Home | What's New | Events | Services | About Us | Contact Us

 

What's New?

Tales of a Portrait Photographer

Take a peek into the life of a portrait photographer. Here you'll find all kinds of stories and anecdotes as my days unfold.

Bike Day - May 4, 2012

Motorbike photography fundraiser

Thank you to everyone that took part in this great event and fundraiser. The threat of storms kept a lot of people away, so an extra special thanks to those bikers that risked getting their babies wet to come out and support "Juliana Donnelly" and the "Have a Heart Children's Cancer Society".

Click here for more images

 

Gritty Sports Portraits

Creative portraits for athletes

I love being able to take a fairly ordinary portrait and turning it into something special and a little different. Take these commissioned football portraits that we turned into very distinctive, eye catching, pieces of art. Think Nike or Gatorade and you're there.

 

Actor Headshots

Portrait of a seasoned lighthouse keeper

I recently had the distinct pleasure of working with seasoned actor, Patrick McGowan. He loves playing those off kilter roles in crime dramas and movies. As well as being an accomplished Off Broadway actor. He's quite happy playing the mysterious lighthouse keeper as well as a loving grandfather.

 

Bike Portraits

School pictures for your two-wheeled buddy

It's the one you pine over when you're at work. The one you spend many devoted hours polishing and admiring. Getting it ready for a blast down a leafy lane. In a few weeks we are doing a bike photo shoot for the "Have a Heart - Children's Cancer Society", so I invited a couple of my friends over to do some test shots. This is what we got. What a contrast to the ballet shoot earlier in the day :)

Click here for more information about Bike Day (May 4, 2012)

 

Ballet Portraits

Ballet portraits for an upcoming ballet performance

Local ballet core, Ballet Enchante, are just putting the finishing touches to their summer ballet performance, Botanical Ballet. We will be hosting one of their performances at the studio in June (more to come) but we spent the morning doing some amazing photographs to promote their season. Hair was done by Austin Kyle of "Austin Kyle" and fantasy makeup done by Kevin Aguilar, who is a very talented up and coming makeup artist. We hope to work with Austin and Kevin again. Their work is amazing. And of course jaw dropping appreciation of the dancers talents.

 

Actor Portfolios / Model Portfolios

What it takes to get the job you want

The one thing that people do wrong over and over again when putting together a modeling portfolio is they don't spend enough time thinking about the sorts of acting or modeling jobs they want. Modeling is acting. You may not have to speak to land the job but you do have to get into character and play the role of the person and personality of the product you're selling. Thinking about the sorts of roles you would be comfortable doing and the sort of modeling or acting you want to do will let you create a portfolio that yells to the casting director or modeling agency that you're ideal for their big project. Here are two sessions from this week that were so focused on the roles they want to play that they can pretty much write themselves into the job. So give yourself and advantage and create a focused portfolio.

Click here to see more images from these two first rate actors

Click here to see more images from these two first rate actors

 

Teen Pageant Portraits

Miss Celebrity Spotlight Pageant

We'd like to give two big thumbs up to our latest portrait client in her upcoming pageant competition. We had a really great time and it was truly a pleasure working with her. Good luck.

 

Frankincense and Myrrh

Who knew that stuff still existed?

One of the best things about photography (from my perspective) is the variety of things to photograph. People, places, things. Photography is a NOUN. This week I was working on a project for a company that sell exquisite hand crafted wooden boxes. The workmanship and intricate marquetry are amazing. But in addition to that, one of the boxes was a small "Gift of Kings" containing frankincense and Myrrh. I'm sure everybody has heard of it but few people have actually seen it. I feel like a little kid again telling everyone about it, but it was pretty neat.

For more information, visit - www.hannibalenterprisesinc.com (pictures should be live soon)

Click here for more images from this session and a behind the scenes look.

 

Generations Portrait

Intimate four-generation portrait

Capturing a generational portrait is always a special moment. And with four generations of strong women, this intimate portrait session was no exception. We also captured some precious moments with mother comforting her daughter who had decided that the family portrait was enough for her busy schedule :)

 

High Fashion

Personal portraits with a fashion feel

Usually the focus of a portrait is the person being photographed. A fashion photographer on the other hand has to place the focus on the clothing, jewelry, environment or whatever the product is. Mixing personal portraits with a stylish fashion feel is a great way to create some stunning portraits that really stand out as well as being a lot of fun to do.

 

Rising Star

Our very own Black Swan

One of the things I like best about our studio is the amount of space we have. My wife is a dance instructor so we often work with dancers looking to build a portfolio showcasing their talents. I had an amazing photo shoot with a local dancer who is heading for the big stage.

We actually need your help selecting the best picture from a sequence of dramatically lit black swan portraits. They're all different in their own way, but we only need one. If you have a moment, check out our Facebook page and give us your thoughts.

Click here to help select the best picture on Facebook

 

Mrs. Bergen County

Good luck to Mrs. Bergen County

Wishing Mrs. Bergen County all the best in the Mrs. New Jersey America pageant later this month.

Click here for more pictures from her portrait session

 

Operation Valentine

Special portraits for special people

Click here for more information

 

Girls Night Out

Be a super model for the evening

Click here for more information

 

Mrs. New Jersey Pageant

Good luck to Mrs. Morris County in February

This is the second year that I've been fortunate to work with and photograph Mrs. Morris County for her Mrs. New Jersey and hopefully Mrs. America title bid. Patricia Genovese is a remarkable woman who works with special needs children, using her working service dog to interact and encourage them.

We wish her the best of luck in the Mrs. New Jersey America Pageant on February 25th and 26th.

 

Happy Holidays

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season and fantastic New Year

We've had an amazing 6 months since we opened the studio, and have met some amazing people with amazing stories and talents. So we'd just like to thank you all and wish you all the best for the holiday season and the coming year.

Mat & Christine

Stay Warm and Cozy!!!

 

Read more blog entries >>>