Last year I had the opportunity to do some photojournalism work in West Africa for a missionary organization. The war in Ivory Coast had just ended and I was able to return to the country where I grew up. I revisited my childhood home which is now dilapidated and bullet-riddled from nearly a decade of civil war.

In Abidjan, I met Gaston, a deacon in the local church, who shared the most incredible testimony with me. On the day the violence in the city was at its peak, his pregnant wife went into premature labor and was hemorrhaging. He risked his life over and over in an attempt to save her and his unborn child.

His story is riveting, heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. Most importantly it is a shining example of what TRUE LOVE is. Not a fleeting emotional flight of fancy but a committed, death-defying, act of sacrifice and selflessness – one modeled so brilliantly and perfectly by Christ himself.

With Valentine’s Day a week away, I thought it quite appropriate to share this video now. I hope Gaston’s story inspires you as much as it has my wife and me.

Download options (right-click and choose “Save As…”):

• H.264 720p HD (377MB)
• H.264 480p SD (187MB)
• MPEG-2 480i SD (207MB)

The song at the end of the video is by my talented friend Adam Randall. You can get his latest album on iTunes for under $7.

Adam Randall – The Vanishing World

The music that scores the video was composed and performed by Japanese musician Yusuke Tsutsumi. He graciously releases his work under the Creative Commons license meaning other artist like myself can use it in our creative process. To him I say, “Arigatou gozaimasu”!

If you are interested in more stories of faith from the front lines of the war in Ivory Coast, check out my coverage for the IMB’s AfricaStories.org web site.

Selfless Love: A Testimony is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

I re-edited the video to work with the pacing of Commerce’s track and we got it in on time. They didn’t win the contest and despite my bias, I think that is very, very unfortunate.

Music Video for Commerce’s “Juno” cover is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Jym Davis and I both shot video of her performance and over the last five months he edited together this great video. It features live footage from the show intercut with stock images courtesy of NASA. The stock imagery was shot through various organic filters such as a Lensbaby, water, and oil. In fact, other than simple layering of video clips, no digital effects were used – it is all in-camera techniques that we worked on together.

Julianna Barwick Live Music Video is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

We decided months ago to collaborate on visuals for his latest release ADVENTURES, and I’m pleased to roll out the official video for “Transatlantic,” the fourth track off that LP.

You can download the track for free at http://grmnygrmny.com/tracks/adventures/04-transatlantic.mp3

Germany Germany – Transatlantic Music Video is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

On Christmas Eve of last year, I met with James at the incredible Weedon Island State Preserve on Tampa Bay and shot him playing his original song “Tributary” in the mangroves. James played along with an iPod on which he had recorded the song the night before. Using that audio as a sync-track allowed me to video several takes from different angles. Unfortunately, busy schedules interfered again and I didn’t get around to editing it.

It was two months before I was finally able to revisit the footage. I took some B-roll I had shot in the everglades the year before and it worked perfectly intercut with the shots of James playing his guitar. That swamp and wildlife footage was made in Big Cypress National Preserve in February of 2010 with my brother-in-law Kenny.

Here is the final version of the video; I hope it inspires and moves you!

Video Collaboration with James Madison Thomas is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

One of my favorite things that has come out of my partnership with TBI is our “Acoustic Alley” series. It all began when I was late for a show and didn’t get any coverage. I asked St. Pete, Florida native Geri X if she’d mind playing a song or two in the alley for me to video. She agreed and the footage looked and sounded great – we had our first two videos that started it all.

A couple weeks later, I was filming Long Island-based band Robbers in the alley when we were suddenly joined by local rappers Floco Torres and Al K!ng as well as young Macon rockers Stribling and a mob of fans. The impromptu jam session that broke out was one of the highlights of Macon’s music scene last year, even getting press in the local paper.

Use the YouTube video player below to watch all the Acoustic Alleys I’ve shot to date.

The Blue Indian’s “Acoustic Alley” is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

That’s great news, but the problem is promoting three back-to-back shows. To help out, I created a series of 30-45 second promos featuring music by different musicians performing at the shows.

