Ashleigh and Ted had a beautiful outdoor wedding at the Kellogg Center on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. They were an awesome couple to work with and their families were great too! Their wedding made me realize how much I love being a wedding videographer. No matter how exhausted I end up being at the end of the day, I never, not even for a minute, feel like I am at work. I am honored to be given the opportunity by so many couples to capture their wedding day on video so they can relive the memories for years to come!

I had a really great time working with photographer Oliver Howell, who has some great shots from the wedding on his blog.

Congratulations Ashleigh and Ted and have a great time settling into your new place in sunny California!

-Matt

Enjoy the trailer!

-Matt

Kim decided that she had to have a videographer after seeing a Same Day Edit that was featured on a list of 15 cheese-free wedding ideas on The Knot. She was really excited about having a SDE at her own wedding and trusted the team from TruVision to make it happen.

One element that Kim wanted to incorporate into her film from the SDE that inspired her by California videographer Matthew H. Forrey Productions was the character animation intro. With the help of our friends at Freshly Ground Productions we were able to recreate the animation for her!

The ceremony and reception were held at Hawk Hollow in Bath, Michigan. Photos were by Parker Photographic and W.E.D. provided coordination and DJ.

-Matt

She had been planning all along to have the wedding filmed, but with all of the other planning and distractions of life, finding a cinematographer had somehow slipped through the cracks. Now, the morning of the wedding, after talking to a friend who said a wedding video is an absolute necessity, and with the recommendation of the staff at The English Inn it was time to find a cinematographer!

Luckily, I was available. I did have a big challenge ahead of me though! First I needed to coordinate with one of my second shooters.. find out who else was available to help shoot. Second, I had to finish my drive to Detroit, get back to Lansing, and pack gear. A big task, made even bigger by the fact that I had no time to plan, and would need to take every camera, microphone, and other piece of gear with me in order to be prepared for any shooting situation. I am not going to lie… it was stressful!

I don’t recommend waiting until the day of your wedding to try to line up your cinematographer. More than likely availability will be an issue. In this case it all worked out, and it ended up being one of my favorite weddings. Megan and Charles both had the warmest families. They really made us feel at home. Their officiant was Megan’s Father, Pastor Ross Mahan from Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jackson, MI. Photographs were by Dan Johnson Photography from Grandville, MI.

-Matt

After the ceremony we headed to the Horticulture Gardens at Michigan State to film the creative, fun shots of the wedding party. Then it was on to Walnut Hills Country Club for the reception. Walnut Hills is beautiful by the way, and is where Allison and I will be holding our own reception in October 2010.

This Highlight Film marks a turning point in my style. It features several detail shots from the Canon 5D Mark ii which I blogged about here. This camera adds new depth and capability to my work, and I am really excited to put it to greater use in 2010. It is a game changer. It is also the first Highlight where I made a strong effort to incorporate more natural audio, adding tremendously to the emotional power of the film!

I was only supposed to shoot their ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew, because they didn’t want me working the entire day. Allison was a bridesmaid, and I didn’t really have much else to do during the photo session other than to tag along with the wedding party… so I took my camera along! It was the new 5D Mark ii and I decided it would give me a chance to put the new camera through it paces. I was amazed with the results!!!

I wound up filming throughout the portrait session at the Frederick Meijer Gardens, one of my new favorite places to shoot. I also filmed the reception formals including speeches, cake cutting, and dances.

Janelle and Matt didn’t know they would be getting a highlight film, so when I delivered their DVD’s they were thrilled with the result! Janelle wrote me this facebook message a few days later.

I am so glad you did the Highlight Film, I would have really missed it if you only had filmed the ceremony. What you did with our Highlight Film is exactly what you want to remember about your wedding day and why you should have your wedding day filmed in the first place. I just want to watch it over and over again!

Thanks Janelle! And now, here is the Highlight Film…

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

TruVision Studios is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that TruVision Studios is among the very best wedding cinematographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/truvision.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding vendors. WeddingWire enables engaged couples to search, compare and book over 100,000 reviewed wedding vendors nationwide, from wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding vendors, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. In addition, WeddingWire has partnered with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE: MSO) to provide its network of local vendors and online wedding-planning tools in the Weddings section of www.MarthaStewartWeddings.com. For additional information, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

The Canon 5D Mark ii DSLR that also shoots stunning 1080p HD

When the Canon 5D Mark ii hit the market it made a big splash. It was the first DSLR (still camera) that could shoot FULL HD video too! Photographers have a huge advantage shooting with DSLR technology, one of the main reasons being lens selection. Another is control over depth of field, the range in front of and behind the subject that appears to be in focus.

Wedding Rings with Shallow Depth of Field

Yes and no. Depth of field can be used for many creative purposes. Photographers often shoot with a shallow depth of field to control the viewers eye and separate subjects from their background. With the majority of video cameras, being stuck with everything in focus is limiting when trying to control a composition and hinders a filmmakers ability to tell a story.

The shallow depth of field in this shot draws the viewers eye to the beautiful centerpiece set against a soft candlelit background.

-Matt

I went to high school with Mike, so got to see a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a while, Mike included. We had a great time shooting with them, and captured some great memories. It isn’t everyday that all of your friends and family are all in one place!

-Matt

The wedding flew by even faster, but the entire TruVision cinema team was out and we captured it all. I know that Danielle and Aaron are going to love being able to relive each moment from the tears and excitement before the ceremony to Aaron’s snorkeling adventure at the reception — coming soon!!

In the mean time here is the trailer. Enjoy!

-Matt

Danielle + Aaron // 05.30.09 // The Trailer from TruVision Studios on Vimeo.