photo // journalism

January 31, 2009 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment 

Photographs… they can be so many things to so many people. They can be traditional, alternative, candid, posed, real, fake, cool, cheesy.

For me, photographs should carry a story, whether it’s obvious or not. As a wedding photographer, it’s my job to document the events of the Day by capturing moments, and helping people to relive them days, months, years later.

For many, this means taking a series of photographs that combined tell a story. Much like the act of photographing a ceremony - the images when placed together in an album are able to bring back all the emotions that were felt at the time.

But what about a lone image? I feel it is much more challenging to tell a story with just one photograph. This is a challenge that I will be continuing to conquer for the rest of my life.

Above is an image that I particularly love. It is well composed, with good contrast and colour. Its depth of field pulls the viewer into the rings almost instantly. But the part I love most is the secret that it holds.

When I arrived at Erica and Jay’s wedding venue, everyone was a little nervous about the weather. It had been raining off and on all morning. Erica is a very easy going, fun loving girl, and even she was a little bit worried.

While she was having her makeup done, I went outside with the rings for a brief moment. I found a puddle on the deck that surrounded the building she and her family were in.

As time went on, the rain turned to drizzle, and a bit of sun started to peak out. By the time the (outdoor) ceremony was beginning, the rain had completely gone and had left us with nothing but beautiful light. It was perfect. Their ceremony was perfect.

About half an hour later, we began our portrait session together. As Erica and Jay were sitting together enjoying their time in front of the camera, the rain returned - but this time there was no anxiety. In fact, there was opportunity. With caution to the wind, Erica decided that frizz or no frizz, she was going to get wet! Because this was her wedding day and she was going to enjoy every minute of it!

This is what I remember when I look at this photo. I remember the relief that everybody felt when the rain stopped. I remember the joy in Erica’s eyes as she and Jay laughed in the rain. I remember a day that turned out perfectly. And it makes me really happy.

-Amina

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JAMES & AMBER’S WEDDING TRAILER

January 31, 2009 | Filed Under Pacific Pictures | Leave a Comment 

Crashing Waves | A perfect afternoon in Laguna beach on 10.11.08 for vows exchanged by James & Amber just a few feet from crashing waves. Guests enjoyed the sunset view from a balcony atop Capri Laguna resort, followed by an outdoor reception under a bright full moon and calm ocean breeze.

For more about the making of, be sure to check out the behind-the-scenes images and caption below.

Enjoy,

-Kevin

_

Kimberley + Trevor’s SDE // An October Wedding

January 30, 2009 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment 

Weddings can be somewhat funny creatures. I love the juxtaposition of emotions you see in Kimberley + Trevor’s SDE. As Kimberley and her mother are having a very emotional moment in their suite as they prepare for the day, several flights below their window Trevor and the guys are getting hello kitty ready for a car ride.

Kimberley + Trevor were married back on October 18th in Toronto. This is one of the clips we kept in the vault so that we had something special to show our couples when they came to visit the studio.

Their SDE is an example of one of our premium same-day edits. We had 3 cinematographers there to shoot both the main feature and SDE (whereas our regular collections have 2 cinematographers).

Sorry for the wait Kimmy.

P.

Kimberley + Trevor’s SDE from StillMotion on Vimeo.

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Olivia & Ruairi’s Wedding Teaser

January 30, 2009 | Filed Under Velvetine Studios | Leave a Comment 

Multi Award Winning Australian Cinematographer

January 30, 2009 | Filed Under Moudanier Pictures | Leave a Comment 

AVPA Accreditation is earned not purchased

This month’s AVPA meeting was held on Monday 19^th January 2009. We normally don’t post industry events on our blog but at this meeting we had the great privilege of listening to guest speaker Piet de Vries who is a multi award winning Australian cinematographer. Piet spoke with us about his work in the film & TV industry and elaborated on what makes a good visually stimulating image & story.

From left to right

• Ross Stanford (NSW AVPA Secretary)
• Helen Moudanidis (Moudanie Studios)
• Abraham Joffe (NSW AVPA President - Abraham Joffe)
• Evro Moudanidis (NSW AVPA Committee Member)
• Piet De Vries  A.C.S (Award winning cinematographer)
• Dave Cowling (NSW AVPA Vice President)

Both Evro and I agree it was one of the best AVPA meetings we had the pleasure of attending and we were quite honoured when at the end of his talk, Piet singled out Evro for his outstanding work in the field of wedding cinematography.  (Evro’s face turned a brighter shade of red at the time but was no doubt over the moon to be given such a great endorsement from a legendary cinematographer.)

Piet de Vries & Evro

Saint George Byzantine Choir

January 30, 2009 | Filed Under Moudanier Pictures | Leave a Comment 

It’s not often we have the opportunity to really enjoy the sound of a Byzantine choir, however, we were given this opportunity on Sunday 18^th January 2009.

We were asked by Father Gerasimos of the Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Rose Bay to film & record the audio of the Byzantine Choir during their Sunday Liturgy.  The completed work is to be made into a feature length DVD for the purpose of qualifying the choir to enter into a national Choir competition taking place later in the year.

