Sorry to end the year on a downer -

The New York Times has a gripping presentation by John Moore (Getty Images) of his photographs taken before, during and after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

The last day of the year. Bye bye

What a beautiful day!!! The sun is shining. Fresh snow on the ground. Last few days off until the biggest bridal show of the year. If you are getting married and have not booked all the things you need to then this is the show for you!!

Just in case you didnt know

2007 Top Pics

If you click on the photo on the right in the margin it will take you to my 2007 top pics in a full screen slide show.

I've mixed up blogs

Blogs are a great way to communicate with customers. That being the case I have 2 main blogs that I write daily in. This one - Jean Francois's blog which to date is mostly about me and my everyday life.

I like to share recent images, information I have learned and basically whatever comes to mind. If you read back to the beginning (about 2 years now)

Well to make a long story shorter - I posted on the wrong blog. My other blog is new and I set it up with the idea as a place to preview photos and video only.

http://dggroup.blogspot.com/

Almost Xmas - time for memories

It's usually around the holiday when family and friends get together and make memories. And that tradition has been photographed, video taped and recorded on a number of different types of media.

Since the invention of photography (its debatable either Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre or Nicéphore Niépce) People have been trying to archive themselves for postarity. I started TorontoHomeMovies.com, USHomeMovies.com and FloridaHomeMovies.com with the idea that as technology has improved there are many people who have lost years of memories simply because there are not machines left to play them!

Weather you live in the USA or in Canada we can help you save your memories.

At FlordiaHomeMovies.com we are saving your 8mm film, super 8, 16mm , VHS tapes , Hi8 tapes , 35mm film and even your old records and LPs. By making them in at DVD digital version you can copy them over and over. Get your memories on DVD today!

How better to remember your memories forever than to convert all your 8mm, 16mm and Super 8 films on to 1 or a set of VHS tapes or DVDs. Our audio specialists can even convert your old LPs to CDs that can be played in your car or stereo. We will take your 8mm tapes, Hi8 tapes and Beta max tapes and make digital copies to DVD, usually in less than 3 days.

Remember the old family projector??? You know, the one that makes the stuttering sound and makes you throw your memories back to 'the Good ol' Days'? We remember it too, and while we remember it fondly, we also remember a few others things.

* Broken tapes * Poor or No Sound * Bulbs burning out * Faded image quality * Irreplaceable projector parts

Imagine, sitting down in your living room or den and spending some fun times with everyone simply by slipping in a VHS tape, Video-CD or DVD and pressing PLAY! We can even convert your 8mm old film to .avi or mpeg so that you can edit yourself in the future. How about giving us your VHS tapes or 16mm movies and we will convert the footage to Flash for internet viewing. We can even host!!

We can convert your 8MM, Super-8MM, 16mm movies to either VHS, Video-CD or DVD* media formats, letting you keep those movies for a long time to come in a way that lets you have all the nostalgia with a lot less of the nostalgic hardware that would otherwise go with it.

We convert almost any format to digital. Here is a list of the most popular:

8mm to DVD
Super 8 film transfered to MiniDV or DVD
VHS converts to DVD or .avi for future editing
16mm film with sound or without to DVCAM, then uploaded to Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0. We then color correct, sharpen and output to DVD.
MiniDV or 8mm or Hi8 or Digital8 transfered to DVD.
Audio tape to CD

We can scan all your family photographs and create slideshows to music then output to either the internet using Flash or create a VCD or DVD.

Another option that we offer is the ability to purchase MiniDV Master Tapes or 8mm Digital 8 tapes for the following reasons:

• DVD copies can be made from the Master Tape. The reality is DVD is not full resolution but a compressed format.
• MiniDV Tapes contain more than 2 times as much data, giving you more detail in your images
• Any future editing will be far superior from the Master tape

Photo Conversions

Photographs fade. It's a fact of life. Save your precious memories for future generations by having FloridaHomeMovies.com convert your 35mm and 120mm slides and negatives to Jpeg, Tiff or Bitmap

• We use professional scanning equipment
• Apply infrared dust & scratch reduction (Digital ICE™)
• Grain dissolver applied for crisp image rendering (Digital GEM™)
• Correction for color range and over/underexposure
• Color Fade & Restoration applied as required (Digital ROC™)
• Manual Spotting for scratch removal on main subject

As members of NAPP we have the experience and the knowledge to restore your memories to perfection.

More photosto come here is a fun winter shoot.

Many couples know what they like. Nice expressions, cute poses or great candids etc. When we shoot engagement portraits we, of course do all this. But I want to make one thing clear about the photos I post on the blog.

These are my favs. In lot cases they are not going to be your favorite ones so let me explain why these are on the blog and not the others.

After shooting for so many years it would be easy for me, Marianna, Natasha and Manny to become lazy. Simply shoot the easy shots that everyone likes and go home. But as artists, we have this internal force that drives us to push our craft a little farther each time we shoot.

Take photo #1 (top) You can make the arguement that Karla and Rob are not in the middle of the photo, that its crooked, and that it looks dark.

