Convention Photography Coverage

Photoshop World Las Vegas

For the second year in a row, I was hired to document the Las Vegas convention for Photoshop World, produced by KelbyOne Media.

The four day convention, held at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, was attended by approximately 1,500 photographers and featured some of the industry’s top professional shooters, presenting educational instruction on everything from Photoshop and Lightroom techniques, to lighting, posing, business, and marketing for professionals in the industry.

My assignment is to create the images that will be used, not only to create a history book of THIS convention, but in the marketing material for NEXT year’s convention. Many of the images were delivered daily, so KelbyOne Media and Photoshop World could use in their daily social media accounts like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

As an event photographer based in Tampa, I find myself traveling quite a bit for different companies who value my perspective, imagery, and ability to keep pace with their event schedule.

If you are in the event or convention planning business and are looking for an experienced professional photographer to provide quality photography coverage, please check out our Corporate Events page and give us a call. I’d be happy to discuss your needs and goals, and show you how we can help you showcase your hard work with great photography.

Time Magazine cover photographer, Gregory Heisler

Scott Kelby of KelbyOne Media

Larry Becker at the closing ceremonies.

Macro Photography using window light.

Convention Attendees, reaching for the stars!

Russell Brown, performing with Cirque du Soleil as part of a seminar.

Restoring Old Photos, Tampa

Copy & Restoration

Finding a photographer in the Tampa area who can restore an old photo in need of repair isn’t easy. There aren’t many commercially-located retail studios left in the Tampa market. Newsome’s Studio of Photography, has not only had a commercially-located retail location for the last three decades, but it has been in the photo restoration business since the very beginning.

Imagine rummaging through your grandparent’s shoe box of old photos and finding treasures you never knew existed. They may be faded, torn, wrinkled, or literally withered into pieces. Bring them to us and allow Newsome’s to advise you on how to restore that old photograph, and bring new life to it so future generations can enjoy.

Newsome’s Studio is located in North Tampa (Carrollwood) in Cypress Point Office Park, 10012 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Suite 219, Tampa. It’s behind Starbucks at the corner of Linebaugh and N. Dale Mabry Hwy, just north of Busch Blvd. Call 813-968-2810 for more info.

DA Style Prints for ROTC & JROTC

Dept of Army Military Photos for Retired Personnel

We used to get a lot of requests to create military”promotion photos” years ago when the studio was located in South Tampa near MacDill AFB. These days, the official DA Photo is done digitally on base by the base photographer, and uploaded to the DA Photograph Management Information System (DAPMIS) on the spot.

We can no longer create this for active duty use, however, for retired military personnel who are in need of a print that conforms to the same specs, we can provide it to match those specs exactly. The most common reason a retired personnel might be in need of an image that matches the official DA photo specs, is when they’re applying for a job as a contracted ROTC or JROTC instructor.

NOTE: Our “Newsome’s” logo you see at the bottom of this image, will NOT appear in the final print.

And I humbly and gratefully offer a 10% discount off all our photography services to any active military personnel.

Thank you for your sacrifice and service to our country!

 

Women’s Conference of Florida 2016

I’m honored to have been selected to photograph the first annual Women’s Conference of Florida. Approximately a thousand women converged in downtown Tampa at the Marriott Waterside to attend and participate in presentations by some incredibly successful women in business, finance, and the arts.

The Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Waterside.

The event kicked off Thursday evening at the famed Tampa Theater, built in 1926, with author Cheryl Strayed, who was portrayed by Reese Witherspoon in the autobiographical movie “Wild.”

The Tampa Theater, built in 1926.

Cheryl Strayed, author of several books including “Wild,” a depiction of her hike up the Pacific Coast Trail.

Anna Maria Chavez began her career journey in the same Movement she now leads, Girl Scouts. A lifetime member of Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) and an award winning community leader, she developed the leadership skills that propelled her to CEO of GSUSA.

 

Randi Zuckerberg, the former director of market development and spokesperson for Facebook, is the founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and editor-in-chief of Dot Complicated.

Jean Chatzky, the financial editor for NBC’s Today Show, is an award-winning personal finance journalist, and the host of Money Matters with Jean Chatzky on RLTV.

Arlene DiBenigno, President and CEO of WCOFFL presided over the conference.

I asked someone why they hired a man to photograph the conference.
They responded “We didn’t hire a man, we hired a photographer.”
And for that, I thank, and commend you.

It was an incredible two days of inspirational stories and thought provoking talks. It was about achieving goals that at one time seemed impossible for most women. I assure you, NOTHING is impossible for those that attended this conference.

 

 

 

 

Corporate Head Shot Photographer, Tampa

Urban Architecture used as background for a Corporate Head Shot

 

Objective: Client needed an environmental headshot/bio photo that can/will be used in an ad pieces and web pages. Verbiage to be on the left, image on the right. Semi-nondescript background blown out of focus.

Solution: Utilized select locations in an urban settings for background colors, combining (primarily) available light with reflectors and some supplemented modified flash. Kept client’s shoulders facing to camera left, into the image, offset by one third, leaving room for ad verbiage. One image cropped square to be used for LinkedIn/Facebook/etc.

A wall of Bougainvillea provided color

A square crop will provide a great bio photo for LinkedIn and other social media sites.

 

 

 

Working Road Trip #todayscameraroom

I was recently contracted to create business head shots for select employees of the American Automobile Association (aka AAA). The job would require travel. Lots of travel (something they know quite a bit about). They wanted a consistent look among all bio photos, particularly with regards to background, lighting, cropping, and retouching. They had over a thousand employees in the southeast, spread out over 67 branches in three states. And, they had a deadline. “Can you do it?”

