(NC)Tea news continues to stir the pot in Canada. Records show we drink as many as 7 billion cups of tea each year - and those who study it as a dietary factor are now telling us not to put on the brakes. Both black tea and green tea contain antioxidant plant compounds called flavonoids, which are thought to be important cancer fighting agents. This, combined with its potential benefits against heart disease - plus zero calories and comparatively low levels of caffeine - is a sound reason to treat oneself to one or more cups of tea every day.

And while those who drink the 7 billion cups don’t seem to need advice, still connoisseurs insist on preparation precision to make the “tea treat” even better. Here, courtesy of the Tea Association of Canada, is a 5-step process for the perfect cup of tea:

Make A Perfect Cup of Tea

1. Start with fresh-drawn cold water and bring it to a rolling boil.

2. Warm the teapot to help keep your tea hot longer.

3. Use one teabag for each two cups of tea desired. Be sure to choose a quality blend.

4. When the water has boiled, take the warmed teapot to the kettle and pour over the teabags. Stir, cover and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes.

5. Remove teabags and pour.

And don’t forget, you can get a perfect cup of tea when on the run too. In a restaurant, ask for your pot of boiling water with the “tea bag in”. Always allow your tea, no matter where you are, to steep for at least three to five minutes. Indeed, continuously dunking the tea bag may increase the flavonoid content as much as five times.

Remember, in addition to antioxidant properties, tea is an all-natural beverage with no additives, artificial flavourings or colours. It has no calories when enjoyed without milk, sugar or honey. Here are a few innovative ways to include tea in your daily meals:

• At breakfast, discover how delicious a bran muffin can be with your favourite blend like Orange Pekoe, Earl Grey and English Breakfast and many more.

• At lunch, use tea to flavour dressings on fruit, green, and pasta salads.

• At dinner, use brewed tea as a marinade for chicken or fish and also to stir-fry vegetables. Try ice cream flavoured with a splash of tea.

• At snack time, discover how green tea is an ideal refresher.

More information is available online at www.tea.ca.

- News Canada

About the Author

News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial “fill” items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

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Jamster!, has started a
Promotional offer for the
US Market, offering a variety of Ringtones and Cell Phone Games.

Registered Users get one free ringtone, to be chosen among a wide
selection of Ringtones for the most popular cell phones available on the
US-Market.

The Company satisfy the demand for high-end Multimedia content for modern mobile phones, including the latest technology as Polyphonic
Tones and animated screensavers.

The product offer of Jamster! covers:

o Polphonic Tones
o Real Tones
o Fun Sounds
o Color Wallpapers
o Animated Screensavers for Mobilephones
o Mobile Games
o Mobile Software

More details can be found in:

http://www.101homebiz.com/jamster

As the Cell phone Industry is evolving
continuosly towards high-technology graphic
and multimedia support, the demand to
appropiate content able to leverage the full
potential of the available hardware is
showing an increasing trend.

Jamster! has wide experience in this field, as the company is serving multiple markets of
the world, as Uk, Irland, Australia, Germany and Italy among others.

More Information about Jamster can be obtained under:

Jamster International Srl
Bd de Pérolles 55
1700 Fribourg
Switzerland
c/o M. Patrick Vez, Fiduconsult SA

Customer Support:
e-mail: info@jamster.com
Hotline:1-866-856-JAMS

About the Author

Alex Timaios is an independent Author and Internet Marketing Consultant. He runs the sites http://www.101homebiz.com and http://www.101workathome.biz

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If you are looking to buy a new mobile phone then you would probably be wise to look at the latest contract phone offers. Contract phones usually involve you getting a free phone with free minutes and txts for a fixed monthly fee. This can be great for the frequent user and it is also a great way to build up a good credit report.

If you use your mobile phone often then the advantages of having a contract phone easily outway to disadvantages. This is because you can usually get great deals that include hundreds of free talk time minutes and alot of operators now offer unlimited free txts. However if you only use your mobile phone for emergencies it may be better if you just got a ay as you go phone be looking to make that money back, you should always read the terms and conditions

Contract phone retailers offer wide ranges of phones from smart phones to cool phones like the LG Prada or even the LG Cookie. It doesnt matter which kind of phone you like because chances are you will be able to find it at some contract phone shop. Cheap phone contracts only available at cheapphonecontracts.me.uk/cheap-phones-contract.html

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Home theater seating can vary widely and depends on the experience you want and your budget. You can make do with folding chairs or that garage sale sofa, but the better your seating is the better your home theater experience will be.

