Luke Goodman Cinematography

Music

2012-01-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

Music... without it a video would be flat, lacking the emotion that music brings to a film. Pamela and I are passionate about music. We both sing and play piano, and music is a huge part of our lives. We also spend a great deal of time listening to music to find selections for our wedding videos.

Recently we became aware of a large change in our industry involving music copyrights. Music licensing has always been a hard issue in the wedding videography world. A few months ago, a wedding videographer we know was sued by BMI, the largest licensing entity in the US. The rumor is, they settled for ten's of thousands of dollars- enough to bankrupt many small businesses like ours.

For a long time, we have wanted to support smaller artists, and musicians in general, but licensing fees for popular artists can be hefy! This year we are shifting to copyright free (licensed) music for most of our videos online. We know how important music is to the final film, so we hope to continue creating beautiful films even with changes in our music selections.

Color Grading: Bad Examples

2012-01-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

Color correction and color grading contribute greatly to the look and feel of a film. Color correction refers to fixing problems that occurred in shooting, such as poor white balance or over exposure.

Color grading is the process of creating the final "look" of a film. It's typically the final stage of a film, after the edit is complete and locked.

A while ago, I watched the new "Resident Evil" film on a 13 inch Macbook Pro while on a flight to Minnesota. I nearly laughed aloud during one action sequence where some very sloppy color grading was allowed in the final film. In one action sequence the main character leaps through a bunch of zombies, and you can clearly see a "power window" (selective color grading on a specific area of the frame). It follow the character through the shot, to emphasize her in the scene. It's poorly done however, and was very obvious even on my small laptop- I can't even imagine how bad this would look in the theater experience. This blue aura seen in the screen grab below follows her through the scene.

Throughout January and February, I will begin my most involved and time consuming color job ever. I will be the colorist on a feature film Trash and Progress shot by DP Jessica Fisher (who shoots weddings with us!) and directed by Abe Dieckman. I am very excited to be working on this beautiful film and it should be a tremendous learning experience for me.

We have switched our studio to 100% adobe software, as Apple has fallen behind in my opinion. I am however choosing to color grade this film in Apple Color, a very powerful application that has seemingly been discontinued. I will update the blog with the status of this film.

Wedding: Planning our own!

2011-11-30T14:24:00.000-08:00

Luke and I have been gradually planning our wedding for next August 18th. We chose the Plummer House in Rochester MN, it's a Tudor style mansion with beautiful grounds and gardens. As it's the first time doing this we've realized just how much work goes into planning a wedding! We're constantly amazed and inspired by the vendors we have been able to work with in the wedding industry, and it really does take many, many hands. We feel very blessed to have some of the MOST talented people be a part of our wedding: our friend Tanja Lippert is our photographer, with Tia Reagan styling, and Andrew Hsu of Studio MSV will be shooting our wedding film.

After all the weddings we have seen and been a part of, we decided we wanted ours to feel "homemade, whimsical, rustic elegant," and to include things we love: luke's homebrewed beer, a piano outside, hand painted invites and signs... So here is a little board I put together of some of our ideas, and inspiration.

Wedding: Radhika & Nick at Paradise Ridge Winery

2011-11-16T18:02:00.001-08:00

Radhika and Nick's wedding at Paradise Ridge Winery was a beautiful blend of both their backgrounds, with a traditional western ceremony and Indian ceremony. We had a great time working alongside Kristy Ahumada of Volatile Photography.

Wedding: Jennifer & Tom at V Sattui Winery

2011-11-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

Jennifer & Tom were married at V Sattui Winery, in Napa. It was a beautiful day for a wedding in wine country, with miles of vineyards to wander through. A beautiful courtyard strung with lights set the scene for their ceremony and the reception was unveiled in the barrel room. Photographed by Shannon Stellmacher.

Maternity shoot: Gabrielle

2011-11-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I tagged along on a great photoshoot put together by Crystal from Amazae Special Events and shot by Lindsey Freitas of BellaLu Photography. Gabi from Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier was beautifully styled by Maria Chang from Professional Makeup Artistry and looking stunning along with her daughter and husband. We shot this at Sand Rock Farm in Aptos, CA which was a new location for me (and obviously beautiful). It was a hard day of work without Pamela, and it reminded me of how hard she works on our shoots! We love working together so much, but we can't always both be there on some of these vendor shoots.

Wedding: Hyuni and Chris at Hakone Gardens

2011-11-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hyuni and Chris were married at the beautiful Hakone Gardens. It's a beautiful venue in Saratoga, with lush Japanese gardens, bamboo forests and koi ponds. Hyuni and Chris celebrated their heritage with a tea ceremony during their reception. Pamela and I shot this wedding earlier this summer, and on a hot sunny day we had a blast!

