Baltimore, MD – January 19, 2010 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced Bradley Images, inc. has been selected to receive the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™ for Photography and Video!

The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 500,000 newlyweds.

Bradley Images, inc. is among the top five percent of all vendors in the WeddingWire community, which includes over 100,000 wedding professionals across the US and Canada. Awards were given to winners across 19 different service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers.

“We are excited to recognize and honor the success of the top wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Community” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “The annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program has given us the unique opportunity to highlight the best wedding professionals in each region as reviewed by brides and grooms who have utilized their services in the past year.”

We are happy to announce that Bradley Images, inc. is among the very best Photographers and Videographers within the WeddingWire Network, which includes WeddingWire and Martha Stewart Weddings. We would like to thank our past newlyweds for nominating us for the 2010 Bride’s Choice Awards™.

For more information, please visit http:www.bradleyimages.com

Bradley Zisow photographed his first wedding at age 17, and 15 years later has built a successful business, which employs eight other photographers in his hometown of Baltimore, MD. “I always loved art, painting, drawing and 3-D sculpting. I could draw anything I could see but had a hard time making up things from my mind that didn’t exist. My love for photography really grew because I could take a traditional photo and then paint over the image and make it more surreal.” While in college, Bradley majored in photography, marketing and management while working full time at Ritz Camera. Clients would have to come to his parents’ home where Bradley met with them in the kitchen. Soon thereafter, he moved to an apartment using his dining room as a shooting studio and meeting clients in his living room. His wedding business grew so rapidly that he had to quit school and his job at Ritz Camera. He bought a three-bedroom townhouse where, at age 25, he ran his business, which was comprised of weddings, events, photo restoration, video, web and graphics. Bradley says, “I want to do it all. I liked the versatility. I never just wanted to do one thing.”

Bradley learned his work ethic from his father and believes if something is worth doing it is worth doing right. He always bought the best cameras and lenses even though it cut into his profit a bit. “I was shooting with Hasselblads while some of my competition were shooting with 35mm.” Bradley was one of the first photographers to embrace digital cameras and in 2001 made the switch to only shooting digital. He says, “Everyone thought I was nuts. I figured, keep evolving; keep looking for something different. Never stay the same.” He has also mastered Photoshop from the very beginning when “most photographers weren’t even using computers.” He says if you can think of an idea, he can create it in Photoshop.

In 2002 he opened his first storefront studio on a major highway in the Baltimore area, which he remodeled. This is where his crew of eight photographers makes everything happen. Bradley Images, which photographs 120 weddings and events a year, charges the same fees for weddings and events no matter who the photographer is. Bradley says he has assembled his team over the last 15 years and is very happy with their talents and their love of the profession. “Everyone who works here is fun, energetic, hard working and young at heart. They know when to take control and they know when to be quiet. This is truly a hard thing to find.” It wasn’t easy to find great employees. Bradley looks for employees who are talented and have good personalities, but are eager to learn and grow and can accept his critiques on their work. Some of them start off working in the studio on Photoshop and Lightroom production. He feels blessed to have such a wonderful staff and is not looking to grow any larger at this time.

Bradley meets with every client, even if he won’t be the photographer. He likes to get to know his clients and get an idea of what they want before he assigns them to one of his staff photographers. He sees every album design before it goes to the lab. He wants to do an amazing job for every client at the wedding or event and the difference in what they pay comes from the size and type of album they order. He interacts and builds a relationship with every client in hopes of forming what will be a lifetime bond with them.

Bradley Images receives most of their business by word-of-mouth. Bradley says, “I form a bond with my clients. I go above-and-beyond. I know my title is photographer but if I can give any advice that will take stress off the bride or family I am willing to try. I sometimes coordinate the entire wedding or help the parents of the bar/bat mitzvah come up with themes for their child’s event. I never charge for my time. The happier I can make them and keep them happy, the better.” He does do some direct mail advertising as well as full-page ads in a wedding guide, which he says, works very well. He works closely with his vendors and gives them images. Bradley says, “Keep a good network. Out of sight, out of mind. Vendors will tend to recommend the photographer they worked with last. I do not pay for leads or give kickbacks. I want vendors to use us because we work hard and give a great product.”

Bradley uses Nikon D3, D2x, D300 and D700 cameras with an arsenal of lenses. He says, “Right now I love shooting the traditional sharp pictures with the 3-D backlight and the wide open 85mm f/1.4 with just a kiss of ambient light. To top if off I use video lights and strobes on occasion. Giving the client a nice mixture is just such a fantastic way to tell a story.” He incorporates fashion techniques in his weddings and mitzvahs to lend a different look to a traditional event. He has used many labs over the years but finally found in Nations Photo Lab (www.nationsphotolab.com) a company he attributes much of his success. “I only use Kodak paper and it’s hard to find a consistent lab that can get great prints all the time. For 10 years I was using three labs: one for proofing, one for enlargements and one for mounting. Now Nations does everything and I just started using them for albums. It helps so much with production and as we know that is the hardest part of the business. They do proofs, put them online, get the prints out, design and print the layout and give me a finished album. They have some cool new acrylic, metallic and leather wrap covers and all the traditional covers too.”

