I've been sick all this week with some crazy little bug that likes to trick me into thinking I feel better, then at the exact moment I try and get up and smile, it sneaks in and hits hard with runny nose, headache, the works,.... I've been trying to rest as much as I can each day (and all the while, slowly getting addicted to the show 'LOST') and I think its been working (both the 'feeling better' and the addiction to iTunes :) 

Two things:

ONE: today, I am finally starting to feel a little better. 

TWO: I value and appreciate all the amazing people who support us and others in the indsutry. 

Every year Event DV magazine puts out a series of videos spread across a couple days announcing a top 25 event filmmakers in the industry. While watching and supporting all our friends and others in the industry who were announced, Danielle and I work up the next morning to see that my name was on the list....

crazy/.

The first thing I thought of was how thankful I am for all those in the industry that support us and the many amazing filmmakers who were voted in. I want to say THANK YOU to all of our couples, clients, and friends...you inspire us to keep on doing what we love. We wouldnt be here without your excitement, love, kindness, and general insane awesomeness!!! thank you. We are honored to be a part of the 25. 

MINDCASTLE wouldn't be here without teamwork, and I am hugely thankful for everyone we've worked with with and who's helped us out this last year, especially Danielle and Nathan.

Danielle: You hear people say in movies and tv shows all the time,"my other half" While the term may be cliche, nonetheless, its meaning is ostensibly relevant. Danielle is my other half, and I want to thank her for being here for me all the time, whether out shooting, taking Gilbert on runs, or at home taking care of me when im not feeling well (i.e. making dinner, handling e-mails, phone calls). I searched for one, but there doesn't seem to be an emoticon for HUG, so im going to make one up for her and send it in an e-mail. And also, since she's sitting across from me on the couch I may give her a real one too :) Thanks Love. 

Nathan =  insanely awesome. Two Octobers ago, we shot his and Jenna's wedding, and since then we've became good friends, and he's also rocked it out with us on a ton of project as well. His devotion, hardwork, and rock-solid belief in teamwork is amazing.

It is humbling to be named with all the other amazingly creative and deserving filmmakers on the list. Thank you for all the people who voted for and believe in us. YOU all rock.

~Casey W.

big thanks to Stephen Nathans-Kelly for such kind words in his press release. 

More soon.

The first day Casey and I completed a six mile run on the beach. That has always been one of my goals: to run that far all while enjoying the salty thick air of the beach and the sunny skies. Although amazingly fun, the run was definitely harder than I expected! Since the tide was up so high it was difficult to find any hard sand to run on so our feet sank atleast 2 inches with every stride. I also got blasted with a huge wave when this really cute (and huge) dog came up to greet me. Oh well, I didn't need brand-new beautiful clean running shoes anyway :)

While we were driving up the coast, we discovered an amazing little town called, Capitola. For all the many times I have been to the beach house, I have never once been there. We stumbled upon it while picking up some things for Jane & Riz's shoot. We stopped at this cute little antique store and I asked the owner if they had any old cameras. She didn't have any but she pulled out a map of over 40 antique shops and circled one which she said usually has a great stash of cameras. We drove down to the shop and found a cabinet full of cameras. As we were looking we realized we owned almost all of the cameras in the case. We did find a few gems which I posted below:  

~Danielle K. 

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BELOW: We usually have to deal with having too much camera gear when we travel and overweight luggage is pretty much the norm, however, for this trip we packed 4 books, 4 vintage cameras, 7 packs of Polaroid film, our regular camera gear: 5 lenses, 5d, 7d, mark IV, CF cards, batteries, AND the vintage typewriter in case... our bags were WELL over 50 pounds, however, with some clever switching, swapping, and winking at TSA workers, we got it all onboard with no extra baggage fees :) :) :)

Books, directions, map, reading material. 

 BELOW: A cool map we found at the house of the San Francisco area

BELOW: view from the window right after we woke up. The ocean tide  was REALLY high this season, usually there is about 300m of sand before you hit water. Later that day we went running down the coast, and in some places the water came all the way up to the hillside. 

BELOW: A Polaroid Casey snapped out the window of the beach house in the morning. 

BELOW: view from our bedroom window. Thinking of getting a massive print of this photo and hang it outside my window here in Seattle, hehe. 

BELOW: While en-route, our Instax camera must have got pretty banged up because all the photos had these crazy streaks and dots on them. Definitely adds a cool effects. Its funny how sometimes we spend hours making digital photos look aged, when really, its as easy as dropping your film camera a couple times and voila, instant vintage effect. 

When we first entered the shop we found a small cabinet in a corner that was literally packed to the brim full of vintage cameras. The glass door was pretty dusty and it was also locked, so we couldnt really get a good view of what was inside. After we called the clerk over to open up the door and help, we peaked inside and saw this beauty.... Although we have a whole lot of Polaroid cameras, we hadnt seen one like this. We thought it was cool because the front chromed part kinda of looks like a vintage car from the 50's. It was only $12, so we grabbed it and were about to head out when we stumbled opon another cabinet in the far back of the store.....

