It’s crazy to think that this video was made pretty much on a whim and has turned out to be the *second* most liked video in Vimeo’s history!

I love how evoking and well composed ever scene is. I think the added the element of the motorized track slider is what really draws people to like this piece (well that and the insane HDR color-grading). There are plenty of timelapses where people pan across (or zoom into) an image, but you don’t get the prospective change like you do when the camera is actually tracking.

It’s crazy to think about what the internet has done for so many careers… I’ve known for a long time that Sean was on the path to having a great career in film/photo, but before this volcano video came out he was just another DP in L.A. with a great reel without the clients. He deserves all the credit he gets because this guy can flat out shoot!

I’m still waiting for my break-out internet fame… I don’t think “Ping Pong Zombie Nation” has the legs to get me there either…

Here is an interview Sean did with CNN.

P.S. I was watching Pawn Stars (per usual) on the History Channel the other day when an add for the documentary “Gates of Hell” came on. And wouldn’t you know it they used one of the shots from this video. I called Sean up and he laughed because apparently History had JUST licensed some shots from him. I must say that’s pretty rad.

The process he goes through to make even just one of these time-lapses is enough to make you want to abandon the idea after just one, but I’m not at all surprised he went through with the video. The dude is judo. Well done Sean, don’t forget us little people when you make it big!

Often times when a new photo style catches on, I buy into it for a while but eventually chalk it up to trend. That however is not the case with HDR photos! Once the tutorials started hitting the the web, a lot of attempts to pull off the style fell flat (including my own). It’s for that specific reason that good HDR photos are even more impressive to me.

Great times were had by all during the good ‘ole days back in the Hood, especially with my great friend Sean Stiegemeier. For an entire summer we’d ride our bikes down the hill to McDonald’s for a quarter pounder value meal, then back up to his house for an afternoon of playing Beavis and Butt-head on his computer. It was during these summers that we both developed individually unique passions for film and photo. Even though we were only in middle school, we still made legitimate attempts at making our own indy films.

Our first pass at motion picture fame was a short called “Tag Ripper-Offers”. The story was simple, our underground mattress tag-ripping ring was being surveilled by the Fed’s and was on the brink of getting clipped.

The second film we tackled was called “Bicycle Bounty Hunters”. A movie that was deeply inspired by our devotion to a little known 80’s movie called RAD. If you can imagine a mixture of RAD and the tv shows Taxi and Dog the Bounty Hunter, you’ve got our film!



Our run of McD’s and indy films was cut short when Sean moved to Park City Utah when we were 14, but we still stayed in touch and promised to eventually work together.

Fast-forwarding to today, we’ve both been successful in our own fields and still keep the collaboration alive by helping each other out with various things that are in the others wheel house. Most recently I’ve helped him with some motion graphic elements, and he’s been super generous me using his photography for my website background (one of them).

All that said, Sean’s an EXTREMELY talented photographer/director of photography with a very fruitful career ahead of him. Check out some of his photography HERE, and keep the inspiration alive!