Seven Hills Inn

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.

The Meeting House

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!

Bridal Show

Sunday I'll be at the Day of Elegance Bridal show at the Garden House at Look Park, in Florence, MA. The show is run by CJC Events. I'm running a special offer during the show: anyone who books with me at the show will get a custom engraved iPod nano pre-loaded with their highlights!

I haven't done a bridal show in a couple of years, so we'll see how it goes.

International Wedding

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!

Woo-hoo! New camera

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.

Four Seasons Boston

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.

Chipmunk Returns

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.

Chipmunk!

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 though it would be a simple matter of herding out the frfont 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.

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.

Pictures to come...

Mud Pies

My daughters and their friends were having a baking contest this weekend. Here's a taste of their confections:




Yummy!

Jewelboxing

Here's another thing that sets us apart from other videographers: our packaging. We use Coudal Partners' Jewelboxing system to deliver all of our finished videos. Here's some samples:

I think it's a beautiful, unique way of packaging our final products, whether it's corporate video, weddings, home movies, band demos, horse sale videos, dance recitals, graduations, plays, commercials. It's also just cool looking!

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!

Castle Hill

Last Friday I shot a wedding at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA. What a view (see photo!)



Making things even more exciting was the thunder and lightning just offshore. Luckily, the rain held off until the very end of the outdoor ceremony.

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!

Goodsearch.com

Here's a painless way to earn money for your school or favorite charity. GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-driven search engine. For each search you do, GoodSearch will donate 1 penny to your deisgnated cause. They have a handy little chart on their site which shows much could be earned annually with the right combination of people and clicks per day.

Somebody with a knack for social engineering could probably raise a lot of funds! An nice touch is a button that shows you how much your charity has raised through GoodSearch.

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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