Universal Studios Florida permanently closed the Jaws ride last night after 22 years. When I first moved to Florida I would wander around the theme parks shooting Kodachrome 200 to satisfy my fascination with all the tourists and the surreal world they inhabited. When I read about the closing it reminded me of a few frames from the fall of 1991. Would love to have that shark hanging in the studio..

Directed all 5 episodes for Season 2 – Taste of Disney, these went live last month. Wanted to thank our talent Pam Brandon and Katie Farmand, along with Disney broadcast producer for global content development David Guertin, and senior product manager for disney online Elizabeth Brigham. John Atkinson, DP, edited by Kent Vanderberg. Produced by Ben Van Hook Pictures. Great fun working on these, and thanks to all the support at Disney Parks in Orlando. Here is a sampling:

Thought I’d put this up since Antonio Banderas’ movie Puss In Boots was top cat at the box office this weekend with $34 million. Photographed him out in L.A. at Manhattan Beach Studios for GPD Advertising in Warsaw, Poland a few months back. The ads were for a bank located there and he was a real sweetheart to work with. Everyone got into the act, including me and the 12 agency/clients in from Warsaw.

Good display in this month’s Golf Magazine of the shoot with Win McMurry of the Golf Channel. Shot at Lake Nona Country Club in Orlando. It’s the #1 Best of Everything in Golf issue. Also printed a portrait I did of Samuel L. Jackson in the same issue. Both very cool people to work with. Here are a couple of outtakes as well…
UPDATE: click here for a link of a behind the scenes video

Got the call from Christian Iooss at Golf Digest to photograph Greg Norman for a retrospective story about his life and career for the August issue. I’ve photographed Greg on two other occasions for the magazine, both were hurried affairs with lots of waiting around followed by 5 minutes or so of craziness trying to get something creative on film. This time he was much more laid back (I think he was jet lagged) and he was into the process. Shot some Type 55 Polaroid film on a Fuji 680 camera + some digital stuff as well. Kudos to Christian for the edit and to Ken DeLago, Creative Director, for a beautiful treatment in the magazine. Wonderful writing by Jaime Diaz.

Directed this regional spot for Orlando Harley Davidson. DP John Atkinson, Editor Kent Vanderberg. This actually started out as a still shoot, but we ended up shooting enough motion footage to cut 2 :30 spots from it in addition to a 5 minute beauty loop that is running in the new Harley Davidson store at Downtown Disney.

Harley Davidson :30 spot from Ben Van Hook Pictures on Vimeo.

MADD SPEC PSA from Ben Van Hook Pictures on Vimeo.

Wrote and directed this spec psa for MADD. Can’t do something like this solo..lots of folks helping out. Thanks to the following: John Atkinson, DP/steadicam, Kent Vanderberg, Editor, Ricky Fontanez, 1st AC, Michael Foerstner, Production Designer, Ryan Wendler, Sound, Anda Lucia Ariail, mom, Natalie Mizo, daughter, Pam Brandon, location, Darrel Cole, Cole Classic Cars, Hollywood Rental Orlando, Jack Tinsley, City of Orlando, Orlando Film Commision, Norma Sardy, Paul Van Wormer, Jan Cressey, Kristin Mizo.
Tech stuff: All shot w/ Canon 5D and 7D cameras, Zeiss Compact Prime lenses.

Natalie Mizo

Had the opportunity to direct these three spots for the agency CAP for their client Sabal Trust, an investment company. It was really a dream assignment..direct three tv spots, create a print campaign, just shooting nature. No talent, no lighting, hardly any crew. Something really different for me since I specialize in people. We logged over 3500 miles all over Florida to find and photograph these unique, unspoiled spots that most tourists never see. Wish they could all be like this… thanks to Mark Limbach, creative director for having the faith to cut me loose. All shot w/ the red camera, final cut pro, grading in color. Enjoy!

Cypress Sabal Trust from Ben Van Hook Pictures on Vimeo.

Anhinga Sabal Trust from Ben Van Hook Pictures on Vimeo.

Driftwood Sabal Trust from Ben Van Hook Pictures on Vimeo.

Had a great time photographing golfer Ian Poulter for Golf Magazine. See the story here. I’ve photographed Ian on a few occasions now and I love working with him. What you see is what you get and he’s usually up for anything. We talked kids (he’s got three now), shooting pool (he’s a shark), and fast cars. Found this location out at Lake Nona and always seem to get lucky with the skies.