According to the U.S. Small Business Administration there are 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S., composing 99.9 percent of all American businesses. The 1.5 million jobs that are created by small companies each year, account for 64% of new jobs in the US.
One of the things I enjoy most about my job is meeting interesting small business owners and photographing their businesses. Over the past few months I had the privledge of photographing a school where circus acrobats train, a glamor portrait studio, a driving school, a combination CBD, cannabis and “grown your own” store, and a gymnastic school that doubles as a preschool.
Eastern Acrobatics and Circus LLC in Natick Massachusetts https://www.easternacrobatics.com/ is one of three schools in the world that train acrobats who perform at a professional level. The school is in a former church. Their Google virtual tour is here: https://goo.gl/maps/hNwQ4h5VasW1Vhhq6
Moriarty’s Driving School in Salisbury, MA https://www.moriartysdrivingschool.com/ trains high school students and older adults how to drive and obtain their driver’s license. Their tour is here: https://goo.gl/maps/oviCYwMBnQeBBAGt7
XO Studio in East Greenwich, RI http://studioxo.photos/ provides glamor portraits from their studio that formally was a restaurant, complete with a bar. Here is their two level tour: https://goo.gl/maps/iuPjoJXNPdmkV25U8
Aim High Academy in East Greenwich, RI https://aimhighacademy.com/ is an acrobatic school that also offers preschool and before and after school programs. Their tour is here: https://goo.gl/maps/JMS7bQd63FByQGTg6
For this assignment I traveled to Brattleboro, Vermont to photograph the Vermont Hempicurean https://vthempicurean.com/ and tour:
https://goo.gl/maps/CV2ZYfc52GRnBwWG8 the Vermont Bud Barn https://vtbudbarn.com/ and tour: https://goo.gl/maps/kz1ryPmbFpG47KnE7 and the Vermont Grow Barn https://vtgrowbarn.com/about-us/ and tour: https://goo.gl/maps/AtX6JvT2yWG8WEqM7.
Thankfully I photographed the three stores in the early morning before they opened, because there was a long line in front when I left. I never know what kind of businesses I will be asked to photograph next. That is what makes this job challenging and fun.
Tim Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818
tim@2cimages.com
Happy New Year 2023!
I have always enjoyed photographing big venues. I have done Google virtual tours of many local landmarks including: Connecticut Science Center, https://goo.gl/maps/CHvvVFWsXkEmT8ZQA , Bushnell Memorial Performing Arts Center https://goo.gl/maps/NBFXMDoJUyFzUKad9 , Hartford Convention Center https://goo.gl/maps/fUN827k5zK7AMK5k9 , and New Britain Museum of American Art https://goo.gl/maps/4649hPHmy8AyBTLc6 . I had another opportunity this summer. A minor league hockey arena and a convention center in Springfield, Massachusetts called the Mass Mutual Center, wanted 70 panoramas taken in one day.
Of course, the original plans needed to be changed since the convention center wasn't ready for photography that day, however everything worked out just fine. I wound up photographing the hockey arena the first day and the convention center a week later. To complicate matters, the local minor league hockey team; the Thunderbirds https://www.springfieldthunderbirds.com/ was staring the first-round post season playoff games for the Calder Cup and staff was working throughout the arena..
I worked my way around the concourse https://goo.gl/maps/oK5axWi1QGtf9Jf67 being careful to take as many panoramas as possible just outside the door to each section and I took panoramas in several of the seating sections https://goo.gl/maps/QM3q3tijytBY6au26 I also photographed the luxury seating area: https://goo.gl/maps/LLR71rLcUJRuZBQWA .
Employees preparing for the next hockey game were constantly walking through the concourse and I had to be patient between frames. When I came back to photograph the Convention Center, all areas were nicely staged for photography.
After I took panoramas of the convention expo center that was divided in two separate areas, a crew of about twelve people manually collapsed the room divider so that I could photograph the entire exposition space, which is quite massive: https://goo.gl/maps/wPcZTESyyiD5FV1k9
There are also several smaller meeting rooms. https://goo.gl/maps/LcDrWW5FsRsrvxRJ6
And there is a nice view of downtown Springfield. https://goo.gl/maps/ruZWL32E8AuH5zQBA
I enjoyed photographing this amazing space. The Thunderbirds lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2022, but this could be their year to win the Calder Cup!
Tim Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818
tim@2cimages.com
It has been a very busy summer and I will be writing future posts about photographing the hockey arena and convention center in Springfield, MA and photographing one of my favorite places: a manufacturing plant that forms and coats wire. For now, I want to share a most interesting assignment I just completed.
