Hey fellow vdslr-er's,

Anyone on here in the lower Texas area? I'm interested in starting a local group of us to get together, shoot, answer questions. Is anyone in the Houston area? I'm in Dallas and Austin often, too. I have some friends with 5DM2's that have no clue how to shoot video and thought it might be a good chance to.

Here's what I'll be packed with:
7D
EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8
EF 50mm f/1.4
Zoom H4n with Sinnheiser MK66 and boom
Bogen 503 head
Macbook pro with Final Cut Pro (to download/transcode and edit)
jib
(a few other lenses and toys from time to time)

Soon to have:
9" smallHD monitor
Redrock Micro Field Cinema Bundle
36" indiSlider

Hi David, I'm in Dallas.

Hey David and Khoi, I'm in Austin, shooting a 7D, an amateur.

I've got:
EF-S 17-55mm f3.5-5.6
EF 50mm f1.8 (the Plastic Fantastic)
EF 70-300mm f4-5.6

Zoom H4n
Zoom H2
Sennheiser SW/EW100
Audio Technica AT897 and boomstand
Juicedlink
Rode Videomic
Dynex Tripod (looking into getting something better)
Dell Studio 15 w/ Sony Vegas

You sure pack alot of heat for being an amateur,(-: turning pro soon?

Well, maybe I'm a semi-pro. It's a long story. Basically, I decided, on a whim, that I'd make a documentary about New Zealand, back in late 2007. I'm still working on it. And a book on the same subject. But the point is I traveled around the world to do this documentary thing to find out that there's more to moviemaking than "point camera at subject."

I don't have years of experience in the business, mostly because of my day job, but what I have learned about videography, my day job has found useful, so they've broadened my job description and now I make videos for the company.

But what I'm finding is that I'm probably not the best DP in the world. Nor am I the best sound guy. And I'm okay at direction. But what I can do - I can research subjects, I can find the people who need to be interviewed, find interesting and different ways of looking at things, and I know enough about the gear to get the gear together for the people who need them. In short, I'm talented in field production, and as such, I try to keep up with the latest and greatest. This means sometimes picking up the 7D, learning it's limitations. (It's one of the reasons I have a "consumer" f1.8 and not a f1.2 lens.) It means having the gear in my back pocket when something goes horribly wrong on set. In short, it means knowing enough about each person's specialty to be a jack of all trades.

I cracked up at your comment, "the plastic fantastic." That's great.