"My Favorite Holiday Gift" with Maria Shafer

Oh, Maria Shafer. How long have we been friends now?

Maria enthusiastically raised her hand to volunteer for this video, which will be part of a pre-holiday blog series. I simply asked Maria to tell me about her favorite, or most memorable, holiday gift. Her sad story is something that could only happen to Maria.

If you have a fun or interesting story about your favorite holiday gift and want to tell me about it in this series, let me know and we'll set it up!

Please enjoy the first installment of this mini-series ... and then go shopping!

Lisa & Keith's Grand Cayman Wedding Trailer

Seems that the trend toward producing a "wedding trailer" -- a quick-turnaround teaser of the past weekend's wedding -- has gone through the roof! I've produced 3 in just the last 6 weeks. What a rush to assemble the footage mere hours after the event has ended.

This past weekend I had the incredible pleasure to spend the weekend with Lisa and Keith Hargrove at their Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman wedding, and I am proud to release this teaser clip for them.

Helping Lisa and Keith to create this stunning event were Tami Corday of the Ritz Carlton, Lisa Konecny and Jessy Rivers of E-Events Design, Garrett Nudd capturing the photos as only he can, Lindsey Luxa of Dragonfly Custom Design and Celebrations in Grand Cayman.

Tanya & Carl Eldemire's Wedding Teaser

Tanya and Carl laughed and smiled on their wedding day as much as any couple I've ever seen. Oh, and Tanya may have shed a few tears, too!

Their wedding was textbook-flawless thanks to a great team consisting of John Beran at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes, DJ Carl, JR Sterling of Sterling Photography, Tommy Hart of American Audio Visual, and the creative floral design of Flowers of Winter Park.

This "teaser" clip was produced and online within 24 hours of their wedding.

Congratulations, Tanya and Carl!

E-Events Team Photo Shoot

The ladies of E-Events recently commissioned photographer extraordinaire' Abby Liga to update their promotional material via a fun afternoon photo shoot, and I was invited along for the ride! The still images in this piece are courtesy of Abby.

Special thanks to Lisa, Nancy (or Nan-C, as is her rap name), and Jessy (who was the very first to call me J-Stone) and of course Abby for inviting me to put this piece together.

Ashley & Justin's Wedding Trailer

Last weekend, Ashley & Justin were VERY married at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes. What a couple, what a party! Assembled by Susie Weiss of Wonderful Weddings, floral design by the always-remarkable team at Flourish Productions, and music by the rockin' Malones, Ashley and Justin danced the night away at an unforgettable wedding.

This wedding "trailer" was produced and online the day after their wedding.

Q & A with Brandi Zrallack

Brandi Zrallack - Bridal Czar indeed! Watch the video below; you'll understand.

Because of her connetions to both Central Florida Bride magazine and The Perfect Wedding Guide, Brandi is one of those people that sometimes appear to be everywhere. She must be one of the busiest people I know!

And yet, she always has a great smile and great laugh (as evidenced below!) and I was so pleased when she offered -- yes, offered -- to be my next victim in my fun Q & A series! Just last week, I stormed into her office, set up the tripod and rolled tape. There was just as much laughing left on the "cutting room" floor!

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about my friend Brandi Zrallack!

"Just Abby with a Camera"

Good friend and colleague Abby Liga recently approached me about producing an introductory video for the impending launch of her new website, and there was no way I could decline! I was confident that together we could produce something that reflects her talent, as well as her fun personality. Mission: Accomplished!

Take a look at her video below, and then visit her website. Great work, Abby!

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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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