Let's Get Acquainted

The Family

2011-01-07T13:55:00.012-05:00

The fact that our family portrait that hangs above our sofa is of our feet may indicate that we are not a normal family. I am not sure though because I'd have to find someone normal to ask for their opinion. What I can tell you is that our house is a lively place. All three of our kids keep us moving nonstop.

Our 2010 Christmas card above, says it all...

In general I tend to be a creative, passionate person who works with steady inspiration. Melissa gracefully rolls with the inertia of my long-terms goals, short-term projects and spur of the moment adventures with the kids.

Once in a while we get a chance to get away together, like when we went honored to attend the Modern Bride's Trendsetter awards. Or maybe helping me film a beach wedding. Okay, maybe she was not helping, but she was standing there drinking a beer while I worked. Tough gig huh :)

The Kids

2011-01-07T13:44:00.004-05:00

My all time favorite thing to photograph is my children!

Meet Ava, she is 9-years-old, has a good sense of humor, she is intuitive, creative and and has a knack for negotiating. I think she is 50% scientist and 50% artist.

And Trevor is my 4-year-old, winsome son. He was obsessed with Frosty the snowman from Christmas of 2009 until Christmas of 2010. Then he moved on to batman. I have to mention that there was a brief infatuation with Frankenstein for a few months surrounding Halloween.

Last, but not least, is Ruby. She is our 3-year-old little woman. She is 100% girl, with a delicate sense of fashion, affinity for jewelry and makeup, and currently is a princess ballerina.

These are some of my favorite photos of the kids so far. Stay tunes for more to come!

Ruby in the field at sunset

2011-01-07T13:33:00.006-05:00

On Sunday morning I drove the kids to get breakfast at a diner while my wife slept. On the way back I saw a foggy sunrise over this pasture of wildflowers. I suggested to my wife that we all go there later that night to take photos of the kids.

As it turned out, I was unsuccessful in recruiting the entire family, but my little buddy Ruby was happy to go pick flowers.

Thanks "little R" :)

Old Barn

2011-01-02T13:05:00.003-05:00

I love old barns. When I'm driving with my wife, I gawk when I see one even though the enthusiasm is not reciprocated. I suppose not too many people would share with me in this indulgence though. There is an old barn a couple of miles away from the studio. It is pretty epic.

The old brown door looks like a Led Zeppelin album cover to me for some reason. Anyway, any where you look, the textures of old stone, paint and wood are perfect. In my future trip to Italy, I hope to get many more photos that will rival this old barn. Still love it though!

Photos of the sky

2011-01-01T11:52:00.001-05:00

I have a habit of grabbing the camera, a cup of coffee and full winter garb in an instants notice at absurdly early hours of the morning to snap shots of the sunrise. I have found that there is a very small window of opportunity to get the "golden" shot. This applies to sunsets as well.

I'm not a guru photographer, so I can't say much about the camera settings. I do play with various ISO ranges while experimenting with shutter speed vs. aperture. I like to find the balance where the image appears slightly dark and then lightly treat it in Lightroom. I try not to augment the image into an artificially saturated state, however I do prefer rich hues and contrasts.

The overall craft however is to work within the camera as much as possibly to produce an image that does not need post work. This applies in motion pictures as well. When taking an image of a stunning sunrise or sunset, it can be like shooting fish in a bucket though. The major difference of course is that the sky is much more majestic and goes dissolves away quickly without leaving a fishy smell (unless you are watching the sunset on a fishing boat). Next time the sky grabs your attention, be sure to take a moment out of your busy day to breath it in!

Antique Market

2009-07-16T12:11:00.008-04:00

My daughter Ava and I went to one of our favorite places this past Sunday. It's a great open-air antique market in Lambertville New jersey called the Golden Nugget Market.

Ava's big find was this bull skull with horns. She has quite an eclectic streak in science & generally unusual curiosities. I wonder where she gets it from?

I found a few gems as well.
The first was some additions to my bottle collection. This all started when there was an old barn that was unfortunately torn down about one mile from our house. Ava and went to dig through the rubble one morning as a mini archeology trip (another one of Ava's passions). We found a small medicine bottle which, to my best estimate, dates around the 1850s. This bottle is the clear, oval-shaped one in the front center. After this finding, it seemed that every garage sale or flea market I went to, there was inevitably an old medicine bottle or two. So, I added to my bottle collection.

