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Fire Alarm

On Saturday, I was at the Elm Bank Reservation in Wellesley, MA. Elm Bank is the home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, which has quite beautiful and extensive grounds. The bride and groom, Eliane and Shawn, had the ceremony and reception there. Below is a shot from the ceremony, with a grand vista!


And from the opposite angle, before the ceremony, with the Manor House in the background.


Somehow during the reception, a fire alarm was accidentally pulled, and there was 40 minutes of flashing strobes and an intermittent alarm sound. Everyone continued with the reception as best they could, and fire trucks soon responded. While the firefighters were resetting the alarm, guests were snapping away at the bride and groom in front of the fire truck, as shown below.




Aside from the alarm, the day went very well, with great weather, a beautiful bridal party, and happy guests. Who could ask for more?

Dam Poison Ivy!

I was in Acushnet, MA, this week, shooting some footage for the National Marine Fisheries Service. They are documenting the Acushnet River Fish Passage Restoration project with work taking place at the Acushnet Sawmill Dam and at the Hamlin Street Dam, both in the town of Acushnet. My guide for the shoot was Steve Block, a Habitat Restoration Specialist for the NMFS. Steve did caution me about poison ivy in some overgrown areas, but I still managed to get a bit showing up on my arm a couple of days later. Hopefully, that’s the extent of it. I washed all my clothes right away, and my sneakers last night, and my wife bravely applied Tecnu to my tripod today. We’ll see if that takes care of it.

Of course, I have 3-4 more visits to Acushnet to document the construction, so we’ll see if I can avoid it next time.

As this shot was taken, the tripod was probably sitting in the poison ivy.

Full Circle

I’ve been playing with a new toy this week. It’s a customized film transfer projector designed to do frame-by-frame transfers of 8mm and Super8 films. In between doing film transfers for clients, I’ve been testing it out with films from my childhood. Films that I had spliced together myself onto big reels, back when I was 13 or 14 years old. I probably haven’t seen these in over 20 years. No one in my family has. They sure will make a nice Christmas presents. Here are a couple of screen captures from my home movies:

Here, my brothers and cousin tear down a gingerbread house on New Year’s Eve (circa 1971).

Here I am in the yellow pajamas, between my cousin and my brother.

The film transfers are going great. We clean all the film before transferring, and the frame-by-frame transfer gives very sharp images, so it looks terrific—and it’s a lot of fun to watch all the old movies. Check your attics, your closets, and your basements. Dig out those old memories. Film won’t last forever—better get it transferred to DVD!

 

 

Raffle Winner

I spent yesterday evening at Chandler’s Restaurant in Deerfield, MA at a “Vendor Blender”, where wedding professionals from all areas of the wedding industry can meet and network. It was sponsored by CJC Events—they do bridal event production and marketing, including the Western New England Bridal Shows at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, and they publish the Wedding Day Sourcebook, a monthly magazine.
It was a great evening. I got to meet a lot of vendors from the area—photographers were well represented, and I handed out a lot of demos. My big news is that I won the final prize of the night—a free table at the March 9th Western New England Bridal Show!

The Hotel Northampton

Back at the Hotel Northampton again tonight, always a great place for a reception. Downtown Northampton, Massachusetts, across from the cool Calvin Theater, where many national acts pass through. And just a ten minute drive from my house!

The happy couple today was Laura and Jeremy. Got married at the Abbey Chapel on the Mount Holyoke College campus. Abbey Chapel has wonderful stone architecture and great acoustics—a real hidden gem, if you’re looking for a wedding location. In years past, I had taped a couple of Mount Holyoke College concerts there, including an excellent production of Mozart’s Requiem.

Boston Harbor Hotel

Some places just really do it right. Boston Harbor Hotel is not only a beautiful location for a wedding, but the service is tops. Their wait staff is fabulous—total efficiency. I was shooting in the Wharf Room last Saturday, and the lighting on the tables was gorgeous.


And the cocktail hour on the balcony just outside, overlooking the harbor, as sunset approached… I can’t wait to go back!

