So, I’m enjoying it, and I’ve actually gotten some inquiries to shoot some weddings as a photographer next summer, which is pretty exciting.

Here are some details from a couple recent weddings I shot for a local florist and friends of mine, Petal and Bean.  These guys have a great blog and are constantly helping out brides with everything they need, in fact, acting as a coordinator of sorts, really.  Check them out on their blog or on Facebook.  Good people and great to work with.

Details from Petal and Bean, Bagali's wedding.

Details from Petal and Bean, Bagali's wedding.

Details from Petal and Bean, Bagali's wedding.

Details from Petal and Bean, Sevens wedding.

Details from Petal and Bean, Sevens wedding.

Abby & Alan Wedding Trailer, Boettcher Mansion, July 24, 2010 from Daniel Dunn on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

Renee & Pete Wedding Trailer, Breckenridge, CO, July 17, 2010 from Daniel Dunn on Vimeo.

So, mountain locals.  First thing you need to know about me.  That doesn’t mean I’m some hick that doesn’t understand the nation’s problems or doensn’t know what’s cool.  Oh no, please don’t misjudge me because I consider myself a mountain local.  Please don’t mistake me being out of touch.  I’m here for a bunch of reasons, and primarily because I’m making a conscious choice to be in control of my life and all of the things that go into my life.  I take my good times very seriously.  I take my friends, friendships, and what that all means very, very seriously.  I value the taste of strong coffee on a crisp morning.  I value a deep powder day and what that does to my psyche.  I understand what a long mountain bike ride does to my stress level.  And I understand that life is NOT all about stuff.

It’s about experiences and incredible dinners with friends, and family constantly telling me how jealous they are of my life and the things I do.  Life is not about having the newest car and the greenest lawn, and being so wrapped up in keeping up that you miss life.  No, I get it, and that’s why I’m here.

Next topic, what do I do.  I’m a multimedia creator.  I’m a wedding videographer.  I’m a cinematographer.  I make wedding movies.  I document once in a lifetime, live events.  Yeah, those are all the same thing, and while it may seem pretty simple, it ain’t (sorry for the slang)  I am there to document and make a movie for the most important people in the world, and the biggest day in their lives to this point.  And I take that very seriously.  It’s stressful, and freeing all at the same time.  And I love it.

What else,  I’m re-learning photography and re-discovering my passion for it.  Whoa!  My favorite class in college was black and white photography.  And while there were many reasons I loved that class, most of which I won’t mention here (let’s just say I spent many an all-nighter in the darkroom with a couple good friends) the biggest reason I loved it, was that it was my creative outlet.  A craft and true art rolled into one.  A craft, something I could learn, and art, something for which I had a natural, God-given talent for.  That class blew me away and opened many eyes, more than the two I have on the front of my face.

I love photography and what it does for me and to me.  I’m excited to get more and more into it and see what doors it opens for me.

I love documenting other live events, and then seeing and hearing and feeling the reactions those images, video and stills, that come as a result.  People ooh and ahh, and it feels good.  I mean, come on, who doesn’t love it when others say, “Oh, that’s so wonderful,” or “your video made me cry”  Yeah, it’s kinda selfish, but not really.  I love a good pat on the back, but for all the right reasons.  Because it made someone else feel good at the same time.  It made someone think of the good times in life.  It made someone forget, maybe just for a moment, all the crap in the rest of their life, and helped them LIVE.  And I love being able to do that for people.

I shoot a lot of adventure style photo and video, cause that’s what I like to do.  I like jumping off the side of a bridge with a big bungee cord attached to my feet.  I like going really fast on a mt. bike through deep forest.  I like helping people stuck on the side of a sheer cliff, in the middle of a stormy night, with my fellow rescue team members.  And I like surfing, I really like surfing.

But I really like shooting all those things, photo and video wise, and I’m hoping all these passions are on a crash collision course in bringing my a financially stable future.  But I’m working on that.  In the meantime, I’ll just keep doing it, cause I love doing it.