The next find was this small green lantern. As far as lanterns go, it's pretty cool, right? And finally, we found the gold frame (pictured at the top) which is utterly decadent. Now, I just need to find the right photo to insert before hanging on the wall.

Lucky - the studio dog

2009-07-07T11:25:00.004-04:00

I know that Ariella has written a lot about her little friend, Henry, in the office and I wanted to do the same.

Here is Lucky Frosty.

He is a cockapoo puppy that loves to play with all of us as we are working. Just a few weeks ago Jon and his family went on a vacation and guess what!!! Lucky got to stay with me and my husband!! Isn't it fun to have a puppy in your house!! He was so good.... which is surprising because Jon and his family just got Lucky a few months before our special event! We love having Lucky around since he always gives us so many laughs around the office and always wants to give us as much love as his little body can give!

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-03T15:25:00.004-04:00

That is the best way to say Happy Independence Day. I wonder how many kids or teenagers would know why we celebrate the 4th of July? I know one thing for sure. When my wife and I took our three-year-old & one-year-old to see the fireworks last night, they had absolutely no clue what those bright, loud sparkles in the sky were

Storm in June

2009-07-03T15:17:00.005-04:00

I love thunderstorms. I'm not the only one right? Just like a good snowstorm, I'm waiting for the big one to come this year. Not too long ago, on a peaceful afternoon with my kids, a thunderstorm blew in and I filmed a little bit of it. I then recorded a little music on the keyboard to go with it.

Henry & Ariella.....an eternal love

2009-07-03T11:45:00.006-04:00

Hey guys! Ariella here!

This week was a good week. I put a deposit down on a studio, so as long as my application goes through ok, I'll be moving to the city. It's the type of experience I always wanted before I got too old. Life is short, I wanted to take that leap, ya know? I'll be sure to post pictures of my place once I decorate it and everything.

We had a volleyball game at work. In the park across the street is this really cool net with beach sand, so we just randomly played and Jon and I won against Brianna and Lauren like 20 to 1! Right now, we are practicing our skills randomly by bouncing the volleyball against the roof so we can get really good and play more intense games.

So, I wanted to write about Henry and his undying affection for me. Sometimes when I try to work, he stands between me and the computer and gets really close to me, and just stares at me so I'll pay attention to him and not my work. He insists on being like, wayyy too close for comfort! He also likes eating our lunches, so he'll stick his head in potato chip bags and such. For example, I took him home last week and was eating sunchips. I turn away for a second, when I turn back around I see Henry's whole head in my bag, and he comes out with a big chip in his mouth. He also likes to cuddle! Like, I'll lay on my side when I go to sleep, and he'll come up and lay right on my arm and flex his paws while starring at me and purring. aww!! Henryyy!! Pictures:

The Future and Virtual Worlds by Ariella

2009-06-26T12:39:00.005-04:00

One of my side hobbies is being a tech geek and keeping up to date with the new technology that will change our world. I create movies for virtual worlds clients, so I'm constantly exposed to everyone's theories on what we should brace ourselves for. One of the hot topics of today is augmented reality, where virtual reality and real life combine. So for example, you can wear 3D goggles and see the world around you much differently, where a little inscription on a building, in virtual view can be an entire encyclopedia book that pops out and interacts with you to give you information. It provides new ways of learning, but also new ways of doing things. So, through computerized ways we can "toggle" something, which will cause it to react in real life, or vice versa (of course this being the easier way- react in real life causes a reaction in virtual). Now the challenge is reacting in virtual, causing it to react in real life. Is it possible, do you think? An example- an architect can construct a building in virtual, making it construct in real time in REALITY. Is that crazy or WHAT? Possibilities would be endless. And if you don't believe it, virtual reality and reality interchangeability is really happening as I type this. See for yourself:

Amazing, isn't it? It's like the kind of stuff that's presented in Epcot in Disney World in that big globe thing. You see the potential future and learn about it. When I went on those rides, the future seemed so far away, but it's really happening!

You guys can check out my affiliation with virtual worlds at my website: http://www.alm-productions.net I do virtual worlds filmmaking, with virtual actors and virtual sets.

So overall, as long as we don't forget how important human to human interaction is, rising technology can really help us in the fields of education, health, architecture, art, etc.

Ariella's Weekend 4/2009

2009-04-08T14:22:00.004-04:00

So this weekend I did my spring cleaning! I hadn't planned to this weekend in particular, but it happened because I was greeted with a large box on my porch- my new 24" imac! The thing was HUGE. I was soo excited, I even brushed off the first impulse I had which was, "WHY WOULD THE DELIVERY MAN JUST LEAVE THAT ON MY PORCH??" Expensive computers should require signatures!

