images by Voir Photography

We are finally settling into a routine with our new little one – as much as you can have a routine with a new baby who grows and changes every day.  We do most of our work these days at night–Nikita’s fussiest time is around 3am and we’ve found it easiest to stay up until then. Which means we go to bed around dawn and sleep until the afternoon.  We are so lucky to both have flexible schedules and work at home!

In the past week we have gotten back to a good working routine.  Jennifer has been working with many new couples, including the silent auction winners from last week’s Get Hitched, Give Hope.  Sasha is back to the ‘editing cave’ and clearing out our editing queue.  We have no events all winter and for this we are glad–we have time to finish up our past obligations, we can enjoy life as a new family, and focus our energy on making next summer’s wedding season AMAZING!

Over the next few months, we will be blogging some new highlights films–we have some really creative edits to share! However, finishing our past feature film edits is our priority. So hold tight and check back occasionally for new films and new baby pics

There’s something about the place you grow up that is both precious and nerve-wracking.  It is freeing to be in a place you feel so comfortable, but strange to fall back into old habits.  Helena, Montana is my hometown and I love it. We don’t get over there as often as we should–it’s only a 10-hour drive from Seattle, but driving so far you gotta stay a while and with school and weddings, we don’t have big blocks of free time.  For Christmas this year we headed over the mountains for a week in a winter wonderland.

The whole state is covered in crystalline snow–crisp, cold and beautiful. We had a great time exploring downtown Helena, visiting all the landmarks and capturing the winter wonderland!

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Happy Holidays from Zinchuk Films!

Sometimes my two worlds collide in a beautiful way.

A few days ago I was teaching visual rhetoric to my students.  I was asking them to take the tools of rhetorical analysis we had been working with all quarter and apply them to still images.  As I was developing my lesson plan, I realized just how much the questions I was asking my students applied to my own work as a filmmaker, photographer, and artist.  The concepts of framing, denoted and connoted meaning, audience. . .they are all considerations we make instantaneously as creative artists without thinking of it.

But what if we really thought about it?

I really had to step back and consider how I create films and still images.  In the whirlwind of a wedding, how much time do we actually take to frame an image for meaning rather than just beauty?  How much time do I take to get my tripod set up at just the right angle to capture meaning in both the foreground and background.  We like to walk a wedding before the big day: visit the ceremony and reception venue to visualize where we will set our cameras and how we will choreograph our behind the scenes movement while the action rolls.  But in the moment it is hard to always be aware and not get caught up in the action.

The basic tenets of rhetorical analysis became just so crystal clear when I applied them to visuals:

1) Situation: What motivates the photographer to capture this image? What motivates the filmmaker to press record?

2) Purpose: What is the photographer/filmmaker trying to show in this image?

3) Claim: What argument the artist is trying to make in this visual?

4) Audience: Who is the intended audience for this image? What can we tell about the audience from the image?

There is so much creativity in the work we do, but this creativity is most powerful when it tells a story.  The cameras we use have great rhetorical power: we have the ability to change zoom lengths to capture a moment close up or far away.  The manual controls allow us to highlight parts of a scene by changing the depth of focus.  In film, we blend real speech, music, and moving images to tell a story.  When we embrace the rhetorical power in our work and use it to tell our couples’ stories, then we are creating a truly memorable film that will last for generations.

Take a moment to consider the gorgeous Paris photos I posted at the top of this post. The first photo is the Eiffel Tower from a Parisian alley. The second is a very impressive view of the Eiffel Tower standing over the city.  Each angle has layered into its differing perspectives different motivations & different goals.  In each picture, The arguments being made by the photographer as an artist, Paris as a city, and the Eiffel Tower as a symbol are wildly different.  And we can see different audiences responding differently to the images separately and together.  In short, the perspective we choose, the way we frame and crop an image, the way we edit. . . each of those minute decisions affect the rhetorical voice of that visual.

And so I challenge myself to slow down when I shoot and consciously ask myself:

• What is the situation that brings my camera up, my index finger to the shutter?
• What is my purpose in framing an image: with a tight zoom or wide to capture everything?
• In the blur of the wedding day, sometimes it is difficult to consider the claim I am making as a filmmaker and artist: what part of this couple’s story am I trying to tell?
• And in the case of paid shoots, my audience is of ultimate importance. We are telling the story of one couple’s wedding day back to them, to their families and friends, and to the world.

As a scholar, I consider these elements in my work, but as an artist, how do we consider these elements as we create?

Zinchuk Studios has undergone some changes! We are excited to announce that we have a new name that underscores our focus and our love of wedding FILMS!  We are moving away from photography work, but we still love still images (which we hope our photographer friends will continue to share with us)!

