Being able to celebrate what is often the happiest day of most people’s lives with them is why I love this job so much. Well, that and being able to spend all my time being artistic and creating emotional works of art that have a deep meaning for the couples who commission them from me. I have been married almost 4 years and this whole process of seeing people commit to loving each-other for the rest of their lives makes me fall deeper in love with my wife each week.
Young love is the most exciting. Everything is fresh and new and you are just crazy about your beautiful bride. Neither of you can do any wrong in the other’s mind. You are both perfect.
That feeling fades in time, as it should. That sort of passion can consume you. Everything else in your life is trivial compared to your love. Work, career aspirations…everything else doesn’t matter. You just want to be together. What this is replaced with, is commitment. It is about constantly choosing to love the one you are with. If you chose the right person, its easy to do.
I know I can be a grumpy bugger sometimes, and I know it’s a bit of a trial for Janelle to love the grumpy me anytime before I get my first cup of coffee in the morning, but we know we made the right choice. We both have our faults…(mine greater than hers!), but we can see past those and find that mutual respect, admiration and understanding that comes from having gone through life’s trials together for a little while. I love my wife.
When I see the young couples like Sam and Daniel beaming at each-other and exuding waved of crazy love, It brings back that little jolt of excitement I felt the moment I realized that Janelle was going to be my wife.
I first met Sarah at the Weddings in Winnipeg wedding show last year. I actually have some footage of Sarah and her mom dress shopping that day which I included in the promo video for the show. From the beginning I loved everything they had planned for the day. It was a beautiful sunny Summer day which was just perfect for the ceremony which took place outside at the Leo Mol sculpture garden. I am really looking forward to editing the rest of the day. Thanks to Kelly Bik for the help as second shooter.
I wanted to use a more narrative approach for this getting ready chapter with more of the live audio and commentary than I usually include. The music is very calm and it perfectly reflects how calm the bride and groom were on the day. You guys did great Sara and Darcy. Its a match made in heaven!
While I am uploading all the footage from this weeks wedding (which will take about 16 hours and at least one new hard-drive!) it gives me a chance to look around the web for inspiration. Obviously Vimeo is the number 1 site for me. It is full of the the most artful video to be found anywhere in the Internet. Pretty much every video there has something that I can draw inspiration from, especially the Staff Picks.
You Tube on the other hand is more like searching for a needle in a haystack. The democratization of new media means that any person with a camera can publish his or her video and have it seen by anyone. By far the majority of the content on You Tube is more than a little underwhelming, but there are gems to be found. Like this, which I stumbled across a few months ago…
I LOVE East Indian weddings. The food, the colours, the traditions, the dancing, the music…EVERYTHING!
So I am just about to head out the door for day 7 of shooting. I had a chance last night and this morning to put together a DVD trailer for Hardeep and Ravi’s wedding so far. There was so much awesome footage to choose from it was a challenge to constrain myself to 3 minutes. I put together the music from 3 different tracks. I love the mystical flute music juxtaposed with the energetic drum loop. I think it really works well to capture the spirit of the last week of festivities.
Thanks again to Lise for all the help with the shooting and especially for postponing a trip to be here for the wedding.Thanks also to Jerry Vergel for being so fantastically easy to work with. I can’t wait to see the photos!
I am trying to decide which highlights videos should be the ones people see when the visit my portfolio on the website. It’s a really tough call. I love each of the couples so much and I enjoy each of the videos for different reasons. That’s where you come in… Below you will find a few of my highlights videos. Check them out and let me know which one you like the most. Or even pick your top 3!
It was a gorgeous Manitoba Summer afternoon at Assiniboine park where Courtney and Derek had their first meeting on their wedding day.
Now, even though I still think of myself as a South African, I am not so great with the heat. Give me anything in the +15 to -15 degree range and I am a happy cinematographer. Anything over +25 and I need to change my shirt every five minutes. Anything below -25 and I curl up into the foetal position and wait for Spring. So this last Saturday was a bit challenging for me running around with a Steadycam strapped to me trying to get as much dynamic footage as possible in the +30 degree heat. That said, it was totally worth it! Courtney and Derek may as well have just stepped off the cover of Elle and GQ they looked so fresh on the day. The couple and the whole entourage were just great. It was another fun day in sunny Manitoba.
Here is the Intro/first meeting and the photo shoot for you to enjoy…
We made the short trip out to Altona for Melissa and Sean’s wedding a couple of weekends ago. The skies were threatening rain all day, but we managed to stay dry! It was a perfect day actually.
You may remember this couple from a Save the Date video I shot with them in the winter. This will refresh your memory…
We set up the first meeting in an open field surrounded by bright yellow canola. I love the way it looks on screen. The slightly grey skies with the bright white dress, the black suit and the beautiful flowers is just a stunning combination. So I decided to make a little one minute chapter just of that little part of the day. I love how in love these two are. I do believe Sean shed a tear when he first saw her that day. I have the utmost respect for a man who can be both tough and tender like that.
It is obvious for all to see that you guys have the magic ingredients for a long an happy life together. Congratulations!
Thanks for stopping by... and congratulations on your engagement! There is loads cool stuff to see here. I am always searching the net for fresh ideas and new ways of doing things, so grab a nice glass of wine and take your time. Please leave a comment if you like what you see. We love what we do and we love it when you do too!