Hey there! So you found the most interesting page on my site. This is my recent Oahu wedding, Hawaii wedding page. Honestly, it's a blog. The story behind this blog, well, it started out purely about Hawaii weddings, then it evolved into everything and "all of the above." Basically, ITS MY THOUGHTS!! So I write about anything on here. I updated this blog quite frequently. You can learn more about me, my quirks, my style here. And of course, you'll get wedding tips as well.
Call me if you want to make me richer..I mean, book my services! 1-877-WED-IN-HAWAII or email me at info@dreamweddingshawaii.com
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
My first import car show
Featured above, the TRANSFORMER MOTORCYCLE. Model: Princess. NOTE: mass amounts of photoshop done to this picture
MY FIRST IMPORT CAR SHOW...
there's a first for everything right?
So last weekend rolled around and I was wedding free. On the books for Saturday was to attend an import car show with a friend of mine who also freelanced as an import car model. I was asked to be her personal photographer at the event and I happily accepted the invite and the new challenge. At 34 years of age, I had not attended one import car show in my life, let alone, been given the opportunity to stalk a woman with a camera.
The import car show was very interesting for me. The car show exhibited amateur street cars like those found in the movie, "Fast and the Furious." I had to shake my head at some of the featured cars though.
I'm really sorry to have to say this, but some of these kids or adults that decorated their cars, they really need to take a class or two on design.
I thought I had seen it all, but drapes on a car? Really?
DJ table in the trunk, LED lights everywhere, rims that are too big for it's tires. Am I getting too old to think this is not cool?
Angry bird dolls on the dashboard and tiger pattern rugs....
This car can star in the movie "Need for Cheese..."
Hey, you can poke someones eye out with that exhaust...
Never got low rider bikes...
Now this Scion was interesting. It has little nooks that were custom made to fit Ramen,odd sized soda, and multiple cartons of cigarettes. I guess the owner of this car smokes a lot and wants to make saimin in his car?
I had to take a picture of this. Some of these guys look scary.
The true highlight of the evening though was the challenge to photograph my model for the night around a handful of exotic cars. Lately, I have been trying to photograph more than just weddings as I felt as though I needed to re-boost my photography skills. Photographing my model around cars proved to be quite challenging as there was always a crowd to work around. More so, the background of the convention center wasn't the greatest. And to make things worse, the convention center was quite dark, so I had to use a low shutter speed and a higher ISO that I wanted too.
I liked my model the best out of the girls there. Conservative with class and a golden smile. Some of the models I thought showed off too much skin. And yes, that's Optimus Prime's face...
So here is my model next to a Ferrari that I will possibly never drive. This picture is okay, but I just didn't care for it. There were people in the background, trash cans. People have no idea how important a background is to a shot. In fact...it is the shot...
Same girl, same car; but in snow? It's all fake by the way, probably figured that out right? But like I said, background is everything. If only they would have had snow at that import car show....
Overall, I think the shots came out good. Not my best, but good enough that I could use the computer to manipulate them to look interesting. Yes, for a change, I also greatly enhanced my photos in the computer to make things look a lot more interesting. As you may already know, I am not a big fan of using the computer. But in this case, I did....
1958 Chevy Impala, truly a work of art...
So after attending my first import car show, and having fun, I would probably have to say it would most likely be my last. I think the import car scene, or even import cars, are just not for me. I just don't see the art or beauty in import cars, and I think a lot of that has to do with my age. At 34 I'm too old for this stuff! haha.... Man, how I wish car designers would make cars how they used to be. Back when my father was younger, cars were considered pieces of art, not just transportation vehicles.
Well, for this weekend, I am busy. Starting from September 1st, Thursday, I will be busy with weddings until the 5th!. Yikes. I think I have a total of 8 weddings...? Too much to count. Anyway, I'll catch you all later.
COLBIE CAILLAT MUSIC VIDEO
some comments about this song and the production of the music video
Do you remember the old days, the 90's (haha!!!), when MTV actually televised music videos? Fast-forward to the present, MTV has turned into make-out channel, the Snookie channel; basically, the entitlement generation channel. So where do we tune in to get all of our music videos these days? The Internet....of course!
So here is a recent song from Colbie Caillat. I think it's about a year old. It's a great song, romantic song, and perfect for a wedding video. But what I like about it is that some of the shots in here are kept really really simple. And it works.
To start, the entire music video was shot in super 16, 4:3 format, not your usual 35mm 16x9 wide screen format. The director wanted to create a very casual look, so in many of the shots of Colbie, especially the ones shot at the beach, are shot directly into the sun with no lights to brighten up Colbie.
