I am SOOO excited that one of my images is featured on the cover of this month’s EventDV magazine, the leading industry magazine and resource for event filmmakers! I took this photo at the In[Focus] Event in Austin, Texas this past January. It was an incredible event that brought the industry’s most creative and innovative leaders from around the world together in one place. It was amazing to sit at a table over dinner with some of the filmmakers who have inspired me the most and who I consider my “film heroes!” And the coolest thing? Not only did I get to meet them in person and learn from them, but I now call many of them my friends!

I love that Steve Nathans-Kelly, editor of the magazine, chose this particular image because it features the AMAZING Ron Dawson of Dare Dreamer Media, who kicked off the conference with one of the most inspiring presentations I have experienced.

It also features one of the In[Focus] co-founders, the beloved Julian St. Pierre of Studio Vieux Carre, located in the French Quarter of New Orleans. I got to meet Julian last August in Dallas when Patrick Moreau, Kevin Shahinian, and Michael Wong held a one day seminar, sponsored by In[Focus]. Sadly, Julian passed away suddenly in November. He and his wife Terry and son Joe, along with Chris Jones of Mason Jar Films and Don Pham of Take 1 Productions, worked tirelessly planning this highly anticipated event. Julian was an inspiration to so many in our industry, as well as to everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him. He is GREATLY missed.

Presenters included: Ron Dawson, William Gaff, David Perry, Steve and Laura Moses, Loyd Calomay, Mark and Trisha Von Lanken, Chris P. Jones, Patrick and Konrad of Still-Motion, Joe Simon, Matt Davis, and Ray Roman.

Some of my favorite images from the week:

It was great to reunite with friends! Here, Raymond Vega from Puerto Rico gives Terry Taravella a big “hello again” hug!

Chris P. Jones of Mason Jar Films taking a minute for Mac.

David Perry shows how easy it is to overcome obstacles with the help of Chris McClain

David Perry’s presentation included a very special guest to show how important it is to make real connections with our clients. It moved many of us emotionally, including my sweet friend Joanna Banks-Morgan.

And of course there were toys to play with!! Eric Kmetz and Stewart Smith are checking out some Canon goodness here!

Loyd Calomay wowed us with his 3D presentation - well, it was more like he teased us with the idea of a 3d presentation! :)

Ahh, the Von Lankens got Von Real! I loved their “how-to” demonstrations! Especially the one on how to know when too much is TOO MUCH!

My favorite magazine editor, Steve Nathans-Kelly

I shared a table with Rodrigo Zapico from Brazil! Such a nice person!

Nearly three years ago, I stumbled upon the Still-Motion Blog and my view of wedding filmmaking changed forever! This is Patrick Moreau and it was so cool to meet him and get to talk to him after being inspired by him for so long! He pushes himself and his work to absolutely unbelievable lengths! All of these guys were so down to earth and eager to teach and share. Coolest. thing. ever.

My roomies from our local Dallas PVA, Theresa and Aggie! Loved getting to spend time with them!

Just looking at these two makes me smile! Brian Gunn and Christine Moore are also members of the Dallas PVA.

Yet another example of industry heroes getting down and dirty to teach the rest of us the tricks of the trade! It was great getting to see and have some hands on experience with the latest and greatest gear! Here Joe Simon shows us how it’s done!

Everybody loves super-coach Matt Davis!

Did I mention there were awesome toys (gear) and people to show us how to use them? Here’s Patrick again and John Moon on the right. John and Jen Moon were the first filmmakers I met online and hit it off with. They were GREAT to answer all my questions, plus, they are just great people and we became fast friends. I got to have lunch with them last November and it was wonderful to see them again at In[Focus]. They too are constantly broadening their business horizons!

Check out what Jen and her friend Reagan Zugelter have come up with for all of us women filmmakers and photographers! Would LOVE to be a part of POSH!

One of my favorites - Meg Simone! Loved finally getting to meet her! Felt like meeting an old friend! This girl has had and INCREDIBLE 2010 so far! She’s received honors and awards almost on a weekly basis!

