Remember Who You Are | Iceland Cinematic Drone and Timelapse Travel Film

Iceland is a country that even after visiting, I still have difficulty believing exists. Snow-capped volcanoes piercing the skies, centuries-old glaciers covering the landscape like a quilt, dark water the color of ash folding up onto a black sand beach, and don’t even get me started on the sunsets that last for hours.

While incredibly harsh, this land is also graceful, full of quiet moments where all you hear is the tiny whisper as snowflakes fall on your face and melt, all you feel is the gentle spring of the moss that covers everything beneath your feet, and all you see is the Aurora Borealis dancing overhead. These and hundreds of other experiences are what I attempted to capture in this film of one of my favorite countries on Earth.

For me, Iceland is a reminder that God created a jaw-droppingly beautiful world, full of moments that are constantly reminding us of himself. When I traveled across this country I remembered who I was, his child. I hope you get to travel there as well one day and share the same experiences.

I’m also very excited to announce that I filmed a behind-the-scenes of this film, showing exactly how I captured the shots that you see in it. So if you’ve ever wanted to film a travel video yourself, I hope you will find it helpful! I’ll be posting the behind-the-scenes soon.

Many of the sound effects used in this film were either used with permission from Freesound.org (credits below), or from the amazing Archetype Sound Effects package from Lens Distortions.

The narration was handled expertly by Holly Lindin. She’s an amazingly talented voice-over artist from Canada, that I would highly recommend for any of your video projects.

I would also like to thank my wife Rachel for traveling to Iceland with me, putting up with my needs for “one more drone shot!”, and feeding me snacks throughout this trip.

Sound Effect Credits – Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License

Aspen Tree In Strong Wind by juskiddink on Freesound

Riviere-river by Glaneur de songs on Freesound

Seagulls by inchadney on Freesound

Waves Crashing On Stone Jetty by juskiddink on Freesound

Pink Lakes Wind From Inside A She Oak by kangaroovindaloo on Freesound

Horse Nicker 2 by GoodListener on Freesound

Svalbard_recherche_glacier_20060904 by jeo on Freesound

After 9 years, I still fall more in love with you every day | Hill Country Wedding in Spicewood, Texas

You may remember Kelsey and Jacob from their highlight film, “High school sweethearts in the Hill Country.” Today, Rachel and I want to share with you their full wedding film: a story that shares even more about who they are, how their relationship grew from campfires and two-step dances to a wedding next to a pig barn, and of course, how they ended up with a petting zoo at their wedding reception.

On their family ranch, which I described in my previous blog post as “their connecting point for all their key moments growing up together,” we had the opportunity to capture not only their wedding ceremony, but a glimpse of who they are as people. From shotguns in the morning, to Aaron Watson in the evening, this wedding was the perfect culmination of Kelsey and Jacob’s relationship, and one that we were so incredibly overjoyed to film.

If you’re getting married (no shotguns or pig barn required), we would love to film it, please get in touch! – Matt

Not just in Love, in Joy with each other | Texas countryside wedding trailer

If you talk to Noah and Mallorie about their journey, they will start with a story of middle-school friendship. A relationship that grew into their parents driving them to dates in the 8th grade, and a handholding session on an airplane that sealed their fates together from that moment on.

I guess you could say that everyone knew this wedding was coming. I knew, Rachel knew, and everyone else kinda expected it. There was very little question of if, only when. The “when” for me turned out to be April of last year when Noah was helping me film a wedding (oh yeah, he’s a videographer too!). He was helping me unload some gear from my car when he casually stated, “When Mal and I get married next year, I want you to film it.” Cue my doubletake followed by a “Yes!”

Smiles for days!

So there we all were: Noah, Mallorie, friends, and family, all squeezed under an oak tree south of Dallas, watching an event unfold that we all saw coming. And contrary to what you may think, our knowing this was coming didn’t make it any less special, no, it was even better because this wedding was something we all wanted to happen.

Are you about to get married to your middle-school sweetheart? Rachel and I would love to film it. Please get in touch!