The first thing to think about is how many people your home theater will host for viewing on a regular basis. It isn’t economical to get twice as many seats as you will regularly have guests, but neither is it wise to short yourself on seating that you will have use for. Also think about the space you have in your home theater. This will effect what sort of home theater seating will be best for your space.

The next thing to think about is how much use your home theater will see. If it will see frequent use, you will want seating that is ergonomic, as well as made of durable materials that are easy to clean. Ergonomic seating is important so that the viewers do not get any sort of strain or aches during viewing. If you do not plan to use your home theater frequently you can choose seating that isn’t as comfortable or as durable or easy to clean, but keep in mind that this sort of seating may not be worth it in the long run.

Also think about what you want your home theater to look like. If you want it to look like a regular movie theater in miniature, then you will most likely prefer home theater seating that closely emulates that found in a regular theater. Alternately, if you wish to have more of a ‘honey’ look, you may wish to go with seating that is more like traditional armchairs.

Finally, keep in mind the features you want in your seating. This will affect not only price, but ease of use, ergonomics and comfort, and ease of cleanup. Rocker and reclining seats will be more expensive, but more comfortable. Seats with cup holders in the arms may also be more expensive, but will save space by eliminating the need for side tables, and may keep cleanup low. Viewers will have a stable place to put their drinks, rather than trying to balance them on their laps and then find a place to put the drink when they need a bathroom break. Some home theater seating even has massage units built in!

More home theater seating information:

Leather Home Theater Seating: http://www.home-theater-reviews.co.uk/furniture/leather-home-theater-seating.shtml

Matinee Home Theater Seating:
http://www.home-theater-reviews.co.uk/furniture/matinee-home-theater-seating.shtml

More information available at
http://www.home-theater-reviews.co.uk/

About the Author

http://www.home-theater-reviews.co.uk/ - For all your home cinema system needs and reviews.

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When a fundamental law of nature is revealed, the best inventions arise.

Here, the author heard of a mysterious unexplained oscillation in silicon bipolar transistors, and upon investigating discovered that it related to the band-gap energy of silicon.

With the phenomenon fully explained, it became possible to design electronic circuits of exquisite simplicity, reliability and performance.

Unfortunately, the author suffers from an untreated Addison’s disease. It is one thing to have the knowledge of progress - quite another to implement progress when one is half dead through metabolic disturbance.

The industrial climate was also not conducive to success. The whole of British industry collapsed - and the German economy is currently (2003) in recession.

There is no point in keeping good ideas secret until one dies. If one cannot use it - SHARE IT. And hope, perhaps, that those who gain benefit from it will reward you in the future.

During the thirty years that this concept was kept secret, millions of radios, televisions and portable telephones were manufactured. In many cases, enormous savings could have been made on each item. The economic value of the concept can be reckoned in billions of dollars worldwide.

see http://wehner.org/electro/short

Charles Douglas Wehner

Charles Douglas Wehner was born in 1944.
He was a technical draughtsman in computer manufacture in 1962, and became a technical author (radars of Concorde and Harrier as well as nucleonics), design engineer and factory manager. Further experience was in measurement-and-control systems, photoelectrics and ultrasonics.

Charles Wehner was professionally active in Britain and Germany.

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When you’re holding a baby shower one of the most important items that you’ll serve is the baby shower cake. Cakes should be the highlight of the food lineup and should be served with a selection of desserts, finger food and cookies. Cakes can come in all shapes and sizes, including baby cakes, diaper cakes and bootie baby cakes.

When you’re planning what type of cakes to prepare for the baby shower you’ll find many babyshower cake cookbooks from which to make your selection. If you know the baby is a girl you can decorate the cake in a pink style. The same goes if the baby is a boy, in which case you’ll want to focus on blue or green colors.

Baby shower cakes can be either one large cake, or you can make several smaller individual cakes which can be created for each guest that is invited.

The main focus of cakes is of course the expectant mother. Baby cakes make a great centerpiece that will bring a smile to any expectant mother. Diaper cakes also continue to be popular and are easy to make and assemble.

