More gore and carnage!

Ok, ok, so the gore and carnage wasn't real- but it looked like it! Was it REALLY that time again? Yes, it was. We just completed a long, hot, muggy, sunburnt, bug bitten, muscle-aching, and dehydrated two day long shoot this week in Yoder, Kansas for Hutchinson Community College's Paramedic Training Program- Field Operations 2009! This is now the third year we have helped with capturing the event! It is always terribly hot and tiring, but super rewarding. Not your average wedding-fare! This year we gathered additional footage and b-roll to be edited into next year's documentary edition. We are very excited for next year when the number of students grow exponentially and the scenarios get increasingly wild and realisitc! I was grateful again to my friends at Life Team Aeromedical Transport for the wonderful ride along again!!! Thanks guys! Thank you to Deanna for being on stand-by on Tuesday. Maybe next year- it's gunna be a wild ride! Footage is now being captured for edit in several weeks-lots on our plate right this very moment! If we are able to post video, we will- hang in there. But that's what we've been up to lately after a brief vacation to Grand Lake in Oklahoma and now back to school as well for the summer session. It really never ends around here! More to come- stay tuned! SG

John Deere "Green"

Many years ago one of our first weddings was for a great couple Paige and Jared Estes. They always held a special place with us as they were the "first" to book the new guy in town at the time for their wedding day. We delivered the video (in now record time by todays busy standards) and they loved it. We were completely shocked and saddened to say the least when we heard Paige was killed in a drunk driving accident about 6 months after the wedding. We then got to know the family a little bit more from some private things we had done for them during this horrific time. Then last year we ran into Mr. Estes, Jareds father at Greensburg when we filmed the graduation with President Bush as the featured guest. They were celebrating the one year turning point after the tornado. Mike expressed to us he would like to have us film some things for the family pertaining to the rebuilding 'green' of his dealership that was destroyed in the tornado, BTI Greensburg John Deere. We were proud and honored to -and promised! Greensburg also holds an important place for us as well as I searched with my dog as part of the rescue efforts immediately following the tornado then again filming the graduation ceremonies when the school had been destroyed.

Well time passed and we hadn't heard alot about the project, until I received a call from one of the planners of the Grand Reopening, just a few weeks prior to the Beech-Riffel wedding. They had a date and it was on the wedding day. I scrambled to find a second shooter for each of the events so I could fulfill promises made to both parties! Our friend Deanna helped me at the wedding and our friend Alan was able to help with the corporate shoot with Barry. The bride was very gracious and understanding about my dilemma! (Thanks Jessica) and soon Barry and Alan were headed to Greensburg.

It was a big event during a whole weekend of celebrations and reopenings for many places in Greensburg trying to put their town "back" on the map. A celebration with ribbon cutting, tours of the "green" building itself, musical entertainment, prize drawings, and brief statements of congratulations from area and state dignitaries. We were there with Discovery Channel and other media outlets, but our focus of the story in the edit will be the celebration for the family, as a documentary heirloom piece. We are very excited to have the opportunity! We will also be going back to Greensburg in the coming weeks to finish up shooting for this project.

We were also able to get footage recently in Greensburg of the new Eco-Silo home for a building company out of state. Very interesting and exciting what they are doing in Greensburg.

What a weekend it was! Thanks to everyone from the Estes family for inviting us as well as our bride and groom (see below) for being flexible with us in order to help everyone! Not only are we told "Fat Cat Rocks" but we only rock because our friends, our brides and grooms and our other clients ROCK. Thank you.

Madison/Brinckman Wedding: A Destination Wedding

This past Labor Day Weekend, we headed west to Denver, Colorado for the wedding of Candace and Marcus. We first met Candace at a wedding of one of her friends here locally and she called to see about her own wedding video and if we traveled to Denver. Of course! She had also not picked a photographer at the time but soon chose T&J Studios here in Valley Center. Candace had been planning this wedding for quite some time and her husband wanted a wedding in the mountains. Although this did not pan out for them, they chose to add an eXtreme session in Rocky Mountain National Park the day after the wedding to get the mountain shots they had hoped for originally. So it was great fun traveling with our friends Tyff and Jeff.

We drove out Thursday and got a good nights rest prior to the Friday rehearsal we all attended. We reviewed the days itinerary with the bride and groom and headed off to bed for an early start on the wedding day. Tyffany and I plugged directions into my new favorite toy, my iPhone, and off we went to Broomfield, Colorado to follow the ladies at Anthony's Salon. They all had a great time. Three stylists worked most the morning to make them all gorgeous. Tyff and I cut out early to get to the reception site, the Chateaux at Fox Meadows, to get some establishing shots and haul in some equipment. The guys were already there with Jeff and Barry documenting. The ladies wore hand made dresses by the mother of the bride. It was very interesting to hear about how the fittings went as many of the ladies lived out of town and the fittings took place long distance and through the mail! But it was worth it- they were gorgeous and the most unique bridesmaids dresses I've seen, and classy. Red, Black and Gold bold sweeping stripes. The bride wanted colors to coordinate with fall colors she had chosen. The bride wore white strapless, with intricate beadwork and a gorgeous train.

After everyone was ready, the bride and groom wanted to see each other before the ceremony and Marcus waited at the base of the grand staircase and was greeted by all the bridesmaids coming down the steps. He was given a gift from the bride by the last bridesmaid and he opened this prior to seeing Candace. It was a framed engagement photograph for their home and a CD player. He was istructed to hit "play", the music started and Candace made her way down the staircase, tears filling both thier eyes. It wa a very touching moment. Photographs followed at the Chateuax and then everyone loaded up again to head to the church in Longmont, Colorado about 30 minutes away.

The couple was married at First Evangelical Lutheran Church. It was a small, historical church and full of character with large wooden beams and pillars inside and beautiful stained glass work.

A friend of Marcus' from KU officiated and added a special humorous flair for the couple. He pronounced them for the first time as husband and wife and the couple left in an antique car to head back to the Chateaux for the reception.

Jeff and I rode together and followed the bride and groom to a new developing area on the way for some urban shots while Barry and Tyffany rode ahead to get shots of the guests at the Chateaux. When the couple arrived, every guest was on the front steps to greet them iwth noise makers and streamers.

The couple exited the car and made their way to the front steps as well for a picturesque dove release. They first head one dove each and released it into the air. Next, a carrier full of 12 were released to celebrate thier new lives together and another carrier of 12 followed in remembrance of those friends and family who could not be with them in celebrating. It was truly beautiful and one of the mot fun things we have done at a wedding!

The couple then finished a few photos outside and were announced into the reception for the BBQ dinner buffet and toasts. They cut the multi layered cake with fresh berries and shaved chocolate and headed to the dance floor for their first dance and parents dances. Then it was time for everyone to cut lose! The couple thoroughly enjoyed speaking to all their guests and thanking them for coming. It was a fabulous day for everyone.