I had been selected as their photographer back in October, with a proposed deadline of February 28th. After photographing the first seven locations in Southwest Florida, they realized that my costs had not been budgeted for 2015, so I was put on hold until the first of the year where budgets for this project were now in place. The new deadline was May 1st.

I rekindled scheduling beginning in early February. There were 47 locations in Florida and 10 each in Georgia and Tennessee. Because of prior commitments and shoots with other clients, I selectively fit them into my already-busy schedule where I could, attempting to do two to three branches in a single day whenever possible.

The beauty of working all over the state of Florida, is that no matter where I went, I had friends to stay with. Jacksonville? Tammy Czigan; Tallahassee? Cindy Strickland; Miami? Marybeth Jackson; Sarasota/Bradenton? Manny Cruz. I could base myself just about anywhere to reach a cluster of offices over a one, two, or three day period, and even had an assistant at one time (THANK YOU TAMMY!).

Georgia and Tennessee would require a single road trip and a race to the finish. In fact, my road trip actually started with the Miami offices, beginning in Stuart and working my way south to cover eight branches over three days. From there, I crossed the state and spent the weekend with family in Ft Myers, before heading north to Savannah, Ga. I knocked out all twenty Georgia and Tennessee branches in seven days of shooting.

A bonus in Nashville, was running into my good friends (all Past Presidents of the FPP), Al Gordon, Dana Lunden, and Jackson Koontz III.

My final push to complete the assignment lasted 15 days (with weekends off), covered 28 offices, 328 head shots, and involved driving 3,421 miles.

I set up and tore down the same portable studio 67 times since this began. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve likely seen that setup accompanied with the hashtag #todayscameraroom more than enough times. Some offices were huge, some were tiny. I was set up in everything from boardrooms, to broom closets. The people I had the honor of working with were incredible! Friendly, kind, sweet, and cooperative. I couldn’t have asked for a better scenario or group of individuals to work with.

It’s nice to get out of the studio, even if I have to bring it with me. Road trips are like therapy. I can mentally check out – solve all the world’s problems – and see some great scenery along the way.

“Yes. I can do it.”

#todayscameraroom

Palm Springs Event Photography Coverage

Giants of Design – 2016, Palm Springs, California

 

For the fourth time in as many years, I was contracted to provide documentary style coverage of Interior Design magazine’s Giants of Design Conference in Palm Springs, California.

Held at The Parker (former estate of Gene Autry, “the Singing Cowboy” from the B&W film days), the event lasted three and a half days and features tours of Palm Springs homes that are of particular interest with regards to design and décor.

100 of the country’s top designers and a few dozen manufacturers are treated to seminars, tours, activities, and meals that continually raise the bar for inspiration, education, and networking within their field.

Held on the grounds of Gene Autry’s Palm Springs home at The Parker.

Dinner in the backyard one evening.

Coffee by the Fire Pit.

Dinner by the indoor pool one evening, featured “Light Dancers.”

The meeting consisted of over 100 of the country’s top designers and manufacturers.

One stop on our Tour of Homes, included the Palm Springs home owned by Elvis Presley at the time he married Priscilla. This is where they spent their honeymoon night!

Another stop of particular interest, was Sunnylands. Google it. Pretty fascinating.

High School Senior Pictures

All my professional life, I’ve been taught to refer to them as “senior portraits.” Google informed me that today’s kids never use that search term, they use “senior pictures,” a far less stuffy and informal term. Well, fine. Whatever you want to call them, just remember… these are NOT your parent’s high school senior photos.

Today’s senior had a bit of fun with the camera, as did I.

Thank you, Conner! It was truly a pleasure! Expect your SNL bumper shot series to be all the bait you need for Lorne Michaels to be calling soon.

Business Headshots on Location

A professional portrait studio is a great place for executives to have business and bio photos taken, but it’s not the ONLY place that works. We work quite often in a client’s office, lobby, boardroom, etc, and if our client works remotely from home, we can utilize a neutral outdoor environment as well.

In this case, we were fortunate enough to be tapped for an outdoor executive portrait session, by the amazing Christel Aprigliano, former Director of Membership of the Professional Photographers of America. She left PPA a few years back and now resides in the Tampa area, running two non-profits as an advocate for Diabetes patients, the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition and the Diabetes UnConference.

For use as a bio photo and for promotional material

All images were taken in horizontal format to be utilized on anything from business cards to billboards.

Backlit image with a soft background

Higher contrast image, using soft light on Christel

All of these images were taken in a single location, within just a few feet of each other. A shallow depth of field allows you to utilize just about any background without distracting from the subject.

Thank you Christel!

Tampa Photographer, Bio Photos

Corporate Group Photo

One of the greatest challenges I receive as a professional photographer, is when a new client arrives in the Tampa Bay Area (in this case, a St Louis firm staying at the Clearwater Marriott in Sand Key for a weekend retreat/business meeting), needing to update their employee images on their web site.

 

In this client’s case, they needed one large group photo, several individual images (all looking totally different), and a few “action” shots. The staff at the Marriott was wonderful and very accommodating, allowing us to utilize their beautiful lobby and restaurant to create 16 totally different images.

Working with only one light, modified for different looks, the entire job was completed in about two and half hours.

Bio Photo for “About” page

 

Situational Image for Website

Action Image for Website