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13 Mar

Posted on March 13, 2020 at 1:14pm in Blog, Short Wedding Film, Wedding Videography by

This Indian wedding was initially planned as a “low key, really relaxed and chill vibe” wedding. However, it grew to a grand, epic and beautiful Indian wedding that even had a giraffe in it. Amish and Megna’s extravagant wedding was at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu , CA - a spectacular 1000 acre wedding venue overlooking the San Monica mountains. We hope you enjoy this cinematic Indian wedding film of Amish and Megna. This wedding was absolutely amazing for us as wedding cinematographers to film. The rolling hills, exotic animals and vineyards at this location made this wedding venue very easy to capture in this film. More importantly, the couple, Amish and Megna, were a bliss to capture on their special day. Their first look expressed it all when the groom proclaimed “oh lord, what’s happening” as he saw his beautiful bride for the first time that day. We arrived early morning to Saddlerock Ranch to capture shots of the bride getting ready with her bridesmaids and the bridal details. It was also at this time that we had the opportunity to film some shots of this unique venue- this was the first time we ran into Stanley the Giraffe. Surprised with how close we could get to him, we even had the chance to pet him. Moving on, we continued to film the groom preparation leading up to the super emotional first look. The wedding then took a cultural shift as the baraat (groom's wedding procession) started down the road. Accompanied by a dhol drummer, the groom, along with his family and friends, made their way to the bride’s family who eagerly waited for him. After a few short prayers, blessings, and cultural ceremonies, all the guests joined together under a huge ancient oak tree for the Indian Wedding Ceremony. Hindu wedding ceremonies are intricate with many cultural rituals. This presents us with many amazing opportunities to capture stunning and emotional footage. We as wedding cinematographers want our films to capture stories from the wedding day. All the ceremonial rituals, prayers, and wedding vows served as a strong story telling aspect in this wedding...

04 Mar

Posted on March 04, 2020 at 5:07pm in Blog, Short Wedding Film, Wedding Videography by

The journey each couple takes leading up to their wedding day is a beautifully unique story. We as wedding videographers love to tell such stories through engagement videos (or pre-wedding videos). Engagement videos are the perfect way to showcase who you are as a couple to all your family and friends. Catered to you, pre-wedding videos are filmed to capture your personality with you and your fiancé in a beautiful, cinematic experience. Averaging 2-4 hours of filming, pre-wedding videos, also called engagement videos, are shot in 1-3 locations within short distance from each other. Handpicking the best shots, we create a beautiful 1-2 minute film for you to share with everyone. Effortless and free-flowing, this engagement film is a luxury experience to add to your wedding journey. Pre-wedding videos are focused on telling your story through scenery, mood, and music. We can be creative with your pre-wedding film to make a save the date video, a concept film or even a Love Story. Limitless in ideas, pre-wedding videos can be used in any way you like them. We have had couples use this incredible feature in unique ways. Whether it be to officially pop the question to that special someone or to simply share the news in a beautiful cinematic video, we as cinematographers are always excited to make your vision come to life....

17 Feb

Posted on February 17, 2020 at 8:39pm in Blog, Short Wedding Film, Wedding Videography by

Wholeness and Wholesomeness - two words used to describe the relationship shared between Josh and Jen. In the majestic and beautiful San Francisco City Hall, the bride and groom exchanged personal wedding vows that beautifully told their love story and united them as one. With blessings and support from family and loved ones, Josh and Jen’s City hall wedding kicked off their adventure into married life. We hope you enjoy this enchanted wedding film celebrating the wedding of Josh and Jen in San Francisco, CA. Read the full blog post to immersed yourself into the cultural and beautiful wedding day of Josh and Jen in San Francisco, CA. ...

