself in the same position looking to build back that habit of exercising my eye. So I went out in my neighborhood and I filmed some trees, and it felt good. Really good! One thing I realized is that you have to continue to work and maintain what you have. So I find myself shooting things that I would never post or practicing things when no one's looking. I never lose sight of the blessing that I have and I'm grateful to be in this position I am in today. So anyone who finds themselves on this page and has a passion to do something make sure you get your reps no matter what level you're at. And last thing I want to thank my friend Brittany. I stop blogging for a while and it didn't really seem important but she reminded me that she looks at it and that other people look at it as well. So for that thank you Brittany and if you're reading this 😃.

WEBBY NOMINATION!

Mental health is something that is near and dear to my heart. Having been in therapy since 2014, I see the benefits of talking to a therapist and getting to know myself. I've seen so much change over the years through the realization of my shortcomings but also the discovery of my strengths. I am so grateful that my friend Trivell Miller brought me on this project. If you get a chance or have the time please watch it and let me know what you think. And if you or somebody you know find yourself thinking about going to therapy, I recommend taking the dive. You will not forget it. This project by Thrive Global x Creative Theory sponsored by Salesforce

If you would like to vote here is the Link

RED MONSTRO

We recently picked up a RED Monstro 8k fresh off a Major film set. Whenever I get a new camera in a spend the first few weeks testing frame rates, battery life, operating weight and image quality. I used the 35mm SLR Magic APO MicroPrime . Here are my finding thus far:

• The 8k image is flat out amazing

• The lenses must be full frame to use the full sensor

• It’s not much heavier than the other DSMC2 cameras

• It Drains the battery faster ( not by much) than the other RED cameras we have

#WEAREUNION

A Recent Project I DP’d for Union Church.

Belonging Film behind the scenes

I was Director of Photography on a short film that was Written & Directed by Thais Francis

Bevel

I had the pleasure of working alongside my homies over at Creative Theory on the Bevel “ Created for Kings ” Campaign. On the photography side I did the photographs and on the video side my company Subminimal was a production partner ( producing, supplying camera and sound)

Travis Dupri - ROCK Directed by Othello Banaci

First project out in the new year.

We spent a few days in December shooting this video in West Virginia. It was about a 2 hour drive from PG county Maryland. This was one of my favorite projects shot in 2020 and glad to get back to work with the homie Travis. Gear wise I used the Red Dragon x and the Red Komodo 6k. I find that I love the image from the Dragon a bit more but the Komodo image is beautiful.

Set up

Camera: RED DRAGON X 6k + RED KOMODO 6K

Lens: Zeiss CP.2 + Sirui Anamorphic

Lighting: Aputure 300D II

Background: Textured Hands DC

I am blessed to be able to create and find work during these times. Sending love and good vibes

-Othello

Blackmagic Raw Test

We headed out to the beach to test out the Braw on the Blackmagic pocket 4k as wel as the Edelkrone Sliderv2

Vali Studio

New promotional photograph for Make up artist Valistudios

UFA Behind the Scenes

On set shooting new promotional material for UFA. They do air traffic control simulations. I feel like my jaw was dropping the whole time I was there. The tools and simulations we were able to see put it in perspective that each flight as a ,magnitude of moving parts. I believe this was the day I got over my fear of heights! Or maybe not. I will say, I wasn’t sure if I could hold the camera for much longer. I am glad I did, the footage was awesome.

Interviews For Marriott

We did two days of interversat Marriott Bethesda for innovation lab.

Cameras:

Ursa mini 4.6K

Pocket 4k.

Lighting:

Aputure 120T x 2

AUI Fine Foods

Another day at AUI FINE FOODS. We shoot 20 to 25 recipes in eight hours. We tend to shoot back to back and I'll probably put on about 10 pounds if I'm being completely honest. The food is so good and I love working with Chef Amanda and chef Heather.

Set up:

Camera:

1dx Mark 2

100mm F2.8

Tamron 180mm 3.5

Lights:

Flashpoint Xplor 600

Flashpoint Xplor 400 Pro

Flashpoint Xplor 400 Pro

Quasar 4FT Crossfade

Testing out some Quasar Science Crossfades. I love everything about them except for the third party mounts.

Annie Leibovitz

In the midst of shooting “Fire Drill Friday” I captured a candid of the of the crowd, only to find that Annie Leibovitz was in the photograph.

Fire Drill Friday - The last shoot of 2019

I had the pleasure of . accompanying Ai-Jen Poo of NDWA to capture Jane Fonda’s “Fire Drill Friday”a push for climate change. We started off at the church, went over the days itinerary and hit the road running. There was a group of powerful women, security protecting them and about 40 people walking in front to grab a photograph of them. I was able to capture this image after the 3rd time we shopped for a group picture after the rally and before . the civil disobedience . What I love about being a photographer is the knowledge gained from the projects I work on, It brings greater purpose to my work.

Jovanna

Testing out some creative filters with Jovanna.

#YOUTUBEBLACK Creator Summit 2019

I had the amazing opportunity to shoot my second YouTube black creator summit. The most interesting part of this job is the amount of time I get with each creator and the dope images to come out of it. Last year when we shot the creative's we had a whole afternoon planned for just portraits. I was able to use one large soft box To give a very soft and even light across each creator. This time around was a little bit different, we did not have an 8 foot soft box available to us and we change the background depending on what the creators wanted. A beauty dish is a very soft yet hard light, so when you are adjusting you have to be very specific. In my case , we didnt Have much space to shoot the photographs so the subject had to be close to the background. This means that the main light will be casting a shadow on the background and I had to choose how I wanted that to look.

Lighting

2 x Profoto B1

1 x Beauty Dish

1 x Umbrella

YOUTUBE BLACK ‘18

THEY EYE OF BEAUTY

Director + DP | Othello Banaci
Wardrobe | Naeema Conway
Make up | Brittney Rodgers
Model | Tae'lor Roots
Music | Artlsit

WOMEN IN DEIRA DUBAI | WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Note: This was not staged

( In this photograph you will notice these men staring at the two ladies)