When you’re planning which cakes that you want to make you can be as creative as you like. There are cookbooks available that feature some great ideas for cakes that you can adapt to fit your baby shower theme. If the theme of the baby shower is the alphabet you can find cakes that highlight this theme. There is no limit to the types of cakes that you can choose from for the shower.

Many times the cakes themselves create the theme for the shower. This is because the cakes can be the focus and centerpiece of the entire party. You can plan all the decorations, food and themes around the type of baby shower cake you decide to feature.

When you’re looking for baby shower cake recipes you can find cookbooks in the recipe section in your local bookstore or library. You can also find a selection of recipes for baby shower cakes and diaper cakes on the internet. If you can’t find the exact cake that you have in mind for your baby shower you can make any adaptations that you need to modify the cake to your liking.

Cakes should be as fun and creative as possible. There may be times when you want to hire someone to make the perfect cake. But keep in mind that half the fun of a baby shower is doing things yourself. Using your imagination, and a little help from cookbooks you can come up with the most amazing cakes imaginable.

There are many different types of cakes that you can choose from or that you can use as a starting base for your own babyshower cake ideas. Baby Shower Diaper cakes can often be paired up with edible cakes. This way you have the fun of a cake made from diapers and the deliciousness of an edible cake that everyone can enjoy.

Distinct Deliveries is an online merchant which offers not only Baby Shower Diaper Cakes, but much more. href=http://distinctdeliveries.com/baby.cfm?secid=6&affid=1246>Distinct Deliveries.com offers baby baskets, baby announcements, baby books, shower cakes, baby jewelry, engraved items, plush
items, baby shower items, gifts baskets, chocolate & candy, baby gifts, book packages, flowers & plants, bath & body, fruit packages, gourmet & snacks, seasonal, pet gifts, specialty gifts, monthly
clubs..

Some themes you might want to use include:

1. Sports theme for boys
   
   
2. Princess cakes in pink for girls
   
   
3. Jungle animals for boys
   
   
4. Fairy theme for girls

No matter what type of cake you take into consideration your final choice should somehow reflect the theme of the baby shower.

© Copyright Randy Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Randy is owner of http://www.planning-a-baby-shower.com where you will find further tips on baby showers and baby shower games.

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1. Pay for use
The major issue facing the recording industry is how to get paid for all the music that is being downloaded, swapped and sold online. If you are using a legal music download service, there should be a fee per song, per month or per year to have continued access to the service.

In keeping with the spirit of the internet, most of the major legal music sites are offering free mp3 files just for signing up, for keeping your subscription current and in general obeying the rules of the site.

Note: Usually, there is an extensive trial period. If you really want free music, you can sign up for multiple sites and get access to hundreds of free mp3 downloads for little or no money up front.

2. Size Limits
The legal music download sites mostly distribute music from reputable labels and artists. This means, that you won’t find extensive mixes, and custom files that will slow down your connection and take forever to download. Also, the relatively small files gives some assurance to the music retail industry that a site is actually selling music files and not illegal video games or movies which can be hundreds of times larger.

3. Volume limits
Legal music download sites usually distribute their material on a per song basis. One of the major advantages of buying your music online is that you don’t have to spend $17 for an entire album if you only want 3 or 4 songs. The legal sites will set up song volume limits as well as file transfer limits. This prevents unscrupulous customers from setting up their computers to copy hundreds of files in a few hours.

Note: even if you are music fan - Really, why would you need 300 songs at once?

4. Larger databases, Larger costs
One peculiarity of the legal music download stores and file sharing services is that variety comes with a price. The larger, more established services will give you access to hundreds of thousands of song, but it will cost you. Expect to pay an average of $1-$3 per song. If you work it out, the average album will probably cost a little bit more than a CD from Wal-Mart or Target.

Keep in mind, that legal music download sites must give a portion of their fees back to the recording industry. Also, the songs are not disposable since the sound quality probably won’t degrade over time. Even CDs can get scratched and lose their quality after a while.

5. Limited Choice
Most of the legal music download sites don’t have the capacity or copyright authority to distribute hundreds of millions of songs. The songs are stored on servers with a finite amount of space unlike the tangled web of computer to computer file transfers from the illegal sites.

Another reason for the limited choice is that, it is highly unlikely that they will get an agreement from every single record label to distribute their music online.

The quality of every online music catalog depends on the Music Studios that are providing the material. Established, and therefore popular artists usually switch labels at least once during their singing career. So you might have access to their newer materials, but not the older songs, or vice versa.

