in pursuit of my passion | from Long Island to Ontario to Austin, Texas

I have been blessed to be a part of some incredible experiences lately in an effort to better my skills and quench my thirst for knowledge in the world of wedding and event filmmaking. Last October I made a four hour drive each way to attend a workshop in Long Island, followed a couple weeks later by the three-day evolution experience with the StillMotion family in Ontario and most recently a three day "gathering" last week at IN[FOCUS] 2010 in Austin. Along the way I've met many new friends and gotten to know several of the world's most talented wedding cinematographers. I sought out these opportunities with a goal to simply become better at what I do and came home with so much more then that. The knowledge I've gained and the friendships I've made are absolutely priceless and I'm looking forward to many more opportunities like this in the future.

Here are a couple of videos others have made to give a behind the scenes look at what these events are all about. If you look closely you will actually see me in front of the camera a couple of times, very unusual (although I'm not afraid of the lens!). First is StillMotion's behind the scenes film from their third evolution experience which I was so lucky to be a part of. These guys have done stuff that has literally changed the way wedding films are made, and they have been a huge inspiration for me for quite some time...

I met Kaipo from NYC's 15 Minutes of Frame in Long Island, was pleasantly surprised to see him in Ontario as a last minute addition to the evo experience, and he was also one of the 130 or so video geeks at IN[FOCUS] in Austin. Here's his take on the IN[FOCUS] 2010 experience...

While I am already looking forward to IN[FOCUS] 2011 I'm sure there will be other opportunities in the meantime. One of my greatest fears is to become stagnant in my work. I can honestly look back at everything I've done and see a steady progression in the quality of work we produce. With all the ideas crammed into my head for this year I couldn't be more excited for 2010 and I am more confident then ever that we are going to produce some kick-ass, personal, emotional and beautiful wedding films for our couples and their families. Every day I think about how lucky I am to get to do what I do, but I believe the greatest reward has been in getting to know so many incredible people, the relationships I've built, and all the little experiences and great moments that have come along with it. It truly is an incredible blessing and I absolutely love my life!

jeff

Ilanna + Noam | trailer

Here is a small taste of what's to come... On November 22nd Kurt and I filmed Ilanna and Noam's wedding at the beautiful Boston Park Plaza. This was our first Jewish wedding and knowing this Ilanna and Noam certainly put a lot of trust in us... that is something I really appreciated. So once I reviewed the day's itinerary I offered to extend the coverage a couple hours so we could get some great shots of Ilanna getting ready and truly capture her wedding day. I'm sure glad I did because Ilanna got ready in the presidential suite which was breathtaking with great views of Boston from every window on an absolutely gorgeous fall day. Despite this wedding being a bit different for us I'd say the day went really smooth from a filmmaking perspective, and thanks to all the information and a DVD she shared with us ahead of time we were well prepared.

So here is something a bit different... I used the audio from the band and the introductions to open up the trailer, and since this is just the preview I didn't want to give away too much so this is more of a tease of what's to come. Enjoy!

jeff

Mandy + Chris | highlights

Mandy and Chris were married on a beautiful September day at The Colonial Hotel in Gardner, MA. You can check out their same day edit in the archives. Mandy loved her sister Michelle's wedding film which we shot almost exactly a year prior. Mandy was Michelle's maid of honor and Chris was Ian's best man, so it was quite fitting that the roles were reversed this time around.

I try to bring something fresh to each piece - a same day edit is essentially a highlights film in itself that you can share with your guests during your reception. It typically focuses more on the early preparations so the groom can see his bride getting ready and vice-versa... and it typically ends with the ceremony or perhaps first dance. I wanted to tell more of the story with this piece rather then just simply re-creating their SDE with some extra shots. So the end result is a piece that has more of a cinematic feel to it and there are many more layers of the story. I wanted it to feel upbeat and happy while capturing their personalities and the experience of an amazing group of friends and family coming together for such an incredible day and how much fun it was. This film not only stands apart from their SDE but also from their feature film, yet I think they all complement each other nicely. Enjoy!

jeff

Happy New Year! | looking back to 2009 + looking ahead to 2010

As we wrap up another year... and another decade... I figured I'd take a minute to reflect on 2009 and what's coming up for 2010. This is probably my first post without a photo or video but since you can view a gallery on my regular website now I plan to add more miscellaneous content here going forward.

