Transposure

We finished up a few bridal shows recently and made some new relationships with some new clients!

Angela and I frequently discuss who are clients are, their personalities and the various nuances of each of their weddings.  We have found one common denominator with all of them.  They love the art of photography!

That is what makes our marriage with them, as their wedding photographers, the best part.  They understand and want the art and are willing to work with us to get it!  We love that!

We love that you can think outside of the box and want to push the limits.  We have and will continue to push our own limits to make the ordinary…extraordinary for all of you!

So, we want to thank our newest clients…

Kimberly and Clint (Make sure you get your hands on that chopper!)

Lisa and Steve (Quentin rules!  Yes, we are excited about that!)

Michelle & Chris (We’ve taken off “Donor from our licenses!!  LOL)

Rachel and Ryan (We are getting in shape for the big hike!)

Thanks guys!!

Over the course of the last six months, I had the pleasure of befriending Mrs. Sophie Shor of Roman Jewelers in Flemington, New Jersey www.romanjewelers.com .  Sophie is the owner and CEO of the company and quite a lady.  She is the sweetest lady and also an ingenius businesswoman.  We were recently discussing jewelry photography and I offered to shoot one of her pieces.  It happened to be a ring, and just in time for Valentines Day!

I figured I would ramp things up a bit and see where the chips fell.  The ring was very pretty and I decided to juxtapose it against a grungy background, in pink of course, just in time for Valentines Day!  I think it works!  What about you?

The project did get me thinking….

What if we started offering high end photography of wedding rings?  This kind of thing could work well in the bride and groom’s album!  Thoughts?

It’s off to Imaging USA 2010!  This year PPA (Professional Photographers of America) has made arrangements with the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.  I previously stayed at this hotel in 2002 when I participated in the Gumball3000 cross country race, but that is a subject for another conversation…hehe.

Anyway, the complex is absolutely enormous, but more importantly, it is attended by approximately 20,000 professional photographers from around the nation.  The three days are filled with a variety of workshops and seminars giving all a chance to learn the latest and greatest tips and techniques from the industry leaders.  We always enjoy the show as we come back full of inspiration ready to implement new ideas and products into our business.

In the end, this effort benefits our clients, further bolstering their confidence in our abilities and product line.  Case in point, we found a wicked new album line that we will be integrating into our lineup.  If any of the current brides are reading this, and are interested in discussing the possibilities, leave a comment!

Be back soon!

I have had the pleasure of working with Lehigh Valley Style Magazine for the past two years now.  In that time, I have photographed a variety of covers, feature articles, and such.  Well, recently, I was asked to provide photography and graphic design services for their 10th Anniversary cover, the January 2010 issue.  I was flattered!  Lisa’s (editor) idea was to shoot a birthday cake and use it as the centerpiece of the cover.  We set up the shoot and collected the images.

Since the first conversation, my creativity engine was in high gear trying to develop a way of pumping up the cover for this special anniversary issue.  I decided to call on a long time friend of mine, Britt, who is in the graphic arts business.  I can handle graphic artistry up to a certain point, but I wanted a seasoned pro to provide oversight for this job.  Britt stepped up to the plate and, using technology to our advantage, he received the image files in his Florida office soon after they were shot in Style’s office in Pennsylvania.  Gotta love the internet!  I came up with a concept in advance of the shoot which involved a collage of the covers from the past 10 years.

Within 15 minutes of shooting, we had several finished proofs for the anniversary cover in hand and in front of the editor!!  Wow!  She was delighted!  We developed two versions of the cover.  The cake idea and the “10″ idea.  The “10″ idea was simply a large 10 representing the anniversary.

After some deliberation lasting several days, the final decision was made….

Style made some tweaks to the text, but overall, that was the chosen design.

Happy Anniversary Style!!

One of my favorite things to do is create environmental portraiture.  What is EP you ask?  Well, quite simply, it is a portrait of an individual in an environment that helps define who they are and/or what they do.  It involves creativity and an ability to control the light to achieve the end result.  Well to this end, I had the unique opportunity to photograph a blacksmith recently.  The point of the project was to create a stellar opening shot for his website.  Now, he wasn’t the ordinary run-o-the-mill blacksmith, mind you.  In other words, you weren’t going to find any horseshoes hanging around his shop.  Instead, you would find twisted iron, hammered metal and other intriguing shapes.  Mr. Braddee of Braddee MetalWorks creates work of metallic art for high end homes.  Think barstools, bar footrails, iron entry gates, fireplace protection grates, and the list goes on.

Well, the first order of business was to discuss our respective ideas for his environmental portrait.  We did and decided on a concept.  Mike wanted to see the sparks flying, and at the same time, a portrait of himself to define his site and his work.

We set up the shoot and I allotted about 2 hours to get the job done.  By the time I set up lighting and he got his forge to working temperature, two hours proved to be just right!  We timed the strike of his hammer on the red hot iron piece on his anvil.

One….two….three…….

Overall, I was pleased with the result, and so was Mike!  And in the end, that is really what matters!

I hope you like it too.

So, I spent my day yesterday out in the cold, freezing!  Even my 37 layers weren’t enough to keep the bodyheat inside.  Well, I guess it is partially due to not moving around too much.  That is the nature of the proverbial beast though.  We are talking about wildlife photography and alot of it is just standing around waiting…..and in the case of yesterday’s temperatures….freezing.

The “beasts” of the day were bald eagles.  You know, the symbol of this once great nation!  Yeah, the “once” was intentional.  At one time, an endangered species, I don’t believe they are any more.  It usually takes a while for the realization of this to catch up to the administrators that keep animals on the endangered list a little longer.

In any case, I packed the Mark III and dusted off the 600mm and the Wimberley mount and trekked to Maryland.  The drive was about 2 1/2 hours, but I was excited to get out and shoot.  It has been a while since I last photographed wildlife, so it was a welcomed excursion!

I showed up a little late so I missed a lot of the “breakfast” activity.  Eagles apparently fly south as the northern weather gets cold and the lakes freeze.  This always them to feed on the fish in warmer regions, and usually in the morning and evening as I found out.  This also means that we photographers gain the benefit of photographing them without having to travel too far.  Well, unless you are a diehard fanatic, in which case you probably already have your airline ticket booked to Homer, Alaska.  LOL

After lunch, that is, lunch for the photographer, the afternoon proved more fruitful in terms of image captures.  And, I thought I would share a few….

So, am I happy with the captures?  Well, yes and no.  I didn’t have my autofocus settings appropriate for this type of photography (still set for wedding shooting) and I had a 1.4 teleconverter installed.  So, that meant I had to keep the center focus spot on the target to achieve focus.  If it fell of the target, like during panning, all bets were off.  So, yes, I am happy considering the hinderences of the equipment and being able to work through them, and no, I will never be completely happy with any photograph I make.  But then again, isn’t that the case with many of us?  Don’t we all go out again and try to do better?  I know I do!