Weddingstar Behind the Scenes: Series (2010)

Over the last couple of weeks the six behind the scenes videos that I shot and edited this summer for one of Weddingstar's magazine photo shoots have been going live on our YouTube channel and blog. It's exciting to be at a point where I can reflect on a year of videos that I've produced for the company and consider where this experience might take me next.

The short series of videos gives a sneak peek at some of the brand new 2011 product line and is meant to give customers a glimpse of how much work goes into creating our magazine (which can be found on newstands around the world by the way, *wink).

It's been a lot of fun creating all these different types of edits so far and the best part is that I can see our videos becoming bolder, even more ambitious, and more elaborate as we push forward. It's been such a great creative challenge and learning experience to work in the midst of so many big and ambitious ideas and I can't wait to see what the new year brings!

About to Expire

It's been one of my big experiments this year, creating a portfolio site to showcase my video work and provide an overall context for my experience. And although the additional website has provided some great contacts and shown me the potential for something that I haven't quite tapped into yet, come 2011 the Editing Luke portfolio site will be retired . . . sort of.

All the work that went into the portfolio site won't simply disappear and it may just be hosted in a reduced free format. I'm not yet entirely convinced that I won't just rework my site concept and modify it again. The only thing that's for certain is that EditingLuke.com wasn't pulling the numbers I wanted it to for it to be worth the current expense. Really, I'm just considering how I can use my domain to its fullest advantage, and right now things keep pointing back to this blog.

If my goal at this time last year was about expansion, my goal now is about efficiency. I'd like to take this blog further, inject more personality, develop more content, and find a broader identity for promotions sake. Creating a more cohesive theme and posting strategy is where I'll start.

In any case, I wanted to invite you all to check out the portfolio site as it is before the end of the year and ask you to send messages or leave comments if you have any advice or feedback about the space. What would make it better, what would make this blog better?

Big changes and a redesign to come for 2011.

Hoover Dam

A modern construction marvel, the Hoover Dam is as much a tourist trap as everything else in the vicinity of Las Vegas. That's not to say that it's not incredible or worth the visit though. On our way out of Las Vegas, hoping to spice up the drive to California, we took an out of the way detour to the Nevada/Arizona border.

Sitting along the Colorado river, Hoover Dam bridges the border between Nevada and Arizona, giving you the chance to stand in two time-zones at once if you're in the middle of the dam. You'll notice in the pictures below that the one set of towers lists the Nevada time and the other lists the Arizona time.

The long and short of our visit was that it was a great view, crazy hot temperature, and incredibly busy due to the long weekend and everyone else having the same idea as we did. On a list of road trip attractions however, they don't come much bigger than this (that's what she said).