Pulling off these shots require extreme luck, and extreme skill. To start, there must be just the right amount of sea salt in the air to give a haze to each shot. You must also have a relatively clear sky. Third, the director of photography must expose his film correctly for the foreground, and then to pull back the exposure a bit to give just "a little" bit of background....but not too much. I love these shots, but it's almost impossible to pull off consistently.... With my 35mm film photographic camera, I did come close though...
Other than being a great song, beautifully and intelligently shot, the music video actually has a story to it! How many music videos these days actually have a coherent love story with a protagonist, character development, and 3 acts? None! Anyway....I'm rambling...the screenwriter side of me is getting the better part of me...haha.
Anyway people...I'm off back to editing some wedding videos now. Burning the midnight friday oil as always. For those of you on the east coast...BE SAFE!
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of one of our ceremonies? Here is a vow renewal ceremony from beginning to end. The minister, Reverend Elias, quickly goes through some quick marriage advice to the couple. All the meanwhile, I am in the background making sure mic levels are good, cameras are locked and loaded. Then, right before we start, we usually give a redundant check to mic levels, and we are off the races.
The video is of a recent vow renewal. Every moment here is a "Kodak Moment." Many companies choose to crop their shots close when there are kids around. In my opinion, I just keep the camera as far as possible, and record the mischief the kids get themselves into during the ceremony.
Did I tell you how I spend most of my nights? I'm usually editing wedding videos. Ever sinceu I switched to HD cameras, tons of wedding couples have been requesting video coverage for their ceremonies. I, of course, don't mind this, as it's more money for me. But it's also a bit more work. But hey...gotta work for money right?
So, I'm almost call caught up with my queue. But that's not going to last long. I have three ceremonies this weekend, all with video. D'oh!
The video is a 3-camera video edit without the beginning and ending slideshow. The couple, Barry and Emily wrote their own vows by watching my videos and putting a little twist on it. Performing the ceremony, was none other than Stan Ponz. Hope you enjoy it!
Well, I'm off to bed early today...3am. Need to get up early today to prepare myself for Saturday's vow renewal. I'm only performing photo and video services, but it's a bit different as everything will be taking place in a Catholic church. They are very strict here. No moving around, no flash photography, no wiring up the father with a wireless mic. Pretty strict. I'm scouting the location tomorrow to figure out how to light this place, and how to photograph everything. Wish me luck!
It was a rather normal morning when I got the call from Angela that she wanted to celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary in Hawaii. If I remember correctly, she told me, "Steve, I want to renew my vow's with my husband of 10 years, then jump out of a perfectly working airplane." It was at that moment when I realized what ten years of marriage could do to the human mind. She then informed me that she and her husband, Dan, had planned their jump at Dillingham Airfield on the North Shore in the morning, so she was looking to do a sunrise wedding somewhere near that area.
"Again," I thought, "Ten years or marriage can do a lot of damage to the human mind... Is she crazy? Morning? I'm not a morning person..."
"I'm ready to pay now Steve...."
Hey, I guess I am morning person! What time should I be there?
All joking aside, Dan and Angela were an awesome couple and an awesome client. I chose Keiki Beach as the ideal location for the vow renewal because it was the closest beach that I could find to Dillingham Airfiled that was perfect for sunrise pictures. The sun didn't really rise out from the ocean, but instead rose from the mountain, which was still very very cool.
It was raining up until 10 minutes before we began the ceremony. When the rain cleared, the sky cleared as well, and we were left with an amazing natural backdrop for pictures.
Conducting the vow renewal ceremony was Rev. Elias Parker, who performed a flawless Hawaiian ceremony.
at Oceans....where it all began!
Dan and Angela met at a club here in Hawaii called "Oceans." Ocean's is a fairly popular night club located on land, and is not known for it's successful dating scene. Women go there to hang out with their girlfriends, and most guys are too drunk to pick up a girl without offending them. Wait-a-minute, did I just describe the entire bar scene...in the world?
Drinks on....?
In any case, Dan and Angela met at Oceans. Angela recalls that Dan was so cheap, she had to buy Dan a drink on ladies night. Dan's smoothness didn't end there. At the end of the night, Dan couldn't remember her name, so he asked her "How do you spell your name?"
Where's the line?
10 years later, the happily married couple revisited where their magic started. Dan insisted he buy her a round this time. And later, after learning how to spell his wives name, he asked "Well, how do I spell my name? Is it Dan with a B?"
I made sure Angela and Dan paid me in full before they jumped out of a
perfectly working plane.
Whose that guy on Dan's back?
