LeniCam videographer Jonathan shoots with professional grade HD videocameras.

Tech Talk: Cameras for Wedding Videography Dallas TX

John Lenihan, owner and co-founder of LeniCam Productions, taped his first event in 1977. That event just happened to be his own wedding and the recording was an audio cassette.

Technology Then and Now

John’s first video was a slideshow of still photos synched with the audio cassette recording. Wedding videos have changed a lot since then, but John’s desire to capture precious memories with the latest in audio and visual technology has not changed.

Today, LeniCam uses professional-grade, high-definition video cameras and industry-standard wired and wireless microphones, as well as a full suite of software and hardware. A dedicated server room at our studio office safely stores all of our clients’ wedding videos.

What Brides Want

As we talk to brides about their wedding day, we hear two things over and over again.
• Number One: The bride wants us to capture every single detail of the day.
• Number Two: The bride wants the cameraman and equipment to be virtually invisible to the guests, participants and officiants.
Here at LeniCam we believe both are important.

Today’s Technology Choices

One of the easiest ways to capture absolutely everything at a wedding is to use consumer-grade DSLR still-cameras which include a video feature. Many wedding photographers have begun to include videography in their list of services by utilizing this technology. With these smaller digital cameras, the photographers can put themselves in the middle of the action and move quickly from one area to another.

LeniCam prefers to use professional-grade, high-definition video-only cameras for virtually all our events. For weddings, this is especially important, because we are sensitive to the bride’s second request – invisibility.

At close range, both the DSLR and the video camera record beautifully. Because of limited zoom capabilities, the DSLR must stay up close. To capture a bride’s walk down the aisle, a cameraperson with a DSLR would have to step out into the aisle with the bride and then physically move with her.

Our video cameras, which are much larger and heavier, have a greatly expanded zoom capacity. We can tape both close-ups and long shots without ever compromising video quality. These cameras, set up on tripods out of the guests’ line of sight, follow the bride from the vestibule to her groom’s side with crystal clear clarity. Meanwhile, the camera and the cameraperson remain in one spot, out of sight.

Because our cameras are stationary, vibration and movement are eradicated. Though DSLR’s may have a feature called Digital Stability Control, the feature cannot compensate 100%.
LeniCam videographers and their equipment stay out of sight and produce a higher quality video for your wedding memories.

What will the future bring?

In 1977 videography was the stuff of science fiction and no one had even dreamed of High Definition Blue Ray technology. Now it seems as if each day another impossible idea becomes an everyday necessity.

At LeniCam, John and his team are committed to capturing your precious wedding memories with the best technology available. Call us now at 972-378-0446 or email info@lenicam.com to set up your videography appointment.

LeniCam Video Productions – Wedding Videography Dallas TX

Dara and Bisi – Eastridge Park Christian Church in Mesquite Wedding Videography Dallas TX

Wedding videography Dallas TX caught a celebration embracing an American homeland with Nigerian traditions.  Dara and Bisi were married at Eastridge Park Christian Church in Mesquite.

Dara and Bisi began their day together in a photo session across the street from the church in Town East Park.  A gentle breeze lifted Dara’s veil just like the wind machines do for models in magazine spreads.  After Ivy Weddings photographers got all the shots they needed, Bisi helped his bride cross busy Town East Boulevard.  Inside the church, guests in gorgeous Nigerian caftans and headdresses were eager for the bride to come down the aisle.

Dara looked stunning in a ball gown with a ruffled halter which fell into a V neckline.  The shirred bodice was gathered into a beaded belt and then spread out into a full skirt.  She carried a bouquet of pink and white roses.  Her bridesmaids in short black dresses, carried red roses and wore red pumps.

To escort Dara down the aisle, her father wore a spectacular woven caftan with bright orange ornamentation and a golden cap.  Throughout the congregation other family and friends wore turbans in turquoise, hot pink and other colors, each color representing a different family unit.  To honor these various families Dara and Bisi lit a unity candle during the ceremony.

The reception was held in the fellowship hall of the church.  Tables were covered in white linens with a red topper and the chairs were draped to match.  The guests enjoyed a buffet meal and the couple’s beautiful wedding cake.  Soon thick rolls of greenbacks came out and the guests showered the couple with bills peeled off the rolls.

Since the wedding established a new family, Dara and Bisi disappeared for a while to change into cultural clothes made of a soft pink – the color for their new family.  After more celebrations the couple drove away in their mini-van.  Gabe Villalobos of Biel Events should be proud of this wedding and reception.

Behind the Scenes with LeniCam Video Productions

Budget is an important factor in planning a wedding.  Dara and Bisi needed to watch their budget very carefully, so we worked with them to trim our cost to a price they could afford.   One of the ways we kept costs down was by using only one cameraman.  The fact that both the ceremony and the reception were at the same location also helped.

