Growing old…ungracefully

It’s that time of the year that you looked forward to when you were young but don’t when you are older. Birthdays…great. This one I turn 38, but currently feel about 88 due to all my bad back, the bane of cameramen everywhere!

 

Me at 3
Me at 3

 

Me at 38
Me at 38

Does it really matter? Not really. But I just wanted to use this moment to give some advice to all you people out there starting in the business as camera ops. Do pilates, do yoga. Strengthen your core or you will end up like me and most of my colleagues!! Even though cameras are getting lighter, you still carry all the gear with you.

So…today…my birthday, I will mostly be resting. I was supposed to be working but the disc injury precludes that. Hopefully it won’t be as serious as my last injury which put me out of the game for 4 months. I should have kept up with the pilates and stayed fit but I didn’t. So it’s a bit of a wake up call. Time to sort it out and stay sorted out!

Anyway, good things on the horizon. Tomorrow I launch the new Panasonic Lumix GH1 stills/ movie hybrid and will be premiering my new piece “Joshua Tree” at Panasonic HQ in front of the UK/ EU press and giving a short talk. Should be fun. I have enjoyed shooting with the camera. It’s a dream to use and so small.

Then on Monday I am off to Boston for a short form documentary. Be great to go over there and catch up with TomGuilmette.com, Joe Stunzi and Steve Cahill. Oh and do some work. I think I may get a chance to meet Ben Eckstein too. Funny how you develop friendships over the internet and then meet them in person. It’s great. It was like this at NAB in Vegas, met for the first time so many people who I had email relationships with for months. Great to put a face to the name. Shame none of them look like Kate Beckinsale…oh well one day!

So just wanted to just add something personal to my personal blog. As you may realise it’s now on my main site. Easier to maintain for me. I also now have my own server as my site was generating too much traffic for the shared server. So hopefully everything will run a lot smoother now!

Old man…out!

8 comments

  1. I’ve been following your site for a while now and just wanna say a big thanks for all the shared info.
    As a pro operator I took up martial arts and weights to stave off back injuries and it seems to work for me – so far no bad pulls or injuries and I’ve just passed the big four o.
    Having said that, the weight of the Lumix GH1 is looking very attractive – I’m looking forward to your promo.

    Best wishes for your back and Happy Birthday.

    Mike.

  2. Happy Birthday Mr B 🙂

    Here’s hoping the 5dmk2 get’s its manual mode then I can maybe enjoy the world of lighter cams and banish my bad back too… Then again I’l probably put on so much rig stuff it’ll be heavier than when i started. doh!

    Hope you had a good day 🙂

    All the best

    SteveT

  3. Happy Birthday Philip!!! I have the name of a great chiropractor/accupuncturist if you want some help with the back. Good luck with the GH1 tomorrow…i will be buying one solely based on your review!!! You are an inspiration to me and so many others, thanks…Julian

  4. Happy birthday !!!

    Ohhh man, I feel you… I’m 42… so yes I don’t know if we are in a better state as our fathers were… I thing we are in a worst…

    Heads up Philip (that goes for me also…)

    I see my son that is born the same day as you are and he just went to 6… and I feel very good when we play with Lego’s… I feel again six…

  5. Hi Philip
    Happy Birthday. Remember, birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
    Thanks for the water at NAB. Next time ( I hope in San Francisco ) the water is on me.

    Best

    Dennis Kane

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