I’m in India for the next couple weeks and thought I would put a couple shots up from my first day on the ground.

Indian Christian Church from John Palmer Gregg on Vimeo.

This is a promotional video I just finished putting together for Indian Christian Church, a church plant in New York City.

Serve in inner-city Louisville from John Palmer Gregg on Vimeo.

This video is the first completed project from the workshop I led to Inner-City Louisville this past week. The video was created for CrossRoads Missions to promote church small groups in and around Louisville to become involved in working with the various ministries that serve in the inner city. Many thanks to Billy Heath and Stuart Large, the two students who helped put this video together during the workshop.

San Marcos, Peru mission from John Palmer Gregg on Vimeo.

Short video promoting a mission to San Marcos, Peru and the surrounding peoples of the Andes Mountains in Ancash Region of Peru.

Since I’ve gotten back from this most recent trip to Peru, I’ve be swamped trying to pull together all the photos and videos from the trip into some useful materials for the mission group. Anyway, I put together, this is a short promotional video, shot entirely with a Canon 5D Mark II, for them to be able to use real quickly to help raise awareness and support of their mission.

Ancash region, Peru 2010

I recently returned from a trip to the Ancash region in the Andes of Peru. Here are just a few photos.

Ancash region, Peru 2010

Ancash region, Peru 2010

Ancash region, Peru 2010

To view the gallery from the trip, please click here.

The Power of Stories

storytellers specializes in telling your story

Stories have been used for centuries to teach, inspire, humor, scare, entertain and inform. Jesus used parables extensively in his teachings. Stories of hope, courage and beauty still have the power to change the world.

CrossRoads Missions partners with various local ministries and organizations. These ministries work might be primarily focused on humanitarian aid, evangelism, outreach or other ministries.

Participants in storytellers will work with these organizations to prepare cohesive multimedia resources. (printed books/brochures, video, photography, etc. depending on the skill sets of the participants)

These organizations can then use these resources to inspire, enlist and encourage partners and supporters.
During a storytellers trip, participants learn how to effectively use their gifts to tell the stories of the people, communities and ministries they encounter. Storytellers is, in part a traveling workshop for those who want to learn the craft and for those looking to hone their skills.

Purpose

Storytellers exists to partner with local missions, ministries and churches helping them to tell their story and the stories of those they serve. We do this with volunteer participants skilled in journalism, photography, videography, graphic-design and other communication related fields, as well as those wishing to learn how to tell these stories more effectively.

There are many ministries and organizations across the world that excel in providing care, aid and hope to those in physical, emotional and spiritual need. However they are not all able, either technically or financially, to effectively share their work with their partners and supporters. Storytellers partners with these ministries and organizations to help them share their vision, their successes and the great need for their services.

Check out Storytellers at CrossRoads Missions.

Are you a storyteller or wanting to become one?

I’ve recently began a partnership with CrossRoads Missions to help tell the stories of organizations and other agencies that are making a positive and lasting difference in the world. We’ve decided to call it storytellers. Part of what I’ll be doing is leading short-term trips throughout the year for people interested in telling the stories of these agencies and the people they serve. We’re looking for photographers, writers, videographers, graphic designers, multimedia editors and anyone else who can help us tell these stories of positive change. These trips will be both in the United States and abroad. We’re still in the planning phases of this. If you want to be involved as a participant, or if your organization needs help telling its story, please contact me at storytellers@crossroadsmissions.com.

More on this as we develop it further. Also keep an eye on CrossRoads Missions web site for information and on trips when they become available, we are currently still pulling together the information for the website.

Leica M8 - Image from Leica Camera AG http://us.leica-camera.com/

One of the most common questions any photographer gets asked is “What’s in your bag?” Well, let me go through what I take with me on my international trips.

Main bag: Think Tank ShapeShifter.  This is great to travel with, never had a problem getting on any planes.

Leica M8 + three batteries. This is my main camera. Small, discreet wonderful images.
Three lenses:
Voigtlander 15mm + viewfinder
Leica 35mm
Leica 50mm

Canon 5d MkII two batteries. Backup still camera + main video camera.
one lens: Canon EF 24-70 f2.8

juicedLink CX231 + 4 9V batteries. Small XLR preamp perfect for video DSLRs

Roland Edirol R-09 + handfull of AA batteries. Neat little audio Field recorder, does a great job recording sound.

Three 8gb SD cards for Leica M8

Two 2GB SD cards for Edirol

2 8gb CF cards for Canon

Audio Technica AT 8035 – Shotgun Condenser mic + 10′ XLR cable

ElectroVoice RE50N/D-B. Handheld Dynamic mic

JVC Everio GZ-HD7U. Backup, and former main, video camera. Records HD video to hard drive.

Digital Foci Picture Porter Elite. It’s a hard drive I can wear on my hip that will backup any audio, video or photos while I’m away from a laptop.

USB multi-card reader

Lens and sensor cleaners.

Chargers for everything.

Numerous short cables.

Laptop + external Hard Drive. I always try to have three copies of everything I’ve shot or recorded until I can get back to the safety of my office.

Everything but the shotgun mic I’m able to carry in that one bag. There are probably a ton of little odds and ends that get stuck in there too, business cards, notebooks etc. It is packed tight and weighs a ton, but I can carry it all with me instead of trusting it underneath the plane.

Laying adobe bricks in Trujillo, Peru from John Palmer Gregg on Vimeo.