As part of the company transition that we’ve been going through, we will be moving our blog to a new location. This will be our last blog on this site. For future entries of our latest adventures, please go here: http://alumierestudios.blogspot.com/
See you at the jump!!
As you may already know, the second annual showcase of passion, artistry, talent, and all things a soon-to-be married couples should know is just around the corner…Una Bella Sera…April 5th, 2009. The creators of this magnificent event happens to be no other than our two dearest friends Nicole Ha (floral designer) and Crystal Lequang (wedding and event designer). Last years event proved to be a phenomenal extravaganza of significant proportions. I had to admit it was sensory overload but in a very good way as I meandered pass the many exhibits put on by various vendors who were invited to showcase their work. (Alumiere Studios was included in that list and was invited back for this years event as well). This year, I’ll be taking photos of the event to show you want I am talking about as words can’t describe the level of artistry that I saw…just amazing. Anyhow, here is additinal info on the upcoming event and if you are in the market to get hitched, this is the place to be, hang out, learn new things, chat, and most of all, sample awesome food and wine. Cheers! See you all there!!
Ceremony and reception was at the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton, CA. Mixed in shots using 35mm lens.
Ceremony and Reception was at the Mountain Windery in Saratoga, CA. My favorite shots were from the vineyard using the 35mm lens.
Ceremony was at St. Marks Lutheran Church in San Francisco and reception was at Legendary Palace in Oakland, CA. Contains mixed clips shot with 35mm lens.
Seeing how the weather has been like, Stephanie and I thought it would be nice to turn all this rain into something fun for our kids – so we packed up our gear (and there was lots of it!) and headed up to Bear Valley for a short getaway. I didn’t realize how much stuff we had to bring with us – we managed to bring everything but the kitchen sink! Fortunately, I managed to sneak my still camera gear into the now overly packed van and we headed to the snow. I was first reluctant to expose my “new” camera to the falling snow but kept reminding myself that these cameras were made to be water resistant. So…I took a deep breath and put the camera strap over my shoulder and off I went. Boy was I glad I did because I was able to grab some nice candid shots of the kids having fun. This was my first real world (in real weather) test of the camera and it performed beautifully. I had left my flash back at the cabin so I relied mostly on the sky as natural fill light – which was perfectly soft. Here are some of my favorites…hope you enjoy them!
Shot with 70-200mm at f2.8.
This last one is of my daughter’s friend Emma who went on the trip with us along with her parents.
Hello everyone! Happy 2009! In my previous posts I’ve eluded to many exciting things happening with our company and I thought I’d share one that is very exciting. As you already can see, we are in the midst of re-branding our company from CINEMATICTOUCH to ALUMIERE STUDIOS. Why the change in name you may ask? Well, before I go down that path, I first want you all to know that in our 7 years of doing videography we’ve worked with some really talented and passionate photographers such as Chris Humphreys and Gene Higa (just to name a few). Their work, passion, and energy has left an irreversible imprint on us and started in motion a profound admiration and love for photography that we never knew existed. We’ve been bitten by the photo bug and we loved it!
It’s also kinda scary and exciting at the same time. We are are entering an industry that is fiercely competitive and the success rate is very low. The web listings are littered with photographers of all shapes and sizes and practically everyone else you see walking around is holding a digital SLR. So what makes us think we have something unique to offer? Clearly we can not and never will be a Chris Humphreys or Gene Higa. What we will be relying on mostly is our ability to shoot with intimacy and emotion. We are not afraid to be in the action and rub shoulders with our clients and make them laugh. We feel the same excitement and energy as our clients do on their wedding day and use it to capture images that connect and move. It’s like having your best and closest friend capture your wedding but she happens to be a professional videographer/photographer as well. The intimacy comes through the lens and onto the photo/video. That’s how we approached videography and we will do the same with photography.
So…we are thrilled to add photography to our list of services and look forward to working with our new clients for 2009. Thus leads me back to why we changed our name and we felt that CINEMATICTOUCH no longer captures the vision and direction of our new company…so ALUMIERE STUDIOS was born. I like the name Alumiere because it incorporates the root word “lumen” which means light. Light is the unifying element that ties videography and photography together and we enjoy using it to paint our images (regardless of the medium).
So we apologize for any confusion during this transition period and thank you our clients, family, and friends for your continued support. We are blessed to be doing something we truly love and be able to share with all of you.
All the best, Vincent.
Whether or not you’ve been paying attention to the photography industry lately, you might have noticed that Canon released it’s “new and improved” sequel to the Canon 5D Digital SLR called the 5D Mark II. Not only is the camera that much sweeter in pixel count (from 12 megapixel to 21 megapixel), it also boasts an impressive video capturing capability in 1080p. Combine these features with Canon’s ultra fine line of professinal grade lens and, well, you’ve got a highly powerful combination with incredible possibilities.
So what does that mean for us poor ole’ videographers? Just pack up and call it quits? NO, it just means we have another tool at our fintertips…and now it comes with better lenses! So we couldn’t help but get one of our very own 5D Mark II to play with. Keep an eye out for samples in the near future from us using this camera.
Does this mean your photographer can do the job of both photographer and videographer? The answer is not quite as simple as YES or NO. It is true that the lines have been blurred a bit, but do keep in mind that mastering either craft takes time, attention to detail, and years of experience. Hitting the proverbial “Record” or “Shutter” button can only get you so far. The rest must come from personal style and technique to capture and weave together a meaningful story for each client.
But if you are curious to know what this new camera can do for your wedding video, then you should check this out HERE.
Hey Ladies (and Gents too i guess). My good friends, Thi and Mimi, have started a new and exciting venture in the wedding business and have not only opened up their own uber-chic make-up studio in the swanky downtown of Palo Alto but they are also launching their very own makeup product line as well. It goes without saying that these two ladies are absolutely awesome at what they do. Please check out their new studio or call for a consultation!
