New Commercial Video

Had some fun with this one, actually I have fun with all my videos. This time I tried to tackle a Commercial video or a video that a company would get done for a web promotion or introduction. I just used video and music, but have been thinking we should have had Ken talking in the background describing the bottling process. Next video he gets we can do that.

  Ken Inglis has worked for Years to get his dream of a water bottling plant going. It all started with a local spring next to his property. He just wanted to start filling bottles. The Town of huntsville owned the property the spring was located on and wanted to get rid of the liability of the spring and peoples health. The town sold Ken the Property with the understanding ken would assume liability and build a bottling plant.

  After many years and many hearings, drawings, studies and hoops that every possible government and agency and group could throw his way, he finally was underway. His plant has won some awards for management and water quality. Here is the inside of the plant on bottling day.

Maple Syrup Season is Here!

 

Hey folks again its maple syrup season again!! woohooo!! I have been waiting all winter for this and have been busy making a new stove or “Evaporator” and purchased an new stainless pan. I got a     3’ x 2’ pan with a valve outlet and hole for a thermometer. I get most of my supplies at Atkinson's Maple Syrup Products.

The evaporator is an old home oil tank cut in half. Then I welded a steel frame around the top,Added a chimney and door. I will let you know how it worked.

  Last Thursday I went back to the bush you see in the picture and tapped 20 trees and then on Friday I tapped another 20 trees. That is more then twice the amount of taps as last year Link to last years video. I had some friends look around last summer at yard sales for taps and pails and ended up with 40 in total.

  Making Syrup is so much fun, it does not seem like hard work even though it is. If anyone has any questions or comments, please let me know in the comment section. Or if you want to see more on syrup.

   Now For The Shameless Advertisement

Tint-it graphics has a new web page after many years. I used SquareSpace to build the new site and I need input as to  what you like and don’t like. Also, If you need help making a web page I would love to put one together for you on Sqarespace.

Chev Duramax

Again it has been too long between posts! Things have been busy here with Video, new truck, TVCogeco , work and getting ready for winter. Cogeco had me do a story on the dog walk for the Animal Shelter, The Rotary Auction, Two Santa parades and Town of Huntsville council meetings and a story on North Words Literary Festival, I found the festival to be very Fascinating! There was a great turnout and I talked to a couple writers and looked around thinking books are not dead and I should read more.

   Oh ya. The new truck! its a 2011 Chevy Duramax diesel. I wont bore anyone with details so I will just say amazing! I did not get the fancy model, rather I got the towing and work options. The RV is heavy and the old Dodge was at its limit. I had to get a 4x4 model this time because there were no 2wd ones at all. It will make selling a truck esier with 4x4 and I have used it a few times and it is a blast.

   A long time ago Randy Mitson from Algonquin Outfitters started planning some web videos. This fall we got it done. I went out to the Oxtongue store on a partly sunny and windy day to shoot 5 videos. Everyone was all ready and we had a plan. I got my brother Dave to give  me a hand. It worked out very well with the gear and the actors and the weather even helped us ok. I had alot of fun shooting. It took almost all day and it flew by. I have been editing off and on now for a few months and now they are ready. We got 6 clips out of the footage and they are quite pleased with the results. They have not posted them yet but it will be very soon and will make another post when they are.

Too much to say!

Wow, it has been a while since I posted and lots has happened. Its spring!! This spring has been my first try at maple syrup. With the purchase of the lot behind our house came a few maple trees. Off to Home Hardware to stock up on spiles and buckets and to see what other goodies there are and flip through a few books. I have seen how it is done and a couple of phone calls to my buddy who is a pro, I got set up and running!

I ended up with twelve taps going. This year I did not get a proper wood stove and pan. Next year I will be ready with a shed,woodstove and pan. I see there is enough trees to get twelve more taps going for a total of twenty four. For now I am using a propane Burner. I got the burner and pot as part of a hot oil turkey cooker. It worked awesome, clean and consistent. I do a finish boil, filter and bottle inside the garage usually late at night after a days boil. So far we have just over 2 gallons or twenty four 500ml jars. When the G8 summit is on I will put a “syrup for sale” sign up on the front yard

Olympic Torch Relay Run

I am a Canadian and Canada is hosting the 2010 winter Olympics.Tomorrow the torch run is passing through our town.(Huntsville,Ontario) I am quite excited as are many others. Watching the news and seeing the amount of people who are coming out to see this event I am expecting an amazing turnout.

I will be working with TV Cogeco running a camera or some other capacity to produce a local news broadcast for the event. I will also be taking video and photos for my own purposes. It is going to be cold and fun.

Cogeco

About a year ago, I decided to try volunteering with TV Cogeco. I am glad I did. I have learned alot about the cameras, equipment and what is involved with producing a news clip to a live council meeting.

There is more to it than it seems. Running cables for 3 cameras with audio,video and power to the truck. running the cameras making sure you are in focus and the white balance and audio levels are all correct. In the truck there is the production happening. Audio levels, scene mixing, adding text and visual info.

It is alot of fun and a bit of a challenge. It has helped me get out and meet more people, see town events and news I would not otherwise have known even existed. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested to try it out.

TV Cogeco Website

New Video Up

I just posted a new video I produced recently. It is not going to get me a golden globe yet. It was fun to play with…I am learning new software. Cyberlink Power Director and Adobe Premier Pro. Adobe is far better and I am afraid I wasted my money on Cyberlink. Adobe is allot more expensive and is going to be allot of work to figure out but the detail and control is awesome. My video was shot with the canon G9 in time-lapse mode.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dqSD-2XJUI

I did get a Canon HV30 and I am very pleased with my purchase. I was fortunate to get to Circuit City when they were closing down and they had one left. I am still going to mainly concentrate on Photography and push myself to get better, but I am going to play with video. I feel learning and being capable with video will only compliment my photography.

New Car!

Ok so it was time to help out the economy and General Motors. I promised myself to get a VW Passat but the chev Impala was so reasonable in price and after driving it I was impressed enough to give GM another go. I will have to wait 4 more years for the passat…oh well we could not afford one anyways. It has been a week and I am still loving the chev and want to put a shout out to Ward , My buddy at the GM Dealership in Huntsville. http://www.edmonds-chevrolet-pontiac-buick-gmc.com/