We captured as much dance footage as we needed for the edits and said good night to Candace and Marcus. It was going to be a short night for everyone, as we were all to meet back up at the hotel lobby at 7 am the next day for the eXtreme session!

We stayed at the Omni Interlocken Resort and had an absolutely fabulous time there, customer service was absolutely impeccable. But it was short night, we recharged all batteries and I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow! When we met in the morning, Candace's hair was near perfect as it was the day before! We all grabbed a snack and headed north and west to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park for an awesome photo shoot at over 11,000 feet!

Candace had orginally wanted to get into one of the waterfalls at the end of the shoot but after Barry grabbed some shots with our underwater housing that plan quickly changed! :) I'm kind of glad, because it would have meant I had to get in the water, too to pull off the shots I envisioned! :) Maybe next time! It was just way too cold. But it was a nice thought! We still came away with some awesome shots and Tyff and Jeff got some amazing photographs as well.

Thank you to Candace and Marcus for your trust in us to capture your day, we thoroughly enjoyed every minute we spent with you guys. We love your families and your friends and fabulous. Your hospitality is second to none and we were honored to be in the mountians with you, thank you.

Fat Cat featured again!

We mentioned earlier that we were featured in the August issue of the trade magazine EventDV for our out of market weddings, which make up about 30% of our business currently. We also mentioned that we were going to be featured again about the state of video and the economy in September's issue. As we await the print version of the magazine this coming week, we thought we would post the video version of the article for you to enjoy. We were one of six video companies featured in the article. Each company was asked to submit a short video showcasing their studios and work. We were thrilled to be featured with such great folks in the industry, especially our friends in Southern California, Steve and Laura Moses, who we've mentioned in the previous blog entry! :) Go Steve, Go Laura! Let me know where I can find one of those high tech rapid transport systems! Here is the link if you'd like to check it out!

http://halslifervideo.typepad.com/blog/event-dv.html

More exciting news coming to Fat Cat so stay tuned!

Fat Cat Updates

The last few weeks here at Fat Cat have been incredibly busy. We always say this, but recently, things have been flying at us at a whirlwind pace more so than usual. We'll try to catch you up on the happenings here and leave you with a few words of wisdon if we can.

As you all may have read we were recently featured in EventDV magazine, a videographer trade magazine. Not only were we interviewed for one of the stories, but we happened to make the cover. We received many comments about this and thank you all for your kind and supporting words! About the time the magazine came out, I had been under strict rules and agreements not to share one of my latest projects I was involved in. I had been asked to be a judge for WEVA's Creative Excellence Awards. WEVA is the Wedding and Event Videographers Association and has thousands of members all across the world. Each year they hold a competition to find the most creative videos produced this past year. There are 5 new judges each year and I was humbled to be asked to judge this year after receiving our very first CEA last year, a Finalist Award for The Lane Love Story we shot in Little Rock, Arkansas for Thomas and Jenny!

The judging involved receiving over 100 videos to view in various categories and judge on a point system in multiple categories, both technical and creative, and then choose my top 3 or 4 videos to bring to a final judging with the rest of the judges in Chicago, Illinois in late July.

After this somewhat daunting task, I flew to Chicago July 21st to meet the other judges and we all took nearly 4 days to review all the judges top entries in all the categories. WEVA Education Director John Zale treated us wonderfully and even took us to Navy Pier to hang out, gave us a great tour of the city including a trip up to the top of Sears Tower and I quite enjoyed the "real" Chicago style pizza! As soon as I returned home, there was no time to rest as we prepared for the Bridal Fair July 26th as well as Nate and Andrea's wedding the same weekend! Special thanks go out to our intern Michelle who graciously stayed at the office that week for a few 12 hour shifts!
It was the following week that really knocked the wind out of our sails. One of our very close friends husband had a sudden hospital stay over the next weekend. What was thought to be Crohn's Disease with an overnight hospital stay for evaluation suddenly took a shocking turn with emergency surgery and a resulting diagnosis of cancer. Needless to say we spent several hours with our friends in SICU at the hospital. Please keep our friends in your prayers as they start a rough road of treatments ahead.

Our friend also owns a small business so we travelled to Nebraska to help her with some things during the down time. We spent a day in cornhusker country and after a long drive that Saturday night, we arrived back in town and stopped by the studio at 2:30 am to grab a few items, head home, had enough time to run through the shower and then head out again to the airport for a 7 am flight we had to Florida Sunday morning. I hadn't pulled a 24 hour day in many years. But I wouldn't have changed helping our friend in a million years. (No need to say thanks, D- we love ya! MWAH! )

The Florida trip was for our yearly WEVA conference usually held in Las Vegas. The CEA winners are announced opening night and is followed by three days of various seminars and classes regarding the world of video, business and marketing, etc. When I was asked to be a judge, Barry and I were also asked to be on a marketing panel for one of the classes. We were very excited to be there and I was the judge who was able to hand over the winner of The Gold Award of the Theater Category to my friend and mentor, Danny Sayson from Vancouver, Canada. After attending several classes and gathering up more ideas to grow the business, we were able to take Thursday afternoon to hang out with our great friends Mike and Karleen of Starring You Productions in Richmond, Virginia at Universal Studios. That was definately TOO short of a night, but oh it was so much fun! We needed it. Karleen and I are so similar it's almost scary! We thoroughly enjoyed seeing all our friends from all across the country and meeting new ones! Congratulations To Steve and Laura Moses of Vantage Point Productions in Southern California for winning the Gold in Demo Category, you guys rock! (Thanks for the gift as well, I appreciate it! You are both so gracious)

After that late night at Universal, we headed back to the hotel and packed and had about 2 hours of sleep before heading back to the airport last Friday morning at 4 am to head home in time for a rehearsal that evening for Matt and Allyson (post to follow). Life just never stops, it keeps coming at you about 90 mph. The sleep schedule was eerily familiar to us already :)

In a nut shell it was fitting to end the whirlwind of emotions on a roller coaster at Universal, as this is how life has felt recently. In between all this trying to knock out the upcoming weddings that are due, film Love Stories and weddings and prepare for the upcoming wedding in Denver, Colorado with T&J Studios, Baby Fare and The Chamber of Commerce EXPOVENTURE! All I can say is "wow."

Until next time blogstalkers, take care of yourselves and those around you who you love!

