as part of the canon cinema caravan we have been creating a series of tutorials to help illustrate the techniques that we use and the equipment that helps us convey the stories we tell.
from chicago, to the grand canyon and hoover dam, we really traveled far and wide to put this one together. tilt/shift lenses can be a rather technical set to wrap your head around so please be sure to leave any questions here and we will be happy to help out.
dan // the master’s degree SDE
it’s very interesting for us to see two cultures come together on a wedding day.
shalimar and dan’s wedding was just that. shalimar, and the rest of her family, welcomed dan and his family in to the hindu culture with open arms, and many of the toasts that night by dan’s side spoke of such openness and the feeling of being totally welcomed.
this mixing of their two cultures and the events that occurred on their wedding day became the story of their SDE.
while many of our recent films are heavily narrated to propel the story forward, shalimar and dan expressed an interest in wanting their film to be propelled forward by the visuals shown and the background music.
music by the newest with etiquette artist henry toft. withetiquette.com
- justin
fred // straight from the heart
a sunday afternoon in NYC with the exceptionally warm and friendly jane + fred.
without giving it away before you see it, the dynamics of their relationship is really apparent in juxtaposition between their first meeting and jane walking down the aisle. those two events speak a lot about their relationship, and just how caring they are for each other.
on a side note, we were very fortunate that jane + fred’s entire wedding happened in one location (the lighthouse), which meant we could really be present on focus on their story as it unfolded, without having the think about the logistics of driving (traffic and parking) in manhattan. it also meant that we could be there to capture the bare space being transformed into a space filled with many thoughtful details and an abundance of love and tears.
- justin
the soundtrack is ‘the trees want you back’ by amy seeley licensed at withetiquette.com
today marks day two of our speaking schedule in las vegas. justin and i are at wppi (the wedding and professional photographers international convention) and were asked by canon usa to speak on the advantages, strategies and techniques of adding cinematography to the photography repertoire.
being that justin and i are photographers that often shoot cinema, we have a pretty unique perspective on the matter. we know how challenging it can be to shoot photo on its own, and to shoot cinema on its own – but to combine the two…. let’s just say that the results can be out of this world.
but does it have to be daunting? that’s a question that many photographers are asking themselves. with HDSLRs at our disposal, so many are itching to test out the waters.
so here’s where we come in. over the last few days, and for the last time tomorrow at WPPI, we are sharing our perspective on how the transition can be made smoothly and in a really fun way. so for those of you who’d like to join us, check out our talk at the canon booth tomorrow (wednesday) at 1:15.
-amina
as i sit at the back of the presentation room, i realize just how lucky we are.
we are in the middle of our third evolution experience in australia. we’ve already had a chance to inspire 30 people, and now we’re sitting with another 15. but what many don’t realize is just how inspired we become through all of this.
it makes us realize how incredible our opportunities are. it forces us to question everything that we do. it makes us realize that we make mistakes all the time and that through the passion for what we do, these mistakes turn into possibilities.
but the biggest thing that i feel makes us feel so privileged is the friendships we create in the meantime. whether these are relationships that are built with attendees, people at the camera store, or our couples, they are what pushes us to constantly evolve.
i’d like to share with you an email that we got this morning from serena and liang – a couple who got married this past saturday in sydney (whose SDE and photos you’ll see shortly), and who also came to our workshop on day 2 to model for our attendees’ exercises.
“hi Amina
Day 1 workshop – go team Melbourne! so wish we were there……
I remembered that Patrick said he had 150 emails to reply to, and here’s hoping you don’t, so I’ve forwarded my email to you. Have looked up some free range/organic restaurants and sent links. DOC is Italian/pizza that we love but isn’t free range. Can’t vouch for the others but fingers crossed they’re like Peasants feast.
DOC
Drummond St Carlton 3053. VIC (03) 9347 2998
http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/VIC-Melbourne-chocolatebuddha.aspx
http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/VIC-Melbourne-bcoz.aspx
Basically just wanted to confirm dates so I can book Toronto flights. For us anytime fr 18/4 to 8/5 is good so if you just give me a couple of dates that work for you guys, I can fix up our end :)
talk soon!
xoxo
S”
maybe this hit me a little harder because i read the email as patrick was explaining the importance of getting to know your couples during his presentation this morning. but we didn’t ask serena and liang to look up restaurants for us in melbourne. they simply knew us well enough to know that we love organic fare, and they cared enough to send us an email with recommendations (2 days after their wedding mind you).
not only this. they are planing a trip to toronto this april so they can visit with us.
THIS. THIS is what drives us. people like this are what inspires us. but i feel like it is our involvement and participation in people’s lives (and not just their weddings) that allows for such rewarding payback.
here’s a little peek into last week’s evo. a big thanks to cinevate for being the coolest corporation we know and donating three uno DSLR rigs for our personal reflection competition on day two. after our shoot out tomorrow in melbourne, we will be able to debut all of the winning and runners up and we are so excited to share these very thoughtful, inspirational, and original pieces with everybody. so thank you cinevate for your continually supporting all of our educational endeavors.
-amina
the thing we love most about weddings is that we get to capture people as they are in a very unique time. we get a glimpse into not only who they are then, but also who they are as people – with their families, friends, and with each other.
the other day i received a phone call from a groom who is inquiring with us for his wedding. throughout our phone call we covered many topics, including the philosophy that governs the way that we shoot weddings. as an example of this, i asked him to take a look at a recent blog post, it’s the little things.
he sent me an email after seeing the blog post. here’s what he wrote:
From what I can tell, Liam’s a neat, level-headed guy that seems to have a decent control over his emotions but not so much that it keeps him from having fun. I say neat because of the focus on the watch, the cuff links and the concentration on his face as he ties his bow tie. The sequence of 9 shots at the bottom show that genuinely happy side of him…something not too over-the-top but just loose enough for you to know that he’s happy to be there with the love of his life. I’d also say that he’s a fan of symbolism and maybe Liz is too…considering the maps on the cuff links, their wedding date, the jewelry, the time on the watch, etc.
