Singer Songwriter

Paul Cataldi is more than a singer song writer.  He is also a veteran, like so many of our finest men and women.  Paul served and made it back but not before being hammered, breaking his back and traveling the long road to recovery.

He is back in the States and expressing himself through his music.  Paul is blend of James Dean. country/western and solid, home-grown New Jersey.  Naturally, I was honored when he asked me to create images for him that would reflect his music.

We spent a little time in the studio and then headed outside to the river,  We planned a late day shoot to take advantage of the rich afternoon light and it’s reflection off the river.  Lighting to match his music.

Mike Padovan is a second generation stained glass artisan and specializes in restoration of historic masterpieces.  Mike’s studio, Jersey Arts Stained Glass Studio,(http://www.jerseyart.com/) is located right across the street from my own studio here in Frenchtown, on the banks of the Mighty Delaware River.

Mike is a master craftsman and has restored historic stained glass windows at cathedrals, universities, public buildings and even train stations.  It is a extremely careful, detailed procedure to restore an historic work of art.

Mike and I have been planning a photo session for months and we finally got together this week to do some portrait in his studio.  Mike’s work is in high demand and keeps him busy so I was delighted that he was able to steal some time for a photo sesion.

Working on location in other people’s space is both challenging and rewarding.   You have to think on your feet and work within the constraints of the location.  But it’s that location that tells the story and provides context for the portraits.  Shooting in Mike’s studio was a pleasure.  Nice high ceilings and plenty of room to set up lights.  I wouldn’t  mind having it for my own studio.

Therese Bush-Hilgar is a talented designer with a thriving interior design business, Decor and You, based in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. tbush-hilgar.decorandyou.com/

Theresa is also enjoying being fit and active and decided it was time to update her business portrait for her website, for LinkedIn.com and all the other applications where a headshot is essential.  Theresa came to the studio this week with the idea of getting a simple headshot by Brokaw Photography.

We started with some traditional head and shoulders images and although they were good and showed her great personality we wanted to get something a little different, something more unique.  So we tried a few different outfits, lighting and angles to create Theresa’s new business portrait.  Below is the best of the lot,  a wonderful “strategic portrait” that says more than a simple headshot and expresses her as a artist and a person with whom you want to do business.

The Wireless Zone in Flemington, NJ, (http://www.wirelesszone.com) is owned and operated by Tricia Bolanz-Riedy and offers Verizon plans, support and a wide selection of cell phones and accessories.

While associated with Verizon and in compliance with its criteria for a franchise, Tricia offers customers more than the typical corporate experience.  She and Stacey are always on hand guiding customers through the maze of plan options and the variety of phones.

Tricia wanted to create a few strategic portraits to give potential customers a sense that they would be dealing with real people who cared about their business and not just corporate employees putting in their hours for the day.  It is always a pleasure to photograph people like Tricia and Stacey who are full of warmth and personality.

Megan Jones-Holt is the District Governor of Rotary International (www.rotarynj.org) and is a member of the Clinton Sunrise Rotary Club (www.clintonsunriserotary.org).  The Rotary is one of the leading organizations in the world in raising money to fight polio, and we are almost there.

Megan’s portrait photos graces billboards encouraging people to help support the Rotary and its efforts.  Megan came to my photography studio studio about a month ago to create the image for the billboard (seen in the background).  The criteria for this professional portrait were very precise so it could be used for the media campaign.  Naturally, I wanted to get “another” portrait of Megan, this time standing in front of her portrait.

When you hear of events sponsored by the Rotary Club be sure to join in.  The events are fun and the money you contribute is incredibly well managed and used for great causes.

Martha Stewart came came to our region for a little publicity for her new book “Martha’s American Food.”

Martha was friendly and gracious, but like most celebrities, pretty tight on time.

As much as I would like to have spent an hour or more creating a nice collection of photos I had to settle for 5 minutes, but that was fine.

With a second off-camera strobe, a little bounce lighting and a winning smile even a book store portrait can look good.

When your systems are not up to par, who’s your hero?

DR BOB, The Computer Doctor!

Bob Springer is a Systems Architect and runs Business Tech Team (BusinessTechTeam.com) in Basking Ridge, NJ.  Bob diagnoses and heals wounded, infected and “malade à la tête”  systems.

Now, anybody can stand and smile for a business portrait but Bob had a different concept for his portrait. After all he’s a Computer Doctor and wanted to show it.  So Bob gave Brokaw Photography a call.

I had him make an appointment a month in advance and called ahead there times to insist he be on time  (and then I had my nurse keep him waiting in the waiting room for an extra hour..).  His photography insurance card was all up to date and he did not even need a co-pay for this visit.

I love it when clients have unique ideas they want to play with.  This is a perfect example of a Strategic Portrait.  It’s different and shows that Bob is both serious and has a wry sense of humor.  There are a lot of computer systems specialists out there, but only one Dr. Bob.  People are going to remember him when they need help with their computer systems.

We tried different looks and now Bob has a nice collection of images for his website, social media and collateral.