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Ok, I realize this post is geared for marketing. However, as a South Florida Mitzvah photographer website marketing is very important. However, with that said, I'm glad you found me. My name is Jeff Kolodny and I would like to welcome you to my website. In this post, I'm going to do my best to explain what makes me the best, and provide you with some very helpful information that will help you choose the right Bat Mitzvah photographer.
I'm based in Boynton Beach, and have photographed both Bat and Bar Mitzvahs all over South Florida. The picture in this article took place at Congregation Kol Tikvah, in Parkland Florida. Here is the location on a map:
Over the past 15 plus years I have photographed many Bat and Bar Mitzvahs at this temple. It's one of my favorites and certainly one of the most beautiful. I photographed my first Mitzvah when I was a LA based photographer many years ago. At the time, I was working for a wedding photographer who was also an experienced Mitzvah photographer. After a few years of working for this photographer, he realized that I in addition to weddings I also had a knack for photographing Bat and Bar Mitzvahs. Of course the fact that I'm Jewish didn't hurt. Now I'm based in South Florida, so I shoot Mitzvahs all around Florida. If you are planning a Bat or Bar Mitzvah in any of the following towns, than consider me as as your local photographer. In the past I have worked in: Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Wellington, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Miami Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Deerfield Beach, Aventura, Bal Harbor and other area locations. I have even photographed Bat and Bar Mitzvahs in the Florida Keys!
Years of experience are only the First reason why you should consider me as your family photographer. Photography has been in my blood since I was a young kid. My father was a skilled amateur photographer who studied photography in college. As a heart surgeon, my father loved the idea of anything that required chemistry and technical knowledge. Growing up I often spent hours in our home darkroom hand processing film and printing pictures. When I attended college, I majored in photography and communications. I graduated from Adelphi University with a BA and within several months I made the drive to Los Angeles. Why LA? Because that is where all the worlds best photographers lived. I wanted to surround myself with those who I considered the best. Working for free, I soon found myself learning for the most talented and famous photographer in the world. Eventually I found myself shooting weddings, corporate events, news stories, bat and bar mitzvahs and lots of other stuff. At one time, I was even a photographer for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Having made my mistakes many years ago, I have developed a professional attitude of care and safety when working at an event. This may grab you as a negative but, I can tell you first hand, I already made my mistakes. Seriously, it's through the errors and mistakes that a professional learns what not to do and what to do to insure success. More on this later. After years of experience, I have developed a method that ensures I will deliver a great job without fail. During the photographic process I take special precautions along the way. For example, when shooting my images are recorded with a professional camera that records to two memory cards at one. If one card fails, the images are recored to a separate memory card. Memory cards almost never fail. If handled correctly a memory card should not fail. However, shooting to 2 cards is the most professional way to handle images. You can learn more about memory cards and their failure rate here: Do memory cards fail?
Way before I became a Florida Bat Mitzvah photographer I worked for a hard core high end Los Angeles photographer who held me to account by making sure all the correct pictures were taken. This is the second reason why I should be your family Bat Mitzvah photographer. After photographing a Bat or Bar Mitzvah, we would go through every picture and make sure ever combination of family pictures was accounted for. Child with mother? Check. Child with father? Check. Parents putting on child's tallit? Check. Entire family on bema?, Check. I'm sure you get the point. After years and years of doing this, I have a system for photographing posed or casually posed family pictures. Of course, I always ask for a list as well. The purpose of having a list is to ensure that those people who are not immediate family members, but are important are still accounted for. Along the entire photographic journey, I'm always on the look out to make sure everyone gets photographed.
When it comes to being creative, I'm always pushing the envelope. After years of experience and taking lot's of award winning images, I know what it takes to produce first rate creative and artistic pictures. For me, the world doesn't simply exist at eye level. Every time I shoot an image, I consider the angle, camera height, lens, f-stop and lighting. It's in my nature to think about imagery. Thoughts such as, the height between two or a group of people standing together register in my minds eye. For example, is the tallest person in the center? Maybe the tallest people should be at each end? Are the poses casual and flattering? Maybe, the person's weigh needs to be shifted. How about hips? Push away from the lens, or lean in to the lens. These are all all the thoughts that flood my mind during the picture taking process. Of course, I don't vocalize these thoughts, it's natural for me to think about what looks best. Even through the course of normal life, my thoughts are based on imagery. I can't help it, imagery is just who I am. It's not just about seeing, Mitzvah photography is also about understanding lenses and lighting. For example, stand far away and shoot telephoto? or get close and use a normal lens, or go wide. All these examples could result in the same size but different looking photo.
Here is reason number four. Sometimes images require some extra help. While a great photographer can created pretty images in camera, sometimes retouching is needed. Today, most South Florida photographers don't have the skills to retouch their work. Therefore the retouching must be subbed out to a freelance retoucher. There is nothing wrong with this, I have retouching staff as well. However, I'm also a skilled photo retoucher. So if an image needs to be retouched, I can do that quickly and easily. I don't need to think so much about the retouching cost when doing image editing. Check out my blog article on photo retouch here: Image retouching by Jeff
Florida Bat Mitzvah photographer
Florida Bat Mitzvah photographer
Location: 6750 N University Drive, Parkland, FL 33067.