Trash The Dress - Brittany

*All images are copyright of Kevin Monahan Photography

We had a blast filming a Trash the Dress session with one of our former Brides, Brittany. We filmed Andrew and Brittany Ramsey's wedding last June in Colorado at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO. The couple has since relocated to Boston. Andrew and Brittany flew in from Boston last week and we filmed this last Sunday. We scouted for a location and found a beautiful farm in Mooresville, IN. The farm is owned by Mutt and Joyce Robinson. Their home was featured on HGTV last year. A special thanks to Mutt and Joyce for allowing us to use their property. This was an edgy kind of shoot and I had to laugh as I saw Mutt up on the hill looking down at us while Brittany was in the water with her dress on. Mutt had this bewildered frozen smile and then said; "They sure do things different now".

There are varying opinions about these kind of shoots and I've heard everything from "How Cool" to "Why on earth would someone want to do this?" From the Brides point of view there can be a host of reasons. Some have the opinion that after the wedding, it's going to be tucked away and never be seen for years. Some Brides have said that this is the ultimate committment to her husband in that, there will be no next time. It may be something that she wants to express and for her, this is one way of communicating to her husband and a direct expression of her personality. Some Brides may not have any hidden meaning or expression, they just want to have FUN!

From the artist point of view, Videographer / Photographer you have to push the creativity and to be able to use the environment you are in to enhance your subject and to tell the story. These types of shoots allow the gloves to come off so to speak, for the videographer / Photographer and let the moments and inspirations dictate the flow of the shoot.

This was so much fun. I feel like we came full circle with Brittany. We shot their love story months before the June wedding and then we had the pleasure of filming Andrew and Brittany's wedding, which was a great memory in and of itself. Now here we are nearly one year later having a blast playing in the mud and water. The cows even had a look about them trying to figure things out.

We invited our good friends and photographers, Kevin and Alicia Monahan with Kevin Monahan Photography. They are increadibly talented and they consistently produce stunning imagery. Alicia sent me the very first photo with the torch and I was simply blown away. Thanks Kevin and Alicia for bouncing the creativity around.

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to build a torch and as I planned this shoot there just had to be a torch. It took a little time to build but it turned out very Indiana Jones like.

We had two of our assistants, Steve Moon and Ryan Riggs. Steve was camera backup and managed the fog and fire stuff. Ryan ran the Glidecam all day. Special thanks to Nikki Mecklenburg from LaPosh in Sheridan, IN for doing hair and makeup for Brittany.

Stay tuned for the video we shot. Filmed in High Definition. Also shot some Super8 film. We have a very edgy song that was selected for the video. We have all the footage logged. The first step is to rough cut the footage and then we go through a time intensive color grading process and then fine tune the edit and then complete final color grading. Taking the time to boost colors and getting a nice contrast takes time but it will show in the end product.

We have another Trash the Dress shoot scheduled this summer so be on the lookout for that one as well. We have a few open dates if anyone else is interested in these types of shoots, even if we were not your videographer, let us know and we can meet for a consultation. Just shoot us an e-mail at info@northernlightfilmworks.com or give me a call at 317-605-9177.

Comments welcome.

Live life....Have fun.

-John

A Great Father Daughter Song

I'm always searching for some new music and ran across this Christian artist, Natalie Grant. I found a song that would be PERFECT for a Father Daughter dance. Dancing to this song with the fog machine would really be powerful. Actually it might even work for a highlight video too. The title of the song is "Always Be Your Baby".

Let me know what you think of it.

John

Jeff & Lindsay - Huber's Orchard & Winery

High Definition.

Here is a trailer we did for Jeff & Lindsay, which was held at the beautiful Huber's Orchard & Winery in Starlight Indiana. Jen and I want to return when we have more time to enjoy some southern Indiana wine. Lindsay looked beautiful on her wedding day and her parent's, I'm sure, were very proud. We had a great time with Jeff and Lindsay. We worked with Photographer Sara Petty, who nailed some great stills of the couple. The staff at Huber's Orchard & Winery were very helpful and accomodating.

We kept our eye in the radar since rain was forcast and this was an outdoor wedding. It was a little windy but we avoided any rain.

Congratulations Lindsay and Jeff....Hope you enjoyed your Honeymoon!

David & Deanna -Downers Grove Wedding

Large file...give it some time to load. Requires Quicktime 7.

This is a HD trailer of a wedding we filmed in Downers Grove, Illinois. We met Deanna and David earlier this year and found them to be really great couple. The wedding ceremony and reception were held at the Sara Lee building. We tried to get some shots early in the morning and got permission from the security guard. While in the Ballroom area there was a really inviting shot I had to get on the deck outside. I looked at the door and all I saw was the word "EXIT". I looked around and saw several other doors that looked the same. I asked Jennifer, "You don't think this is a fire exit do you?" She didn't think so. So...I pushed the door open and the alarm sounded. You should have seen Jennifer walk away from me like...I'm not with him. So the Sara Lee guard came marching in and proceeded to lecture us on the fact that this was a secure building. There are spies who want the brownie recipe. We explained how we got ourselves in such a predicament to no avail. We promptly excused ourselves from the premises.....BUT I got my shot! This same day I accidentally got in the wrong lane for paying a toll and blew right through it. Of course they have a photo of my plate. So we got close to where we were supposed to be and I had to make a U-turn. No sign anywhere saying you couldn't...but when I did a local cop pointed and shook his finger at me. What a day...felt like some kind of fugitive on the run!

After all of that, Deanna and David had a beautiful wedding that really ended our day on a positive note. SAR Studios photographed the wedding and they were a pleasure to work with.