13 Feb

Posted on February 13, 2020 at 9:29pm in Blog, Short Wedding Film, Wedding Videography by

Two families, two cultures, two people, one love. This beautiful rustic and multicultural wedding took place at Union Hill Inn in Sonora, CA - the perfect wedding venue to celebrate the union of one incredibly diverse couple. Fitting two weddings in one day, Raj (Hindu) and Haley (American) honored both of their cultures, commemorating a heritage that remains a strong part of who they are. Raj and Haley spent the past 11 years growing in love and respect for each other, a fact that was evidently clear as we filmed their wedding day. Their families, fully immersed in their love for the bride and groom, actively participated in all cultural activities with open minds and cheerful hearts. This multicultural wedding brought all the colors and festivities worthy of celebrating the happy couple. The wedding day began with a western wedding as Raj and Haley exchanged their vows in a beautiful rustic barn at Union Hill Inn. Raj vowed "with every beat of my heart, I promise to love you - this is my solemn vow.” After exchanging their self- written vows, the bride and groom shared an intimate moment during the unity sand ceremony. Both partners poured sand into one single glass vase, signifying the union of their two lives. With excitement, the family continued the celebrations as they moved to the beautifully decorated gazebo for the Indian wedding. For the Indian wedding, the bride and groom incorporated traditional Indian rituals as they each walked in a baraat to the ceremony surrounded by family and loved ones. The couple participated in a puja ceremony, a traditional Hindu ceremony involving prayer, incense, flowers, and food. The marriage was officiated as the bride and groom walked around a fire four times, with the final lap led by the bride. With blessings from the priest, parents and loved ones, Raj and Haley were officially husband and wife. “Togetherness - that is what family is all about.” Spoken in truth by the bride’s father, the reception was filled with togetherness as both families joined as one in celebration of Raj and Haley. Embracing traditions...

17 Dec

Posted on December 17, 2019 at 3:31pm in Blog, News/Updates, Wedding Videography by

Oftentimes we receive very humbling feedback from couples who hired us for their big day. Many couples simply love our work and are amazed by our films. One thing we notice is that they always comment very positively about our creative short films. And that’s fair. Short films are epic. They highlight the greater, more dramatic events that occurred during the wedding. HOWEVER, we notice that many couples overlook a very important edit - the documentary edit. The truth is, I get it. They aren’t as exciting as the creative and cinematic short films. A 1-2 hour documentary film isn’t as “shareable” on social media. A fun, short film seems like a simpler and more exciting alternative of reliving your wedding memories. It covers the main, sensational events that happened on your wedding day. So, some couples tend to think the creative film is good enough. But, the bottom line is, for the couple, a documentary edit is just as important as, if not more important than a short film. Years down the line, the documentary film will still contain all the finer details of your special day. Read an in depth view of why we believe documentary edits are one of the most important videos from your wedding day. ...

04 Nov

Posted on November 04, 2019 at 11:49am in Blog by

Ricky, the groom, wanted to surprise his wedding guests with an epic dance performance at his wedding reception. His plan was to join his old dance team from UC Irvine during their dance performance. He practiced the dance many times and perfected it. Especially the ended with this very good friend. At the reception, everything was going to plan. But to everyone's surprise, including the groom's, Preeti, the bride, is pulled into the dance by his friend and takes over his part of the dance performance from that point. You can see Ricky being taken back and being surprised, but completely enjoying the moment and continue dancing with his wife. What an EPIC moment and a surprise for the groom! Toward the end, everyone joined in a Flash Mob style dance and officially kicked off the dancing for the night. It was evident that the wedding guests enjoyed themselves as they danced the night away. Enjoy this choreographed Indian dance at this amazing Indian Wedding at the Greengate Ranch in San Luis Obispo, CA....