Maybe I was searching for it since you mentioned it, but Liz on the other hand definitely looks confident and looks like the kind of person that will make you happy with her laugh alone. She seems very energetic and that final 9 shot sequence shows a spectrum that goes from “really happy to be posing for this picture” (frame 1) to “hey this thing we’re talking about is pretty funny” (frame 4) to “oh right that part of the story really funny” (frames 6 and 7) to “I forgot how funny that was that I’m now starting to lose it a bit” (last frame). It’s really well captured and in many ways, arguably more meaningful than just having one pretty picture of the two of them. It’s the little things, as you said.
the fact that he was able to deduce so much about Liz and Liam from just 19 photos makes me really proud.
-amina
it’s finally here! with etiquette has launched! but what is it?
with etiquette is a music licensing house designed for independent artists and smaller labels to license their original music to wedding photography and cinematography studios!
for more info, visit www.withetiquette.com, and www.madewithetiquette.com.
and don’t forget to follow w.e. on twitter!
-the sm family
check this out. we wanted to go looking for some lulu wedding apparel while visiting amish and natisha in vancouver. nat mentioned that a lulu lab just opened up and that we should check it out. while i personally have no lulu pants, amina and jessica both do and they swear there is nothing better. when i told justin about our lulu visit he expected to see us walking around the office in tights, but lulu offers much more than that (sorry, no tights justin). they now offer mens clothing that is not too tight, not too casual, and super comfy. so off we went to the lab to check it out.
what makes a lab different than a store? while the lab lets you choose your own colors, size, and style and have a custom pair of pants or shirt made the same day. for those that love the lulu style and comfort, what a great way to really make them your own.
it was interesting to see a brand of that size still cater to custom work. currently the lulu lab in vancouver is only making women’s clothes, but next time we are in van the men’s line should be up and running. if your a lulu fan, you definitely need to check this out.
P.
howard // flippin’ out
the day before her wedding, jennie received a flipHD as a gift from her bridesmaids. when it showed up at the salon, the girls seemed to be having some fun recording the mayhem. when it showed up again back at the house, jennie started to get into the filming as well. when it then followed howard’s present as it was being delivered, it got us thinking.
after the ceremony i chatted with konrad about what shots we had of them using the flip so we could tie that into the story throughout the day // the good idea.
he then suggested we get the camera at the end of the day and download the footage so we could tie it into their main feature // the great idea.
seconds later, it dawned on us. let’s tie the flip footage into the sde itself // the awesome idea.
that’s what makes SM so cool to be a part of. we can take an idea and in seconds it can evolve into something so much more as it bounces between us.
i should note, this isn’t exactly a same day edit. for the first time i can remember we had to show the sde earlier than planned (and that is not good news when we time these things to the minute). it wasn’t much earlier, but it was enough that the piece wasn’t quite finished (mostly the color). we showed everything as it was that night, but then i spent that extra time that i thought i had, a good thirty minutes or so, fixing up what i had planned to do. so, this would be an sde with a little * to denote all of that rambling i just did.
P.
jennie + howard’s sde.
at this point, konrad and i were getting pretty nauseous. much like the cake, we were swaying and jiggling in the back of the car trying to keep breakfast down. but as we sat there watching the cake accommodate the bumps, we got over our stomach aches and focused on what was unraveling to be one of those quirky things that made the wedding uniquely “jennie + howard”.
howard high-fives a guest as he an jennie exit the church together… it was tough having to shoot from the balcony and having the restrictions that we had imposed on us by the church coordinator. but sometimes its about taking the impossible and making something that could never even have been imagined otherwise. it’s interesting that my favourite image of the day was created during the only time of day that we had any restrictions put on us – the harshest restrictions we’ve ever encountered at a wedding actually.
we had a fairly hurried photo session after the ceremony. jennie decided it would be more efficient to move around bustled. i was busy looking at the lighting, the shapes, the atmosphere, planning, feeling, and almost not noticing her and her bridesmaids fussing over her dress. i’m glad i had the impulse to stop what i was doing and notice the brief sequence of events that would have been missed had i been in the tunnel-vision mode that we can sometimes get sucked into.
there happened to be a balcony at the reception as well, and in the spirit of shooting from above, i decided i would shoot their first dance in a way i had never done before.
gary’s wedding
the morning of the wedding is always full of many emotions. whether it’s stress, anxiety, nervousness or joy and happiness. often time, those emotions aren’t the ones the couple would like to feel and they aren’t sure how to calm down.
so how do you go from point A to point B?
well, everybody copes with it in their own way. some play games, some listen to music, while others dance or have some drinks.
the morning of katie and gary’s wedding, they got ready on two different levels of the same building, making just a tad more stressful. the guys seemed relaxed the entire morning. first some golfing, then a few beers at the bar. katie couldn’t find a place for herself the entire time // she probably changed her seat twenty times in the course of two hours. one of the times when i got back from shooting the guys, katie asked if the guys were having drinks at the bar. i had to say yes. she seemed so jealous. it wasn’t long after that katie found her own way to cope with her stress. her solution was in the form of a golf cart. when she got back, she was a different person.
it is small things like these that we really love capturing and building on. for somebody from the outside it can just seem like a ride on a golf cart. for katie, it was way more than that.
here are two sides of the day // the same day edit as well as amina’s favourite photos.
Konrad
Awesome! It’s amazing how much that real boat looked like a toy boat. :P
For some reason I have the urge to go spend some money now… :)
you guys are amazing. this is awesome!