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Our 1st Anniversary

This Sunday will be Dawn & my 1st wedding anniversary! I just wanted to share a few short videos that I put together over the last year. Some of you may have seen these clips already. The first one is the "Coming Soon" trailer for our wedding video that......I will......eventualy......get around to editing. :0 Dawn has been very patient with me on the video editing front, and as of now these short clips are all that I have gotten finished. I promise it's "coming soon" as the trailer says, as long as you keep in mind that "soon" is relative. Happy Anniversary Dawn. I love you always. "217"

Thank you for my Thank you

Just the other day I received a surprise package at my front door from Corso's Cookies
I opened the box to find a very sweet (literally) gift from Allison & Tom, one of our recent couples. Thanks you guys. I will definitely enjoy these sugary cervezas!

Test Footage from the new Canon 5D MarkII

My friend and wedding photographer Jenn Childress recently purchased a new Canon 5D MarkII. I took it for a test run around Jenn's office while she was doing some work. This is the first bit of video that I have shot with a DSLR. The shallow DOF is incredible. I love the look of video shot with a wide open aperture. However, hand holding a DSLR while shooting video makes for some shaky footage.
I am well aware that this may be the absolute nerdiest post I have ever made to this blog. And many brides/brides to be will probably not share my enthusiasm for this clip. But, because I am a closeted huge nerd, I found it very interesting! Anyway, here is the first test. You can see it in HD here.

Photos from Our Costa Rican Honeymoon

Dawn and I traveled South to Costa Rica after our July 5th, wedding. We stayed in Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific side of the country. Our INCREDIBLE hotel was Hotel Si Como No. We were there for 10 days and loved every second of it. I have been a bit busy with photos, videos and everything else that would generally keep one from working on their honeymoon memories. But, over the past week or so I have been inspired to create a honeymoon film and edit a ton of photos from our trip. Costa Rica and Hotel Si Como No could not be more highly recommended for a honeymoon. If you're looking for a place to go, definitely check out Costa Rica. Dawn and I can't wait to get back. Enjoy the photos!

This bottle of Champagne was waiting for us when we arrived in the honeymoon suite. I classed it up with a can of Imperial, Costa Rica's national beer of choice.

My new Ring.

A view from our balcony.

Dawn and I ate a plate of these chicken nachos nearly everyday. They were served at the swim-up pool bar. You gotta love pool bars. That's how you can tell that you are definitely living it up!

One of the pools at our disposal.

The butterfly garden across the street from our hotel.

Dawn is loving all the butterflys.

Crocs also in the butterfly garden.

In town, Queppos.

This is a citronella berry. This berry really smelled like a back yard picnic in the summertime! I never knew that citronella candles were made from a berry!

The beach in Manuel Antonio National Park.

Dos pour uno Hora de Felice!!!

Slow for women, coyotes, sloths and monkeys.

"Our" beach.

Dawn got to meet one of these monkeys by shaking his hand. You can see the actual film footage in this clip.

Lizzy hung out with us every day at our pool.

The beach that we went to daily was right by the hippie hangout. Some "interesting" pipes were available for purchase.

This bowl now sits in our living room.

Dawn's friend, Manuel Antonio....no relation to the park we were standing in.

Palms on the beach before the nightly storm which always came in off the ocean around 5:30 or so.

We miss you Costa Rica.