An important part of Dara and Bisi’s reception was the formal introduction of the bride and groom and their families.  As each family unit was introduced, they would enter the reception dancing. In order to capture the groups as they entered and follow them through their dance we used a wheeled dolly.  Our cameraman would more with the family as they entered the room.  When a group’s presentation was over, we would then roll back to the entrace to capture the next group.

Using only one cameraman limits the amount of footage we can shoot and the number of locations we can cover, however, we don’t allow it to effect the quality of the video we produce.  We still use professional grade HD vidoecameras and the best in audio equipment.  We meticulously edit and mix the video in our state-of-the-art studio.  The finished product is a wedding video we can be proud of and the couple can enjoy for years to come.

We Sweat the Small Stuff So You Don’t Have To

LeniCam Video Productions – Weding Videography Dallas TX

Lindsey Cox v12 highlights v10

Lindsey and Shawn Wedding Videography Dallas TX – Mediterranean Villa Wedding in Arlington

The handsome groom looked elegant in his ascot and tails.  The bride looked elegant too, but underneath her chic satin gown, thick blue socks kept her cowboy boots from rubbing against her shins.  Lindsey and Shawn had a fun-filled wedding at Mediterranean Villa in Arlington.

When Lindsey arrived at dusk, her head was ready for the wedding, but the rest of her was blue-jeaned.  In the bride’s room, a strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline, shirred bodice and A-Line skirt made her look every inch the bride.  As she dressed a gift arrived from the groom – a large emerald cut diamond solitaire which sparkled around her neck throughout the evening.  Sparkling around the necklace was her crystal edged veil, crystal tiara, crystal chandelier earrings and a sash, which was heavily ornamented with crystals.

In Lindsey’s wedding party were several pint-sized attendants which added to the light-hearted atmosphere of the evening.  First came a tiny curly-headed flower girl, who needed a little adult supervision to make it down the aisle.  Next a tuxedoed lad sauntered in carrying a sign which read, “Uncle Shawn, Here Comes Your Bride.”  A pair of ring bearers were next, but the second ring bearer depended on the moral support of a second flower-girl, this one with a fancy up-do, to make it to the front.

The lovely Mediterranean Villa Chapel was beautifully decorated for the ceremony.  Huge urns of flowers flanked the bride and groom and behind the officiant was a row of tall crystal vases.  Some of the vases were full of floating orchids, topped off with a floating votive.  Others had pink tinted water with a floating votive.  The venue with its wrought-iron emblazoned stucco buildings and beautiful bronze fountain makes a wonderful backdrop for a wedding.

With the ceremony behind them, the couple and their guests cut loose at the reception.  Emerald City, a popular Dallas band, entertained the guests, but they had vocal assists from the bride and groom throughout the evening.   If your dancing shoes were hurting your feet you could take a break in the photo booth.  It started out with many crazy props for impromptu portraits, but the props eventually migrated to the dance floor.

When it came time for the garter toss, the groom pranked his slender bride.  He came out from under her gown with a pair of red underpants that would wrap three times around his tiny new wife.  Once the laugh was over, he dove back under the skirt of her wedding dress to get the garter, but Lindsey had to help him get it by taking off her boot.

At the end of the evening, guests waved purple glow sticks as the bride and groom made their way out of the building.

Behind the Scenes with LeniCam Video Productions

During Lindsey and Shawn’s wedding our videographers were tasked with being everywhere all the time, recording everyone and everything, while remaining virtually invisible to the participants and guests.  To accomplish this, they arrived an hour and a half before the ceremony and unloaded cases and cases of equipment.  Some people think all you need to record a wedding is a consumer model DSLR camera with a video feature.  If you do it that way, your result will not be a full-length cinemagraphic video like ours.

Any live band creates extra work on our part, because we’ve got to record all the audio as well as the action on the dance floor.  When Emerald City is the band, we know we’ll have a lot to film, because they always keep the dance floor full.  At the same time, we also know they’ll give us an audio file at the end of the evening, so that makes things easier.

 This highlight video is just a small sample of Lindsey and Shawn’s actual wedding video.  Two experienced videographers e used two professional grade HD videocameras on tripods and a wide variety of audio equipment to record the sights and sounds of this wedding.  Then we went back to our studio with hours and hours of footage and spent weeks editing and mixing the footage to create the couple’s unique video.

