It’s such a blessing to be able to work on multiple facets of a wedding. Primarily, we focus on striking wedding cinematography, learning about our couple’s story, spending time with them on a pre-wedding video shoot, and then doing our best the day of the wedding ceremony to capture all of the detail, tradition and emotion shared on the momentous day.
But, sometimes, a bride has seen some of my photography work and asks if we can create some amazing stills for them as well. Sarah and Jay, our duo from rural Kentucky, visited our studio seeking wedding video production, but, later on asked if we could shoot photography, too. We jumped at the chance, knowing that we could put together our own still / motion capturing team to capture everything we needed. And instead of being afraid to step on another photography company’s toes, we were able to work together and bounce ideas off of each other. It was great being able to art direct photo and video at the same time!
When we arrived in Columbia, KY, Sarah’s parents were feverishly working to complete the construction of a brand-new spacious house that would host the large wedding (only a few weeks later!). As construction usually goes, obstacles come up and delays just naturally happen, but, they were hopeful that it would be completed.
With the home under construction, we were forced to shoot elsewhere. Forced? We gladly took advantage of the 200 acres of nearby grassland, cornfields, horse pasture, creeks & streams, rolled haybales, rustic barns, etc. etc. etc. This was picturesque country and we had to limit ourselves with so many options. We also enjoyed some time in the town square (established in 1802). The beauty of small towns is the ability to stand in the middle of the street at rush hour and shoot pictures and video without anyone getting mad. Instead, we heard honks and exclamations of “Hey Sarah!” and “What up, Jay? You guys making a movie?”. Seems like everyone knows these two (I’d assume that every boy in town is jealous of Jay for stealing the local beauty).
Here are a few of our engagement photos we took during our pre-wedding shoot. We started downtown walking beside local shops and cafe’s.
We jumped on their 4-wheel drive Razor scooters and scurried through their farmland, crossing over creeks and ALMOST getting stuck in the mud! Marko had to hang on the back on the way into the river, luckily, our lenses got spared from the mud kicking up all over the place.
This field, can we shoot here? Of course! Every time I asked Jay he was certain all of his neighbors wouldn’t mind. So, we took advantage of a field full of freshly rolled bales and then corn as far as the eye could see.
A few days before the wedding, Sarah called and asked if we could get a guestbook made with the engagement images. A few late nights and stressing over production turnaround, but, I was stoked with the quality and rush turnaround. Here’s a couple shots of the book on the guest table:
It was a blast shooting the engagement photos to go along with our southern wedding cinematography. Here you can see the pre-wedding highlight video we did for this adorable couple. “Simple Love” is such a great title for it!
So, was shooting static & motion imagery a challenge? You bet—but, I think we came away with some great images. And, as I mentioned earlier about art directing photo & video, it was great to shoot a shot that I loved and say, “Bobby! You gotta get this!”. Subsequently, I’ll see Bobby doing a slide shot somewhere else and I’ll yell out, “All right, hold on, I’ve got to get a shot, too!”. It’s an exciting challenge to take a still image and figure out a way to portray that in film, and do it under time constraints. All in all, it’s a testament to a strong team that brings different strengths and backgrounds to the table.
