Me

I make small films and other experiments about what it means to be alive.

I’m a cinematographer, startup founder, and all-around maker who finds joy in creating things by hand. My work lives somewhere between art and engineering... I tinker, build, and film to understand the world a little better.

Recent projects

When I’m not behind a camera or deep in product design, you might find me dyeing fabric in the sun, roasting coffee, tending a garden, or trying to convince my dog to sit still for one more shot. I like the smell of tomato leaves, the hum of old film, and the quiet satisfaction that comes from making something real.

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Featured Work

I make a lot of things and I’m learning to share them more often, because art only comes to life when someone else gets to feel it. For years I created quietly, collecting films and small experiments that never left my desk. Now I try to share them while they’re still raw, because the magic lives in connection.... and in letting the work reach someone who might see a bit of themselves in it.

endless ideas
too little time

Jalama

Jalama was my first film project, processed and scanned by hand. I grew up spending time there with my family, my grandparents, and close friends who still feel like family. The drive ends where the signal drops, and life gets simple. You hear the wind, the waves, and someone calling your name from the burger stand.The beach never looks the same twice. The light changes every few minutes, the water keeps its own rhythm, and the hills shift color as the day burns off. It’s one of those places that holds a whole childhood inside it. Filming there felt like paying attention on purpose.

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La Grulla

La Grulla is a quail-hunting lodge on the coast near Ensenada, Mexico. My best friend married the love of her life there, surrounded by everyone who matters to her. I brought a camera and mostly tried to stay out of the way.The place feels suspended in time... old-Hollywood charm with a few rough edges, sunlight bouncing off cactus and tile. You can still sense the people who came before, the stories layered into the wood and stone. The food is unbelievable, the air smells like salt and smoke, and the world gets quiet once the signal fades.I filmed what I could while watching people I love at their happiest. That combination of beauty, history, and joy is hard to describe, but easy to remember.

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Glendora

Glendora is where I grew up. Most of my closest friends still live there, and many now have kids I think of as my own nieces and nephews. Every visit feels both familiar and changed, like time moves differently inside those streets. The town has a kind of stillness to it. The trees are older, the houses haven’t learned the new styles, and people wave when you drive by. It feels smaller each year as my world gets wider, but that’s part of its charm. Glendora holds the shape of where I started, and it’s good to keep returning to it.

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Dogs

Dogs have been steady company through most chapters of my life. They turn up in old photos, half-finished projects, and every quiet moment that matters. Each one has changed how I see the world, mostly by reminding me to slow down and look again. Claire is my current shadow and co-pilot. She has opinions about everything and usually steals the frame. Filming her is easy... she’s already herself.

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I make things because my hands get restless. Sometimes it’s film, sometimes it’s fabric, sometimes it’s something I’ll never finish. Around four in the afternoon the light hits my window just right, and I forget what I was doing, which is usually when the good ideas show up.

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Come say Hello!

Sonoma, California
my phone is on silent indefinitely
me@lyndsaydonhoff.com

Lyndsay Donhoff

Nothing here is perfect, and that’s sort of the point. The film jumps, the light leaks, the color drifts. I think that’s where the charm hides.... in all the little ways the world refuses to be polished.

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