We’d like to wish the Choir great success and thank them for allowing us to spend a beautiful Sunday morning enjoying the sound of their angelic voices.

Leigh & Chad – Vignette

January 30, 2009 | Filed Under Vivid Wedding Films | Leave a Comment 

Here’s a vignette recently finished for Leigh and Chad.

The Cherokee Kid in 8mm Film

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under David Perry Films | Leave a Comment 

 

When I told Danielle I wanted to go stay in a Tipi (teepee) in Zion National Park for my birthday, she was a little surprised.  It was nearly winter and cold, but she was a great sport about it. My great, great grandmother is Cherokee and so I guess this was my return to my roots. This was shot at a Native American Cultural Center right outside the east gate of Zions where they have exhibitions, shows, a sweat lodge and authentic hand painted Tipis and Navajo Hogans. Apparently the people who made the Tipis also made the Tipis for Dances with Wolves.

I've been shooting a lot of family stuff on 8mm film and so we had a 45 second clip from the Tipi and the adjacent ranch where a wild herd of buffalo hang out. It looks like we scripted the shots on this, but we were playing around and it just came together (with some creative story telling - ha ha). Little Drew was so adorable... you'll just have to watch.

Here's a day with my family!

 

BTW - "Utah" is an Native American word meaning "top of the mountains"

Make a Difference - Haiti

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Northernlight Filmworks | Leave a Comment 

John and Steve will be traveling to Haiti to film a short documentary about a school and a church in Haiti. We need your help. We made contact with Nehemiah Visioin Ministries today to find out what their most immediate needs are. They indicated that their bus needs a lift kit for safe passage after a heavy rain. The cost of installing a lift kit is $3,000.00.

The departure date for this trip will be somewhere around March 12th and we would like to raise the needed $3,000.00 before that date. There is not a lot of time but we know it can be done.

If we just get 600 people to give $5.00 it's a done deal. We will be posting photos and some video of the trip. If you would please help us spread the word, I know there is a village in Haiti that would be so grateful as would we.

Please make the check out to Nehemiah Vision Ministries and send to our studio at 23 South 8th Street, Suite 700, Noblesville, IN 46060. Your cancelled check should serve as a tax receipt but if you would like a receipt, please indicate so and we would be happy to e-mail or mail you a receipt.

Thank you.
John, Jennifer and Steve

Laney and Zach: sneak | peek

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under David Robin Films | Leave a Comment 

Laney and Zach from David Robin on Vimeo.

This is, i believe, one of the first weddings shot using the new Canon 5D Mk II camera, with 35mm lenses in HD 1080/30P. As you can see it has a very different look than conventional video. The shallow depth of field gives it a very film like quality.

Besides all that, we had a blast, spending the last night of the year at Casa Del Mar with a great couple and a lovely family. My good friend Sterling Franken-Steffen shot photography, and The James Gang rocked the house into 2009. Aside from my experimenting with new cameras and lenses, Jay Stein and Jack Winch documented the entire day with Sony EX1 tapeless HD cameras.

It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life…for me!

often imitated // never duplicated

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under StillMotion | Leave a Comment 

With the second round of our evolution experience drawing to a close, I wanted to share some thoughts with all of you. We absolutely love what we do- I am sure you have heard that before, and so that should come as no surprise. From forming relationships with our couples, being privileged to document such diverse and emotional events, to bringing it all together to create a reflection of who they are and what they mean to each other, to sharing their photo and cinema with them afterwards - the entire experience is very rewarding and deeply meaningful.

In hosting the evolution experience here at our studio our intention was to try and re-ignite that passion that so many have lost for the art they produce, to help them learn the tools and techniques to push themselves further, and above all, how to give their work more life, depth, and meaning. What we didn’t prepare ourselves for was how rewarding the entire experience would be for all of us at StillMotion, and for that we want to sincerely thank everybody involved.

Here are two brief lines taken from longer comments we received that we wanted to share:

“To say Thank you really does not seem like enough, please know that this experience truly has changed our-lives for the better.” - Nicole

“I can’t believe it’s over.  I think everyone came out of this with a huge feeling their lives have changed for the better.” - Troy

We’ve shared a lot over the past couple weeks- our approach really was ‘all in all out’. There is a fine line between inspiring others, which can add excitement and depth to your work, and having others copy what we do, which provides neither. Here is the question -who really loses in this situation? Of course we send out letters and ask nicely that clips be taken down and that things aren’t copied in the future, but these instances really don’t hurt us, not nearly as much as a couple receiving something so devoid of meaning and personality, or an artist producing something that is so one-dimensional and un-inspiring.

With that, I would like to share with you two examples of clips that were brought to our attention recently (by inquiring couples none the less). By the time you see these there is a good chance they may already be removed, so I will try and update this post when that happens. The first looks surprisingly similar to Darshan and Raina’s trailer, which we posted a while back on the blog (and is posted again here as a reference).

Here is the link to the clip that looks surprisingly similar (the sound will come on after about 20 seconds). Notice the content, composition, and sequencing of the first 5-6 shots. The bizarre thing is that none of the shots were taken from our blog, they are actually recreated with an almost scary precision.