Meg used several of my images from the In[Focus] event to produce an inspiring short film about the event that put into words what I think we all were feeling. Oh, and did I mention her video won first place??? :)

There were many more wonderful people and inspiring leaders at In[Focus]! Too many to include in one blog post! Thank you to all of you who made the event so special and lifechanging for so many of us! And a special thank you to you, Julian.

I recently had the opportunity to photograph a wrestling tournament in Weatherford, Texas and I absolutely loved it! I honestly had never been to a wrestling tournament before and only vaguely knew what to expect. But the organizer and coach of the Weatherford Christian School Wrestling team, Bill Ford, did an amazing job organizing the event!

I love these images because of the emotion on the faces of the competitors, especially the younger ones! :)

Enjoy!

John and Kate’s reception was one of the funnest and had the highest energy that I have ever seen! In addition to all the amazing flowers, food, lighting, and the venue itself, the band Emerald City set the tone and kept the mood rockin’ the entire evening! There were close to 500 guests of every age, and just about everyone hit the dance floor at some point in during the party.

Emerald City is a Dallas based band founded in 1983 and have several high profile clients! They have entertained President and Mrs. Bush at the White House, several Fortune 500 companies, and performed at the weddings of Emmitt Smith, Mark Cuban and Angie Harmon!

I loved that the horns, with crazy hats donned, and occasionally the vocalists got right in the middle of the dance floor and performed while interacting with the crowd.

And the BEST was how they led a conga line out of the ballroom down to the “getaway” car! Then the horns escorted the bride and groom out, while playing a jazzy tune, which you’ll see in the video below!

Emerald City plays locally here in DFW at different venues. If you are in the area, check their schedule and go dance the night away!

Dallas, Texas
Ceremony: Highland Park United Methodist Church
Reception: The Belo Mansion
Photographer: Simple Moments Photography
Reception Entertainment: Emerald City

Noah and Nathan Ford


Elijah


Caleb


Denver

So, I’m thinking Jet the dog is a pretty big Ella fan too! :)

We started out racing the ominous looking weather around downtown Midland and then safari-ed around until we ended up at the Midland Christian School fieldhouse. Special thanks our good friend Greg McClendon for letting us use the facility!

What a wonderful day with my wonderful friends! Thank you for making the drive!

After we finished at Canyon West, we headed to some of my favorite spots around town!

Toughest Cowboy is moving to Wednesday Nights on SpikeTV at 10:00pm CST - right after UFC! Don’t miss it!

About to Rock from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

You can see #99 Brandon Henderson at SMU and #7 Will Ford at Texas Tech next Fall!

P.S. If any of you work for the Cowboys or the NFL, I really want to work for you! :) That would be uh-mazing!

Okay, this is a little different from the last post! I’m bringing the cowboys back to remind you that you really need to set your DVR for Toughest Cowboy tomorrow night! I’m totally hooked! It’s definitely not for the faint of heart! It’s exposed this really “gladiator” side of me I didn’t know I had!

I photographed these guys back in December before they shot the show, and I didn’t have a clue what they were willing to endure to be the last cowboy standing and win a ranch! Here are some of my favorite cowboys (they’re really all my favorites!) and some highlights: (CLICK ON THE GREEN LINKS TO SEE VIDEO!)

This is Steve Woolsey from Payson, Utah. He was the Toughest Cowboy in Tournament 1 and has been doing GREAT! Plus, he’s a super nice guy. And tough.

I really liked Jared Green (Socorro, New Mexico) and was really sad to see him go last week. He was injured so badly here in the first tournament, he just had a really hard time coming back. And that wreck was after he had been injured in his first ride and couldn’t lift either one of his shoulders! But the dude went for 8 in the knockout round on a bull - the fourth animal he had ridden that night - to make it to tournament 2! I didn’t think there was going to be any stopping him.

Ha, I love this guy! Erik Wolford (Adrian, Michigan) would give you a beat down then eat a lollipop! And you would never suspect it just looking at him! He BROKE his collarbone here in Tournament 1, but he just kept riding and scoring like nothing ever happened! I do not know how he does it.