6. No adware, No Spyware
Legal music download sites like their offline retail counterparts are getting an actual fee for their service. They don’t want to scam or upset their customers by placing dangerous and annoying spyware and adware programs on their computers. The industry has even trouble getting payment from consumers so they won’t tamper with anything that leads a trail of cash behind.

7. Music Only
You will have access to music files only. No free movies, games, clips, promos etc. are allowed without paying an extra fee. These items also require copyright approval before they can be distributed online. All fees, even a monthly subscription fee will not lead to an entertainment free-for-all.

8. Copyright Notice
A clearly written copyright notice should be provided on the stating
a) The nature of the site owner’s authorization to distribute legal music files online
b) what you can do with the files once you have paid for them
c)and any limitations on either party as far as use and distribution of the files.

9. No file sharing allowed
You are only allowed to use the files for personal use. Unlike a CD (physical product) you cannot purchase songs, use them and then sell them to another party or distribute them free of charge to friends, family, web surfers etc.

10. Backed by a big label?
Most of the legal music download sites are backed by at least one major music label. People are looking for songs that are hot, on the radio, playing in the clubs or on MTV. All of that commercial material comes out of the studio system. If the label does not provide the material, subject to fees, taxes and copyright notices, then the site cannot legally distribute them.

About the Author

This article may be freely distributed as long as there’s an active link to http://www.rapidlingo.com
Syd Johnson
Editor

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London weekends away always seem like such splendid idea - to leave behind habits and habitats, see something new; maybe listen to something unique. But without an aim, weekends away can repeatedly fall somewhat flat, a case of walking around a big city, periodically darting into retail shops & looking at statues. This may well be ok if you are comfortable to go with the flow, although if you enjoy being occupied and ‘doing’ something then West End theatre musical breaks can be a fantastic choice. Buy cheap London theatre tickets for top London shows, musicals and plays.

While you could constantly go to Australia, why would you want to? There is ample talent and fun much more closer to you in the City. Notably, the Capital has a mixture of fantastic theatres, most of which can be found bunched throughout the West End - a place in which everyday life seems to become a little rosy & everything turns out alright eventually; or at least if not, you can get trapped in pleasant moments and feel to some extent a better individual.

But for lavish, happy entertainment throughout a London theatre break the majority of people attend musical shows. These can be anything from the heart-wrenching misfortune for instance Les Misérables to the rollerblading pleasure that is undoubtedly Starlight Express. However, supporters of rock & roll, doo-wap & men and women in incredibly tight leather will only be fascinated about one theatre show - Grease. Taking the globe by storm in the nineteen seventies, this exhilarating musical show has by no means failed to impress, transferring with consummate ease to the silver screen. Featuring an attractive John Travolta and an extraordinarily skinny Olivia Newton-John, the motion film went on to be chosen for an Oscar.

A great deal of people will have a soft spot in their heart put to one side for Grease, no matter what age you are, or even what gender. It is one of those great films that is enjoyed by many age groups; likewise the London musical is exciting for both young and old. The ease and liveliness of Rydell High is infectious, the late 1950s clothes are desirably retro, and the music songs are so infectious that you will be singing in your seats.

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‘Blackjack’ is one of the oldest games played in United States of America. Generally it is believed that the game got its name from the manner in which it is played. When a player had a jack along with an ace of spade in the first hand, the player was paid extra money. So, in this game the black spades are as crucial as jacks. From this it was termed as ‘Blackjack’. The origination of the game can be traced back to world war I, when the game was quite popular among the troops since it had the benefit to be played at any time and anywhere. Now the game has entered all the casinos and has a huge fan following. Blackjack beat Faro is largely adored and played in the casinos of Las Vegas and Reno.

The Game-
This game is played by more than a few players on a horseshoe kind of table. The base player is the one who is at the end to the dealer’s right. The initial step will be the shuffling of the cards by the dealer. Later you are supposed to cut the cards with a card sized piece of plastic by sliding it between the deck of cards. The dealer will lift the cards above the plastic along with the plastic to place them below the deck. A cautious eye at the placement activity of dealer will be helpful in the game. Next, the top card is set aside by the dealer in order to avoid any kind of cheating in the game. This is known as the burning of the card. This is followed by the dealer’s putting a colored card at about the third way from the bottom of the deck and placement of another card at the last place i.e. at the bottom of the deck.

If the table is full, it signifies an already commenced game. You ask for the chips to play the game and make a bet, which should match at least the minimum bet for the game. Its at the player’s discretion to decide if he wants to with big or small bets and the table accordingly. The dealer deals each player a card face up. The final card that the dealer receives is face down and is known as the ‘hole card’. Then each player is given a face up card as his second card. The value of this second card is the measure to decide whether to take further cards or not. After all players complete their hands ultimately the dealer selects the dealer card for completing the dealer’s hand.

The winner-
The person who is crowned as the winner is the one who has a higher total than the dealer without braking 21. In other words, he comes closest to 21 without exceeding or lagging behind too much. The stand off situation is that when the player and the dealer have the same total and so there is no winner and so no loser.

When you bet, keep this strategy in mind that you have to get 21 on your first two cards. There are various pay off ratios like 2:3 etc. at different casinos. Similarly there are other features attached to the betting process like ‘insurance’ etc. It is advisable to have a prior knowledge of the rules of the game and its betting strategies.

Move into and explore the world of Blackjack…only as game for fun and not as an addiction.

About the Author

Mansi gupta writes about blackjack topics.

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Bless the bride… and God help the video maker. True. Let us start with grim warnings of doom and disaster. Making a video of a wedding is something which can lose you a lot of friends. The bride and groom and their respective families want something that will make ‘The American President’ look like a low budget, made-for-television low grade movie with no production values. This has been shown by actual test. Some simple rules.

1. Do not under any circumstances offer to make a video of anyone’s wedding, no matter how near and dear.

2. When it is suggested, always try to get someone else to do it. Anyone. As long as it is not you.

3. Offer to help pay for a professional. That spreads the blame and is known as a CYA ploy. Then you can say the professional will take care of the major work and you will merely add touches of cinema verite.

4. Claim that you are sick or that the camcorder is not working or your eyes are being operated on.

5. If all else fails read, and possibly download for reference, the longish screed on the subject. It runs to 2,500 words. All written from bitter experience. My apologies for the length.

Spread the blame . . .

If you are asked to make a video of a wedding make sure that the photographs - the still pictures - are being taken by a professional.

If you possibly can get the families to hire a professional video team. They will still not be satisfied, I promise you, but this will be the professional’s fault, not yours. If you have to make a video contribution you will produce a touch of cinema-verite which will be a lighthearted look at the proceedings but will not, most definitely not, be the official recording. Then no one can point the finger of blame.

Life being what it is, the families will probably not agree and you will be lumbered.

If you cannot get out of this in any way this is what you must do: get it across to the bride and groom and, most important, their parents, that although you will do your level best there is no guarantee that they will get anything. Or that anything you will provide will be much better than an out-of-focus, badly lit, happy home movie.

The problem is that the bride and groom and their respective parents go into marriage full of optimism and great expectations. They expect everything to be perfect. If your video is not, at the very least, as good as the coverage of the Charles and Di affair, there will be bitter tears and recriminations. You will never be forgiven.

Trust me on this. When weddings come in through the door, logic goes out of the window.

How to do it . . .

Making a video of a wedding needs not only your highest skills as a video maker but also a large measure of tact, diplomacy, organizing skills and physical fortitude.

It is almost impossible to cover a wedding single handed and that you need two camera operators working to a well-thought-out plan. They must work in tandem, be unobtrusive and yet not miss any of the important shots. Indeed, I feel happier with three cameras working and mobile phone connections and even then I am not a contented lad until I have delivered the finished product.

The technical difficulties are enormous.

Start with lighting. It plainly is not acceptable for you to walk backwards down the aisle with a blazing sun gun mounted on your camera, only stopping when you walk backwards into the priest. Yes, religion is about forgiveness, but this is going too far. Instead, you have to work with the available light and look for subtle ways to enhance it without interfering with the ceremony.

What has to be remembered at all times is that the wedding is not being staged for the sake of the video. The video is there to carefully and unobtrusively record the great event.

Recce the site

The first step in shooting a wedding is to do a recce at the place the ceremony will take place and where the reception will be held. Then write a careful shooting script with timings. Without it you are lost. A simple check list is given later.

Check the time, date and place of both the wedding and the reception. You will need to check them three times before the actual event because it is all too horridly easy to get them wrong.

