Jensen Films

Sacramento NACE Tabletop Contest

2009-07-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

On June 23rd, Sacramento NACE (National Association of Catering Executives) sponsored the First Annual Tabletop Design Contest, featuring 11 fabulous table settings showcasing the creative talents of top wedding professionals in the area. The event was held at Wilson Vineyards and was graciously hosted by owner Sandra Wilson. Our delicious dinner was prepared by Gretchen Wacholder and her staff from Il Fornaio. Many thanks to Chris and Meagan from Chris Kight Photographers for the stills used in the image above and in film clip below.

View the film clip HERE (fast connection)

or HERE (slower connection)

Pamela Pamperin - Harpist Extrordinaire

2009-07-09T10:53:00.001-07:00

Last night at a SwopMeets mixer of Sacramento wedding professionals, talented Harpist Pamela Pamperin suggested a cool outdoor video shoot featuring her beautiful music. I think she wanted to play Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven." That conversation inspired me to create this image- Pam atop the Lost Arrow outcropping in Yosemite...:) ...But how to get Pam and the harp on the rock? Would they stay in one piece- lowered from a helicopter? And would she feel like playing once precariously perched?! Thanks to Guillaume Dargaud who shot the original image- less Pam.

Sarah + David

2009-07-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Sarah & David were married on October 25, 2008 at St. Joseph's- a charming Catholic Church on the Sacramento River near Clarksburg. Their fabulous reception was held at the LeRIVAGE Hotel, about 5 miles upriver. Having filmed at St. Joseph's many times over the years, it was great to see Father Dan Madigan again. First-rate wedding professionals working at this wedding included my friends Beth Baugher from True Love Photo and Shannon Cosgrove-Rivas from Flourish (Wedding Flowers).

View the Highlights Film Clip HERE

Jennifer + Nathan | Super 8mm Film

2009-06-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

Jennifer & Nathan were married last Fall at the beautiful Monte Verde Inn near Foresthill, CA. I wanted to test a new 8mm film camera and Jennifer was more than happy to volunteer. Film does not have the stunning clarity of HD, but renders a warm, organic, timeless look. I shot one roll along with our normal HD video during the wedding day. This roll showed more film damage than normal, but I like the effect:)

View the 8mm Film Clip HERE

Wedding Videographers are Wimps!

2009-06-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Chris Kight of Kight Photographers for this unretouched:) photograph taken at a recent wedding:) Now I've got to start working on that left arm. The cameras we use are actually much smaller than this. Also featured here is Anthony Avery from A&A music events.

View larger image HERE.

Is this the coolest wedding cake ever?

2009-06-02T21:01:00.001-07:00

I love this Cake! "Rick Reichart, who co-owns cakelava with his wife, Sasha, designed this colorful sculpted-pillow wedding cake with handcrafted accent pieces for a yoga instructor's tropical wedding. To tie in the Hawaiian component, the bride chose guava and mango flavors for her cake." Created by CakeLava.com.

Wedding Blooper {or an 'Act of the Divine'}

2009-06-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Rajinder and Justin held their fabulous wedding Saturday at The Pavilion at The Vintage Estate in Yountville (Napa Valley). I was fortunate to capture this very fun mishap of a tray of wine glasses falling to the ground after being offered to the B&G immediately after the ceremony. The officiant- Dr. Judith Caldwell of Brilliant Ceremonies, did a wonderful job of putting the incident into perspective. The video clip below is yet another reason to consider hiring a Professional Videographer:)

View the video clip HERE

UPDATE: 'Act of the Divine' is now featured on the Little Black Book Blog:)

Jennifer + Casey Redux { July 4, 2008}

2009-05-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

I just finished this panorama. It was shot on July 4th of last year at the fabulous LeRivage Hotel. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a perfectionist with these- the pano took 8 hours to finish and it still has a few flaws:) The firework display planned on the Sacramento River that evening was cancelled. This was a big dissapointment to Jennifer & Casey. So I photoshopped some lovely fireworks into the scene that I had photographed a few years earlier at a Woodland fireworks display done by my brother Steve.

