First of all, it is my great honor to write this next post.
One of the best comments I’ve heard for Chris was “for someone so techie, it’s amazing how much emotions Chris’ videos have”. However, techie is an understatement to describe Chris. When we upgraded to DSLR cameras for our videos this year, one of our main concerns aside from going over board with the budget was how to give our videos a distinctive look. The number of hours that Chris spent researching for the best lenses has led him to the old manual focus lenses. I will not got through the details of why these vintage lenses are awesome, you’ve probably already seen some of our trailers. If I may romantically say it, the DSLR cameras with vintage lenses is a match made in heaven.
All the hours spent on research (and forums) has paid off and Chris has came up with a great write up. It is the cover story for the July issue of EventDV magazine. It is my honor to post about this article … and because Chris is too polite to write about it himself. Please click on the image to read the article. Enjoy and have a great day everyone! ~Barbara
Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to shoot one of the most unique and special weddings we’ve had the honor of covering. Even though Mehvash and Robert come from very distinct cultures, you can tell they were made for each other. Here is a short preview of their Wedding Story for those who couldn’t make it and for those who want to relive the experience. Enjoy!
I know it’s been a while since our last post but business has been very busy plus there were some clips that I couldn’t release until today which brings us to today’s post.
Last month, we were honored to film Ashley and Jay’s wedding in beautiful Cabo San Jose’ at the wonderful Crowne Plaza resort. Since many of Ashley and Jay’s guests couldn’t make it to Mexico, we were commissioned to not only film the wedding festivities but to also create a longer than usual highlight reel that could be played at the local reception in Ponca City. Our goal was to make every guest at the local reception feel like they were a guest at Ashley and Jay’s wedding in Mexico. To make the experience more enriching we did a Storyteller style edit of their wedding day which includes an interview of the bride and groom that is used to tell their wedding story in their own words. Judging by the reactions in the audience, I think we succeeded as there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when it finished.
Since the video is pretty long, I broke it up into 3 chapters for a more convenient online viewing experience. I hope you enjoy!
You might have noticed a few things about part 2 such as our camera positions and the fact that the bride’s entrance is attributed to another company and I’d like to briefly address how this came about. What it boils down to is this: the local photographers that we worked with had a “no videographer” clause in their contract which would be enforceable by their leaving the premises. This problem was compounded due to the local wedding coordination company siding with the photographer’s “no videographer” policy resulting in an unusual and at times hostile environment for us to work in resulting in what we feel were negative and frankly unnecessary restrictions on what we could accomplish for the bride and groom. In keeping with the bride’s wishes, we kept shooting. Since we entered into a contract with the couple and not the local vendors, we felt it was our duty to keep doing our job. Unfortunately, due to the coordination team and photographers being on the same page, we couldn’t get on the beach to set up where we would prefer to shoot. This resulted in less than desirable camera placement for us.
Given those challenges, we feel we were still able to produce a wonderful ceremony video for them and were able to document some things (such as the bride waiting to walk down) that we normally wouldn’t get. We’d also like to acknowledge that the photographers did provide us with their video footage of the ceremony and we give credit where due in the video.
This is not an easy thing to write about as our policy is to never speak ill of fellow vendors. Luckily for us, that is usually not a hard policy to keep as the vendors we typically work with at every wedding are professional, courteous, and team players. We feel, however, that an exception to this policy is in order when a vendor, or vendors in this case, compromises the full potential of what a bride’s wedding film could be. When the final product is compromised to this degree, we feel it important to clarify why this is so.
On a more positive note, we are pleased to announce that we have a special on our Engagement Story services for brides getting married in the Fall 2010 Wedding Season. Please get in touch with us for more details.
This past weekend, we had the honor of filming Jessica and Nilay’s wedding celebration spanning 3 days. Here’s a short recap of this amazing weekend that premiered at the reception that very night. We’d like to wish Jessica and Nilay every happiness as they embark on the next chapter of their life together. Thank you for letting us film this once in a lifetime weekend for you. Enjoy!
About a month ago, we had the honor of filming Dana and Ricky’s wedding day. We are so excited about how the video is coming out that we had to share a small clip from their Wedding Story now in production. Congrats to you both on your one month wedding anniversary!
What can I say? The flower arrangements were one of the more unique designs I’ve seen and the coordination of the wedding was discrete and smooth. That’s the mark of a great coordination team.
I love the design of Dana and Ricky’s stationary so much, I decided to put a shot or two of their work in the clip. It’s the stationary the rings are sitting on. If you are looking for intricate and unique stationary design, call Tammy up and see what she can do for you.
Makeup Artist
Kyla Gray Creveling
817-420-3193
Fantastic job on the makeup. Everyone looked perfect. You can see her in action on this video.
We love being busy and this year is especially busy for us. The bad thing is that some things fall by the wayside like the blog for example. So here’s a bit of what happened while we were away…..
Wedding in Cabo San Jose
On May 2nd, we had the honor of filming Ashley and Jay’s wedding at the Crowne Plaza resort in beautiful Cabo San Jose. We are encoding the footage as we speak and can’t be more excited about sharing their video with you as soon as possible. Besides the awesome couple and gorgeous scenery, the thing we’re most excited about this wedding was that we tried out some of our more light sensitive lenses at the reception and we were able to get incredible imagery using just available light. You read that right. We were able to shoot most of the wedding reception without a video light with no loss of image quality. Wait till you see the footage. You won’t believe it.
And for those brides who might be interested in hiring us to shoot their wedding in Mexico, rest assured that Watson Videography always goes through the proper channels to obtain an FM3 Visa to legally work in Mexico.
New Russian Lenses
I was so impressed with my Helios 44M that came from Russia at the last two weddings, that I just had to get some more in my camera bag. One of them is a Jupiter-9 (85mm f/2) portrait lens that produces wonderful vintage colors and a very pleasing out of focus background. The other is the Mir 24M (35mm f/2) which has amazing color saturation and contrast. Both are going to be used at tomorrow’s wedding and we can’t wait to see what kind of footage we get out of it. In the meantime, here’s a fun little test clip I did shooting with the lenses around the neighborhood……
Oh, by the way, don’t worry about your wedding video having the soft focus look. We like the retro look but we do draw the line somewhere :).
Sometimes all this lens talk can become a little abstract so in order to give you an idea of why I’m so excited about shooting with these retro lenses, here are some shots taken with the Russian made Helios 44M (Circa mid 70’s). The last shot especially shows off its unique character very well.
Fall and Late Summer dates filling up
Ever since a few weeks ago, we’ve been blessed with bookings for July through October and several requests for hot late summer and fall dates. We still have many choice dates available but slots are filling up rather quickly as this is the time most couples book us for their fall weddings. If you feel we are a good fit for your wedding, let us know and we’ll be happy to meet with you and discuss the perfect wedding package for you.
I think that pretty much sums up what’s been going on with us the past few weeks. We are excited about the weddings we’ve shot so far this year and the ones coming up. It’s easily one of the most exciting and eclectic seasons we’ve had in a few years and we can’t wait to share each of our couples wedding stories with you.
On April 17, 2010, we had the honor of filming Dana and Ricky’s wedding day. Here’s a short preview of their Wedding Story going into production soon. Enjoy!
Last week I purchased my new favorite retro lens. It’s a Russian Helios 44M (circa 1975) and the imagery is amazing and quite different from what you see with today’s digital lenses. The colors are rich, the lens flare is amazing and the bokeh (the out of focus area) is nothing less than magical. We’re encoding our first wedding shot with this lens so in the meantime, enjoy this little test video to see why we get so excited about using vintage lenses for our productions……
What I love about using vintage lenses in our productions (especially weddings) is they have a warmer, more organic look to them that’s a great mix of the best of the new (HD video) with the best of the old (the retro look the lenses give our productions). We think you’ll love the difference.
In the next month or so, Watson Videography’s website will be undergoing a much needed facelift so in the meantime we are temporarily directing all our clients to the blog where you can check out our latest clips and catch up with the latest news from Watson Videography. If you’d like to see more of our stuff, feel free to visit our current site. Thanks a bunch and if you have any questions for us, feel free to drop us a line at chris@dallasweddingfilms.net or give us a call at 817-989-1691. Have a great day!
This past weekend, we had the honor of documenting Amber and Brantly’s wedding and reception. Here’s a small preview of their upcoming Wedding Story. Enjoy!
