VideoMonday: Group Dances

In today's installment of VideoMonday, I'm presenting two videos that I find uplifting. The first is a compilation of a guy named Matt who has traveled the world and videotaped himself dancing in various locations with groups of locals.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.


This one is one of those fascinating "people-show-up-in-one-spot-in-public-and-do-something-crazy" videos. Wish I could have been there to witness it.




There's something about these videos that just gets me a little emotional. It makes me feel like the world is a smaller place, and that humans exist together in perfect harmony.

For more "flash mob" type videos, check out Improv Everywhere.

Nic & Cam: My Favorite Moments

Whenever I'm talking with someone after they've experienced a big vacation or an important event, I like to ask them what their top three favorite moments were. The answers are always much more revealing than if I were to simply ask: "How was it?" So here on my blog I'm going to post my top three favorite moments of my sister's wedding day. I'm also going to ask Nicole (and maybe Cameron) to do the same thing!

1. Helping Nicole get ready. This was one of my favorite parts of my own wedding, so I was really looking forward to it. It's the time when you start to realize that everything is coming together: the bridesmaids are all gathered and dressed in their preselected ensembles, the photographer and videographer are in the room, and there is just so much excitement! Nicole reserved a small suite for her preparations, and we made sure that it was extremely tidy and orderly. There was natural light coming in through the windows, and the bouquets were waiting on the table.

Perhaps the highlight of this phase was actually seeing Nicole in her dress. I hadn't seen it post-alterations, and it fit her perfectly. (Before the alterations, Nicole was worried that the dress wasn't flattering on her.) I helped her put her veil on. Actually, my veil! I let Nicole use it and it was an amazing compliment to her dress. Shoes, earrings, make-up touch-ups, and she was ready! Time for a few pictures in front of the window. Here's a little teaser for you:

(photo by Casey Benson)

It looks like number one of my top three ended up being longer than I expected, so this one post will actually be three!

VMP Compilation

I thought it would be neat to put together a little video that features clips from various weddings over the years. It was a fun project, and I enjoyed looking back over the years and seeing the unique couples and unique events that I've had the pleasure of experiencing.


VMP Demo from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

One thing I've noticed about this video is that there are lots of walking shots (love the dynamism, and how graceful a bride looks as she moves somewhere), and lots of smiling shots. I just get so much pleasure in highlighting the happiness of the best day in these people's lives!

Our Wedding: The Proposal

Our proposal story is quite simple. It was some time in October nearly three years ago, and Brent and I were spending the evening together at my place. He was a bit under the weather, so he asked me to go buy him some soup at Walgreens. I obliged, and when I came back home through the door, the apartment was dark and there were candles lit in the living room. Brent was waiting there for me, and he said some sweet nothings, then got down on one knee and popped the question. I actually didn't believe it was real until I saw the ring glinting in the candle light in its little box. Of course I said yes.

I actually have a video of the whole thing, because that was the one "requirement" I had regarding the proposal. However, I'm sad to say that I won't be showing it here. My own dignity prevents that. I was wearing my infamous "J-Lo" suit (you know, the soft zip-up jacket thing with matching elastic-waist pants that is uber-comfortable and uber-ugly), and my hair was a mess, etc. Not exactly a look I'm willing to display on the internet. But here is a still frame from the video, when we were excitedly yelling at the camera and showing off the bling:

So after that, we changed into more presentable duds and went to celebrate at the restaurant where we had our first date. Before we left, we had our neighbor take a picture to commemorate the occasion.

This was such an exciting time for us. It was a thrill telling all our friends and family the good news. I loved staring down at my beautiful vintage ring knowing that I was wanted forever. And the best part for me was knowing that Brent had waited two years to put that ring on my finger. He wasn't one of those guys that you have to wait on, or cojole in order to get the committment. He was eager and ready and willing the entire time, and that's something that will always warm my heart.

Now that we were engaged, I had the green light to commence wedding planning!

Our Wedding: The Courtship

May 16th Now Available

May 16th of this year has just become available, so if you called me earlier about reserving this date, please feel free to get back in touch with me!

903.596.7977

These Make Me Happy

So I was cruising some of my usual photographer blogs and I came across a few photos that I just adore. So of course I have to share them with you! Sweet, simple, warm, natural, and earthy. Beautiful!



(by One Love Photo)

(by Kathyrn Krueger Photography)

Mrs. Schick

I've scheduled this post ahead of time to be published right about the time that my sister will be walking down the aisle to Cameron to say her vows. Wow. What a moment. I already know that she is breathtakingly beautiful. I've seen her dress fittings, her hair and make-up trials, her jewelry tests...I know they will all come together to make Nicole even more pretty than she already is. I'm sure she is incredibly excited at this moment, and I know Cameron's heart is nearly pounding out of his chest at the sight of his bride. Everyone in attendance is craning to catch a sight of her as she glides down the aisle. My dad will be smiling and proud, and my mom will be touched and proud too. My brother will fondly look on as a groomsman, and possibly wonder for a fleeting moment when it will be his turn.

