an industry leading 21 Creative Excellence Awards, as of 2006. He has been awarded The Bob LeBar Vision Award, The Distinguished Service Award, and in 2001 was inducted into The WEVA Hall of Fame. His influence on wedding films can be seen in the works of videographers nation wide. In 2003 he introduced the Time Shifted wedding film at WEVA Expo. Then in 2004 he wowed everyone at WEVA Expo with a win in the Creative Excellence Awards category photo montages with a 3-D Photo Montage

I had the opportunity to speak recently, with this trailblazing filmmaker about his 3-D montage work.

Q:Your 3d photo montages are totally cool. What was your original inspiration, that led you to create this technique of separating background and forground elements of 2D photos?

David A: I saw a documentary which applied the technique, " The Kid Says In The Picture", and then I saw the opening credits to an HBO show called "Carnivale". At that point i said "How the #$% can we do that. I wanna know!"

What type of ocassion are these photo montages best done for?

David A: Absolutely any occasion.

Q: These appear to be very labor intensive compared to the more standard photo montage of flashing photos onscreen and maybe including some Ken Burns influenced panning, we are used to seeing over the last several decades. These look more like something a Hollywood special effects house would do. How do you do it and how long does one of these montages take you to produce?

David A: We manipulate the images in Adobe After Effects and times vary depending on the complexity of the composition,

Q: Some of the backdrops you put the photo elements into are very unique. I saw one where I think there were dolphins floating in the air, very surreal. What is the idea behind this and how much influence does the customer have on this?

David A: The client will leave us to do our thing. They are paying for our creativity, and typically trust us. They might give us basic guidance, like what elements the honoree might like, or communicate the theme and sometimes how they feel the piece should flow.

Q: The music you use seldom tends to be the latest pop power ballad we are so used to hearing in videos, how important is the music you use in the montages and how do you find it?

David A: Music is very important. I try to steer my clients away from the typical cliches. I collect music and have around 5000 cd's. I love to match the visuals with music, and have a pretty good handle on what works, and what might be unusual yet somehow fit the images.

If someone would like one of these montages created, where should they start?

David A: They can email me at

Thank you David. You can check out David's 3-D works in the videos below and see some of his award winning work in the Creative Excellence Award Gallery!