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Today's Guest: Peter Pecci of Pecci Photography in Naples, Florida
Today's Host: John Bentley
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Peter Pecci Transcript Page
Peter Pecci Expert PageJOHN - Welcome to VTalk Radio Photography Spotlight. Today's program is sponsored by Morephotos.com. The online total photo sales solution for professional photographers worldwide. I'm your host, John Bentley
JOHN - How're you doing Peter?
PETER - I'm doing real well thank you.
JOHN - Tell us a little bit about your services.
PETER - We are a photography studio specializing in high end weddings, destination weddings world wide and fine family portraits.
JOHN - We have your website up right now; can you give us your website address real quick?
PETER - Sure, the website is www.pecciphotography.com.
JOHN - I am seeing some wonderful photos. Specifically the wedding photos I've been looking at on your website. Excellent color photos, black and white photos. Now, you are strictly doing digital photography right now, correct?
PETER - Correct. We've changed fully to digital about 5 years ago. And I'm a graphic artist as well. So it's given me a lot of freedom to create some really stunning images for the brides. We not only do the normal things like remove blemishes, but then we can go in and whiten the whites in the eyes, airbrush the skin, we can make grandma look younger, but not ridiculous. We don't take all the character lines away, but we do soften them. Everybody likes to good whether their 9 or 90.
JOHN - Sure.
PETER - Then we can do collages of multiple images on one page. This all leads us to one of a kind digitally designed wedding albums. The bride picks a selection of images; typically about 60 and then I go through and I correct every blemish, every little nuance in the images. Then sit down and design the album so it tells a story. Each page may have one or several images. Actually it's in a panoramic form, so if their album is an 11 x 11, when you open it, it's an 11 x 22. It's a beautiful album. They are very unique. They are printed and bound uniquely and I think we have a produce that will appeal to the most discerning of customers.
JOHN - Excellent. So what is a client need to know when they are doing a photo session with you that will help them go through this process.
PETER - Well, I do something very unique. We try to first meet with them one on one in the studio, but if they're a destination bride, a lot of times that is not possible because they live somewhere else. So when they get to wherever they're getting married, for example, in Naples. They usually come in a couple of days prior to the event, and what I do is I meet with them; and I don't know if you're familiar with Naples, but it's one of the most upscale cities in the United States positioned on the Gulf of Mexico. White sandy beaches, etc. So I generally take them down to our upscale shopping area which is called 5th Avenue, 3rd Avenue South and they have a lot of bistros and a lot of ornamental tables, wrought iron. Very, very high end backgrounds and what we do is start off with maybe a glass of wine at a bistro maybe outside and we begin to talk. I want them to develop a warmth, friendship with me. Not just a client - photographer relationship, but .. my first name is Peter so it would be Ken and Peter or Mary and Peter so that they feel relaxed. And then I back away and I use longer lens, like telephoto lenses, and I begin to photograph them. Let them interact as most couples do.
Everybody interacts a little differently so I'm getting more relaxed images. And then we'll walk along the beautiful stores and maybe they'll have their reflections in the big glass windows or things like that. And so at that point we've taken maybe 150 – 200 images. The bride and groom select one picture amongst all those and I upload it to my lab and we produce a 20 x 30 image which will be on display at their wedding. Then from there I could wallets of that same image and they're at every place setting. And on that wallet, in very fine, discreet lettering it says view your images at pecciphotography.com. That allows any member who was at the wedding to view the them. We upload them and of course we use More Photos which does a fantastic job. Anyone no matter where in the world can go to my website and view the images. It works very, very well.
JOHN - Excellent Peter. That's some good information for people out there listening who might need a wedding photographer. We're gonna take a short break for these important messages. Please hold on, we'll be right back with Peter Pecci of Pecci Photography.
Announcer - This VTalk Radio Spotlight is brought to you by morephotos.com. The online photo sales solution for professional photographers worldwide.
VTALK RADIO ... we now return you to VTalk Radio Photography Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN - Welcome back to VTalk Radio Photographer's Spotlight. This is John Bentley your host. I'm in the studio via phone with Peter Pecci of Pecci Photography of Naples, Florida. Welcome back Peter.
PETER - Thank you, very much.
JOHN - Now we were talking about a number of ways that you will shoot a bride. Can you tell us some of the tricks or some of the things you do to make her more comfortable in a photo shoot.
