Ryan & Kristina
The hills went gold, and we spent the last of it on the two of them. Sound on.
The last hour.
Ryan and Kristina were married at Hummingbird Nest Ranch, on the estate that sits in its own bowl in the Santa Susana hills. Their film runs a little under seven minutes and carries their own voices through it.
The frame we keep coming back to is the one at the end of the day: the two of them out on the open ground with the sun already low behind the ridge, everything gone warm and hazy, nothing in the shot but hills. That is the hour this property is for, and it is shorter here than most people expect.
Watch the ridge.
Hummingbird Nest Ranch is 124 acres of private estate in the Santa Susanas, and the thing worth planning around is the ridgeline to the west. It takes the sun noticeably earlier than the published sunset time, so the usable golden window here is shorter and more sudden than at a coastal venue, and a timeline built off a sunset table will run out of light. We have now filmed six weddings on this property, which is more than anywhere else we shoot, and most of what that experience buys you is knowing exactly when to stop everything and go take the portraits. More on the estate in our notes on filming at Hummingbird Nest Ranch.
