The great outdoors

The weekend before Thanksgiving we went braved the outdoors with Isa and a bunch of our friends. Each year our friend Joe puts together an awesome weekend of camping and outdoor stuff. This year we went to Alexander springs. It was a great camp site. The bath rooms were clean (yes, it was that type of camping), the grounds were beautiful, and the bears didn't bother us...too much (Rachel and I did hear one growl when we were taking a walk the first night).

Alexander Springs is near Ocala, Florida and I expected to the weather to be really nice, and it was; except at night. The nights were soooo cold. Here we were sleeping outside in 40 degree weather with a 7 month old baby. I was so scared that Isabella was going to freeze to death. Instead, Isa slept like a log. She was even snoring at one point!

My favorite part about the trip was sitting around the campfire and eating s'mores and camper pizzas and taking a walk along a trail with my friends Kristin and Sarah (and Isa of course). Some of the group jumped into the crystal clear springs that were on the edge of the campground. They all said it was very refreshing but I'm not a big fan of freezing cold water. Sam bought a fishing license the day before we went on the trip so he spent a good portion of Saturday fishing. I was glad he took that time for himself because fishing is something he loves but rarely gets to do because he is quite busy being the best husband and dad in the world.

Thanks Joe for all of the planning and thanks to all of our amazing friends for sharing that time with us and for loving us.

Here are some fun pictures some of the gang took.

Nice Note

We have the nicest brides. Sam and I just got home from our 10 day road trip (more about that soon). As soon as I got home tonight I got the mail and sat down in front of the computer to work work work. As I opened the mail I found this note that Sheilla sent to us. We work so hard to make our clients feel special and to be more than happy with our work and the little notes and emails like this really help us keep going. -Ashley

Congratulations Allison!!!

My sister Allison just found out that she has been accepted into the graduate school at the University of Central Florida. She is graduating from Asbury College next month and then will start in January. Allison is not only an awesome sister friend but she is so hard working. She will be studying to become a speech pathologist, something she has wanted to do for as long as we all can remember.

So, Alli... I looked up some facts about UCF for you so that you will fit right in when you get there. I found this info on their website so I think its pretty official. First of all you will be a Golden Knight and the mascot is named Knightro! Knightro. It's almost too corny to believe. Here is a picture of Knightro.


Also, if you get lost you can ask these people for directions. This is the picture posted on the Visitor's page so they must be the official map readers.


And if you need tutoring, here is the guy that knows how to read.


I also found this girl on their site. I can't tell if she is pretending to write something or in the middle of painting her toe nails.


We're so proud of you Allison. You are so smart and so wonderful. You are going to make a huge difference in the lives of many people.

Things just got harder....

So, Isabella learned to crawl last week and the whole mom thing just got harder. Isabella is sooooooo easy and so well tempered but she is very alert and very curious. So, now that she can crawl (it's actually still more of a army crawl) she has began to broaden her horizons and venture off of the nice little 4X4 blanket she used to stay on.

It seems that the many toys that Ya Ya (my mom) has bought her just aren't quite good enough. Instead she has decided that Lola's (our chocolate lab) toys are much more fun and much..... yummier. What's worse is that Lola loves to share so everytime I throw the toy some where else or try to hide it from Isa, Lola does Isa a favor by kindly fetching it and putting it right back in crawling distance. This is so gross, I know. Here's some examples from today of Isabella after she has escaped from the pretty blanket with all of the colorful baby toys to get Lolas stuff.

Boutique Service

We strive to offer a "boutique" experience in which everything we offer is one of a kind and the service we offer you is personal and genuine. Recently we have decided to drastically reduce the number of wedding videos we produce each year (only 6). The time and work that is put in to creating a custom made wedding film is huge. We want each film we produce to be out of this world amazing. By only working on one wedding film at a time we will be able to even make each film that much more special and perfect. We also hope to free our schedule up a little to do more photography instead of trying to maintain a 50/50 balance between the two. So if your thinking about using us for video some time in the future, call soon while we still have availabilities.

Stay in love

Sheila and Travis had their wedding on Saturday. What a cool ceremony. It was at a beautiful Catholic church in Fort Myers. They had a full mass with several Filipino traditions.

One of the things the priest said during the homily was, "Stay in love." He talked about making time and falling in love again and again. That's a good message for any couple in their marriage. It was quite obvious that Sheilla and Travis were in love. They are so great together.

I think my favorite part of the night was all of the dancing. These people could D-A-N-C-E! When Sheilla and Travis opened up the dance floor with a waltz I was very impressed. Then, I was stunned as two by two the guests started dancing and it was like watching a Filipino dancing with the stars. Usually people kind of just sway pack and forth but oh no, not these sophisticates. They were awesome.

Not only was everyone good dancers but they were all so nice and so fun. Thanks Sheilla and Travis for all of your great planning and your beautiful wedding. You made our work so much fun.

Here are some pictures from the wedding.

Sheilla getting ready.

The awesome couple. Sheilla & Travis.

SMOOCH!!

Loving the shoes!

My little friend posing for me.

Dancing the night away.

This couple was married longer than anyone else there. 51 YEARS!

On the way to get married.

The church. Of course.

Tying the knot. The encircling of the veil and the unity of the cord are Filipino traditions.



-Sam & Ashley

Keep on Dancing

We started something new where we bring our ipod and a little speaker deal to our shoots. We tried it out on Renee and Chris this Thursday and boy did it seem to work. They couldn't stop dancing. Actually, I think the music had little to do with it. They were so fun and and so into each other. It is so neat to see the dynamics between different couples.
Chris and Renee were a dream to photograph and I can't wait for their wedding in February. I know we will be able to get some awesome photos...ipod or no ipod. Thanks Chris and Renee for being so easy and such fun. We love you guys.








HA. I just realized I didn't even post any pictures of them dancing. I'll have to do that later.-Ashley

That's Amore

Here it is. Robyn and Anthony's hilight video! I used the song that Robyn and Anthony were announced into the reception with. It was the perfect song to celebrate the Italian heritage and start the evening with. Even after they were introduced they let the whole song play so that everyone could sing along! Its funny how we (I) always connotate the song with pizza when there are so many other lyrics that are not about pizza...??? It must have been used at some time for an italian restaurant commercial. Now I will think of Robyn and Anthony everytime I hear it.

"Uh, I don't think I even buttoned the shirt"

Just shot our third video in four weeks. Great, young couple. Ashley, the bride, was one of the sweetest we've worked with. It was at 'Tween Waters on Captiva. I didn't know there were places in our county that took so long to get to! The beach wedding was really cool. The guys all wore solid khaki beach shirts (Hawaiian cut but solid) - if somebody knows the technical term you can email it to us! Oh, and the guys also wore sandals, which I thought was cool. At the end of the night I was walking back up the beach while Ashley was filming them together getting pictures, and I noticed that there were two pairs of shoes left. It took me a second to realize that a pair of sandals and a pair of white heels were Zack and Ashley's shoes, but I was able to get some footage. I thought it was a neat detail that you don't usually see at a wedding.

They contracted us to shoot pre-ceremony, ceremony and reception. Ashley, my wife, began filming Ashley, the bride, at 2:00 p.m. I asked where the guys were, and I was told "305". After wandering around some, I went up and knocked. No answer. Huh? I walked around some more and the father of the bride told me that he didn't think they were meeting up until 3:00. So, I decided to get some more B-roll. I was glad to get more because it always helps tell the story better and because this location was a little more conducive; there were lots of different buildings and signs. We usually do not get a full hour to think of fun shots to take, so I took advantage.

When I finally did find Zack and the guys we did go to 305 and they hung out. I told him that I was supposed to have filmed him getting ready. He had been hiding from everyone. I suggested that we stage some shots to at least have something to pair with the 1 whole hour of footage we will have for Ashley. He told me that he hadn't even buttoned his shirt. He had just pulled it over. So, now I'm figuring that I didn't miss much. Think about how long it takes to put on pants, pull over a shirt and slip on sandals. Uh, a minute and a half if you're distracted? I thought it was a pretty funny example of the difference between the sexes. I staged shots of him buttoning (notice I didn't say re-buttoning) his shirt and putting on his sandals. I think that it doubled, perhaps tripled, his preparation time.

The ceremony started and then ended. It was so fast that I'm not sure you could say it had a middle. Dominic gave Ashley away, they said their vows, the preacher pronounced them married, they kissed and walked out. Short and sweet!

We're working on some highlight videos, and we will post this one as soon as it is available.

-Sam

Some much needed time away

We've been pretty swamped recently with work, We got some much needed time away from our house and work on Thursday and Friday. We were priviliged to go on a retreat with the 7th and 8th grade students at Naples Christian Academy, where I teach. They were awesome!

I took some shots of the "Barf Olympics", flour relay and whipped cream and Cheetoh statues. For those of you who haven't experienced a "Barf Olympics" it is when two teams each have a paper bag filled with all types of foods and which ever team can eat each of the foods (one person at a time) in the bag first wins. It was so funny how the students would react differently to the foods. There was squid in ink juice, sardines, olives, mushrooms and all kinds of other fun stuff. There was one student that was gung ho about getting the mushrooms. "I'll do it; I love mushrooms!" He took two bites and said, "Oh, I can't do this! Somebody else!" I think the attitude reversal took all of 15 seconds.

I created a slideshow for the students, faculty and parents but because I want to be careful with the students privacy we can't release it to the public. If you are affiliated with NCA and would like to see it, contact me at brockinton@ncanaples.com.

-Sam

Larry and Erin

We just shot video of Larry and Erin. Their wedding was so cool! They had it in a real pretty church and then had everyone go to the reception by trolley car. The coctail "hour" was outside facing the beach and everybody hung around and talked until sunset. The photographer, Dion Rottman from California, got some great shots during the golden hour before sunset. So, did we!

We have an IndiCam that helps stabilize our moving shots. I got some awesome shots of Larry and Erin at sunset. That outside coctail hour was amazing.

I thought that one of the best parts of the whole thing was the diversity of the people at the wedding and reception. I Corinthians 13 and the Beattitudes were read in both Italian and English during the ceremony. Then, at the wedding, I also heard some Spanish.

Larry is quite the Renaissance man, and it is obvious he has made a lot of friends along the way. He is a musician, has invested in real estate and now is a chef for the Ritz Carlton Tiburon in Naples. His godson flew all the way from California Saturday morning to make the Saturday night reception. He told his coach he was going to miss Friday night's football game, and the coach begged him to stay. Good thing for his team, he had over 100 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Erin is amazingly beautiful and absolutely hilarious. She makes any situation funny and entertaining and her wedding was no exception.

People came from Italy, from New York, California - all to celebrate Larry and Erin. It truly was a great event, with some of the best toasts that we've ever heard.

Congrats - stay tuned for a highlight video that we will post on the blog when it is available.

-Sam and Ash

I heart chicken.

Ok, so we didn't do anything to celebrate Haloween but I just had to dress Isa up. About a month or two ago my mom and I went to Baby's R Us and saw all of these really cute baby costumes. There were all the ordinary ones like princesses and butterflies but I happened to be strangely drawn to the chicken costume so we tried it on her in the store. We didn't buy it because twenty five bucks seems like a lot for a chicken costume when Sam and I could use the money to go on a date, but I've been thinking a lot about that costume for the last couple of months.

Yesterday my mom and I went back to the store and of course I headed straight for the costumes which were now 30% off. To my dissapointment the only costumes that were left were all for two and three year olds. I was pretty bummed out. Then as fate would have it, out of the corner of my eye I saw some feathers thrown over on some boxes of diapers. I held my breath as I checked the size..... 6/9 months!!!! Then I checked the orange chicken pants.... 24months. "Oh man" I thought "I was so close."

As we were going through the check out line I decided to ask if we could get another 50% off if I just bought the top half of the chicken. They agreed and I walked away with half a chicken costume for $5. Yeah! We had so much fun dressing Isabella up in it last night. The jacket is actually really warm and I think we are going to use it as a winter jacket for when we go up to South Carolina next month!