(Pictures in order are: 2008 CEA Judges at Navy Pier, Chicago (that's me in the middle- haha :). Chicago's finest horsemen. Me and my mentor and really great friend Danny Sayson receiving his Gold CEA. Me and my homegirl Karleen from Richmond, Virginia- love you girl! Barry and Steph enjoying the Awards dinner at Expo. My awesome friends Belinda and Tom Young from Tennessee whom I met last year at a seminar in California. Tom, Steph and Rolando from Texas- we all met at the same seminar in California! Mike and Karleen getting a first hand look at a working green screen at the After Dark Party (was that not a fun night!? I need some more of that pink wine!) Judy Handley from the Wichita contingent, taking photos of the green screen fun! Me and Tyff in Victoria, Kansas last month in our scrubs before bed (we were watching the CEA entries, ya I know, this picture doesn't really fit, but I thought it was cute. We will be travelling together again at the end of the month to Denver for a wedding and eXtreme session in the mountains!! CAN'T WAIT!)

"A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure."

Fat Cat's Makin' Tracks

Yesterday we received some copies of the newest Event DV Magazine, a trade magazine we subscribe to discussing topics relating to event videographers and filmmakers. And...we were excited to find ourselves on the cover! We had been contacted several weeks ago by one of the authors wanting to interview us for our out-of-market weddings. We aren't sure how we ended up on the Event DV radar, but it was nice to be recognized in such a great magazine with other superb videographers across the country, many of whom we look up to and admire! We simply strive to provide good, solid work to our customers to provide them with a keepsake of a lifetime, all the while having a great time ourselves and enjoying meeting so many wonderful people along the way! Here are some shots of the cover that Alex provided us, from T&J Studios of the magazine. Jeff of T&J took the cover photo during one of our eXtreme sessions last summer. You can find the article online soon at http://www.eventdv.net/ .

Bengtson/Billinger Wedding!

Well, it's been almost a week now and we've yet to post about our great time in western Kansas! Barry and I spent last weekend documenting the marriage of Lindsay and Shawn in Victoria, Kansas at the Cathedral of the Plains, another out-of-market wedding for us. We should say we had a most excellent time! We started off the weekend by heading out Friday afternoon to attend rehearsal as we had not worked in the Cathedral before and wanted to be as prepared as possible. We met Tyff and Jeff of T&J Studios when we arrived, who were the official photographers for the event. I was awestruck by the church. It is one of the most beautiful places we have filmed in, built in 1911 and alas, it had air conditioning from a recent renovation! Lindsay and Shawn graciously invited us to the dinner that night but we passed and headed to the hotel to get checked in and get settled. We had to start early the next morning, meeting Lindsay at the salon with her bridesmaids at 8 am.

Tyff and I rode together and had a great tie at the 10-0-7 Salon in Hays, Kansas, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Victoria. I have to admit this is one of the nicest salons I have ever been in and its smack dab in the middle of little ole Hays, Kansas. Very chic and modern with eclectic furnishings and the most awesome, creative and innovative, relaxing spa and massage rooms. Lindsay looked like a million bucks after getting her hair completed first, just in case the stylists ran short on time for her to start photos. But all of the ladies arrived on time and the stylists worked non-stop making them all gorgeous. Tyff and I headed to the church early to get some shots of the architecture and whatnot. Jeff and Barry were hanging out with the guys at a different location washing the '64 Chevy Impala which was the getaway car for after Mass!

When Lindsay arrived at St. Fidelis, she was very excited to get dressed and head into the church to see her groom right away. They chose this option to have more time for the party after the wedding instead of photographs. Both were quite excited to see the other! The wedding started promptly at 3 pm and went fairly fast for a full mass being celebrated. What a gorgeous backdrop it was! After the ceremony, the couple had some fun, being ushered out to the waiting '64 Chevy and then on to the Hays Trolley with the wedding party to go around town to a few spots in Hays and take photos. We went to the bar where the couple met and everyone went inside for a quick shot of their favorite drinks! -No the videographer did not partake! :) Then off to Fort Hays State University for some fun prior to heading to the reception at the Fox Pavillion.
The reception started right away when the newlyweds arrived with the first dances, parents dances and toasts, then onward to the dinner buffet. After the couple watched a montage they made and cut the cake, the party was officially started. It looked to us that everyone was having a great time! Lindsay was also serenaded by her Sorority Sisters during the festivities!

We want to say thanks to Lindsay and Shawn for being so gracious to us durig our stay, it was a pleasure getting to know you both and we hope you had a great time in Jamaica! Too bad we couldn't come along to document! :) (We've practiced in Mexico now!) Haha...

Congratulations to you both and we wish many many years of happiness together!

Vossen/Damiris Wedding!

Before I describe what a great time Barry and I had at Amanda and John's wedding this past weekend, I must describe how we came about to work for the couple because it is just the coolest. In a nutshell, it's all Archie's fault.

Last year in May, two days after I searched the Greensburg tornado damage with my dog Clarice, I was feeling pretty down leaving her at home while I traveled to Corona, California for a videography workshop. She worked so hard and I had to turn around and leave her after that ordeal. So, there I sat in the gate area ready to board my flight. The layover location had changed from Denver to Phoenix. I wasn't happy. Soon in the same area, I noticed a young passenger with a mesh carry on case that looked strikingly similar to a doggie carry on case! I wanted so badly to go ask her about her dog, but decided not to. Chicken I guess :) Then when boarding the flight we were actually seated right next to each other! I was so happy! We briefly introduced ourselves and asked about each others travel plans and I voiced how jealous I was that she got to travel with her dog- you guessed it- Archie. Come to find out Amanda was a P.A. student who lived in Phoenix and was happy to be headed back home after visiting family here. We even had some mutual aquaintances! She asked where I was going and I explained what I did. She had mentioned that she was getting married in a year in Wichita and I offered her a demo DVD I had in my carry-on bag and she should take a look. The flight was great, we had a very nice conversation and when we landed I even got to briefly meet Archie the poodle, who started us in conversation! We each went our separate ways in Phoenix both of us fully expecting not to see the other again.

Fast forward three months. I receive an email from Amanda asking me if I remembered her from the plane trip and she had finally had a chance to look at the DVD and loved it and wanted to book Fat Cat for her wedding videographer! Too cool. I was very happy we were not yet booked for her date!

We were able to meet up again the week of the wedding to discuss her day and this weekend, the rehearsal, and the wedding day seemed to fly by! We met up at St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral for Amanda and her bridesmaids to get ready. She had chosen some great bridesmaid dresses in a spring green, tea length with a yellow sash that tied around the waist. This of course matched all the yellow and green flowers by JR Koontz. Amanda chose a strapless ivory gown with embellishments to the bodice, souffle skirt and lace up back! She knew exactly what she wanted after working in a bridal shop in high school. The guys were donned in classic black tuxes and the grooms tux was purchased and custom tailored for him- and of course, it looked perfect.

They shared a private moment together before the ceremony to get as many pictures done as possible to save time for the party later! I believe I heard John quietly say "Wow!" as he saw Amanda for the first time.

A close friend of the grooms family officiated, Fr. Nicholas Vieron from Cleveland. Fr. Vieron was awesome. He was so personable and humorous, we thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and wish he lived here in Wichita!

