Vitalie and I spent a beautiful Saturday with them; hitting up Union Square, Maiden Lane, The Palace of Fine Arts, and Cavallo Point. What struck me about Nafiseh and Ehsan was two things. Number one, pretty good looking eh? Number two, my goodness they are in LOVE. It’s got to be so hard to be living away from your loved one for so many years. And now, they’re finally coming together, which makes that union even more powerful. You can see that love coming out in 100% of the video. It’s in their eyes, their hands, and definitely their hearts. What an wonderful couple.

And what was that thing I said we’d never done before? How about that super slow motion?!? I knew Nafiseh’s hair would look gorgeous with the wind in it, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to capture that through our lens. Another thing, we used two Coldplay songs! Well, Nafiseh told me that a very big part of their relationship was bonding over Coldplay’s music. So I knew we HAD to get it in there, or their video wouldn’t be as meaningful. I’m happy to say that we’ve created a film for them that truly speaks to their relationship, and I’m incredibly proud of it.

We love filming these. We wish we did more of them. They’re such a powerful way to capture that anticipation before the wedding, and also to tell your guests about the magic in your relationship. Plus, we get to be extra creative

A couple reasons why this shoot was awesome… First, Caitlin and Ben were so much fun to hang out with. To see them together, taking those first few steps of getting reacquainted, kept me smiling all day. Second, I was listening to Pandora on my iphone during the Fly In and just as Ben was getting out of his jet, the most beautiful song came on. When they were embracing for the first time in 7 months, the moment and the music moved me to tears. Good thing I was rockin my giant aviators to hide my eyes… had to look tough in front of all the fighter pilots.

Another reason was that the moment we were capturing had immense meaning. Both Caitlin and Ben had a hard time deciding which day was anticipated more; their wedding or the Fly In. That’s pretty big considering how much goes into a wedding. But living without your loved one for soooo long makes the moment you get him or her back a pretty important memory to have captured.

Huge thanks to Shaun for flying out to Virginia Beach with me. From a filmmaking standpoint, we put a lot of thought into the visuals. You can see a lot of Blue and Gold in the second half of the film to give it a feeling of Navy pride. You’ll also see that we incorporated the sky into MANY of our shots. Aside from the whole pilot theme, I did this as a way to keep reminding the viewers how big the world is. Just IMAGINE how big the world must have felt when Ben was on the other side of the world. Also, for the intimate moments of their first embrace, we go from that very wide view to a very close view. A way to make that first contact feel so big. Because if you ask Caitlin or Ben, that moment was huge.

I’m delighted with this film and am so excited for the kinds of stories we will get to tell in the future. Welcome home Sunliners.

At Danielle and Dan’s wedding reception, they had a big TV set up with the Love Story DVD menu on the screen.  The menu was a picture of them with a button that read, “Play Film.”  Guests would come by, see the large photo of Dan and Danielle, hit play, and watch the film.  It was a pretty cool way to incorporate the video into the wedding.

Dan and Danielle also made a beautiful save the date video which you should check out.  We’re very excited about the wedding film!

Because Charlie and Morgan grew up together, I wanted to capture a youthful and energetic feel.  We shot at their middle school and high school to frame the film in locations that represent their long history.  Unfortunately their elementary school is being rebuilt, so we couldn’t shoot there.

It’s crazy… Morgan and Charlie had not seen the video ahead of time.  They put their complete trust in us, which has to be pretty hard to do.  When the film played, everybody got so into it.  Lots of laughter, smiles, and teary eyes.  We’re so glad we got to tell this story.  Stay tuned for their wedding film!  It was a beautiful wedding!

Neda and Sati are having a week long event in Southern California where they are flying in a bunch of family from all over the world. The first piece of Neda and Sati’s wedding saga was to make a Love Story Film to show at their first wedding reception (they’re having two weddings). Here is that love story, we’re very proud of it.

Neda and Sati are an amazing couple. I’m actually blogging this from a hotel room in San Diego where I am staying to shoot the rest of their wedding week. They really are as beautiful, happy, and friendly as this film makes them out to be. Even more so. As we continue to work on their wedding film, I will continue to share my experience.

For the Love Story there were three shooters. Myself, Robby Bagot, and Vitalie Ungureanu. We met Neda and Sati in Marin at around 7AM and shot until about 1pm. The weather was absolutely spectacular… perfect for the look that Robby and I were going for. He and I had met a few times prior to the shoot to figure out how we were going to tell their story, and we also did a location scout for all of our locations.

I’m so excited to be a part of such a wonderful wedding. Above are some shots of our video playing on the screen for an audience of over 400 at the Beverly Hills Wilshire.  More to come!