"Links" The Oregon Golf Club - West Linn, OR | Meghan and Scott

Just heard of the term “links” (meaning golf) and had some amazing puns for this title, but I found myself in need of a punctuation device not yet created. With a double parentheses I could have said “link(s)(ed) together” or something of that nature, and you Dad’s out there would have lol’d so good! Can you tell I haven’t talked to anyone over 3 years old today?

Anyways, wanted to write about this wonderful wedding we shot this past May at The Oregon Golf Club. I met Meghan and Scott a couple years ago when we shot their friends Sam and Mark’s wedding. That wedding was great and Meghan and Scott were wild and so much fun to be around, and I was really happy when they emailed us for their wedding. I’d only ever seen them in party mode, but hearing their letters to each other at their first look gave me more of an idea of the depth of their love for each other. It’s a pretty special thing to be present for moments like these.

Loved seeing so many familiar faces in this wedding and the whole day felt really relaxed. And man, once the reception started the party was real. One of my favorite parts from this film, was when Meghan and Scott enter the reception and Meghan tee’s up Scott for a swing… so good! Also watching Meghan’s Dad dance was amazing, if you’re looking for it in the film, you’ll know it when you see it:)

This was the brightest hottest day so far that year, but I had a lot of fun working with Jordan and Scott(Jordan and Scott Photo) finding creative ways to work with the light and we found some great spots. Their pictures from the day are on their site if you wanna check um out. Really liked working with those guys.

Enjoy and Much Loves,

Chris

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Venue | The Oregon Golf Club

Photography | Jordan and Scott Photo

"For the Love of Dogs" Loft at the Red Building Wedding - Astoria, OR | Ben and Kelly

Gosh it’s been a busy season! On top of shooting a bunch, me and Tiff just had another baby boy(Cannon Elliott) and moved back into our house after a year and a half renovation. So I’m now typing in my new office, instead of the basement partitioned by hanging blankets. #FeelsGood

Really stoked to finally post this film I did for an awesome couple Ben and Kelly. Really felt like good buddies leaving this wedding and we even stayed for a bit after we were done shooting, cause we were having fun! Kelly and Ben are both Veterinarians and love their dogs, so it was awesome to include them in the portraits. Our dog Kova is a huge Malamute Wolf mix, and he just had torn his ACL, and later in the day we were joking about how we should have just traded their wedding video for a TPLO surgery… we seriously would have done that:) Also the title for this video is just silly. Kelly and Ben’s relationship is so much more than loving dogs, but I talk about dogs lots in this post, so I figured why not? Who doesn’t love dogs?

The wedding and reception were held at The Loft at the Red Building. Amazing light, awesome owners, and the best view of Astoria. Most of these shots were taken at the venue, and the super cool shots in the rafters(or beams? I don’t know what to call it) were taken directly underneath the venue. It’s so rad when a couple is down to get a little dirty and adventurous because it really opens up so many cool location options to make a great film.

Our photographer buddy for the day was Seppi Ramos shooting for Powers Photography Studios. Seppi is the frickn’ best. We absolutely loved working with him and watching him dive on the ground or walk long distances for the perfect angle. We just recently shot another wedding with him last month and we’ll be posting that soon.

Good stuff. Hope you enjoy the film as much as we did!

Much Loves,

-Chris

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Venue | Loft at the Red Building

Photography | Powers Photography Studios

"Pure Joy" - Youngberg Hill Vineyard Wedding McMinnville, OR | Elie and Mickey

A couple months ago we got to shoot a wedding for an awesome couple. Mickey and Elie are two giant sized personalities balanced by charisma and an attentive sweetness. The whole day felt very inclusive, nostalgic and humming with an excitement.

We were so happy to return to Youngberg Hill Vineyard as it was the site of one of our favorite weddings last year. Seeing it green was a big contrast from the late summer gold we had shot in previously, and we were loving the overcast just on the verge of rain all day long.

Our dancing partners for the day were the Love Lit Wedding Photography ladies. Their shooting style and posing was everything I like to shoot, so everything went really fast and we loved vibing with them. 

I think this video is one of the best we’ve made so far. We took the beginning of the year dreaming and questioning what we can do to push ourselves creatively, and this video really showcases the different shots, colors, and story composition that we are shooting for in this coming year. The speeches were also just amazing, and that really helped us tell a great story. We’ve got a couple videos we’re still working on this week, and we’re getting so excited to post them very soon.

Hope you enjoyed this film. We had a blast making it. The singing was loud, the room got hot, and the floor was bouncing late into the night.