The groom's family is of Greek heritage and the ceremony was very different for us, it was our first time being at a Greek Orthodox Ceremony. It is so symbolic in so many ways. The Betrothal, Candles, Joining of Hands, The Crowning, Common Cup and Ceremonial Walk. Most everything happens in threes and it really was something special to be a part of. And what a gorgeous backdrop to film against!

As soon as the bride and groom left the church after being declared husband and wife, the guests were being ushered out to head to the reception while Fr. Vieron kept them entertained with jokes!

I rode in the limo with the bridal party to the reception at The Ville in Andover, another amazing backdrop. Amanda and John were introduced with their bridal party down the grand staircase and mingled with guests a few minutes prior to opening the festivities with an Italian dinner, toasts and the cutting (and smashing) of the cake. The groom also stole a chocolate covered strawberry off his cake decorated with the Ohio State emblem.

The newlyweds started the dance with "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and shared time with their parents on the dance floor before really letting go and partying well into the evening with all their guests! We especially enjoyed John's grandfather who shared some traditions, dancing to several Greek songs and getting the crowd to join him!

To John and Amanda, thank you so much for letting us share your special day with you this weekend! It was not only a pleasure getting to know you and your amazing, wonderful families, but an honor as well. Have a fabulous time in Australia after school- it will all be worth it! Take tons of photos, we'll get there someday! And don't forget- Love on Archie for me :)
Click below to view Amanda and John's wedding day Prequel!

Congratulations Greensburg Class of 2008!

Our congratulations to the Greensburg High School Class of 2008!

Fat Cat Productions was absolutely honored to be back to help the students celebrate yesterday! We first were introduced to the town of Greensburg not through our production business but by responding to the aftermath of the F5 tornado 1 year ago. I had trained my Australian Shepherd, Clarice, for 6 years prior to respond to disasters and search for missing people. When we drove into town it was a little bit different than other tornado damage I had searched in years prior with another search dog, it was like everyone said on the news and worse: the town was pretty much gone.

A gut wrenching eerie feeling came over me while we searched, climbing and walking all over people's belongings who were ordered to evacuate out of their homes. Rici came back a second day to search with a fellow teammate while I flew to the West Coast for a film class.

About a month after the tornado we were contacted by our area Disc Jockey Association, the ADJA, and Ron Brown, asking if we were available to come and film the High School Graduation for the '07 graduates. They weren't about to let the tornado rob them of the day they had looked so forward to for 4 years. So many people came together from Greensburg and surrounding communities to make the day special for them. Even though the graduation ceremony was held under a tent, they made the best of it and were honored with a commencement speech by the Lt. Governor and Senator Pat Roberts; addressing each student personally. Rumors were running about the President coming to speak but he was unable to attend.

After living in the local and national spotlight for a year with multiple media outlets covering their every move on the Green rebuilding process, last years Juniors, now the Class of '08, were once again in the spotlight for Graduation actually on the 1-year Anniversary of the F5 tornado. Only this year, they had a very special guest- The 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.

Fat Cat was asked for the second year to film the Graduation procedings and very honored to do so with such a special guest in attendance for the graduates! I was excited, nervous, and humbled to be granted special access to a "buffer zone" near the Presidential podium at which the students and the President spoke. I shared floor space with national and local press getting some incredible angles for the students DVD's! Crouching low with about 15 other people on our hands and knees and shooting handheld for an hour and a half, making my hand go completely numb a few times trying to hold a steady shot, I ache more than any 12-hour long wedding day! But I couldn't quit, for the students. No pain, no gain :)

The Secret Service and White House Staff were very gracious and accomodating in helping us however they could. It was a very educational experience to say the least in setting up and gaining proper clearances, etc. and I learned alot. It was also quite exciting to be about 10 feet from the President of the United States and a special priviledge I won't soon forget. I'm sure not near as exciting as it was for the students who shared his stage, spoke from his podium, met him, shook his hand and received their much deserved diplomas from him personally. What an incredible day for them they will never forget!

Congratulations Class of 2008 and best of luck to you where ever your dreams may take you!

Enjoy the photos until we can post video later of the event here in the blog when the DVD is complete so check back soon! The photo to the left is actual footage from Fat Cat and my "shot" of the President. Yes, I actually was that close! By the way, Secret Service doesn't like it when you use the word "shot" around the President :)

The other photos are Clarice searching the tornado debris last year, me with one of the White House Staff with my pin and of course at the top, the Commander-in-Chief, President Bush.

Reibenspies-Gering and the Fat Cat's Mexican Adventure!

Well, what can we say? It was an awesome trip to Mexico this past week. We had been looking forward to this trip for quite some time. Our bride and groom, Stacey and Greg booked a destination package with Fat Cat to document their oceanfront wedding in Puerto Morales, Mexico near Cancun. We also were able to double up the trip making it a vacation of sorts for us. I'll try to give you all the rundown without being too winded.

Our flight was booked out of Kansas City direct to Cancun on the 5th so we went up the night before to be ready for a 7 am flight on the 5th. It seemed we'd never get out of town and we arrived to KC around 9:30 pm, then needed dinner and a Wally World run. Needless to say we had about 3 hours sleep that night. We headed to the airport that next morning only to find Cancun airport delayed our flight an hour. This was not welcome news as we had a Scuba diving certification to get to at 1 pm Cancun time. So after waiting as patiently as we could, we were off and landed in Cancun only to find ourselves waiting in line at baggage. Customs was a breeze. Then the 20 minute cab ride to El Cid Resort. We barely walked in the door and met up with the bride and groom who'd been there for 2 days already, sunburnt but relaxed. Our room was not ready so we dumped the baggage in their room and we all headed off together to the dive shop immediately; making it in record time!

The ocean was gorgeous, but it was very rough and terribly windy. There were 5 of us, as the bride was unable to dive that day, and needless to say we were all a little nervous about the huge waves bouncing us around in the boat! I've been on Cheney Lake on a good windy day, but this was something else! We geared up and sat on the edge of the boat entering the water backwards! Once I realized I was going to survive, I tried to get to the bottom (only 8 or 9 feet down) and never could as I was having problems with my vest. The current carried my unhappy self to a place in the ocean the boat was just barely able to get to in case we needed rescued :) and Barry and Greg came up trying to help me. The boat headed my way was a welcome site. The dive master said had we gone much further his boat would not have been able to get to us- GREAT! Nice way to start the trip. I was frustrated and mad and wanted back in the boat ASAP. So, we decided we'd try another day if the weather cooperated more.

Heading back dissapointed but happy to not have been washed out to sea, we finally got checked into our room and got to spend some great time with the bride and groom at the pool, at dinner, and elsewhere.