The Blog: Rebirth!. . .Refocus

2011-10-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months Luke and I have been going over our brand identity and refocusing our business on wedding films alone. The website was revamped and recently launched, and now the blog. You'll now see less photography and more films. We also have lots of new work to show from this season, and were excited to share it soon! stay tuned...

Wedding: Aubrey and Derrick at V. Sattui Winery

2011-08-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and Derrick had a beautiful day at V. Sattui winery in Napa. Pamela and I love shooting up there (even with the two hour drive each way). Aubrey loves cinema, and it was a pleasure getting to work with yet another wonderful client who appreciates film.

Jessica Fisher shot this one with us, it's always a pleasure to have her on board. Here's a teaser! Prospective clients; email us and we'll send you a link to the full length film. Shannon Stellmacher was the photographer.

Engaged: US! (Pamela and Luke)

2011-07-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

Pamela and I have been dating for three years now, and have been friends for nearly eight. In mid June I proposed, and amazingly enough, she said yes! Pamela is my best friend and companion, she understands me like no other and we simply "get" each other.

We are so excited to plan our own wedding an join our clients in the "recently engaged" club. Pamela and I are planning a wedding for August 2012 in Rochester Minnesota. I took these photos a few hours before proposing in San Francisco.

Family Vacation: Colorado

2011-06-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

The continental Divide

Every two years my family on my Moms side gets together for an amazing reunion in Colorado. This year we stayed in Fraser Colorado, and there were about 30 of us in attendance. (We typically have 50!) Pamela and I had a great time, hiking, swimming, rafting and enjoying the beautiful scenery. I'm especially fascinated with the CLOUDS. Here's a little time lapse footage I shot in about an hour one afternoon/evening. One evening there was a cloud that looked like a flying saucer! (See this, the last clip in the video).

Final Cut Pro X Released. A sad day.

2011-06-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

I have waited a long time for Final Cut Pro X to be released (Several years of rumors). With big promises, it fails to deliver on the most fundamental features I need.

No support for opening old projects from FCP7, no multiclip, no XML support, no chapter markers (for DVD creation), and it is the buggiest piece of software I've ever worked with. You can't have two graphics cards in your system- period. It renders out garbage like this instead of video:

You are also unable to have both FCP7 and FCPX open at the same time, which considering they don't support each others files, you would think they would let you open both simultaneously!

Do NOT purchase this software before checkout out this article:

http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/final-cut-pro-x-the-missing-features/

I will be staying with FCP7, and looking at adobe premiere pro as a more current software replacement. Apple, I may consider moving to a windows Machine if I no longer use FCP. I have owned 9 Apple computers in the last 8 years, and never have I felt so neglected as a user. Simply put: You can NOT edit a wedding video professionally on the new software. The software however will be wonderful for home users! Call it iMovie Pro.

After Dark Vignette.

2011-06-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

I traveled with Tanja Lippert and Tia Reagan to LA last weekend to help out on a wedding in downtown LA. The skyline was amazing, and I couldn't help myself but to shoot a short time-lapse in some of our downtime. This is un-colorcorrected, and a quick little edit, but a lot of fun. We have a few amazing wedding edits we are working on right now, and Pamela and I can't wait to share them with everyone (especially the client!).

Nestldown Promo shoot.

2011-05-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Pamela and I worked with a great group of vendors from Elite Vendor Group. Every single person involved in this group is on top of their craft. It was a pleasure working with them all. I will not even attempt to write about all of them, but their credits are listed below. It takes a large group of people to execute a shoot like this, and the same goes for a real wedding.

Nestldown is a beautiful private estate that hosts many weddings each year. The grounds are stunning and made for an incredible backdrop for our shoot. Take a look at this video to see what we came up with!

Laura Sabahi

LS Blooms

www.lsblooms.com

Christina Hernandez

Nightingale Photography

www.nightingalephotos.com

Kati Decker

LightSplash Photography

www.lightsplash.com

Kristen Calderaro

Make-up by Kristen

www.makeupbykristen.com

Gigi Moss

Hair by Gigi

www.hairbygigi.com

Lauren Beene

Lauren Beene Skincare

laurenskincare@comcast.net

Azita, In the Olde Manner

www.yelp.com/biz/in-the-olde-manner-los-gatos

Sergio Arellano

BlazeWave Entertainment

www.blazewave.net

Eleanor Abril

2inspire Designs

www.2inspire.etsy.com

Lisa Eliopoulos

Cakepop Delight

cakepopdelight@gmail.com

Jen Kwapinski

Jen’s Cakes

www.jenscakes.com

Susie and Sonny

A1 Rentals, Redwood City

www.a-1partyrental.com

Brooke Greene

Nestldown Venue

www.nestldown.com

brooke@nestldown.com

Arlene Marcos

“Ah…New Beginnings” Professional Wedding Consulting

www.ahnewbeginnings.com

A1 Party Rentals

http://www.a1partyrental.com

MODELS:

Groom

Garrett Dunham

http://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/21469511

Bride

Jillian Gomez

http://www.modelmayhem.com/1717561

Bridesmaid

Amy Vosters

http://www.modelmayhem.com/amyvosters

Flower girl

Elliana Sabahi

laura@lsblooms.com

Victoria (Tori) Beene

Lauren Beene Skincare

laurenskincare@comcast.net

A special thanks to the owners of Nestldown

to opening Nestldown to us for this shoot.

Wedding: Yui and Duy at Clos La Chance

2011-05-16T11:58:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago Pamela and I shot a wedding at Clos La Chance, a winery we love to visit outside of weddings. The winery makes for a stunning backdrop and they added a wonderful color palate of cream and pink.

The vendors included Jondel Goldsmith with the fantastic catering of Le Papillon, which served a phenomenal meal; I have come to expect nothing less from them. Makeup was by Lisa Strutz.

We also worked alongside photographer Khris Griffis, and had a great time with them throughout the day. It's always great to meet photographers we haven't worked with yet! Flowers were Tanjeeryn Designs and the Cake was by Satura Cake.

We had a wonderful time shooting there! Congratulations and thanks to Yui and Duy for having us be part of their special day!

Wedding: Clare and Doug

2011-05-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Clare and Doug got married at the Zoo! This was SO much fun. The San Diego Wild Animal Park was a gorgeous backdrop for their wedding and Pamela and I truly enjoyed this trip to southern California. Clare and Doug have a wonderful energy about them, and it's contagious to be around. Thanks for letting us be part of your day!

Spring Cherry Blossom Shoot

2011-05-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last month Pamela and I worked on a collaborative project with Wedding vendors including: Photography: Jill Johnson Photography Event Concept and Styling: Coastside Couture Desserts: Edith Meyer Wedding Cakes Beauty: Ingrid Marayag Makeup Artistry Hair Design: Mimi and Taylor Salon Video: Luke Goodman Photo and Cinema Stationery: Crescent Moon Paper Company Florals: Fionna Floral Dresses: Gabrielle's Bridal Atelier Suit Rental: Eli Thomas for Men Linen Rental: Alexis Party Rentals

I really enjoy working as a team, and it's why I love filmmaking. You can't thist alone. The girls put together a beautiful shoot, and we finally got the weather to cooperate.

The video is a combination of behind the scenes and beauty shots, and a great chance to get ready for some large weddings coming up and try out some new gear. We shot at a cherry blossom field in Gilroy, and though many of the blooms had fallen due to rain, it was stunning!

We were published on Style Unveiled! I'm so happy to get our work out there!

The Crew: Who's shooting your wedding?

2011-04-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

I believe it's very important to know who's shooting your wedding. When a client books me, they get me; period, however I can't shoot a wedding alone. This is especially true when it's a wedding video. There's simply too much gear, and too many events going on to cover it well by myself. There are some wedding cinematographers that shoot solo and do a very good job of it, but it isn't my style.

Pamela and I shoot nearly every wedding together. She shoots "B" camera, always playing off my camera angle. She is also is fantastic at keeping track of our gear, because if we aren't careful, we could easily leave a crucial (and expensive) piece of gear behind. Luckilly I'm happy to say that in six years of shooting weddings, I've never lost a piece of equipment. We have a system and a check list when prepping gear, because there are so many things to remember.

When we need third cinematographer I look to Jessica Fisher. Jessica isn't exclusively a wedding shooter, which is why I love working with her. She's a freelance cinematographer and camera assistant, and she's fantastic to have along on our wedding work. Her eye is different than mine, and it lends itself very well to my wedding work. Jessica just shot a independent feature film called "Trash and Progress" directed by Abraham Dieckman.

Chris Poeschl is another cinematographer that works with our team as needed. Chris, like me, graduated with a Cinematography degree from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. Chris shoot music videos, corporate work and weddings. Chris runs a production company called Bent Lens Productions. He has an incredible work ethic, and he's much taller than me (this actually is a bonus when shooting over crowds).

