As promised, here are the winners from the Annual Indie Biz Awards Night, put on by Portland Buy Local on May 20:

Soul of Portland: Portland Farmers Market

Flavor of Portland Portland: Fore Street

Environmental Hero: Portland Trails

Portland’s Best Kept Secret: Micucci’s Grocery Store

Community Hero: Coffee By Design

Portland Totem: Becky’s Diner

Business With No Front: Emilie Inc. Photography

Global Hero: Portland Museum of Art

Wild Card: Longfellow Books

I’ve posted images here so you can view them yourself. Please note…these photos are for personal use only. Feel free to download and post them but I ask that credit be given and that you provide a link back to my site, www.mainecommercialphotographer.com.

It’s been a busy, busy week at our place…a major announcement is in the works (stay tuned…It’s BIG!).

In other news, well, I’ve been working with several clients this past week to build up some of their stock libraries. I had a great time with Linda Varrell, Eric Blom and Kate Bachman at Broadreach Public Relations in Yarmouth. This is a small power team of folks that basically do it all for their clients–write copy, put together marketing campaigns, manage outsourced public relations for entire companies–and they do a great job. And like the chef who orders fast-food, or like my wife and I when it comes to providing our families with baby photos, they’ve found it difficult to get the time to build their own online presence. That’s where I come in. Since they’re in the process of building a website, they have a need for all kinds of foundational imagery–from headshots to custom portraits to those little teeny tiny details that get sprinkled throughout a website. So we visited and I suggested a comprehensive plan, and we scheduled a date for the shoot.
On photo day I arrived with cookies (a happy client looks better in photos) and we got to work on a full day of photography. While the team worked, I set up lights, orchestrated lifestyle scenarios and pulled in people when needed. Zoe, a beautiful Golden Retreiver and one of two office mascots, managed to get some face time as well. I move fast and work through a lot of shots in a relatively short period of time, but the Broadreach team didn’t blink a bit. They smiled, stayed positive and in short we had a fantastic time. Here’s one of my favorite outtake images from the day. It may not end up in their promo materials, but for me it captured the personality of the entire team. I like to think the cookies had something to do with those smiles.

After almost eight years being hosted with the same hosting company, we’ve pulled up stakes and relaunched with a new, spiffy site. You’ll see larger photos–much larger–and many additions to the galleries. Each portfolio link includes a description of the services we provide. Let us know how you think it looks and performs using our handy Contact Us form. We also have a new URL, www.mainecommercialphotographer.com. Come on and check us out! There’s lots of great stuff to see at Fitzgerald Photo.
If you notice any empty boxes laying around, or see generally see something where it shouldn’t be, well…we’re still moving into our new home and will soon have it whipped totally into shape.
Stay tuned for our new logo and blog theme, too. And one more thing–you can always get ahold of us at www.fitzgeraldphoto.com, too.

Had a great evening at Portland’s Angela Adams Studio on Wednesday.  It was an evening of firsts–my first time to the converted hardware store building, located on Congress Ave., and my first AIGA-sponsored event.
AIGA Maine is a chapter of the national professional association of design, and it’s very active.

It was humbling and great fun to see Adams’ work.  I was fortunate enough to be in the tour group conducted by Adams herself as she took us from the retail portion of the store to the woodworking shop and finally to the creative brain of the operation upstairs.  I was impressed with the way that Adams’ vision has come to fruition, and how her entire team honors the creative process that keeps them constantly on the cutting edge.

So, thanks again, Angela Adams and company.  The entire team put on a great show and were gracious hosts.  If you haven’t visited the studio, you should definitely drop by.