Bradley is expanding his photography business to include motion picture production by partnering with JBV Media. He has purchased a RED digital camera system (www.red.com) and the two companies are now producing commercial content for local and regional businesses and nonprofit organizations. One of his senior photographers says that the images coming from this camera are outstanding and it is like shooting a DSLR at 24 frames per second with the same sharpness, color and depth of field. Bradley always wants to be on top of rapidly changing technology and this is just another example of his dedication.

Bradley has been a member of WPPI for over five years and also belongs to PPA, PMA and ISIS. He attends the WPPI convention each year to keep up on the changes and to get answers for any questions he may have. He has been successful in WPPI’s print competition and has won many awards for his photography. He won the 2007–2008 Eventpix Best of Weddings grand prize. “I like competition a lot but it really does come down to making the clients happy tomorrow and not what I won yesterday.”

Bradley teaches private photography classes and is hoping to start doing seminars next summer. He would like to teach other photographers the dos and don’ts of wedding and event photography; from capture and process, storage and backup, Photoshop and design, to finding the best albums. He lives by his motto, “Shoot first, then live, laugh and love.” To see the fine images of Bradley Images go to www.bradleyimages.com. Caresse Muir is a Certified Professional Photographer and a Master Photographer. She specializes in family, high school senior and children’s portraits. She is a member of the Professional Photographers of America, Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, the Professional Photographers of California and the Professional Photographers of San Diego County where she served as president for two years. She has won awards for her photography on the national, state and local level. ]]> http://bradleyimages.net/blog/photography-news/shoot-first-then-live-laugh-and-love.html/feed 0 http://bradleyimages.net/blog/photography-news/general/giving-is-awesome-photography-giveaways.html http://bradleyimages.net/blog/photography-news/general/giving-is-awesome-photography-giveaways.html#comments Sun, 21 Dec 2008 06:21:07 +0000 Bradley Images http://www.bradleyimages.com/photoblog/2008/12/21/giving-is-awesome-photography-giveaways.html Giving Is Awesome And It Is Not Too Late!

A little something special for someone special…

In partnership with Giving is Awesome and 437 photographers (as of today) we’re trying to do a little extra this year. So far we are up to almost $500,000 in donations.

Here is how you can help -

Do you know someone? Do you know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. Do you know someone who will soon be over seas serving. Maybe someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. You have to, I guarantee it.

We want to know who they are, and we want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography – $500 worth, to be exact. The winner will receive a photo session along with all the digital files to fully decorate their home and be able to share with friends and family AND a printed 11×14 of one of the images. It’s in your power to give them the artwork they deserve this holiday season.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a FREE session worth $150.00. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing our services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* You can only win one Giving is Awesome Contest in your area, that way more giving takes place, and more people benefit.

* The nominee must reside in the Maryland area. Tell us who you know, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve the artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail us the full story : EMAIL US HERE

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve — get nominating! We can’t wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season — and thanks for giving us the opportunity to open ours.

Cara Weiss, President/Special Event Coordinator                       

             Potomac, MD                                                                                                     

Dear   Bradley,

                        On behalf of everyone at Save The Date we wanted to say thank you for taking such great care of Lisa Caplan, and doing such a wonderful job. You and your staff made the party everything Lisa and her family had hoped for, and they were absolutely thrilled at the fabulous job you did.  As a personal friend of mine, I wanted Lisa to have the best experience possible, this is why we chose to give her your contact information and your high praise, and I know that was achieved with your help. So thank you again for all your hard work, and making this event one that will always be remembered!

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Cara Weiss

Danny’s Bar Mitzvah was held on The Black Eyed Susan, a paddle boat that operates out of Baltimore’s Fells Point. The service was held on the upper deck of the boat, and the party took place on the Chesapeake Bay.

You want the secret to a great Mitzvah? Take a bunch of great kids…

Add some girls (You’re the man Danny)….

Then throw in great music, some breakdancers, and an 11 foot tall,  fire-juggling stilt walker…and you have an instant party!

Brad,
Let me start by telling you what a phenomenal job you did at our wedding. Not only did I receive complements right after the wedding about you guys, but after I came home from our honeymoon and heard all of the amazing things about our pictures I knew we had made the right choice! After seeing only a few of the pictures, I have no idea  how we are going to choose… knowing there are even more to come!
Let me know when you are ready for us to look at all of the pictures! We cannot wait to see them. I know we have to choose a certain amount to be posted online. Also, let me know when you will be ready for us to meet with you to do the album. I know we are coming home for Towson’s homecoming in October. Not sure if you will be around that Sunday morning or if that is too early or late. If not, Todd and I will find another time to come down and sit with you.

Thank you again for all that you have done for us!

Talk to you soon!
Ashley

Brad,

I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for Ashleyand Todd’s wedding on Friday. I appreciate the kindness, humor, professionalism and thoughtfulness you put into her day. We can’t wait to see the pictures! You will definitely be recommended to everyone I know that is getting married!!!!

Thanks again!

Ashley’s Mom