Get Educated With Canon’s New ‘Explorers of Light’ Filmmakers

Want to be a renowned DP but don’t know where to find a professional mentor?

Canon’s Explorers of Light (EOL) program is designed is a collective of professional photographers and filmmakers with the intention to educate, inspire, and collaborate for and with future generations of any and all skill level.

Today they’re adding six new members dedicated to the art of motion, the program officially expands its scope beyond still photography to foster creativity among the global filmmaking community.

Lucky for us at No Film School, these six accomplished wipper snappers even included some good ol’ fashion advice and a list of gear they like to use. The new members include DPs working on scale with productions like Poker Face, ZIWE, Mandalorian, Welcome to Flatch, and many more.

Check out the new members and their sound intel below.

---

Christine Ng, Cinematographer (‘Poker Face’, ‘ZIWE’, ‘Between the World and Me’)

• Top Gear Picks: RF50mm F1.2 L USM, RF100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM, RF28-70mm F2 L USM, RF70-200mm F2.8L IS USM, RF 24-105mm F2.8 L IS USM Z, vintage Canon K-35 Primes, the Canon 50mm f/0.95mm “Dream Lens,” and a 3D printed Totoro figurine.
• Advice for Filmmakers: “Stay humble and true to yourself, always say yes to every opportunity when you’re starting out. You never know who you will meet and how that initial meeting will influence your career later.”
• What it Means to be a Canon EOL: “It is such a prestigious honor to be included in the Explorers of Light program. I’ve always shot with Canon since I first discovered photography, so it is incredibly humbling to be recognized by the Canon team.”

Claudia Raschke, Cinematographer (‘Julia, My Name is Pauli Murray’, ‘RBG’)

• Top Gear Picks: Canon Cinema EOS C500 Mark II, Cinema EOS C300 Mark III, CN-E 35mm T1.5 L F, CN-E 50mm T1.3 L F, CN-E 135mm T2.2 LF, CINE-SERVO 17-120mm T2.95-3.9, COMPACT-SERVO 18-80mm T4.4 EF, a spot meter and a small sketchbook.
• Advice for Filmmakers: “Experiment as much as you can with the tech tools you have access to and create a playground to challenge yourself to think outside your limits. Be fierce and fearless.”
• What it Means to be a Canon EOL: “It is a distinct privilege and honor to join the ranks of the Explorers of Light program. Canon cameras and optics have been my top creative tools for documentary filmmaking for many years. I consider it a great opportunity to learn from other EOL artists and to share my process as a cinematographer with the Explorers of Light community.”

David Klein, ASC, Cinematographer (‘The Mandalorian’, ‘The Book of Boba Fett’, ‘Homeland’)

• Top Gear Picks: EOS R5 C, CN-E 15.5-47mm T2.8 L SP, CN-E 30-105mm T2.8 LS, a set of Canon PL Cinema Primes, and a Suunto compass/inclinometer combo.
• Advice for Filmmakers: “Never forget it’s our job as cinematographers to tell the story in a unique way, but it’s also to be invisible. To paraphrase Roger Deakins, if somebody sees something I’ve shot and says ‘that was beautiful cinematography’ before they talk about the story, we have failed.”
• What it Means to be a Canon EOL: “Exploring light is quite literally what I do. On set and in pre-production, we’re always exploring new and unique ways to use light to tell stories differently. Canon is constantly pushing the envelope to deliver new ways to tell stories with tried and true tech, and it’s an honor to be named an Explorer of Light.”

Matthew Heineman, Director/Cinematographer (‘American Symphony’, ‘Retrograde’, ‘Cartel Land’)

Top Gear Picks: Canon Cinema EOS C500 Mark II, RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM, RF24-70mm F2.8L IS USM, RF70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM, EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

Advice for Filmmakers: “When I was 21 years old, I heard documentarian Albert Maysles give a talk that would shape my view on filmmaking. He said, ‘If you end up with the film you started with, then you weren’t listening along the way.’ Be open to the story changing. Don’t be dogmatic. And this is something that I’ve held very close to my heart both in a macro sense (the films I choose to take on and how I find my way to them) and in a micro sense (within each shoot, shoot day, scene, lens change). Look around the frame at all times! I love embracing this type of unpredictability and adaptation inherent in making verité films. By doing so, my goal always is to try to humanize stories that often seem so far away or are relegated to stats or headlines.”

What it Means to be a Canon EOL: “I am honored and thrilled to be in the company of so many incredible artists whose work I admire, including my dear friend Jimmy Chin. From Cartel Land though my most recent documentary American Symphony (including 6 projects in between), I’ve used Canon equipment in every project. I’m excited to share my knowledge and skillset with other cinematographers and story tellers around the world.”

Rudy Valdez, Director/Cinematographer (‘Choir, Carlos’, ‘The Sentence’)

• Top Gear Picks: Canon Cinema EOS C500 Mark II, EOS R5 C, CN-E 50mm T1.3 L F, CN-E 35mm T1.5 L F, and a monopod
• Advice for Filmmakers: “Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. As much as you possibly can. Find out what works for you.”
• What it Means to be a Canon EOL: “It is such a wonderful honor to be a Canon Explorer of Light. I was lucky enough to start my journey as a filmmaker around the same time that the Canon EOS 5D Mark II was introduced, allowing me an affordable camera that could produce the images as I saw them in my head.”

Shana Hagan, ASC, Cinematographer (‘Somebody Somewhere’, ‘Welcome to Flatch’, ‘The Kingmaker’)

• Top Gear Picks: Canon Cinema EOS C300 Mark III, Cinema EOS C70, EOS R5 C, RF14-35mm f/4 ISUSM, RF24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM, RF70-200mm F4 L IS USM and an old compass from the Girl Scouts.
• Advice for Filmmakers: “Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you need help with something. Find a mentor. Also take some of your own footage and edit it. You’ll find out what’s working and what’s not working, and it will allow you to make adjustments next time you’re out in the field shooting. I can’t stress how important this process is for young DPs.”
• What it Means to be a Canon EOL: “I’m so honored. Being an Explorer of Light reminds me to keep exploring the world through my camera, like I did as a kid, and to continue finding new and exciting ways to tell stories.”