The second day we decided to head to Playa del Carmen just down the road for some shopping, great food, and some great laughs with the rest of the group. It was a good thing the groom spoke some spanish to help us all out! After a phenominal dinner back at the resort, we headed to bed and the next day geared up for our next adventure to the Island of Isla Mujeres! This was again a phenominal time. We ferried over then split our group of 8 up (9 counting the brides daughter) onto two different golf carts and drove all over the island looking for adventure. The island is only 7 miles long and everyone rides mopeds and golf carts, with some very small cars on the road as well. Most all the ladies decided we all wanted to go swim with the dolphins at Dolphin Discovery. I had done this once before on our cruise to Mexico at an aquarium, but this was completely different in the ocean! We all were able to interact with Louis the dolphin and get a belly ride and a foot push. Awesome critters. After drying out we had a little bit of time to return our golf carts and head to a great dinner on the beach near sunset and headed back to the resort via the ferry. I wished we'd had time to visit the turtle farm, but maybe another trip :)

The bride and groom decided they would like to come back to the island after the wedding for a photo shoot.

Tuesday was the big day for Stacey and Greg, and what we had come all this way for. Everyone was excited. We all met for breakfast and then headed to the spa while Stacey did a run through on her hair for the evening. Her friends surprised her with a bottle of champagne for the ladies and bridal gifts. Stacey was also surprised receiving a massage of her choice after finishing her hair that all the ladies pitched in to get. I was able to enjoy an 80-minute therapeutic ts'aak massage. All I can say is, that is something I could quite easily make a habit out of! Why was I not pampering myself before!? Anyways, afterwards there was no time to spare gathering equipment while Barry hung out with Greg and I followed Stacey to her room while she prepared for the wedding. She wore a white, sheer, strapless gown she purchased in Kansas City from Amore Bridal. White flip flops completed her beach look! The groom donned a casual tan suit with dark brown flip flops, but went barefoot for the ceremony. Stacey's flowers were provided by the resort and were vibrant oranges, creams, and other spring/summer colors. Stacey's daughter, Maddie was the flower girl in a simple white sundress and flip flops carrying a matching bouquet of flowers.

The resort sent an escort at a quarter to 6 to Stacey's room. Stacey, Maddie and I all rode on a golf cart to the beach. I was dropped off early at the beach and Stacey was escorted to the end of the pier to make her walk down this very different "isle"! She was preceded by Maddie.

It was a small private wedding, with no wedding party, and only 9 guests including Barry and I. A friend of the groom's came all the way from Iraq, where he lives and works. The crashing waves of the ocean were our backdrop with a bit of wind carrying pelicans and seagulls above us. A very short ceremony followed with friends signing the marriage license and the couple sharing in a unity sand ceremony with daughter Maddie. After the wedding, we had a chance to get some fun ocean shots on the beach and on a beached catamaran with friend and photographer, Dr. Matt Moll.

Dinner followed at the Alcazar at the resort and lots of champagne and toasts! I even got to sneak up to the newlyweds room before they did to get a shot of rose petals scattered throughout!

The next day several of Greg and Stacey's friends had to leave for the states, but we were able to stay and have a grand time with the newlyweds. We started out the day meeting Greg and Stacey at the pool to have some fun and "take the plunge" from the diving rock at the pool. We also conducted our on camera interviews with each of them since they will be receiving our new style of editing and storytelling- we like to call it a "cross-over"! It's similar to a Love Story and wedding video rolled into one, we can't wait to show you! Then we again headed into town to get that much awaited scuba certification! The seas were much calmer and we geared up and rolled out into the waves over the edge of the boat. Effortlessly gliding down to 30 feet below the surface to kneel on the sand below, the certification and skills went much smoother than I expected. After a practice emergency accent, we were done! And wishing we had more time to spare to follow the fish around and enjoy the time a little more. But we had to dry off and head back to El Cid to pick up the bride and groom for their photo session on the island of Isla Mujeres!

We crammed in a taxi, wedding dress in tow and after the ferry ride across the ocean, Stacey was a trooper changing into her dress in the tiniest, near to next dirtiest bathroom we've seen and promptly jumped on the back of a moped rented by her new husband! We followed in a golf cart getting shots of them riding through the streets of Isla Mujeres while bystanders clapped and cheered. It was also quite commical with one of the many stray dogs in town jumping onto the moped with NO prompting wanting to go for a ride! So off they went! Too hilarious. Time went by so fast we headed to the beach for sunset pictures and a dip in the ocean!

After an incredible meal at a local restaurant, we again climbed aboard the ferry and headed for a well deserved rest before the flight home early the next morning. We again, got about 3 hours sleep by the time we shared drinks with Greg and Stacey, rinsed and repacked scuba gear and cameras. Flights again were delayed but we were finally able to make it to the states and smooth sailing through customs. We were still so tired on the drive home from KC we stopped in Emporia for a good nights rest before sailing the rest of the way in.

To Greg and Stacey, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your spectacular day and your trip. We are very excited to put the edit together. We look forward to your reception here at home and most importantly, a long friendship in the future. LET'S GO DIVING!

Enjoy the photos we have posted here of the trip and check out the prequel at the end of the post!

Here's Barry saying hi at the pool, working on the tan that quickly turned into a sunburn in about 15 minutes! This is a view of the resort beach from the pier the wedding was held at. Stacey reads a letter handwritten from her daughter Maddie at the salon, Maddie also presented her with a beautiful necklace and pendant. Maddie playing with our underwater housing in the waves, look out everyone, she could be our future competition! Pelicans sun themselves on the rock ledges at the Garrafon Dolphin Discovery. Pelicans were absolutely everywhere! Another critter sunning himself at the restaurant near the beach we snorkeled at on Isla Mujeres. Hmmm. What is that? Another animal getting some sun, that's Bear picking up in the "Jaguar" after our first scuba diving adventure. We ended up snorkeling near the beach here and saw baracuda! Ya, you guessed it, my silly mug snorkeling at Isla Mujeres trying to get some shots with my new underwater housing (good to 17 feet!) but I had a little issue with moisture and leakage, so we'll have to check that out. Haven't looked at the footage yet, I hope to soon! There's the camera (it stayed dry, but I didn't want to push my luck!) These pictures were taken with our still camera and underwater housing by Barry. He saw lots of cool critters- check them out!
This is some sort of ray, not sure what kind, but isn't it cute!? A closer look at the unknown sea creature!
The prized photo from the trip! Here is a sand ray Barry caught a glimpse of, I never saw him and I'm jealous! Isn't it awesome? This the Dolphinarium at Garrafon on Isla Mujeres. I thought it was neat to swim with the dolphins in the ocean instead of an aquarium like our last adventure in Mexico, both experinces were awesome though! That's our group lining up getting ready to enter the water.

So check out the prequel below and let us know what you think!

Pretty good for a Kansas kid huh?

