Featurette: Jim and Liz Wangler

This has been a summer all about learning. New equipment and new ideas have certainly kept me on my toes and I've been happily putting plans into action with each new wedding this year. Jim and Liz were married in the windy city of Chicago. It was a small, intimate wedding and one of which I was happy to play a part. Everything about Jim and Liz was sweet as honey and everything they had planned carried the same feeling with it.

For this wedding, I limited myself to a single lens and a monopod. It was great! There was so much freedom to move and hide around corners to get some really neat shots. Not to mention that Liz, Jim, and their guests were all having so much fun. I heard rumors that the reception band was handpicked by the groom and I'm so glad they were. The band played for hours and the dance floor was always full as they strung pop and classics together in an endless, enchanting stream of melodies.

Featurette: Jimmy and Theresa Haring

Wedding videographers have been changing the way people view the industry over just the past five years or so. It has become about telling the couple's story and pulling out elements of their "couple personality" as found in fun moments between the bride and groom. In hoping to get up to speed with these great masters, I thought it would be fun to incorporate this idea into future wedding videos. Jimmy and Theresa were more than willing to let me try out this idea, to include me in some of their time together, and even let me try my hand at some directing. Their photographer, Emily Tong was also great at letting me sneak in a few things here and there in the midst of her work.

I knew this would be a fun wedding as Jimmy and Theresa's personalities should be considered "revolutionary". We heard about marriage as a revolutionary institution during the ceremony and partook in some fun contra dancing at the reception. What resulted was a fun video for them and a great learning experience for me.

Featurette: Ted and Christy Walsh

In an effort to create a more visually stimulating story, I've begun to branch out and offer to film the bride getting ready for her wedding. Christy was my first bride to let me do that with the new camera. Well, there's a little bit of backstory with this one. In meeting a new photographer friend, she mentioned that she had a groom interested in finding a videographer with whom to surprise his fiance. The couple had discussed having a wedding video made, but were going to opt to have a family member set up with a camera instead. Ted contacted me, we had a few covert meetings, and then it was showtime!

Christy was quite surprised when I showed up at her parent's house that morning and then let me follow her throughout the afternoon and again into the evening when her and Ted moved into celebrating their commitment to each other. This was a gorgeous wedding. There's no other way to say it and ended up providing us all with some beautiful and moving footage. Thanks again to Krista Piper for thinking of me and another great time of shooting together, special thanks to the Athletic Club of Columbus for a beautiful setting, and the ministers at Saint Joseph Cathedral for a regal ceremony setting.