Congratulations Keith and Tara

Quite the day. The worst part was the 92 degree heat and unrelenting sun whose effects were doubled from shooting in the parking lot of a bank in the middle of an antique car show. The good news is that the thunderstorms never materialized as the weatherman had warned and the happy couple looked terrific.

Other than Tara arriving a little late and the groom melting in the sun, the ceremony got underway 20 minutes late...around 1:50 pm. This was not a full length wedding...a 20 min ceremony under a canopy, then the traditional dance, the champagne and cutting of the cake...all within an hour's time...then a few minutes for family time and fun before the official wedding pictures..but taken in the back of beautiful white convertible.

As with previous event coverage, we learned a lot from this day...especially about what to expect when shooting in the bright sun ..how exposures can change very quickly; how the surrounding sounds can compete with what you're trying to get; that there are no do-overs and that ANYTHING can suddenly happen and de-rail the best laid out plans.

I'll say one thing, the sun and the stress knocked the two of out for the rest of the day... two cold beers later and we were down for the count.

So now we begin working on the final video. It will take weeks to complete this but it's going to be special. We shot over 6 hrs of video and 200 photos. It's going to take awhile... and when we're done, we're going to invite Keith, Tara, Ruthann and their families over to the house for a first time viewing.

Best of luck you two.

Shoot'n a DJ

Tonight I helped out friend and DJ extraordinaire...Peter Gallotta of "INFINITY SOUNDZ" with shooting him in action at a wedding reception at the Beaverbrook Country Club in Clinton Township. What a great time everyone had and Peter made sure every guest had fun dancing until the wee hours. He also provided amazing "up lighting" - all kinds of interesting LED lights and strobes - which really added to the overall look and feel of the party. If you are looking for a DJ, Peter's the guy. I worked alongside the hired videographer and we had a great time together shooting the party-crazed guests...it was quite a night.

Ben and Kristen

Had my first meeting with Ben and Kristen tonight. I know Ben's mother from a group we're in together. Their wedding day is July 17th and will held at Peddler's Village in Pennsylvania. They've decided they want the full package minus the pre-ceremony bride and groom segments AND they've cut out the special bride feature. I always try to adapt and mold the package to meet the wants and needs of the couple..it's their day after all.

The event will be covered a little more documentary style than cinematic style meaning they want us invisible and not to stage any of the shots. That's fine with us...it's fun to shoot a wedding that way too. So an outdoor wedding in a gazebo, horse and carriage ride to the park for photos and a big party at 7pm afterward. They look so young.....was I ever that young looking?

UPS Love

Here's a teaser for this upcoming Sunday wedding....I've gone to over a dozen of Keith's fans at various businesses in the town of Clinton and gotten "shout outs" from each of them to Keith and Tara...this video is just a quickly thrown together sampler....the full "shout outs" will be included in the final wedding video...and some of them are priceless.

Kindred Quilts

Tracy and I just returned from a meeting with Toby Preston of Kindred Quilts, Clinton's gathering spot for everything and anything quilts, sewing, embroidery ....you name it. We're going to be shooting a 2-3 min web commercial for the website and I was struck by all the amazing colors and fabrics throughout the four room store. Rumor has it that this is quite the place for women all over the area who love to be creative and make things with their hands...tons of classes to choose from, you can buy fabric online as well...Right now, we're in the script development phase - planning exactly what we want to say in the video and the first shoot sometime after the script is pretty much completed....if nothing else...it's going to be a very colorful video ..that's for sure.

A "Keith" sighting

I got my first footage for the Keith and Tara wedding this Sunday. Keith is the town's UPS driver and I got him driving his truck across the beloved Clinton bridge by the waterfall and Red Mill. Stood there 40 minutes baking in the sun to grab this 4-5 sec shot....the video just wouldn't be the same without it

Becka and Travis Update

We're scheduled to shoot interviews with Becka's mom and Travis's mom next Wednesday at the Sunset Inn - the location for the ceremony and reception - along with the best man. The night before, we'll be taping Becka's sister who is the maid of honor As part of the feature video, I plan to weave in some of the commentary depending on how good it comes out. You never know when taping interviews with family members if it will be great or not-so-great.