I'll look on and marvel at how fast it's all going. At times the planning seemed to go on forever, then the wedding weekend arrived and everything picked up its pace. And then the ceremony was here in a flash, and now look, she's already nearly at the end of the aisle. How did that happen? After few moments, a few words, one kiss, my sister will be married. Mrs. Schick. And so the journey begins...

Now let's get the party started.

Casey Benson Underwater

Casey Benson recently enlisted me to make him a video of one of his famous underwater shoots. If you haven't seen any of his underwater photos yet, you're in for a treat. Casey got his scuba diving license specifically for these shoots, and all his hard work has paid off. These pictures are stunning. It was so fun for me to do this shoot because it was such a challenge. I wore a snorkel mask and strapped weights to my wrists and ankles, and held my breath underwater for every take. I had to try to stay down under the water while at the same time keeping the camera steady- just a little tricky.

If you have a decent internet connection, you must watch it in HD.

Casey Benson Underwater from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.

But what's harder than shooting the video is actually modeling for these. You have to hold your breath, keep your eyes open, have a pleasant look on your face, keep your limbs graceful, AND make sure your hair flows behind you and not in your face. I know this because Brent and I asked Casey to take some pics for us a while back. Brent ended up having to just stand in the water while I posed around his legs! We love the way it turned out though.

These photo sessions are available to anyone that's interested, just get in touch with Casey if you want to make an appointment! And you can see more of these underwater pics here on his blog.

Wedding Day Must-Do's

I just came across this extremely helpful post written by make-up artist Laura Nadeau for Weddingbee PRO. It's full of useful tips and recommendations to make your wedding day run more smoothly.

Check it out here.

I wholeheartedly agree with the SMILE advice. Sometimes I see brides get caught up in worrying about something and I have to say "Happy Bride!" to remind them to smile. A smile can make the difference between a stunning beauty shot, or a shot that gets the cut.

The only thing I would qualify is the suggestion to play music. You can play it until your videographer arrives; at that point I would turn it off so that your video can include natural audio without having music interfere with the song track.

Hope this helps you avoid a headache or two!

Michelle & Gene

Michelle and Gene married in a lovely ceremony in Bullard and then celebrated afterward at Hollytree Country Club. The date for this occassion happened to be the same day as the big OU-UT game at the Cotton Bowl, and since Michelle is an OU fan and Gene is a UT fan, it made for some interesting moments throughout the day. Picture little girls making the upside down Hook 'em Horns symbol, knives being stabbed into the Longhorn symbol on the groom's cake, bets involving team anthems, and other shenanigans. (As a UT alum, please allow me to tactfully point out that the Longhorns won the game.)

This video clip is an excerpt from the photo session on the golf course green. I loved the evening light and the bright green grass along with the hot pink flowers. Michelle and Gene's two girls are just about the sweetest little ones I've ever been around.

(click here to watch it in HD.)


Michelle & Gene from Vanessa McKellar Productions.com on Vimeo.


"We got our video last night! I can't even begin to tell you how much we love it. It is perfect, we couldn't have asked for anything more. You and Brent did such an amazing job and we couldn't be happier with how the video turned out. Thank you so much! It was a great pleasure working with you and we appreciate the wonderful job you did in capturing our wedding day! -Extremely HAPPY customers, Michelle & Gene"

Church: Bullard Southern Baptist
Reception: Hollytree Country Club
Photographer: Treasured Moments
DJ: CMB Music Productions

Aegis Awards Top 30

The other day in the mail I received a year-end recap letter from the Aegis Awards competition. The second page of the packet was a list of the Top 30 Scores, and guess who was on it? Yep, VMP! If you click on the picture below, you can see it there next to the asterisk.


What I'm excited about is the fact that there were 3,439 entries from 46 states and provinces, which puts me in the top 1%! Kinda cool, if I do say so myself. Thanks again, Laura & Greg!

VideoMonday: "I Want You to Be My Love"

For today's installment of VideoMonday, I'd like to feature a song (or more specifically, videos accompanied by a certain song). If you watched my sister's Love Story, the last song you heard was Over The Rhine's "I Want You to Be My Love". I've always liked this song, but I was recently reintroduced to it by my sister. She said that the husband and wife members of Over The Rhine were at one point having marriage trouble. So they decided to cancel a tour, take time off, and just focus on rebuilding their relationship. Thankfully, they were able to work things out and stay together. And this song? It's the first track on their album that is "the 'catharsis' album of the breakdown -and subsequent restrengthening- of their relationship".*

I found this beautiful video on YouTube and I think it's a nice way for you to hear the song.



I also love this song for another reason: my dear friend Brent used in a video he created (in vintage Super 8) to propose to his then-girlfriend Lisa. You can watch it here (it'll take a second to load). Brent and Lisa got married several autumns ago in a white-clapboard chapel in the plains of Minnesota, and their reception was at an apple orchard. They played this video on a screen during their first dance. I was so happy to be there to witness (and hear) the loveliness.

*source