Happy Easter and Fat Cat prepares for an adventure!

We hope everyone was able to enjoy the Easter Holiday with their families today and remember the reason for the day. Nope, sorry not chocolate, although it comes as a nice fringe benefit! We had a great time hanging with the Shay clan this afternoon and enjoying a great turkey dinner prepared by my brother and his wife. We totally blew our diets with my homemade ice cream cake dessert and pre-made Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory! (YUM!) But we'll make up for it tomorrow on the treadmill and with additional crunches. Speaking of the treadmill, we are not only trying to keep ourselves healthier, but build some stamina as well the last month or so as we prepare for the start of the traditional wedding season and our big adventure in Puerto Morales, Mexico in just a few short weeks! We finally thawed out from Colorado in January and barely snuck in some time to fake bake recently to get that pasty white skin tan so we don't burn like lobsters while we work our way a bit closer to the equator!

Here at FCP it is totally a myth that cats hate water...this week we embark on our first underwater adventures! We learned to snorkel on our honeymoon many years ago in the Carribean and this last year enjoyed it even more on our anniversary cruise in the Pacific along the Mexican coast! But at that time I desperately wanted to follow some of the fish so badly that instead of swimming straight ahead I followed them DOWN below the surface and sucked in seawater down the snorkel! It was time to learn to SCUBA DIVE! After that trip, life, work and editing happened so the class never materialized for us. Well now that we have a chance to use the skill again, we decided to go for it and finally learn scuba!

So the weeks schedule has been jam packed with appointments, deliveries, editing and other personal stuff, now we get to make time to read the home study portion of the scuba class and watch the training DVD before Thursday's instruction and then pool time at the beginning of next week! It will be a nice break from the hustle and bustle we've been dealing with and we think we are going to have a great time to boot- we'll be taking class with the bride who will be married in Mexico and her friends! Too fun! Maybe I'll even get some underwater video on my trip! Can't wait to put THAT in her wedding video! That is the plan anyway, watch for it in the coming weeks! We'll keep you posted! And we'll get some pics back up on this blog eventually, I know how reading books without pictures is- boring! :)

Until next time blog stalkers.......

New Prequel Online!

Well, after a prequel withdrawl, here is a new prequel for all you blog-stalkers! The Oehmke-Collins Prequel is finally up. Jessie enjoys the 70's so we tried to pick something appropriate, hope you like it! Scroll down to their blog entry to find it! Sorry no more prequels for about a month again as we will soon be headed to Mexico for Stacey and Greg's beachfront wedding in April! In the meantime we will be editing and sprucing up the new site for release SOON! We will be encoding new videos to share with you in the gallery as well, we will keep you posted. Stay tuned!

FCP Blogger Report: Camcorders

Our first in a series of reports on tips and tricks in wedding planning, etc. So many of our friends come to us when they are shopping for a camcorder..."which one is best? what do I need to look for?" etc. So we decided to post a little information that we end up passing along to our many friends and family. Enjoy. Hope it helps you.

SG

Choosing A Camcorder

So your wedding is quickly approaching and you are all geared up and excited for the honeymoon that follows so you can relax and unwind after months and months of planning and a super hectic day. . . now you want a video camera to remember that special once in a lifetime trip to ____ (Grand Cayman, Paris, Tahiti, etc) you fill in the blank! But there are so many camcorders out there to choose from, you’re confused and overwhelmed. It seems like you are planning for the wedding all over again doesn’t it? Never fear- Fat Cat to the rescue! Well, choice number one, you could always hire Fat Cat to tag along with you to see the sights and document your awesome time, or secondly, you could just use these handy hints to choose a nice camcorder to take with you and leave us here with a long face :( Boo.
First, do you want a camcorder that shoots Standard Definition or High Definition (HD)?
The big differences are the format the camera shoots, Standard Def. will provide you with a square picture of good quality and High Def. will provide you with a widescreen picture with much more clarity and detail. Plus, with all the TV’s these days being of a widescreen format and dimension, it would probably make sense to shop around for a High Def. camera. There aren't many standard definition cameras left it seems like! We have two palm sized HD camcorders we have used for trips and events, just beware of what things you will be shooting with your new camera. Interiors of buildings? All outdoor footage? The largest drawback of HD is its struggle in low light conditions. They rock outdoors in good light. For example, I got absolutely beautiful footage from our camcorder on our cruise to Mexico at the end of 2006. Wish I had time to post a clip for you! It works great and they are small and lightweight enough to keep as carry on for air travel. If you are shooting indoors, for example a museum that has low light and does not allow for flash on cameras, that footage will end up looking quite grainy. No getting around that without an additional light source.
What is your price range and what will the camera mostly be used for? Cameras aren’t cheap, let’s face it. But there are many models of cameras really coming down in price that do an outstanding job for the average consumer who just wants to take short videos of the kiddies growing up, at birthday parties, vacation and the like. You really don’t need a camera with every bell and whistle on it if you will be mainly filming the young’ens school concerts on a tripod or the family reunion. For example, one can get a great HD palm sized camera starting at about $399 from B&H Photo. You can get a ‘refurb’ model for under $200.
What else do I need besides the camera?
Well, depending on the media it records to, tape or DVD, memory cards, etc (Mini DV is the most popular), you will need to invest in that. Mini DV tapes run about $4 each if purchased separately for approximately 1 hour of tape. Depending on how much you use your camcorder, a good supply of batteries is imperative. Most cameras come with one small capacity battery that last about 1 hour of run time, but the larger capacity batteries can run $50 and up depending on the camera make and model. Unless the camera comes with several accessories, you will need an A/C charger to recharge those batteries. Those can run about $35 and up. To protect your investment, get a good carry case or bag for your camera and supplies. Another $50 and up, depending on the quality, how many compartments, is it waterproof, shock resistant, etc?
So where do I go? Who has the best deals?
We don’t endorse any one company, nor a brand of camcorder, but one of the largest online suppliers is as mentioned, B&H Photo (www.bhphoto.com). You can also try the larger electronics stores from some great deals from time to time. Best Buy, Circuit City and even Wal-Mart. When you find a model you like, shop, shop, shop. Read online reviews. Are there online coupons? Price compare and ask if there are any upcoming sales on the product. Will buying it local save you on shipping a product you found via the internet? If the model you think you like is on display at an area store, go look at it, pick it up, feel it. Does it look like it will hold up to the type of recording you will be doing? Turn it on, look at the picture you get with it, is it what you expected? (Please note most the displays with the flip out screens are quite deceiving until you connect your camcorder to a TV to replay your footage. The footage usually looks better on a good TV!)
Extended warranties? That’s a matter of personal taste. Depending on how much you are spending on the camera, sometimes the price of the warranty doesn’t hardly make sense to purchase if something ever breaks on the camera. There are times it’s cheaper to just go buy a new one. On the other hand, cameras nowadays are lasting longer and longer and it may be well worth a few extra dollars on an extended warranty. That is strictly personal preference.
In our family, we are the go-to people for questions about electronics, just as we are with medical complaints and ailments and animal training! But these are the usual questions we get when they are shopping for a new camcorder and some of the advice we give them. Hope that helps a little bit.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the FCP Blogger Report!

