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Monthly Archives: October 2017

31 Oct 2017
FRENCHTOWN BUSINESSES ON GOOGLE EARTH

LEVERAGING GOOGLE EARTH

Marketing is all about engaging the viewer.  The vast majority of what we encounter on line is simply viewed, read or heard. We read posts, look at photos, watch videos and listen to recordings.

But there are always applications emerging that can engage us by allowing us to interact with what we see.  We do more than just look or listen, we take action by zooming and panning and clicking.  This engages our motor functions and stimulates our brains.

One of my favorite applications is Google Earth which lets me fly around the globe, zoom in on areas and check out photos.  Naturally, I want to put my own content out there so I launched a project called Frenchtown 150 to commemorate Frenchtown NJ’s 150th anniversary.

My vision was to generate 150 photos of 150 locations in the borough and put them on Google Earth where viewers could pan and zoom around to explore both visually and spatially.  I recruited a small group of about 20 other talented photographers from my Meetup Group (Frenchtown Photography Meetup ) and assigned them locations to shoot and instructed them on how to post-process and georeference their images. Below is a GIS generated map of the locations for the photographers.

Upon receive the image files I utilized a tool written by programmer, Timothy Whitehead, who works for Red Wing Aerobatx and lives in Cape Town, South Africa.  Timothy’s tool allowed me to batch create a KML file with the georeferenced images with I then modified to enable hyperlinking to the image files on my website.  Upon launching the KML file, the photo locations and image files become visible on Google Earth.

Each camera icon below represents a photo which can be viewed upon zooming in or by clicking on the menu of locations to the left of the aerial photo.…

29 Oct 2017
THE SCARECROW WRANGLER

FRENCHTOWN SCARECROWS 2017

Each year creatively created scarecrows suddenly appear in Frenchtown.

Every night they wander the streets and change places before dawn.

Hundreds of people have investigated this strange manifestation but no one yet has been able to explain it.  We all …. we all know there is no explanation

With the help of my trusty Scarecrow Wrangler we captured them briefly for a quick portrait before they animated and began wandering.

THE INEFFECTIVE SCARECROW
THE DOUBLE-SIDED WOMAN

THE DEMOGORGON

THE HALLOWEEN DANCER

THE TREE OF LIFE

CHARLIE PACE

A.D.

GRIMLOCK

THE SLOTH

THE WAITER

27 Oct 2017
TREES WATER STONE

TREES WATER STONE

Trees Water Stone is a collaborative art event celebrating Solstice in Frenchtown. The intent is to bring artists and photographers together to display and sell their work and enjoy themselves.

Brokaw Photography Studio, Freedom Art and Music Gallery and Joe Ressarts Strasser Art are hosting works by artists and photographers that have a Solstice theme.  The event will happen Saturday and Sunday, December 2nd and 3rd with an artists/photographers reception Saturday evening.  All three sites are within short walking distance of each other in Frenchtown.   Brokaw Photography will host black and white photos depicting the Trees Water Stone theme.  Freedom Art and Music Gallery and Joe Ressarts Strasser art will host artwork.  There will also be a

Solstice bonfire  roaring at Joe’s!

TREES WATER STONE LOCATIONSAerial View of Frenchtown
(click here for interactive Google Map)

Photographers are invited to submit their work to Brokaw Photography for consideration as part of the event.  There are no fees or commissions and all work can be available for sale by the photographers.

Here are the criteria for photography:

All photographs must be in black and white
The photos should celebrate the Earth
Photos of Trees, Water and Stone are encouraged
Unframed, matted or flush mounted photos are preferred over framed pieces
Photographers will hang their work during the week before the show using 3M Command strips
(No hooks or nails)
Photos should be submitted for consideration via email before November 20th
Bill@BrokawPhoto.com
Photos will be juried for inclusion in the show

This is all for love of photography, the Earth and the fun of being part of a collective art event.

 …

27 Oct 2017
COLOR

COLOR?

The world is full of color.  But sometimes we may want to look at it in black and white. Does it work?

The perennial favorite for color watching is fall foliage.  It doesn’t last long.  A couple of weeks.  I wondered if I could create a black and white image of foliage with snap and interest.  It didn’t work.  Black and white leaves? (Am I nuts?)

RIVER FOLIAGE

26 Oct 2017
VINCE PAPALE - PASSION

PASSION

Vince Papale “walked on” to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1970s and made history.  An unknown 30 year old guy from the neighborhood who never played football decided to try out and became an NFL legend.  Disney even made a movie about him called Invincible.

