Congratulations Travis and Becca

A beautiful wedding on a beautiful day. Outdoor weddings in August have a special feel to them...warm, sunny and comfortable. Big tents, an archway of balloons, good music, lots of great food and drink and a dance floor that took a beating..oh and lots and lots of tattoos.

Tracy and I really enjoyed making this wedding video and were made to feel like part of Becca and Travis's extended family the entire time. We started shooting at 10am and called it a night around 9:30pm...oh and was up and back at the Sunset Inn at 5:30am the next morning to catch the sunrise with the camera for a time lapse shot I just wanted to be in this.

We have a ton of great footage... most of which didn't make it into this short trailer but will sure to be in the 30 minute feature due sometime this fall. This short trailer is intended for family and friends who couldn't be there as well as a thank you to the guests as well.

Thanks to Becca and Travis for giving us the opportunity to capture this day for them.

You can link to this video with the followingurl: http://vimeo.com/14582439

Starting the Becka and Travis edit

I'm getting ready to edit the trailer for Becka and Travis's Saturday wedding. Just setup my second, 1 terabyte G-Raid video drive to edit on and took awhile to get that going....then had to transcode my selected shots..and THAT takes forever...

My goals is to get the trailer completed today, up on the blog and to the client by late afternoon. It's the best I can do and still am in awe as to how the SDE guys to it the day of the wedding....anyway... I'm going to use the song "I Wish" by Rascal Flatts, and employ an editing technique called 'time shifting' rather than show the day in linear fashion.... The main film - which will be in the neighborhood of 20-30 minutes - should hopefully be done by early October.

Airport Life at 5am

Orlando Airport. 5am. It beats hanging out at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in N YC but it's no way to start a day. The morning started with my alarm going off at 3am; check out from the Dolphin Hotel in Disneyworld; ( I'm always amazed at how the front desk people at hotels always have a smile on their face regardless of the ungodly hour. I wonder what their shrink bills are at the end of the month).... on the shuttle at 3:40am..met a very interesting russian videographer living in Canada on the way.

Any way, a 6:51 flight to Memphis, then a 12:13 pm arrival at Newark Airport ( in theory)... gotta scout a location this afternoon, recharge batteries, shoot a rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tonight before the big wedding tomorrow. I need a nap...and a shave...too bad I don't drink joe.

Finally Met My Inspiration

About seven months ago, while scratching my head wondering what I was going to do next with my life, I came across the work of Jason Magbanua, the award winning wedding videographer from the Phillipines. It was after watching just one of his videos, I knew videography was what I wanted to do next...

Jason displays his amazing videos on his blog http://jasonmagbanua.com/blog/ that he updates regularly with his videos..which, by the way are called SDE's..or Same Day Edits. These amazing videos HE shoots and edits before the reception is half over..and plays the video at the reception.
Well, I not only attended his workshop here in Florida this week, but I met and spoke with him for awhile... as well as one of the shooters he used at a wedding in Florida last week, Loyd Calomay from Southern California http://www.loydcalomayfilms.com/ and learned a lot about how Jason does what he does...and Loyd is no slouch either......

I can't wait to get home and start shooting some more...oh and I'm sitting in my room at the Dolphin Hotel in Disneyworld and a massive fireworks display is going on outside my window...amazing...

Enjoying the WEVA convention

I'm in Florida this week at the WEVA ( Wedding Event Videographer Association) convention at the Dolphin Hotel in Disneyworld. Here's a shot taken by the lobby water fountain by my new friend Santos, who's a long time wedding videographer from Puerto Rico. We've been in workshops from 8am to 10 pm every day and it's been absolutely fantastic... so many talented people here..and they're all great at sharing all they know....my head is swimming right now...and today I actually won a $400 piece of gear at a raffle...and I never win anything...

The Hunterdon Half Triathlon Promo

I love anything to do with Triathlon. I mixed Triathlon TV specials for NBC sports and ESPN for 7 years and completed several sprint Triathlons, one half Ironman and the Lake Placid Ironman in 2002. So when the opportunity came along to do a promo for race director Mike Nusbaum and his upcoming race event, "The Hunterdon Half" in October, I couldn't resist. Very quick turnaround..shot it Saturday morning, finished editing Sunday afternoon...and the voice over is none other than my Poker playing son, Doug.

You can view it at: http://vimeo.com/14347237

Kindred Quilts Video Completed!

I think I video taped every single nook and cranny in this wonderful little quilt shop across the street from the Clinton Post Office. And I discovered what makes this little shop so special...and it's not the dozens and dozens of rolls of fabric lining the walls of its four rooms or the multitude of quilting and sewing classes. It's the people who work there. The joy they get from being around all that fabric is contagious...and I think it's 's the main reason so many women from all over the county make weekly ( and some daily) excursions to Kindred Quilts. It's like a big family and the staff is top notch.
It's my hope that I captured their vibe. There's a special energy that begins with owner Toby Preston and carries all the way to the store's mascot, Cody.

You can view the video with this link: http://vimeo.com/14256838

Elena and Oscar

There's something about a backyard wedding that's just plain down to earth. Fifteen to twenty guests, chicken and beef on the grill, pot luck side dishes, beer, sangria, picnic tables, balloons and a neighbor as the DJ. It's all very familiar on any weekend during the summer. The one thing that was a bit different in this particular backyard is that these folks were originally from Costa Rica.

Having said that, as a videographer, your shot selection is very limited. In a conventional style wedding, one generates"content" to make a compelling film from shots of the bride and groom getting ready..the shoes...the dress... shots inside the church during the ceremony, the photo shoot at a beautiful location and finally the reception at a fancy hall.

I had no such content producing opportunities...and I didn't have a bunch of fancy locations to work the camera. The decision to shoot this wedding was VERY last minute. No pre-planning. No scouting. One camera and a monopod.

There are two fundamental styles a videographer can go for when putting together a wedding film. Documentary style and cinematic Style. I chose the latter for this film. I stayed away from any Latin American musical cliches or references.

Instead, I crafted the affair as a love story. One of family, friends, neighbors, children and a cute puppy. I really enjoyed shooting this. It stretched my creative muscle and hopefully will touch all that watch it.

It reminds me that getting married can be a very simple affair... and is just as much fun and you're just as 'married' at the end of the day.

You can view the video at:

http://vimeo.com/13978092