Q & A with Tracy Marini

From the inception of this off-the-cuff Q & A series, I've had my eye on Tracy Marini of Eventfully Yours. I knew she'd be a perfect subject! Tracy is always a ball of energy and laughs, and if you don't know her personally, you'll feel like you do after this fun session! In fact, this is the first time anyone has threatened to "kick my butt" during an interview. Love ya, Tracy!

Tracy and I are nearly neighbors, living just 2 miles apart in East Orlando. Aside from being a seasoned professional on the job, I always appreciate her ability to keep things light and share laughs (big ones) through the wedding day.

As always, the idea behind these clips is almost a "hit and run" mentality -- low tech, maybe even "no" tech, no rehearsing or do-overs, camera on a tripod and off we go! The entire session takes less than 20 minutes. Hey, wedding professionals, I'm always looking for volunteers, so don't be shy!

Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only Tracy Marini ...

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Music I Love -- The Damnwells

Ok, fair enough. That's a terrible name for a band.

The Damnwells have released 2 outstanding CD's of melodic, wistful music that have the sound of pure Americana. They've garnered great reviews and expectations were high for their new release, "One Last Century", but they were dropped by their record label at the last minute.

In an effort to take control of their career, they are making their excellent new release available for free download. Yep, free! Zero dollars! It's music that I consider impossible to dislike and I hope everyone will take a listen to one of their older songs below -- "Golden Days" -- and then download the new CD. All they ask in return is that you share it with friends! That's fair, isn't it?

Hope you enjoy!

Lights ... Camera ... Color!

I set out to assemble a collection of clips to highlight the crucial relationship between camera and light, which I hope will provide some inspiration for how to light your own wedding reception!

In addition to focusing on the foreground subjects, notice the warm and romantic background glow provided by the inspired use of multi-colored spot and LED lighting. Through creative lighting, your wedding design will spring to life, enhancing every nuance of your floral decor, cake design, and dance floor.

Nothing will bring out the eye-popping potential of your wedding video and photography in quite the same way as the creative use of background color!

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Kirby and Jesse Filar's Ritz Carlton Wedding

This past weekend I was priveliged to document the wedding of Kirby and Jesse at the Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes. What a great couple, great setting, great families, and great team of vendors!

Providing exceptional service for Kirby and Jesse was a dream team of good friend Lisa Konecny and her always entertaining cohort Jessy Rivers of E-Events, John Unrue and Ricardo DeVengoechea of Unrue Photography (check out John's new website!), Plumbfun Photobooths, Flowers of Winter Park, and of course the always exemplary staff of the Ritz Carlton.

Kirby and Jesse commissioned me to produce this "teaser" clip to be online within 24 hours of their wedding. The full wedding documentary is yet to be produced, but this short form clip is already making the rounds through their many friends and family!

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"Glitz, Glamour, Reveal" - E-Events and Liga Photography

Last night, Winter Park opened its arms to a fantastic Grand Opening celebration for my great friends Lisa Konecny of E-Events, and Abby Liga of Liga Photography. Their new office -- 230 S. New York Ave in the heart of Winter Park -- was an open-air, under-the-stars cocktail party of the highest order! Fingers were crossed for a great evening, and Lisa and Abby predictably delivered in style!

Congratulations ladies, I can't wait to see what the future holds!

4th Annual Halloween Party

Halloween -- my favorite holiday! Primarily because it signals the arrival of the annual Halloween party here at the house. Last night's rager was a blast, the house was PACKED with friends and family -- about 60 people -- and I had the best time. The theme, as always, was "wear your favorite t-shirt", and this year the bar was certainly raised. Many of them can't be shown in this PG-13 forum!

To those of you who came, thank you for hanging out and making this year's party the best one yet. To our friends who couldn't make it, you were missed but we look forward to seeing you next year!

Special thanks to Tommy Murphy of Greenery Productions for providing some of these photos (and bringing the wigs!)

Q & A with Richard Streitler

How better to follow-up my fun Q & A with Brian Joyce than this one with Richard Streitler of Flourish Productions? Continuing in the tradition of these quick-edit videos (or "hit and run" as someone recently called them!), Richard and Brian's sessions were shot back to back before we all went to lunch at Houston's. Need a few hours of laughing? Have lunch with Richard and Brian.

