Clayviation Films

06/11/2026

This is a cool article by Beth Sexton at Lake Oconee Living Magazine. It’s not easy to weave in my rock band saxophone days, Taco Bell, flying airplanes and cameras all in one story arc, but she did it.

I also love that when my work gets highlighted, it’s really my clients that get the spotlight. There are some cool shots included of Jon Altizer-Bieger at Table at the Lake; Casey Burchfield’s hands on a tasty burger at The Burch x Boathouse, Bob Delaney on set of our latest project, Mel Washington singing at Lake Oconee Church, Heather Bradley - Realtor changing boots as always, my son Ollie with his snowball, and even my wife Haleigh Benfield in the airplane with me.

(Article in the comments)

06/04/2026

I spend most of my time helping businesses tell their story; brands and founders. But every once in a while (maybe once a year) I’ll take on a wedding when it’s a story like this one. Because at the end of the day, I’m a storyteller first.

This venue was at The Dogwood Barn in Milledgeville, Georgia. You may recognize the officiant, Clay Scroggins. Congrats to Avery @ Casey, and thanks to a great wingman JK Films. I also got to work with my wife, Haleigh, as the planner for this one.

06/03/2026

05/15/2026

Milledgeville Burger Week starts today, and this year, I worked directly with two of the restaurants participating to photograph their burgers - and .

Burger Week is 10 days of specialty burgers from participating local restaurants, hosted by . Vote for your favorite on the Visit Milledgeville Burger Week web page.

The Brick’s burger is the Peach & Prosciutto Burger: A beef patty topped with char-grilled peaches, spicy aioli, pepper jack cheese, and crispy prosciutto.

Buffington’s burger is the PB & J Burger: Double smash beef patties topped with PIMENTO mac & cheese, BACON jam, and candied JALAPEÑOS, on a toasted potato bun.

05/15/2026

If you’ve spent any time at Lake Oconee in the past, you surely went to Da Corrado Ristorante. It was a great spot, but was eventually sold.
Then I met Gus. He bought the place and had it fully renovated with his vision for a 70s/80s New York Italian American restaurant. If you talk to him for even a minute about it, you know he’s not just some guy picking a theme and trying to make a restaurant work. He’s recreating “some of the most fun” he’s had in a long time, in his words. He’s creating Santoro’s Italian Kitchen. Homemade pasta with a New York water system, a separate pizza kitchen from the main kitchen, and a ton of authentic, nuanced details I’m not even smart enough to appreciate.
This restaurant opening has been highly anticipated in the area, and this past weekend was a soft opening that Gus hosted for a close circle of friends and family. A chance to get the gears turning for the team and the facility. I had the opportunity to capture some content for their socials and website, and I’ll tell you; not only is it done very well, and creative, and beautiful, but there was something else there, too. Seeing the pride Gus and his family carried as he greeted tables and led the team gave ME a sense of pride that we have something really special here now, with good people behind it.
I got a call from a friend who knew I was working with them. He left them a message about getting a reservation, and was floored when they got a personal call from Gus, the owner, to book it.

I also saw some of the owners of Table at the Lake - good friends that I shoot content for their restaurant as well. They called me over when their cannoli arrived -
“we figured you’d want to get a good picture of this before we dig in.” (Pictured below)
Here are just a few of the pictures to give you a glimpse.
They are now open. If you are in the area, grab a reservation and check it out.

05/13/2026

Behind the scenes of a YouTube content shoot with .realtor. For this session, we aimed for “Your step by step guide for buying a home.” The idea was to prep the viewer with all the little nuances of what to expect in the process, including explaining some key terms and giving insight. Our approach was like an “unboxing video,” so we filmed a sequence at the beginning where she arrives home, sees that a box was delivered to her porch, gets excited, dramatically clears everything off the table, and dumps it all out to walk us through, piece by piece.

We utilized the opening sequence along with a top down camera to pull it off. We decided on model train scale items for the little house and yard scene that she builds throughout the video. Check out part of the outtake reel, and the thumbnail we created for it. YouTube content is driven heavily by a compelling, searchable title and thumbnail.

Also, I don’t think Heather will be picking up model house building as a hobby after this session.

04/21/2026

I’m constantly making content for my clients, and rarely get in front of the camera, but I’m trying to be more intentional about it. Here’s a behind the scenes look and walkthrough of a set where I decided to leave the overhead lights on - and my approach to matching the lights.

The lighting mistake that ruins good video

04/15/2026

I could have just grabbed an ikea lamp or something, but for a filmmaker, I can’t imagine a better desk lighting setup than a Hobolite Micro with a Pocket C Stand.

04/07/2026

I created this content for as part of a brand refresh with . We spent a day in their cottage bakery capturing so many kinds of sourdough, cinnamon rolls and cookies.

If you check out their website at thecrustycottage.com, you’ll see instant looping video visuals to immerse you in the products, and now with online ordering, each kind of sourdough has its own carousel of pictures you can scroll through to know exactly what you are getting.

This content was not only helpful for a website, but also serves as a library of social media content, and allows for a cohesive look with social banners, marketing materials, and anywhere images represent the brand.

Check it out, order some for yourself (or pick some up at the many stores they have products in around Georgia’s Lake Country), and I assure you these calories don’t count.

04/01/2026

Everyone asks for it. Now we have it. Only available April 1.