blog

Elizabeth & Jeff SDE

2010-08-23T17:55:40Z

Jeff & Elizabeth are awesome. I love their quirkiness, fun spirit and undeniable love for one another. We had a blast shooting their wedding and I can't wait to share the photos and a longer write up with you!

Enjoy!

Danielle

Elizabeth & Jeff SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

I REALLY REALLY LIKE SWWWIMMMING

2010-08-17T02:18:11Z

but im not so good at it. my mommy n daddy bought me a big life jacket so i can go swimming wit em' too.

~Gilbert (the doxie)

gilbert swimming from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

MONDAY MORNING

2010-08-16T17:47:32Z

Mondays have always been difficult for me. As a child my mom would joke that she would have to wear football padding to protect herself because waking me up early in the morning was not my thing. I would kick and scream and really make it difficult for her to wake me up (sorry mom!). Today wasn't that much different. With all the traveling and shooting we do its weird suddenly being at home for a change. Its like a rollercoaster - I get so excited and happy when I am shooting + being creative and then monday rolls around and I am sitting at my desk for 8-12 hours without any movement.

From our twitter updates you may have noticed that we are having some changes done around our home. Back in 2008 we had a malfunctioning toilet - which overflowed for 4 days straight when we were out of town (ouch) - and finally, this week we are getting all the drywall put back into the garage - which is both awesome but also going to be hectic. With people coming in and out all week and also Casey will be out of town the following week at WEVA - we have so much to do in so little time.

This morning I sat down at my computer close to tears. I was opening up a project to edit and saw these lovely photos on my hard drive and it made me all happy inside. I have been waiting to post this part of Elaine & Everett's shoot for a while. A warm feeling of excitement welled up as I look at these photos and think of how much fun we all had at the shoot. It reminds me of the all of the laughter that we shared especially over Everett's unique hula hooping style :) Man it was fun.

-danielle\\

Jonas ONE2ONE workshop

2010-08-05T22:23:33Z

At lunch today Casey and I were talking about education and success. What Casey and I have found to be one of the most important things in moving our work and business forward is to never be complacent. It is important to always be learning, growing and striving for something better. I never want to just sit where I am today, I am always writing down goals, reading books and researching what else is out there. Casey is the same way, he is always reading, learning and pushing himself to get better at steadicam, perspective, imagery and overall in business. That is where education comes in. I think that it is important no matter what stage you are in in your life or business, to learn from your peers and push yourself further.

Jonas also shares that same drive for something more. We met Jonas at a coffee shop about a year ago. We had just finished up a client meeting and Jonas came over and introduced himself. He said that he had just stumbled upon our work the day before and from looking at his work he had been inspired to take his photography to the next level. It was sheer coincidence that that next day he ended up seeing us. From there we exchanged info and we kept bumping into each other at the same coffee shop about once a month. Recently Jonas booked a ONE2ONE session with us and we had a ton of fun. We covered everything from how to shoot in harsh lighting conditions, reflections, goal setting, branding, finding your own voice and so much more. Jonas has a really unique perspective and eye for photography and I love that he took what we talked about and made it his own. This is what Jonas had to say as well as a photo of me that he took during the workshop!

-danielle

Lisa & Brian SDE Seattle

2010-07-26T20:30:00Z

Danielle and I just got back last night from our 10 day trip to Virginia. We were there working on a project for Canon, USA. We met so many insanely amazing people and we cant thank them enough for sharing their time and working with us. It was amazing getting to see behind the scenes of the company that makes the cameras and lenses we shoot with.

I thought I would share Lisa and Brian's SDE... which we shot a couple weeks before we left out of town. Danielle and I were totally pumped to see Lisa and Brian on the wedding day because It had been over a year since we had seen them. Two days after we first met they moved to Italy (lucky dogs!!!!) and they had been there ever since. So it was awesome getting to hang out with them again and be a part of capturing their day. After the ceremony we had a blast with them and they were totally up for doing all of our crazy ideas.... like trekking across a dock that was a couple waves away from sinking into the lake :)

We had the opportunity to work with Michelle (from Married and More with Michelle) who planned the wedding and we couldnt have pulled off the SDE without her amazing help.