Thi Makeup Studio | 522 Bryant St. Palo Alto, Ca 943001 | 650.327.8880 | www.thicosmetics.com
Hello Everyone,
Gosh it’s been quite a treat to take a (much needed) break during the month of December. Of course that’s not entirely true since we couldn’t resist the temptation to sneak in one last awesome wedding (with Louisana and Nacho) on Dec. 20th – which was a very nice way to end our 2008 wedding season. What can we say…we just love weddings.
But, we’re also absolutely thrilled that 2009 is here!! No economic slump is going to keep us down especially when there’s so much exciting stuff happening.
First and foremost is the fact that 2009 will be the year of BluRay. I know it’s been out awhile now but it’s taken this long now to finally trickle out into most homes. And yes…we’re talkin’ beautiful intense colors and breathtaking detail. If you have watch a movie on a 50 inch HiDef LCD, you know what I mean. There’s simple no comparison to standard definition anymore. Here’s a sample snapshot of what it will look like but probably won’t do it any justice. But rest assured ladies…we’ll make sure you still look flawless!!
So…with that in mind, we’ve restructured our package offerings to include BluRay in most of our packages with the exception of our basic package. Hopefully, this will give everyone enough options to choose from.
So with that, stay tuned for my upcoming posts as I’ll be discussing about all the cools things that’s making us excited for 2009!!
See you soon!
Or check out this sample in High Def inition 720p (view):
Jeff and Jenell’s wedding highlights. Ceremony and reception at Decathlon Club. Mixed in super 8mm.
Hope you enjoy the video!
Vintage-style Highlights of Mimi and Tom’s wedding. Ceremony was at Santa Clara Mission and reception was at San Jose City Hall Rotunda. We found out that Mimi and Tom’s wedding will be featured in theKnot Magazine this fall 2008 and are so elated to have been a part of such a beautiful and intimate event. We’ll also be posting a few gorgeous photos taken by world renowned photographer (and rebel with a camera/all-around nice guy) Gene Higa (www.genehiga.com) from this wedding very shortly…stay tuned!
Photos by: Gene Higa (www.genehiga.com)
Wedding Highlights for Christine and Ryan. Ceremony was at Swedenborgian Church in San Francisco and reception was at Spinnacker Restaurant in Sausalito, CA.
Photos by: Sharon Hoyt (http://www.sharonhoyt.blogspot.com/)
Okay…this was by far one of the most fun weddings we’ve done. Besides the gorgeous venue (Palm Events Center) and decor, we got a chance to meet an incredible group of people, most importantly: our bride and groom, Leilani and Michael, who made our day so enjoyable with their warm and fun-loving personalities. In addition, we got a chance to work with our wonderful friend and photographer-extraordinaire, Gene Higa (www.genehiga.com). When I first met Gene a few years back, I, immediately, was amazed at his work and mastery of the lens (who isn’t?). So, as soon as I was able to find a way to put some nice 35mm lens on my camera, I was off to see if I can get the same gorgeous shots that I saw from Gene’s camera – but with a cinematic twist of course. Obviously, that’s easier said than done given Gene’s one-of-a-kind talents. But the 35mm lens used for Leilani and Michael’s “Day-Of-Video” gave us some incredible shots and we were thrilled to use any and all that we could get our salivating hands on. The results…well…check it out!!
Joe and Nary’s wedding was shot at St. Marks Church, then to Stanford University for some fun and group shots, and then over to the Mayflower Restaurant for the reception coverage. If you’ll noticed, for the prep coverage, we tested out our new gadget (a 35mm adapter) that allowed us to get the really nice shots of Nary “in focus” but the background being nicely out of focus. We thought the shots came out fantastic…don’t you think? Hope you enjoy it!
Photos by Chris Sommers (http://www.chrissommersphoto.com)
We recently had the distinct pleasure to work with a very unique couple, Long and Chau, who came to us and basically put all their trust in our hands to produce for them an engagement video for their historic wedding day (to be shown at their reception – first wedding at the one and only Casa Real). As always, we were up to the challenge. But, truth be told, we were a bit stumped. We’ve seen all the engagement videos out there and wanted something different yet capture the unique personality of our clients. Luckily, we remembered hearing about a bamboo nursery in Aptos that we’ve been dying to shoot at so we decided to get some shots there. Then, it was off to the nearby boardwalk and beach to get some fun action shots. All throughout, we used plenty of fish eye and 35mm to give it a more fresh, edgier, and filmic look. The end result was something we felt was totally unique and different…just what we wanted. Hope you enjoy it too!
Nicole Ha Floral Design and Amazáe Special Events are excited to present “Una Bella Sera”.
“A beautiful evening” at Casa Real on April 27, 2008 is for clients and vendors to enjoy themselves with flowing champagne, sweets & savories. The event will be featuring the designs of Amazáe Special Events and Nicole Ha, while highlighting their “great list” of vendors (of which CinematicTouch happens to be included 
) doing what they do best. The event is also sponsored by the new, yet to be open event location in Pleansanton, Casa Real at Ruby Hill Winery (where CinematicTouch would have had the distinguished honor of covering the very first wedding at the venue one week before), and their favorite magazine, Your Wedding Day.
We invite you to come join us for this great event.
Details on the event and registration can be viewed here:
http://www.unabellasera.com/index.html
The event is free to attend but space is limited so please register to reserve your space.
Hope to see you all there!!
Vincent
Wedding highlights from Christopher and MariaLuara’s wedding that we shot at the beautiful St. Joseph’s Cathedral. We mixed in fun shots captured during the wedding party photo session at the Japanese friendship garden. Enjoy!!
photos by Bella Pictures (www.bellapictures.com)