I choose my people very carefully, as they not only shoot the video that ends up in client's films, but they represent Luke Goodman Photo + Cinema. I'm only as good as the team around me.

photos by Tanja Lippert, Pamela Francisco and Luke Goodman.

Travelling. Flight. Noise Canceling Headphones.

2011-04-04T12:07:00.000-07:00

I don't get to travel as much as I'd like to, but I do end up flying four to five times throughout the year. I flew to Japan last spring and during that trip I found out what a pleasure noise canceling headphones can be. At first glance, they seem like a great solution to tune out talkative adults and (more likely) crying infants on the flight, but after many uses I have found them to solve a few other issues. Jetlag being the largest. I noticed that when I fly with these on, I feel far less groggy, disorientated and fatigued. I believe (however not backed up by any science whatsoever!) that tuning out all of the external noise and the loud roar of the engines creates this less stressful flying experience.

I have a pair of noise canceling headphones from Sony. I found them to be the best buy for the price. These headphones can get fairly expensive, some nearly the cost of a new computer. This pair has functioned very well, the battery life is long and they are relatively compact.

I can't fly without them anymore. We are constantly bombarded by noise in our daily lives, and flying is a social overload. These could also be used at the office, or at home, to tune out unwanted distractions in our daily lives. (I once used them while they were jack-hammering the concrete next door!)

Noise canceling headphones work in two ways: First, the simple part; most of them are closed ear design, meaning they physically block the sound by covering your entire ear.. The manufacturers even use special sound-obsorbing foam to keep out even more external noise.

The second half of canceling noise is a little more high tech. A small microphone and speaker mimic the exact sound coming from outside the headphones. Two identical sound-waves that point towards each other cancel each other out!

Overall, this makes for a much more tolerable flight experience. Give it a try next time you fly. Head over to your local bestbuy or fry's, pick out a pair, use it on a trip, and if you don't like the result, return them- my bet? You won't take want to take them back.

Things to Consider When looking for a Videographer.

2011-03-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

I was going to write an article on "What to look for in a Videographer or Cinematographer" As it turns out, a friend of mine James Burkart of Burkart Studios wrote a fantastic article that is on his website, describing in great detail what to look for, and things to consider when commissioning a videographer for your wedding. James is also a very talented videographer, meticulous about sound, and I don't hesitate to recommend him to anyone!

Minnesota Timelapse

2011-03-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

I love where I grew up, southeast Minnesota. Minnesota is absolutely beautiful in the summer. Lots of sunshine, rain when we need it, and beautiful clouds. I shot this time-lapse this past summer while visiting Minnesota to shoot a wedding. This is the view from my parents garden on the back side of their house.

Minnesota Timelapse 2010 from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Beer: Brewing and the Keggerator

2011-03-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have not shot my first wedding for the year, but I absolutely can't wait for this season to start! My first wedding is April 8th down in San Diego (Hi Clare and Doug!) Then the season is going to be picking up momentum quickly. I have a few great shoots planned in the next month or two (if this rain will ever stop), and I'll be sharing them as they come back from the lab. In the meantime, a bit about one of my hobbies.

Keggerator: Keg+Refrigerator. In other words, a convenient way to serve beer in your home. My setup works just like a tap at any bar you might go to (although mine is MUCH cleaner). About three years ago I helped my longtime childhood friend George and his father brew a batch of beer in their Minnesota kitchen. At that point I had already loved beer, but I found that this was only the beginning. Shortly after this event, I purchased my own kit similar to this at morebeer.com. Morebeer has a location in Los Altos, and the staff is very friendly and helpful. I found that it was surprisingly easy to get started brewing!

A brewing overview:

Brewing consists of malting grains (think of making tea with grains), adding malt syrup, adding hops for flavoring and bittering, cooling the grain tea (now called wort) and then pitching (dumping) yeast in a fermenter. The yeast then ferments, eating the sugars and creating C02 and alcohol. The beer is then bottled or Kegged, aged and ready to be served. This process is no more difficult than baking a batch of cookies or making bread. You can make any style of beer, and it's usually phenomenal! I have brewed 28 batches of beer in three years, and I have yet to have a beer that hasn't turned out.

Here's a short clip of my Keggerator with my homebrew being poured off the tap. Thanks to Pamela for being my hand model!

Currently I have the following beers either brewing or in keg in my home:

Simcoe Pale ale Dry hopped
Honey Wheat ale
Simcoe India Pale Ale
Seduction Stout
Russian Imperial Stout
Rye India Pale Ale
English Traditional Bitter
Irish Dry stout

...and a keg of Drakes Denoggonizer

I encourage anyone who loves beer to try brewing, as it's been a really great hobby in the last few years. Here is a great book on brewing from amazon, it has all the information you could possibly need.

