David Speranza

NOTE: This is my old website and is no longer active

Please go to www.davidsperanza.com/writing for new site. Thanks. -David

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Latest Work

Bringing Back That '70s Feelin'...

Ever wonder what pop music in the 1970s was like for those of us who grew up in that tie-dyed, bell-bottomed era? Well, to anyone with rock-reared ears, the heavy-rotation monster that was the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever represented a sonic plague that forced us to either fight or switch (the station, that is). Or was there more to those Bee Gees grooves than met the ear?

Then there was that other John Travolta soundtrack, released only a few months later: Grease. Ah, those Summer Nights. American nostalgia at its best—for the 1950s then, for the 1970s now. And, believe it or not, for Communist Czechoslovakia in the 1990s. Tell me more, tell me more...?

If Saturday Night Fever and Grease have left their indelible stamps on the culture, for good or ill, what about the most successful, most highly paid female rock star of the 1970s? You don't hear much about Linda Ronstadt these days. But not only was she a constant—and welcome—presence on turntables and record charts everywhere, she helped pioneer a new genre of music and set precedents for every female superstar to come (while inadvertently giving birth to The Eagles). She also had one of the most beautiful and powerful voices in rock & roll. Just don't tell Rolling Stone...

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Older Stuff

B&H Samples

(June 2011) While my time at B&H Photo and Video is done, my work there lives on, in the form of hundreds of online product descriptions—from high-end, professional cameras and support equipment to cheapie add-on lenses and even a Spider-Man camcorder (you know—for kids). Below are a few samples. Note that only the initial descriptions and Product Highlights were original, with features and bullet points supplied by the manufacturer.

Opteka 58mm 0.3X HD Ultra Fisheye Lens Adapter

Zacuto Striker

Sony PMW-F3L Super 35mm Full-HD Compact Camcorder

Glidetrack Shooter SD

Sakar Amazing Spider-Man Digital Camcorder

Panasonic AG-AF100 Professional Memory Card Camcorder

VariZoom CrossFire Pro HD DSLR Support System

Ikan iLED 155 On-Camera LED Light

Sony HXR-NX70U NXCAM Compact Camcorder

Sharp PN-E421 42" Full Color LCD Monitor

Bescor LED-25 25W LED On-Camera Light

USA Today!

(Feb 2010) Talk about long tails. My B&H article on DSLR video was noticed by Jefferson Graham, the tech writer at USA Today, prompting him to interview me for his own piece on the subject. I wasn't alone, of course—nor the only "authority"—but it was fun being asked my views on such an exciting (to filmmakers) subject.

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About Me

Though born (and later schooled) in Philadelphia, most everything else happened in other places—including lengthy stays in North Carolina, Alaska, Colorado, and even the Czech Republic. After a collective 19 years in New York City—learning the byways of Brooklyn, Astoria and the Upper West Side—I decided in 2011 to seek out the cleaner, more relaxed air of beautiful Seattle. Along the way I've done some writing, some photography, and a fair amount of video, including a recent stint as a Web writer for B&H Photo—the world's biggest electronic bakeshop.

For more details, see my resume page.