Branching Out: Del Padre joins forces with alternative travel gurus at GoNomad

Throughout the months of October and November, The GoNomad Cafe in South Deerfield will display Mark's full-color photographs of Tanzania on its gallery walls. All of the photos were taken during the Inspire Me Africa filming.

From quiet portraits of Tanzanian orphans to dynamic captures of zebras, lions, and other wildlife, the exhibit features images taken over a three-week period, during which time Archer shot still photos and video-footage for Inspire Me Africa, a project spearheaded by the Space Science Institute (SSI) in Boulder, Colo.



Together, the team began the three-week journey by climbing Africa's highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro. After descent, the group toured several local orphanages, Masai villages, visited Ngoro Ngoro crater, Oldapi Gorge - widely regarded as 'the birthplace of man' - and went on a week-long safari across the Serengeti.

The GoNomad photo exhibit marks the latest showing of international photographs taken by local photographers and travelers. These exhibits underscore the mission of the cafe's sister company, GoNomad.com, also based in South Deerfield, which publishes alternative travel articles and information for all types of travelers.



About GoNomad.com & GoNomad Cafe

GoNomad.com, owned and operated by Max Hartshorne, is a comprehensive resource center designed to provide independent and alternative travelers with all the information and inspiration they need to plan their travels in the U.S. and abroad. GoNomad is well known among tourism boards, travel writers, and anyone who is well-versed in travel and wants to get the skinny on the unexplored, the unseen and the unwritten about.
The GoNomad Cafe is a breakfast, lunch, coffee, and Internet cafe located on Sugarloaf St., South Deerfield Mass., across from the town common and moments from the Yankee Candle flagship store, Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory, Historic Deerfield, and other attractions. The cafe is open Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 413.665.5005.

RED Demo Now in Progress... catch a sneak peek

This week, we're working on a compilation of RED ONE footage shot over the past few months in several locales stateside and abroad; from Cape Cod to Las Vegas to Africa, and back home to the hills of western Massachusetts.

What you'll see here is very much a work in progress, as much of Mark Archer's footage from Mount Kilimanjaro has not yet been included. Stay tuned for the final version this fall.



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Dispatches from Africa #2: Lake Natron, Flamingoes, and the Grugrux King

This shallow salt lake is famous for its pink color and an incredible amount of flamingoes: A perfect breeding ground, Lake Natron is host to 2.5 million of the distinctive pink birds that live in the Great Rift Valley.

My Masai friend Thomas did a great job of sneaking close to the birds and waiting until I gave him the signal. Some other members of the team offered some blockage from the persistent wind oscillating the camera on what was never a perfect tripod. But once I had the RED ONE set up with a lens filled with birds, and the 4k sensor set for 120 frames per second, I was ready.

I gave Thomas the signal, he scared up the flock, and filled my frame with so many birds that I knew it was going to be an amazing, surreal shot.

Two out of three rubber tripod-leg caps decided to stay in the mud afterward, and were plucked out by Thomas. I would have liked to stay on the water's edge, following the birds and getting more shots. But with the RED on my back and the eight-person Land Rover looking smaller than a Matchbox, I got walking. Not before putting on the album I finally remembered I had on my iPhone, though: the Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey & The Grugrux King.

You know how music often becomes associated with trips? Our finished film will be filled with such music; from orphans to Masai Warriors, organized groups of dancers to an impromptu a capella treat by the porters on Kilimanjaro.

But I will also forever link DMB to my trip. It's One Sweet World!

More later,
Mark

Dispatches from Africa #1: Kilimanjaro: First Look Back

The first in a series of entries by Mark from the filming trip to Tanzania

This is one huge mountain!

I was mostly concerned with getting down, so I did not get a picture until this shot, somewhere around 14,000 feet. This is also the point at which I started to feel a little bit like I was going to live!

Although only seven weeks post-surgery, it was not my hernia that kept me from the peak of Africa's tallest mountain, but the altitude itself. Of course, I knew I had a battle going in ... my tallest training hike was only about 2,000 feet. And sometimes, the mountain just wins.

Still, all is well. I went to Africa and climbed higher than any mountain in the lower 48 states! and, most importantly, I made it down under my own power. The rest of the story, is a long one. Many photos, posts and video to come.

Jambo, Mark

In support of Change in Iran

A proceed of the sales will go to Amnesty International. The Revolution will be Twittered. T-shirt from Zazzle.com

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Equipment Check, Mt. Holyoke Range

View past episodes here:

Part 2 Film Training

Part 1 Cardio Training

Telly To Me One More Time...

The 30th annual Telly Awards competition, which honors the nation’s best in local and regional television, video, Web and film production, will soon present Del Padre Digital with a statuette for the creative showcasing of its work. This is the second such award for us.

Chosen from more than 13,000 entries – submitted by advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, interactive agencies and corporate video departments from across the country – Del Padre will receive a Bronze Telly for a demo reel that highlights the firm’s work in 2008. The demo reel is featured on its Web site, and is also sent to clients and included in press kits.

In addition to Del Padre, other past winners include Comcast Spotlight, Discovery Communications, Busch Entertainment Corporation, Chicago Tribune, ESPN, NASA, NBA Entertainment, NBC Universal, and WebMD.