LOST IN THE TREES – Thursday, January 20th (more info)

Video edited from footage by Jym Davis
[youtube id=8OSNefJS53I]

AMY GODWIN – Friday, January 21st (more info)

Video edited from public domain footage on archive.org
[youtube id=W8C0KalrozA]

AUSTIN CRANE (VALLEY MAKER) – Friday, January 21st (more info)

Video I shot on salt flats in the Mojave Desert
[youtube id=ReXR603_DCM]

MOLLY PARDEN – Saturday, January 22nd (more info)

Video I shot with a Lensbaby at Lake Wildwood in Macon, GA
[youtube id=-wyGfEpiUfA]

MATRIMONY – Saturday, January 22nd (more info)

B-roll footage from a Junior Boys music video I shot with Kenny Jensen in Florida
[youtube id=tNxZ3PL3DD4]

If you live in Middle Georgia, I highly recommend you catch as many of these shows as possible. They really are incredible lineups of talented musicians and tickets only cost $7.

Macon Concert Video Promos is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

**UPDATE** We submitted this video to Sierra Trading Post’s video contest and are finalists to win $2500! Do us a favor by heading over to their site and voting for “Trey’s Travels”

My son and I got back from our 6 week road trip to California last week. The journey was one of the highlights of my life – just like the road trip I made with my wife out West six years ago.

Here’s a video I collaborated with him on. It’s a short 3-minute summary of what he saw and learned on the trip.

Oh, and I’m still posting photos & videos regularly over at www.haunsgowest.com so keep checking in over there to follow our journey back.

Music by Gold Panda from his 2010 debut album “Lucky Shiner” Listen to and purchase his music from www.luckyshiner.com

Trey’s Road Trip Video is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

I recently acquired the “top of the line” Lensbaby – the Composer. Where the accordion-like Muse has to be constantly controlled manually, the Composer features a ball and socket joint that can be adjusted and then locked into place. This allows for the lens to be used on tripods and steadicams and even for HDRs.

Below is my first video experiment with the Composer, followed by some of the first photos I took with it.

Lensbaby Love is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Following are a few photos, the music video, and interview with the band. You can see more of my photos from the concert at TheBlueIndian.com. You can hear more of the band’s music (as well as download some tracks for free!) over at www.parachutemusical.com.

“No Comfort” music video

TheBlueIndian.com Q&A with Parachute Musical

Parachute Musical: Photos, Music Video, & Interview is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Heidi: You going to take photos of the eclipse tonight?
William: There’s an eclipse?
H: Everyone is talking about it on Facebook.
W: I think that’s the movie.
H: Oh. There’s a movie?

The kind of fanaticism that accompanies such huge pop culture phenomenons often provides some interesting photographic opportunities. So I decided to actually go out and photograph not an eclipse but the fans of Eclipse.

I know the films involve werewolves and vampires so I was expecting fans decked out in costumes and makeup. Instead it was just a huge line of hundreds and hundreds of ordinary (and nice) people lining up to simply be a part of what everyone was talking about. To quote a local movie reviewer:

There will come a time when we look back on these films and wonder what sort of mob insanity drove their success, and we will laugh and shake our heads and pretend they were never really that popular.

Twilight Eclipse Mania is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

He does a great job of sharing how impressed he was with the Haitians’ eagerness to join them in rebuilding their community.

Baptist Volunteer Video is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

BMDF Haiti Video Reports is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

I helped the band re-style their MySpace profile page to match the upcoming album art (by Mike Lowery) and I created a short 30 second video promo/teaser for the new release like the ones I did for them last year. You can watch the promo below and be sure to head over to their web site to hear the great, new tunes!

MySpace Design & Promo Vid for Commerce is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Here is a short video I created to promote the event. Feel free to share it with your friends and family.  I’ll post more details about the show in the weeks to come.

Upcoming Exhibit at the Douglass is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

Following the photos below is video I shot of the last song of their set. Apologies for the terrible quality, but the lighting was really, really bad.

Video of Coyote Bones performing live at The 567 Cafe in Macon, GA

Coyote Bones @ The 567 is a post from: William Haun Photography, Video, and Web Development

The concert was great and full of energy – the best dance party Macon has ever seen. The lighting was incredibly tough to work with for photography but with the high ISO capabilities of my Canon 7D and the new noise reduction features in Lightroom 3 I was able to get a few decent images. The video was mostly shot with a Lensbaby Muse but also with a 50mm f/1.8.