....in the back, we stumbled upon this in a brightly lit glass cabinet. We asked to check it out and the owner came over to help us unlock the glass slider, however, he had about 100 keys on a small key ring and spend the next 20 min trying to find the right one. By this point, we pretty much knew we had to buy the camera to, first of all, make his efforts worth while, and secondly, to have a decent excuse for us to buy yet another vintage camera :) 

While rummaging through one of the antique shops cupboards, I discovered a really cool map of Japan from the 1930's. I knew this would be the perfect gift for Casey's brother who loves Japan (and is also going to be living there all next year in a exchange program). 

Enjoy.

K&I TTD Hawaii from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

PWS = Post Wedding Session

TTD = Trash The Dress

The Holidays////.

I think our christmas presents this year very much reflect who we are both from the giving side and the receiving side. Though very cluttered, Casey likes to be clean (aka no germs. none). For his teeth: that means buying a new toothbrush almost every week, not allowing the bristles to touch the counter and using the brush until the bristles are flat. With gift giving I am practical. I don't like buying things we don't need and I have a really hard time getting gifts for people on specific dates. I would rather just buy gifts for people all year around -- when I see something that is really them! This year was no exception. I struggled. I asked for suggestions but I still had a hard time. Casey mentioned he wanted a toothbrush and not just a regular one, but a mechanical crazy warp speed oral-b level nine-thousand or something. To no suprise to him, that is what I got him. Now it feels like every-time you brush your teeth, you have just came back from the dentist :) 

Casey on the other hand is the dreamer, more of the everyday creator. He latches on to things that I mention that I like and keeps them in the back of his mind until it is time for christmas or my birthday. While I am always asking him what he wants, he never asks me. This is something I really appreciate, though I always tease him that the gifts he gets me are really what HE wants, though I know that is only partially true. I think he just remembers the things that I mention I like that he also likes. Every year he gets me something vintage, multiples of the same thing (though different style and color). Last year that meant Polaroid cameras (not just one but 7), this year it was typewriters!

2010////

 “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” Oscar Wilde 

 I thought this quote is very fitting because for those of you that follow Casey's twitter you know that he stays up many late late nights thinking, sketching and creating -- always with some green tea by his side (and its usually not just "green" tea, it has to be some very special rare kind that is directly imported from a specific tea growng area in Japan, hehe)

The hours between 12 am and 4 am are the hours where he takes just something ordinary and turns it into something amazing.  Almost every day I wake up and find a masterpiece downstairs. This could be something personal like a painting, movie made in After Effects or a Christmas card. 

Casey and I are constantly setting goals and dreaming about the projects that we want to accomplish. This doesn't just happen at the beginning of each year, it is something we are constantly doing. Casey's dreams and aspirations fill his notebooks and if you were to look through the books in chronological order you would see some of those drawings turned into a film, an idea for an art piece or even my christmas present.

I keep my goals in various places, such as my iphone, computer and the sticky notes attached to my monitor. I believe that goals are a very important part of our business and also just for my own well being. It is just like loosing weight. You don't set your goal of loosing 50lbs at the beginning of the year and then never think about it again until it has been accomplished, it is the series of goals like loosing 5lbs every 2 weeks or running 3 miles that really get you going on achieving your overall goal as well as put you in the right mindset.  This year we have set some BHAG  (big hairy audauciaus goals), some 50 pounders, ones that we have to break down into, what seems like a million little pieces, but nonetheless, I can't wait to begin the journey. 2009 was an awesome year, but 2010 is going to be an even more amazing year and I can't wait! 

Right now we are in Chicago shooting a wedding with our good friends patrick, amina, justin, and michelle.

Cant wait to share some of the blog posts working on to get 2010 rockin' 

~Casey W. 

I was planning to make a graphic for new years, but on the plane ride here my computer battery ran out of juice....so I had to resort to drawing to pass the time, 

1. awesome phone messages :)

2. we had an instant connection with them and i think we could talk for days

3. kerra shows up in a hot little blue dress and a red balloon

4. they love color

5. they love their dogs twinkie and atticus

6. Kerra sings the ABCs and other kid songs when she is nervous

7. David is an atmospheric scientist

8. Kerra majored in Italian in college

9. Kerra laughs a lot! 

10. They met on a blind date

11. they love gilbert almost as much as we do

12. They love the office (casey's new favorite show)

Here is a little excerpt from Kerra & David's email to us after they saw their photos!

"I JUST LEFT YOU A VOICEMAIL!!!! THESE ARE SO AMAZING!!!! I HAVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I'M TOTALLY SCREAMING RIGHT NOW.

Seriously, we are SO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY!!! I knew you guys were incredible but you've totally outdone yourselves! I mean, you made us look like super models! CRAZY! ...

THANK YOU SO MUCH A MILLION TRILLION BAZILLION TIMES!!!!!!!

k + d"

our creative process/. from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

-danielle

our life/. 03 from Casey Warren | MIND CASTLE on Vimeo.

Our families present opening from early this morning! 

Hope you all had a merry christmas and happy holidays :)

~Casey W.