Happy Happy Joy Joy

Hey Hey!!!

I am moments away from leaving for my last wedding assignment of 2007 - A New Year's Eve celebration for Carrie & Alan in Syracuse, NY. What an incredible year it has been! From my very core, I am thankful for the couples who have touched my soul, the peers that have encouraged and lifted my spirit and the friends & family who have supported me throughout the year. I am so eternally freekin grateful and excited about the prospect of 2008. Onward and upward.

In late October of 2007, my dear friend Kenny Kim invited me to join him for a destination wedding in sunny Paradise Island in the Bahamas. It was a magical experience. Also included on the vendor list for that event was an extremely talented DJ from Chicago by the name of Roberto Monastero. Now up until this point, I had never really thought much about the roll of Wedding DJ. I am usually too busy throughout the day to stop and notice the impact that a DJ can have on a wedding reception. Kinda silly, huh?? Well, working with Roberto opened my eyes and consciousness. Roberto is not just a guy that spins tunes...he lives to spin tunes. He is an artist who's passion and drive is undeniable. ...and his skills, unmatched. A consummate professional and kindred spirit. What a party that reception was!!!

((Flash Forward)) Yesterday I received an email from Roberto that he had sent to his entire contact list announcing the official release of the images from that wedding. I was so touched by the words that he used in his closing paragraph:

"I have done too many wedding receptions with average come-and-go photographers, but these two gentlemen [kenny and tomas] are hands down, the best I have ever worked with."

Thank you for your kind words Roberto and know that the feeling is mutual. I look forward to working with you again soon, my friend.

Here is a link to the slideshow that Kenny Kim put together from that wonderful long weekend. There are quite a few images in there so please be patient as it loads. It is worth the wait, I assure you!!!

In closing this last blog from 2007, I want to once again wish you all nothing but smiles and sunshine in the upcoming year. May your hearts be full of love, your bellies full of grub and your world full of promise.

Cheers,
t

Ho Ho Holy Cow!!! Is it Christmas Already?!?!?

Seasons Greetings Bloggers!!!

Here's wishing each and every one of you a safe and joyous holiday season. May you have all that you need and not need any more than you have.

I got a link to the photo below from Kelli the other day. Turns out that she snuck a photo of us over to the people at Time Magazine and they flashed it on the big screen at Times Square in NYC on Wednesday. Shame I missed seeing it in person as I was down there last weekend shooting, but odds are that I would have missed it even if I was consciously looking for it!!


In the spirit of keeping the blog educational, I've decided that its important at this time of year to share Wikipedia's indispensable guide to Wrapping Christmas Gifts. Following the simple steps below will guarantee gratifying gift-giving for years to come...

HOW TO WRAP A PRESENT
To give someone a neatly wrapped present makes you look talented and your gift look more carefully chosen. It's very simple to make a good impression. All you have to do is to be gentle, and patient.

Steps

1. Remove all price tags. There's nothing more annoying than investing your careful efforts into a gift only to realize you forgot to take the price sticker off. You don't want the person to see that you bought his electric shaver from the clearance shelf, now do you?
2. Put the gift in a box, if it isn't in one already. This optional step will make the gift easier to wrap. If your box will easily come apart (like a shirt-box), be sure to use a little tape to keep it from opening during the wrapping process. Use only as much as necessary to keep it from coming apart, but not so much that the person will need a machete to open it.
3. 
   Unroll a length of wrapping paper onto a hard sturdy surface.
4. 
   Place the gift on the wrapping paper and measure how much paper will be needed. Make sure you have enough paper to go around the box once and that the width leaves extra on each side. It's a good idea to have a small amount more than you need so that the wrapping paper overlaps.
5. 
   Mark your cut lines, especially if cutting in straight lines is difficult for you. Use a straight edge (like a ruler) or you can fold neatly along the line you will need to cut along, unfold, and cut along the fold. Put the rest of the roll aside.
6. 
   Place the gift or box upside down in the middle of your paper.
7. Fold the paper around the gift. On the horizontal side of the paper, take one side and fold it over to the bottom of your gift. Then take the other side, folding it over, too. Now is where you need that extra inch. Take the longer side and fold it under so that you have a nice smooth crease instead of jagged cutting. Put it on top of the other end and pull it tight. Then tape together.
   
   
   
   
8. Fold one side of the box at a time. On one end of your package, fold the corners in so you have kind of like a triangle. Fold the straight end over, then pull it to the top of your package (actually the bottom when you are done). Tape. Repeat on the other side.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Add ribbon (TOTALLY OPTIONAL!!). Make sure your ribbon is long enough and can go around the gift in whatever pattern you decide. Put the ribbon on top of the gift. Wrap it to bottom and turn the gift 90 degrees so that the ribbon comes up the sides. Tie a bow on top and get your scissors. Pull one of the sides of ribbon and tie using the scissors. With all the spare ribbon, cut it and then tie it under the bow, cut in half and curl again, do so until there is no un-curled ribbon.
   
   
   
   
   
10. 
    
    

Tips

• To create a nearly seamless look, try the following:
  
  
  • Use double-sided tape instead of regular tape.
  • Arrange the seam of the largest paper fold - the one that initially wraps around the gift - so that it is on the edge or side of the gift. This works best when you use a box. To start: Tape the paper in place about 1/4" from one of the box side edges. The paper should wrap all the way around. If you haven't cut the paper from the roll yet, cut it now leaving at least a 1/4" for the fold. Then fold the excess under to create the clean finished edge. Use the double-sided tape to secure not only the fold to the inside but then the fold to the package. The seam will be almost unseen.
• Don't have wrapping paper? For an informal and fun look, the colorful comics section from your Sunday newspaper is surprisingly good. Also, copied musical scores (especially from appropriate musical pieces) look good, too.
• If using a box, you can also slightly pinch all the edges of the package to give it a nice crisp, clean look - very professional.
• After your gift is wildly received, dispose of gift wrap, ribbon, and boxes in a environmentally-friendly way. Be sure to recycle cardboard after removing as much tape as possible. Most shiny gift-wrap and ribbon is not recyclable--ideally choose ones that are or are printed on plain (not glossy) paper. Raffia (available in most craft stores) is a biodegradable ribbon substitute that is a bit harder to work with, but also looks lovely.

Warnings

• Do NOT burn gift-wrapping in your fireplace, wood-stove, or burn pile. The chemicals released from burning the wrapping can be nasty.
• During gift-giving occasions, be careful with used ribbon. Pets (especially cats) may play with and try to eat ribbon. Ribbon can be especially harmful to a cat's digestive system ^[1].

Things You'll Need

• 
  • Gift
  
  • Wrapping paper
  
  • Scissors
  
  • Tape (regular and/or double-sided)
  
  • Curling ribbon
  
  • Card
  
  • A box (if you don't already have one)
  
  • Straight edge/yard stick/ruler

Well that just about covers it for now...I have to run off to get some wrapping done myself. Please take care of yourselves, and one another.

All the Best,

t

A celebration for Tony Cavagnaro.

Greetings.

For those of you who knew Tony Cavagnaro, you knew what it felt like to be in his presence. He had a special energy about him. It was inviting, comforting, infectious. He was one of the good ones and his presence on this earth is missed dearly.

His spiritual presence though, is still very much alive as evidenced by the huge crowd that gathered at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester to celebrate his life. It was a day drenched in emotions. Most specifically, hope.

"I come from love, I live with love, I speak of love and I will leave with love."

Tony once sang those words to us. On that night, we got to sing them back to him.

Rest in Peace, my brother.

You can click here to read the City Newspaper review of the event.

...and here to read my previous post about Tony.

Here are some snaps from the celebration. It was such a thrill to be on stage with the band that night. They were so fired up!

Just before leaving, with some images that I donated to the Silent Auction.

The Silent Auction tables were packed full!!! So many people were so generous.

Rick Whitney-Kivett with his face in the sun.

Rob Cullivan returned to Rochester to MC the event. Over 15 bands performed throughout the day. I had another small shoot that day and had to miss most of the afternoon and evening...
...but I did make it back for the Buddhahood show...just barely!












Thanks again to my brothers and sisters in the Buddhahood. I am forever grateful.

Keep your eyes peeled for more bloggy-ish adventures coming soon!!!

My best to you all,
t

What Happened to Me?!?!?

Hey Everybody!!!

I can sum up the last 7 days in one 4 letter word: blur. It's hard to believe that so much time has passed!!!

So let's get down to it:

1. I hate that I left you all hangin on this for so long. I did, however enjoy what you guys responded with. My favorite answer would have to be Mike Mollosey's response: tom flint?? Now Mike, I don't spray...a little gel maybe, but spray...never.

So who said:
"I don't use a blow-dryer. I comb it. Once I have it the way that I like it, I spray it and it's good for the day."

None other than The Donald himself...Mr. Donald Trump.

2. Blog-vember - A wicked month it was!!! Thank you all for tuning in and participating. I will be tallying up the numbers this weekend and should have an announcement for the winner of the itunes gift card in my next post. If you missed out on the festivities or are simply suffering from withdrawal, no need to worry...I am have plenty of material (and antics) up my sleeve. I plan on keeping this steady blog-thing up for a long time.

3. This past weekend - AWESOME! More than 15 hours of shooting over two days were necessary to document the largest wedding I have ever photographed. Over 350 guests (including a 26-person wedding party!!) witnessed Rufus and Amy's Winter Wedding spread out over 7 locations in sunny (but bitter cold) Rochester, NY. A very special thank you to Kelli Marsh and Marc Pagano for your energy, talent and support on the project. It was a joy to have you both aboard. I'd also like to thank Kelli Berg from Simply Beautiful Wedding Consulting for her outstanding work as the event planner. Don't know what we would have done without you and your crew Kelli!!! I look forward to working together again!

Although I am nowhere near finished working though the images, here are a few that jumped out at me. Enjoy!

Here is a fantastic dress detail shot captured by the very clever Kelli Marsh.

And finally, I was up to my old shenanigans with the Polaroid. Here are some fired up guests "shakin' it like a Polaroid picture". Good Times.

4. Major updates are underway in the ol' Flint Marketing Department. You name it...website, myspace, slideshows, facebook, print ads and on and on. I will be sure to make official announcements when each of these renovations are complete. As always, I love your feedback...so keep it comin!!

I think that that just about covers it for today. Big weekend in the studio coming up...I'm sure there will be some time to post then.

Just a reminder that there is a signup box in the top right corner if you'd like to have new blog announcements sent to you via email. I can't think of a better holiday gift for your computer!!!


Stay Classy y'all!!
t