08 Oct

Posted on October 08, 2019 at 10:35pm in Blog, Short Wedding Film, Wedding Videography by

There is something magical about weddings in the Fairmont San Francisco. This historic and incredible wedding venue served as a beautiful and elegant backdrop for Tobias and Poornima’s multicultural wedding. Tobias and Poornima’s wedding weekend started with a few Indian cultural events at the Lexington Ridge Inn in Los Gatos, CA. Both Tobias (German) and Poornima (Indian) participated in their families’ traditions of Henna (mehendi), Churrah, Miayan and Jaggo ceremonies. These cultural events kicked off a perfect wedding weekend and really gave this Western and Indian Wedding film the pop of color that we are used to seeing. We also fell in love with both families and the atmosphere that both families created for us. Additionally, the organized, structured and on-time events were quite a surprise for us as well. This harmony really helped us to capture amazing wedding footage and wedding photos. The next day, both families headed to San Jose Gurdwara for the Sikh Wedding. We noticed Tobia’s family members looking in awe at all the cultural events taking place throughout this Indian Wedding day. The events at the Anand Karaj (the Sikh wedding ceremony) were very special to both sides of the family. You can see the groom’s family mesmerized by every detail, especially when Tobias led his bride four times during the laavaan, a custom in Sikh weddings. The tear drenched vidaii was a perfect and SUPER emotional ending to this beautiful Sikh Wedding Day. The last day was at the beautiful Bay Area Hotel - Fairmont San Francisco. Both the western ceremony and the reception took place at the Gold Room (my personal favorite ballroom at this venue). The gold room was beautifully decorated for the ceremony and then quickly converted for the reception. The ceremony included a beautiful poem written by one of the bride’s best friends. We decided to use many of the speeches at the ceremony and reception in Hindi and German in this wedding film. I felt including these non English phrases gave the film the perfect mood for their wedding and fit perfectly with their wedding story. Don’t ask how...

03 Sep

Posted on September 03, 2019 at 5:51pm in Same Day Edit, Wedding Videography by

We traveled to Seattle, WA to capture this stunning wedding of David and Raychel at the Olympic Sculpture Park. What made it even more epic was that we filmed and edited a Same Day Edit that premiered at the wedding reception. It was an amazing and stressful weekend in Seattle, but we loved the challenge and captured a memory that the couple will cherish for ever. When Raychel and David initially reached out to me, they mentioned that they wanted a Same Day Edit to play at their wedding reception. I love Same Day Edits! I understand they are quite challenging and extremely stressful, but I also know they are quite rewarding for the couple and their closest friends to watch their beautiful wedding film at the wedding reception. So of course, I agreed to this challenge. We arrived two days early to capture some Seattle scenery, time lapses and video session with the couple. Our first stop was Alki Beach. This gave us an epic view of Seattle from across the bay. We captured a few shots there, especially of the Space Needle, and headed on. The next morning, we headed to Gas Works Park with David and Raychel and spent some filming them with their dog. Since their dog, Gary, wasn’t going to make it to the wedding, I made sure that he made it into the Same Day Edit. We then drove to Pike Place Market, getting a few more shots of the couple simply being “them” around each other. Most of our second day, we spent driving around Seattle capturing time-lapses of clouds through building, the Space Needle, the Seattle Great Wheel and more city shots. At this time, I already started to get an idea how the Same Day Edit might start. So, we headed to our hotel, copied the first batch of cards, and I begin the editing process. That same evening, we headed to Olympic Sculpture Park for the rehearsal. We cleared up and planned the Same Day Edit premier with the involved wedding vendors. It was definitely something that helped to make...

03 Jun

Posted on June 03, 2019 at 9:20am in Blog, Short Wedding Film, Wedding Videography by

