Cierra - Wedding Videography and Wedding Photography by Perfect Shutter

Developing our photography and wedding videography style

Previously I told the story about how the 3 of us, Samson, John, and I, had decided to come together and start Perfect Shutter. We were all so excited about starting our brand new wedding videography and photography business, there was just one small thing holding us back.

None of us had actually ever had any formal training in film making, photography, or videography. We were going against accomplished artists, videographers, and photographers – many of whom had taken college courses or had been nationally recognized by several associations. This wasn’t going to deter us though – we were dedicated to learn as much as we could straight from the pros.

Samson and I started learning photography first, while John started off learning videography. We kept coming back to a few well renowned wedding photographers that we just loved — Ed Pingol based out of San Francisco and Jeremy Clay from Toronto, ON. Their work had something special to it. With some research, we found out that those photographers not only used natural ambient lighting, but also strategically used off-camera lighting to really make photos stand out. They were magazine and fashion shoot-quality. We decided that this style, incorporating the use of studio lighting was something we wanted to do. They were masters at controlling light, but we were the eager learners excited to emulate and perfect.

copyright jeremy clay

copyright jeremy clay

So off we went to learn lighting techniques and develop our style for wedding photography. It was hours and hours of reading, learning, watching tutorial dvds, and practicing. We had several photo shoots where we practically begged our subjects to bear with us while we tinkered with settings on our cameras and flashes.

And boy was there a lot to learn: wireless remote triggers, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, direction of lighting, how to soften the lights, it goes on and on! We couldn’t have done it with some of the great resources and teachers online: from the Strobist site, to Zack Arias’ OneLight DVD, to all the helpful people at Fred Miranda wedding photography forums — we couldn’t have learned all this photography without them.

copyright Ed Pingol

While we don’t do much wedding photography anymore (only by special request) — undoubtedly the principles and techniques in lighting we learned carried over perfectly to wedding videography and wedding cinematography. We are using the exact same cameras for videography as we would for photography, so it all makes sense!

And now I’ll leave you with some of my favourite wedding or portrait photos we were able to take after tons of practice.

Cierra - Wedding Videography and Wedding Photography by Perfect Shutter

Jocelyn + Ty - Detroit Wedding Videography

Melissa and Jeremy | Detroit Wedding Videography by Perfect Shutter

Coming soon, read about how we started the photo booth rental side and about some of the nice surprises we’ve come along the way!

Jen + Adam. A beautiful couple. A beautiful '52 Pontiac.

This past weekend we had the opportunity to film another beautiful wedding film for Jen and Adam in a town just outside of Windsor, Ontario in Amherstburg. I hadn’t visited Amherstburg in quite some time, so it was a treat to see the town and all its charm all over again.

A bustling downtown area along the shores of the Detroit River just before it emptied into Lake Erie, had so many quaint shops, I wish I had time to walk and stop in each of them! From old fashioned ice cream shops to even a quick sushi restaurant… it had so much charm.

Jen and Adam’s photographer, Stacey Paquette, had some surprises for them for their photo shoot. After the ceremony we were led to the grounds of an old mansion built in the early 1800’s that has since been abandoned. It stood there calm and overlooking the water, once the home of a famous landscape painter and equally as beautiful as the entire day had been for Jen and Adam.

At the dinner table, I got to meet some of Adam’s close friends from medical school who drove in from the state of Missouri — many of whom actually had been to Des Moines, IA before where I went to medical school! We talked about the Midwest and the field of medicine for a while before the rest of the reception continued.

I’m so excited to show off the final wedding video when it’s done — there were so many beautiful moments throughout the wedding!

Congratulations to Jen and Adam!

It’s August, and it means we’re turning ONE! I can’t believe it really — a whole year of turning what were our hobbies into a real, full fledged business. We started Perfect Shutter last August and it’s been such a wild, humbling, crazy, exciting ride over the past 365 days.

