Category Mainers at Work

Get Real: It’s about people, not brands

March 14, 2023 0 Comments read Blog, Industrial, Mainers at Work, Marketing

Industrial Recycling Worker

The biggest trend in 2022 seems to be the embrace of artificial intelligence (A.I.) tools like ChatGPT, Jasper and MidJourney by content marketers. In an age of deepfake videos and faked resumes, trust is the only thing in short supply.

That’s why authenticity matters more than ever when it comes to social media and content marketing. Winning brands take a people-first approach and who create meaningful connections with their customers and audiences.

What does authenticity mean? It means creating content that reflects your values and tells a story about your brand that resonates, cultivates relationships and fosters loyalty. It means creating visual content that features your real customers, team or audience, rather than opting for stock imagery. After all, people follow people, not brands. Authenticity entails communicating your brand values and cultivating your brand’s unique voice. It also may include user-generated content and collaboration with influencers who can help you tell your story in authentic ways. Here are a few ways brands might choose to be more authentic and transparent:

Lift the curtain: Show what it looks like behind the brand: your process, your culture, your successes and, sometimes, your misses.
Tell stories about real people and the impact they and you have had on the world.
Use short-form video to cut through the noise and provide answers to customer questions, provide useful information or to educate and inform.
Leverage user generated content (but only if allowed, and always give credit).

In a time when people are extremely wary of marketing that is ‘business as usual’, the trend is towards authenticity, engagement and connection. If you want to create impactful, authentic content that will connect with your clients, we’d love to help.

Photographing the person, not the title

January 17, 2023 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Mainers at Work, On Location

© Brian Fitzgerald

One of my favorite projects this past year has been covering the campaign of Maine Governor Janet Mills as she ran for re-election against challenger, former Gov. Paul LePage. Maine’s first female governor (elected in 2018), Mills faced the Covid pandemic and the resulting, ongoing economic and health impacts.

I was fortunate enough to accompany her on a visit to her hometown of Farmington, ME, to a child care center, a health clinic, and other locations around Maine. In the process I met her family and photographed Maine Senator Angus King, himself a former Maine governor.

Being on set with the governor for several days over several months, I was able to see Mills for extended periods of time—when the camera and lights were on but mostly when they weren’t—capturing the kinds of unguarded moments I tried hard to find as a photojournalist. It was great to catch a glimpse of the person and not just the politician. It was a good reminder of something I try to keep in mind no matter who I’m working with: photograph the person, not the title.

The results, I hope, tell a more complete story of Janet Mills, the person. It was certainly fun to see the reactions of Mainers and visitors alike when they met her in our travels.

© Brian Fitzgerald

Showcase: H.B.Fleming Inc.

March 8, 2022 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Case Studies, Client Work, Mainers at Work, On Location

Portland Maine

Sometimes, the best way to get a storytelling image is to get up high. I’ve worked with South Portland-based construction company H.B. Fleming for a few years, documenting some of their impressive projects throughout Maine and New Hampshire. The scope and scale of much of the work they do—building massive retaining walls and cofferdams, for example—are most apparent when viewed from above. In 2020 Fitzgerald Photo became a FAA-certified commercial drone operator. We’ve since been using drones for photography and video production for clients throughout New England. I’m happy to share some images from recent H.B. Fleming projects.

Construction Workers

Showcase: Mad Patti Hat Co.

June 14, 2021 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Client Work, Editorial, Inspire Maine, Mainers at Work

Mad Patti Hat Co

A couple of months ago, just as the weather was warming up and widespread vaccinations were becoming the norm, I met and photographed Meg Patti, owner of Mad Patti Hat Company, at her studio in Brunswick, ME for the June issue of Down East Magazine.

Meg is a hat maker, which is kind of like saying Tesla is involved in the transportation business. While true, it doesn’t capture the detailed craftsmanship or the unique, one-of-a-kind hats that Patti hand-makes and ships to clients throughout the United States.