So I spent about an hour just trying to drag it up the stairs to my room and trying to open it. It was a big box in another big box. So I had to flip it different ways till I could slide off the first big box. Anyway, I finally managed to get it on my desk and my first thought was, "They sent me the wrong size!" The thing was absolutely huge. I actually called Apple Support to make sure it wasn't a mistake. Nope, it wasn't! It wouldn't even fit in the little cove in my desk specially made for computers. Man, the thing is a beauty regardless of its massive size.

So anyway, with this huge computer on my desk- my room looked like a pig stock! I spent 3 hours on Friday cleaning, then went out to a bar to meet some friends. Then finished up on Saturday during the day, another 4 hours at least. Let's put it this way, by the time I was finished I had 5 HUGE trash bags outside my room. 3 of which are all trash, 2 which are old clothes and books I'm giving away to Planet Aid.

Anyway, I don't think anyone can beat my spring cleaning! It makes me feel really good to well, be able to actually breath! I couldn't believe all that stuff fit in my little room. I think I got rid of 75% of my stuff.

Saturday night I congratulated myself by going over my friend's house with some other friends. What is the result of being amongst a group of high-maintenance (and spoiled I should mention.. but I didn't say that, hehe) people? Everyone wants their own dinner. We ended up going to 4 places for dinner- NO JOKE. Thankfully just for takeout- but taking one car- it took us ages to get our food. One person got Chinese, another got sushi, another got wawa, and another got McDonalds. So anyway, once we got back we watched Slumdog Millionaire. It was the first viewing for all of us. Let me just say- it was BRILLIANT!! You all must see it! One of the best movies I've ever seen, hand's down!

Sunday I had went to the city to meet a friend for smoothies and frisbee. However, I'm pretty confident I'm cursed because she got rear-ended. She was ok, thank goodness! But her car had to be towed. Anyway, this relates to my infamous streak of my friends getting into car accidents when they come to see me. That was the third time something similar happened in less than a year. Anyone know some curing bad luck remedies? I really don't want my friends to get hurt anymore! I'll tell them to take Septa next time, but then they'll just be late or canceled all the time, haha.

So weekend rating overall? 4 out of 5. I wouldn't mind having another one of these. Productive and fun! Hope everyone else's weekend was just as good as mine!

Henry's Weekend 4/2009

2009-04-08T14:19:00.002-04:00

This weekend wuz just awful, mrow! They put me, King Henry, all alone on the porch with no one to nurture me. My family left on vacation, my co-workers went home to their lives, hiss. I can't even has cheeseburger, for you lolcats out there. Well I was far from an lolcat! I was more like a *cries*cat (some internet jargon for you geeks out there).

It started Saturday. The wind was whipping across the barely covered porch windows, threatening to tear them into shreds. Then the rain came sweeping down like an avalanche. Whimper! I leaped across the floors, slipping and sliding in all my clumsy glory to take cover. There were wastebaskets being turned over, stuff rattling on the shelves! "MRUUUUUUU," I howled loudly.

Chunks of rain began spurting in through the windows; all I could do was duck my head and press my paws to my face in cover. I felt like no one loved me!

After all the rattle, the rain began to subtly die down. I felt safe enough to peek out from under the couch. In the distance I saw a figure- I was saved! Pat was here to check in on me! "Help me Pat! It was awful!! Everything was falling! No one was here to save me!" She held me until I stopped shivering. Phew!

Monday morning came and thankfully the terror had passed. I could see my co-workers come in. They scooped me up and put me in my rightful place on Ariella's desk, as assistant editor and Employee of the Month (but between you and me, it's employee of every month). I spent the day editing away as the girls cuddled and paid so much attention to me. That's how things should be!

So anyway, my family should come home tomorrow and I don't want them to think I've forgotten about their abandoning me. I'll give them a nasty glance, to let them know to prepare the cleaning supplies, because I'll be leaving a few of my passive-aggressive surprises all around. They'll know that next time they go to Disney World, they better bring me along! I'm man enough to go on all the big rides too!

