Posts

Chasing-Light-SoCal-Woman-Surfer-Running-to-the-water-with-surfboard

WATCH: Chasing Light SoCal + Q&A with Videographer Celina Bahandari

/in , /by

As part of my day job, I often have the privilege to work with really talented people and students. One of these students just happens to be a super talented videographer and has quite the YouTube and Instagram following.

Recently, undergrad student Celina Bahandari created a video as part of a project for Panasonic and boy! Is she talented or what? Panasonic asked Celina to test their new Panasonic LUMIX s5 camera and create a video that focused on “what gets you up the in morning, what is the light in your life” as part of a project called “Chasing Light.”

I got a little cameo in the video, although disclaimer: the waves weren’t working well that day (thanks, super high tide and River Jetties!) haha Are they ever when you try to plan something??

I caught up with the talented videographer:

******

How did you become so interested in video?
Growing up I always had an interest in creating little movies and music video parodies with my friends. I think I was always creative from a young age and always enjoyed capturing things on my camera. As I got older and grew up with a lot of content to watch on YouTube, I was able to really get into it more and learn skills from it. Then I just kept practicing and really loving it.

What made you want to pursue it?
I knew I always wanted to have a career that I’m genuinely interested in and love. Because I know if you love something, it wouldn’t really feel like work. So realizing that I was super passionate about filming really made me want to pursue it and just keep growing.

What/who was your biggest influence behind this project?
I think I was just really inspired by the location. Living in different places really makes you realize what makes each place special and unique. So after living in SoCal for over a year, I really knew I wanted to somehow showcase the active lifestyle of it. I was definitely inspired by the general strangers and people that live here and I see everyday when I’m outside taking a walk or on the beach. But if say I was in San Francisco or something, I’d probably make a completely different story because the people up there and vibe is very different.

Where do you want to take your videography?
As far as I can possibly take it. I think I can continue learning forever and it’s super cool that there’s always new things to learn. I really wanna continue working on shoots where I can direct and get better at directing. Also, there’s so many softwares I can learn, as well, and get better at.

What do you want to do after your graduate college?
After I graduate I’ll probably travel for a year cause I’ll probably learn a lot by experiencing new places and grow my video skills while traveling. Then after I wanna do freelancing and make connections in either LA or New York just to get into the entertainment or music industry. I think networking is gonna be the biggest thing that determines how far and where I go right after college, so I wanna try building those while still in college for sure.

What is your dream career?
I honestly want to dabble in everything. The great thing about video is that there’s just so many different avenues to explore. I wanna get into music videos and tour videos, but also I wanted to work on a real movie set and maybe some marketing campaigns. At the same time, I wanna continue working on my own passion projects and make a documentary. There’s just so many things I would wanna do, so it’s hard to say I’ll probably just hop around. haha

How do you plan to achieve it?
I’m gonna work super hard and meet people and continue to grow my skills. I think working for companies and doing internships is super powerful because it’s a good way to learn how marketing teams and businesses work. And also a great way to make connections. I think just continuing to further my skills and networking is the most important way to achieve it.

*****

Learn more about Celina and her company, FilmVentureStudios, on the socials below!

YouTube

Insta

Watch her video, “Chasing Light SoCal.”

All Photos and Video Courtesy of Celina Bahandari

Can You Get COVID-19 from Surfing?

/in , , /by

Hit the eject button on crowds for now.

I confess: Over the past several weeks, I’ve been surfing. What was a few times has now returned to my routine. It had been over two months since I got in the water and the first time back felt weird. It felt wrong and odd, I felt like some kind of social recluse committing a crime, but giggling on the way in all the same.

I went to River Jetties in Newport and as I dipped my toe in the luke-warm ocean, a sense of relief and paranoia struck me all at once.

If this feeling could be put into words, it might look something like this:

Ahhhhhahwawwwweeeeeummmmmhmm

(not) a poo barrel–sponger gets a clean barrel at Wedge in Newport.

Can you get coronavirus from surfing? It lingered in my mind, distracted me from catching waves as I drifted towards the rivermouth. My friend’s sarcastic line floated into my mind: “Where the poo meets the sea is where I surf”—referring to River.

The Surfrider Foundation wrote a comprehensive report and references several studies, both published and unpublished, that cite contradicting information—one German study says you can’t pass it on through poop and another Chinese study says you can.

Is it viable once in the salt? It’s been said that it can be passed on through freshwater, like lakes and rivers. But studies don’t have conclusions about saltwater. Also, when waves break, it creates an aerosol affect, which translates into tiny water droplets flying through the air and into your smiling mug, according to some speculations.

Yummm taste that COVID-19 spray! Over the (small) falls at Wedge in Newport.

But that’s speculative.

From Surfrider:

At this point, the research community does not know if people can contract the COVID-19 virus from exposure to feces in recreational waters but the overall consensus is that it might be possible.

MRSA, e.coli and all those other fun germies can be caught through dirty water, so it sounds like we treat this as we would a sewage spill—don’t surf dirty water and stay away from people as best as you can.

But, tell that to 50 of your best buddies vying for the peak at Lowers on a Saturday morning.