Engineering the Shot with Nat Geo’s Tom O’Brien

Jul 22, 2021

Ever fantasized about working for National Geographic as a photographer? Tom O'Brien is the Photo Engineer who engineers the solutions needed so  NatGeo photographers can get the shots they want. Trained as a Mechanical Engineer, Tom has been tasked with figuring out how to record video from half a mile up a cliff face, how to get a remote camera into a robotic paper mâché sage grouse, and even how to design a case that can’t be destroyed by elephants. 

• Find Tom O’Brien on:
  
  • National Geographic 
    
  • The National Geographic Podcast
    
  • Instagram 

• Gear mentioned:
  
  • Lomo LC-A+ Camera
    
  • Minitar-1 Art Lens
  • Nikon D850 
  • Fujifilm X 100S  
    
  • Profoto B10 Plus 
    
  • DJI Inspire 2
    
  • Canon 1DX Mark II 

• Resources Mentioned:
  
  • Kenji Yamaguchi 
    
  • Gail Patricelli’s prior work on sage grouses using disguised robotic cameras
    
  • Nature episodes that inspired the funky bird train, 1 & 2
  • Charlie Hamilton James article about sage grouse
  • Rashod Taylor
  • Free Solo 

• The Lensrentals Podcast is a production of Lensrentals, founded by Roger Cicala. Our production staff includes Drew Cicala, Ryan Hill, Sarah McAlexander, SJ Smith, Julian Harper, John Tucker, and Zach Sutton. Other contributors include Roger Cicala, Joey Miller, Ally Aycock Patterson, Joshua Richardson, and Philip Robertson.
  
  
• Thanks to Jacques Granger for our theme song.
  
  
• Submit a topic idea, question or comment, leave us a voicemail at 901-609-LENS, or send us an email at [e-mail].
  
  
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