Avneet and Irene’s wedding was special to us in many ways. We experienced 2 weddings in one weekend at 4 different venues and 4 different days. This multicultural wedding was an Indian and Chinese wedding with both cultural aspects present at the wedding. We had the honor to film at San Francisco City Hall, San Jose Gurdwara, Dogpatch WineWorks, and lastly at JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square. On top of all that, we had the coolest and most trusting couple (and their family) to work with. They welcomed us as family from the very beginning, and getting to be a part of their beautiful, cultural, meaningful, love filled wedding weekend was such an honor to be part of! We are so excited for them to have this treasure we captured for them for generations to come. The first day, we filmed at the most beautiful and iconic buildings in SF, San Francisco City Hall. It was a simple 3 minute western wedding followed by a bit of filming inside the City Hall with the couple. The challenge at this beautiful and majestic venue was capturing footage with just the couple in it. I know it might sound crazy that we even tried to do that, but it worked. Many of our shots (during the creative shoot) had 2-5 takes, hoping that the people in the background walk faster. This allowed us to capture amazing footage inside of the San Francisco City Hall and have the focus on the beautiful couple. The second day, was the Sikh Wedding at the San Jose Gurdwara. Because it was a cultural wedding, you can see the bride and her family members looking in awe at all the cultural events taking place throughout this day. The events at the Anand Karaj (the Sikh wedding ceremony) were very special to both sides of the family. You can see the bride’s family mesmerized by every detail, especially when the groom led the bride four times during the laavaan, a custom in Sikh weddings. The third day, we filmed the first wedding reception at Dogpatch WineWorks. This...

02 Apr

Posted on April 02, 2019 at 3:11pm in Blog, Same Day Edit by

Harman and Navroop Indian Wedding was filled with a lot of laughter, fun, smoke bombs and even crying. But it was definitely a week that we enjoyed capturing amazing footage from this unforgettable Indian Wedding. To wrap up the many days of celebrations, we created this Same Day Edit that we premiered on their wedding reception. The most humbling and inspiring moment is watching the couple and guests enjoy the timeless memories we captured just moments before. Seeing the endless smiles, and sometimes even sweet tears, from the family members, reminds me why we do what we do as wedding cinematographers. Both the bride and groom were beaming as they watched the film we put together. The wedding couple, Harman and Navroop, were simply enjoyable to work with. Both were super sweet to us as well and treated us like family. Not only were they beautiful and natural in front of the cameras, they completely trusted us to capture a day that they will cherish for the rest of their life together. We, as a Bay Area Wedding Cinematography team, were honored to be part of their Indian wedding at the Elk Grove Sikh Temple. Enjoy Harman and Navroop’s Indian Wedding Same Day Edit. ...

18 Feb

Posted on February 18, 2019 at 1:32pm in Blog, Wedding Videography by

Every love story starts with a unique beginning. Whether it is an accidental meeting or a forced blind date, the beginning marks the start of how two people fall in love. In this case, after a busy work week and another late night ahead, Sahil wasn’t too eager about going to a wine tasting on December 6, 2014 but his friend gave him the extra push he needed to leave his house that morning. Little did he know, that was the magical day all the stars aligned and Sahil laid eyes on Natasha for the first time. After that night, he confessed to his friend that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. As their love story continued, the two faced many dragons and a few painfully awkward early dates but Sahil and Natasha kept fighting for their love until 1301 days later, they tied the knot and started their new beginning together as husband and wife. Enjoy this South Asian Wedding of Sahil and Natasha at the largest Sikh Temple in America, the San Jose Gurdwara Sahib....

04 Feb

Posted on February 04, 2019 at 6:23pm in Blog, Wedding Videography by

After filming weddings for over 14 years, I still love and thoroughly enjoy what I do. And, you may be surprised to know, even despite having so much experience, I still get nervous before filming EVERY single wedding. Maybe it’s because I understand that my passion, as a wedding videographer, affects each couple directly. They trust me to to capture their once-in-a-lifetime memories. So I make sure to capture a work of art at each and every wedding. With this wedding, it was no different. The wedding itself was in a way different and unique, but we made sure to approach it thoughtfully. The multicultural couple incorporated their Italian and Indian traditions throughout the 2-day celebration and I wanted to capture the essence of both cultures accordingly. Predictably, I was nervous before filming this wedding but I think my delicate and professional approach is felt throughout this wedding film. What increased the pressure a bit was that I met Bikram and Camila a few years before they reached out to me about their wedding. I filmed Bikram’s sisters wedding a few years back and have met (and filmed) many of their wedding guests’ weddings. It was truly an honor being part of their wedding because it showed me that they continued to trust me and my work. Enjoy this wedding film from Bikram and Camila’s wedding at San Jose Gurdwara and Castlewood Country Club. Read more in depth about this wedding in the full post. ...

10 Jan

Posted on January 10, 2019 at 11:21am in Blog, Wedding Videography by

Destination weddings are probably one of the most exciting tasks we take on as wedding cinematographers. We get to experience an exotic, new place, usually an island on the other side of the globe, while capturing breathlessly romantic ceremonies and epic receptions. It’s such an exciting getaway for us and the stakes are always higher to deliver our very best work. The couple who requests us to join them on their wedding weekend, expects us to create the perfect, flawless wedding film. A wedding film that captures the most sentimental and priceless moments of their big day. It’s always a thrill to see how we can stretch our creativity to ensure we capture the perfect angles and moments throughout the weekend as the couple exchanges their vows, makes their grand entrance, and dances the night away, all while surrounded by only the closest of family and friends and the bluest ocean and greenest mountains. Barron and Dana first met in 2012 and after Barron proposed, they began planning their magical wedding. They chose Saint Lucia for its warm and tropical weather and it was such a perfect touch on their big day! It was as if the clouds knew exactly how to compliment the setting and add the perfect glow, making our job almost effortless. Planning the wedding reception was like “planning the best party of our life, with everything and everyone we love” and it was evident that the guests were enjoying themselves during the party. Barron and Dana were radiating so much joy and happiness that filming their wedding was not only a blast but it was genuinely very exciting to be there in that moment with them and their loved ones. ...

09 Jan

Posted on January 09, 2019 at 1:46pm in Blog, Tutorials by

In this tutorial, I dig deep into a proxy workflow in Final Cut Pro X that took me years to understand and achieve. It all seems simple to me now, but I wanted to share this knowledge with you. This tutorial covers setting up the FCPX project, optimizing the media, encoding video files, batch renaming, testing the project, sending the project as a zip or sparse image, and receiving the project back from your editor. I hope that my desperation into finding a perfect proxy workflow for me is something that you can benefit from as well. This has sped up our editing workflow, turn around times, and most important (and why I did this) the quality of the edit. I can answer any of your questions about this Final Cut Pro X workflow down in the comments. ...

30 Nov

Posted on November 30, 2018 at 1:00pm in Blog, Wedding Videography by

We have been filming Indian weddings all over California and United States and we love the challenges each wedding presents us. For instance, at this Indian Wedding, we were challenged to create a beautiful film from just the wedding reception alone that Raj and Pam had in Sacramento one week after their epic wedding on the East Coast. What makes this challenging is that we don't have the wedding content to work with to tell a story. Additionally, we're not able to have the variety of wedding footage that we are used to. Sadly, many wedding videographers would simply "slap" together a simple long and boring video. However, I wanted to approach this a bit more creatively and create an Indian Wedding Reception Highlight Film. I wanted the reception film to have emotions, be epic and have a story. My goal is so when you are done watching the reception wedding film, you have met the beautiful couple and have been at their wedding reception. I believe we pulled this off with this short film from Raj and Pam's wedding reception in Sacramento, California. One of my personal favorite scenes from this film is their first dance before the guests arrived to the reception hall at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. The couple wanted to see their reception hall full decorated before the guests arrived. More importantly, they wanted to practice their first dance one last time. It's our job, as wedding cinematographers, to capture a story. So me and my team took that opportunity and filmed their special moment as they danced away on the empty reception dance floor. Looking at the footage later, I was please as it gave me some romantic footage that I found fitted perfectly into their film. Raj is an accomplished doctor and it was an honor to be part of their wedding celebration in Raj's home town, Sacramento, CA. So enjoy this Indian Wedding Reception Highlight Film from the heart of California at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento....