Shootout at the Garden

On July 20th the iStar Charity Foundation's 7th Annual iStar Charity Shootout took place at Madison Square Garden, raising over $350,000.

Agency Photographers is proud to have taken part in the event, covering the event as well as posting photos at a website created by the foundation for attendees to download their own images.

The event was underwritten by iStar Financial, the Jay & Kelly Sugarman Foundation and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP for the benefit of Baby Buggy® (http://www.babybuggy.org), Human Rights First (http://www.humanrightsfirst.org), Robin Hood (http://www.robinhood.org), and Teach For America (http://www.teachforamerica.org).

Keeping with tradition, this year’s event featured athletes, entertainers and prominent business leaders participating in various basketball competitions designed to raise money for the four charities. Highlights of the evening included big money-making “Supershots” by supermodel, Emme, for $40,000 and New York Knicks number-one draft pick, Danilo Gallinari, connecting on a shot worth $26,000. Also at the event, actor Hugh Jackman and actress Vivica A. Fox joined Gallinari and his teammate Wilson Chandler and former Knicks stars Anthony Mason and Charles Smith, as well as former NY Liberty women’s star Kym Hampton and super middleweight boxing contender, Michael Olajide as guest judges for the slam dunk competition.

The evening also featured performances by the Harlem Wizards, Knicks City Kids, “Maddie” the Mascot and a special halftime performance by beatboxers Kid Lucky, Shockwave of PBS TV’s re-tooled classic “The Electric Company®”, Butterscotch, an “America’s Got Talent” finalist and Swiss Chris. WNBC-TV sports anchor, Bruce Beck, once again served as master of ceremonies.

To learn more about the iStar Charitable Foundation, make a donation, and/or to see more event images, please go to http://istarcharityfoundation.org.

ISES Northeast Regional Education Conference

Agency Photographers is proud to have been a strategic partner for the 2009 International Special Events Society (ISES) Northeast Regional Education Conference (REC) at the New York Marriott Downtown. [For more information on the conference, please visit: www.isesrec.com]

For those unfamiliar with ISES, it is an organization dedicated to fostering professionalism and excellence in the events industry. Through a combination of education and networking opportunities, ISES helps advance the knowledge of events professionals and the quality of the events they produce.

For the REC, beginning with board and committee day on March 7th, we provided photographic coverage of all the meetings and educational sessions through March 9th.

The keynote address by Tim Sanders on March 8th was arguably one of the best presentations I have ever heard. Practical information was presented succinctly, in a speech that was both entertaining and moving. If you have the opportunity to hear Tim speak, I highly recommend it.

At the late night lounge events on Saturday and Sunday, we rolled out our latest service: Broadcast Photos.

Using a wireless transmitter in our cameras, we take photos that appear on a screen within seconds of being shot. A great offering for formal entrances into large rooms, dance floor shots shown above the DJ station, or for family events so that the kids enjoying themselves in other areas can be seen in the adults’ room, Broadcast Photos are ideal for any event.

Samples from the REC are in the slideshows on this page. It was a great event and we look forward to many more.

Thinking about summer

So here we are, almost to Valentine’s day, and it’s time to plan for summer.

I know it’s hard to think about when the mercury is rattling in the bottom of the thermometer like a frozen pea, but this is the best time to get your late spring/summer plans together.

Historically, we find May into early July to be one of the busiest periods for corporate event and gala photography; a period more famously known for its June brides. Even with the shakeup in the economy, we are getting calls from folks looking to book their summer events.

And that’s a good thing.

It means that people are looking ahead to the possibilities. Reaching out to a beckoning, brighter future.

It also means that dates are filling and you shouldn’t wait too long to call for your event.

As we race towards summer, we look forward to many things.

For us, we are looking forward to covering international conferences, island weddings and family reunions. Champagne toasts and tears of joy. Dinners for 20 and parties for 15,000.

But most of all, we look forward to making photography the easiest part of whatever you are planning.