Up In Smoke...

Here are the promised images from the last post. These are Michael Marrero's portraits which are a whole lot more telling of his everyday life than mine are. This was a little more simple to light but difficult in catching the moment as smoke dissipates pretty quick, especially if you aren't trigger happy (like me). Taken by your's truly. Enjoy, JP

Out with the Boring!!!

Hello followers, fans, family, and friends! Sooner than later this blog will be come personal only. Meaning that all of my (our) professional work will no longer be shown here. Unfortunately the new blog for Red Mangrove Media/Studio/Gallery will be moved to redmangrovemedia.wordpress.com (which is not running yet) and then will be embedded into our new website that will be done sometime in May. Although confusing it is the most effective way to get out name out now and transform into the future.
As far as Strocom goes, the good news is its not going anywhere. I will just have to work harder to produce more personal work as the bulk of trigger finger will be aimed at professional work.

ON TO THE PHOTOS; you go to websites all the time. Some guy/gal sitting in front of something boring, smiling, and you go... Thats what that person looks like. Great!? Hardly! Mike and I wanted to do something different for our site. We wanted to show a little creativity. We wanted to bring a little of whatever it is that fuels us, out into the portrait. We needed to show you that we can be both serious photographers, but personal enough so you can see where our product is born.

About me. Well, for those of you that know me well you know i'm not a fighter. Not one bit. I'm not a boxer either. And if you follow you know the last event I shot was a boxing match. Not difficult to tell where my idea came from. I had a plan that I knew I could make work, that would show the serious side of me in the photo but if you know how much of a clown I am you look at this photo and laugh. It was a fun shoot we did on a friday night at the studio and I brought some Silver Bullets, that no one else liked (great, more beer for me). Thanks to Michael Marrero for making my vision come across in the photo. This was a three light set-up that was not as simple as we thought. Mikes photos will be in the next post, taken by yours truly, stay tuned for more from Red Mangrove!

Enjoy, JP

Fight Night in Key West

Thanks to Larry BarTab (actual name) Red Mangrove had press seats to Fight Night on Fox Sports. It was a blast and a great shooting experience. That was one of the most difficult natural light shoots i've had to deal with but came out with some good photos for about an hours worth of shooting. Enjoy the blood and sweat, JP

Modern it is.

I didn't get to share the second part of the shoot for Ambrosia with you. I wanted the shots to be very modern and less traditional japanese. This is probably my favorite from all the photos. Shot handheld in natural light against the bar back wall. The temp was turned down and white label brought out in post. Just another example of knowing what it is you want before you get there. Enjoy, JP.

Ambrosia

Fresh of the first assignment... and fresh it is! In the making of Key West's favorite Sushi restaurants photos and website. I think the results thus far are very appetizing. Enjoy the photos and the website will be launched and shared soon enough. JP

Advertising Element

Cut me slack, i'm no design or photoshop guru. This is the first company logo to come off the blocks. I just wanted to see how it would look on the web. I think the idea is marketable. Ad a fresh new element. Crossed fingers, JP

Clear Shot!

Why is it so damn hard to get a clean not completely scratched to hell window on a plane? This might have been the first time in history. Enjoy, JP

Less Depth Gives A Deeper Meaning

In the technical aspect of photography depth of field is something I think is given way to much attention, especially in landscape photography. Here is a great case of limiting depth of field and I think the results speak for themselves. Plus, I just like breaking rules. Normal is boring. You be the judge. Enjoy, JP.

Food and the New Beginning

This was casual photo taken at Bagatelle breakfast about a week ago. It is a precursor of what is to come in the very near future. Our new corporation and website are now at 100% effort. I know this is vague but details will come in the very near future when some design elements are complete. JPC photo as a commercial effort was very short lived because the collaboration of the new business took over. I can think about it as I brought in enough success in such a short period of time that someone was able to see the future that I was trying to create. From that time this ad was done and the Ambrosia sushi restaurant website and photography have begun. Their are a host of other commercial jobs in the pipeline, a few involving food. We will share them as soon as necessary. Stay tuned for an exciting future, a new fresh digital media company, new website, and new blog. Enjoy JP.