The Latest at Fat Cat!

Sorry for the laziness with the blog recently, we have been very busy, shooting, editing, and planning for upcoming weddings and destination travel! We wanted to fill you in on some new things happening here at Fat Cat though-

From time to time this year Fat Cat will be adding some new diverse things to the blog to go with our upcoming new website! :) We will be sharing several new articles of interest instead of just videos and “what’s up” with us. For example, we will be posting several articles on choosing a camcorder (for you honeymooners), picking other wedding vendors, including interviews with our local faves (photographers, florists, etc) and other juicy little tidbits of information to help you in your wedding planning and more! If there is something you’d like to hear about or a question you’d like answered here in the blog, please send it our way via email to info at fatcatrocks.com :)
Of course, there are lots of folks also anxiously awaiting the online studio tour…that will actually be posted in the coming weeks, the studio is getting the final touches this next month and then sometime late in April we will finally be able to share that with you. Everything is looking quite nice! We are so excited to have our Open House as well, we are hoping will be about the same time or May. Things just took longer than we anticipated so don’t lose hope just yet! We can’t wait to launch the new web site as well which will have a few new features, including our new online gift registry! Stay tuned!

Collins Wedding in Colorado

We arrived home Sunday from the wedding in Breckenridge, what an adventure!

We left early on Wednesday evening to try to get out to Western Kansas to beat some of the weather we heard was coming! We had dinner with friends Jason and Deanna in Salina who were also traveling to Colorado to go skiing for vacation at Keystone just down the road! We made it to Hays before we were utterly exhausted and hit the hay about midnight. We were then up early on Thursday to drive to the Rockies. We made a stop at Outdoor World in Denver when we got a call from Deanna who was ahead of us at that time stating we had better get a move on as there was white out conditions near the Eisenhower tunnel. I fired off a shot of the stuffed lion and off we went. In good time, too. The conditions were starting to deteriorate, with truckers required to chain tires, etc and the tunnel closing a few hours after we made it through! When we arrived, we stayed at River Mountain Lodge. The weather remained blustery, cold and snowy for the next two days. I had started to wonder if there was a back up plan for the "outdoor" ceremony! After a little shopping, we met up with the bride, Jessie, and her family and friends at the same restaurant we chose for dinner, Mi Casa! So we visited a while before dinner and at that time Jessie chose not to do the Love Story so we decided to film the rehearsal dinner instead. No problem. The Oehmke's are pretty laid back folks! After a really great dinner, including a brief power outage from all the snow they'd received and great service from our waiter Kevin, we were off to bed. The next day we ran around town, well walked, at 10,000 feet to get our bearings and shoot some B-roll. Beautiful town. The rehearsal dinner was fun at a place called Eric's Downstairs, the best pizza in town. The grooms parents were wonderful hosts driving all the way from New York! Everyone was given gift baskets thanking them for coming, as well as party favors of chocolates in the shape of skiis and ski boots! The actual rehearsal did not take place till Saturday morning. So off to bed we went.

Saturday morning we loaded the truck and headed to the ceremony site for rehearsal. Afterwards, I documented the ladies at lunch and getting their hair and make up applied. It was a very relaxing morning with close friends and family. The bride's sister, Jenny was her maid of honor, whose wedding we filmed a few years prior. She wore a strapless dark brown two piece gown with heels and the bride was stunning in a strapless champagne gown that gathered to the sides on the bodess, replacing any intricate beadwork. She had a mid-length train that bustled into a bow in the back and to stay warm outside - a fur shawl/throw and to complete the winter look, killer cream colored snow boots with a bow in the front from Zappos.com.

Barry was able to spend a few minutes with the groom prior to the ceremony before having to set up equipment. Scott was very calm before the wedding and had enjoyed his week-long stay skiing the black diamond slopes with friends!

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the tent for the ceremony as the sun started to come down over the mountain. It ended up being a gorgeous day, with a clear view of the ski slopes in the background, not hardly a bit of wind. The bride walked between Christmas light adorned trees and into the clear tent with both her parents, with music from a talented Native American musical artist, Leon Littlebird, playing in the background. A friend who lives in Denver made the trip to be the officiant and read a part of the brides favorite childrens book in her homily, The Velveteen Rabbit. Friends and family read scripture and prayer after the vows and exchange of rings. Before we knew it Jessie and Scott were husband and wife and exited the tent for some photos as the guests remained inside the tent for cocktail hour.

The couple was soon announced into their reception hall that was beautifully decorated with white toule and shades of blue and brown. We played a photomontage, the couple toasted, cut the cake and enjoyed a great dinner. Then we saw a familiar face with the catering staff, Kevin, our waiter from dinner our first night there! The dancing went into the evening and our hats off to everyone who braved the dance floor all night long at 10,000 feet when nearly everyone was from out of town (and a much lower elevation)!

We wrapped up the evening exhausted but very happy we made the trip for Jessie. The Oehmke's have always made us feel like family.

To Jessie and Scott, thank you very much for letting us capture your day, we had a great time with both of you and your families. It was great seeing everyone again, please stay in touch! Click below to see the wedding day prequel!

Go West Fat Cat!

Exciting things going on here at Fat Cat! We are off today to head West into the Rockies! We are shooting a wedding in Colorado this weekend in 6 feet of snow, outside, in a tent (heated thank the Lord!), with a view of the mountains at sunset! Should be an exciting adventure! We are going a bit early to film a Love Story for the couple as well, look for that this summer! I've got my new snow boots laced up and ready to forge ahead. Tyff and Jeff will be holding down the fort at the office in the heat :) We will be excited to show all of you the prequel for this wedding, so check back and look for it here!! Here is the link to where the wedding will be held: Hyatt Main Street

After that we get 2 months to unthaw here at home before taking Fat Cat International! We are off to our first beachfront destination wedding in April! We will be near Cancun, Mexico for a 5 night stay at El Cid, we couldn't be more excited. Thanks to our soon to be newlyweds, Stacey and Greg, for making that trip come together! Stacey is a brave one, too- beachfront/ocean extreme session here we come! If you are getting married later in '08 or even into '09 and are heading out of town, or even out of the country, and thought you couldn't take Fat Cat with you- think again!

