Just received from Kelly and Ryan, who were married at Elms College Chapel in Chicopee, MA and had their reception at the Yankee Pedlar Inn in Holyoke:
Dear Tom,
Wow! What an amazing job you did creating our wedding video! Not only are Ryan and I thrilled with the results, you also impressed my mother and my mother-in-law! We are so happy with your work and we are certain the DVDs will get plenty of use. Thank you so much!!
Met with Anne and Jiuming last night about doing their wedding video. They are getting married at St. Brigid’s Church in Amherst, MA with a reception at the Lord Jeffery Inn, also in Amherst.
The question of high definition (HD) came up, and we talked about how important is it, is it worth the extra cost, what are the differences between standard def and high def. I thought Jiuming made a great point when he suggested that the video be shot using the typical technology of the day, which, in this case, would be standard definition. Your parents’ or grandparents’ wedding might have been captured on silent black-and-white film, placing it in a cultural and historical context. In the same way, shooting in standard definition now places your wedding in a specific cultural and historical context—so maybe you don’t need to fret about high def versus standard.
To be sure, I love to use the new technology, I can shoot in HD, and I enjoy HD projects, so I’m ready for the next era of wedding video, too.
Just heard about this bridal gown sale through the DJ Network:
Wednesday, Feb. 27th 4-9pm, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Springfield, MA (next to the Basketball Hall of Fame). All bridal gowns are on sale for $199 (originally $800-2500).
On Tuesday, I videotaped an audition for a violin camp. Apparently, certain camps are getting very competitive, with students expected to submit a professional-looking demo. The 13-year-old violinist sounded great, playing two very complex pieces (a little daunting for me, since I just got a violin for Christmas and I’m having trouble with “Twinkle, Twinkle”).
I had done another one of these a couple of years ago for someone doing a singing demo for another camp. I love doing these just to see the talent that’s hiding out here in the valley.
Met with Theresa and Ben in West Hartford today about producing their wedding video. They are getting married at St. Michael’s in East Longmeadow, MA with a reception at La Renaissance in East Windsor, CT.
They are expecting a big crowd with 350 guests—not to worry, the La Renaissance can handle up to 800!
Met with Mirella and Rich today about producing their wedding video. They are getting married at The Log Cabin in Holyoke, MA. It is located on Mt. Tom, and has spectacular views. They will be in the Southampton room, which has a huge bank of windows with a southern exposure. Their late September wedding should give them beautiful views of the autumn leaves.
Taping today at the Hartsbrook School in Hadley, MA. Got a little bit of wet-on-wet watercolor painting in the two kindergarten classrooms. So sweet! Also, some of the kindergarteners were hauling around big wooden boards and things to make slides and pirate ships in their classroom.
Then, off to the eighth grade for a physics class. Learning about water displacement, their challenge was to shape a 8-by-8 inch sheet of aluminum foil so that it could hold the maximum number of pennies while floating in water. Looked like a lot of fun. When I left, one group had reported floating 104 pennies in their boat. Try it at home!
Have you seen this site? You can enter a zip code or city name from anywhere in the country and get a look at the average wedding cost for that area. Here are some I entered:
Hartford—$33,700
Norwalk, CT—$56,740
Boston—$40,900
Springfield, MA—$26,780
Providence—$27,940
Brattleboro—$24,480
Was at the Seven Hills Inn in Lenox, MA last weekend, a great place for a wedding. I love shooting in the Berkshires, especially as the leaves are changing color. It was a partying/dancing crowd, with some people never leaving the dance floor and many still going strong till the last dance. The Inn has many interesting rooms and a lovely terraced lawn. There are also wooded trails around the property which I didn’t get a chance to explore.
Spent Saturday in Tiverton, RI for Lizzi and Dean’s wedding. Their ceremony and reception were at The Meeting House, a simple, farm-style building with a terrific lawn full of wonderful little nooks and some sculpture. It was a very relaxed ceremony, with the officiant in bare feet. Many guests were from the west coast, and there was definitely a California vibe going on. A great atmosphere!
I was in Connecticut last weekend to shoot an Australian-Canadian wedding. There were a lot of signs around explaining Aussie and Canadian slang, and a lot of national identity jokes, especially between Australians and New Zealanders (apparently they have a very intense rivalry). Well, the location was beautiful, and the activities and decor were masterfully orchestrated by Dixie Todd at Party Resources (in Kent, CT).
Seating cards uniquely displayed.
Ceremony by riverside.
Surprised by the flower girl!
Received our new Canon XH A1 this week, and put it right to work, shooting a video for the Hartsbrook School in Hadley, MA. The A1 is capable of shooting in high definition (HD), but for this project I am using it in standard widescreen mode. After some inital tweaking with the presets, I beginning to get the images close to what I want.
Here are a couple of screen shots from today:
The High School building, Piening Hall.
Two seventh grade boys doing perspective drawing in the shadow of the Mt. Holyoke range.
Tonight, I was at the Four Seasons in Boston with my favorite photographers, Glenn and April Livermore! Anne and Marc were the wedding couple, and they were so easy to work with, very sweet.
The Four Seasons was, well, The Four Seasons—luxurious, efficient, and AMAZING food! Anne and Marc did a fabulous planning job, everything looked so beautiful.
Here are some pics:
The cake…
The bouquet…
And a detail from the ketubah.
A bit of chaos here yesterday, as the chipmunk who visited a few weeks ago returned. We called a wildlife control specialist, who doubted our word that a chipmunk was running around the house. Flying squirrels was his suggestion.
Well, he had to apologize after chasing the little creature around our girls’ playroom. And the chipmunk gave him quite the runaround, darting among barbies, polly pockets, and countless other toys strewn about the room.
Well, “Chippy” (as our youngest daughter named it) is now removed, and things are settling back to normal, though there is a bit of Chippy mess to be cleaned up in odd corners.
I’m at my desk editing last Friday when my intern, Fiona, says, “Tom, there’s a chipmunk in your office.” Now, I get a little freaked out by wildlife, especially when it’s indoors, but I managed not to startle until I actually laid eyes on it. Yep, right there, paused on my floor—a chipmunk. I followed it through my house, opened the front door, and casually herded it outside, with Fiona’s help.
About an hour later, Fiona had gone home, but the chipmunk had returned. Yes, back in my office. And since I was alone I was free to really jump when I spotted it. I thought it would be a simple matter of herding out the front door again, but this time, the chipmunk ran into the kitchen and under the stove.
I made a system of barricades in the kitchen to force the chipmunk closer to our open back door, but it took to hiding under the refrigerator, and stayed there until the next morning. I saw it beside the fridge, so we left it alone with our barricades up and the back door open. Several checks later in the day found no further sign of chipmunk. It seemed like a good opportunity to pull out the fridge and clean all around it, vacuum the coils, etc., so I can with certainty say it isn’t in the fridge anymore. We sure hope it found its way outside and is not lurking somewhere in the house, waiting to startle me a third time.
