Posts Tagged ‘engagement’
One Fall Day at the Park
This is Kristina and Glen’s video from their engagement shoot this fall. I’m really excited to show this to you since it’s something I’m very proud of. It’s the newest thing in content – a fusion mixture of images and what I call ‘long images’ – short video clips+sound. It adds another dimension to a slide show that really brings it to life. Their love and their spunky personalities really shine through on the footage in a way that just isn’t possible with images alone. I still smile every time I watch this even after hours of editing! I’m so happy that Kristina and Glen gave me the opportunity to create this memory of their love.
This video was filmed on a chilly October morning at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. We shot the video clips after we completed the engagement shoot since they were relaxed in front of the camera by that point. Once we started rolling, the were great sports and started to play around without a lot of coaching. Kristina and Glen showed this video on the big screen at their beautiful wedding reception in December, 2009.
All footage was shot with the Canon 5D Mark II. Lenses used: Canon 24-105 f/4L, Canon 17-40 f/4L, Canon 135mm f/2L. The sound was captured with the R0de VideoMic. Editing of the footage was done with Pinnacle Studio 14.
Kristina and Glen
This is Kristina and Glen – and I’ve got the huge honor of being their wedding photographer. This is a shot from their engagement stills+fusion shoot two weeks ago at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. I knew it was going to be fun based on our initial meeting – but I had no idea how much fun it was going to be. We did a couple of hours of still photography in the great Minnesota fall colors – then switched over to video once we had some shots ‘in the bag’. They were great sports about the whole thing – frolicking in damp leaves in 45 degree weather, playing hide and seek, dancing on bridges, and baring their souls by talking candidly about their feelings for one another. Their love for each other really shows through!
As a little ‘behind the scenes’ – getting this session off the ground was an exercise in patience with the crazy fall weather we’ve had this year. It rained 16 out of the first 26 days of October – and it snowed several times as well. It was pretty – but it really played havoc on any outdoor shooting. The day we shot this was literally our last chance before the remainder of the leaves hit the ground.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 135mm f/2L ISO 400, f/4, 1/100 sec
Lindye and Winn
Last week, I had the privilege of attending Dane Sanders’ Fast Track Workshop in Newport Beach, CA. It was a fantastic workshop designed to help photographers focus on their personal brand and to take their photography business to the next level and beyond. One of the high points of the week was a shootout held in Newport Beach. It was a pretty wild setup – I had exactly three minutes where I had complete control of Lindye and Winn to do with them as I pleased. Meanwhile, the other people in the seminar were behind me firing away making their own images.
How did it go? It was an interesting experiment where I took a few HUGE risks to get an image that I had pre-visualized. The day was intensely sunny, and I knew people would be fighting for indirect subtle light. I could do the same – but my pictures would have ended up the same. Instead, I went for a very dramatic spot where I knew the sun would cast a hard shadow on a wall creating a pair of ’shadow dancers’ behind them. This was a challenge since if I wasn’t careful, they would be staring straight into the sun with bad blotchy shadows. I also had to go early in the shootout when the shadows were still strong.
Net result? I love how this image turned out. It was pretty different than the other (also fantastic) poses that the other shooters set up. It’s a great reminder – don’t be afraid to take a risk and go against the grain when you’ve got something cool and unique in mind!
Reflections on a Happy Engagement
The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is pretty much Minnesota’s largest photo set. There are so many fantastic locations here to shoot portraits you almost can’t go wrong. The landscape shooting isn’t bad either! This shot worked a lot better in black and white – mostly because the heavy shade with direct sun overhead gave everything a STRONG green cast. Dan and Jacqie don’t look as good as they could with a green tint.
Vital Stats: Canon 40D w/Canon 70-200 f/4L @ 131mm ISO 400, f/4.0, 1/40 sec.