Have camera. Will travel. :)

We also will be launching our new web site soon! We are excited about that and thanks to Jeff for all the work on it over the last several months amidst his already hectic and busy schedule. We are encoding new video for the gallery/visuals page as well. We'll post as soon as the new site is HOT! So, lots to do. Now I must finish packing, we'll check in with you all soon!
SG

Aenchbacher and Ramsey Wedding

Well this weekend, we were able to navigate our way back to Kansas City for the wedding of Jarrod and Patty on the 29th. We left on Friday and returned Sunday after a whirlwind of activity. We were able to attend the rehearsal at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in KC, Missouri on Friday. It was absolutely gorgeous. We left slightly early to catch some of the table decorations at the rehearsal dinner location, M&S Grill on the Plaza. Then it was off to check in at the hotel and get a good nights sleep for the wedding on Saturday. I started by following Patty to The Salon on the Plaza getting her hair and make up done while Barry took time to go shopping next door. :)

Patty was very kind in letting me hop a ride back to the hotel with her to get her dress on and finish getting ready. Her dress was really unique and stunning. There was no bead work, but layers of champagne colored material wrapping around her bodice with narrow sleeves that slipped slightly off the shoulders. Ladies, I would love to tell you who designed it, but for the life of me, I don't recall! The bridesmaids dresses were the most beautiful emerald green I have ever seen and they all looked awesome.

After Patty was dressed, I was able to ride with the ladies to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art for her to see her groom for the first time. I was stopped briefly by security and was able to catch up to the bride and groom before their big reveal with their photographers, Neal and Eric from Lemon-Lime Photography out of Kansas City, who were great to work with all day!

After photos at the Museum, it was time to head off to the Cathedral and prepare for the evening wedding. It was not a full Mass, but a great personal ceremony. Patty's bridesmaid Erin sang a great rendition of "When you say you love me" before the bride and groom left the church as husband and wife. They were wished well by all their guests outside the church and climbed into the limo to head to Berg Studio for the reception and party.

The couple had a great time with their guests and dancing all evening. The party wrapped up at midnight and we were happy to have had a hotel room instead of driving home that night! It was a really great day!

Check back in the coming weeks to see Jarrod and Patty's wedding day prequel!!

To Patty and Jarrod, thanks so much for having us and for all your hospitality while we were away from home! We wish you many years of happiness together, you are the perfect couple. By the time you read this you should be home from Paris, we hope you took lots of pictures, we want to see!!!

Barry and Steph

Fat Cat wins big in Vegas!

It's not what you are thinking :)

This past week the blog has been quiet because we were in Las Vegas at our annual WEVA convention from Monday till Friday at Bally's/Paris Hotels. WEVA is the Wedding and Event Videographers Association, we have been members for 4 years. Each year the association sponsors the Creative Excellence Awards (CEA) competition which is international in nature. We have entered for about 3 years and this year we came away with a "Finalist" award in the Love Story category! I hear that we were two tenths of a point away from Bronze, or third place! The Love Story is the sample we have online on the Gallery page and is featured on our newest 2007 Wedding Movie Demo DVD! Check it out!Although we were very excited, we were a bit nervous heading up to the stage as our award was the first award presented for the night! The awards ceremony happened the opening night of the conference and we got to see old friends we had not seen for a year from all across the country and were on our way to meeting new ones! Our video was played with the other winners all week on TV monitors in what we call the "Backlot" where everyone gathers for breakfast and breaks to socialize and hang out.

The conference during the week was very informative as well, as we were busy hitting multiple seminars ranging in topics from marketing and website development to filming and editing techniques and many others. The seminars kept us busy all day from 8 am to 8 pm each night. We are very excited to impliment some new ideas and strategies into our business this year that will go hand in hand with some really big announcements we have coming up (I know we keep promising, but it's only a matter of less than a few weeks now!) The last night we did manage to squeak some time in to go to dinner on the strip with friends and we got to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower of the Paris Hotel! Here are some photos of our great time!

(Photos 1&2: Awards Night being presented our award by one of the Judges, local videographer Judy Handley. We did not know Judy was a judge until awards night when we received our award! Photo by our good friend and mentor, Danny Sayson. Photo 3: "The gang" at a restaurant inside Paris. This was a group of folks who had been to Jeff Wright's seminars of Blue Skies Cinema in California, that's Jeff and his wife Andee behind me. We had a BLAST! Thanks Jeff for putting it all together, I met some great new friends from other workshops! Photo 4: Steph and Judy posing at the Las Vegas Airport ready to head home after a long tiring week, the Weva Diva's! We missed Deanna this year for the photo, she had already made it to Cinabon! Photo 5: Steph and Judy on the way up the escaltor taking their businesses "to the next level"!

Reflections of Greensburg

We've recently finished up the Greensburg Graduation ceremony from last month and it will be shipping to the students at the school any day now after we complete all the packaging. Since posting about our trip there last month, I thought we would share the Intro to the Senior's Class Video. We used text from the programs they distributed and I grabbed soundbites from the featured speakers, including the Class President, Valedictorians, Salutatorian, and the dignitaries present that day as well as a sound bite from President Bush's letter to the graduating class. Congratulations Greensburg High School Class of 2007! May you be blessed in all your future endeavors!

Greensburg, Class of 2007

We just returned a short time ago from Greensburg, Ks. As everyone knows now, that is the town about 2 hours west of Wichita that suffered the EF5 tornado a few weeks ago on May 4th.

This was my second trip to Greensburg in two weeks.

The first trip was May 5th when I was called to assist in the search and rescue efforts with my search and rescue dog, Clarice. I felt I was helping in some small way and I hope it helped to set some people's mind at ease that we cleared areas and everyone had been accounted for. My dog was worked by another team member on the 6th as well as I stayed home tending to more business projects.

As I went about completing projects here the last few weeks, the town of Greensburg had a Commencement Ceremony they were planning with little notice and no school left to host the ceremony. Shortly before our wedding of Chase and Ashley yesterday, we received a phone call from the local DJ's Association here in town asking our Videography Association if someone could donate their time to film the graduation today. FCP was one of the few videographers available and we felt we needed to help more. We wanted to give the graduates something to take with them when everything or most everything they had before was lost.

Working off of 4 hours sleep and recharging batteries as fast as possible overnight, restocking camera bags with tape and charging remaining batteries on the way there, we made it in time this morning to clear security checkpoints, set up and film the ceremony for the 8th Grade Graduates and the Senior Class of 2007. Several Dignitaries were present giving what advice and encouragement they could. President Bush sent a letter of Congratulations which was read and a private reception followed for graduates, friends and family only, no press.

Those that set up the ceremony were very gracious to us and allowed us free reign to get shots of the class that national media was not allowed to get. Every student will receive a copy of the graduation when it is completed.

FCP would like to thank Mark Miles of VideoVisions for volunteering and assisting us by operating a third camera- thank you!

If you would like to help in the efforts at Greensburg, follow this link to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and see how you can help financially, by donations, or in other ways.

Congratualtions class of 2007!