Posts Tagged ‘wedding’

Perfect Shutter turns one! Developing our style… Chapter 2

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

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.

Windsor Wedding news 965755430 2WTcT M Perfect Shutter turns one! Developing our style... Chapter 2

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.

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!

Tags: videography, wedding
Posted in News | 2 Comments »

Detroit Wedding Film Preview: Jen + Adam in Windsor

Friday, August 6th, 2010

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!

Tags: commercial videography, videography, wedding
Posted in videography | 1 Comment »

Christine & Matt : A Perfect Shutter Wedding {PREVIEW}

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Christine and Matt’s Cross Border Detroit / Windsor Wedding – Videography

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!

Windsor Wedding videography screencap1 Christine & Matt : A Perfect Shutter Wedding {PREVIEW}

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.

Windsor Wedding videography screencap2 Christine & Matt : A Perfect Shutter Wedding {PREVIEW}

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.

Windsor Wedding videography screencap3 Christine & Matt : A Perfect Shutter Wedding {PREVIEW}

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!

Tags: videography, wedding
Posted in videography | No Comments »

HOME

CATEGORIES

ARCHIVES

Perfect Shutter websites