Our first indie film Caribbean Style...

Well, we returned today from 10 days of filming our first independent film. We spent 10 days on a sailboat, catamaran to be exact, and visited some of the most stunning locations in the Caribbean to shoot scenes. Our family has a lot of history with sailing. I grew up sailing with my dad and he started these amazing adventures with the family bare boating. Today, this tradition of escaping to remote locations lives on years after his unfortunate death and battle with Cancer.

As you can see, I am still learning from my father who taught us all through actions more than words or criticisms of our choices. Most of all, I credit my dad with our ability to leap even when there isn't a net and to tackle our thoughts and dreams proactively regardless of what others tell us is impossible.

So, here we are. Wedding and portrait photographers creating an independent film with no idea what will come of it and regardless of what critics will have to say about it. This week has also been met with a lot of reflection about what it means to be a film maker or photographer. At the heart of what we have always been, we are storytellers. Over the past 20 years, give or take, we have told countless stories through the lens. Now, we are adding motion and being proactive thinkers as well as reacting to the ebb and flow of what comes our way.

We've come to the conclusion that we don't just want to make films that are simply entertaining. We want to create films that draw awareness to subjects, and that make people think. We want to tell the untold stories, and we want to use our filmmaking side of our creative energy to make a difference.

Our first real indie film is about love, loss, and the impact that a person can make in your life regardless of how long you know them. It was an idea that kept coming back to me for months as we pondered ideas for a film. I don't want to say it is in honor of my father because everything we do is in honor of our parents in one way, shape, or form. But his life, courage, and death was no doubt a big part of the inspiration for this personal project. As I said, some people just keep teaching you long after they are gone. I am extremely excited to work with our family and team to see this project to completion.

This has been an intense 10 day lesson on just how challenging it is to create a film and we have a new found respect for those that try. We knew that most film makers avoid the water, especially sailing because it is far to demanding. So we figured we would try the hardest thing we could think of first. What made this really challenging is that the weather forced us to evolve and change the script on the fly. We had plenty of sun, but then hit heavy rains and large seas on days where the script counted most. Literally in every scene we hit a road block and had to rethink the mission. Our team was pushed to the hilt emotionally and physically at times, but each time somebody felt like quitting, others pushed to bring morale up. On the other hand, we also had blessings unfold, like rainbows, in moments that a script never could have dreamed the shear beauty before our eyes.

The Canon cameras made this project come alive in ways we could have never dreamed. The size of the systems allows us to mount cameras on the boat in so many ways that it opened our eyes to the fact that Hollywood style film making really has a new friend that can capture scenes and moments in ways that have never been done before. Not to mention that we counted on the durability of these cameras and they pulled through time after time.

I took on the role of Director of Photography / supporting actor, and Jennifer was the main character in the plot. Maring family / Cinematographers Derrick Watson and Jason Watson handled filming the majority of the scenes. Michelle Maring monitored sound, while Patricia Maring was in charge of keeping the script on track. We felt that in our first film we wanted to learn more about acting. Jennifer has a lot of stage acting and choreography experience while I literally have none. But we knew that taking on these roles personally would make us stronger and better on future films. We also had deep seated feelings for the emotion in this film since we have scouted and filmed this location for 6 years as still photographers.

Looking back on the day of the last scene to be filmed in the Caribbean we all felt a huge sense of accomplishment. This week made us better photographers and better cinematographers. Personal projects always seem to be the ones that make you grow the most. Now, the edit begins along with several other scenes which need to be filmed to close this chapter out. Looking forward to sharing over the next 4-6 months what we find and learn.