Posted in January 21, 2010 ¬ 12:04 amh.Dunamis Works1 Comment »
This wedding took place at the beautiful and serene Narnia Estate. Outdoor weddings are the truly best. Yes, you take a chance with the weather, but if it holds up, it’s almost always beautiful. And Pech and Fred’s wedding is no exception. Loved the intricate details at the water blessing which was an eye-opener since it’s the first time for us to shoot a Thai wedding ceremony. The ceremony was led by an officiant with a voice so calm and therapeutic, you could be lulled to bed listening to her voice on a CD! Anyway, congrats Pech and Fred. Hope you enjoy this.
This was a destination wedding… for Erin & Nick and most of their guests at least. Neither of them are from Chicago and they currently live in New York, but decided to have their wedding in the windy city. I’m surprised at the size of the crowd given that many are from out of town. Must have been tough to organize a wedding from out of town, but I must say it was very well planned and everything turned out beautiful… Great job Erin! It helps to have a great wedding coordinator too (Amy Vaught).
The drizzle forced us into taking pictures indoors initially, but Union Station turned out to be a great spot. Good call by the photographer, Tony, from Life on Prints.
When we got married, we had 600 guests in our wedding, which is actually a relatively “small” wedding where I’m from. But being among over 600 guests in a wedding in Chicago is by far a new record for us. Only a location like the majestic and massive grand ballroom in Navy Pier could accommodate it nicely. It was also the first time we employed a 30-foot crane/jib to shoot a wedding. The night was capped off by the spectacular Navy Pier fireworks display (compliments of Chicago tax payers!).
The gorgeous couple’s marriage was certainly not pre-arranged, but it was definitely pre-ordained. In her passionate and moving speech, Sindhu revealed how she instinctively knew she was going to marry Solomon even before they became acquainted. (Great speech by the way, Sindhu! The best thank you speech ever!) Not sure if Solomon had the same premonition but he obviously couldn’t resist the magnetic charm of his bride-to-be.
Speaking of magnets, I’m more convinced that couples are attracted to people that are polar opposites of themselves in some ways. Solomon is calm, collected, and elegant, while Sindhu is charismatic, energetic, and expressive. I can even see their personalities embedded in their respective families. You can see Sindhu’s dad skipping with unbridled joy during the introductions, while Solomon’s parents make their way in like a president and the first lady. What is common among them though is that deep love knits the family tightly together, and that they are truly one of the nicest and most humble people I’ve had the honor of working with. Congrats Sindhu and Solomon, it’s truly been a pleasure…
Posted in September 30, 2009 ¬ 11:45 pmh.Dunamis Works1 Comment »
A good friend of mine and a talented photographer, Oscar, asked me to create a promo video for his company, S1 Weddings. We shot a few weddings together for the past year and so I had a few clips that I could use right off the bat. It was a lot of work (and a lot of fun!) for a short video like this. But all in all, not too shabby for a first try I think (patting self on back!).
3 consecutive days of shooting Sonal and Rishin’s wedding amounts to:
10,000 calories burned
1000 GB (yes, 1 TerraByte) of footage
46 total hours of shooting
20 camera batteries drained
5 hours of sleep
3 minutes of basking in the same-day-edit glory!
I thank God for giving me the strength and protection these three grueling days. I was so sleepy on Saturday morning on my drive to Sonal’s house at 5am, that I just parked in front of her house for like 15 minutes to catch a wink. Fortunately, I did wake up in 15 minutes, and feeling amazingly recharged!
I thoroughly enjoyed the three days of non-stop action and excitement. Our Indian friends sure know how to party. There’s no party like an Indian wedding, that’s for sure. Sonal, Rishin and their family are so gracious and hospitable. Relatives are constantly offering help to usher us and help create space for us among the crowd to shoot, and someone is always trying to explain to me what I’m eating at each meal. I must have looked lost or something. I wasn’t disliking the food, just scouring for some meat, not knowing that it’s all vegetarian!
The Sangeet was at the India House, followed by the Grahshanti at each couple’s house, and finally the wedding and reception was at the Meadows Club. The lighting was awesome at the Meadows Club, great job by Patrick, the A/V chief there. It really transformed the room. Everything was first class, the details, the colors, the decor. But the thing that impressed upon me the most was the love between the two families and also the camraderie the couple had with their friends and relatives. Somehow I welled up a little when I shot the two dads dancing with joy together at the Baraat (procession where the bride’s family welcomes the groom and family). It was sheer joy on both sides, no pretense and nothing held back. There are countless friends and relatives that took part, orchestrating dances, songs, video clips, etc, and the three MC friends did a great job too. It’s just a really big deal for everyone and that’s very touching to see.
My highlight of the day was the SDE. I spent a lot of time preparing for this since the workflow has to be perfect to manage so much footage. When it finally played on all the three screens for all to see, it was such a rush, like a movie premiere for over 450 guests. I sat back and watched the reaction of the couple and the guests while it was playing, and just soaked it in…
How many times do you get to shoot Filipino weddings in a year? Well, for us, it’s going to be a record this year, thanks to all the kind referrals of our past clients, and other fellow Filipino vendors like Misha Media (thanks Andy & Michelle), and KMS Films (thanks Paul). It’s an honor for me actually, knowing that Filipino couples have high regard and taste for wedding films. They don’t call us the “video guy” but value our craft and art.
Back to the bride and groom. Angela and Gonzo is one of the most clowny and fun-loving couple I’ve worked with. Well, mostly Gonzo actually. If you like our video, I have to give a lot of credit to Gonzo for his ‘goofy’ magnetism in creating so much candid and fun moments, and bringing out all the smile and laughter from Angela and the guests. Congrats Angela & Gonzo!
Only 3 things were on Kate’s mind that day… weather, weather, and weather.
It sure didn’t look like it’s going to let up the whole day. Amazingly, the rain stopped for them each time we had to be outdoors (after the prep, before and after the ceremony, and the photoshoot)! The sun even appeared to peek at the couple sporadically.
When we got back indoors for the reception, it just poured cats and dogs again outside. I had a time-lapsed shot of the sky just prior to sunset, a mix of clouds and sun, symbolic of their day. Turned out to be a perfect day after all.
