The great people at Pharmastrat kidded me that it felt like “picture day” when I did their corporate headshots for them.  They treated me well and even gave me my own space for the morning, a spare office which I turned into a mini-studio.

They wanted a white background and even lighting for a clean, crisp look.  No problem!  Just place an umbrella here, a relector there, a few key lights and a portable background and voilà. We did both “suit and tie” photos and then shucked the ties jackets for some casual shots (shown here).

It definately was a pleasure photograping everyone.  There is a strong, positive vibration at Pharmastrat and just looking at their photos makes me want to do business with them.

]]> http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/05/corporate-casual/feed/ 2 http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/05/todd-stone-midstream/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=todd-stone-midstream http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/05/todd-stone-midstream/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 00:30:43 +0000 Bill Brokaw http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/?p=647 Continue reading →]]> Todd Stone is well known for his art in both urban and rural settings, including the destruction and later rebuilding of the World Trade Centers as well as scenes in and along along the Delaware River and Gallows Run, a high quality stream in northern Bucks County, PA.

Todd is also committed to raising awareness of the degradation of our environment and actively works to seek solutions to problems, especially in and around the Gallows Run watershed.

Many of his recent works are of the stream from midstream perspective (i.e., seeing the stream not from the banks but from right in the middle) so it was only natural for me to want to photograph Todd where he is most comfortable.  And of course, to photograph midstream, you gotta get midstream, too.

Todd photographing me photographing him (and me trying to keep my high voltage battery and flash unit out of the water….)

]]> http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/05/todd-stone-midstream/feed/ 0 http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/05/computational-art/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=computational-art http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/05/computational-art/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 14:15:26 +0000 Bill Brokaw http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/?p=639 Continue reading →]]> Ron Brown: Mathematician, Software Engineer, Teacher, Artist

Ron questions whether his artwork is really art or not.  But there is no question that it is.

Ron uses computer code to make calculations and plot graphic images.  The “Knight’s Tour” is an example. Imagine a chess knight on an 8×8 grid.  The computer can plot it’s moves graphically so that it lands on each square of the grid only once.  This creates a number pattern that Ron further analyzes and discovers unexpected and intricate symmetries and patterns which he then uses to create 3-D sculptures by hand.

I photographed Ron as part of my Artists of the Gallows Run portrait project.  I did not entirely understand Ron’s work before our session but his patient and thorough explanation made it come alive for me and his pieces took on a whole new meaning.

Yes Ron, your work is Art.

Photographing operations during actual disasters is not practical or desirable.  Agents have more important matters at hand than coordinating photographs.  And the last thing their clients want is the intrusion of a guy with a camera and lighting equipment

So to illustrate the activities of a real agency we spent a half day crafting some images that portray their operations without interfering with their real work, which is helping get their clients back on their feet.

Plaasma Powders is a perfect example.  It produces equipment and material that are used to apply coatings.  The coatings can be almost anything from metal to plastic and are applied to a variety of subtrates and are widely used for all kinds of products.

The company needed to improve it’s website to better illustrate what it does and knew that professional, interesting and illustrative photographs were just what was needed.  I  spent a day in the shop creating images for them and enjoyed creating some informative photos with a little drama.

]]> http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/04/micro-industrial-operations/feed/ 0 http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/03/steve-sears-blacksmith/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=steve-sears-blacksmith http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/2013/03/steve-sears-blacksmith/#comments Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:12:42 +0000 Bill Brokaw http://blog.brokawphoto.com/blog/?p=602 Continue reading →]]> Working with iron is one of man’s oldest arts.  Coming in there right after the bronze age, somewhere around 1200 BC.  And in some ways it hasn’t changed much.  Heat it up and pound it into shape.

Steve Sears has been heating and pounding iron nearly his whole adult life creating everything from intricate scultures and iron rope to wrought iron railings.  He works out of his studio in rural Upper Bucks County, PA called Sears Iron Works.

I photographed Steve in his studio as part of a project called “Artists of the Run.”  Each year a group of highly talented artist in upper Bucks County create and donate works to be shown and sold in support of an environmental organization, The Gallows Run Watershed Association.  It has been great photographing the artists.  Shooting in Steve’s studio was especially rewarding.  Nice light, excellent setting and a wonderful, gracious host.  I just had to be carefull not to get burned.

I’ll get up early and drive around the industrial areas looking for something to shoot.  The combination of the dark blue, predawn sky, mercury vapor lights and slight haze can make an ordinary scene look almost surreal.  These were done with a hand held, mirrorless DSLR.  They took a long exposure (about 1/2 second at ISO 200) so it was a little tricky not to be blurry.  A passing bus creates some cool, light streaks.

Apart from the interesting light, predawn is a good time to be photographing surreptitiously.   There are not many people around who might find a guy photographing from his car to be a little suspicious.  Some day I’ll have to get permission to do this. Then I can use a tripod.

Combative but not violent.  No smashed skulls or broken bones (usually) but plenty of twisted arms, legs and torsos.  Sometimes you can’t see where one wrestler leaves off the the other begins.

What I love most about leaders like John and Matt is that they are in this for real, for the people they serve.  So naturally I was delighted to photograph them.  Both men have full time businesses as well as their civic duties so we were only able to grab an afternoon for a few photos.  Hunterdon is gifted with wonderful scenery including the historic courthouse, so it wasn’t hard to find places to get some shots.

This week we were back in the courthouse for the swearing in ceremonies.  I feel great know that Hunterdon County is in such good hands.  Congradulations.

We mixed and matched and created a nice collection of images that Elaine can use for a variety of purposes, from Linked in to a framed portrait. And some just for laughs.