I, of course, had a little spending spree with my creative license here. Dan, Angela, it was great meeting you. Thanks for being cool, funny, and for the two dollar tip you left me when you borrowed my truck (I kid...I kid...) I hope to see you again when you make it back down here!
So yesterday was a big day for the United States of America as S&P downgraded our credit rating to AA+ from AAA. Consequently, the markets worldwide and the US dollar took a dive while Gold made new highs.
President Obama issued a statement which basically was more of the same mantra I've heard since he took office; that the government needs to tax the rich more and the government has to create more jobs by green-lighting construction jobs. Then some a handful of politicians started calling this the "Tea Party Recession" and began blaming the conservative movement for this so called double dip recession. The democrats then accused the republicans of having no plan to create jobs for America, unlike President Obama who had a plan.
Personally, as a young businessman who owns a handful of successful businesses, I would like to tell Obama and his colleagues that the government has no business in business.
"Mr. President, it is not the government's job to create jobs. President Obama, you don't create jobs by building roads by awarding select unions huge contracts, and hoping they will spend the money in the economy to stimulate it. Jobs are created by the private sector when they are needed by that same company to answer demand. I create jobs, McDonalds creates jobs, Walmart creates jobs, not the government. If the market was just left alone, and not goosed by the government or manipulated by the Federal Reserve, things would have been okay by now. Yes, people who borrowed too much for their homes would have been foreclosed on, and housing prices would have dropped, but that's needed. Businesses would have shut their doors, people would have lost their jobs, but new businesses would fill their shoes, and people would be hired again." - Me
I doubt he would read that...
But President Obama and his former democratic Congress, and the Federal reserve, insists on more stimulus, more bailouts, and more corporate welfare. Printing money has sent the dollar plunging, and because America doesn't manufacture anything anymore, the price of almost everything shot up! Gas shot up because the dollar plunged, not because gas companies got greedy. Gas is traded in U.S. dollars, and when the dollar plunged, it made it cheaper for other countries to buy gas.... and well, the price went up. Of course, Obama and the democrats will just blame George Bush for everything I just mentioned...and the rich.
To all those who still believe Obama is out for the little guy, let me ask you, "Which little guy did he help out?" I'm the little guy. You're the little guy. But I didn't get any of that stimulus money. Big corporations and big unions did. They got bailed out because they were too big to fail.... I thought in business, if a business makes a mistake, they should suffer the consequences by losing customers, sales, or shutting their doors. How about all the small businesses? Were they too small for him l to care?
Now I'm not sure what side of the fence you sit on when it comes to politics, but the truth is rather scary despite your political affiliation. Our nation faces a gigantic national debt at 14.5 trillion dollars, a debt of $46,000 per citizen. Or if we are just counting those who pay taxes, $130,000 per tax payer. Yes, most Americans don't pay taxes. Our nation is literally broke and we are paying off the interest on our bonds by printing more money. Whose fault is this? It's the politicians, both republican and democrats. They got us here by creating program after program and giving countries money that we don't have. Eventually, we will all have to pay higher taxes. Or...our tax code would have to be rewritten.
I realize most American's mosey on through life without caring what goes on in D.C., but in our day in age, they should, especially now.
How does this affect your wedding plans in Hawaii? Honestly...I don't know. But it's not good. I do know that everything is going to get a lot more expensive. Jewelry, rings, because the price of gold is through the roof, will be very expensive. So if you want a gold wedding band...get it...now. Traveling to Hawaii will be a lot more expensive. Qualifying for that home loan, we'll that's already tough.
There is a silver lining though throughout all of this. It's that we are all-in-all, our own little economy. While politicians can screw with our nation's prosperity, our personal prosperity still has very little to do with them. As long as we save, invest, and spend wisely, we'll all do okay. While these times do require a bit more of all three....if we do exactly opposite of politicians, we should come out through this rough spot unscathed.
Well, that's my two cents for today... I'm off to bed.
Here's a cool couple from the Louisiana. Here's also a smart couple, a good looking couple, and a couple that's been together since they were in high school.
Russ and Amanda renewed their vows after 10 years. It was an awesome vow renewal ceremony. Words cannot describe how they looked at each other during the ceremony, so it's a good thing I brought pictures!
If you look closely, there's a tear there...
I got lucky on this shot. That caring stare of Russ, and Amanda's closed eyes. I don't get emotions like this during wedding ceremonies. Vow renewals are different.
The big hug after there ceremony. How does one describe this in words?
Standard pose here....
Captain Morgan pose here...
Amanda and Russ met in school and there was no turning back after that. It's really nice to see high school sweethearts get together. It usually works in the movies, but not in real life. In this case, it worked really well....