Much Loves,

-Chris

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Venue | Youngberg Hill Vineyard

Photography | Love Lit Wedding Photography

Chandler's Gardens Wedding, Celina, Tx | Matthew and Annaliese

For our first wedding of the year me and Tiff got to travel out to Dallas to shoot our good friend Matt's wedding. It was February, and it's always nice to get out of the Portland rain for a little break. 

Matt and Annaliese wanted a pretty simple and straightforward film, so there's no audio, just good times and a focus on both of their amazing families.  Matt has lived in a few different places during his 20's, which made filming this really fun because all his friends from different states got to meet each other for the first time. Both families are devout Christians, and there was a joy and a reverence that was easy to capture in the film. The family prayer during the ceremony, to the wild dancing in the evening made for a special time. 

You may notice all the different shots of Legos in the film. Matt loves Legos. Plastic gold he says... and he's right. One year when me and Tiff were fundraising to go back to Uganda to work in the orphanage that we visit most years, Matt donated about 30 boxes of unopened Legos. I sold them on Ebay and it ended up funding most of our trip! So every table had a little random assortment of Legos for each guest to make their own character.

I messed around with different colors in this film and really loved how the reds came out. Geek stuff I know, but thought I'd mention it. Also we shoot some polaroids at every wedding just for fun, and I think we're gonna start using them as the video thumbnails. So we aren't low-resing our photos in post, that's the real deal:) Was really fun editing this, and was cracking up editing all the dancing scenes. Two of my brothers were there hamming it up super hard. Hope you all enjoy

Much Loves,

Chris

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Venue | Chandler's Gardens

Photography | Lorena Burns Photography

Little note about the photos. Any of the nice photos are by Lorena, all the rest are from friends:)

Indian Wells Country Club Wedding, Indian Wells, CA | Karha and Ryan

Last November we traveled to Palm Springs to shoot our friends Karha and Ryan's wedding. Tiff has known Karha for over 15 years and it was really special to see her marry the love of her life.

The wedding took place at Indian Wells Country Club, and though we've done so many weddings, this was the our first country club shoot. I'm not a golfer, and my mind only knows the par 3's we would ride our bikes through as kids, so I did not expect the desert country club to be beautiful, haha but it was! Take a thirty second walk from the ceremony and it feels like you're in Joshua Tree or something.

I think my favorite thing from this wedding was the speech made by Karha's little son Rex. "It's a great day for me and my Mom to get married." Karha and Rex have been through a lot, and it seems like Ryan came into their life at just the perfect time. Right before the ceremony Karha surprised Ryan with final adoption papers for Rex. The day was a perfect union of Husband and Wife, and of Mother, Father and Child.

The pictures in this post are from the very talented Kati Nicole. We're both a huge fan of her work, and it was so fun hanging out all weekend with such a sweet person.
 

Much Loves,

Chris

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Venue | Indian Wells Country Club

Photography | Kati Nicole

Venture Workshop & Styled Shoot

Two weeks ago I attended my first wedding filmmaker workshop. I'd never thought or heard of a specific workshop like that, but my one and only friend in the biz who I come to for advice, (Anna Joyce / Joyce Films) suggested that I attend Venture. Since I live in a vacuum, I had never heard of White in Revery, Forestry Films, Everly Films, and Seth Dunlop, who are all incredible leaders in the industry. Folks flew in from all over the world, to the Silverton Lodge in Oregon to sharpen their skills and learn from the best.

For the last ten years I've learned everything I know about films from the internet. I've never taken classes and didn't have anyone to show me the ropes, so the chance to ask questions and learn the work process of some amazing film makers was an unreal experience for me. Just to be able to talk film making with someone else was nice, but to talk about color grading, software, lenses, and story crafting blew my mind. There were lectures in the morning with topics ranging from marketing to editing, and shooting sessions in the afternoon.

For four days my mind was crammed with so much information and new ideas, that it was kinda hard for me to know where to start when I got home. After I had time to sit with the information, organize my notes, and set some new goals, I would say that the biggest take away for me was license to be more creative and try new things. I kinda had my idea of what a wedding video should be and I was doing my best to hit that idea, but I was wondering where I could go with the films, like how could I keep improving. I know I could get inspired by watching Youtube, but now I have the means to implement my creativity. I'm really excited for this next year for better story crafting, different shooting styles, and more amazing films.

Here's a little video I put together from the styled shoots at the workshop. The forest reminded me of the Upside Down from Stranger Things, which was awesome. I was seeing all the amazing videos my peers from the workshop were posting, and I felt like elegance and flowing beauty were expressed in their videos, and I wouldn't be able to add much more to that collection. So I did something a little different and had lots of fun with this edit. I started in films with music videos, so this is a little like that, super dramatic. I also wrote and recorded this song for the video. I would like to do more little projects like this in the future, but for now it can just be to show what else I can do with films. Hope you enjoy!

Much Love,
Chris

Venture Workshop | ventureworkshop.co

The Barn on Jackson Wedding Chehalis, WA | Dillon and Becky

This is a wedding we shot in October, at the quirkiest venue, The Barn on Jackson. I spent a little time in Australia, and the vibe of this place reminded me of a multi family country abode. The bride's quarters were brick with hanging vines, there were roaming goats and an expansive field, and the barn was a mix of weathered wood and brick that just had a rustic warm feel to it.

Becky and Dillon are a wonderful couple. They're very welcoming and hilarious. I have so much footage from this wedding that just cracks me up, that I was momentarily tempted to include some audio clips in the video. And yes those are shots of tequila being taken during the ceremony, just perfect:) 

This wedding is shot in the format of the Laurelhurst Package. You'll see its a bit longer than the North Tabor packages and there is audio from the speeches and the ceremony. Usually I like doing some sort of interview footage with the bride and groom, but Becky and Dillon wanted to keep it super chill and candid, and it worked really well for their video style. The drone footage of course looked amazing thanks to Tiffany, and we also had our friend Wiley Parker there to help us shoot the full ceremony video. Wiley is so good at shooting and he also happens to be the brother in law of the wedding photographer that day, Caito. All the photos on this blog were taken by her, and as you can see she's so creative. 

Love this video and really happy to finally share its goodness with y'all. 

Much Loves,
Chris

Photography: Caito

Venue: The Barn on Jackson

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Zenith Vineyard Wedding Salem, OR | Mike and Chelsea

Back in 2016 I shot a wedding for Brad and Kylee. It was at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum and is still one of my favorites to this day. (you can watch that video here) One year later we were so excited to hear from Chelsea, who is Kylee's sister. The whole group of friends and family are wonderful people who love a good party, and it's not often you get to shoot with the same folks at different weddings. It was fun recognizing people from my last video(cause lord knows I'm looking at 20-30 hours of faces while I edit:) and seeing a similar party, but with it's own personality. There's a fun little part in Kylee's film where Chelsea jumps over her nieces during the reception. It was such a memorable little moment, and we got a chance to recreate that moment at Mike and Chelsea's wedding, but this time Kylee does the jumping. 

Zenith Vinyards was beautiful and the day was bright. We got amazing light for the sunset photos(which I would always recommend) and the ceremony light was just perfect. I worked this day alongside Jake and Anna of Sweetlife Photography, and you can see their work from the day down below.

Hope you enjoy the video, this was a North Tabor package.

Much Loves,

Chris

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Venue | Zenith Vinyard

Photography | Sweetlife Photography

Youngberg Hill Vineyards Wedding McMinnville, OR | Megan and Eric

With the closing of 2017, we wanted to take some time to share with you some of our favorite weddings from this past year. I met up for drinks with Megan and Eric about a month before their wedding date to discuss day of details, and right away I knew how the day would feel. Megan and Eric are really easy to talk to and super laid back. They're just buds, and the comfort and ease of their relationship extends outward to others. Fast forward to September, me and Tiff found ourselves winding through seemingly endless miles of backroads to arrive at Youngberg Hill Vinyards . I'm uncultured and had never visited a vineyard before, so naturally I was blown away by the expansive beauty of the place. We had recently bought our drone and it was a perfect place to capture the wedding from a new vantage point way up in the sky. Tiffany was just getting down tracking with the drone and we were pretty stoked on some of the shots she got in this video. I shot the day alongside Amanda Meg who was doing photos. She had some great ideas and was so fun for us to work with.(BTW all these amazing photos were taken by her) 

As the day moved toward mid afternoon, the heat really turned up. It's pretty understandable for people to get a bit impatient wearing full wedding attire, but this wedding party didn't seem to be bothered. I was sweating through my shirt and these guys were just hamming it up and loving life. Thats the way it should be. You can see during the pre ceremony wedding party pictures, that these guys were so excited to be there and it really shows throughout the whole day. Though Megan and Eric are from Oregon, they lived in Colorado for a bit, and lots and lots of people travelled here for the wedding. Lots of weddings have that family/friend reunion type feel, and I love capturing that feeling. 

Hope you enjoy the video as much as we do. This is the North Tabor package.

This might be my first blog post ever, and I don't think I've updated my facebook in 3 years, but we're gonna try and post regularly here so you can see what we're up to. Also make sure you follow us on socials to see when we post new vids. | Instagram | Facebook |

Much Loves,

Chris

Venue: Youngberg Hill Vinyards 

Photos: Amanda Meg Photography