Before I ever dabbled in still photography I was making short films with my parent’s video camera. I would get a bunch of my friends together and we would decide on a plot and characters and shoot a short film. I would then try to edit the film using 2 VCRs and even try adding sound effects. It was always fun, and not a bad way to spend a summer day while on vacation from school. As my friends and I got older we met less and less to shoot our fun short films but I still had that love for storytelling.

In high school I discovered still photography. I loved going into the darkroom and seeing the magic of one of my images appearing right in front of me. I still wanted to work in film/video but was having a blast taking stills. In 2008 Canon released the revolutionary 5D Mark II. I immediately placed my order. The 5D2 is my main body I used to photograph my clients, but it also can act as a video camera capturing film-like video in HD at 24fps. The Canon 5D2 was even used to shoot the entire season finale of House this year. Just think the camera I use to photograph my clients is being used to shoot one of the top rated shows on TV. The mediums have converged.

I am adding a new blog category “film,” which will cover my work on “American Marriage”, the new film “Absentia,” and any other new film projects. In a little more than 3 weeks we start shooting “Absentia” on my 5D2. You can see the teaser trailer below that we shot recently to help raise funding. Check out or Kickstarter page for more details about “Absentia” and some fun PSAs from the cast and crew. Little did I know at the start of 2010 I would have 2 listings for cinematographer on IMDB.

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Each year WPPI has amazing speakers talking about the latest in the wedding and portrait photography industry.  The also have a huge tradeshow each year offering the latest in albums, print mediums, gear, and new technologies.  I always find I run out of time each year trying to see each vendor.  Also each night there are a number of parties hosted buy speakers and/or vendors.  There is so much to see, learn, and do, I am amazed if I get more than 4 hours of sleep each night.  

Click here to find my rough schedule for next week while I am in Vegas at WPPI.

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“The new documentary film “American Marriage” is looking for couples who want to have their nuptials featured in the movie. One of our main fundraising avenues has been filming weddings. Couples have taken the money they would have paid videographer and donated it to the film’s budget through the International Documentary Association (making their donations tax-deductible), and in exchange we’ve filmed their entire ceremonies and receptions and delivered the wedding video on DVD, just like a normal wedding videographer.

The shoot itself is exactly comparable to a normal wedding videographer shoot. We film the ceremony preparation, the ceremony, and reception on a single 3CCD HD Camera (the JVC 110u, a professional theatrical quality HD camera as opposed to the Prosumer HDV cameras standardly used in the wedding industry). The groom wears a microphone to ensure the highest quality audio of the ceremony. The footage is edited, and assembled with graphics, music, and minimal effects (dissolves, etc). We provide the couple 3 DVDs, authored with chapters and animated menus.

Because we’ll use some of the footage in the finished film, we ask the couple to sign an image release waiver allowing us to do so. We also ask that they make a donation through the I.D.A. and forward us a copy of the Paypal receipt before we arrive to film the event. We also ask couples if they would like to have a short “When Harry Met Sally” style interview that will be included in the movie.

You can view the trailer, which features footage from several weddings who took advantage of this model, below.”

There is no set donation amount. We ask that couples donate what they can afford. If you have a budget for a videographer we hope that, if you choose this opportunity, you would still be willing to use that budget to help the film.  If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity please click on contact in the menu above.

If you chose to make a donation and be in the film I am offering 20% off any of my photography packages. You can view my portfolio on my website.

Here are some links for the film
Official Website
Facebook Fan Page
International Documentary Association Listing
IMDB Listing – I got my first cinematographer credit on this film
Mike Flanagan – the man behind the film

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Please head over to Facebook and become a fan of the movie, make sure you tell your friends to do the same. The more fans we have the more likely we will be able to sell the complete film allowing it to reach a wide audience across the US. We are still filming and plan on completing the film Summer 2010 before the entry deadline for Sundance. Hopefully this time next year I will be planning a trip to Utah.

Here are some links for the movie
Official Website
Facebook Fan Page
International Documentary Association Listing
IMDB Listing – I got my first cinematographer credit on this film
Mike Flanagan – the man behind the film

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- I added my previous post Before & After Examples to the links section on my blog listed as “Before & After”

- I launched a new section of my Weddings Website called Featured Couples. It is is under the portfolio section of my website. Make sure you go and check it out. I should be adding a couple more shoots in this section in the near future.

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If you have been following me on twitter you already know I have been working on the documentary “American Marriage” with my talented friends Mike Flanagan and Courtney Bell.  “American Marriage” is about the history of marriage in America.  It poses the question what is “traditional marriage?”   That definition has constantly been changing for several hundred years.  We have experts from all different points of view.  The film does not try to take a stand about who is right or wrong but allows the view to get equal representation from all sides what marriage in America is today.   Today we are proud to announce the launch of the website and trailer.

Below is a screenshot of the website make sure you go check it out.

You may want to let the trailer load a little before watching. You can find larger versions of the trailer on SmugMug.

We are still looking for more people willing to donate to help make this documentary possible. We still have some great people to interview for the film and even a donation as small as $10 can help toward the travel costs or tape stock required for these interviews.  

 Please spread the word about this great documentary to all you friends and family.  You can become a fan of the film on Facebook to keep up to date about what we are filming next. We are so excited to finish this project and get it out there for everyone to see.

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You can also look forward to a new category of posts my blog called “Before & After” where I show images before and after my artistic edit. This will give you examples of what you can expect when you order a print through me verses one from the DVD you get of unedited images. I also will be opening up the “Featured Couples” section of my wedding website and possibly even have a sample album up at the same time.

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The film was nominated for a few awards which was awesome.

The video is pretty big so you may want to let it load a little before watching.  You can find larger versions of the film on SmugMug.

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My New Brand and Logo
My re-branding from RMC Photography to Rustin Michael began last August. I asked for some input from my Fast Track Photographer friends about tweaking my RMC Photography logo. After several helpful responses, my friend Dane Sanders, the author of the Fast Track Photographer book, stepped in and asked what am I really trying to communicate with my brand? The thing the my Fast Track Photographer friends helped me to realize is that with RMC Photography I was was really focused on selling photography. Just look at the name, you have my initials RMC, which stands for Rustin Michael Cerveny, and then photography. I don’t want to focus on selling photography, which can be purchased from the thousands of wedding photographers out there or the several other wedding photographers using the name RMC Photography. I want to offer something unique, which is me. There is only one me out there just like there is only one of you. I can try to imitate others or they can try to imitate me, but I can only be the best version of me. just as you can only be the best version of you. So after some input once again from my Fast Track Photographer friends, I settled on using my first and middle name, Rustin Michael, and purchased www.rustinmichael.com.

Now that I had a name I needed a new logo. I created the RMC Photography logo myself a couple years ago but always knew that it could of been better if it had been done by a professional. So I contacted my church, Mosaic, and asked if I could get help getting connected to a graphic designer. Mosaic, is an a amazing church and sometimes even called a church full of artists. I love that it is full of all different types of people with unique talents. I connected with Steve McAdam. of www.transitionalprogress.com. We met once and I explained to him what I was looking for and what I wanted to communicate with my new logo and brand. A couple weeks later, after sending him several different examples of design I like, he sent me his first set of logos that he had come up with for Rustin Michael. Each logo offered a different direction we could head with the logo. Immediately one jumped out at me. He nailed it on the head with the first try. After a few slight tweaks we ended up with the Rustin Michael logo you see today. I highly recommend Steve McAdam for any of your branding or graphic design needs. He was great to work with.

My New Website
The first big goal for me this year was to launch a new website for www.rustinmichael.com. With my previous website I had bought a template which is great if you are just starting out. The problem is that other people can have the same site. My day job, before becoming a full time photographer and stay-at-home dad, was as a software engineer. So with that background I set out the build a new website that is unique just as my brand is. So for the first 7 weeks this year I spent most of my time in front of the computer building my new site in Adobe Flash CS3 using some flash components. It was really hard and frustrating at times but just as with all things in life, anything worth doing isn’t easy. I finally launched my website just before heading off to WPPI, which was my goal. Here are a couple of screen shots from the new site, I hope you go check it out.

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