About

Hi! I’m Jeff, an award-winning wildlife cameraman, IATSE Local 600 camera operator, SOC associate member, Explorer’s Club member, former Rolex Scholar, and licensed drone pilot. I currently freelance as a camera operator for a variety of companies including Netflix, BBC, Apple, Disney+, and National Geographic.

I'm fortunate to be based in Southern California where I have an incredible ocean backyard to explore. This has allowed me to rack up quite a bit of underwater time (over 1200 hours on rebreather and over 4000 open circuit dives) which I think is crucial for staying sharp and being comfortable in a hostile environment.

The majority of my work is underwater.

I frequently work in the open ocean chasing after fleeting moments of spectacle (humpback heat run, bait balls, blue whales, orcas attacking gray whales) using freediving, pony bottles, scooters, and/or rebreathers, I also work on the seafloor using different bits of grip (tripods, quadpods, dana dollies, motion controlled sliders) to tell compelling macro stories, and occasionally you can find me in a tank or swimming pool filming for commercials or narrative stories.

While underwater is what I'm typically hired for these days, I started out with drone work in the natural history industry. From the Inspire 2 X7 to the Mavic 3 Cine to the heavylift M600 Pro (all of which I currently own), I've chalked up quite a few hours of flight time since I started using drones in 2015. A lot of my flight time is from boats (an exciting/stressful time when we were figuring out best operating procedures at the beginning!), flying from 5 meter rhibs to larger 90 meter expedition vessels and everything in between. The M600 Pro I mostly use for bioluminescence (Sony line of low light cams or Canon ME20) or for 360 (Insta360 Pro 2, Kandao R or S) shoots these days.

And then at times, I get hired to do things outside of underwater and drone. Things like using the Phantom Flex or Veo for high speed work, macro motion controlled work in the aquarium (I have a relationship with Scripps Institution of Oceanography that helps facilitate certain shoots), long lens CN20 operation, or handheld gimbal jobs (own a full Ronin 2 kit). I'm also a fully trained Shotover M1 operator and technician (and also have a Panther Foxy Pro Jib that is customized to be used on small boats) and am trained on the Hydroflex housing using the Arri Alexa Mini, Alexa35, Sony Venice 2, and RED DSMC2/DSMC3.

My hope is that through my work, people will experience and appreciate our blue planet and in turn, make sustainable choices for the future.

As a San Diego, California local, I have a wide variety of amazing wildlife in my ocean backyard. From benthic macro setups to pelagic sequences, I’ve been fortunate to work on some of the best blue chip shows in the world. I’m currently working on six different shows; two as a director of photography and shooting sequences for the other four.

Questions? Check out my Frequently Asked Questions for answers.