From time to time, I am surprised and amazed on a photo assignment. Recently I was assigned to produce a Google virtual tour of Center Church on the Green in New Haven Connecticut, which has recently undergone an extensive renovation. According to the Church website the Church was “organized on August 23,1639, by the same Puritans who founded the New Haven Colony. “
My usual practice is to scope out where I will be taking the photos by doing a walk-though and envisioning how a virtual tour would look. Reverend Richard took me through the church and the upper level that has a beautiful antique pipe organ. He then told me that I would also be photographing in the basement, which I though was unusual.
According to the Church website: The present Meeting House, built 1812-1814, is the fourth meeting house of the congregation. The edifice was built over the colony’s ancient burial grounds on the Green, and thus the basement with numerous burial stones is referred to as the Crypt.
That was a surprise that I was not expecting. You can view “the crypt” in 360 degrees here:
According to the Center Church on the Green website: The early settlers who are remembered in the Crypt represent a cross-section of the original community: different social standing, different points of view. 137 gravestones of New Haven’s founders and earliest citizens dating from 1687, including: Benedict Arnold’s first wife, President Rutherford Hayes’ family, the Reverend James Pierpont (a founder of Yale College), and Sarah Whiting, 1669-1726, described as “The painful mother of eight children of whom six survive.” She was described as “faithful, virtuous and weary.”
You can view panoramas of inside the Church here: https://goo.gl/maps/NmkH7B3dvArrdE827
This is one of the reasons that I love this job. Every day has a different challenge and opportunity, and sometimes I am amazed and surprised on a photo assignment.
Tim Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818
tim@2cimages.com
There is something about watching a building being constructed that I find fascinating. Seeing a plan become reality in steel, glass, and concrete, by the hard work of many highly skilled people, over a period of years, is simply amazing.
That is why I enjoy handling construction progress photo assignments. For these assignments I am required to deliver the digital images as unaltered originals, straight out of the camera. The terrain is sometimes rugged and muddy, and I always need to be aware of my surroundings, since construction vehicles can come at you from any direction. Wearing a hard hat, steel toed boots and a bright OSHA green shirt, vest, or jacket is essential.
I learned by being yelled at, not to ever cross an area that has red tape surrounding it. I also learned why hardhats must be worn on construction sites, since I have banged my hardhat on many overhead objects, that I thought I had cleared.
Documentation is critical with construction progress photos. Embedded in every digital photo I take on a construction site is a GPS coordinate that also includes altitude, the direction the photo was taken, as well as the date, time taken, camera, lens, and exposure setting. The information embedded in each image is called EFIX data or "exchangeable image file format".
I use an architectural site map and produce a PDF file with the frame number and direction arrow of each photo taken, that I deliver with the original digital images..
On a rare occasion I get to see compelling action like the time I covered a huge crane hoisting an immense steel beam over the Massachusetts Turnpike: http://info.2cimages.com/blog/48/big-cranes-in-boston , but recently my progress photos are taken after 2:30PM when all the construction crews have left for the day. It is much safer that way. Here are a few examples of the progress I have seen.
The hard part to take is that at some point in the future, the building is completed and there no longer is a need for progress photography. That's when I hope to find another building project that is just getting started; so that I can continue to be amazed.
Timothy Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main St.
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818
Last year I was asked to produce a Google Virtual tour of Paier College's new campus location at Seaside Park in Bridgeport. After purchasing some of the buildings and space which used to be part of the University of Bridgeport, Paier needed to capture its own interior and exterior photography for marketing purposes. This effort required multiple visits to capture the interior space when it was more vacant, and in fairer weather in the Spring to showcase the beauty of the campus.There was just one wrinkle: since the move to Bridgeport had just occurred, there was not yet any formal branded signage on the interior walls or speaker podiums. I was given an official logo of the College and worked to make the branding elements visible in the photos.
Another concern was the new street address was not confirmed with the post office and the Google Business page where the images are published. By December 2021 the new address was confirmed, and I published the Google virtual tour, which you can take here: https://goo.gl/maps/cyqyaGAbU6LjpbwN8
An interesting aspect of the school is the structure in front of the building that looks like a flying saucer landed there. Commonly called "the bubble", this structure was initially designed to appear floating. While for years it went neglected, Paier has big plans for this unique space.
The virtual tour goes into a lecture hall, the art gallery, and continues on the stage of the historic Mertens Theater. There is a large meeting room on the 9th floor that has a beautiful view of Bridgeport harbor which you can see here: https://goo.gl/maps/ZFjW5GpCoq9XZ9Bw8 The podium and the wall behind it includes the school logo which I placed into the image using Photoshop. This room now serves as the office space for the Admissions Department, so that every new student gets to take in these spectacular views!
I enjoyed visiting this college as it reminded me of my younger days studying photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I am also very pleased that Paier College has been incorporated into the University of Bridgeport and will continue to train photographers, artists and art directors in Connecticut.
Tim Becker
Creative Images Photography
901 Main Street
Manchester, CT 06040
860-528-7818
https://2cimages.com/
