April in Paris…well S.L.C.

So I’m sitting in my car outside of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah after a long day of tech rehearsal and it is pouring.  Not spritzing, not sprinkling….POURING.  I sigh because I really don’t want to reschedule my shoot but although I photograph engagements all the time I know that this is my couple’s only session they’ll ever do and I so want it to be as perfect as possible for them.  I call them up and they are still good to go and you know what?  It was the most fun shoot I’ve ever done.

I know, I say that a lot.

It really was wonderful!  The rain made the colors pop.  I loved what they were wearing.  They are so cute and fun and in love that it made my cheeks hurt from smiling.  The umbrellas were a blast and it looked exactly like springtime in Paris.  I know, I’ve been there.  I also know a beautiful song that I sang with my Utah Chamber Artist group entitled April in Paris so not only did I have a wonderful shoot but there was an accompanying soundtrack running through my head…yeah, I do that.

The weather cleared and we had the most beautiful sunset.  Plus this platform is where he proposed.  It doesn’t get much more perfect than that!

p.s.  Here’s a link to a few more on my facebook business page.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150981915608727.417925.111853783726&type=3

They like me, they really like me! ;)

As most of you know {and for those who don’t I shall now tell you}, I have been involved with the Sundance Film Festival for the past three years.  Last year I got my dream job as a full time Park City photographer.  It was a fantastic adventure, a lot of good hard work, and tons of fun.  After the festival your supervisors evaluate your performance and this affects your status for the next year.  I recently received an email stating that I had a positive evaluation and for the first time they included an excerpt.

“This sentiment was echoed by your supervisors who provide feedback and they had nothing but great things to say about you.  Here are some highlights:

 Mandie was such a joy to have in the office.  She has a beautiful personality and was always fun to be around.  She was such a hard worker and consistently provided quality images.  Our editors said she was very helpful with pre-editing.  We loved having…”

Needless to say this made my day.  I absolutely loved the people I got to work with.  The creative services department is like my own personal Mecca and I’m so glad that they appreciated me.  Of course I kinda want to read the whole thing but alas…hopefully there wasn’t a “but” coming up.  😉

The Boxer by One Wood Uke

So here’s the link to my first short on YouTube.  I know, it’s a music video, but I want to call it a short.

http://youtu.be/qVRSrSvWQJE

Here are some of my thoughts on this project.

1.  I have watched the “raw” video a million times over but after I render it there are a few spots where I have a slight fealing of the synch being off.  Then when I try to watch the youtube video on my phone there are parts that are way off that aren’t if I watch it on my computer.  Why is that?  Is it normal?  This is my first time uploading a video and I’m baffled…very annoying!

2.  I did this in Photoshop because a.  I thought it was cool that I could and b.  I knew with all the color changes that I wanted to make it would be a breeze.  Sidenote:  I just had to look up how to spell breeze…it still looks funny to me.

3.  I changed the color in Photoshop…a lot.  We were going for a downtrodden type look so I knew I wanted to desaturate the color and the add a brownish feel.  The black and white is also a very faint sepia instead of a true black and white.

4.  If I do something like this again I need to bring loud speakers so I don’t have to throw out the majority of the footage that we shoot because of getting off tempo. Grrrrrr

5.  When you have to throw out the majority of your footage because you get off tempo it really messes with the elaborate storyboard that you spent forever creating and you kinda end up winging it…I hate winging it.

6.  Youtube adds are annoying.

7.  Getting yelled at by the police while filming is horribly mortifying but not the end of the world…yeah, don’t want to talk about that.

All in all I’m giving myself a B+.  I’m excited to take what I’ve learned to my next project which I hope to start on soon.  I need my beautiful Valley summer nights for that one (as ironically it is snowing outside as I type this).  Special thanks to Christopher White for doing the sound.  If you’d like to download the music for free go to.

http://onewooduke.bandcamp.com
 

Introducing… Four:30 Films

I’m finally going public with my film company name.  I’ve been stalling because of problems in the past with people stealing my intellectual property which is sad mainly because it makes me paranoid {which I hate}  and also lessons my faith in humanity {which is the worst}.  Anyway, I have dreams that are grandiose to say the least and I may not ever fully reach them but at least I can say that I am giving it all I have and that’s worth something.

The reason for the reveal now is that my brother and I have a short film that we are putting together and we decided that we needed to practice…a lot….so we’ve made a music video and I should be posting it next week.  Monday, if all goes well.

Just in case anyone cares about the meaning behind my company name {and there is meaning because that’s how I do EVERYTHING}.  Here goes…
You know those nights when you are with people who are especially meaningful in your life and you get to talking about dreams, goals, hopes, sorrows, aspirations, ideas and so on and so on and so on?  And it’s one of those almost magical times when the clock ceases to exist and everything is just perfect?  Then, there’s a pause, and you wonder what time it is and suddenly you realize that it’s 4:30 in the morning and you’ve talked all night.  That’s what the name means.

Anyway, I’m very very “nervous but excited” to unveil my first, what I think of it as, short.  Hopefully people will be kind.  Constructive.  But kind.  See you next week! 🙂

I get a new Cousin!!

My cousin Tony is getting married to this lovely girl whose name is Rebecca {please don’t be cross if I spelled that wrong}.  I’m so excited to get a new cousin.  Cousin’s are the best and I’m lucky that I have a ton of them and that they are all fabulous {did you catch that, Jeppsons?}.  As far as the ones that marry into my family I consider them automatically cousins too which may be confusing to the outside world but it’s all good.  Having boatloads of cousins is super handy because chances are a perfect stranger knows one of them and then, Voilà, we instantly have something in common.  Don’t scoff, it happens All.The.Time.

Rebecca is a total trooper.  She was recovering from food poisoning the day we took these but you would never have guessed it.  More importantly Tony brought her to the last Jeppson Family Fiesta and she survived.  Way to go Rebecca!  Of course you still have Christmas Eve to get through but you can always take a break in the T.V. room with my hubby if the cacophony becomes too deafening. 😉

I had fun with these images because I just picked the ones that struck my fancy and then did whatever the heck effects I felt like.  I’ve been up since 5:30 am so I’m on a roll.  The only problem will be remembering what I did if I need to re-create, especially this last one…I’m sure I can manage.

Happy April 1st to you all!

Sidenote:  I just realized this is April Fools day, right?  Just fyi nothing in this post is a joke.  Tony really is getting married…haha…that could have been a really elaborate prank!