July 21, 2006

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  In September of 1999 I vacationed on the island of Nantucket, off Massachusetts. I created a MikeVideo called "Nantucket Holiday Island", a 90 minute travelogue, where I, as host, take viewers on a guided tour of the island, complete with historical narration. The video was shot on digital videotape, mastered on S-VHS, and I made VHS copies for distribution among my friends and acquaintences. I created a web page announcing the video. I've been recently looking at the footage I shot, which encompasses five hour long digital videotapes, and I am planning on re-editing the complete video into a "series" of 10 minute "internet videos" for my YouTube site. This should be relatively easy, as all my narration was "on tape". While going through the footage, I've been snapping some "photos" from the video. I didn't have a still camera back then, so these are "captures" from the digital videotape. The camera was one of the first digital videocameras, so the resolution is not as good as my latest camera.

  
  

   

  
  

  A "street scene" in downtown Nantucket. The buildings are all built to a strict code so that they all look like they could have been on the island since the 18th century, when the island was the main whaling port in the states, back when whaling was an important industry. During the evenings in the summer, the island streets are almost deserted, but when the ferries come into the harbor during the day, there are thousands of tourists, and their automobiles, cluttering up the small streets, some of which are cobblestone.

  
  

   

  
  

  I got lots of playful video footage of seagulls romping along the coast. Here one is playing with a small shell she picked up, ran around with, and then put down, playing with it some more.

  
  

   

  
  

  There was a full moon during my stay and I caught this shot, again, part of video footage, and not a "photo" per se, while the sun was setting. It's a little out of focus, but I do like the color of the sky.

  
  

   

  
  

  One evening I travelled to the other side of the island from where Nantucket town is situated, and I videotaped the sunset over Madaket beach. My vacation coincided with a hurricane warning for Hurricane Floyd, which the islanders thought might hit Nantucket, while I was there. The storm passed, eventually doing a lot of damage to the state of Virginia, but it left Nantucket with some wonderful cloudscapes and clear skies for sunsets.

  
  

   

  
  

  Here the sun is about to drop into the sea. On the video, I "time lapse" the photography, so the viewer sees the complete sunset in about a minute.

  
  

   

  
  

  I took a cruise on a restored vintage sailboat called the Endeavor, which sailed around the harbor.

  
  

   

  
  

  Here is a shot from the video of the main mast of the sailing vessel.

  
  

   

  
  

  "Captain Mike Sparrow" on the deck of the Endeavor, Nantucket, 1999. The video footage here was taken by another passenger. The owner of the boat built it from scratch and has been giving tours of the harbor for over 20 years.

  
  

   

  
  

  Cape Cod housing and the ubiquitous Cape Cod style fencing which you can find all over the northeastern beaches. The beach (in California parlance) is commonly called the "shore" on the East coast.

  
  

   

  
  

  The Brandt Point Lighthouse at the opening to the harbor shot from the Endeavor sailing vessel.

  
  

  Stay tuned for the MikeVideo Internet Movie Series: "Nantucket Holiday Island", which I hope to assemble over the next few months as another video project. I took a lot of great memories and four hours of video footage to prove it from the island back in 1999. These photos only give a taste of the main course. Yo ho Yo ho, a mariner's life for me!

  • 7:49 pm
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