As I sit here and reflect on what transpired over the past year, I can’t help but smile when I think about all the great people we’ve met and how much we’ve learned. We’re so lucky to have met so many great people, both brides and grooms from all over Windsor, Hamilton, Toronto, Detroit, Michigan, and our colleagues in the wedding scene (wedding photographers, planners, venue hosts) and business world. It makes me smile even more, with optimism, thinking about all the great projects we want to put together for next year and beyond.

So here’s a quick timeline and recap of how three friends came together to form Perfect Shutter, become wedding videographers, and grow to a staff of over 7 people!

From hobbyists to professionals

None of us ever had any formal training in photography or videography. Everything we have ever learned was self taught, or learned from helpful people and resources on the internet. This in itself is something I’m extremely proud of — I have never really been an ‘artistic’ person, being more of a geeky science kind of guy. I’d always wanted to do something like paint, or photography, or learn an instrument, but had never really jumped right in to do it.

Last July, I remember seeing on Facebook many of my friends’ professional wedding photographer photos and being pretty awed and impressed with them. There was just a certain way their photographer was able to capture the moment, and show off just how beautiful everything and everyone was on their wedding day. It was almost magical. I had been dabbling with photography as a hobby up until that point, and was slowly, but steadily learning the ins and outs of photography. I began chatting with my friend Samson, who like myself, was an amateur photographer and also had a thirst for technology and drooling over the latest and greatest cameras and gear. We found that we had another thing in common — that our friends had suggested on multiple times that we should consider doing this professionally!

We weren’t too keen on it initially, considering both of us had other full time careers unrelated to photography or even the arts. But the more we looked at some of the Windsor wedding photographers’ work, the more inspired we became. We wanted to capture and create gorgeous, memorable photos just like them.

And then there was the concern: would going pro hurt ourselves in anyway? What if we tried it and just totally failed?

After some deliberation, we made the pact: the time was right for us to go professional, but to always remember to not get too wrapped in the business side of things. The arts and photography of it will have to be first and foremost, something that we loved to do as a form of artistic expression. Whether we actually could become successful professionals and have people hire us would come second to this.

It was at this same time that I was also chatting on Facebook with John. I had saw that he had purchased a brand new camera, the Canon 5d Mark II. It’s one fine piece of equipment. I had asked him if he was interested in learning photography with Samson and I and becoming professional photographers. He was excited about his new Canon, and mentioned that he really wanted to tinker with the video recording capabilities it had. We agreed that at some point we would all have to get together and share with each other all the things we learned.

Coming soon — how we carved our own unique style, getting our hands dirty with the photo booth, transitioning to videography, we meet some great people who have since become great friends, and Perfect Shutter picks up momentum with fun and unexpected surprises!

This July, I’m ancy, nervous, but excited as well because I’ve had a year of seasoning on rotations, and the countdown is ON. It will officially be 10 months until I graduate from medical school, and get my degree, and start being called ‘doctor‘. It had always seemed so far away. Before I ever got accepted into medical school, I would dream about the day I finish medical school and wondered if I would ever get there. There just seemed to be so many obstacles in the way. I was worried about interviewing, getting accepted, finding enough financial aid to pay tuition, applying for visas, moving to a new country, living 600 miles away from home.

And here I am, a mere 10 months away from that moment. So excited, but so nervous. I’m officially a fourth year medical student now. I’m now doing what are called audition rotations from now until December, basically rotations at clinics and offices of potential places I will be applying to for residencies. It’s an opportunity not only for the doctors and faculty of those residency programs to get to know me, but also a chance for me to see if I would like them!

My first stop is back in Michigan, at the residency program I did my third year of med school as a student. It was comforting to see some familiar faces — residents that I’ve worked with before on other rotations, such as obstetrics and gynecology, and from all the lectures we attend. The first day however, I definitely had the butterflies. I got a brief orientation with the program director, who on first impressions lived up to his reputation that preceeded him. I talked to friends and classmates before that had great things to say about him and the other doctors.