Linden Hill School

The next two days, I’ll be spending part of my time at Linden Hill School in Northfield, MA, taping their commencement ceremonies. Linden Hill is a middle school dedicated to helping boys with dyslexia or language-learning differences realize their full potential. Thursday night is their awards night, and Friday morning is their more formal commencement. A portion of their commencement is given over to “book awards” where faculty members get up to speak about their personal connection with two boys in the school, and present each of them with a book, specially chosen. There is never, never a dry eye in the house (camera operators included!), and the faculty members usually need to recover themselves in the middle of their speeches. It’s amazing, and I’ve never seen anything like it.

Humorist

So, what was I doing in a room of 120 women last Friday night? Rudy Wilson Galdonik, a very funny woman, was entertaining a lively crowd at the Girls’ Night Out at Trinity Covenant Church in Machester, CT. I was videotaping Rudy so she could use the footage as a demo. Her humor covers a wide range of topics, including mammograms, ugly cars, cancer, raising children, religion, hiking, and dogs!

My favorite Connecticut wedding sites

I had posted earlier about my favorite Massachusetts wedding sites. Well, I shoot a lot of weddings in Connecticut, too, and I have some favorites there:

The Branford House, owned by the University of Connecticut, is a colossal building with a spectacular view in Groton.

The Gwyn Careg Inn, very romantic, has 14 acres of manicured landscape, including a majestic enclosed stone wall Spanish Garden. In Pomfret.

The Wadsworth Mansion, in Middletown, isa beautiful mansion with lovely grounds and a long, long lawn stretching out from the terrace.

The Hill-Stead Museum, in Farmington, has hilltop views of the Litchfield hills, expansive acreage, and a gorgeous sunken garden.

The Pavilion at Rocky Neck State Park, in Niantic, is a most original building with terrific views of Long Island Sound.

My favorite Massachusetts wedding sites

Someone asked me this weekend where in Massachusetts I’ve enjoyed shooting the most. It got me thinking about my favorite wedding sites. Here’s a list, in no particular order:

The Log Cabin, terrific views from the side of Mt. Tom in Holyoke, MA. Has the added benefit of being only 5 minutes from my house!

The Gamble Mansion, at the Boston Center for Adult Education. A hidden gem across from the Public Garden, with a spectacular ballroom.

The Boston Harbor Hotel, elegance on the water.

The Cranwell Resort, Lenox, MA, a beautiful building and extensive grounds for photos. Enjoy a 60-mile view of the surrounding hills.

Elm Bank Reservation, Wellesley, MA, home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Spectacular!

Lyman Estate, Waltham, MA, great old building (1793) with lots of room inside and out, and gorgeous landscaping.

Cough Drop Wrapper Dress

My daughters get very creative with their toys, often leaving my wife and I quite astounded. They’ll take a bit from this set, a bit from that, add some found materials and, presto!, they’ve made something you’ve defintely never seen before. Take, for example, this:


Keep in mind, though the photo doesn’t do it justice, that this doll is only two inches high, and the wrappers aren’t just pasted on, but have arm holes and it’s a separate top and bottom. It was quite a surprise to walk in the bathroom and that waiting by the sink!

Dream House

I occasionally get e-mails or calls from “funny video” shows looking for outrageous wedding footage. Here’s something a little different for someone who wants to be on TV, from someone at ABC who likes to use a lot of exclamation points:

“I am casting a show for ABC about Newlyweds and they will compete against other couples for the chance to win a Dream House!

I know you have contact with a lot of diverse couples so if you wouldn’t mind sending them info about this! That would be great! Our definition of newly married is married less than 2 years or will be married before July! If you could send them to www.abcdreamhouse.com where they can fill out an application and send it in through the website…that would be great and they will also find out information about a 5 minute video audition tape that we’d like them to also submit.”

So there it is—I’ll be letting my recent wedding couples know about this. Feel free to check it out if you fit the definition…

In the crouch

So I’m working on a montage of photographs for Valley Women’s Martial Arts’ 30th Anniversary, scanning about 200 photos. Here’s my favorite image from the batch:


The woman in red looks perfectly balanced and at ease—and yet ready to spring! And the woman in the upper right is not only a black belt, but also the poet laureate of Northampton. VWMA is an amazing dojo in Easthampton, MA. Owned and run by women, they hold classes in martial arts almost exclusively for women and girls. My nine-year-old has a yellow belt in their Powergirls class, and will soon be testing to add a blue stripe.

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