All about our office cat...Henry

2009-02-26T15:40:00.002-05:00

All about Henry

There is a cat that hangs out with us in the office named Henry. He is really furry and gray and white. He loves everyone but Jon! He usually sleeps on a blanket near my desk (for some reason, he only feels safe specifically on my desk). He twitches a lot in his sleep, and we always wonder about what he's dreaming of. We call him my "assistant editor." However, he doesn't really hold up to that role because the only contribution he makes is getting cat hair all over my clothes! Oh, and not to mention when he tries to be friendly- he ends up sticking his nose in your ear so you'd pet him, and then you spend the afternoon finding random cat hairs in your eyelashes. What a weird cat!

Sometimes Henry can be pretty cool to have around, but only the negative is coming to mind right now. Like this one time, we were all having a meeting and all of a sudden we heard a noise, and when we turned around he was about to start puking all over the place. Gross! This other time no one was in the office and he left a nice surprise for me on the carpet. Either I had to deal with the smell till the others came back or I had to suck it up and clean- guess what I ended up doing?

Anyways-- Henry is pretty cool though, underneath the harsh exterior. He's friendly and always lifts everyone's moods! Here he is:

Ariella's Winter Getaway

2009-01-19T10:54:00.009-05:00

Hey all! Ariella here! I work at Well Spun and do a lot of the customer service, dvd authoring, some editing, touch ups, and web drafts. This is me and my friends on the ship(I am all the way to the right:)

Last week I took off a week and went on a cruise to a couple warm destinations: Haiti, Dominican Republic, St. Thomas, and Puerto Rico. I actually went on the cruise sick as a dog. I felt sick and had just loss my voice a couple days before. The first two days of the cruise were cold since we left from New Jersey. I think by the end of the first or second day, I was non-stop coughing and taking meds to help me, certainly not happy with their side effects. By the third or fourth day, I completely forgot I stepped on the boat ill at all. The sun at Haiti cured me. It's amazing what a little Vitamin D could do! I wish they'd package sunlight and seawater up in a bottle and you'd get to enjoy it for an hour or so with each dose. How amazing would that be? There is no cure like the natural cure!

Anyways, with my cold gone, the rest of the cruise was amazing. In Haiti I learned to bargain, in Dominican Republic I ate their native meals (without getting food poisoning!), and at St. Thomas I swam in an ocean where no matter how far I went out, I could see my feet. Of course, I got to experience what everyone always rants about- fish nibbling on my feet! That was weird-- I didn't know whether to be scared, and I kept getting self-conscious that I would hurt them when I swam.My favorite destination was Puerto Rico. It was so cultured and developed. I wasn't sure what to expect when I stepped off the dock. I loved learning its history and walking through this old, still-standing fortress. I got some of my best photos there. I want to go back because we didn't have a lot of time to explore there. One of my favorite things I witnessed was poetry pasted all throughout the street. I'm not sure if it was some hipsters posting it for some cause or whether they were just trying to make people smile. It just seemed like on every major landmark, you can find a piece of poetry- just on some plain white paper. I really hope it's still there!

Well- that's it! I'm signing off :)

-A

Brianna's Wedding

2009-01-16T12:42:00.001-05:00

I guess I will be the guinea pig for the start of this blog too!!

So here I am on my wedding day, November 1st, 2008....

My sweatshirt says "Soon To Be Mrs. Beall". I wore this everywhere the weeks leading up to my wedding, and always met someone who had a nice comment!! I loved this sweatsuit, and do still wear it, but only around the house. It was one of my favorite things I got for the wedding!

Ok so here I am now, all dressed to get married!! I loved my veil, which was actually my mom's from 1975 :) I did the something old(the diamond in my engagement ring was from my maternal grandmother who was married in 1949), something new(my wedding gown), something borrowed(my paternal grandmothers rosary beads and my necklace and earrings from my sister-in-law), and something blue(my grandmothers rosary beads also.) I am very traditional in that sense and made sure we had an item for each category!
So now to my bridesmaids.... I had seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, two flower girls, and four ring bearers(even though 2 couldn't walk down the aisle because they were only 10 days old!) And I know that I had a HUGE wedding party, but each and everyone of them are so important to us and we just had to have them all a part of our big day!
I couldn't decide on what color dress to choose, so I choose two, and because there were so many of them, I think it worked! The flower girls dresses were just mini versions of my wedding gown too, how cute!! We had a total fall themed wedding. From my place cards being pinned to mini-pumpkins, to the pine cones in my centerpieces, and we really did up the colors too!

The new Mr. & Mrs. Beall!!! :)

It already feels like it happened so long ago..........