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!

October 11th - Some News

So I spoke at LIVA (Long Island Videographer's Association) last night at the Marriott Hotel in Uniondale, NY. I had a great time seeing all my NY buddies and I think my seminar went over pretty well. Hopefully some of LIVA's members feel "inspired" enough to go out and try their own Trash the Dress shoot using some really cool stabilizers! haha.

Something very cool is going to happen in a few weeks that I've been waiting for, for quite some time. I've been told that I'm going to be on the front cover of Event DV! I should say that my picture isn't going to be on the cover, but the article is about something I did. Anyways, I'm really excited because Event DV is the largest magazine for the Wedding Video industry!

In another, unrelated article I will be in Event DV again in December! Twice in a row! It's really something else!

Keep wathching... I'll post the article as soon as I get it!

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!

August 23rd - Back from Cali and Vegas

So I got back from Vegas earlier this week after another exciting WEVA convention. I had a great time hanging with all my friends and visiting the trade show. I also got a chance to work with the famous (sometimes infamous) John Michael Cooper. I planned a Trash the Dress shoot with a few other videographers and John. Enough about that, I will post about that in a few days.

The real reason I'm posting is because the GPVA (Greater Philadelphia Videographer's Association) entered a contest called the Battle of the Associations at WEVA. Basically we had to create a 60 second commercial advertising wedding video and WEVA. Last year we entered the contest with a montage of our best footage and won. This year we wanted to do something totally different. This year we made a spoof of the popular Mac vs. PC ads Apple is currently running. There were 6 other associations who made videos this year so the competition was steep. But in the end we made it through and overwhelmingly won again! I really wish I had the ad to show you but as soon as I get it I will post it here.

Here are some pictures of us after winning:

The project team

The attending GPVA members

July 24th - Some Great Photographers

Yes I know... more news about the AC TTD shoot right? Sorta. But I swear this is the last time!!
Anyways, while at the shoot I had the chance to work with some really great photographers from around the country. It's always fun to see how other people work and learn from them. Even though I'm a videographer and not a photographer I still am inspired by their work.
Here are three of the photographers I got to work with who I think are really good at what they do. These aren't the only ones and I will probably post a few more in coming days so stay tuned.

Mark Gardner

Mark is located in Maryland (Close to Delaware, so Philly Brides he's the one for you!) and does some awesome work. He was leading one of the groups at the AC TTD shoot and can be seen in my video toward the beginning. His photos are stunning and I really hope I get a chance to work with him again.

Jason Domingues

Jason is probably one of the coolest photographers I've had a chance to work with. He's cool as hell and fun to be around. I spent some time with him at the AC TTD shoot and made a new friend. He's out of Kansas City but does several weddings in the Philly area each year.


Mark Eric

Mark Eric is founder and admin of TrashTheDress.com and is really responsible for brining this cool new trend into the limelight. Mark is a great guy and a classic Southern Gentleman. He was a pleasure to shoot with in AC and a great guy to be around. Mark is located in Alexandria, LA but also travels around the country.

July 13th - Trash The Dress

What can I say? The Trash The Dress event in Atlantic City was a blast! There were 11 brides trashing their dresses that day along with 50 plus photographers shooting stills. I got to work with some of the best in the industry including; John Michael Cooper, Mark Eric, The Wiebners, and Jason Domingues. Below the pictures, check out the video I put together for the event.

The Wiebners snapped some photos of me shooting during the event:

July 10th - Dress Trashing in Atlantic City

So the largest Trash The Dress event in history is going on later today.... and I'm the videographer for the event! I'm really excited! This will be my first official Dress Trashing so I'm unsure of what to expect. I know though that its going to be a lot of fun!

The event is being held at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. I'm assuming we'll do some downtown shooting and then head over to the beach for some sunset shots.

There will be over 40 photographers attending with about 10 brides who will be trashing their dresses. Some big names like John Michael Cooper, who started the Dress Trashing trend, and Mark Eric, founder of trashthedress.com, will be there. A real star studded event tomorrow!

I will try to get an edited video up soon so you all can see how cool this thing really is.

April 9th - Trash the Dress

For you brides that weren't already aware... there is a new fad going on in the wedding industry right now called "trashing." Here's the deal: Buy a cheap wedding dress and let your videographer and photographer shoot you in ponds, rivers, the ocean, in the dirt, mud, etc. I know what you're thinking... "I'd never do anything like that!" but after you see some of the results I think some of you might change your mind. Here's another blog a group of photographers put together to show off this new fad.

http://www.trashthedress.com/

If anyone is interested in having something like this done, I'd be glad to do it. Be the first one and I'll even do it for free!