Part of her unique process is to ‘age’ each hat, giving each–as she says–their own stories. Lucky for me, that process involves at one stage the strategic application of fire to burn off the wool peach fuzz and create other effects that, once applied, make each hat a one-off instance of wearable art.

The profile is featured in the June, 2021 edition of Down East Magazine. Watch the video below to hear Patti talk about her creative process.

Hatmaker

Maine Gives Back, 2020 Edition

November 10, 2020 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Client Work, Editorial, Mainers at Work, On Assignment, On Location

Linda Holtslander, 77, Preble Street Resource Center volunteer. ©Brian Fitzgerald

Fundamentally, making a difference starts with doing something that has an impact on someone else. This may entail something huge and world-changing (think of something like Matt Damon’s Water.Org), but more typically it’s a small kindness, a comment, a small gesture extended from one person to another. Small acts of this sort occur all around us, and they usually remain unseen and unknown except by those directly involved.

That’s why I loved being part of Down East Magazine’s annual “Maine Gives Back” feature published this November. I got to meet and photograph three remarkable Mainers whose efforts are changing the lives of others: 77-year-old soup kitchen volunteer Linda Holtsinger, who despite the pandemic never misses a day of volunteering; Rose Barboza, a mother who decided to create the nonprofit website Black Owned Maine as her contribution to racial and social justice; and Elizabeth McLellan, whose Portland-based nonprofit Partners for World Health distributes donations of needed medical supplies around the world.

Truly one of those assignments that energizes me and makes me feel better about humanity in general. Below are some of my images used in the issue, but read about many others in the November 2020 Down East Magazine feature, “Maine Gives Back”.

Elizabeth McLellan in a warehouse filled with medical supplies destined for countries in need around the world. © Brian Fitzgerald

Rose Barboza, founder of Black Owned Maine. © Brian Fitzgerald

Showcase: The Women of the Maine Fisheries & Wildlife

October 5, 2020 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Editorial, Mainers at Work, On Assignment, Showcase

*Michele Watkins, GIS Specialist-Cartographer. © Brian Fitzgerald*

Beginning in 2019, I worked with the great people at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIFW) to create location portraits for an ongoing recruitment campaign. These portraits were to feature the game wardens, biologists, educators, cartographers and others who together protect Maine’s wildlife, habitat and the people who enjoy them.

It’s hard to imagine it would be difficult to find people willing to sign up for a job where their office is the great outdoors, but being part of the MDIFW team also means sacrificing physical comfort—especially on winter days spent outside when the thermometer never breaks north of zero degrees. And as with any job in law enforcement, Maine game wardens must confront difficult and dangerous situations, often in remote places.

I spent some very cold days with a few of the MDIFW team members at several locations around central and southern Maine. It was a blast. My favorite kinds of portraits are those that rely on mood, connection and place to create a real moment and tell a story about a person and a place. I hope in some small way that these images successfully do just that. My hope is to capture a sense of each person’s personality while showing the variety of environments they work in—their ever-changing office—day in and day out, in every season of the year.

*Sarah Miller, Maine Game Warden. © Brian Fitzgerald*

*Sarah Spencer, wildlife biologist. ©Brian Fitzgerald*

field biologist — *Sarah Boyden, biologist. © Brian Fitzgerald*

Marine Biologist — *Liz Thorndike, fisheries biologist. © Brian Fitzgerald*

Showcase: Portland Boxing Club

June 1, 2020 0 Comments read Blog, Client Work, Inspire Maine, Mainers at Work, On Assignment, Showcase, Video

I’m fortunate that I get to meet a lot of very interesting and very cool people in the course of my daily work as a commercial photographer in Maine. Every person has their own unique story and are fascinating in their own special way.

Some just happen to work in environments that take ‘interesting’ to another level. The Portland Boxing Club, a 1900s-era former wood-drying kiln set tucked behind Morrell’s Corner in Portland, is one such place. It’s there, enclosed by thick brick walls and floors of concrete, sweltering in the summer and freezing in winter, that Head Coach and owner Bob Russo has honed fighters of all ages and sexes for almost 30 years. On concrete and on the canvas, they strengthen their bodies and toughen their minds.