Thanks for being such a great sport, Richard, and for having a really infectious laugh!

Q & A with Garrett Nudd

My friendship with celebrated photographer Garrett Nudd is valuable to me for several reasons. Not only is he a gifted artist who inspires me on a creative level, but he truly seems to have found the secret to balancing his professional career with his personal life. It's a delicate trade-off, but Garrett and his wife Joy seem to have it figured out.

It's a great time of new beginnings for Garrett and Joy -- not only are they expecting baby #2, but they've also just opened a new couture portrait studio, Cobblestone Rue, in their hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It's gonna' be a great year, and I wish them spectacular success!

Garrett was kind enough to invite me to tag along on a recent fashion shoot here in Orlando, and we shot this fun interview during one of his (very few) breaks!

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Everything Old Is New Again

With all of the recent advances in video technology, I actually feel that video can sometimes look too good; the pristine image sometimes lacks "warmth", for lack of a better term. So, it's always fun for me to produce brief segments that incorporate an entirely different look.

The old 8mm film style that we associate with home movies can be a novel way to liven up a piece. Incorporating less-than-steady camera work, and overexposed, desaturated colors that are all hallmarks of a an old "home" movie, this segment is from just after a couple's wedding ceremony at the Sarasota Ritz Carlton as they were shooting their formal photos.

It's a very distinctive look, and I try not to overdo it with more than just 90 seconds worth. Hope you like it!

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Music I Love - Bleu

Ok, so most of what I listen to is in the "alternative" category, whatever that means. How can music be "alternative", anyway? But I digress ...

I am still a sucker for massive ballads, like the tune below from a guy named Bleu. Stylistically he's capable of anything, but this song from his upcoming new cd is a great, sweeping ballad that I really like. Really melodic and ... well ... melancholy.

The song is called "Go", and I hope you like.

Happy Birthday, Sally

Sally is my Shetland Sheepdog, and this week she turns 15. Unbelievable. I am so happy that she's still keeping me company in my office every single day. She's mostly deaf now, and is a bit slower to stand up most of the time, but otherwise she's in good health and manages to find me really interesting on a daily basis.

This clip is compiled from VHS footage of the day I brought Sally home in 1993.

Michele jokes (or maybe she's not) that someday when Sally is gone, they're going to have to bury me right along with her.

I really love my dog.



... and this is Sally at midnight, just as she turned 15.

Music I Love - "Je t'aime, au revoir"

It must be tough for a musician being a "one-hit wonder". Y'know, having that massively popular song and then being identified with it for the rest of your career. More often than not, that one song isn't representative of the rest of an artist's oeuvre, which is definitely the case with Thomas Dolby.

Yeah, everyone knows that dippy 80's hit "She Blinded Me With Science", but it's totally out of place with the rest of his catalog, as evidenced by the song below. "I Love You Goodbye" (below) is fantastic. The lyrics are about some (mis)adventures in New Orleans that are so unusual that it simply must be a true story. More intriguing is the instrumentation, and I particularly love the long opening which features Cajun fiddle, and if you listen closely, a bit of banjo. If nothing else, listen to the first minute or so.

The chorus is sad: "Some words are sad to say / some leave me tongue tied / but the hardest words I know / are I love you, goodbye".

Q & A with Brian Joyce

I've received many admirable guesses regarding the identity of the mysterious self-portrait, but the time has come to reveal the subject of this latest installment -- Brian Joyce from Flourish Productions.

Kudos to Tracy Marini for being the only person to guess correctly!

Typically, the only time I get to see a florist on the job is just before the reception begins -- the florists are finishing up the details of room decor just as I am arriving to gather the all important room shots. They're on the way out just as I'm arriving. However, even in this short time of frantic activity and fine-tuning, Brian and Richard always have a great attitude and never fail to give me a laugh or two before they reveal their amazing handiwork to the arriving guests. It's always cool to see them doing what they do so very well.

So, without further ado, heeeeere's Brian ... !

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Because I Have No Shame ...

In honor of my recent class reunion (which I didn't get to attend), ladies and gentlemen, my high school senior photo. Hairstyle courtesy of 1983.

All Work And No Play ...