Oh, traveling, I forgot about that.  Love it. LOVE IT!!  And throw that in with all the above stuff, do it all at the same time.  Killer.

Music, reading, writing, good food, wine and beer, skiing, fitness, it’s all in there too.  I love all that stuff.

Diabetes.  Don’t love it, but it’s my evil twin.  It’s my best friend, always with me, always saying Hi, usually when I don’t want him to.  Diabetes has cost (and caused) me a couple trips to the emergency room.  Nuff said on that one.  Sometime when I’m feeling really open, like I really want to bare my soul for every one to see and read about, I’ll get into those times, but not now.

So that kind of gives you a little insight to who I am, but just that, a little glimpse.  I’m actually a lot more complicated than that, which I struggle with every day, that very situation.  Like why can’t I just be happy with having a job, and health insurance, and a safe secure, if not boring, future?  Well, maybe my Mom knows the answer to that riddle, but I don’t.

I’m working on that too.

I try to do my trailers in true teaser style, really short and to show just a little bit of the fun, the tears, the love, the passion.  It really was an incredible night.

The Beaver Creek Chapel is so, so pretty, right at the base of the resort, on a little creek, (I don’t think it’s Beaver Creek).

The music is as much a teaser as the imagery is.  He and his friend brought the house down with a surprise for his very special wife. If you went to college in the early to mid nineties, you’ll probably recognize this artist. Some small bands like Dave Matthews Band and Hootie and the Blowfish opened for these guys. And Lizzie was in LOVE with them at CU-Boulder while she was there.
I was just lucky to witness this incredible moment between the newlyweds. WOW!  What a night, I love this Vail crowd that I’ve shot with a couple times now. Mountain locals, I love ‘em.

Lizzie & Ryan Wedding Trailer, Beaver Creek, CO from Daniel Dunn on Vimeo.

ps.-Sometimes I get all sappy, I know, but if you’re trying to get to know me, you may as well get to know the whole me.

Cindi and Nate live with a passion for life and friends that we should all be lucky to find someday.  I heard it in their words for each other.  I saw it in the way they act around each other.  I heard it from their friends and families, as I was shooting for these two all day.

And then being the lucky one who gets to go back through all this and put it together, to tell the story of their big day, well, I feel very fortunate.  They were the ones who wrote their story, I’m just interpreting it for them, because their wedding day was a blur, as they’ve told me it was.

I’m so glad about so many things from this wedding.  Plain and simple, it was gorgeous.  From the simple Eisenhower Chapel, to the unbelievable Wings Over the Rockies Air Museum for the Reception.  Totally unreal.  A great, warm spring day in Denver, made even better by new bonds being created.  From warm, loving families to many, many fun friends who reminded me of my own.

Yes, these two are playing the team sport of marriage, and the have wonderful, supporting teams to help them along their journey.

So many thanks go out to all the other wonderful vendors I was able to work with on this day.  And also to my incredible second shooter, the fantastic Allen Birnbach, who is an accomplished photographer in his own right.

Photography for the day was taken care of by the awesome Lisa Seaman and her crew from Story Lens Photography.

Flowers from the always creative and pleasant Amy, from The Flower House Weddings

The venues, oh geez, did I say before unreal.  You have got to see this place where the reception was.  The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, located in the Lowry Neighborhood of Denver (a very cool urban redevelopment use of an old Air Force base) is something for the young and old.  This place has a LOT of planes, bombers and fighters, and even an X-Wing fighter from Star Wars movie (a personal favorite).  Courtney was so helpful, so many times, she couldn’t have been easier to work with.

And the Eisenhower Chapel.  So simple, so classic, so cute.  Mary-Jean is in charge there, talk to her.  Again, easy is the key word here, as in EASY to work with.  Thank You.

I didn’t get to meet the caterers, but I’ve heard many good things about them and loved the table preps.  Bistro Boys Catering, Dianne is your woman to speak to over there.

