Here is a preview clip of Melissa and Kevin’s wedding on July 10, 2010. Featured is a wonderful toast by Melissa’s Matron of Honor Erin, whose wedding we filmed in 2007.

As mentioned above three years ago, Erin was the bride. And at Erin and David’s wedding one of the toasts was given by Kevin. You can view his toast at the 17:25 point of the video in link below:

Erin and David’s Wedding Story.

Technorati Tags: Wedding previews

Kimberly and Jon were married on June 26, 2010 at the Elverson Community Free Evangelical Church in Elverson PA, with the reception at the French Creek Golf Club. While the weather was beautiful, the entire Chester County area was still feeling the effects of severe thunderstorms that hit the region a few days before. As a result, power was still out in many areas including the reception venue. Fortunately the French Creek Golf Club was able to run on emergency power, and the reception went off without a hitch.

Here is a preview clip of the wedding:

Kimberly’s two sisters, Kelly and Katelyn were married at the same church in 2009 and 2008 respectively. We have had the honor of covering all three weddings.

Kelly’s Wedding.

Here is Amy and Steve’s Wedding Story. While the day was predicted to be sunny, a thunderstorm broke right before the beginning of the ceremony. The priest had some humorous remarks about the weather which opens the video. Fortunately the rain stopped before the reception and it turned out to be a fantastic day.

Technorati Tags: wedding stories

If you have attended a wedding recently with video coverage, you may have noticed that instead of a regular video camera, the videographer was using the same camera as the photographer. No he was not trying to horn in on the photographer’s business (at least we hope not). He was shooting video, high quality HD video. Initially added on to digital single lens reflex cameras (DSLR) as an add-on, the video capabilities of these devices has been embraced by not only wedding videographers, but other filmmakers including those doing TV shows and documentaries, and in some cases Hollywood productions.

In most cases the cameras used are the Canon EOS 7D and 5DMKII although other models are also found. Why would we use a camera that is not specifically designed for video over one that is. The answer is image quality. DSLRs have much larger image sensors than video camcorders (at least those that wedding videographers can afford). This results in a much more film-like image due to the shallower depth of field. DLSRs are also more sensitive to light which allows us to get a cleaner image in dim lighting conditions. Another plus is interchangeable lenses. While many camcorders also have this feature, they tend to be big and bulky, not what we prefer shooting with. In fact a DSLR is smaller and lighter than the camcorders that we do use. As it looks just like the cameras that the photographer and guests have, it helps us blend in better.

But the main advantage is, as I mentioned, image quality. None of the HD cameras that are commonly used in wedding and event videography are quite as good, close perhaps, but the DSLR still has an advantage.  As an example, several noted videographers recently created the concept film City Of Lakes in India using Canon DSLRs.

We have just started using a Canon 7D in our work. While we still use our camcorders, the 7D brings a new dimension to our work. It is also interesting that when I pulled the camera out of the bag at a wedding we were filming a couple of weeks ago, the bride knew all about using a DSLR for video. The word is getting around!

It has been awhile since I have posted on this blog. Things have been rather slow and at this time I am only editing one wedding. That will change in the coming weeks as the wedding season starts up. What changes are we looking for this year? For one thing, digital SLRs (single lens reflex) cameras designed for photographers are becoming a must-have item for videographers. We are not trying to take business from our photographer colleagues, rather we are using the full motion video capability to produce gorgeous imagery. Since these cameras have such large sensors and since they use photo lenses, they give us a beautiful shallow focus image that rivals what you get from Hollywood. It is truly making us “filmmakers” rather than videographers.

We are planning to add at least one DLSR this year. At this time I see it more for “beauty shots” rather than as a primary camera. there are still too many limitations for us to eliminate our camcorders.

Another area of change will be to continue to emphasize the short Wedding Story video. I believe that the most important aim of our work is to capture the feeling and present it in a way that will be as powerful 20 years from now as today. Our wedding stories take time and money to produce. While we don’t do anything that is way over the top, we also don’t want to price ourselves so high that only the wealthiest couples can afford us. Our price point and product are definitely upscale, but we are not the most expensive videographers in the Philadelphia market by any means.

In our wedding stories, we will continue to use a non-linear editing style, i.e. we don’t always start at the bridal prep and end at the last dance. Telling the story does not always mean putting things in order.

The changes that we have made over the past year have been warmly received by our clients. We want our clients to be thrilled with their wedding film and that we are accomplishing.

We didn’t actually film this wedding on New Years Day, but January 2nd. Bernardine and John were married on a very cold but sunny day in Malvern, PA. As Bernardine is from the Philippines, the wedding included a traditional Filipino veil and cord ceremony. Here is a five minute preview clip.

There is one thing about wedding videography, for many of us (myself included), it is a passion, not a job. I love what I do and most of the best names in the business feel the same way. Recently I came across a blog post by Laura Moses, who along with husband Steve, run one of the top wedding videography studios in the country. This is the way that Laura sums it up:

We work with music, hearts, and dreams. We’re the keepers of the flame for future generations. After we’re gone there will be pieces of us ”little bits of our hearts ” scattered across the globe, telling stories about love.

That says it all. It isn’t just about documenting the day, it is about keeping the flame, capturing the emotion, seeing things in a way that will forever commemorate that one day. Great wedding cinema is beyond “just video”, like great movies there is an emotional connection that spans generations.

A Story of Love – by Laura Moses.

Well said Laura!

A couple of months ago I was asked by the publishers on Millimeter Magazine to write an article on video encoding as it relates to wedding videography. Since we use Sorenson Squeeze for encoding both web and iPod video, I described our work flow using that product. Here is a link to this article.

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/videoencodvd/revfeat/sorenson_media_squeeze_beta_1120/

We are always happy to share our knowledge with others, something that many wedding videographers do (not too many competitive secrets in this industry). I think that this is one of the main reasons that wedding videography has come so far in a few short years, the exchange of knowledge.

Technorati Tags: Sorenson Media, Video encoding

In the past few weeks we have been working on creating a brand for BonnieBlink Productions. One of the most important elements is to have a professionally made logo. Up to now we have gone with nothing more than test on our masthead, and we felt that the time had come to have a readily identifiable “look”. Having a logo made by a designer can be frustrating and expensive. When working with a single designer you often end up with only one type of design. A better and less expensive solution (and one that has been used by a number of top wedding videographers) is to run a logo design competition, and that is what we did.

I opened an account at LogoSauce.com and started a 3 week search for a new logo. How it works is that during the competition designers from all over the world submit entries. The business puts up a certain amount of money to be paid to the winner. When the competition closes you then choose a logo from the submitted designs. We chose a logo by Thomas Gumball of Bristol England.

And here is our new logo:

Our new logo

We picked this design because of it’s style and how it represented what we do. I am very pleased that we have such a beautiful logo to represent BonnieBlink Productions.

Technorati Tags: advertising, logo design

First, this was not one of our clients. The clip below was done by GM Elliot Videography in Williamstown NJ. I was there however along with Darrell Aubert of Aubert Films as the videographers. Darrell and I were faced with a rainy day and a very dark church. As you will see from the clip, the ceremony came out well.

The reception was at the Franklin Institute, as fantastic location. Under Ben Franklin’s statue they had a fantastic evening.This is an excellent example of what is being done today by our top videographers. Great job Glen!

Allyson & Bill Wedding Trailer- Philadelphia, PA (The Franklin Institute) from Glen Elliott on Vimeo.

Technorati Tags: Franklin Institute, GM Elliot Videography, Philadelphia weddings.