I see passion!!! 1. the clouds look fierce. 2. the position of the couple forces you to look down from the clouds to the couple then to the tree - lot more interesting than if they were in the middle of the bullseye 3. the branch on the left is juxtaposed again the tree on the top right giving a cool foreground then couple as mid and tree as background. 4. they are not kissing - but you can tell they will be soon!!


If all I wanted to do was go in the park to collect a paycheck - believe me on a cold day that would be the day. But I remember being soooooo amazed by the snow - I think Karla and Rob got a little worried cause I was laughing so much. Of course it was cold but wow what a blast!!!

If this is your first time on the blog remember - if you click on the photos you can see full resolution images!! Feel free to register to receive email updates whenever I post and make a comment!!! We want your opinions!!

On the Disney Magic

I never really understood how completely burned out until yesterday. It took over 4 days for me to unwind enough to fall asleep without being totally exhausted. I even passed out today during the day!!

Of course I know most of you are freezing and you all hate me. But after 6 months of 80 hour week I wont feel too guilty.

Vacations used to be a major thing in my life. I remember when Marianna and I used to travel nearly every other month. Cuba, London, Tokyo, LA and New York. I'm not sure what changed exactly. Maybe its the boys or too many goals. But being out on the beach yesterday reminded me of another Disney cruise a few years ago.

On that trip I made a list of every single dream and goal I could think of. Including ones that I didn't thing would ever be possible. I think I put down wanting a Picasso and a truck.

Fun memories - Bad happenings

There are lot funny events at weddings. Here are few that may not be funny if it was your wedding but I had hold back at the time.

• the wedding singer who cannot sing. Seriously, you need to actually test them out BEFORE the wedding. I can count at least 40 who were soooooo bad that people were laughing. I love it when they reach for a note and just miss, but keep trying!!!!
• the bridesmaids dress is too small. OK I was overweight. I new not to wear a tank top - especially tucked in. I still think I couldnt carry it off. So why do bridesmaids continually make the dress too small - then freak out when the dress explodes under stress?
• the freak out! Bride and Groom are married 30 minutes and the Bride or Groom go ape on the other over - missing button, pulled hair, dirty limo, mother in law, cake, whatever.
  
• freezing bridesmaid - ok its -20 in December didnt anyone think they might need to bring jackets to the park? So I love it when the guys act all cool and give the girls jackets - then 2 minutes later regret it but can't say anything. I can read their minds - "Damn that was dumb, why the hell did I do that?"
• bridal party love - there is always one groomsmen that thinks he is a stud. But at the end of the night he is drunk and sitting by himself at the head table talking to himself. At my brothers wedding that was almost me, but I kept hitting on the gorgeous photographer (Marianna) until she gave me her number.

Be very afraid!!!! Seriously. The police are freaking out and using Taser guns without though. Here a guy got hit just for refusing to sign a ticket. This happened in Utah - but guess what? The same thing happened in Vancouver, and the guy died!!

Feel stronger!!! I miss going to the studio.

No dreams last night maybe thats way I at least feel a little better today. But I'm way off the way I felt every 3 weeks ago. I still get


In the mood for a list.

I believe sincerely in Dreams become goals. Here is my top list of Dreams for the next few months. I have another for the next year and another for 3 years etc. They are constantly being changed and updated, but since I began making Dream lists 8 years ago an amazing thing happened, they started to come true!!

1. new car
2. rent a catamaran for the day
   
3. plasma/lcd tv for the bedroom
4. finish all my 2007 weddings
5. score a big deal for floridahomemovies.com
6. get the office in Montreal up and running
   
7. get a bigger studio
8. buy a new film projector to replace the broken ones we are always fixing
9. finish the brand new dgvideo site
10. get a tan
11. new super duper powerful top of the line computer for home.
    
12. playstation 3 for sammy - ok its really for me but dont tell Marianna

Had another dream last night

I'm sleeping in bunches of 2 hours. The aches and pains keep waking me up. I think its the reason I'm dreaming so much more. Last nights dream is fading fast - but here is what I remember. I'm at a wedding (really) and its getting close to 11. The groom is finally on the dance floor after his new wife had been trying to pry him away from the bar for about an hour. He's all excited and at the stroke of 11 the DJ turns off the music, the bar pulls down a gate and the light go on. Party over. Wierd. Reminds me of the way limo drivers always tell the bride and groom they have to be at the reception by 4:30 or they will charge extra.


I study finance. Its a hobby. The reason is that in school they really didnt spend very much time teaching us about money. As far I'm concerned the more I know about how to handle mortgages, credit, taxes and my legacy the better off my children will be.

The god of investing is named Warren Buffet. The second richest man in the world.

Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1) Warren bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

2) He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3) He still lives in the same small 3 bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4) He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.

5) He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

6) His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.

7) Warren Buffet has given his CEO's only two rules.

Rule number 1: Do not lose any of your share holder's money.

Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

8) He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch television.

9) Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.

10) Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

11) His advice to young people: Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself.


The article below discusses his opinion on the US trade deficit.

http://www.fhsu.edu/econ/rterry/Trade%20Deficit.pdf