Well, there’s a fine line between tough and just nuts, and I’ll let you decide where this falls. Charlie Barker (Terrebonne, Oregon) got his face kicked in here in tournament 2 on his first ride of the night. He didn’t really know where he was, and he had a roll of toilet paper up his nose the rest of the night, but he just kept riding!

Okay, that’s all for this week, even though I haven’t even told you how Chad Eubank (Cleburne, Texas) nearly cut his finger completely off. Oh, and Weatherford’s own Tommy Joe Lucia, Executive Vice President of Grit Rock Rodeo, is the Commissioner of this deal!

You gotta watch this show! Do you really need any more reasons?

And then leave me some comments and let me know what you thought!

These ladies were all decked out in their southern Civil War Era best and were great to play along with us!

Aron and Brandon are both studying to become dentists, and met at dental school! We thought it would be fun to get some shots up at school. This one was just for fun!

They are pretty excited to graduate in just a few months!

I wonder how many times they’ve passed each other in these halls? Bet it’s the best part of their day!

Thanks guys for such an incredible weekend! Your love is inspiring! I can’t wait to video your wedding in June!

Born Again Believer from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

http://www.wcslions.org

Dusty Elkinton


Chad Eubank


Bandy Murphy


Steven Dent

Here’s one of the videos. He’s singing “Only In Time” that he wrote last week after one of his friends drowned.



This is Glimpse, one of my favorites out of his original songs.



Check out the rest of the videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/txlonghorn2314. They include his amazing original songs and several great covers as well!

August 7-8 I was in Midland at Rock the Desert, my favorite! It’s hard work, but so much fun. The lineup was great this year and it was fun interviewing all the bands with Shigity Sean!



This is Mr. David Grosse and I love him! He is so awesome at Op Camp and then he came to RTD to be my boom mic guy. He was so nice to carry the huge camera, drive me around and make sure I always had tape and batteries. I could use someone like him pretty much all the time!



This is Kevin Copeland. In a word, he’s amazing. He can do anything in the world of video production and pulls off the production for this huge event every year! I am so thankful he calls me to come out and help!



I grabbed this shot of the Newsboys on stage. I kinda like it.



Here’s Jason from Hawk Nelson. They are so great! They always end up signing autographs for HOURS after their performance!



Mr. Soul Glow Activatur from Family Force 5! There is no one who puts on a show like these guys!! He’s looking rather tame here. Must have caught him in an “off” moment!

After resting a little bit from Rock the Desert, it was back to Abilene to shoot my favorite Cougars on their first morning of two-a-days! This is Cole who will be a sophomore this year! There is so much talent on this team!
Funny story, the head coach’s son is in the Marines and just finished working at the White House. Coach Spradlin got to meet President Bush at some kind of ceremony the soldiers go through after their assignment is done at 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue. They walked into the room and President Bush asked Coach what he did for a living. When he answered that he coached the Abilene Cooper Cougars, the President said, “Oh! Ya’ll just dropped to 4A!” I love that! Currently, my coogs are ranked 3rd in the state! Whoo hoo! It’s going to be a great season!

These boys are ready to play some football!



I also met Monday with Donny and Randy Vaughn, the Marketing Twins and was excited to hear about things they are doing and how I may be able to do some production for them in the future! So fun catching up with old friends. I was a little tired that day and forgot to take a picture of them, among other things! But check out their blog - they have a lot of exciting things going on!

Okay, Tim and Jordan Philbeck are up next! Stay tuned!

Go to the website to see the whole lineup!

It’s gonna be HOT!!!

And don’t think these two aren’t always up to something! You can pretty much see it in their eyes! And yes, somebody always has a chocolate milk mustache. I don’t think they would make it through a day without the stuff.

And then there is their dad!

Ha ha! I love my boys! I will have Nathan and Amanda’s wedding highlight to post in the next couple of days! Stay tuned....

Thank goodness for Dr. Brown who was there to stitch him up! (The color has been removed from this photo to protect the squeamish - and yes, I videoed it too!!)

This is what that “innocent” looking injury looked like 2 days later! Carolyn Street, the business manager at the campgrounds took this shot!

Here’s Cody doing his Mr. Gravitt impression!