We Sweat the Small Stuff So You Don’t Have To

LeniCam Video Productions – Wedding Videography Dallas TX

Amber and Dustin Wedding Videography Dallas TX – Gazebo Wedding at Meyers Park & Event Center in McKinney, Texas

In the distance you see an open-topped white carriage pulled by a pair of white horses through a rural setting with acres of green grass and large shade trees. As the carriage approaches you begin to make out the driver’s top hat. Then you realize the carriage is decorated with flowers and inside the carriage is a stunning brunette all dressed up for her wedding day. The beautiful bride is Amber, on her way to Dustin, for their lakeside gazebo wedding at McKinney’s Meyer Park and Event Center.

For her big day, Amber chose a strapless lace sheath with just a hint of flair at the bottom. The gown showed off an elaborate rose tattoo on her shoulder. The dress’s straight neckline showed off her crystal necklace and a satin ribbon emphasized her waist. The tulle fingertip veil was edged in crystals. Her shoes were a pair of high-heeled purple satin pumps to match her bouquet.

The wedding was a family affair. The bride was escorted to the altar by her older son. Her daughter served as bridesmaid. Waiting with the groom was the bride’s younger son and the groom’s son. After the vows the officiant performed bound their hands with purple and white ribbons. Then all the members of the new family participated in a sand pouring ceremony to symbolize their joining.

The new family took advantage of the lovely lakeside setting for some formal portraits and then rode away together in the carriage.

Behind the Scenes with LeniCam Video Productions

This was a small wedding, so Amber chose our one-camera package. With only one camera available we had to strategically position ourselves to capture the very best scenes. Our first stop on her wedding day was Amber’s house, where she dressed for her nuptials. Then we moved to the park where the ceremony would be to capture her approach in the stately carriage. From that position, we switched our focus to the ceremony in the lakeside gazebo. Each change of vantage point required moving our equipment and readjusting the settings.

A video is more than a visual record. Sound is also important. The participants in this ceremony used a handheld microphone to amplify the spoken words and the microphone on our camera recorded the ambient sound. The guests at the wedding instinctively filtered out background sounds and tuned in to the ceremony. Technology does not have that instinctive filtering, so one of our most important jobs in the studio is editing the audio track and mixing it with the video track to make everything sound natural. The video editing for one-camera weddings is more precise, because we endeavor to emulate the look of multiple cameras. Amber and Dustin were very happy with our work.

We Sweat the Small Stuff So You Don’t Have To

LeniCam Video Productions – Wedding Videography Dallas TX

Mario and Priscilla Wedding Videography Dallas TX – Ashton Gardens in Corinth

During their First Dance, Mario and Pricilla disagreed over who loved whom most.  A kiss interrupted the discussion and proved there was plenty of affection in this relationship to last through the years.  Mario and Priscilla were married at Ashton Gardens in Corinth.

The bride was a stunner.  That was easy to tell as she posed for FOS Photography in the chapel before the wedding.  The setting was lovely.  The chapel is glass on three sides and opens onto dense woods.  Inside the window were wrought iron candelabra, ivy-topped ionic columns and floral urns on Corinthian columns.

Pricilla’s beauty outshone everything else.  The svelte bride wore a strapless fit-and-flare gown of brocade with sheer ruffles at the hem.  The sweetheart neckline was set off by a fingertip veil edged in pearls.  Underneath her gown the bride wore a pair of high-heeled white satin pumps with great big bows.  Priscilla’s bridesmaids wore short one-shouldered turquoise gowns with turquoise pumps as high as the brides.

Bringing youth and vitality to the ceremony was a cadre of pint-sized attendants.  They almost stole the show as they made their way down the aisle.  The girls wore clouds of white tulle with turquoise sashes, set off with large silk turquoise roses.  The male ring bearer had a white tux with a turquoise shirt.  At the reception, the kids continued to vie for the center of attention, but all eyes remained on the beautiful bride and her handsome groom as they entered the room down Ashton Garden’s curving staircase.

Behind the Scenes with LeniCam Video Productions

Ashton Gardens is perfectly suited for the use of our proprietary remote-control camera.  Those gorgeous windows which make weddings so extraordinary also leave nowhere for a cameraman to hide.  We solve that problem with our remote control technology and no one else has it.  With this camera we’re able to get close-ups of the bride during the vows without having a cameraperson in sight.

Because the large windows are combined withtile floors in the chapel the resulting echoes can affect the audio portion of our video.  That’s why we put a lapel microphone on the groom.  The words of the ceremony are recorded directly off the mic’s audio feed, so they are crystal clear in the video.  As a bonus, we get to record other snippets of conversation, like the affectionate disagreement during the first dance.

All our brides love their wedding videos and this one was particularly precious to Priscilla.  She was raised in Brazil and her family was not able to attend the wedding.  She thought it was wonderful to have a way to share her wedding day with those who were unable to be there.

We Sweat the Small Stuff So You Don’t Have To 

LeniCam Video Productions – Wedding Videography Dallas TX