Our Cats (Pomey & Bella) on Super-8 Film

I have been shooting more and more Super-8mm film during weddings (ours included), our honeymoon and just overall in general. I absolutely love this stuff! It's so nostalgic looking and it really gives a wedding video a truly unique and retro feel.
I recently tested out a film stock that I had never used before. I was putting some Kodak Vission2 200T film through some lighting and exposure tests in our home and I needed some models. Luckily our cats were willing to work for peanuts....well catnip to be specific. But, once I gave them some of the "good stuff" they were happy to work with me. The following clip is their screen test. I am currently acting as their manager too. So, anyone interested in booking the kitties for commercials and/or magazine shoots can call me directly:)

Our Honeymoon on Super-8 Film

Now that Christmas and New Years has come and gone, all of us (in the Northeast) are in the cold dregs of winter. The holidays of December always give you something to focus on other than the cold a gray weather. But, once New Years has passed, you are just forced to face the fact that there are months and months of winter ahead. Well, I took some time this weekend to focus not on the cold and gray ahead, but on our warm and sunny honeymoon from this past July!
Dawn and I spent 10 days in Manuel Antonio National Park near Quepos on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. We stayed at Hotel Si Como No.....a hotel/resort that I would recommend to anyone for their honeymoon! We relaxed at our 2 pools, made friends with some lizards, we surfed, hiked, white water rafted, snorkeled and really had the time of our lives.
Of course, I had to document the event. I brought along my Super-8mm film camera to capture our honeymoon in true nostalgic form on Super-8mm film. There are also many photos as well. I will post those later in the week. Please enjoy our honeymoon film.

Personal - Plastic - Photos

Happy 2009 everyone! Now that the LOOONNNGG Christmas break is over, it is back to work in a major way. This means no time for blogging right? Wrong!! Well, sorta....no time for a wedding related entry. Instead I've decided to post just a few pics from the most recent rolls of film I had developed. All of these were taken with my lovely point and click of a camera.....the Holga. Put simply, this camera is a black plastic box that you load 120mm film into and snap away. Very easy and lots of fun.....with unpredictable results! Enjoy.

Downtown San Francisco from Coit Tower.

North Beach.

St. Peter and Paul's in North beach. I've shot many a wedding in this church.

Sonoma.

Dawn and Gammy.

Toys for Tots

Last Saturday I was asked by Jenn Childress to come along and shoot a short video of her "Feel Good Package" toy shopping spree.  Jenn offered a "free" wedding photography package to a couple in 2009 provided that they donate the money that would have normally gone to Jenn. 

Megan and John were that lucky couple.  We all met on Saturday morning and shopped till we dropped! Well at least until our money ran out.  It was all for a good cause as the toys we purchased that morning were donated to needy children through the Marine's Toys for Tots program.  We all had a fun morning and Meagan & John can feel good knowing that they helped to make Christmas that much happier for many kids in need.  Thanks for having us Jenn! And big thanks to Megan & John.  Enjoy the video!

A Christmas Carol from me in 1977

We are very fortunate in our family to have had my dad be so conscientious with his record keeping of my sister and I as little children. While we were growing up my dad was NEVER without a camera in his hand. This is probably why today, I am NEVER without a camera in MY hand. Because of all of the photos and film/video that my dad captured from years ago, we now have such gems as the following Super-8 film clip on hand in the vaults of our family archives.
This is but one clip from one Christmas. There are many, many more like this one....some even more embarrassing and telling of who I really am. This is from my grandparent's house on Christmas day in 1977. I was 2 and a half. My sister, Meredith was just about 4 months old. Merry Christmas. Enjoy!

Fun & Photos at Wieblab #2

I spent the majority of last week commuting back and forth to Lancaster to attend Wieblab #2 at the photo studio of Joel and Rita Wiebner. Joel and Rita opened their studio and their brains to 4 photographers (myself included) for 3 days of intensive photography workshopping.
To say that I LOVED this workshop and the Wiebners themselves would be a huge understatement. We all had such a great time with each other. We laughed, we talked shop, we ate (WELL) and we learned a ton. Joel and Rita are probably the nicest most sincere couple that you will ever meet. I am so thankful to them both (and Kingston) for having and teaching us last week. As I told Rita in an e-mail....Wieblab #2 was one of the most enjoyable and positive experiences of my life! Thank you very much you guys.

Here are some of my images from a shoot that we all did at a super cool and slightly creepy abandoned amusement park.