The second is clip is more than surprisingly similar, it is a YouTube version of Amy + Alex’s highlights that was reposted on another videographer’s website as their own work. You can view that here. Just click on gallery and it is the 2008 demo.

Thanks for letting me share and I would love to hear your thoughts.

P.

Darshan + Raina Columbus, OH Wedding Trailer from StillMotion on Vimeo.

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Electric Hearts - David and Melissa - Featuring Brandon Kidd

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Weddings By SML | Leave a Comment 

With the new year, comes new weddings, and with the new weddings, well. . . . comes some VERY fun edits. This one definately stands out so far as not only incredibly entertaining to shoot, but almost twice as fun to edit!!!

From the moment we arrived at the Hyatt in Huntington Beach, I knew this one was going to be spectacular. The energy in the bridal suite was unbelievable and Melissa was glowing from minute one.

New Years Day. . . From Rancho Santa Fe. . .

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Weddings By SML | Leave a Comment 

What better way to bring in the new year than with a new marriage???. . . That's what I always say!

Tane and Jeff were married in an intimate spiritual ceremony at a breathtaking estate in Rancho Santa Fe on New Year's Day. Beneath a beautiful Palapa sat 25 of their closest friends and family as the two exchanged hand written vows. A very special thank you to Tony and Marion from Elegant Photography for helping to arrange the shoot that took place just hours after the ball dropped.

Happy New Year (again. . . lol. . . if you read the post before this). Hope you enjoy the trailer :-)

JAMES & AMBER - THE MAKING OF A WEDDING FILM

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Pacific Pictures | Leave a Comment 

In the middle of our Bollywood concept shoot, we actually managed to shoot a few really cool weddings. Dear friend and photographer Dawn Lowrey of D-Style Photo captured these awesome behind-the-scenes images during James & Amber’s wedding at Capri Laguna resort last October. Prep coverage was a stray from the norm, done entirely hand-held with an HV30+Brevis set-up for a more documentary feel than a lot of our previous work - a first and great learning experience. Voice overs by James & Amber themselves made for a unique processional, as bridesmaids and groomsmen entered one by one from either side of the beach. Our sunset Steadicam session (in action above) was a blast. You may catch the Arri 1k lighting the dance floor at one point in James & Amber’s wedding trailer, posting soon. In the mean time, be sure to check out Dawn’s site for more of her incredible images.

-Kevin

Wedding Showcase

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Expectations Video Productions | Leave a Comment 

Hey everybody! Here is a fun shot of Michelle Tullis of Tullis photo http://www.tullisphoto.com/ and I in front of our booth 2 weeks ago. Showing gratitude to all the amazing folks who came and talked with us! Now I am getting ready for another amazing wedding show this Saturday out at the fairgrounds in Redmond. Here is a link if you want more information: http://www.bravocentraloregonwedding.com/index.php/About-the-Showcase/aboutshowcase.html . We would love to see you there. Come say hello!

2009 Cinematography Demo !

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under MediaInnovations Cinematography | Leave a Comment 

reflejos|digitales con la máxima calidad

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under reflejos|digitales | Leave a Comment 

Ya hace tiempo que r|d se sumó a la última tendencia de grabar los reportajes en HD. Ese material luego lo editamos con toda su calidad y era a la hora de entregar el producto cuando utilizábamos la calidad estándar grabándolo en un dvd para que pudiera ser visto en el reproductor de cualquier salón de vuestras casas.

                                  Completado el círculo de la alta definición.

Camera Person Wanted

January 29, 2009 | Filed Under Velvetine Studios | Leave a Comment 

The Valentine’s Day Anti-Recession E-Session Giveaway Contest

January 28, 2009 | Filed Under Epic Motion | Leave a Comment 

In celebration of the wonderful Hallmark Holiday known as Valentine’s Day, we are doing something VERY exciting!

I don’t have all of the rules in place, yet, but we need to get the word out like NOW. So, here goes:

We are giving an engagement session away for free. Email us if you’re interested AND if you meet the following criteria…

1. You are engaged to be married
2. You like to smile and laugh
3. You make a cute couple
4. You don’t mind spending an hour or two in the cold
5. You’re both pretty available the second week of February (hopefully the 11th or 13th) to film near Detroit
6. You’re tired of the recession already

If you fit into all of those categories, send an email to info@epicmotion.com along with a picture of you both, some brief stats about you and your fiance, and tell us why you think you should win the free E-Session — ASAP! If we don’t get enough responses, we may have to try this another time…

Spread the word!

Walter van Dusen presents Mystic 4

January 28, 2009 | Filed Under VladBlog | Leave a Comment 

Here is a highlight video, shot with the Canon 5D Mark II, of the recent Mystic 4 event where I was also one of the speakers. Thanks to Walter for doing such a great job putting everything together (there are some photos on his blog).
Ben Chrisman was also a speaker and has some photos from the event here.

And of course a big thanks to Michael Cody for his hospitality–it’s always great to hang out in Greenport before taking the ferry to Connecticut.

Can’t wait for next year!

Mystic 4 from Vladimir Chaloupka on Vimeo.

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