from Russia, with love

There are some really nice wedding videos coming out of Russia. Here is one:

Jamie (and Jeff)

Music by Bill Withers, "I Want To Spend The Night"

Shooting solo with 2 cams all day: Sony a57 for B-roll and Sony a99 for main cam. RodePro Mic on a99, RodePro Mic and Sennheiser e100 on a57 using a Beachtek pre-amp. Burning 3x the calories as the Stills shooters. Shot for Boston Avenue Weddings: arguably one of the best outfits in Toronto!

Atmospheric, languid, and flary: nice videos by QBeta Studios

It seems to me that quite a few high quality video studios come from the Philippines. Lightshapers Photography Studios is one of them. They advertise themselves as :
"Two people in-love with videography..and each other. We love dynamic compositions, slow motions, bokeh and flares. We love to experiment. We are agrresive in styling and color grading. We love videos that gives us goosebumps, and make us go wow, and make us cry..all at the same time. And we seek to make you feel the same way everytime we do yours. :)"
I love this latest upload...
It's like fine Swiss chocolates for the soul... the taste sensation lingers in the mind...

Franz n Micki // Save the Date from QBeta Studios on Vimeo.

My last all-video shoot and a realization.

Nick and Mabelle were very accommodating when I offered to shoot the video(s) of  their wedding. While I had fun shooting at the wedding, meeting people, and doing what I enjoy the most, I also realized that shooting video by myself is an impossible task, and that shooting video requires a team. I also know now that video editing is not my thing. However, I will continue to shoot video to enhance my wedding package.

This video is of Mabelle and her friends getting ready for her wedding.

Jamie & David's First Dance

Beautiful medley of moves by two people who are truly made for each other! At the Montecassino, Oct 5th.

Bob Nicolas and his wedding videos

Not unlike most wedding videographers, I browse through other videographers' works, hoping to be inspired and learn a few things that may be applied to my style of shooting: one camera DSLR, photojournalistic style. I came across Manila-based Bob Nicolas' vimeo site; I am bowled over by the consistency of high quality in his massive output. 

Doubtless, his way of working is different from mine: multi-camera with a crane, dollies and steadicams, much higher budgets and fees. And yet, I admire his point-of-view: the angles, the close-ups, and the smooth seamless editing (audio-video syncs, the choice of music). 

But most important of all, it is evident in the expressions of his subjects that he does his filming in a most unobtrusive manner. This is a quality that I admire most in a Stills photographer (and which I try to apply in every shoot I do) but which I have always thought was near impossible to apply when shooting video, with its inherent and attendant need to shoot a story line, as opposed to capturing moments. This is even more of a feat to achieved in Philippine culture where being discreet is expected (as opposed to the in-your-face-shooting, whatever-it-takes culture in Toronto/Canada).

I love his work and it is something to emulate. As they say in my Cebuano: pwerte kaayong pachadaa!

A nervous cool guy

Nick is a cool guy but there's no hiding his nervousness on this very important day!

Nick getting ready from Diogenes Baena on Vimeo.

Mabelle & Nick's First Kiss(es)

Here's a teaser video from Mabelle and Nick's wedding last June 9th. Lots of footage shot and lots of editing time coming up.

M&N_First Kiss (and 2nd, and 3rd, and 4th).mov from Diogenes Baena on Vimeo.