Transposure

Angela and I wanted to welcome our newest clients…

Kathleen and Mark - Wedding Date May 29, 2011

and

Kelly and Kevin - Wedding Date October 23, 2010

We are very excited about both of your weddings!  We love all of your ideas and the chosen venues and look forward to creating some fabulous photography for you!  The best part is that we love that you guys appreciate great photography!  Once the weather gods look more kindly upon us (12″ of snow today!) we’ll need to talk engagement sessions.  The initial discussions all sound great!

We wish you all the best and wish to say thanks for your patronage!

We recently wrapped up the photography for the Roman Jeweler’s Wedding.  The wedding was held at The Palace in Somerset, New Jersey on Valentine’s Day Eve, February 13, 2010.  We were one of the Romantic Partners donating our services for this great cause.  The entire event was very well done and we are pleased to have been a part of the extravaganza!

Joseph Panico and Angela Rotella won this wedding by virtue of their humanitarian efforts in a contest that was the brainchild of Roman Jewelers.  You can read more about the background of the wedding event and the contest in a previous blog post.

The Courier News and the Home News Tribune both published articles on this wedding on Sunday, February 21, 2010.  The article and one of our photos even made it on the front page of the Courier News piece!

Here they are….

Courier News

Home News Tribune

We are simply delighted!

We released a few photos to the media upon request of the publicity agent Cecilian Worldwide and thought we would add them here as well…

Congratulations Joe and Angela!!

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!!

As with all of our wedding clients, we recently visited the reception site of one of our clients.  The building is the Curtis Center in Philadelphia.  OK, let me say this…..Breathtaking!!

Oh, and another comment…our clients are awesome!  They are so excited about us being their wedding photographers!!  Those are the best kind of clients.  Not as cheerleaders, but as people who appreciate fine photography and the efforts it takes to achieve them.

Well, while walking through the location for the first time, I took a snap shot of the Christmas tree that resided in the reception hall.  After looking at the download, it quickly became apparent that it had to be our official Transposure 2009 Holiday card!

A&J, we are looking forward to being there for you in March!

Oh, and here’s the card!

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.

The dilemma…..a reliable power source for the variety of off camera flash units I use on a daily basis.

The result…..a friendship, and a few batteries….

Shooting events such as weddings can take a toll on flash batteries very quickly.  Running AA’s in the battery compartment simply don’t have the capacity to withstand long events, let alone those that require high power bursts.  So, it was off to market to find a suitable solution.  The market was the internet and reading the various photography forums I found quite a few references to an elusive product called the “Black Box”.  After more research, I finally found its maker, Mr. Al Jacobson, and his website www.aljacobs.com.  Al is the epitomy of a Mom and Pop shop , minus the Mom.  I guess that would make his company a Pop Shop.  Well, maybe that is a fitting term as his device, The Black Box, pops my flashes over, and over, and over, and over.  As a matter of fact, I have not reached its limit in any event I have shot yet!  I currently own two of them and Ang has one of his smaller units called a “Tuxedo”.  The batteries utilize lead acid technology in lieu of NiCad, NiMh or Li-Ion or Li-Polymer.  They are seemingly endless in their supply of power and they are supposed to be plugged into the charger when not in use.  No worries about overcharging here.  Set them and forget them.  That is also Al’s philosophy, KISS.  You all know what that means.  I use them for my off camera flashes.  They just work.  And that my dear friends is very, very important in this game.

So, after purchasing these batteries, I just had to go back to his site.  Why?  Well, its all about the comedy.  The banter.  The insightful world viewpoint.  At 65+ year old, I have to believe Mr. Jacobson has seen a fair share of things in this world and his satirical take on them is second to none.  In the flavor of the ubiquitous bathroom stall inscriptions “For a good read, go to www.aljacobs.com!”

Although not yet meeting face to face, I have exchanged philosophical banter with Mr. J countless times.  He always has me rolling on the floor!

Recently, during one of our conversations, I directed him to my website.  He was so enthralled, he offered to place a link on his site in a special “Featured Photographers” area.  Al tells it like it is and his endorsement of my work means a lot and I am very appreciative of that.  He had this to say……….

Kenneth P. Volpe

PPA Certified Professional Photographer

T R A N S P O S U R E

F i n e  A r t  P h o t o g r a p h y  S t u d i o

9 0 8 . 9 3 0 . 5 9 9 8

ken@transposure.com

www.transposure.com

“Words like “over the top” come close to the work that Kenneth Volpe does.  Just when you think you have seen artistry, he can and does take it to a new level.

Working both studio and on location he brings new insight into this art form.  He too sees “gear” as tools just as a brush is in the hands of the painter.  But it’s the Renoir’s that hang on the walls that Sam the painter, painted. Go to his website and explore.”

I have but two words…..

Thanks Al!

A lot of traveling this week relating to photography.  We attended PhotoPlusExpo on Thursday in NYC as usual.  As usual because we have attended every year for as long as I can remember.  Actually, its anybody’s guess how long that is since my memory tends to purge things more frequently these days!  The show was a little lean this year, with the MAC Group booths conspicuously absent.  MAC Group distributes a nice cross section of the high end brands of photo gear in the US, such as Profoto, Mamiya, Sekonic, PocketWizard, etc.

We scoured the floor for album manufacturers that have the quality we desire and again short listed three manufacturers.  Of course the one we’ve primarily used is still in that list, however, there were a few new offerings that look very interesting.  We have decided to try them out.  So, who wants to be the guinea pig?  LOL  No worries there.  The others are well known, highly respected companies just like the one we use regularly.

While there we attended a lighting seminar and found it, well, umm, uninspiring.  We’ll leave it at that.  So, we ended up returning from the Big Apple with our wallets intact.  The next day we attended a seminar in Washington, DC by the fabulous Joe McNally.  Joe is a very highly respected photographer.  He is an editorial photographer primarily.  As an editorial photographer myself, his techniques were of great interest.  It goes beyond that though.  His lecturing demeanor has healthy doses of humor and he never takes himself too seriously.  Oh, and did I mention how inventive and satisfying his work is to view?  His seminar focused on the use of small flashes for a variety of assignments.  He demonstrated techniques to an audience in the hundreds.  Thanks Joe!

Needless to say, there was a lot of traveling involved between the two cities and it turned out to be a bit tiring!  Thank you to Starbucks for helping us get through it all!

I recently met up with Jessica (aka: Foxy Lady…inside joke!) and David to shoot their engagement session.  We chose a really cool location to pump up the volume a bit in typical Transposure fashion.  The weather was perfect, they were perfect, the creativity was flowin’!

I love engagement sessions!  Why you ask?  Well, like we tell our clients, it is just one more opportunity to get to know them prior to their big day.  And yes, that is important.  It introduces the client to the ways of the photographer and allows them to gain the trust and just get comfortable in front of the camera.  A lot of couples come to the table with trepidation, only to find it is quickly dispelled by the communication, humor and fun they have on their shoot!  We love that!

Some shots from the day….