Jan. 26th - Why Trash the Dress?

A lot of brides and grooms see one of my Trash the Dress videos and ask "Why would anyone do such a thing!?" For my recent seminar in Orlando, Florida I asked Karen Jennings, my infamous Paint the Dress bride, to share with me her feelings on the entire process. I have to say I was touched after reading the letter she sent me. Likewise, several of the attendees to my seminar told me they teared up. If you're one of those people who ask "Why would anyone do such a thing!?" then keep reading!

"The first time I saw a TTD session, I wished that I would have had the opportunity to do that when I was married. But, I was already married 15 years, so my chances of it happening were slim. Through a series of fortunate events, I met Darrell Aubert and discovered that he knew a great deal about TTD and was looking for a "bride" to shoot a video with. He also had a friend, Mark Gardner, an awesome phtographer who was interested in shooting a TTD session as well. They needed a wedding dress to trash and I was happy to provide it.

While many found in difficult to understand why I would want to do such a thing to my wedding dress, I never for a second hesitated when I was given the opportunity to have my own TTD session. For me, to have two such incredibly talented artists shooting the session was a second chance to get the wedding images I always wanted. 15 years ago, expressing yourself like this just wasn't an option.

For me, everything about TTD seemed right. Darrell and I talked about how we wanted to tell my story, and being 15 years post wedding date, it wasn't hard at all to realize where the motivation for the shoot would come from. It was the story of every woman I know that is living a similar life......the stress and frustrations of being married and having 3 kids. I know that some critics have found the final video to negative....that we went to far with the trashing and that it doesn't give you the warm fuzzy, high fashion, glamorous feel that TTD sessions usually have. But being where I am in life, that was not my story. We pushed the boundaries and tapped into feelings that I know everyone woman like me has, but so few reveal.

I still have my wedding dress. While I destroyed the dress with paint, I still could not throw it away. After a few days the paint dried and I lovingly placed it back in the closest. It now holds a whole new memory for me. On my wedding day 15 years ago, the dress was perfectly white. A blank canvas for a life not yet lived. Now the dress is painted with all the ups and downs that life brings, and I love it even more."

~Karen Jennings

October 15th - Featured in Event DV

The big event I was talking about it earlier posts was an article Event DV is publishing about a shoot I planned with a few other videographers in Las Vegas during the WEVA Expo. I invited the "Godfather of Dress Trashing" John Michael Cooper to shoot photos with us.
The reason I, and my fellow videographers, decided to do this shoot was to show people in the industry the importance of "thinking outside the box." We wanted to show people that getting out there and trying new things, working with fellow vendors, is the best way to improve you abilities.
Anyways, here is the web version of the article. The print version will be out in a few weeks and this article will be the cover article!!

Special thanks too:

-John Michael Cooper - For finding the location and shooting some awesome pics
-Chris P Jones - Being my partner in crime and the story teller
-Kristen Souders - For the support and film!
-Robert Neal - Backing me up with some HD awesomeness
-Steven Nathans - For writing the article and driving the car!

Oct. 5th - Seminar at LIVA

As you might be able to notice... September was a very busy month! I promise I'll post more this month!

Anyways, Pete Lombardo from LIVA (Long Island Videographer's Association) asked me a few weeks back if I could come up to NY and do my Beyond the Tripod seminar. He also told me he was very interested in the Trash the Dress shoots I have been doing and asked me to speak on that as well! So if you;re in the NYC area and would like to hear all about stabilizing equipment AND Trash the Dress... get to the next LIVA meeting on October 9th!

September 17th - Paint the Dress!

A photographer I work with occasionally, Karen Jennings, approached me about a month ago with a Dress Trashing idea. She really wanted to trash her 80's era wedding dress with super large shoulder pads. You can imagine how excited I was to ruin that thing! Anyways I came up with the idea to use paint as our "trashing" method and invited my good friend Mark Gardner to help me brainstorm ideas shoot some photos. Karen wanted to focus on the fact that she has been married 15 years, has three kids, and a whole ton of stress. Mark and I decided to use this at the central story of our production. I think it turned out really well and I had a great time working with my buddy Mark all day. Karen was a blast as well, I still can't believe she let us cover her (and the rest of her family!) with paint from head to toe!

The video I put together is a trailer for the final video. I really wanted to get something together fast for various reasons, including some I will share shortly. Check it out and let me know what you think via the "comments" button below.

BTW... be sure to check out Mark's awesome pictures on his blog!