Fraud Protection and Stolen Credit Card Number.

2011-03-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago we took a trip to Las Vegas for WPPI, the worlds largest photography convention. Pamela and I had a great time seeing friends, meeting new people, learning from other photographers and most importantly being inspired for the coming wedding season. We are booking up, and very excited to work with all of our new clients!

Three days after our trip, some odd charges started showing up on my credit card. I never lost it, and I'm very careful with it online. I am also careful with my passwords for my online accounts. I use a piece of software called 1Password and it's absolutely a life saver. 1Password allows you to store ALL of your passwords, credit cards, and account info in one place, where it is encrypted online and accessible from all of your computers and devices. Have you ever forget one of your passwords? 1Password sets this up perfectly, not to mention you can have it generate very secure passwords along the lines of: "th37fqrtlmp89043ngk."

More to the point of this post, I believe someone in Vegas pulled my number, and started using it overseas. Five unauthorized charges showed up in Europe which prompted Capitol One to give me a call. They seem to have a good fraud protection department. They sent me a list of transactions online, which I verified as authorized or not, then closed out my account and sent me a new card.

Through this process I learned that by federal law you are only liable for $50 maximum, as long as the charges are reported in time. Many card companies will even cover the $50 (as mine did), and the card user ends up liable for nothing at all. This is the way it should be, as credit card companies make a fortune from their users.

My advice? Watch for credit card skimmers (which scan your card as you use an ATM), and keep a close eye on your transactions each week, if not bi-weekly. Use a website like Mint.com, a completely free tracking software that allows you to view all of your accounts at once, such as auto/house/student loans, bank accounts, credit cards and more!

Blogging again!

2011-03-08T09:37:00.001-08:00

Today I eat my words. I thought blogging didn't have a place in my business, and in my life, but I was wrong. Facebook is a fantastic way to connect, and it serves well as a day to day "bloglike" tool. It doesn't however, allow you to archive old posts and allow readers to read about your past work, and really get to know the virtual me.

I have decided to continue this blog, and blog weekly about things going on, weddings shot, and along the way I hope to provide some useful information to readers! I'll be posting once a week, I hope to keep that on Mondays, as always, we will see what happens!

Facebook. The Fall of the Blog.

2010-10-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Blogs are dead. I'm ending this blog and will continue all my posts and updates with new work and adventures on facebook. I believe that content is best when delivered, rather than pursued. I read dozens of blogs, but I find myself often far behind on my reading. Facebook updates and posts are much likelier to be read.

My regular facebook profile is completely public. You can view this at:

www.facebook.com/lgoodman

Facebook is an incredible powerful tool. Here are a few screenshots from my video page on facebook a day after I uploaded a wedding video and tagged only the bride and groom: The brides then tagged all of their friends in the video! I just want my work to be seen, and so should any photographer/filmmaker!

Super8/16mm Wedding: Heather and Larsen

2010-08-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

I love film. I mean I LOVE it. There's nothing more fun to me than shooting real film. Don't get me wrong, I love high definition and all my wonderful video toys; i'm pretty nerdy like that. But film, FILM, editing weddings shot on film makes my stomach leap, and it's such a rush.

Heather and Larsen wanted a vintage wedding film. There is nothing artificial about this, aside from it being edited digitally. There's no filters, no special effects, everything is organic, vintage and I believe Beautiful. This is probably my favorite super8 and 16mm wedding film yet!

Wedding Heather and Larsen TEASER Super8/16mm from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Wedding: Susan and Michael Teaser

2010-08-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

Susan and Michael were yet another super sweet couple. They got married at the four seasons in Palo Alto, which Is a great location to be shooting. Here's their teaser film, enjoy!

Susan and Michael TEASER from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Wedding: Willa and Francis

2010-08-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Willa and Francis had a great wedding in San Francsico. My crew and I shot the video and the photography. Photos to come shortly...but for now, here's their teaser film.

Willa and Francis TEASER from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Wedding: Andrea and Patrick

2010-07-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Andrea and Patrick has a beautiful wedding on their families rice farm in Northern California. The fields were flooded, and it set the scene as if they lived on a lake. Beautiful day!

Andrea and Patrick Teaser from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Alvernaz Family Video

2010-06-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

I shot a family portrait video alongside photographer Jill Johnson. As always, she was a blast to work with- what a cute family!

2010_05_05 Family Portrait w/ Jill Johnson from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Wedding: Kimberly and Brian

2010-05-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Brian likes beer. Really likes it. I mean- more than me even. Good thing is; Kimberly likes beer almost as much! These guys were super sweet and Pamela and I had a blast shooting their wedding Video. This is a teaser to the full length (around 15 minute) final film they will receive in a couple weeks.