View the full screen Wedding Panorama HERE

Michael + Melissa {at Wine & Roses}

2009-05-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

This was a true storybook wedding. Michael & Melissa were boyfriend and girlfriend in elementary school and years later reunited. The wedding was filmed at the beautiful Wine and Roses in Lodi, California. We filmed the event with talented photographer Jennifer Dunham Starr from The Memory Journalists.

View the HD version of this clip HERE.

Bigger Blog Photos {Hurrah!!!}

2009-05-06T23:38:00.000-07:00

This evening, I went back to a minimalistic look to the blog, and widened my margins and my horizons:) I look forward to posting much larger pics and video in the future. Above is a polar panorama I created in photoshop of a wonderful wedding party at the Clairmont Hotel in Oakland (look for the prior post).

Jensen Panos' Featured in the Little Black Book!

2009-05-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book blog is a highly edited collection of the work of America's "A-List" of wedding professionals. A listing on this site & blog is by invitation only. We were honored today to get our first posting on their coveted blog: it features three of our unique 360 degree panoramic images:

http://www.stylemepretty.com/little-black-book-blog/

...I can dream, can't I?

2009-04-21T08:33:00.001-07:00

A new camera called the sprintcam v3 HD was introduced at NAB recently. The camera shoots at 1000 frames per SECOND. I never knew a cube of jello could look so incredibly interesting. I look forward to someday using a high speed camera for our wedding work.

Laurel + Alan {August 23, 2008}

2009-03-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa is one of my favorite wedding venues. The antique Ford car the couple used to leave in really added a fabulous accent to the event. A few wedding pro's made this event extremely easy to film - Extreme Productions Entertainment (DJ's) and Chris Kight (Photographers) . I recently finished the short highlights reel below from Laurel and Alan's beautiful wedding. (see more of Laurel & Alan's wedding in the post below)

VIEW IT HERE

Gametime at Arden Hills! What grooms really say just before the ceremony...

2009-03-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

Laurel and Alan were married at Arden Hills Resort Club & Spa in Sacramento in August of 2008. Alan was a trainer for Laurel's championship collegiate water polo team. He was obviously a huge fan:)

We always mic the groom and the officiant with super-small wireless lapel microphones about 15 minutes prior to the wedding ceremony. On a whim, I gave Laurel my headset in the brides room minutes before the ceremony so she could eavesdrop on what Alan and the other groomsmen had to say. Alan was sequestered in the Arden Hills' bar a few hundred yards away:

VIEW IT HERE

Jennifer + Casey {July 4, 2008}

2009-03-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Our wedding couples usually provide us with a number of songs to add to the finished wedding film. I was excited to see the Michael Buble piece "Feeling Good" included as part of Jennifer & Casey's music CD. What a fabulous, fun wedding this was! This 4 minute reel also highlights the beautiful Scribner Bend Winery & Vineyards and Le RIVAGE Hotel.

VIEW IT HERE

"Thank-You" DVD's: Innovation or Imitation?

2009-03-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

For nearly a decade, Jensen Films has offered a very unique product to our brides in addition to our regular wedding videography services: "Thank-you" DVD's. We initially offered them as playable CD's before DVD's became available. We make these DVD's in quantities of 100. They are a short but spectacular highlights reel we create for our brides soon after the wedding to mail to her guests with the Thank-You cards weeks after the wedding.

I recently noticed that "Thank-You" DVD's are now being offered by at least 3 of our Sacramento wedding video competitors...usually in quantities of 100. It's not the first time we've been imitated, or the last- but as usual, I'm flattered! So I have now changed the number of Thank-you DVD's we deliver to 101, just to be different:).

So it's "Thank-You" DVD's for everyone! Sacramento has now become the "Thank-You" DVD capitol of the world! I'm all for it- allowing as many people as possible see the value and power of wedding videography. ...and after all, it's the creative artistry within the DVD's that counts:)

Top25+ Professional Wedding Videographers Cabo Cruise

2009-02-14T17:38:00.001-08:00

On February 2nd, several Professional Wedding Videographers and their families set sail on the Carnival Elation for a 5 day cruise down the coast of Mexico. Organizer John Goolsby invited videographers that have been voted to the EventDV Magazines list of the World's 'Top25' Hottest videographers. We all had a great time and had the opportunity to discuss at length the needs and direction of our industry. From Right-Left are Chip Goolsby, Ron Dawson, John Goolsby, Tim Sudall, David Robin, Mike Jensen, and Steve Fowler.