Danielle and I also had the pleasure of shooting alongside our good friends Sarah and Chris Rhoads who photographed the wedding. It was awesome working together and make Lisa & Brian look modeliscious throughout the day :)

Lisa & Brian SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Casey

2010-07-26T02:52:33Z

We flew into Virginia on Wednesday for a project we are working on with one of our favorite companies. Saturday was Casey's birthday and instead of sitting in our hotel room, we thought it would be awesome to get out and explore the area to get a feel for what it is like here. We drove about 2 and a half hours (lots of traffic) to Williamsburg Virginia to tour the area and look at all the old buildings. Well first of all it is HOT! It has been over 100 degrees here with a million percent humidity. I may be exaggerating but more than a second outside and I am wilted. But, we had driven 2.5 hours so I still wanted to take part in the activities. We toured the govenor's mansion, which thankfully had air conditioning (obviously updated from the original) and then we had a wonderful dinner and desert before heading back to our hotel. We were only there 4 hours, but it felt like an entire day, since it was so hot. But it was fun anyway!

danielle

Christina & Kevin SDE

2010-07-20T20:01:52Z

What I loved about Christina & Kevin's Wedding Day:

1. Family- family was so important to Christina & Kevin everything from her sister leading the games to the tea ceremony

2. Their photo session was SUPER awesome. Their bridal party had a ton of fun laughing together and telling stories. There were also a ton of pillars and interesting architecture to use.

3. How Kevin's face looked when he first saw Christina. After singing "I love you" and after having to eat slices of 1000 year old eggs, I think he was finally ready to be in Christina's arms ;)

4. Christina's entrance into the cereremony. Walking down that spiral staircase! BOMB.

5. How relaxed everybody the entire day!

6. Double tea ceremonies. We love tea and family. Awesome.

7. The awesomeness of Christina & Kevin. Since the wedding was in Toronto, we hadn't had a chance to meet C & K face to face so we decided to grab breakfast the morning before the wedding to meet and catch up. It was awesome. I felt like we had known them for a long time, and it made the day super fun and relaxed.

8. It was warm! Yay!

9. Christina had two dresses. One traditional red chinese dress and also a white one!

-danielle

Christina & Kevin SDE from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

Jeff & Jenn Engagement

2010-07-18T21:55:20Z

Almost all of the couples we work with share that "instant connnection" moment when we first meet, but I think with Jeff & Jen there was something more.

Our "meeting" ended up being 2 hours of telling stories, talking about our lives, jobs, dogs and so on. Casey and I were absolutely excited to shoot J&J's engagement session. We had planned to start off in ballard and then head shilshole beach, finishing with a beach sunset. However, when we got down to Shilshole for the shoot we were blown away at the sheer number of people there.... In fact there was a low hanging fog that enveloped the entire beach wafting up from the BBQ's. It reminded me why I avoid popular beaches in the summer. There wasn't an inch of unoccupied beach to spare.

We drove down the street and found an awesome marina. We were lucky enough to get into the marina for the rest of the shoot. Casey worked his magic for the shoot, and of course "nervous nelly" was on hand for the first 30 mins.

I love the serenity and love that J&J have for each other. Nothing was forced. Jeff is so carefree, fun, outgoing and wild. He seems to be the life of the party and is so much fun to be around. Jenn is more reserved but she is beautiful and quiet and awesome. She is the perfect match for Jeff because she is the opposite of him and that is why they just meld so well together. I can't wait for their wedding in September. It is going to be soooo much fun!

-Danielle

Kim & Joey | Highlights

2010-07-18T18:44:15Z

Kim and Joey were an amazing couple to work with. They had it right on their wedding day: keep it fun and keep it relaxed. The day started early at the salon in Bellevue and then moved to a quaint little church where all their friends and family helped set up the decorations. It was an awesome experience to see everyone coming together to take care of kim and joey.

Technical
This was one of our early pieces that we shot with 5d mark II's back when they first released the original firmware upgrade for manual controls -- On the steadicam I used the Canon 24mm and for nearly everything else it was a mix of 50mm and 135mm handheld. For audio we used an EX1 and a couple Zoom H4n's. We shot this entirely with 4GB CF cards ---- so as you can imagine we were going though cards like crazy :)

Jen & Johnny NYC: Coney Island

2010-07-16T23:46:03Z

Jen & Johnny are the epitome of awesomeness. Our first meeting was over skype. Even though there was a lot of awkward pauses (due to the lag of the trusty internet) and a large broken vase... they knew we were right for them, and they were right for us :) J&J truly love each other. They are spontaneous, loving and thoughtful.

Jen & Johnny flew to Disney World right before our shoot for the opening of the Harry Potter rides. They LOVE carnival rides and overall having a lot of fun together. We thought it would be fitting to do their engagement shoot as one of the places they love-- Coney Island. We frolicked around the amusement parks and even went on a few rides ourselves. We saw the Wonder Wheel and thought it would be fun, what we didn't realize is that the colored ones don't just calmly going around the outside of the wheel, they actually slide down quickly! This made for a pretty scary ferris wheel.

-danielle