The logistics are as complex as D-day.

Suppose that the ceremony is to be at 12 noon and that the bride lives within 20 minutes or so of the church. (I use church as a generic term here. Marriages these days take place is some quite funny places. Not all of mine have been in churches. In fact, now I come to think of it, none of them.)

You need to be at the church at least 45 minutes before the ceremony so that you can catch Auntie Doris - ever the early bird - and Cousin Rachel and the rest of the tribe arriving. It is imperative that you get 10 seconds or so of footage of all the wedding guests. Hell hath no fury like Auntie Doris if she is left out of a video.

At the same time you have to cover the preparations at the bride’s house, which means that, operating single handed, you can shoot there only until 11 o’clock at the latest. This is where multiple cameras and camera operators come into their own.

Dealing with the panic

Your offsider can be at the house catching the last minute panic - there is always a last minute panic - and the bride being escorted by her proud dad into the wedding chariot. You, ready at the church, will be on hand to pick up the action when they arrive.

But who is covering the groom waiting nervously in the church with the best man, both of them looking like death warmed up after a brutal stag night?

While it would be good to get some coverage you have to make sure that you do it well before the bridal car is due to arrive. You can miss out on the groom - he is not an important player in these proceedings - but you must cover the bride arriving at the church or you are history.

Which is why you absolutely and imperatively must have a shooting script so that you can work out who should be where and when. If you try to do it all yourself you will be like a one-armed paper-hanger. I know that professionals do it without a script but they have done it a lot before. I admire but do not envy them.

Some of the shots will need to be handheld, and I strongly advocate some sort of support - a chest or shoulder pod - to help you keep the camera steady.

Shoot as many cutaways as you can and try to get as many guests in close-up as possible. Faces, recognizable faces, on the screen will make up for any other deficiencies. Keep your shots shortish and tight, which will make editing much easier. Aim to end up with a mass of connected short - no more than 20 second - shots rather than one continuous roll.

On being hated

You will find the professional stills photographer hates you. It is not that you will get in the way - although that is always possible. It is simply that the photographer makes his living at this lark and you are but a well-meaning amateur. There is also a firm belief among professional wedding photographers that videos cut back the number of prints ordered. There may be something in this.

You may find it difficult to believe, but some stills photographers ban camcorders from being used to record wedding groups on the basis that they set up the groups and, as a result, these set-ups are copyright. Before the bride and groom decide on a stills photographer it is vitally important that they sort out the stills photographer/video maker relationship, or there will be a nasty scene in the church grounds.

Whatever is arranged still work on the sound basis that the stills photographer hates you and will give you no co-operation. You will have to shoot around this.

Making the stills photographer in action the focus of part of your video works well.

You will probably find that using a tripod and longish focal lengths will help to keep out of the way.

This difficult relationship with the professional stills photographer is all important as a pro knows where to be and when as to the manner born. After your 500th wedding you will have these skills, too. I would not wish that on my worst enemy. There is a plus side to this: if you lurk near but not in the way of the stills photographer you will undoubtedly get all of the action, no risk.

Early shots

The first shot at the home will be the bride on her own in the full glory of her wedding dress. This is often taken in the garden against a backdrop of flowers and greenery. Try not to interfere; hang back a bit. Using the reach of the telescopic lens you can start shooting using the standard formula of long shot, medium shot and close-up to show the bride being photographed in the garden, the glory of her wedding dress and the smile on her face.

Follow the same routine with the bridesmaids and the mother of the bride. Shoot from outside the stills photographer’s range. Never shout orders to countermand those of the photographer for you will be risking severe bodily damage. Keep following the great tradition of long shot, medium shot and close-up. Keep the shots tight at 12 seconds or so per scene. Film lots of cutaways to be used in editing.

Filming the ceremony in the church

During the ceremony position the video camera, if you can, so that you are at the side of the altar (a generic term in the sense it is used here) and can get some view of the faces of the couple as the ceremony progresses. Priests (ministers, celebrants, what have you) have this funny idea that their churches are places of worship and not video studios. Check with them what is allowed and what is not.

If possible a second camcorder recording faces in the congregation, yet again in the standard format of long shot, medium shot and close up - will make editing the final tape much easier.

Down the aisle

It is crucial that you cover the walk of the newly married couple down the aisle while the organist hammers out the Wedding March.

