My celestial ride with Star Trek: Picard began when I was shooting Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 in Toronto. Thank you to Olatunde Osunsanmi, who gave me that call. He was running the show, and he was a director I had previously worked with in New York on the series Gotham. Also, thank you to Alex Kurtzman, the grand-master executive of the Star Trek franchise, who gave me the live long and prosper' thumbs up.
I wrapped my season of Discovery, and I was going to remain on the team for the next season, but after a few weeks of prep, the executives asked if I would entertain going back to L.A. to work on Picard Season 2 and 3 back-to-back seasons! I live in Los Angeles but had been away from home for most of the past seven years, working all over the country except for L.A. I said yes, and three days later I was in a conference room with the entire writing staff, producer Dylan Massin, and one of the showrunners, Akiva Goldsman. They were breaking down the next two seasons, but concentrating on Season 2, which was to start production very soon. Gulp.
I thought Picard Season 1 was fantastic, so I had a knot in my throat as I stepped in to help helm this ship that was already sailing toward Season 2 and 3. My rotating partner for Season 2, Jimmy Lindsey, ASC, was also hired, and guided by our Zen master and Wizard of Oz,' Alex Kurtzman, we began our prep immediately and diligently. Alex loves Panavision, especially their lenses, and so do I, so our conversations were immediately aligned regarding the look. He is very specific, meticulous, and had a very clear picture in his creative mind.
Look books were important to communicate attitude, emotion, feeling, colors, compositions, etc., especially during this Covid time of meeting over Zoom as opposed to being tactile and direct with meetings around the drawing table. I looked at all the Alien films and studies the colors and movements of their great DPs: Derek Vanlint, CSC; Adrian Biddle, BSC; Alex Thomson, BSC; Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC; Dariusz Wolski, ASC. These films were seeds to fuel my inspiration. And of course, the granddaddy of all sci-fi films for me is Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, photographed by the great Geoffrey Unsworth, BSC. I would watch this film before each season of work, just to keep it in to my DNA.
Jimmy and I were discussing lenses for Picard, and we're both huge fans of Panavision's T Series anamorphic lenses. I like the Ts because of their undeniable personality and presence, with an inkier bite of contrast I did not want to use softer lenses with lower contrast. In outer space and in the dark galleys of spaceships, I felt the darkness of the blacks should be deep and haunting, and the roll-off into darkness should be discernibly sharp and defined.
My chief 1st AC, Chad Rivetti, was key on executing the prep of our camera package for these next two seasons of work. We had an enormous amount of detail in our equipment, and Panavision's David Dodson made sure we had what we desired and needed, always with unconditional love and enthusiasm. This is the philosophical strength and backbone of Panavision: servicing their clients in a personal way.
I have been part of the Panavision family going on 40 years now, from when I was a camera assistant in New York, prepping at General Camera. As a Sicilian, family and loyalty are most crucial to me, and Panavision has always made me feel safe and secure. I've always known I can rely on them in any difficulty that may surface technically or even personally any time of the day.
We had three Panavised Arri Alexa Minis for Picard, one each for A and B camera, and the third was either built for Steadicam or crane. These tools were operated by a great team of camera operators: Nicholas Davidoff, SOC, on A camera and Brian Joey' Morena on B camera, with Brian Bernstein, SOC and Brooks Robinson, SOC, filling out our team of day players.'
Picard Season 3 mostly took place in our spaceship set, the USS Titan. When production designer David Blass and his great team including Doug Drexler, John Eaves, James Addink and Bill Krause designed this set for Season 2, it was the USS Stargazer, but we knew that we would be repurposing it as a new ship for Season 3. There were numerous discussions on the subject, led by Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas. As mentioned, these two seasons were shot directly back-to-back we finished Season 2 on a Friday and started Season 3 that Monday!
My personal approach shifted from Season 2 to 3 because Season 3 was a different beast: more visceral, bolder action, backstory drama, bringing back the world-famous Next Generation cast, and bringing on legendary actress Amanda Plummer, who entered our cast as the dark and unhinged Captain Vadic, commander of the Shrike.
For Season 3, Jon Joffin, ASC joined me as my alternating partner. I love executing close-ups with close-focus wide-angle lenses; I love that round, super-close, intimate feel when it's a very important line. Jon was awesome with his own aesthetics as well. We had individual thumbprints, but we collectively adhered to the story and the mission at hand. My personal Zen approach was to not be fearful and to conceive outside the box as much as I could without breaking the canon methodologies' the franchise adheres to so vigorously. I needed to remind myself with a mental pinch every now and then that this is the largest franchise in history!
I get so very excited to explore new chapters in my photographic life. Before the science-fiction world of Star Trek, I was photographing the DC Comics show Gotham, which allowed me to create worlds that were colorful and surreal, far from reality, filled with supervillains and inspired by a young Bruce Wayne's desire for justice. This is what keeps me inspired, learning from and bei
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
My celestial ride with Star Trek: Picard began when I was shooting Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 in Toronto. Thank you to Olatunde Osunsanmi, who gave me that call. He was running the show, and he was a director I had previously worked with in New York on the series Gotham. Also, thank you to Alex Kurtzman, the grand-master executive of the Star Trek franchise, who gave me the live long and prosper' thumbs up.