Over the next weeks you will see updated materials on our WEBSITE and here on our BLOG as we integrate our new brand into our online presence. Please note that our Twitter page is now twitter.com/ZinchukFilms. You will find us on Facebook on our new page, ZinchukFilms.

A big (huge) thank you goes out to Stacey of Anastasia Marie Handcrafted Cards and Stationery. Stacey helped us pull our ideas into a simple, bold design and for that we are forever grateful. She also put up with lots of emails with tiny little changes back and forth. We will soon share the print materials that she has designed for us!

Stop by our site and check out the changes! In honor of our new look and new energy, we are offering a $25 itunes gift card to one lucky reader. To be eligible, you must:

1) Like this post and leave a comment below. The theme: changes! (1 entry)

2) Follow us on Twitter: @ZinchukFilms and tweet “@ZinchukFilms has a new look! Check it out and win a $25 itunes gift card!”  Leave a comment below once you’ve done this (2 entries: 1 for following and 1 for your tweet).

3) Become a fan on Facebook and post the following on your profile page: “ZinchukFilms has a new look! Check it out and win a $25 itunes gift card! http://www.facebook.com/pages/ZinchukFilms/155724511133011” and leave a comment below (2 entries: 1 for “liking” us and one for your post).

If you do all three things, you will have 5 chances to win!  The contest will end at 5pm next Monday, October 25!  Thank you for helping us spread the word of our new name and our new mission!

Remember to leave me comments below once you’ve done these things (FB, Twitter) once you’re finished!!

<3 Jennifer and Alex

Now that we’re back to business, we have a lot of work to get caught up on. A few more sets of wedding pics will be up soon, as well as a constant stream of wedding films! We also have an exciting announcement to come later this month.

So until we can get our blogs up and scheduled, here’s my baby, Jack. He is my first dog and Alex and my first pet together. We got him 5 years ago while we both lived in Ukraine. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the trip to the US with us (he’s a BIG puppy), but he’s always happy to see us when we go back to visit. He is the king of Alex’s home and protects his parents admirably.

So brides, grab your fiance or your girlfriends and stop by our table! Friends, buy a ticket and stop by for a drink–you are supporting a great cause:

From the GHGH website:

“This year, our goal is to raise $50,000 to grant wishes for stage IV breast cancer patients and their families. It can take $4000 to grant one wish for a small family of 4, let’s grant 12!! We raised an incredible $30,000 at our first event, here is what we we were able to do with your donations:

• Susan and her family of 8 were able to have one last family vacation in Hawaii
• Heather and her family of 6 were able to see Mickey Mouse at Disney World
• Sharon’s wish was for her family of 4 to go to Hawaii

How do we grant wishes? We have chosen The Making Memories Foundation (MMF) to receive 100% of our net proceeds this year. Through projects like Brides Against Breast Cancer, The Pink Envelope Project, and Kate Aspen Favors, MMF creates the opportunity to grant personal wishes to patients in their last year of life.”

This is a cause very close to my heart–several women in my family have suffered from breast cancer. . . and terminal illness affects all families. Take this opportunity to get out for a fun evening and to support these families!

See you on the 28th!

With September comes the end of our fast-paced wedding season.  It is unbelievable how much we have captured–from weddings to anniversaries; from babies to happy couples. This is an amazing business to be in! The past few weeks have flown by: we are busier than we have ever been!

And so we are taking a little “time-out” to breathe, re-group, and come back better than ever! Blogging will be light as I finish up all the weddings and portrait sessions I’ve had over the summer (and of course, schedule some posts for your viewing pleasure). Alex is heading to Ukraine to spend some time with his parents and sister (and don’t worry, he’s bringing his MacBook Pro along for editing some weddings and trailers when everyone is off at work). We also have an exciting new look for our business soon to come to our blog and website.

And so, dear friends, hold tight and you will hear from us soon. We will be occasionally checking email and voicemail, so if you have any urgent requests, please email and give us about 48 hours to respond. If you wish to inquire about 2011 wedding and event availability, please email us as well. As always, our email is alexander {at} zinchukvideo.com

Cheers!

We have one last wedding to wrap up our summer season and then we will finally slow down a bit. We can finally put our equipment away and begin the work behind our computers to share some amazing images and film with you, our friends and supporters!

Coming over the next few weeks: a summer wedding in Seattle/Snohomish, a gorgeous Russian wedding, some stunning images from Hawaii, an adorable family, and bit by bit, some additional wedding trailers AND a new look for our business!

Until them, a few images from paradise: