Tuesday, January 19, 2016

East Coast Film Lab

East Coast Film Lab, Wilmington NC
Been a busy year. Although I've done better with Facebook, I've sorely neglected the blog. Hope to change that this coming year. Something new. Or maybe I should say, something old. A couple of like minded friends and I decided to open an old fashioned film lab and a rental darkroom. I love to shoot digital at weddings, as the workflow is so fast, but there's a lot to be said about good old fashioned film. Film has got a look, that digital can't quite duplicate. Film is actually making a comeback, but we found finding someone to process it quickly was becoming difficult. The drugstores aren't processing film anymore in house; they're sending it out, with a two week turn around and they don't return your negatives. You just get a CD. All the film labs in the area from 10 years ago have closed up, so you aren't left with many choices if you enjoy the look of film.
East Coast Film Lab, Wilmington NC

Mille Fillmore
Then there's the darkroom. Darkrooms are cool, but they take up a lot of room and they need to be light tight. A much beloved local educator has been trying to get crowd funding to start a local community darkroom, with little success. It's expensive to get it going and time consuming.

On Thanksgiving morning four of us met over breakfast at Waffle House. We decided to combine a film lab and a rental darkroom under the same roof. We decided to call it East Coast Film Lab.
We're just about up and running. Just a few more details. We purchased an old FujiFrontier minilab and managed to get it running with a lot ingenuity, blind luck and with help of a nuclear engineer. We named her Millie after the 13th president Millard Fillmore (Film More, get it?) and she can be quite cantankerous, but for the most part we have her behaving. Our plan is that you bring your film to us. 135, 120, 4x5 C41, E6 whatever you got. (Maybe not cinefilm, but ask!) You prepay us and we'll process it, scan it and put it in a private online gallery for you. You can then, download your scans, directly to your computer. The next time you have film to process you can pick up your negatives.

Enlargers at East Coast Film, Wilmington NC
We wanted a full service darkroom that we could use ourselves and use as a rental darkroom. We have two enlargers, one of which is a motorized Besser 4x5. The darkroom will comfortably fit four people at a time, which isn't too bad for a startup. We're going to rent it out to the general public for $10.00 per hour. Bring your own paper, we'll provide the chemistry. One of us, is a genius in the darkroom arts, and he will be giving classes on a monthly basis, for those who need a refresher, or want to learn from the ground up.



I'll still be shooting my weddings, using digital technology, but for my personal stuff, I'll be shooting a lot more film. Gives me a chance to further my photographic knowledge, have some fun, make some new friends and offer a service to the photographic community. Here is a link to the website:

www.sea41film.com

If you're in the area, stop by and check us out. We're open from Noon till 8 PM Monday through Saturday and we're often here on Sundays. The address is 4405E Wrightsville Ave, Wilmington NC.
I'll be updating info on the lab as we move forward.

Monday, January 5, 2015

A January Wedding

Who'd a thought you could a plan a wedding for January 2nd; outdoors, no less and have perfect weather. That's what happened this past weekend. 6 Bridesmaids and 6 Groomsmen all on a tiny pier and it looked great. They used Sawmill Grill for an oyster roast and trolley stop hotdogs completed the menu. Great Idea and everyone raved about the eclectic menu. For music they had Ethan Hanson, a fantastic Guitar player/singer who has opened for the Marshall Tucker Band who absolutely rocked the house. All in all a fantastic wedding. Jan Tedder-Rogers handled the details and everything looked perfect!


Instagram the Wedding.
The Guys on Bikes.
The Groomsmen
Pre-Ceremony Bike Race.

The Topper
Simple Cakes.
Bridal Party Pre-Ceremony.
Gift Table.
The Menu.
Ring Bearer.
The Ceremony.
Ethan Hanson...Musician Extraordinaire.
The Kiss.
Wedding Party @ Wrightsville Beach.
Wedding Walk on the Beach.
Spinning on Wrightsville Beach.
A Moment.

Wedding Day Kiss.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

BELLAMY MANSION WEDDING, WILMINGTON, NC

I used to photograph weddings quite often at the Bellamy. It's been awhile since so many other wedding venues have popped up in Wilmington, NC. This was a small boutique type wedding at the Bellamy Mansion. The Groom is an active duty Marine Officer and when the Bride set the date she didn't realize it was the Marine Corps Birthday. Guarantee he'll never forget his anniversary. The Bellamy was on the cusp of being Antebellum as it was built right around 1860. Courtyard weddings are beautiful at the Bellamy, but indoor wedding tend to get a little crowded. The rooms are small but with high ceilings and keeping your guests together is a little like herding cats. For a small wedding it's ideal though as it has an intimate feel which feels more like your having a little house party rather than a wedding. Intimate and Beautiful is how I would describe this landmark venue. To make it even a little spicier it's also allegedly haunted. Here are a few photos from this wedding.


                                                                   

Saturday, November 23, 2013

FAUX PHOTO BOOTH

Another idea for a photo booth. I recently had a Bride who had a great idea. This only works if you have a photographer who gets into the mix a little. A photographer who shoots lot's of pictures and isn't afraid to get guests together to look at the camera and have their picture taken. (Sorta like me!) :) What she did was the last hour of the reception when all the her guest were having a really good time...she brought out this huge cardboard box full of hats, glasses, boas and fake mustaches. She dumped the box on the dance floor and her guests immediately put them on and started to dance. I took ton's of pictures of them cutting up w/ the props and when she received her pictures (in 10 days) she had all these great goofy pictures of her friends and family at her wedding. As good as a real photo booth? Probably not. I great way to save money and get some great pics...absolutely! Here is a few of the pics from the event.


                                                                                   

Friday, November 22, 2013

IPAD PHOTO BOOTH

Photo booths can be great. Really can get the party moving, and allow great little goofy pictures for the Bride & Groom to enjoy for years. The downside is that they're expensive. If you have an unlimited budget...go for it. If not here is an alternative.

Ipad Photo Booth
I photographed a wedding in Charlotte last year and the wedding planner had an ingenious idea. About an hour into the reception after the guests had eaten and the DJ was just really getting going, she announced that the photo booth was open for business. Photo Booth? I had been through the entire reception area and didn't see a photo booth. What the ???? There was a small room in the back of the reception hall. She had mounted an ipad to a wooden frame  threw up a background and added a small can light (about $30 bucks) to the top of the frame. The Bride had gone to a dollar store and got a bunch of boa's, funny hats, glasses and a chalk board.  The guests had so much fun with this. Instead of getting a filmstrip (which a lot of people lose at a regular photo booth) they were able to email the picture to themselves right after taking it. Another advantage is that as the photo booth wound down, the props ended up on the dance floor turning the reception into an adhoc mardi gras ball. Easy to setup. For guests to email pictures you'd have to have the ipad with 4g. The wifi edition wouldn't work unless you had access at the venue. You'd also have to get a  photo booth app which is free or at little cost depending on which one you get. What I really liked about this was that it didn't take a lot of time away from the dance floor. People just kinda flowed in and out. Great idea.
     Another advantage to this is that you own the props. I've seen commercial photo booths where the boa's and hats etc., look like they've been used at a 1000 other events. If you buy your own stuff you know it's clean. You don't even have to take it home with you...your guests will take care of that! If you want to know more about the just google Ipad Photo Booth, their are a ton of websites that show this w/ a lot of different mounting options. You can even get a wireless printer, but I think that would slow up the process. You want your friends celebrating with you and not fiddling with a printer all night. The best reason of all perhaps is this is a great excuse to buy or upgrade an Ipad.

                                                                   

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

SOUNDSIDE PARK WEDDING AT SURF CITY ON TOPSAIL ISLAND, NC

First time I've shot here. I thought I'd seen just about every venue in Eastern North Carolina, but never thought of Soundside Park for a Wedding. The Couple had about 100 guests and it was perfect. We had great weather, and a lot of options as to where to hold the wedding. Soundside Park is absolutely gorgeous, with a long catwalk to take pictures on. They held the reception at the Surf City Visitors Center, which was great for 100 guests...if you have more guests their are other options on the Island. We were also close to the beach, so we managed to get some nice photos at sunset, which to me, made their timing perfect. I really loved this wedding and the couple was great. I took a handful of pictures and created a little slide show to give you an idea of how nice this wedding was.


                                                             

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Topsail Island Weddings. Planning a wedding for Topsail Island? Great locations for a wedding. Here are a few things to consider.

If your getting married on the beach, watch the tides. The beach can get very narrow at high tide. You could be left w/ just a few feet of beach depending on your location. At low tide it's fine. 
     You want to plan your wedding for late afternoon. The light get's nice and soft and is much better for photography. Not too late though as you want your romantic pics done at sunset. Maybe about 90 minutes before the sun sets. This is ideal, if you have to do it earlier no worries...a good photographer will work through any kind of light.
     If your not too keen on the beach for your wedding, Soundside Park is lovely. It's capable of holding about 100 people comfortably for your wedding. You can get pictures on the sound but your close enough to the beach to get some beach pictures. Within walking distance or a very short drive is the Surfside Center. Great little place for a small reception. If your looking for a bigger place for a reception the General Assembly Building can handle larger weddings. 
     If getting married on the beach is not your thing I recommend the Emma Anderson Memorial Chapel. It's a large church, close to the beach for pictures and very nice and well kept. If  you want a Catholic Ceremony I really like the St. Mary Gate of Heaven Chapel. They have a covered outdoor chapel that is unique and close to the beach. If your looking to rent a beach house go to Ward Realty. They have a great reputation and are used to finding houses to rent for vacations and wedding parties. 
    During the summer months getting on Topsail Island can get a little craaazy. If your guests are staying off Island make sure they understand that they're going to be in heavy traffic at peak times. Plan accordingly. Off peak it's not too bad, but be ready for it.

Here are a few pictures from a Topsail Island Wedding.