Filmmaker Gary Yost on Marin TV

Watch three breathtaking documentary shorts from filmmaker Gary Yost. Gary is a photographer and videographer based in the Bay Area. All three of the shorts highlighted feature magnificent Marin panoramas requiring the utmost technical precision.

Marin County Firefighters: "Always Prepared" Watch now on Vimeo

Three years ago I made a short film about what it's like to work up in the fire lookout on the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais. The majority of a lookout’s day is spent in watchfulness while listening to Marin County Fire dispatch sending firefighters on calls. As I became more and more familiar with what I was hearing, I began to marvel at how our first responders are instantly ready to help anyone in trouble… and there were plenty of emergencies on that radio. Car and bike accidents, structure and wildland fires, medical emergencies and more… there are a constant string of crises that firefighters have to respond to FAST.

As I sat there and quietly watched for fires, listening to these people who dedicate their lives to helping us, I became more and more impressed with how ready they are to jump into their engines and roll at a moments notice. I started asking questions of my friends in the fire service… “How are you so ready to spring into action so quickly?” “What does it take to be prepared for literally ANY emergency that might arise?” The answers got me thinking about how most people have no idea of the amount of work it takes for these hard-working people to be there for us 24/7, 365 days a year.

Although we all conceptually know that this is what first responders are supposed to do, here is a visual document honoring how our Marin County firefighters make instant-on rescue possible. We shot this at the Throckmorton Ridge Fire Station, Southern Marin Station #9 and at the Marin Headlands, but the same activities occur at every firehouse in the county, every single day.

Full Moon Pacific Blanket - SF Bay Watch now on Vimeo

The Bay Area is famous for its dense fog, and when you're in it the fog is cold and grey. But there's another side to the fog and the only way to see what happens when it fully comes in and blankets the SF Bay Area at night is to be above it. Because Mt. Tam is closed to everyone but rangers and fire lookout volunteers after sunset, very few people have ever seen the majestically mysterious vapors of the Pacific ocean as it flows in to completely cover the Bay. What starts as a partial blanket quickly rushes in to fill the gaps and by 1am, the lights of the cities below eventually become completely smothered. Because this specific night (8/9/2014) was a 96% full supermoon, the top of the fog and the slopes of Mt. Tam were fully illuminated by silvery-blue light and the only traces of humanity left were aeronautical... the lights at the summit of Mt. Diablo, the FAA radome on Tam's West Peak, and the jets that are guided by that radome's radar safely through the fog.

A Day in the Life of a Fire Lookout Watch now on Vimeo

The video documents the (usually) very peaceful life of a fire lookout in the Gardner Lookout on the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, California. I've been a Marin County Fire Department volunteer lookout for two years and deeply love the mountain and the peace it brings to us here in the Bay Area. Perhaps this 6-minute video will convey some of the emotions I feel when sitting (and sleeping) on her peak.