There is another fourth year medical student on the rotation with me, and he is also interested in applying to this program and becoming a family doctor. I had a hard time that first day thinking about first impressions — was I making a good first impression? Was the other student making a better first impression? How do I compare to him? I found that I was comparing myself a bit too much to the other student.

The next day however, things were much better. I focused on just being myself, relax, and things will come much easier as I got to know the doctors a bit more as I worked with them. So I have finished the first week of 4 here in Michigan, and I really like the teaching that the doctors do here.

On every single patient I see, after I present the case to the attending, they take a lot of time to teach important points about not just the science and physiology of the medical aspect, but also the social aspects and the thinking process behind planning out what I should do with the patient. I’ve learned how to deal with some difficult patients who seemingly act in certain ways with some unknown motive. My next stop will be a relatively rural town in Pennsylvania. I’m looking forward to my next 3 weeks here, and then it’s off on my whirlwind tour of Midwest America!

June 19, 2010

Update: Their Windsor and Detroit Wedding film is now released! Click here to watch it!

This past weekend was a cross-border international affair for Christine and Matt’s wedding. Here’s a couple screen captures from our video for a sneak peak preview for all of you!

the sun setting behind our bride and groom | copyright perfect shutter wedding videography

This was a bit different than our usual weddings. The ceremony was held in Windsor, ON. We sent two of our videographers there, John and Samson.

In a unique twist, Christine and Matt had the reception aftwards held in the gorgeous Dearborn Inn, in Dearborn, MI a suburb of Detroit.

I was planning on meeting Samson and John over in Dearborn since I live on that side, and we couldn’t risk any unexpected delays in crossing the border. I’ve never been to the Dearborn Inn before, and I actually got lost trying to find it. The hotel itself is really close to the Henry Ford Museum and Ford automative plant, so I was  bit thrown off when I was driving by and saw the factories.

husband and wife approving of a speech well-done

This was also the first time I actually met Christine and Matt — the rest of the team met them several times during our consultations while I was away in Iowa.

Matt was a super fun guy who’s sense of humour and smile was infectious. It really made for a fun day.

Christine, I found out within the first couple minutes of meeting her, is a really strong-willed and intelligent bride. Her and Matt will have a tremendous life together.

The speeches that evening were so touching and emotional. Everyone from the fathers of the bride and grooms, to all the bridesmaids and best man, did an excellent job. Each was so eloquently thought out and spoken, that by the end of the night I felt as if I had known Christine and Matt for years.

sneaking away from the reception for a sunset's kiss

The biggest difficulties we had were actually in battling the killer mosquitoes which decided to gang up by the thousands and feast on us. By the end of the night, I had counted no less than 10 mosquito bites, even through my pants!

Note to self: for future weddings, bring bug spray!

A special thanks to the photographer, Michele Bowman. We love working with her as she makes our jobs as wedding videograhers actually so much easier — we have fun, and make sure we each get all the beautiful shots we need!

the iowa scenery from the interstate

Ahh, sweet summer time. I finished my 3rd year of medical school which means I have 4 weeks of vacation before I start back up for my last year before I graduate.

So where am I going to travel to vacation? Yep, you got it right, Iowa! Iowa???

It may seem the unlikeliest of places to travel to, since Iowa in the summer  is probably hotter and more humid than a Windsor summer. But Iowa is where I actually lived for 2 years (I can’t believe it myself sometimes) when I first started medical school. It’s also the state where I met my girlfriend. She’s now working in Iowa City and will be living there for a few more months.

So this summer, I’ll be mostly in Iowa to be with her, and driving back to Windsor if I need to.

The photo above shows you what Iowa looks like. Yep, your typical farmland you probably imagined in your head. Lots of farm land, corn, and pig farms.

But they do get some cool things going on. Last weekend I went with my girlfriend and her friends to the Burlington Steamboat Festival in Burlington, IA.  We were most excited to see a country band perform, the Zac Brown Band. I actually enjoy their stuff, so I was actually as excited as she was.