I feel incredibly blessed for so many reasons and 2009 was a phenomenal year. I've had a lifelong dream of working for myself full time and that dream came true last April. After 12 or so years in retail I was lucky enough to get the corporate ax from Toys R Us when my management position was "eliminated." Truth be told I wasn't very passionate about that type of work anymore, although I really enjoyed the nine years I worked in the home theatre industry. Now at this point I had been shooting weddings on the side for quite some time and my goal was to take the business full time in 2010, but the opportunity was staring me straight in the face and about two hours after I got the ax I was completely over it and knew exactly what I was going to do.

I already had a small number of weddings booked throughout the year... actually I got laid off the day after we shot Kerry + Andy's wedding... but I was able to pickup quite a few more and shot at 14 weddings throughout 2009 and quite a bit of commercial work. I'm very excited that our calendar is quite full already for 2010 and I have no doubt we'll book to capacity. We have plenty of same day edits and save the dates coming up, which are two of my favorite offerings. We also have a couple of weddings booked in Texas which will get me out of the cold New England weather.

I absolutely love to travel and I had the opportunity to shoot corporate projects in Miami and San Francisco last year as well as a week at an amazing hotel in Portsmouth, NH. I made several trips to Texas and most recently shot Domineca + Santiago's save the date in Kemah which was so much fun! I also attended a workshop in Long Island and most recently an incredible three-day workshop - "the evolution experience" with StillMotion in Toronto, which has really molded me into a much better filmmaker and was just an absolutely amazing experience. In a couple of weeks I'll be in Austin for IN[FOCUS] which is a three-day featuring an amazing list of the most talented wedding cinematographers on the planet. Even better then the experience of these events was the opportunity to make new friends and meet so many people.

I can honestly say I wouldn't be where I am right now if it wasn't for some of the people in the wedding industry I have met over the past year and what they have done to help me out as well as the referrals they've sent my way. Its been great to connect with other vendors who are also passionate about what they do and do amazing work. Most notably I teamed up with a 15-year wedding industry veteran - Anthony D'Elia - and I became part of the Revelation Productions team, taking care of the video side of the business while working together on many of our marketing initiatives and the wedding expos.

Outside of my business life my personal life has been great too in 2009. My beautiful niece Rachel was born last January and we all took a family vacation to Disney World in November... something we did quite regularly when I was growing up. I turned the big 3-0 this year which really isn't as scary as I thought it would be, although I often think about how fast the time has gone by and I'm sure 40 will come before I know it... but I'm in no rush for that! The highlight of the year though was re-meeting Amanda during Holly and Joe's wedding in May - she was a bridesmaid along with my sister Nicole and they had been friends back in middle school, although I hadn't seen Amanda since '98 or so. I can still remember how much I admired her back then and I'm so happy to say we have been dating since Memorial Day when we hiked up Mt. Wachusett with her lovely dog/child Winston. We are currently planning a trip to Iceland which is someplace I have wanted to visit for quite some time.

So given the excitement of the past year I'm not sure how 2010 can top it, but I am incredibly excited and optimistic about what the next year will bring. We will kick off our wedding season on January 30th in Boston with Kate + Chris. My goal for 2010 is simply to make people happy... most notably the brides and grooms I am so lucky to work with. I strive to get better at what I do each time I shoot or sit down to edit, and looking back at my work I can certainly see a steady improvement over the years. The technology has evolved in a way that gives a whole new level of possibilities to the work we do and the production value that can be achieved while filming a wedding. Although we are equipped with some of the best gear available today the tools don't make a great film - the vision, creativity and the know-how that my team and I brings to each wedding is what makes our work as good as it is and I know it will only get better from here.

The wedding video industry is plagued with bad stereotypes and awful work, but our refusal to accept mediocrity and willingness to always try something new is what makes our work stand out... but above everything else it comes down to passion. Are you passionate about what you do? I certainly am and I can't wait for what the future brings!

Happy New Year + all the best for 2010!!!

jeff