Keith and Tara Update

So much about Kieth and Tara's wedding on Sunday is still up in the air. I get the feeling that whatever preparation we try to put in place beforehand will probably go right out the window once things get rolling. The "I Do's" will be under a small tent in a bank parking lot full of antique cars...and not in a church. We don't even know the layout yet..where the DJ will be, where the antique autos will be located in relation to the ceremony...there WILL be a cake cutting and a traditional dance....and the "photos" will be taken in one of the convertible antique cars...but we don't have a handle on what's REALLY happening sequentially....all we know is that it kicks off at 1:30, the ceremony will be conducted by the amazing Ruthann Disotell, the Minister of Ceremonies....and will all be over in about 45 minutes...so we'll grab as much footage as we can with two cameras.... as it happens... and hope it all comes together as a video at the end of the edit...If you're in the area on Sunday, come on down.

The Garden Gourmet

The Garden Gourmet is a wonderful eatery and hidden gem in Clinton New Jersey. Owner and Chef Briellen Wolchik is truly a Garden Gourmet. We shot this web commercial for her website and to expand into videos for business websites. There's nothing like a tasty video on the homepage to tempt the palate of potential customers...

Clinton Business Group Awards Banquet

Every year, the Clinton Business Group holds the J. Staats Brokaw Award Banquet for a high school student that has demonstrated a strong entrepreneurial spirit. This year's winner was Bradley Mount and his company "BuckBeGone". The Clinton Business Group is a very active organization with plenty of personality to go around. I think we captured the essence of the breakfast banquet pretty well.

Jaymes and Rene

What do you do with a hundreds of photos sitting in boxes from of your marriage that's been lying untouched in your closet for years?...and you have a young daughter that you want to watch your wedding and have it as a keepsake for years to come?....you make a video of it...and that's what we did for Rene. We sifted through hundreds of photos and put together a chronology of the perfect shots.The final result: This five minute Wedding Video that her daughter will have forever.

Avid Upgrade

We've recently upgraded to AVID editing software. AVID is the most stable editorial software used by more professional post production facilities than any other software. It was the first professional non-linear system in the world and had it's first big debut when used to cut the athlete features for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. In any event, it's added wonderful flexibility to our wedding and event video productions and will be used to cut the Travis and Tara video next week.

Keith and Tara

Keith is the local UPS driver. Tara is is bride to be and many of us are donating our services to help bring their wedding dream come true. The ceremony is being performed at the Annual Antique Car Show Sunday, June 27th at 1:30pm in Clinton, NJ. They're expecting a huge crowd at the show and shooting video surrounded by a sea of humanity is going to be a huge challenge for us. It won't be like a standard wedding at all..the ceremony will be short and sweet under a tent, then the couple and the crowd will move to one of the Antique cars to have their wedding photos taken ( by us) then everyone will move over to the DJ booth to be serenaded by a singer, dance their first dance and cut of the cake...at least that's what we THINK it's going to go.... It's very difficult to plan and prepare for this kind of event since none of it is structured. Shooting it will be very documentary-like since we won't be able to use our cinematic tools like the glide cam or the slider.
We're hoping to have more information and some kind of game plan by the time Sunday comes rolling around....

Becka and Travis

Met with Becka and Travis tonight to discuss their August 28th wedding. Gonna do the full package, shooting the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, bride and groom getting ready, the ceremony, the photo shoot at Spruce Run Lake, the reception, interviews with the parents and a special feature of just the bride. The whole affair - ceremony and reception are going to be under huge tents in the back yard of the Sunset Inn. Rain or shine, this wedding is on.