Revival Construction, a family run construction company based in Flemington, creates beautiful, new, yet rustic houses as well as renovations throughout the region. It is well known for its quality and people always speak glowingly of working with them.
On a recent shoot we wanted to get a few exteriors and I noticed a small patch of wildflowers in a nearby field and thought about how they would make a great foreground for the shot. Positioning myself behind them way out in the field and using a telephoto lens I was able to get both the flowers and the house in the same shot. The intent was to accentuate the exterior shot and give it a country look.
Using foreground is a great technique and relatively easy to do whether you are using a cell phone or a full blown professional camera. The key is to find foreground that contributes to the main subject without distracting from it. Often the foreground may be a little out of focus but in many situations that doesn’t matter. The overall intent is to enhance the meaning of the image, to create a stronger message, to tell a story.
So next time you are getting some shots for business or personal use, take a look at what you might use in the foreground and experiment. You may find it adds a whole new dimension to your photo.…
I came across a group of young athletes early in the morning making their way up a five mile hill. Although near the top of the hill every one of them was still running, pushing their limit to the top.
It occurred to me that climbing never really ends. Sometimes it levels off a bit and the type of climbing we do will vary but it’s always forward and upward. Can’t fight it, might as well embrace it. Every hill climbed is another hill climbed.…
When we collaborate, we grow.
Naturally, there is collaboration between our businesses and our clients, as well as between ourselves and our suppliers. Collaboration between peers also has its rewards. We may not want to give our competition a boost or lose our edge but there are ways to collaborate where we all come out ahead.
My schtick is organizing and producing photo projects with other photographers. My latest collaborative project, Summer on the Delaware, will be on display in my studio on Sunday, September 3rd (Labor Day Weekend). The image above is the first sunrise of summer 2017 on the Delaware River and was created to kickoff the project.
The Summer on the Delaware project is a collaboration among 29 photographers who are showing their work, New Hope Photo and Video (http://newhopephoto.com/) that is generating all the prints for the show, the Frenchtown Business and Professional Association and Brokaw Photography.
The exhibition of the photos created by all the photographers is timed to coincide with Frenchtown’s Riverfest Celebration, the town largest and most fun event of the year. (Visit its Facebook page for more info, https://www.facebook.com/frenchtownriverfest2016/ .) The intent is both to enhance the Riverfest Celebration and to benefit from the crowds it draws. New Hope Photo gets to show off its printing quality and the photographers all enjoy the opportunity to showcase their work. Personally, I love working with everyone and opening my studio to the public.
The beauty of this project is that it is all heart. Everyone is in it for the joy of doing it and working with each other. No one is making a killing but instead we all know that when we work together like this we all benefit and grow.…
As part of a video for the Hunterdon County of Chamber Foundation I had the opportunity to do an interview with Joe Colalillo of Shop Rite, one of the inductees for the Foundation’s Hall of Fame. Joe is well known and loved throughout the county for all he does to support the community in many, many ways.
I’m a regular shopper at Shop Rite and always knew how hard everyone works but I think I underestimated and maybe under appreciated what really goes into a thriving business like Shop Rite.
After the interview I wandered the store a little to get some images to put in the video. It seemed everywhere I turned employees were busy doing all the things necessary to serve their customers. Individually, they were focused and hardworking which was impressive enough. Collectively, they were a well-tuned team.
It is all too easy to underestimate and under appreciate what goes into making a business like this thrive, from the individual to the whole team. Everyday I photograph businesses I see this and it gives me a whole new perspective every time.
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In the beginning when we first begin learning to shoot straight, there were those in the background keeping a watchful eye and making sure we weren’t aiming at our foot.
Ideally, mentoring and guiding never really end in the business world, whether we are the eager student or the wise observer in the background.
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“OMG. So happy thanks so much.”
When you finish a job and read these words, you can feel satisfied you’ve served your client well. Having recently received such an email, I’m happy as a peach and also well aware one should never rest on one’s laurels.
Satisfying a client is more than the final product. It is the whole process that leads you there, from the first phone call to the deliverable and everything in between. It is an ongoing cycle that never ends.…
Here comes the moon. Standing in front of the sun and casting us into darkness in the middle of the day.
OK, so maybe it won’t get this dark, but it will be the biggest shortest show of the year.…
I talk to a lot of business people and I know how much everyone cares about the services and products they provide. This is their vision. Their clients and customers also have a vision. They want products and services that satisfy them. When we share our visions with other people’s visions, that’s when magic happens.
We all have visions for ourselves and for our businesses. Visions are what we want to see happen. We want to grow, we want to serve, we want to be happy and make other people happy.
As a commercial photographer, I am essentially a visual marketer. My clients know how they feel about their businesses and come to me to put it in a photo.
My job is to understand their vision, mix it up in my brain and blend it with my own vision. I gather up my equipment, spin the dials, add some secret sauce and then point and shoot away. Always, always I want to meet that objective, expressing their vision.
I recently received one of the most satisfying emails a photographer could get. Just one sentence. “These pictures are great and the shot I was looking for is there! Perfect”
Gotta love it.
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Is it “showroom,” “show room,” or “show showroom?”
In this case I think I’ll settle on “show showroom.” Photography of interiors is all about showing rooms. In this case, it’s a showroom for a contractor. Showrooms always make for great photos as they are designed to be seen. Of course, interior photos are not by any means limited to showrooms. Good photos are excellent anytime you want to express what it feels like to be in a space. It may be your office, a store, a restaurant or a factory floor.
Typically interiors are shot using a wide angle lens to include as much of the space as possible. Stitched panoramas are another great method to illustrate internal spaces. Stitching means to combine two or more photos to create a single image. The key is how the photos are taken. Everything has to be one just right of the photos won’t line up properly. Below is an example of the same showroom as a stitched 360 degree panorama. When viewed on Google or Facebook, a users can actually scroll around and view the entire space.
It’s always about engaging the viewer.…