This is Paul and Monica’s elopement in Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States, and as far as I know it’s the first wedding film shot on the Sony a7 IV.
Paul is a filmmaker himself, which is how this whole thing came about. He asked whether I’d want to shoot part of the day in 8K, rented an a1 so we could, and then let me point a prerelease a7 IV at the most important day of his life. That’s a lot of trust, and I’m still grateful for it.
They actually got married twice. This elopement in the canyon on one day, and then a full wedding with everyone the next. This film is the canyon.
The heart of it is their vows, and Monica’s in particular. “There was a time when I thought this day would never come.” She talks about being angry and bitter before he came along, about learning to pray through disappointment, and about there being nobody else she can imagine building a life with. It is the kind of thing you cannot direct, cannot stage, and cannot fake, and the only real job on a wedding day is to be in the right place with a working microphone whenever it happens.
Palo Duro does a lot of the rest of the work. Red rock, sixty miles of canyon, and an hour of light before sunset that makes everything look like it was lit on purpose.
Watch The Behind The Scenes
If you want to see how this was actually made, I filmed a full job shadow of both days. Part one is the elopement in the canyon, including the fastest ceremony setup I have ever had to do, and part two is the wedding the next day, where there was a small fire at the reception. No joke.
The song is Awakening by Amanda Lindsey Cook, licensed from Musicbed. The film is graded with my own color presets, which live at whoismatt.com/luts, everything I shot it with is on kit.co, and my friends at Archaius Creative help me edit, and will give you 10% off your first project.
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Thanks so much for watching, and have a great day!