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Micah Cruver

@micahcruver

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📍Scottsdale, AZ
Living on purpose.
Owner: @wearepdx
DJ @nomadsets
Co-founder: @atlashair

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We’ve been traveling all over filming these outdoor cinematic DJ sets for NOMAD. It’s such a bizarre experience to play & dance around for a crowd that doesn’t exist (at least, not until the video comes out), but the freedom in creating something that feels personal, authentic and untainted by commercial or platform requirements has been deeply fulfilling.

The feedback we’ve been getting from these long-format videos has been super motivating as well, and it’s nice to see that people still gravitate toward watching something that takes a whole hour, instead of the short-form, low-effort content filling all our feeds these days. Thank you to everybody for the support so far; we’re so excited to release this next one soon!

Cinematography by @tyler_video
Follow the project: @nomadsets by @micahcruver

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3 months ago

Update: she was not happy.

We decided to go #paragliding in #Medellín this week. Thinking nothing of it, I had mentioned it in passing to my dear mother over the phone the hour before: and was met with the typical worried response you’d expect from any parent, but I told her it would be fine, and if they had to scrape me off the mountainside I’d make for a great taco filling 🌮.

Despite multiple reminders, I had casually just jammed my #iPhone into my pocket and strapped in before takeoff. Once we were up in the air over the jungle, I was peacefully enjoying the view and minding my own business when I felt a tiny little brush against my leg : a sensation that we all know and dread: the feeling of a $1,000 device falling out of your pocket.

I was admittedly a bit distracted, trying to remember whether I had backed anything up (I did), or if I had even brought the replacement I typically travel with (I didn’t). Eventually I settled into the fact that there wasn’t anything I could do about it, and just enjoyed the rest of the flight.

We landed, and @davidunwritten mentioned that @burkebryant had called him, saying he got a notification that I was in a crash, and the GPS location was on a mountainside in #Colombia (the man was already packing a Rambo bag and looking at flights: this is exactly the kind of friend you want as an emergency contact).

We all laughed it off, but something tickled the back of my mind: I had a faint memory of adding my #mom as an emergency contact as well... OH WAIT, OH GOD NO taken in Medellín, Colombia by @micahcruver

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2 years ago

This series was the definition of a happy accident. While we were shooting down in Miami, @robwerlinger had chartered a yacht as a dynamic location for an #editorial test production we were working on. After shooting the first couple looks on the top deck, some unexpected weather rolled in, and we found ourselves in a position where the rest of the day was about to be a literal wash as the raindrops started falling.

Thinking quickly as we retreated below deck, a @profoto #A1X was slapped on top of one of the camera bodies, and we quickly pivoted to a direct-flash setup. Although this hadn’t been planned at all via our always-meticulous moodboards, it ended up being the perfect setup for the sparkly swimsuit & luxury glam makeup. April swapped out the commercial/catalog expressions we had previously been using for an edgy, animalistic confidence that completely pulled the scene together into something wildly new.

What was initially going to be a disaster ended up becoming my favorite look from the whole 3-day production, thanks to not being totally attached to a specific outcome; working with a team experienced enough to roll with any punch; and being willing to risk the shot for the sake of exploration. I’ve learned to not be so uptight on how I think a shoot is supposed to go ever since this day, and have invested more time in practicing just dropping myself into relatively unplanned scenarios and seeing what kind of magic we can squeeze out of it.

Photographer: @micahcruver
Model - @pril_lynn
Agency - @theindustrymiami
Stylist - @melymelulker
MUAH - @bryinbeauty
Producer / Asst - @robwerlinger
Suit - @hm
Earrings - @zara

#swimwear #swimfashion #hm #zara #profoto #setstories #fashioneditorial Swimsuit fashion model posing below deck for a swimwear editorial, shot by Micah Cruver by @micahcruver

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2 years ago

Pool deck test shoot day with @justinebgold - you would not believe how windy it was that day, she’s a pro for not getting blown away. taken in X Phoenix by @micahcruver

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7 months ago

Resisting the urge to fly back to Colombia and hole up in some apartment with a view, living off Rappi deliveries and stumbling through transactional Spanish until I get this hilariously large backlog of work completed: open to alternative suggestions. taken in Medellín, Colombia by @micahcruver

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7 months ago

Leaving traces. ✨✨
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Model @alepshua
Photographer: @micahcruver
MUAH: @gabrielaindigo.hmua
Styling: @micahcruver / @robwerlinger taken in CDMX by @micahcruver

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8 months ago

Channeling pure goddess energy with Raegan down in #CDMX.
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Photographer: @micahcruver
Model: @iamraegancamille
MUAH: @gabrielaindigo.hmua
Styling: @micahcruver / @robwerlinger
Shot on #Leica #m10r #90mm taken in Mexico City by @micahcruver

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8 months ago

-23∘F/-35∘C. Springtime on the Northern coast of Alaska is surprisingly beautiful. The thick ice sheets stretch out from the shore as far as you can see, making the entire area feel like you’re stranded on an icy alien planet. People up here still live their lives as normal, restaurants serve takeout (that freezes by the time you make it back to your hotel), and roaring fires keep every interior space feeling unbelievably cozy.   Even in broad daylight (which is completely missing for two months out of the year), the outside can be unforgiving: If you sniff too hard, your nostrils freeze together, and your eyelashes quickly turn into white little caterpillars. Lots and lots of layers are critical here, and you’ve gotta be on the lookout for polar bears if you get too close to the dump.  Despite this, walking along the little snowmobile tracks that criss-cross the town is bizarrely silent, and entirely pleasant. Giant whale bones stand to mark the beach, which can be so easy to miss that I hadn’t even realized we were standing on top of a train that had fully sunken into the ice. taken in Utqiaġvik, Alaska by @micahcruver

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8 months ago

I remember sitting in the Hong Kong airport after wrapping up a big interactive install project. I had a bit of time on my hands, since there weren’t any productions scheduled for the next month or so, and I was able to hop a standby flight to almost anywhere in the world. Trying to decide whether I wanted to stick around SE Asia and visit Vietnam or Cambodia (both of which had been on my list for a while), pop over to Europe to catch up with friends, or maybe finally venture down to Australia; a horrifying thought surfaced: I didn’t care anymore.  After traveling nonstop for nearly three years, I had finally reached a point of indifference. The most consistent source of joy in my life had now become something I was just doing habitually. Did *I* really want to travel to these places, or was I just going because I knew that OTHER people wanted to? I was blazing through life experiences that most people dream of, and the sheer selfishness of this realization left a bitter, physical shame that I just couldn’t shake.  The choice was clear. I booked a flight back to the states, and headed straight for my parent’s place. I knew I needed to de-stimulate, decompress and ground myself until I could come up with a truly convincing reason to get back on an airplane. For something that had become so deeply ingrained in my identity, the absence of meaning made me question everything else I cared about.   Over the year that followed, I carefully rebuilt myself: making intention and self-awareness non-negotiable in a career (and life) that are by nature: performative. Running thoughts through a simple “does this matter?” filter has brought me closer to my day-to-day, and left me with a strengthened sense of pride in where my choices are coming from.
 I know this isn’t a universal experience. But that sobering moment of self-suspicion pulled me from the numbness of living on autopilot. taken in Corsica by @micahcruver

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9 months ago

SEDONA: We filmed a dark melodic house & techno DJ set out in the beautiful red cliffs of Sedona, Arizona during sunset as the first episode of an ongoing cinematic music series called “NOMAD SETS” (@nomadsets).   Each set is carefully curated around the specific environment we film them in, mixed and recorded live on site, and creates zero noise / disturbance to the space, out of respect for the natural beauty and other people sharing it with us. This can look absolutely hilarious to fellow hikers in the area, since I’m jumping around, breathing heavy and singing in complete silence until we add the music recorded internally to the mixer back in post-production, haha.  If anybody needs some progressive beats to work/drive/study/exercise to: you can watch & listen to the 1-hour mix, and many others we’ve filmed all over the world with the link in my bio.  Filmed/edited by the incredibly talented @tyler_video taken in Sedona, Arizona by @micahcruver

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9 months ago

Solo travel: because coordinating schedules is harder than learning French. (Big view reveal shot at the end ➡️➡️)  A couple people from my little French class at the language school out in Antibes took a field trip up to this adorable medieval village perched on the mountains above the Riviera as part of the school’s cultural immersion program. It’s always crazy to imagine something being built in the 7th century (701-800 AD) and not only still be standing: but still having people living/working here. Wars were fought, dynasties came and fell, and the village still remains. I think expanding the scale at which we measure our own history is a healthy practice, as I find myself not only worrying about what I’m doing within a year, but even within a DAY.   Instead, thinking of my goals and actions as a part of my lifetime (or even the length of time the memory of me will exist) takes the urgency out of the equation, and helps me focus more on arranging the bricks of long-term things that REALLY matter, and less on the ones I’ll likely forget about in two weeks. (13/365) taken in Gourdon, Provence-Alpes-Cote D'Azur, France by @micahcruver

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9 months ago

I’m unbelievably lucky to have such strong women in my life. I’ve learned so much from the ways you bravely navigate the world’s complexities while still finding room for compassion for the people around you. The trust, encouragement, unconditional love, emotional depth, humor and unique perspectives you share with me have become the foundational support system I rely on while finding my place in the world. I’m unquestioningly a better person because of the women who have shaped my life, and I can only hope that someday I’m able to reflect even as small measure of that warmth and grace back into your yours. Pictured: @orlovamaria, a woman who I am in constant awe of, shot on #Leica #m10R (12/365) taken in Portland, Oregon by @micahcruver

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9 months ago