Telling Our Own Story

I love telling stories. But I've always wanted to put together a video that could convey to people what one of our sessions feels like, to tell our own story. We prep a lot and plan for contingencies. We pack two of everything. We pray at the onset. We scout locations, consider the position of the Sun, and constantly check the weather. (South Dakota, you know...) All of that comes from our greatest desire, which is to set you at ease and give you great, timeless images to remember, recount, and rejoice over your loved ones. We believe this time and these moments are a blessing from God. We genuinely desire that to be 'felt' on every shoot, and then reflected in your images later. It gives me great joy when I hear a client tell me that after 20 years, that picture on their wall is still their favorite, because it takes them right back, to that kiss, that snuggle, that laughter, that embrace, that sweetness. I tell people all the time to just think of our sessions as "a day at the park". I can see exactly how I would tell our story, how I would shoot and light it. The problem is I'm IN the story. I'm shooting, and I can't expect Kari to do it. She's busy directing, making it look effortless as she becomes this perfect conduit between what I see and what we need to do to actually get there in a finished image. So how do you shoot a video telling that story when you're both so busy working on telling someone else's story? Easy! You hire a very creative media director straight out of New York City. New York City!? ;) Yes, and his ideas were brilliant. Abraham Chen, thanks for sharing your gifts and talents by telling our story through pictures, words, and sounds. Your creativity and your ideas were refreshing and fun. I hope all of our clients will see this and agree with you that yes, it feels like THIS. I hope the rest of you will give us a shot sometime in the future, based on this story, and let us tell your story too.