As part of the Delta Farms, this venue use to be the central California stopping point for thousands of cattle being moved from Oregon south. The name describes the venue, a barn, a LARGE barn! With a medium sized dance floor, indoor tented lawn that facilitates tables for dinner along with a full sized bar and large indoor wedding room.
I enjoyed shooting the wedding here however I was faced real quick with backlight issues. You see, the audience sits in a nice medium lit section facing the bride and groom who are directly in front of a very bright background (the sun shining in through partially open barn doors). Thus, they are black spots in the video world because like your eye, the camera squints when bright light is presented. But 15 years of shooting weddings in all different environments taught me that a bight light will bring your clients "out of the dark" so to say. Some quick thinking and rubber bands let me place a strong LED spot light on a monopod directly above the couple which did the trick. To bad I didn't have duct tape. I've always believed I could live for months on a desert island with just duct tape and Jack Daniel's.
My heart was in my throat for a while but all worked out in the end. Not to toot my own horn, however this is why you hire any professional with years of experience, whether its a photographer, videographer, DJ or caterer. I was a new guy once, as we all were, and I made "new guy" mistakes. Keep this in mind when you look around. In the world of video you worry about lighting (or lack of), audio and camera placement. Wedding videographers have to be fast on their feet, you have to think quick. Weddings are nothing short of an event. When you have the luxury of planning first, then problems are easily dealt with, but in this case Sean was just back from Military deployment in Turkey and video was a last minute thought (isn't that always the way it is). We were called at the 11th hour and asked if we could cover the wedding. A chance to help out a guy in the military...a no brainer, we'll be there!
Sean was obviously a guy who knows how to dress right and Molly, wow a black and white dress, absolutely beautiful. They were a real fun couple who were very charming and wonderful to work for.
One thing you need to keep aware of at the Party Barn. Mosquitos and flies...lots of them! Although the venue provides mosquito repellant, they are everywhere! Hilmar Cheese catered the event and provided good tasting food.
It's hard on any family to be deployed in a foreign country and especially when you return for a couple of days to get married and then back to work, but we hope the wedding video will give both Molly and Sean something to watch when those lonely nights roll in and they can take themselves back to a time when things were happy and close. We wish them the best and thank Sean for his part in making us a bit more secure in this crazy world.
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