Travels to France 2012

The Chateau with our superb lunch, thanks to David

We just returned from a wonderful trip to France - a few days with our friends Barbara and David in the countryside (too few!) and five glorious days in Paris.  Here's a few of Jim's images of our first 2 days in France - a country church, field of poppies, a chateau where we had a fabulous private luncheon with our friends, Barbara, David, Andrew and Catherine and a garlic field.  More to come later........

Beautiful poppies everywhere!

Rows among rows of garlic w/garlic-like flowers on top of the stalks 

Detail of a country cathedral

Tkatch Portfolio -2012

Just to make things easier for new clients, we have developed a brief slideshow with a range of images from a variety of meetings and conferences that Jim has covered.  You can check it out below.

CLICK FOR SLIDE SHOW

Baltimore museum weekend

Last weekend we went to Baltimore and visited the American Visionary Art Museum - a one of a kind display place with works from self- taught artists, generally considered "outsiders." Those who work with non-traditional mediums, often with other other professions -art as an avocation. Very cool and sensory overload! The picture below depicts a mosaic covered school bus with clay animals and flowers.  The front of the museum is a mosaic of mirrors and tiles.

Then a walk through downtown Baltimore and a stop at the Walters art museum. We only got through one floor of 19th century art. More trips to Baltimore are in store for us.

Voices Heard on Capitol Hill

From Banking to Healthcare to Manufacturing -- everyone wants their voice heard.  Hearings, Hill visits by Association constituents and presentations by Members of Congress dominated our Spring and continue to fill up our Fall calendar.

 

Group shots mastery

Jim is the master of group shots.  It takes real skill and the artistic "eye" to make a shot like the one on the left - you have a variety of looks, color, and clothing, limited space and personalities that don't like to pose for pictures, some that do, and mostly those that don't want to stand around for too long!  For the past several years, Jim spends 40 Mondays annually taking group shots for Lockheed Martin's Center for Leadership Excellence, so he has lots of practice!

Sometimes the group shots are impromptu without special lighting and arranged space, such as the images below taken last week at a convention in Chicago.

And lastly there's always the planned, posed group shot, where someone doesn't show up or the schedule changes and I have to use my PhotoShop skills to make the image a whole.  This last picture, below, was done over a 3 week period with a few people added in over time.

Meetings Photography Coverage: The Art of Candids

Jim has a wonderful gift in capturing the "decisive moment" (coined by the famous photographer Henri Cartier Bresson).  These recent images from two conventions mid-May illustrate the art of doing business through meetings and conventions.

One of our favorite speakers in action, Hattie Hill.

Meetings Photography Coverage: Health Care Issues

We are fortunate to have several clients that deal with today's healthcare issues,  a topic that we care about.  Pictured here is Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Dept of Health and Human Services at an annual meeting at the Gaylord National Harbor last week and a few images from the Capitol Hill Advocacy Day of our new client, Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.