Kimberly and Brian Teaser from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Engagement sessions: Ron Grandia

2010-05-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

Ron Grandia, a Phenomenal DJ Posted a great post on his blog about how engagement sessions can be very important. He posted one of my videos as well. His words on engagement sessions: "Do it". Thanks Ron. As a lot of you know, I LOVE shooting them, they give me the chance to connect with my clients.

View the post here

Promo Video: Jill Johnson Photography

2010-05-19T16:17:00.000-07:00

This is a promotional video for the photographer Jill Johnson who lives and works out of San Jose. She has tons of energy, loves to smile, and loves life. Jill lives with her Husband Eric and their two sons. I've had the pleasure of working with Jill a few times over the last year. For the promo video Jill, Tia and I went to Santa Cruz for a day of shooting during an engagement session.

Check out her work at www.jilljohnsonphotography.com

Jill Johnson Promo Video Final from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.

Engaged the Video: Willa and Francis

2010-05-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is Willa and Francis' engagement film. I had such a great time working with these two. They are such a blast! You can view it directly on Vimeo or embedded here:

Engagement Willa and Francis from Luke Goodman on Vimeo.
http://www.vimeo.com/11289291

Wedding: Nikki and Danny

2010-04-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend (Saturday) I shot Nikki and Danny's wedding. We had THE most beautiful day I've seen for a wedding in San Francisco. It was nearly 70 degrees and perfectly sunny. I love this city. They were married at Sutro Heights park, which is an absolutely stunning backdrop with breathtaking views of the ocean behind the couple. Brittani Waldman of Dream a little dream events planned this wedding- It was great working her, as she was also a good friend of the bride- you might find her in a few photos.

Engaged: Photo: Willa and Francis

2010-04-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I shot an engagement session with Willa and Francis. These two are absolutely FULL of laughter. Pamela assisted me and we had a blast! It was by far the best weather I've had during a San Francisco engagement session, I actually worked up a sweat!

At the same time, I also shot their video engagement session, and I'll post that later this week. But for now...Photos.

Engaged: Kimberley and Brian The Video!

2010-04-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

This is my second video engagement session, the first hasn't been "released" from the client yet. The bride had a few surprises in the photo session, so I have to hold off on posting it.

Kimberley and Brian are beer people. Brian's a beer writer, and Kimberly is an artist. What a great combo! These two were nothing but fun and laughs all day and we lucked out on the weather.

I shot this video alongside Hannah Suh, you can see her website here: http://hannahsuh.com

I shot this video Saturday, took Easter off, then Edited it today (monday). I love when I can have a quick turn around! I'll try keep it up all season long if possible!

http://www.vimeo.com/10708278

Farah and Dan: Engaged

2010-03-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

As usual, I'm a bit behind on my posting. I'm working on a few promo videos, and a home brewing beer documentary right now, more info on these later.

Last week I shot Farah and Dan's engagement session- take a look!

Pamela: Anytime: Almond Blossoms

2010-03-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

Okay, So I'm pretty sure I don't take photos of Pamela enough. She's a wonderful model, and I NEED to take advantage of that.

A week and a half ago we went to Lake Tahoe ON A WEEKDAY! I love working for myself. Homewood resort was absolutely dead, only a couple hundred people on the entire mountain! We had such a blast. I did however manage to bruise my ribs on a rather pathetic fall...

Long story short:
We saw these stunning flowering trees, which turned out to be Almond Blossoms. We went back a week later, and as I couldn't schedule the correct engagement session time I decided to use Pamela. We were a little disappointed to see that the blossoms had faded dramatically AND the sky was COMPLETELY overcast. My new years resolution is "No Excuses." I brought some speedlights (Small camera flashes used off camera), a couple cameras, and in an hour of completely blah light, this is what we shot:

Japan.

2010-02-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

Japan was quite an adventure. I didn't take the time to blog while in Japan as my internet access was limited.

My first night, we stayed in a capsule hotel. It was pretty interesting, I am extremely supprised that these don`t exist in the US.

The Japanese culture absolutely fascinates me. I had some of the best food I have ever tasted.

To round it up, some of the things I tasted;

-Chicken Sashimi (raw chicken) My friend Aya took me to an amazing chicken restaurant. Raw chicken has an amazing texture, similar to Maguro (tuna).
-Octopus, squid,
-Traditional Japanese breakfast; raw egg, nato (fermented soybeans), over rice.
-Beef sashimi (and a few other raw red meats I wont mention)
-Tons of curry (infinately delicious).
-Fish. Sushi. Sashimi. and more fish. We visited a fish restaraunt where the owner had worked as a fisherman for decades. He had great connections to get excellent fish. I must have ate ten different parts/kinds of fish in that restaraunt alone.

I will be posting more photos and explaining a few things we did in detail. I believe I may have actually shot more video than photos! Kind of crazy. I am SO jetlagged, so It may take me a couple days to start feeling normal again.

I plan to attempt to learn more Japanese over the next year and return to visit again. Thanks a ton to my cousin Nate who showed me everything there was to see, and got me there.

A still life from the chicken restaurant.

One night we stayed in a great suite after a poker game with my cousins friends (view from the balcony pictured at night and morning).

Always chasing pretty light.

My cousin Nathan, myself and my cousin Mike

Chicken Sashimi, wonderful.

30 hours later.

2010-01-25T19:14:00.001-08:00

I made it to Japan. Photos to come.

TOKYO!

2010-01-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

In less than a week, I'll be flying to Tokyo Japan. I've dreamed about going to Japan since I was about 5 years old. I absolutely can't wait! If anyone has heard anything specific I should see while I'm there, let me know. Packing tips? I found a fantastic small-ish camera backpack to use as a day pack while i'm there.

I'm going to take a bajillion (that's a word right?) photos while i'm there, and a bunch of HD video.

...I'm kind of obsessive about packing...I keep packing, then rethinking what I'm bringing....

Shana Marshal: Bat Mitzvah

2010-01-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

As some of you may recall aside from weddings, I have shot a few Bar/Bat Mitzvah's in the last couple years. It's a fun change of pace from weddings. Shana is one of the sweetest girls I've met. She reminds me so much of my sister. She's 13 (duh) a fantastic singer, outgoing, and has tons of amazing energy!

Wedding: Brian and Sarah

2009-08-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

Brian and Sarah got married in Minnesota. I enjoyed a trip to near where I grew up. The day brought overcast and rain but it was BEAUTIFUL! We lucked out with the rain and were able to shoot at the Plummer House of the Arts in Rochester Minnesota. The building and surrounding gardens were a great location for our photoshoot.

Brian and Sarah are an active couple. So much so, that they registered at REI. Brian's three sisters even got them a Canoe! I had such a blast shooting with them all!

I'll have the gallery up soon! The slideshow is available in HD on my Vimeo page here.

LEGOS

2009-03-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

A good friend of my Steve Young works for a video game company called Net Devil. He gave me one of the coolest christmas presents ever. A Starwars collectors edition LEGO Millennium Falcon. Net Devil is working on the latest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) for LEGO in the lego universe. Pretty sweet.

It has well over 5000 pieces and I anticipate it taking upwards of 30+ hours to build. If I was twelve again, my head might explode. I spent over three hours just organizing the pieces, and it still feels like a disaster. Pretty awesome. More progress as I get there...Great to feel like a kid again. This feels pretty therapeutic. Also- "Better" photos later. I got really lazy...felt more like building!

Lalola bar de Tapas in North Beach

2009-03-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday (That's a week ago now) we shot some food work for Lalola bar de Tapas up near North Beach (Pacific and Mason st San Francisco). You can view their Yelp Review here. The owners are really nice and we had a great time shooting and sampling their food. I really love shooting food. It's a nice balance to my wedding work, though I often shoot food at weddings!

"Trash and Progress" Wrapped!

2009-02-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today was the last day of the "Trash and Progress" feature film. I didn't get to tag along for the whole production, but I enjoyed working with this crew. More photos here.

It's been crazy trying to catch up and recover after WPPI. There is truly a massive amount of information to process and apply. This season is getting exciting. More on my super-8mm project soon!

Photo shoot from two weeks ago.

2009-02-25T17:42:00.001-08:00

Right before WPPI I shot with Jessica Fisher, utilizing the costuming from the feature film she is shooting. Thanks everyone for helping out.

"Trash and Progress" Progress...

2009-02-02T15:00:00.001-08:00

We shot another night on "Trash and Progress. We shot at Know Knew Books in Palo Alto until about 4:00AM. I (literally) fell asleep at the end of the night.

"Trash and Progress"

2009-01-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

"Trash and Progress" is a feature film directed by Abraham Dieckman with Director of Photography Jessica Fisher. I'm shooting some production stills for the last part of the shooting. The project is a post-apocalyptic science fiction film. You can view the whole event on my Picasa web album here. More to come!

Photography in the Boundary waters.

