Chasing Waterfalls 9.6.18
When Erica contacted me after I msgd her on facebook about her elopement, I had no idea on the journey I was about to embark on. James and Erica flew to Portland, Oregon from Southern California to elope in the Oregon forests. Originally they had planned to elope at a totally different waterfall hike but because of the fires that had taken place the summer before, they closed the trails and the location became inaccessible. They hiked the day before and stumbled upon a beautiful waterfall near Salem called Abiqua Falls. GORGEOUS!!!!!
I arrived early that morning to grab some footage of the getting ready portion at an Air BnB that they were staying at. Friends and family started flooding the house as we were nearing the time to leave and head to the elopement spot. I hopped into a van with James and Erica and we headed over to the elopement location. It was quite a ways away from Portland so it gave me time to kind of game plan what I wanted to accomplish and how to achieve it. We finally got to the spot (which was a really rocky/bumpy road to travel on) to start hiking down towards the waterfall. I grabbed my gear and started making my way down, following the bridal party and having conversation along the way. I come to a steep drop off with a thick rope attached to a fallen tree and when I say steep, it was STEEP! So I thought for a minute how to get all of my gear down as well as myself all in one piece lol. I strapped as much as I could and stuffed a monopod underneath my arm and repelled down the side of the tree. I finally got to the bottom and I hurried to where we needed to be so I can set up for the elopement. Tiring to say the least but the views were AHHHHHMAAAAAZINGGGG!!!!
James and Erica and the rest of their wedding party started getting ready and I started filming. I tried to get as much content as I could. Different content at that! I mic’d up James to get audio and creatively looked around for shots to get. One thing that is always certain when shooting weddings is that your creativity has to be turned on HIGH and you have to think fast! You don’t want to miss these moments while filming a wedding. Those moments can make or break your film! You may think it won’t but you have one shot to get some of the most important moments on film and you can’t ask for a redo.
We celebrated and ventured up the side of the mountain, closer to the waterfall. We felt the mist of the falls hit us as we crept closer to capture those magical moments. James and Erica looked STUNNING! James in full suit and Erica with her dress on laced with tennis shoes because, SMART! Everything about this day made me feel at home. Not because they come from my hometown, well maybe that played a little part, but because James and Erica felt like they could be part of my family. From the mannerisms to the friends that surrounded them, it felt as if I was hanging out with my family and friends back in Cali. This also happened to be wedding number 3 of 5 in a 7 day period. What was I thinking?!?! I don’t think I was. At the time I booked the 5th wedding that week, all I thought about was hard work better pay off! I’m glad I booked this couple because I had some contenders in the thread that we were part of. I love adventure and this was by far the most adventurous wedding I’ve been fortunate to be part of. Thank you James and Erica for letting Expressive Wedding Films celebrate and capture your beautiful wedding day! Cheers to many more years of love and also to your now growing family!
Marc Roy | Expressive Wedding Film