I’m excited to release this short video profile of Coach Russo. This was originally done as part of a larger piece on the gym for Inspire Maine several years ago but edited recently. Enjoy!

Showcase: Dove Tail Bats

May 4, 2020 0 Comments read Assignments, Blog, Case Studies, Client Work, Inspirational, Mainers at Work, Showcase, Video

_{Dove Tail Bats by Fitzgerald Photo}

During the past two months I’ve been busy with ongoing projects, especially with video production of work I started before the stay-at-home orders shut things down.

I love the impact of the still image and it’s my primary way of telling stories visually. Often, a crafted campaign built on remarkable still imagery is the most effective and impactful way to tell a story. Other times, a single still image alone isn’t sufficient and that’s when I turn, increasingly, to video storytelling.

I’m excited to release a new video showing Dove Tail Bats founder Paul Lancisi in his manufacturing facility in Shirley Mills, ME. This was part of a photo assignment for Down East Magazine. While I love the portraits I produced for the magazine, I decided to incorporate video as well because it better conveyed the processes that make Dove Tail Bats so special.

I love how Lancisi pivoted from a woodworking business to one that embraces his lifelong passion for baseball. What he and his wife Theresa have created is amazing: a Maine company that crafts beautiful, one-of-a-kind baseball bats sought after by major league hitters and top college athletes. The bats might look great hung on a wall above the fireplace, but—just like Dove Tail Bats—are destined for greater things.

It’s inspiring to be able to show Maine companies doing such remarkable work and and achieving great success far outside of our state.

–30–

Ready to level up your storytelling content with photography, videography and multimedia? Contact Fitzgerald Photo to see if we’re a good fit for your brand or project.

This is a Time for Heroes

March 24, 2020 0 Comments read Assignments, Editorial, Mainers at Work

Deputy Sheriff — *York County Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Thistlewood.*

These are extraordinary times. Extraordinary for many reasons, yet perhaps the most striking is that most of us are being asked to do our best by…doing nothing at all.

At least, it feels that way.

Staying at home. Keeping our physical distance from others. Helping our kids, our loved ones and trying to stay sane ourselves.

Life is not normal for us. We may be staying in one place, but we aren’t exactly doing nothing. We are willing ourselves to not take action so that we can protect others, often at great personal and financial cost.

But what about those who don’t have the choice—whether by necessity or by mandate—to stay home?

I’m referring of course to many of the people who I’ve spent a career photographing: the police, the firefighters, the paramedics, and the medical professionals. But this group also includes the sanitation workers, the grocery store workers, the pharmacists, the pizza guy and the mail carrier. All are front-line workers in this time of fear and contraction.

So take a moment and reflect on the sacrifice so many are making while many of us stay home. We all must do our part.

emergency drill — *Maine Medical Center staff during a biohazard drill–part of the extensive preparations they’ve undertaken to prepare for the current Covid-19 pandemic.*

Certainty in Uncertain Times

March 16, 2020 0 Comments read Blog, Mainers at Work, On Location

During this time of uncertainty, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Not long ago all of us were still making optimistic plans for get-togethers, projects and trips for the weeks and months to come.

The events of a few short days have changed and challenged our perceptions and plans.

Stuck at home, certain only of our uncertainties, bouncing off of loved ones and compulsively checking our news (and non-news) feeds for scraps of information, we instead learn second-hand from the gossip of others.

What’s clear is that we are all in the same boat. None of us asked for this and the control we have is limited to that which we exercise over ourselves. We have the choice to limit ourselves for the good of the whole. We also have the option to spend some of our now extra time doing things we’ve long neglected—at least, that’s my plan. I’m choosing to look at this upheaval as a gift of time: time to spend with my family; time to reset and plan; time to learn and reflect.

In a few weeks or months when things calm down and normalcy returns, as it surely will, I hope to look back and know that I spent my time the best way I could. Today, I plant a seed for that day.