photos and videos by planetMitch

Mitch “planetMitch” Aunger is the founder and mastermind behind planet5D.com — which was originally inspired to curate news about the Canon EOS 5D Mark II but has expanded to feature tons of camera and filmmaking industry news and opinion.

A lover of photography since his early days, he graduated to selling stock photos to make a little bit of spare cash. It wasn’t much, but it allowed him to upgrade to better cameras as well as computers, and it wasn’t taking food out of his poor kid’s tummies just for his own gear addiction.
He loves the stories that the still image can tell but also believes in the power of film.

In the summer of 2008, he read a story written by Arnold Kim called “I Quit My Job” — Arn is the owner of macrumors.com. Arn had started macrumors in 2000 as a hobby, and by 2008 he was making more money with the site than he was on his day job, so he quit. The surprise to the story is that he was a physician with his own private practice making more than six figures! Right then and there, planetMitch dreamed about doing the same thing (well, not starting Macrumors, but I think you get the point).

September 2008 rolled around, and Canon announced this new version of the incredible 5D — the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. It was the first Canon DSLR to shoot full HD video and the earth moved! It really was a huge deal in the photography world, but it turns out filmmakers found it even more exciting. A new filmmaking revolution had started.

planetMitch knew if there was ever a chance to ride a wave of something he was really passionate about, this was it — and thus planet5D.com was born in November 2008.

In 2010, planet5D was continuing to grow and serve millions, but planetMitch was dealt a hefty blow. He was laid off from his ‘day job’ and needed to make a decision; would planet5D be able to support his family? It was making a little money, but needed to make a lot more before that would happen.

Good news tho! planetMitch found someone to help set advertising rates proper for a site of planet5D’s size and tripled his income in a matter of months. He was saved from having to go out a find a ‘real’ job!

planet5D continues to be an industry leader and one of the most popular industry news sites on the planet and has a staff of 3 writers (plus a virtual assistant, the ad manager, and plenty of guest bloggers) and he is making a full-time living from blogging.

He couldn’t be happier!