The "Down The Aisle" experience in Denver was lots of work, sure, but we all managed to have great fun as well. In addition to my existing friendships, I'm especially grateful for my new friends Rolly, Awny, Angela, and the rest of the staff at the Ritz Carlton Denver!

Here's the whole gang, after hours and behind the scenes, making the most of our trip! Thanks to my pal Garrett Nudd for supplying some of the photos.

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Q & A with Susie Weiss

The first installment of "Q & A" was a great success, thanks in no small part to Stephanie Rounds of Nu Visions in Photography being such a good sport. Thanks to my many wedding friends who have expressed an interest in giving it a go!

Round Two goes to the always lovely, always elegant Susie Weiss of Wonderful Weddings. Susie is one of the most highly-respected wedding professionals around, having worked with the area's elite clientele for many years. It's always fun to share laughs with her on the job (Susie, remember the girl with viking shoes?), and together we've participated in some truly wonderful weddings!

Ladies and gentleman, the one and only Susie Weiss.

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Off To Denver!

Two years ago, the Ritz Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes hosted the "Down The Aisle" wedding showcase, which was unlike any other wedding event I've attended. It was a real career highlight for me, working alongside the area's best wedding professionals.

The brainchild of Lisa Konecny of E-Events, the whole "Down The Aisle" shebang will be resurrected in Denver Colorado next week, and I couldn't be more excited to be on her team again. Also returning is Austin Scarlett from season 1 of Bravo's "Project Runway".

As a nifty bonus, the Denver Ritz Carlton is homebase to my good friend Kristy Chenell. In addition to participating in the show, Kristy has also contracted me to produce a video of their executive chef (maybe that will be in a future blog post...?). I anticipate a week of hard work as well as rewarding down-time with friends.

The video below was produced to kick-off the evening's events.

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Warren Dietel's 40th Birthday Party

Unquestionably, the hot ticket last week was Warren Dietel's 40th birthday bash at Church Street Station. While most of us know Warren as the owner of the peerless Puff n' Stuff Catering, many of us also know him as an all-around great guy, fun and friendly, and as you'll see in the video below, he can really rock a white fur coat.

Hosted by his always stunning wife Melissa, the party had an 80's theme and guests were encouraged to dress from the era (which explains my dubious choice of hairstyle for the evening). Vintage videogames, stage performances, and even a mock-up of Orlando's beloved and long-lost diner, Ronnie's, were there, as well as guests dressed as everything from Richard Simmons to Devo to the cast of "The Love Boat". My favorite was Warren's sister Heidi, who wore a classic (?) 80's style wedding dress, complete with puffy sleeves and baby's breath in her hair.

Thanks to Kristal & John of Unrue Photography for the images!

It was a totally good time. Like, totally.

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Q & A with Stephanie Rounds

It recently occurred to me that -- *duh* -- I'm in the video industry, and maybe I could create some content specifically for the blog. I wondered if I could call upon my wedding industry friends to help me out by agreeing to a lighthearted Q & A to learn more about them. Knowing I was shooting with Stephanie Rounds of Nu Visions this past weekend, I asked her to be my first subject. She was a very willing participant, and did a great job by getting into the spirit of it!

I've already compiled several of these and will be posting them periodically, so check back for new installments! And, wedding vendors, if you want to do one just let me know!

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Best Music Video EVER

I am humbled by the brilliance of acclaimed director Michel Gondry. I don't know that I'm even capable of comprehending what goes on in that crazy head of his, so suffice it to say that he is a slightly mad visionary. If you're interested in this stuff, I highly recommend this collection of his work. The more you watch, the more complex it is. Best of all, very little of his work is accomplished through CGI, but through good old fashioned clever camera work.

Here's the best example.

Upon first viewing, it may appear that you are watching 2 different video clips below -- one on the left half, one on the right. In reality, it's just one video -- played forward on the left side, and played in reverse on the right. Same video, shot all in one take. But, the brilliance of it comes from the idea that it is something like a video palindrome, because things happen at the same point in the video in both the forward and reverse versions.

See? It's so hard to explain and yet it's such a simple idea. Remember, it's just one video clip! In fact, it may be more interesting to cover up the right half of the screen the first time you watch it so you can see how it was actually shot, and then watch it again watching both versions.

Does this all make me a giant geek?