Catalina Island wedding film
Timothy & Amber
Timothy and Amber, on Catalina Island. Sound on.
Twenty-two miles out.
Timothy and Amber were married in Catalina Island's harbor town of Avalon, twenty-two miles off the Southern California coast. The frame here is theirs: a dip kiss at the water's edge, sand underfoot, the Casino standing across the bay behind them. The bay does the work behind them. Everything on this island arrives by boat.
The film runs just under six minutes. Play it with sound on, on the biggest screen you have.
Notes on filming Catalina.
Catalina is a boat ride, not a drive. Fast ferries run out of Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point and Newport Beach. Catalina Express puts Long Beach at about an hour, San Pedro at an hour and a quarter and Dana Point at an hour and a half, which is worth knowing before you tell guests it is a short hop. Once you land there are no car rentals: full-size vehicles are permit-only, golf carts rent by the hour rather than by the day, and everyone else walks. Avalon is under three square miles, so that works, but it means you carry your kit all day and plan the walk between locations. The town sits in a valley with hills on both sides, and the light leaves the waterfront early while the ridge above is still bright. Work the sand and the harbor front while you have them. The Casino rises the equivalent of twelve stories at the end of the bay, sea on three sides, and it lands in almost every wide you shoot.
