While Texas suffered through freezing temperatures and a disabled power grid, Sea Turtle Inc., a volunteer organization fought to save the lives of thousands of cold stunned sea turtles stranded on the shores of the state. With the help of a community of volunteers, Sea Turtle, sheltered around 5500 turtles so they could later re release them into the wild.
Photojournalist and professional photographer couple Ben Lowy & Marvi Lacar documented much of the heroic effort in Texas using Sony's latest cinema gear, the FX3 camera, and a host of different lenses; 35mm f/1.4 G Master, 20mm f/1.8, and 90mm Macro, and the 24-105mm f/4. For the storm shots, they also used the 70-200mm f/2.8, with and without the 1.5x extender. The Outex Pro Kit, consisting of the Pro Cover, Rear Glass, and a couple of optical glass front ports that match those lenses' filter thread sizes were use in damp, dirty, and wet conditions.
Stranded, beached, stunned sea turtle.
When Sony artisans Marvi & Ben were originally asked to create an original short film for the FX3, the "Cold Stun" was not what they had in mind. But it seemed like the perfect story to share with a wider audience about the lowest recorded temperature ever recorded in South Padre Island, and the herculean efforts by this wonderful organization and a community of good-samaritan volunteers.
Marvi Lacar interviewing volunteers about their work.
Ben Lowy filming rescued turtles at the shelter.
Ben has been an Outex underwater housing system ambassador for a few years, and was originally consulting with us to build a different story with Marvi, but was happy to have his Outex gear handy when the opportunity arose. In tru Outex fashion, the modular design came in handy, so Lowy & Lacar could use the same Outex Pro Covers and ports they already used for the their A7S, A7R, and A9 camera bodies they already owned, and now reprise the same parts towards their FX3 camera. "I love how seamless it it to transition from still to video, change from an A9 to an FX3, and have the confidence to venture into virtually any situation. During the filming we exposed to all kinds of weather, and often very close to the shore. It was nice to feel protected."
Rescue workers collecting stunned sea turtles in South Padre Island, TX
Ben Lowy demoing his skills at NYC event