Below is a fantasy Panorama of the group captured in the ship's atrium (most of our group appear in the Pano at least once:):

http://www.jensenvideo.com/VRmovies/Cruise/F/pano_cube_equi.html

My wife Pam and I also had a wonderful time,

including learning to scuba dive off the shores of Cabo:

HV20 "BranchCam"

2009-01-29T22:59:00.000-08:00

Our brides occasionally ask us how we are able to capture the events of the wedding day so inobrusively- yet are able to deliver such incredibly creative work? One reason is camera placement. Our tiny Canon HV20 camera may be diminutive, but it renders an incredibly sharp High Definintion (HD) image for it's size. And because it is so small, we can hide it almost anywhere. You can see a brief shot from the HV20 in the Monte Verde Demo below (the bride walking under the "BranchCam" during the processional).

Monte Verde Inn Redux.

2009-01-13T11:16:00.000-08:00

Monte Verde Inn Demo from Jensen Films on Vimeo.

The Monte Verde Inn recently asked us to create a demo for brides considering their beautiful venue. We edited together this piece from four of our brides that were married there in 2008

View the demo in HD (High Definition) HERE

FLASHBACK: 2003? 1103? A Midieval Wedding

2009-01-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, we filmed a very fun Midieval themed Scottish wedding at the McKinley Park Community Center in Sacramento. Most of the guests (including the videographer:) rented period costumes! This delightful event underscores what can be done at a themed wedding- even on a budget. The bride and groom were careful to include many authentic traditions of their Celtic heritage. You will need Quicktime to view these highlights (please be patient, this video may be slow to load):

CLICK HERE TO VIEW

Monte Verde Inn Highlights

2008-12-31T19:02:00.000-08:00

Last June, Jensen Films recorded the wedding of Dominic & Tanya at the Monte Verde Inn near Auburn. Dominic always felt he would know who his future bride would be by her beautiful eyes. He found them in Tanya! We used music provided by the bride and groom.

Jensen Family 2008 Christmas 'Pano'Card

2008-12-26T16:48:00.001-08:00

For the last three years, we have taken a novel approach to Christmas cards exchanged between friends and relatives- 'PanoCards: 360 degree panoramas featuring our family Christmas setting. Two years ago, we gathered in front of a beautiful neigborhood Christmas display for our 2006 panorama. The 2007 Christmas panorama was captured our family at the end of a dock at Donner Lake. This year, I decided to shoot the kids early in the morning as they ran downstairs for their Christmas gifts. Click on the Photo below to view: You will need Quicktime.

A Renewal of Vows

2008-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

Mellany & Dennis from Jensen Films on Vimeo.

"A Wedding in the Round."

2008-12-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

I am finishing a series of 360 degree wedding Panoramas for Brian and Karen- married in October of this year at Arden Hills Country Club & Spa in Sacramento. I twisted the ends of on of the panoramic images together in photoshop to create a 'polar' panorama. Please click on the photo to view fullscreen. See if you can spot the photographer, my video assistant, and the bride and groom watching themselves on the balcony! The biplane was added later:) Hit your back button to get back to the blog-

The finished set of three panoramas can be found here:

http://www.jensenvideo.com/VRmovies/Arden/Cer.html

(Notice that in the ceremony panorama, the ceremony audio is directional:)

Santa Rosa Wedding Highlights!

2008-11-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Sarah & Brandin were married in June of 2008 at a beautiful residence in Santa Rosa, California. I accentuated the warm colors in post production to match the mood of this spectacular day. The DJ was the nationally renown Peter Merry, author of the popular wedding planning book "The Best Wedding Reception...Ever!".

UPDATE: View a High Definition (HD) version of this clip HERE!