And last but not least, sometimes I don’t really think of the minister as a vendor, but I guess they are hired to marry the couple, so that makes them a vendor.  Gil Jones was the minister, and he tied everything together like I’ve never seen before.  He is a personal friend of Cindi and Nate’s and their families, and in this case, that’s a very good thing.  He was awesome.  He put together their ups and downs, in a humorous, but oh so meaningful way.  I look forward to working with him again.

Depending on your internet connection speed, and to get uninterrupted playback, it’s always a good idea to press play and then quickly pause it, letting the progress bar get to at least halfway before pressing play again.

And , as always, leave a comment below to show Cindi and Nate how much you love them.  It also helps my internet search rankings.

Cindi & Nate, Denver Wedding Movie, April 9, 2010 from Daniel Dunn on Vimeo.

I think a lot of photographers are getting asked these days to “just shoot a little video and give us a DVD.”  Sure, sounds easy enough.  The actual shooting of the video is fairly straightforward.  But just like in photography, what lies between turning the camera on, pressing the shutter button, and delivering that gorgeous finished archival print, is a whole ‘nother ball game.

So, yes, there is a lot that goes into it.  Video codecs, compression, color grading, holding the camera steady, framing a shot for subjects to actually move across the frame, on and on.  So many things.  Editing, agh!

These cameras are absolutely unbelievable in the imagery they shoot.  There is a reason so many filmmakers are using them these days.  However, that doesn’t mean they’re easy to use.  Actually, they are much, much harder to use than true “video” cameras.  They aren’t ergonomically set up to shoot video with.  Editing can be a nightmare.  Transcoding, what is that?  So many things to be aware of and learn.

But, the rewards can be mind-boggling.  Totally beautiful cinema-like images.  It’s worth it.

Photographers out there with questions, or anyone for that matter, that has a DSLR, and they want to learn, or they have questions, call, email, I want to help.  Just a little way I can give back.

I was blown away and amazed at some of the photos, especially the ones I hadn’t seen before.  Wow, what a good looking couple my Mom and Dad were.  Very cool.  And my Dad as a kid, was he cute or what?

Getting philosophical for a second, I want to give some major shout-outs to my Dad for who he is and what he’s done, and more so, for what he’s given me.  Some characteristics of my Dad.  Hard-working.  Honest.  Trustworthy.  Friendly.  Life of the party.  Caring.  Giving.  Wise.  This is a man who grew up in tough times, without the guidance of his own father.  My grandfather passed away when my father was very young.  A huge influence to be missed.  But my grandmother did a pretty darn good job (cracking the whip, I’m sure) raising six kids on her own.  My father did what he had to do, in order to provide for and raise five kids of his own.  One thing I always noticed growing up, was that my Dad was always there for everything I did.  He picked me up from soccer practice.  He was at all my games.  He watched my band competitions.  And he was doing the same for my three brothers and one sister.  Every sporting event, every band concert, every picnic.  He was there, he came and watched, he gave us his time.

We didn’t have tons of money growing up, but I never noticed it.  I had brothers and friends to play with and my parents were always interested in what was going on in my life.  When I didn’t score high enough on the SAT’s, guess who was watching over my shoulder as I studied to take it again.  Did my parents push us?  Yes, they did, and I am so thankful for that.  They pushed us in all the right ways, but always allowing us to make our own decisions.  They supported us in all the right ways, while keeping close by should we make bad decisions, which were plenty.  And they still happen, and my Dad is always there to catch me.

One quality I’m happy to have inherited from my Dad is his smile.  Everyone that knows him, likes him.  He is the first guy on the dance floor, the first one to offer you a drink at the party, the first one to offer his chair to you.  He is the life of every party, and all of our friends make us promise that he’ll be there to thrown down.  He’s the guy that volunteers first to help with any project you need a hand on, whether it’s collecting firewood, or helping to build a new press box at the high school stadium.

I’m really happy to share this movie.  As I get a little older, and realize I’m not invincible, the more I learn about how important my childhood years were to who I’ve become.  Time is a rarity in this crazy world we live in.  It might be the most valuable thing you can give to your children.  And my parents always had extra to give.  Thanks Dad.

My Dad’s 70th Birthday from Daniel Dunn on Vimeo.