WX Channel 061615
When DP Nate Gallupi got the call from The Weather Channel to be on standby for live shots for Tropical Storm Bill, he immediately ran to the store to stock up on supplies.
Nate grew up around hurricanes all his life and he knows that having an abundance of fresh water is key. Especially while out in the field working and living out of his Suburban.
For the first two days of the storm, our Dallas camera crew was setup overlooking the rising waters of the Trinity River just South of Downtown Dallas. Shooting in this area is one of Nate’s personal favorites.
It provides a great view of the Dallas skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. For the live shots, it was a no-brainer to put the skyline and the river in the background. While our camera crew was posted up the second day, they were able to watch the Trinity River water level rise about 2 feet in 8 hours.
Shooting in the rain can be a challenge, however, it is just another day at the office for The Weather Channel. While shooting, the crew was getting hit by gusts of wind up to 40mph and sideways rain all day. Needless to say, the rain gear never left his HDX-900.
The rest of Nate’s gear was stored in either a trash bag or in a pelican case to keep dry. While they were in the elements, Nate decided to throw some light on my correspondent to help match our white-out background from the rain. This is where his Bron Kobold all weather HMI’s came in handy.
The third day for The Weather Channel was a bit different. The Dallas crew got the call early to drive up to Ardmore, Oklahoma, which is a couple hours north of Dallas. With little information and an extremely vague address, audio and director of photography hit the road.
Upon arrival to our shoot location, the crew was informed that they were to be covering the story of a 2-year-old boy who was swept out of his father’s arms while trying to cross flood waters the night before.
For Nate, this was a pretty easy day. It wasn’t raining where they were, and the only obstacle they had to deal with was emergency personal getting in-and-out of the back road that they were posted at. This was a tough story to cover for our correspondent, but he handled it with true professionalism.
The only view for the shot was of the “Road Closed” signage where the emergency personal had been staged earlier in the day. With the sun shining, Nate needed to bust out the big gun’s for their live shots.
The 800W Bron Kobold HMI shined light on my correspondent and also my 6×6 Scrim Jim threw some diffusion over top of him. After the camera crew wrapped up their last live hit, they packed up our gear, loaded up the truck and headed for home.