2008-08-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a few quick sample images from my Canoe trip. I tried to treat the trip as a serious photography expedition however I found myself very much enjoying time away from technology. I shot almost the whole trip without looking at the screen on my camera, it often reminded me of shooting film.

Been too long...

2008-08-12T21:10:00.001-07:00

It has been far to long since my last post. I had more computer issues recently, now resolved. I returned back to California from my trip to Minnesota about a week and a half ago. I'm currently going through several thousand photos I shot on the trip.

More later.

Sunsets in northern Minnesota are beautiful.

BWCA Trip!

2008-07-30T23:03:00.000-07:00

I just returned to Rochester Minnesota after my Boundary Water Canoe Area trip. We had an amazing time and I shot a lot of photos. I won't be working on the photos for another week, but stay tuned for the updates as they come.

Bon Voyage.

2008-07-19T04:11:00.000-07:00

I flew in to Minnesota yesterday morning. Today (saturday) I leave for canoeing in the boundary waters for eight days. Photos when I return.

iPhone Today: Yelp Anywhere ads

2008-07-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I shot a promo for Yelp for their new iPhone Application "Yelp Anywhere" Visit yelp.com to see more of the ads.

Been a week?

2008-07-10T21:03:00.001-07:00

Wow, time often flies. I've been working a bit, and shooting a couple wedding videos. I leave in one week for Minnesota and my trip to the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota. TONS of photos to follow. I'm treating the trip as a serious photography expedition.

In the bordom inbetween my friend Alina sent me this a while ago...favorite movie ever.

4th of July

2008-07-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July Everyone. I'm going to Minnesota in two weeks and I can't wait for my Boundary waters expedition. If the sky is clear tonight, I'll shoot a few photos of fireworks. Enjoy the wonderful weather.

Great Bike Ride with Andrew

2008-07-03T10:33:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Andrew and I went for a bike ride to ocean beach from my place. It was his first time on a road bike and I have to say he kept up extremely well riding my old Schwinn. I love this city!

Wine Tasting at Testarossa Vineyards

2008-06-30T00:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I went wine tasting with my cousin Jason, his wife Donna and my good friend Andrew. It's wonderful to visit the east bay again, as it's the first place I lived when I moved to California.

Food Shoot with Jessica Fisher

2008-06-25T22:44:00.000-07:00

I spent this afternoon working on a few promo food shots for myself. My photographer/cinematographer friend Jessica Fisher joined me at my home studio for the shoot. She has an excellent eye for details and as always it's great to have a second set of eyes on the shoot.

A Wonderful weekend in Portland.

2008-06-23T18:13:00.001-07:00

I spent the weekend in Portland Oregon visiting a good friend of mine Pamela Francisco. We spent the weekend away from technology (other than my camera) and it was absolutely fantastic. Portland has amazing coffee and food culture, along with a lot of wineries.

Starbucks Photography Showing.

2008-06-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a couple friends of mine, Alina and Katherine, I'm showing my work at a Starbucks in Sacramento. I'm currently showing food work, and next month I will show wedding work.

The iPhone 3G...

2008-06-09T23:55:00.000-07:00

I think I might have to switch to the iPhone 3G. The feature set is pretty amazing, and it will streamline a lot of workflow in my life. On sprint currently, might have to switch. GPS, 3G and better battery life? Geeze I'm a complete machead.

Last of the Crazy Images...

2008-06-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

I have spent much of my last four months stressed out about my image library corruption issues. After a day at the apple store with their greast One2One specialists and Genius Bar, we determined it was a bad ram module. I removed it, and everything is back to normal, albeit running very slowly. Get more ram soon.

I anxiously await apples new announcement tomorrow....iphone 2? OSX10.6? Amazing wrist mounted computer? Probably not. Might get an iphone though...

Elizabeth's Sculptures.

2008-06-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday I shot photos of a installation piece my friend Elizabeth did. She is having a show at East Bay Open Studios this weekend and next. I shoot a twelve hour wedding day tomorrow. Should be fun!

Ah, Friends.

2008-06-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have a shoot with Elizabeth again today, for her latest sculpure work. Still thinking of the great weekend, and catching up on a lot of work.

Wonderful Weekend.

2008-06-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

I was sick most of the weekend, but I had an AMAZING time with my friends Pamela, Steve and Yasmin. We all met early in college, and I am now the last one in San Francsico. We walked over eight miles on saturday and visited six flags on sunday.

Coffee Adventure today!

2008-03-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

So I love coffee, I can't even express how much I enjoy a good espresso. Maybe this clip will give some insight. Blue bottle Cafe downtown San Francisco in Mint plaza. visit www.Bluebottlecoffee.net