Waiting for the Zac Brown Band to start performing

The concert was held in an outdoor auditorium, along the shores of the Mississippi River. It was a great performance — my favourite parts were some of the behind-the-scenes videos they would show of the band as they toured the country. They were really into suporting the troops overseas, and some of the coolest clips were of the band performing at a military base overseas.

He was sponsoring a program called Letters For Lyrics where you would write a letter to a soldier, and it would be delivered to them while they were away on service. In return, we would get a nice CD to listen to.

I reflected a bit on the importance of the work the troops do. While you may agree or disagree with the involvement of North American troops fighting overseas currently, I personally feel thankful for our freedom that we have here — which would not have been possible by soldiers who fought wars, past and present.

Thinking about it, I would not have been there if we didn’t live in a ‘free’ country — whether Canada or America. I was standing there, in the heart of the USA, along the shores of the Mississipi, me — born in Canada, son of two Chinese immigrants — holding hands and enjoying a cloudless, warm, evening at a concert with my American girlfriend from Wisconsin. Pretty amazing.

Check out their video below!

Last weekend Brian and I drove out to Sarnia from Windsor. The job this time wasn’t for our usual wedding videography however. It was our first commercial video production of 2010, for a women’s clothing boutique called Silhouette’s. We were pretty excited for this opportunity since it would be aired on Cogeco cable television in their local broadcasting network.

In my 26 years living in southwestern ontario, I’ve never been to Sarnia so that was a first for me. Brian took us through the back country roads. He’s from a small town, Corunna, right outside Sarnia. So it was his part of the woods. The entire drive took us about an hour and 40 minutes, far quicker than what google suggested.

We ended up meeting the models at various locations around Sarnia — most of our footage was at the river front overlooking Port Huron, MI.  And luckily for us, we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. It was sun and blue skies everywhere, almost to a fault. Shooting out in the bright sunlight has its pros and cons.

Pro: beautiful weather, not having to brave the cold, snow or rain, got some nice sun for our skin. Con: shooting out in the sun for 7 hours straight leads to one badddd farmer’s tan / sunburn.

We didn’t have an external monitor or LCD loupe with us this time, so it was a bit more of a challenge than usual to set the focus.  Also, ND filters or ND Fader filters will definitely be required next time. We were shooting at f20 and above for most of the day, but that worked well for us because the client requested everything be tack-sharp focus throughout the screen.  It was a departure from our usual artsy-shallow depth of view, but in the end everything worked well.

I did end up feeling a bit like a movie producer. We attracted small crowds wherever we filmed up and down the river bank. For some unknown reason, we had a higher proportion of male audience when it came time to do the lingerie and swimsuit portion of the videography shoot…hmmmmmm……

Special thanks to Brian’s mother, who grilled up some delicious burgers and hot dogs for dinner for us!

We’re currently editing and cutting up the commercial now though, so you’ll have to check back here soon for the final version of it!

So we’ve started a new personal blogs section on our Perfect Shutter website. It’ll be each of our own little places to blog a bit about things that go on in our lives — things that may or may not involve Perfect Shutter. It’s a great little escape for us, to talk about other things that interest us — but also it’s a great way for you to get to know us a bit too.

We spend so much time with our brides and grooms, from the initial consultation through the wedding day and after, it often feels that we become great friends. We end up knowing so much about our clients — their favourite foods, favourite musics, their mannerisms, their sense of humour. It’s time you get to know us too!

I hope that you’ll enjoy reading about our adventures (or mis-adventures) just as much as we have enjoyed getting to know you!

- Herman

This was one of the first images that popped up in Google image search for ‘welcome’. I thought it was pretty fitting, since I’m in the wedding videography industry. Also, the outfit in this movie poster reminds me a little bit like one of the outfits our beautiful bride Nivien wore for her traditional wedding party in Windsor, ON.