You must also cover the first moments on the church step where the happy couple cuddle and canoodle in contemplation of the weeks ahead. With two of you filming this is not a great bother. With just one it requires some pretty nifty footwork, especially as the stills photographer will be charging around and, quite rightly, demanding preference and right of way.

At the reception you will find the proceedings much more relaxed as the demon grog takes its effect. You can shoot it normally without any extra lighting. Two camcorder operators working the room can get some amazing candids. When the speeches start one of you can cover the action while the other works on audience reaction.

If possible have a tape recorder running fairly steadily throughout the ceremony and at the reception. This will give you back-up sound, which you will be grateful for at the final editing stage.

It is vital, once again, that you get shots of all the principal players including Auntie Doris in her good frock and Cousin Rachel, who is getting a bit red in the face with her third glass of bubbly. When they see it on video they will squeal and scream and protest. But they will love every minute of it.

You will probably need to mic the top table to record the speeches. Do it beforehand and tape the wire down with gaffer tape.

Either the bride will want all of the speeches in their full and interminable length or she will want a proper video. In the last case you can concentrate on a few sentences from each speaker and a lot of close-ups of listeners’ reactions.

Again following the stills photographer you will cover the cake cutting ceremony.

All that is left for you to do then is to film the happy couple leaving for an unknown destination and married bliss. It is not traditional for you to be asked to cover the first night of the honeymoon although the way things are going nothing would surprise me.

Editing

Your final task is to edit this lot together. If you have kept to the rule of short takes - nothing over 20 seconds except for the group shot which is listed below in the check list - with lots of cutaways and a logical flow from long shot to medium shot to close-up this should not be too difficult. Adding wedding-type music to the audio is a doddle. Just make sure that Auntie Doris appears a fair number of times. Her wrath if she is left on the cutting room floor is frightening to behold.

If you have not been able to talk your way out of doing the damn video at all, the following shot checklist will help keep you out of trouble.

Shot checklist

At the home of the bride: Bride (long shot, medium shot, close-up). Bride and bridesmaids. Bride and her mother. Bride and father. Bride with both parents. Bride with siblings. Bride with pets. Family group. Bride in the final stages of dressing. (This last is a tricky one but may be requested.)

Bride leaving for church: Coming out of the house. Last minute fluster. Final shot of rear of car as it turns corner or disappears into distance.

At the church: Shots of church. Shots of guests arriving. Keep these to 5 or 6 seconds a time.

Bridegroom and best man arriving. If possible a shot of them waiting in the church.

Bridesmaids getting out of car and fluttering around. Bride and father getting out of car. Bride and father walking towards church. Priest waiting on church steps.

If the bride is going to be late, which is traditional, do a series of cutaways to the face of the church clock if it has one. Otherwise do the cut-away to a series of different watch faces showing the time progressing.

The ceremony: Interior of church. Bride and father walking down aisle. Bride and groom at altar.

Close-ups of congregation singing - always good for light comic relief.

Wedding ceremony: Giving of rings with, if you can, a tight close-up of the hands. Signing the register.

Walking down the aisle.

Outside the church: Bride and groom full length having obligatory cuddle. Long shot, medium shot, close-up. Bridal group with bridesmaids and best man added. Same again plus parents. Keep to the rhythm of long shot, medium shot, close-up and even ultra close-up.

Now the whole family gathers and you need, desperately, a long shot that includes them all and will run for 30 seconds. This is the one time you let the camera run because everyone will want to play at ‘Ooh look, there’s Uncle Stan next to, would you believe it, Auntie Doris. ‘

Bride and groom walking towards car. Confetti being thrown. Getting in car and driving off.

At the reception: Shots of family welcoming guests. Bride and groom mixing with guests. Lots of close-ups of guests’ faces. Speeches with audience reaction. Cutting the cake with an ultra-close-up of two hands on the knife. Toasts with audience reaction. Bride and groom dancing. Guests dancing. Couple leaving and waving goodbye.

After that little lot all you need is music, editing and a nice silver plastic case for the video with ‘Our Wedding’ embossed in tasteful purple.

About the Author: Gareth Powell, author of several travel books, has a travel website - www.travelhopefully.com, a non-blog web site - www.bloggeroff.com and a digital image web site - www.pixelates.com. He lists free software on www.freewareaid.com. This article can be edited, cut, localized.

Source: www.isnare.com

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