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With Mark's incredible photography and Danya's smart design, we create photos, videos and websites in Philadelphia, New York, DC and around the world. Let us know if we can help you and your business with great imagery and know-how.
Even when your product is an upscale and adult-centric, a bevy of smiling children never hurts a marketing campaign.
Mark recently did a series of shots for the Hyatt 48 Lex, one of Midtown Manhattan’s newest hotels, which is billed as being “for the discerning traveler looking for an intimate, familiar, pied-à-terre in New York City.” Continue reading
Sometimes, when you have the right lens, right setting and right people, a candid shot turns out much better than a staged portrait.
Chef Arthur Cavaliere of In Riva, East Falls
In fact, that’s true most of the time. Professional portrait photographers take the time to set up their studio and equipment environment meticulously, just so that they can relax and joke with their subjects during the actual shoot.
The appearance of being staged is never enjoyed. The benefits of preparation are.
Autumn is gorgeous in the U.S. Northeast, so much so that it makes up for having to suffer through almost unbearably frigid winters. For those in the Philadelphia area, there’s no need to go on a long leaf-peeping trip to catch some of the best harvest scenes and colors.
Wrapping around the Schuykill from Center City towards the northwest is Fairmount Park, one of the largest urban parks in the country. Within the park are several sections and segments, each home to its own charms.
At any time of year, the Belmont Plateau offers up a great view of the Philly skyline, but fall may well be its peak season.
Just down the hill from the plateau peak is the Shofusu Japanese House & Garden. Though not open past October for inside tours, the exterior grounds still provide a lovely tableau of tranquil garden life.
Both of these images were photographed and then digitally painted using Corel Painter. Mark has been using Painter ever since it was a product of a now-defunct company called Fractal Design. The software was then purchased – and much improved upon – by Kai Krause’s MetaCreations (also no longer in business). Happily, Corel snapped up the rights to the program and has continued to release it.
Though it’s no longer the several-days-long drag it was in the 1990s, it still takes quite a bit of computing power, as well as good judgement, to create a digital painting from an photo. Mark first crops, optimizes and color-corrects his photos, then sets up several different brush combinations in Painter and fuses the multiple results into the gorgeous images presented here.
Our Sony a55 is always a favorite for use in still or product shots. Its in-camera HDR exposure combine feature and camera-based image stabilization make it fantastic for low-light hand-held photography. We recently outfitted the body with Sony’s f 2.8 30mm macro lens, and were blown away by the results.
The lens is not outfitted with “modern” features – for example, it does not have a silent focus motor – but it does sport a macro ratio of one-to-one in a finely crafted piece of glass. Only available for the Alpha line, the lens is a steal at $199.
As it’s designed for 1.5 crop-factor cameras, the 30mm effectively translates to 50mm, long a photography standard. The lens can focus as close as 2 cm, allowing great capture of food and small details. Best of all are the intangibles – this glass captures a pretty picture, with pleasing bokeh and clear colors.
Don’t these shots from Philadelphia’s modern Greek Opa just make your mouth water?
Philadelphia has long been the East Coast’s number one port for perishables. Earlier this year, the old, outdated Columbus Boulevard warehouse where fruits and vegetables were unloaded and readied for sale was superseded by a new facility. Located just behind the airport, the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market is arguably the largest refrigerated structure in the world.
700,000 square feet of space is outfitted with state of the art cooling systems, assuring that produce on its way from shipping containers to our markets and restaurants does not have to get warm as it awaits transfer. This means less spoilage, better efficiency and better flavor for almost every type of veggie or fruit that crosses our palates.
The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and O’Neill Properties Group collaborated on the project, and built a structure that would be sustainable and not wasteful. However, they also made sure that the building was aesthetically pleasing, and to this end, Major Industries was contracted to build a huge skylight. The large, overhead glass ceiling allows natural light to shine throughout most of the enormous hallways of the facility.
We were recently contracted to photograph this skylight, and shot it both from the ground and via helicopter (chartered from Independence Helicopters, who employ skilled pilots). It was a fun flight, and Mark was pleased with his results.
Recent Photos
Zagat Buzz Philadelphia