Behind the Scenes of a father-son film crew

Behind the scenes with Aaron Darr, Senior VP of Production

Since our Yosemite trip, Isaac has also helped RadiantTV film at several other U.S. National Parks

Recently, my 15-year-old son, Isaac, has taken an interest in video production and is becoming quite proficient. In 2018, RadiantTV planned several filming trips and Isaac got to come along. His first national park shoot would be at Yosemite, and I was looking forward to some father-son bonding time.

We wanted to film at Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy, a valley with a lake and staggering rock formations. Because access to Hetch Hetchy requires special security clearance, we had to fill out tons of paperwork, pay a fee, and set up a meeting time for a ranger to escort us as we filmed.

Aaron and Isaac Darr enjoyed working hard and filming together at Yosemite National Park

This entire application process took four months to complete, but finally, we were hiking the rocky trails of Yosemite. On the day of our meeting with the ranger escort at 6 p.m., we arrived early and planned to take a short hike to Wapama Falls. While we enjoyed the two-mile trek, we soon realized time was running short and we’d have to pick up our pace.

Finally, we got to the waterfall, but later than we planned. We only stayed a few minutes, and soon our only option was to sprint two miles back to meet the ranger. (See Wapama Falls in our “Be Thou My Vision / Hymne” video, next to Matthew 6:21)

In hindsight, we should have left more margin while we were traveling in the unfamiliar area. But that didn’t change our 6 p.m. deadline — we were still concerned that all our long months of preparing for this special site might come to nothing. Though we exhausted ourselves by jumping over stones and whipping around corners, Isaac took it all in stride and didn’t complain once.

Later that summer, Isaac also joined me for a RadiantTV trip to Bryce Canyon

Out of breath, we finally arrived at the start of the trail — we had just made it! We then met with the ranger and filmed stunning scenes for you to enjoy. Many people don’t know this, but filming for RadiantTV can be very demanding. Anything can go wrong, like cameras malfunctioning, rain ruining our shots, and crew members having to sprint down rocky trails to meet deadlines. But a huge part of what keeps us going is knowing how our work blesses people.

What really struck me about Isaac on this trip was that he truly believed in the heart of what we were doing. He was determined to serve and uplift people through RadiantTV. Isaac’s resolution and positive attitude reminded me that, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord...” (Col. 3:23a, NIV).