In this episode, we welcome award-winning cinematographer Jeff Hester, whose work includes documentaries such as Postcard from Earth, Our Planet, Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory, Planet Earth III, and Hammerhead Sharks Up Close for Nat Geo’s annual summer event, SHARKFEST. In our conversation, Jeff shares his journey into cinematography, how he developed his unique skill set, and the making of Hammerhead Sharks Up Close. He also discusses what it’s like to film underwater alongside sharks, the specialized cameras and techniques used to capture these incredible images, and offers valuable insights for the next generation of filmmakers. “The Making Of” is presented by AJA: AJA introduces high-performance Thunderbolt™ 5-enabled PCIe expansion chassis Meet Io Xpand, a Thunderbolt 5 expansion chassis for AJA KONA and Corvid I/O cards. Io Xpand lets video professionals integrate the performance of AJA PCIe I/O cards on Thunderbolt 5 laptops and mini-PCs for an incredibly powerful, fast, and portable I/O solution for on set, remote production, and live switching. Visit here Thunderbolt 5 Speed. DIY RAID Without Limits. The OWC Express 4M2 Ultra is a next-gen Thunderbolt 5 NVMe enclosure built for serious post workflows. Delivering up to 6622MB/s, it lets you use your own drives to create a high-performance RAID with up to 32TB—and beyond via daisy chaining. Compact, powerful, and scalable for 8K+ and VFX workflows. Available for pre-order now, shipping in late June. Explore here New York City | July 28 The sports-production landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation as a result of the cloud and AI, and SVG’s new Cloud & Content Workflows Summit is where the industry comes together to navigate it. As virtualized hardware, cloud-based workflows, and AI-powered tools become more commonplace, the entire sports-production supply chain is being reimagined from the ground up. This special event brings together SVG’s previous Cloud Production and Content Management events into a single, comprehensive day of programming—covering both live and non-live production workflows alike. Learn more here ZEISS Introduces Horizon Anamorphic: Full-Frame 2x Anamorphics with a New Lens Technology Platform ZEISS unveils the Horizon Anamorphic series, a new lineup of full-frame 2x anamorphic cinema lenses designed to deliver a distinctive cinematic look along with a new lens technology platform that answers the need for speed and precision demanded by contemporary production workflows. Spanning 35mm to 200mm across seven focal lengths, Horizon lenses combine their anamorphic look—incorporating a pronounced oval bokeh and stretched sense of spatial depth—with a lightweight, fully integrated motorized system that eliminates the need for external focus or iris motors. Read more here SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Portable SSD Power your workflow with the SanDisk Extreme PRO USB4 Portable SSD, available in 2TB and 4TB capacities. Featuring speeds up to 3800 MB/s read and 3700 MB/s write, it’s built for fast transfers and editing. The rugged, IP65-rated design is ready for work anywhere. Learn more at Videoguys or call 800.323.2325 for free tech advice. View here Podcast Rewind: July 2026 - Ep. 140. Promote your brand with The Making Of: Reach 275,000+ film industry, broadcast pros, and content creators reading this newsletter. To explore a partnership, please email mvalinsky@me.com Get full access to The Making Of at themakingof.substack.com/subscribe