Brokaw Photography – Brokaw Photography

05 Feb 2018

BRIDGET WINGERT EDITOR BUCKS COUNTY HERALD

PRINT IS NOT DEAD

Bridget Wingert had a vision to create a local paper in the early 2000’s when other newspapers were starting their slow decline. She made it happen and it’s still happening. The Bucks County Herald, based in Lahaska, PA serves up local news throughout Bucks and Montgomery Counties in PA and is even expanding its reach into neighboring Mercer and Hunterdon Counties in NJ.

I’ve done my share of photojournalism and watched as papers round the country shed their staff. The business model has changed from using ads to support journalism to just using bits and pieces of news for the purpose of selling online ads. (Don’t you just love pop-ups?) . The Herald hasn’t succumbed. There is a lot happening locally and the Herald’s reporters and photographer do an amazing job of covering everything from local government to sports to business news. I was delighted to be asked to do Bridget’s business portrait. I’m a fan.

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15 Jan 2018

PEOPLE ARE LOOKING

Or at least we hope they are. Being visible is good, being noticed is even better.

We all love to see, especially things that make us feel good. We live in a visual world full of visual media. It matters what you put out there for others to see. The intent of marketing is to create a positive emotional response. In other words, making people feel good.

Show us your best foot. Make us feel good. We’ll notice.

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Photo Stories

26 Dec 2017

ABOUT VIDEOS

“About Videos” on a your website, if done well, can be a great way for people to learn about you, your products or your services.

I visit websites because I am curious, I want to know more. That is why I am there. (And I like watching more than I like reading, so a quick video is always welcome!)

Of course it’s a balance to get it just right for your audience. If you are authentic and professional you’ll get the message out and people will enjoy learning more about you and what you are offering. If you over do it, it may seem like too much of a sales pitch or even worse, be boring.

We’ve all grown up seeing plenty of TV commercials, from screaming appliance salesmen to uber-sophisticated, high-tech productions. But a good “about video” isn’t so much a commercial as it’s a nice chance to introduce yourself.

I’ve been doing more and more of these kinds of videos like the one below. It is a lot of fun to see what emerges from the process. The rule of thumb is to keep it short and sweet and real.
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06 Dec 2017

HAPPINESS OR SATISFACTION?

What are you trying to get out of your career? Are you looking for happiness or do you want to be satisfied?

Don’t answer. It’s a trick question.

They are the same thing.…

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30 Nov 2017

LEVERAGING GOOGLE MAP AND GOOGLE EARTH

Locations matter when having events. People need to know where you are.

Brokaw Photography Studio and five art galleries are having group shows in Frenchtown this weekend. We’ve all posted our events on Facebook but when we do that we simply create six separate silos of information. To bring us all together and to inform visitors of our locations I thought it would be great to create a live Google Maps and to locate all the galleries on Google Earth.

The beauty of Google Maps is it is entirely scalable and universal. Anyone with a browser can find us around town and determine where we are in relation to themselves. If you have a Google account you can plot locations, label them, add photos and share the link. Here is the link to my map: http://bit.ly/2irqDBi

After the map has been created Google Maps enables a user to convert the locations along with any attached photos to a KML file, a simple a text file with information that can be read by mapping applications such as Google Maps and Google Earth.

With Google Earth, the locations, along with attached information such as photos, can be accurately displayed on an aerial photo that can be rotated, zoomed and panned. The screenshot below shows a SW oblique angle of the town, the show locations and one of the pop-ups that are available to see the attached information that was created in Google Maps.

Google Earth puts Google Maps into a three dimensional rendering draped over a sphere. When you zoom in all the way, it drops you into Street View which is a 360 degree spherical view from street level.

It is always fun and useful to add an interactive application to information. When people engage and play with your content they remember it better…

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27 Nov 2017

THE 65-10 RULE

Chances are you looked at Frank’s bright blue eyes before you read any text (yes, they are real!).

I know I look at pictures before I read and most of us do. That is why visual content is so important. Not only does it get our attention but we remember it better.

Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, research consultant and affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine has been study how the brain works for decades and has determined that when we hear a piece of information we’ll only remember 10% of it three days later. Add a picture and we’ll remember 65% of it. It’s the 65 – 10 rule. Big difference. (www.brainrules.net/vision)

This isn’t such good news for radio advertisers, but great news for businesses that utilize video and photos in their marketing. Of course the world is saturated with visual stimulus so whatever you are showing must be top quality and compelling. Our brains are pretty good at tuning out, ignoring and forgetting, too.

I guess we could call that the 35 – 90 rule.

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Photo Stories

24 Nov 2017

VISION

I admire people with vision. Over just a few days last week, Patricia Walsh Collins and Susan Joy Rosetty transformed an empty storefront into a thriving store called the “Art of Sprit Local.” I had just photographed the space to help market it, so am happy to see it rented.

When I saw how quickly and creatively, Susan and Patricia decorated the store and arranged all the merchandise I was thoroughly impressed. I asked Patricia how they were able to take an empty space and turned into a beautiful store in just a few days. She said that’s just what she does. “I see the big picture and then work backwards,” she said.

I call it vision.

The Art of Spirit Local is a collective gallery located at 34 Bridge Street in Frenchtown. It displays and offers for sale a wide range of items from paintings and photos to clothing. Everything is created by local artists. It will only be a here a few weeks, for the holiday season.

Naturally, I had to get an after picture to go with the before photo.

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Photo Stories

16 Nov 2017

GAMING FOR ENTREPRENEURS

The Board of Directors for the Hunterdon County Chamber of Commerce Foundation gathered at the Large House in Flemington recently to “play.”

They played “Outta This World,” a board game designed to awaken creativity and innovation, which was created by the Hudicka family based in Hunterdon County. It was an interesting evening photographing and video recording some of the county’s business leaders engaged and enjoying a free flow of energy.

“Outta This World! is our patent pending brainstorm game, which challenges players to transform a set of randomly selected criteria into world changing products or experiences.” explained Joe Hudicka (https://www.fizzeelabs.com/).“The objective of the game is to demonstrate your ability to think out of the box, clearly pitch your ideas and bring in $100 Billion through your competitors investing in you!”

After the fun and games Joe led a discussion among the board members and it was fun seeing new and creative ideas emerged about growing and expanding the Foundation. I think everyone won.

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Photo Stories

15 Nov 2017

NOT AMUSED?

Have you ever had one of those days when you pitch idea after idea to your boss and he just stares at you?…

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15 Nov 2017

BOYS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN

Life accelerates as we grow. The Hunterdon Harmonizers, who are launching yet another production with zest and zeal, asked if I could come an do some PR shots for them as they rehearse for their upcoming show. It was fun being with them and being bowled over by their enthusiasm. These are not the kind of guys who sit around at night vegging in front of their TVs but instead get out, get together and squeeze every moment out of life.

I’d love to join them but there is a very good reason I’m a photographer and not a singer! (Just ask the clown.)

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Tag : Brokaw Photography