PETER - Sure. One of the things I try to do is capture the emotion of the day. I think it's so important that when the bride looks up at the groom you might see a tear or a smile. As she's looking at her dad when he gives her away, emotion is so important. I try to stay away from the "deer in the headlight look". Nobody looks natural that way so I work a little further away from the bride and groom sometimes with telephoto lenses. Other times when we're doing a group shot, instead of having them all stand in a very formal position which I do as well, maybe the second or third shots would be to have them join hands and I'll tell them ahead of time take one step to the right and two steps to the and one to the right and try to mix them up. And you know when they do it, they're gonna do it wrong, but they stop to laugh and that's what I want. I want genuine laughs rather than asking them to smile.
JOHN - Oh brilliant.
PETER - So what happens is in their finished product of the album, the bride looks like she is sincerely laughing and enjoying her day. And the other thing I try to do is have them not always look at the camera. Having them look at each other or away from the camera. Again, looking like I'm documenting the event; sort of following the action versus leading it.
JOHN - That is excellent. Now, you do a lot of outdoor photography. Is there any specific time you prefer shooting.
PETER - That's a good question. Yes I do. I really prefer very early morning sunlight. Living so close to the ocean, if you photograph midday you have the harsh shadows. Especially around noon or one or two o'clock. So what I do is either shoot for sunsets or sunrises. It's much easier on the people; they don't squint, skin tones are beautiful. We do a lot of exotic photography down here on yachts, out on beaches that are have beautiful sand and silhouetted palm trees, things like that that really add to the photograph so watching the light means a lot. That's what we're really doing in photography, we're painting with light if you would look at it in that respect. So that's how I look at it. I've studied a lot about the old masters and of course they painted not by light or flash, but by natural light. Those images have stood the test of time, and I have sort of emulated in some respect those techniques.
JOHN - Excellent. Excellent. Could you tell me a little bit about what you would consider a dream photo shoot?
PETER - My dream photo shoot would be someplace on a beautiful sandy beach – not allowed everywhere. I know it's allowed in the Bahamas, but having a bride side saddle on a beautiful white horse in the surf. She could be led by her groom. He could lead the horse by the halter. He may have his tux on and his pant legs rolled up to the knee walking along the beautiful sandy beach possibly at sunset. Really a romantic setting. I think that would be a real dream situation.
JOHN - Excellent.
PETER - Yep.
JOHN – Now you have been a photographer for many years. Tell us a little bit about your background.
PETER - I've been a photographer for 26 years. I've gone to Mass College of Art in Boston. I became a graphic artist. Never a great artist, but I had a great eye, and I found that the digital photography was the medium I needed to mix my color and the eye. I feel I am at the top of my game. I surround myself with high quality companies that handle my printing and my albums, and it's worked very well. I am the photographer of choice at many of the Ritz Carleton locations, the Naples Grand in Naples here which is a national company. Some of the best resorts in Marco Island. Some of the major ___ companies. I also work with many of the Fortune 500 companies. I've worked for Ford, Sports Illustrated, General Motors; so I do a lot of their events as well. I really love what I do. It's a real passion for me, and if anybody is looking for some very, very stunning images that will last a lifetime. I'm the right guy.
JOHN - It sure sounds like you've got loads of experience and quite a catalog of pictures and you really are acute to attention to detail and I like the way you do your photography. That's for sure. Stunning photos on your website. Now you're affiliated by morephotos.com. How has this company helped you as a photographer?
PETER - Well I started with them many years ago, and it's been a flawless relationship. Initially we started off using them just to upload my images to an online gallery, and I feel they are second to none. When a client orders the images, it's auto'd through a shopping cart situation like most online ordering is. They send you a picture as well as an order it eliminates any mistakes on reorders. They do handle all my website work. They help to design the website itself. They maintain it, and everybody I work with at that company has, not only my good business in mind, but they just handle everybody so well. I don't have even the slightest thought of ever leaving them, because they are part of my business. They help me grow and actually help me succeed.
JOHN - Just another tool to help you with your business. Wonderful Peter. We're gonna wrap things up here. Once again, can you give your website for our customers who are listening?
PETER - www.pecciphotography.com
JOHN - Once again, we've been in the studio with Peter Pecci of Pecci Photography. This is VTalk Radio Photographer's Spotlight. Thank you for joining us, Peter.
PETER - Thank you.
JOHN - And we are outta here. Have a great day. I'm John Bentley. Take care.
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