Vince’s football days are behind him and now he travels the country giving talks and motivating everyone from corporate executives to high school athletes.

Vince’s story is impressive, for sure, but as I photographed him during a recent event, it was obvious to me that it all boils down to passion.  Passion is that driving energy available to all of us.  It’s when desire for an outcome obliterates all doubt and resistance.  As Vince so clearly describes and demonstrates, passion doesn’t just happen.  You cultivate it.

Be passionate.

VINCE PAPALE

VINCE PAPALE

VINCE PAPALE

www.BrokawPhotography.com

 

 

 …

25 Oct 2017
BROKAW PHOTOGRAPHY-FOOD TRUCK EVENT_5

FOOD TRUCK FUN

Like many companies, Promius Pharma annually convenes its people from around the country to bring them together as a team and enhance their focus on the company mission.  And of course the first night is a time for settling in and getting off to a good start with a social event.  This year Promius met at the Crown Plaza in Princeton and decided it would be fun to have food trucks cater the party.

I’ve photographed a lot of corporate events and this one was a blast.  What a great idea. It was relaxed, fun and ever so tasty!

www.BrokawPhotography.com

 …

23 Oct 2017
COLD BREW

COLD BREW

Really cold brew at BioStorage, part of a facility at Rutgers University where they keep stuff on ice (not beer, though).

I’ve photographed a number of sites specializing in cryogenic storage and it’s pretty amazing to see how technology enables us to seriously cool things down and essentially stop the aging process.

Funny, though, when it gets really cold, I certainly don’t feel my aging process slowing down.

www.BrokawPhotography.com

19 Oct 2017
TREATMENT PLANT - BILL BROKAW

INDUSTRIAL GRAPHICS

I don’t often think of the visual graphic appeal of sewage treatment plants.

Actually, I don’t really think of sewage treatment very often, but recently, when on assignment photographing this facility I couldn’t help but notice its visual elegance.

Everything at a treatment plant is designed for a purpose and within this design is a kind of graphic beauty.

I always enjoy photographing engineered structures. Especially when the light is awesome.  Ideally, it works as well as it looks.

TREATMENT PLANT - BILL BROKAW

www.BrokawPhotography.com

17 Oct 2017
GEOIMGR.com

GEOTAGGING ONLINE

Geotagging is fairly easy and is required in order to embed a photo on Google Earth. Geotagging is the process of adding latitude/longitude coordinates to the metadata of a photo.

Some cameras will geotag automatically when you take a photo. However, this is the location of the camera when the photo was taken, not the the location being photographed. For our project, FRENCHTOWN 150, we are adding custom coordinates to our digital files. This can be done a number of ways including Lightroom (see my post PROCESSING AND GEOTAGGING FOR FRENCHTOWN 150 IN LIGHTROOM).

You can also geotag online.

Before uploading your photo to geotag it you need to:

CROP YOUR PHOTO SQUARE
RESIZE IT TO 1200×1200 pixels
LABEL “LOCATION – PHOTOGRAPHER.”
NAME IT “LOCATION – PHOTOGRAPHER.jpg”

When your photo is properly cropped, sized, labelled and named, upload it to geoimgr.com  to geotag it.

The site is fairly intuitive.  Here is a short video of the steps.

17 Oct 2017
BROKAW PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS

DIGITAL BASICS WORKSHOP-OCT 21st 9-12:00

“Digital Basics” Oct 21st 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM ($69)
This workshop is for those getting starting in the world of digital photography.

We will cover the basic concepts of the digital technology, camera settings and guidelines on how to create better photos. The course is taught at a nice, even step by step pace, covering topics thoroughly but without technical jargon.

Call or email to register: 908-996-4440    Bill@BrokawPhoto.com

TOPICS
About your camera:
Learn a little about just what a digital camera is and how it works.  We will cover basic camera functions, menus and lenses

What is a digital image:
This topic will give you a basic understanding of just what you are creating when you take a photo.  We’ll discuss pixels, resolution and image quality.

Photographing:
How do we get good, well exposed photo that are in focus?  We will examine the core principles for what make great photos such a landscapes, portraits, sports and candids.

LOCATION

Brokaw Photography Studio
34 Bridge Street
Frenchtown NJ
908-996-4440
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