Meet The 5th Avenue Digital Photographers: Great Locations For Engagement Photography In NYC

Location, Location, Location!  What’s the best location to capture those special engagement photographs?  Want to know what top NYC photographers think?  We asked our professional engagement  photographers at 5th Avenue Digital to share their favorite spots in New York City.  Here’s what they had to say. Read the rest of this entry »

Best of 2012: Wedding Portraits

Here are some of our favorite Wedding Portraits from 2012.

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10 Things I Learned at This Year’s Women Presidents’ Organization Conference

Here are some of the kernels I took away from my participation in the Women Presidents’ Organization 2013 International Conference:

1. Women are starting to understand the power they have in numbers. They are mentoring each other, empowering each other, and creating businesses that are making a difference in their communities and in the lives of other women.

2. I am lucky to have heard Linda Applegate a few times as the head of the OPM program at Harvard Business School. Every time I hear her lecture, even if I’ve heard the content before, I hear something new. This time, I heard the term pivotal growth, and I think that’s the stage we are now in at 5th Avenue Digital. Read the rest of this entry »

5th Avenue Digital Welcomes Photographer Amy Etra

When Amy Etra was aspiring to be a cool hippie at her high school on Long Island, photography was the new cool art class so she signed right up, and got hooked.  Later she studied photojournalism at Boston University, moved to NYC and worked as a photo assistant in the exciting world of advertising.  In the 1980’s she moved to Los Angeles and became a national magazine portrait photographer, shooting celebrities and business leaders for Newsweek, Time, Forbes, USA Today and other top publications.  In 1999 she moved back east to Connecticut where she “fell” into the wedding biz when a photo editor at Business Week asked Amy to shoot her wedding on Block Island.  “Wow, it was the perfect  fit for me” Amy recalls. “Creative, fast paced, and all about photographing people and artsy details.”  Today Amy excels in wedding photography, engagement photography and bar mitzvah photography in addition to her corporate work.  Amy shares more of her thoughts with us.

How would you describe your signature style in five words?

My style is: artistic, fun, creative, spontaneous, photojournalism.  My favorite photography expression is:  “Fortune Favors the Prepared Mind”  which is perfectly illustrated in my photo of Alex and her veil blowing.  I set her up with her bridesmaids on her street and all of a sudden a strong wind came up and I clicked.  But everything was in place already, location, lighting….and I got lucky..because I was prepared!!  Call it photographer’s luck, whatever. Read the rest of this entry »

5th Avenue Digital Welcomes Photographer David Ducane

David Ducane smiles when he thinks about how his passion for people and adventure turned into a career in photography.  Growing up in southern California, his many family camping trips spawned his initial love for adventure.  At 14 his family relocated to New Jersey where he met his great friend Jon who introduced him to photography.  From the moment he picked up the camera he knew he loved taking pictures.  “I love light, and locations with minimal settings or many lines and shapes” David reflects.  “Every event, every session is a new opportunity for me to push myself, to create images that impact the viewer but are still classic and timeless.”  David is equally fabulous as a wedding photographer as he is shooting bar mitzvahs. David shares more of his thougths with us.

What was the first event you photographed when you knew for sure: ‘This is what I want to do’?

The “This is what I want to do” moment for me was when I was traveling in Nepal 5 years ago. I got to meet many amazing people and take tons of photos while hiking in the mountains. One day it just hit me that I didn’t ever want to stop taking photos.

What job or person gave you your first “big break”?

My big break moment came when the salon where my sister works – Arrojo in Soho – asked me to photograph 25 fashion bloggers who came to get makeovers.   After that job I was asked by a big fashion designer to do her e-commerce and the ball has continued to roll.

How would you describe your signature style in five words?

The five words to describe my style are:  quite, moments, fun, classic, dynamic.

Who or what inspires you the most?

The person I work with, the location and the type of lighting I have to use inspire me in a new way at every shoot I’m part of. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s New with 5th Avenue Digital’s YouBooth

Just when you thought you’d seen it all, we found some new ways to make our YouBooth photo booth even better.  With a few technological tweaks and twists, we’ve made it more simple and fun to use. Here’s what’s new:

Enlarged Screen—Our monitor is twice as big, so you can see yourself better.

Photo Preview—See what your photo will look like before it prints.

Retake Option—If you don’t like how your photo looks, you have the option of retaking it.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Perfect Match: Meet 5th Avenue Digital’s New Sales Associate

Please welcome Adrienne Hays, who joined 5th Avenue Digital this past February as a sales associate for our social photography division. Adrienne’s strong desire to work more directly with clients in a creative environment led her to us. We’re happy to have her on our team. A stint as a salesperson for one of Manhattan’s major storage companies taught her about sales, but it was “too restrictive” and didn’t take advantage of the people skills she’d honed from her years as a concierge in the hotel industry—where she was known as the “negotiator”—or offer much in the way of creativity. It’s second nature for Adrienne to make other people feel comfortable. However, she knows she has a long way to go before she catches up to Elizabeth Beskin and Beth Baynum, who she assists with sales, as she learns the business of event photography. The close relationships and loyalty they’ve built with 5th Avenue Digital’s clients impresses Adrienne. Bordering on awe, she states, “The same event planners, same hotel representatives, call again and again.” Read the rest of this entry »

How to Maximize Your Event Photography

One of our most loyal and beloved clients, Consultants 2 Go, recently celebrated their 10^th anniversary in business, and we were there to capture the event.  Consultants2Go® is a management consulting company providing marketing and analytic consultants to Fortune 1000 companies.  Being experts at using PR to market their services, they had a specific plan in mind for using their event photos.

We asked Sandi Webster, one of the company owners, to re-cap their strategy for maximizing use of the event photos:

1.    All photos were posted to the company’s Facebook Page and website

2.    Individual photographs of clients, consultants and staff gave more ways to market:

• Sending individual emails to each attendee who was photographed, along with a Thank You for attending.  For clients, this individual email was a follow-up to any conversation had at the party, and was another client touch point.
• For some clients, including a photo of a consultant who can help their business.  Even if they didn’t speak at the party, it gave them an increased comfort level since they probably saw the person at the event.
• For consultants who attended, sending a link to the Facebook page so that they can see the album

3.    Emailing a newsletter including links to the pictures

4.    Sending a press release announcing the anniversary, with a photo

5.    Making commemorative photo albums for the staff

These are just a few ideas for extending the use of your event photos.  Including your event photos as part of your overall marketing efforts is strategic and smart – just like Sandi.  Thank you for sharing your marketing expertise, Sandi, and congratulations on 10 years in business!

The Bar Mitzvah Havdalah: Making an Old Tradition Fresh Again

In its broadest sense, the Havdalah is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the end of Shabbat (the Saturday Sabbath) and holidays.  Some branches of Judaism also include the Havdalah as part of the Bar Mitzvah celebration. It’s a traditional and beautiful service that seems to be growing in popularity, especially for Bar Mitzvah families  not wanting to do a morning service and an evening party.

Many families, not wanting to share the bema in the morning with another family, or those who are not closely associated with a temple, have been able to use their party location for the Havdalah service, much like we do for ceremonies in weddings.

A Bat Mitzvah we photographed recently for Jacqueline illustrates this beautifully.  Our photographer captured the most important elements of this service: the teacher, the torah and the family’s emotions.  Arlene Rosenthal of Party Ideas created a beautiful setting for the service and the party that followed.

Vendors:

Planner and Décor – Arlene Rosenthal at Party Ideas, Westport
CT arlene@partyideasct.com

DJ and Games – Hal Prince Music http://www.halprince.com/

Location – Shenorock Shore Club

Photographer- Jennifer DelCastillo for 5^th Avenue Digital

Fresh Photography Talent Makes This Yale Club Wedding Glow

While the Yale Club is a tried-and-true traditional wedding location, our new team of fresh young talent brought new vision to photographing a recent wedding there. Dakota and Kris are a husband and wife team that recently joined 5th Avenue Digital’s roster of photography talent. One look at their photos will tell you why we brought them on board.  Their work highlights the romance and the softness of a wedding, and the synergy of their combined efforts creates truly stunning wedding photography. Read the rest of this entry »