Often people leave Thanksgiving weekend reserved for family, but what about your new additions? Jocelyn and Tiroca took this holiday period to celebrate two big occasions. First, the Thanksgiving itself, and the day after — their joyous wedding held in St. Claires Shores, Detroit, Michigan.

The chilly winds that day put a little damper on our outdoor shooting plans, but everything else from the preparation to the reception was exceptionally blissful. At the end of the day, I was glad to be an instrument in preserving those memories.

Hope you enjoy the photos, and feedback most welcome!

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Thanksgiving 2009 with the Canon 7D from Ted Chen on Vimeo.

While most partake in turkey and cranberry sauce during this American holiday, my friends and I chose to celebrate Thanksgiving with a bit more local flavor. Many Chinese enjoy hot pot (or otherwise known as steamboat in Singapore or 火锅 in Mandarin), where we throw all kinds of raw food into a boiling pot of flavored — and often spicy — soup.

But why explain it, when you can watch it in the video!

Now it was always my intention to shoot some kind of video for the occasion of Thanksgiving, but the final product turned out really different from what I had envisioned. At first I wanted some kind of narrative, to show my friend returning from New York and how we’d appreciate his company during dinner. However I failed to get the necessary footage to make such a narrative, plus as the night grew old, I realized there were plenty of candid and hilarious moments. Thus the ‘epic video’ was born.

Friends have commented that the video feels both funny and epic. What do you think?

As with the first video, the Canon 7D (my only DSLR capable of video) was used, along with a Rode Video Mic for audio. I’m still undecided on the performance of the Rode. The clarity is quite good in this video, but with my limited experience in the world of audio, I don’t know where this would stand with other mics. I do think audio is extremely important and want to get the best gear out there, within a budget. Eventually I’ll upgrade from the Video Mic, but for now it suffices. After all, video is still a very new venture to me, and rides on the back of still photography.

Getting ready to eat, on Thanksgiving 2009

Jocelyn makes an early appointment at Hairshion in Southfield, Michigan, as she prepares for her big wedding day. The ceremony was later held at the Lakeland Manor at St. Claire’s Shores. About 150 guests turned up to witness and take part in the following reception.