This is Tyler, who prefers to be referred to as the best intern ever, as they all do! He was definitely the best intern this year! He pretty much had a new hairstyle every day! It started out like this, turned into a mohawk, and eventually he was bald.

Here are Van and I with our boys, Josh and Joe Norman! They were campers back in the early 90s at the Midland Opportunity Camp and still come back every year to help us out. We’ve had the honor of watching them grow up and they are family to us. BTW, today is Josh’s 28th birthday! Happy Birthday, Baby! We are so proud of both of them! Josh played football and was a National Champion at OU and went on to play for the San Diego Chargers, New York Jets and Oakland Raiders. He is now CEO of The Truth Records and JLee Productions. Joe was the Texas Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at Midland Lee High School, played at Texas Tech, and was in the movies “Friday Night Lights”, “We are Marshall”, and “Invincible” as a football player. He is working in the oil business now. Just a little Mama-braggin!

Josh ran a little football mini-camp for the boys at recreation time one day! Pretty cool to have a former NFL player showing you how it’s done! Byron, the boy in the blue shirt, is a Hurricane Katrina survivor. His brother was a counselor for us this year and did an incredible job! We are so thankful God moved them to Fort Worth!

We also had His Son (a.k.a. Vince Carter, former OU center who graduated in 2004 and was drafted in 2005) perform. The kids loved him!

A couple of my favorite shots:

There are no smiles like Opportunity Camp smiles!

Probably the best shot of the week was this one taken by my friend Anda! You can tell we had quite a bit of hair cutting going on in the boys’ cabins!

And of course there is video!


Op Camp Como 08A from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como B from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como 08C from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como 08D from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.


Op Camp Como 08E from Gravitt Productions on Vimeo.

Both families were so sweet! I just loved Brian's grandmother. I took this photo through some pretty misty eyes right after she told Brian how proud her grandfather would have been of him! She had us all in tears. It was such a sweet moment.

And speaking of twins, I reconnected with my favorite ones from my days at ACU, Randy and Donny Vaughn! I was excited to learn that Randy and his family are back in the US from their time as missionaries in Africa, and Donny made a career change so the brothers could fulfill one of their lifelong dreams to own a business together. They are both incredibly creative, resourceful, passionate, and hardworking! They are in the DFW area and their marketing coach company is called 1429 Creative. They also have a very helpful blog at www.marketingtwins.com. Check them out!

Cassi in her boots at the rehearsal.


College Roomies: Candice, Cassi, Val, Chelsea



Twins and Hubbies! Matt, Candice, Cassi, Nick









Love those eyes!


Me and the beautiful bride!

We had a great turnout! I love Weatherford! Cowboys and Cowgirls everywhere! There were very talented artisans in the audience who donated handcrafted, one of a kind items. There is always such a great variety of items to bid on!

Here's one of the wranglers with Van's sister and brother-in-law while they were bidding on Dallas Cowboy tickets! They didn't get them, but had a good time trying!

The very talented auctioneer, Ross Bandy.

Okay, I am really sad this is blurry! We haven't had a picture of us in a long time, guess we'll try again sometime! Anyway, this is what we look like when you're not wearing your glasses.

Sunday afternoon I went to a baby shower for our friends Stacey and Shane. Wow! They got a ton of stuff! I love little girl things and all the pink - probably because there is none of it in my house with all my boys! Stacey was glowing and beautiful as always, and Shane looked a little overwhelmed! Here are the pics!

The food was as tasty as it was beautiful! I was blown away by Jan's baking skills!


The happy little family and Stacey's sister!


They are probably going to have to add on a wing to get all this stuff in their house! What a blessed little girl!

February 27, 1993

I also added a "Wedding Film" page for you to view samples from weddings I have filmed. I posted Gaylen and Nicholas' Highlight today and hope to get her sister, Ginna, up tomorrow. It was the most incredible day! A set of identical twin sisters married identical twin brothers! I have never, and probably will never again, see anything like it! I will write more about it coming up in the next few days as I finish production on these amazing weddings! In the meantime, be sure to check out Gaylen and Nicholas' highlight!