LapDogCreative

i know it’s an excuse, but lately i’ve been putting all my effort in oceanwidestudios.com.  oceanwide has been a great “distraction” though!  we specialize in wedding and event cinematography and photography.   our most popular product has been the same-day-edit which includes highlights of the couple’s entire wedding day, all edited and produced to be shown at the reception.  needless to say, the film is well received and adds to the wedding experience.  we also tell people’s engagement stories, which is a great way to get to know the bride and groom. here’s an example of a same day edit from this summer.  you can find more examples like this at oceanwidestudios.com.

dan + kelly – SDE from oceanwide on Vimeo.

recently CAVULife.com hired lapdog to create several dvd products and a promotional video about the creators of CAVULife.com. this was the first time i had used several new tools for a corporate shoot. they really enhanced the look and feel of this video. a special thanks to brad seidenfeld for his work.

also, david and mitch are awesome guys. go CAVULife.com.

CAVULife.com Promotional Video from Andy Fjellman on Vimeo.

So, I’ve recently partnered with a good friend to film events and weddings. We’re using some fun equipment to add a cine-like experience to any occasion. We provided this video of Matt & Jenna’s wedding and edited it the same day to show at the reception. It was a great experience. Hope you enjoy it!

Matt & Jena 3.21.09 from oceanwide on Vimeo.

i recently asked this question of some of my clients and here are the responses i received:

Quality is always a must in any production. Most of the time you have to pay for it, but you got to have it.

We [need] a production company that could learn our message and values and put them to work for us.

You have to be able to rely on the production company. Everyone has deadlines and they need to be met.

We [need] a company that could become a part of our corporate family and work seamlessly with our internal marketers.

So, the list from them would be QUALITY, ADAPTABILITY, EFFECTIVENESS, RELIABILITY, & INTEGRATION.  What do you think?  What would you add to this list?

if you are interested in professional video and haven’t visited the creativecow website, you are really missing out! they have great articles, tutorials and the most extensive (and well moderated) forums i’ve ever seen.  they also produce a monthly magazine that has many of the articles from their site.  it’s a very excellent resource!

also, lynda.com is a great place to go for tutorials.  they have basic and advanced tutorials for hundreds of softwares and they are very well done.  if you enjoy learning, it’s worth the $25/month.

say cheese!

so you like to shoot photos and have yourself a digital camera and/or camcorder?  but you look at pro shots and think, “mine don’t look like that!”  i have 3 simple pieces of advice to help you on your journey to becoming a better photographer or videographer.  these are more general observations of watching people shoot over the years and apply mostly to shooting people, pets, etc.  note – there are always reasons to deviate.

1.  get down on your subject’s level. people like to shoot kids and animals and often do so standing over their subject or sitting across the room.  move around – crouch down – get on their level.  sometimes you may want to look down on your subject, but generally speaking, it’s not going to give you as professional of a shot.

2.  fill your frame. (and not just the center of your frame)  whatever is interesting in your frame (probably your main subject) should fill most of your frame.  often times, i see a subject down in the corner of a photo and large blank wall covering most of the frame… while this may add perspective, usually, it is not very interesting.

3.  shoot like mad. take your camera, turn it on, keep it in your hands, keep shooting and don’t wait for a good shot!  shoot everything and find your best shots later.  don’t try to save space on your card or tape… take it all in and free up the space after the event.

what do you think? let me know if you have other simple suggestions, too.

i’ve had the privilege of working with some great people over the last year.  one of the best parts of this type of work is i often get to decide who i work for and with, which means i have met many great friends along the way.  in the past year, we’ve done work for dewaay capital management, hangups interiors, the wellness council of iowa, boyle capital management, learning rx, fourthstream media, pulse 99.5fm, iowa christian academy, fullness of the faith, tomorrow’s storm, professional educators of iowa, light the earth, grl law, monumental studios, vance lambert, o32 design group, pattie anderson iowa realty, salt solutions, and dream it records.  just making this list is fun.

i’ve also hired many freelancers from all over the state, each of them selected because of their experience and expertise.  it’s amazing the quality of work you can crank out when you can assemble the best team of people for the task at hand.

thanks to all of my great clients and to those who have contributed to lapdog creative’s success.  i look forward to what we’ll create together in 2009!

welcome to lapdog creative’s new site.  over the past year, we have been very busy.  my excuse for never updating our site is that i’ve been too busy.  well, i’m planning on changing all that…

what to expect:

1. regular updates on current work
2. ideas for next videos
3. tips and tricks to make you a better photographer/videographer
4. information about local businesses with whom we partner
5. a way to interact about things we have in common.

please give me some feedback!