a couple screen shots for ya…

So I mentioned Isaac Alongi and I were working on an internet marketing video – we filmed it yesterday and here’s a few shots pulled from the video for you – the piece was filmed with a Canon 5d Mark II in High Definition – we shot everything with a lot of dolly movement and rack focusing so I’m really excited about editing it all together now - 

Isaac was really great to work with and did an incredible job capturing everything – I’ve got a couple weeks of editing to do on it but I’ll let you know when it goes live -

featuring new music…

Hey guys - 

www.mikevarel.com is now featuring the wonderful sounds of Lindsey Jones!

Her new record “Little Blue Dress” is now available on iTunes and you can also listen on her myspace page here. Two of her new songs from the record “Fall In Love With Me” and “I Need You” are on the player in the top right hand corner of my site next to the “contact” button.  ”We Fit” is also on there from her first album “Bullet” EP. 

Lindsey is a Nashville friend of mine with an incredible voice and after getting this record I knew I wanted to let you all know about it -

Sometimes websites put cheesy “stock” music up rather than getting permission to put really great music out there – Lindsey is so awesome to let me use her stuff!  Go pick up her record from iTunes!

(Cover Photography by David Molnar)

Internet Marketing Video

I’ve teamed up with Isaac Alongi on my most recent project – We’re doing an internet marketing piece for the law firm of Dempsey & Kingsland.  

I was a little apprehensive about taking on the project given the way I’ve seen other law firm commercials in the past, but after one meeting with Bob Kingsland, I knew this would be different.  Bob is all about creativity and doing something different, which is what I feel we’ll achieve. 

Isaac and I did the walk through already planning out our shots.  The offices of the firm are really well decorated and have a really inviting feel.  We’ve decided to bring in as little additional lighting as we need and go a different route on shooting too: the Canon 5D Mark II.  The Mark II is a professional digital SLR still camera with video capability.  It actually shoots High Definition with better quality than some of our other HD cameras.  The lenses we’ll be using will also give it an incredible look and feel.  The test shots we did look unbelievable!

Isaac is an incredible photographer, but also an amazing Director of Photography, which is why I brought him in on this piece.  I’ll be tied up producing and directing, making sure we get what we need for the edit. 

The video will be featured on their new website & I’ll be sure to let you know when it goes live!

the off-season…

So – it’s January and very few people in the midwest get married until March. 
So what does a wedding photographer/videographer do in the early months of the year?

Thankfully weddings aren’t the only thing I do.  One of my many projects that is happening right now is for Food for the Hungry.  One of my favorite people, Anne McCain, sat down with me yesterday for several hours as we began pre-production on several upcoming videos for FH.  

Each year FH holds a Summit Conference in Phoenix, AZ and invites field members, country directors, advocates, volunteers, churches and everyone that wants to learn more about what they do to come out and spend a weekend learning, growing and developing community.  I’m totally excited to be a part of that this year.  Ryan and I will be essentially recording the entire time we’re there at the end of February.

We get to interview all of the above mentioned people including the U.S. President of FH, and the Global FH President.  We’ll come back with hours upon hours of footage that we get to work into about 8 different projects as time and budget allows. 

I’m also really excited about possibly going overseas this year to film in the field.  One of my 2009 goals is to shoot pictures and video in a foreign country for a ministry or non-profit organization seeking to make a difference. 

If you’d like more information on Food for the Hungry, what they’re up to, and how you can get involved in the amazing work they’re doing, check out their site at www.fh.org or the global site at www.fhglobal.org - after I finish a few videos I’ll let you know when they’re up and where you can find them.

Craigslist scam

So this has nothing to do with photography, wedding videography or any other production that I do, but I want the internet world to know about this:

I was recently selling a broadcast quality video camera on Craigslist when I got an email from a “Sarah Dotson” saying she was interested in it. She said she wanted it for her nephew who had gone to West Africa to visit his parents and wanted it shipped to him there, and would happily add $250 to the price for shipping and was ready to pay instantly over paypal.  

Nephew? I thought.  Sounds like a kid to me.  What does a kid want with a $4,000 broadcast video camera? So as I begin typing that back to her I stopped and did a Google search for “Sarah Dotson, criagslist” and thankfully found another blog with her name in it and how someone sold her their laptop and that it was a scam and they almost lost all their money, but thankfully the Post Office had held the item for a confimation. The address the emails had been coming from was a setup – including a fake paypal address – “Sarah” didn’t exist. 

Long story short – BE CAREFUL who you’re selling to:

1. think about who’s asking for your item and if they’d really be the person buying such an item. (kid buying an expensive camera?)

2. Look at their emails – are they clearly written in English or is the grammar incorrect and uses a lot of lower case spellings?  ”i will like it to be delivered to him cos I am currently out of town” 

3. If you are selling it locally, don’t go to the middle of parking lot to meet the person.  Go inside a public place, and take someone with you. 

4. If you’re receiving a payment, or making a payment, be sure you are typing in the right address. www.paypal.com, etc. – don’t click on someone’s “included link” in their email to go to where they want you to pay. 

Just some thoughts.   I have successfully sold several things in the past through craigslist and think it’s a great thing – just be careful, and hey, do a Google search for their name before you sell it! It may just save you a lot of headaches!

Adam & Whitney – day after session(s)

So I got to shoot pictures of Adam & Whitney’s engagement, their destination wedding, and then follow them to Nassau & Coco Cay, Bahamas as well as Key West for a few more shots – here’s a few:

an awkward moment at Starbucks…

So.  

Today I was editing at Starbucks.

(I was finding being at home too distracting trying to work  and instead reading through blogs and just not getting anything done.) 

I decided to go be friends with a coffee and was cutting some shots down on a recent video when Ryan and our friend Kyle showed up.  (They had been rehearsing for a studio session for Kyle’s new record.)  I was sitting on the couch by myself, then Ryan sat right next to me to see some of what I was doing, while Kyle sat in the chair on the corner with us.  

After a half hour or so, Kyle left, leaving Ryan and I sitting on the couch together with no real “buffer” between us.  ”This just got awkward” I said.  ”Yes, yes, it did” laughed Ryan.  ”Hurry up and go sit in the chair!” I said.  So he did. 

If it was two girls sitting on the couch next to each other I think it would be totally fine.  Us two dudes on the couch together, not so much.   

Grady @ Christmas…

Ok, so as promised - 

here’s a few more shots of my nephew at Christmas – just because – who doesn’t like a cute kid?

reaching for the bubble bath…

Anyone seen the Incredibles? He kind of looks like Jack-Jack in this one:

Remember when people would clap for you, just for taking a bite? Grandma is a big fan: