COPPOLA PHOTOGRAPHY

Back in the saddle again! no, not the bike saddle!

2012-01-31T19:33:00.002-05:00

After a year of adventure from the seat of my Cannondale touring bike alongside my beautiful wife; I have finally returned to Coppola Photography. Okay, so I didn't really leave the passions and path of Coppola Photography, but I have avoided this blog for over a year.

These past few weeks I have been updating my Coppola Photography Website (www.coppolaphotography.com) (still not even close to done), and I have been on the search for a new Logo that represents the final path that I wish for Coppola Photography to take. (here are some designs I'm debating) They represent adventure photography!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to shoot the VICE event in New Hampshire. What does VICE stand for, you ask? Vertical Ice Climbing Enthusiasts. Basically, it is a bunch of students and young alumni from Boston area schools that love the outdoors and want to share that love for the outdoors through learning and pushing their limits in ice climbing. I had a great time photographing this group and learning about the basics of Ice Climbing. With the help of some great people, I event got the chance to combine my passion for outdoor photography with new knowledge of ice climbing by photographing from the Ice, all roped up! It was scary and an absolute blast at the same time.

Here is what I captured:

Ashley Mirando: Amazing Singer

2010-12-07T12:05:00.001-05:00

This Past Sunday I had the chance to help out my cousin Ashley Mirando with photography to help her promote her budding musical career. She has the most unbelievable voice!

Christy and I were so lucky to have her sing "What a Wonderful World" at our wedding. Ashley singing during our ceremony is one of the funniest stories from our day. Ashley's song began playing before she arrived at the mic, so she had to go into a halfway sprint to get to the mic in time to sing the first words. Everyone was awe-struck by her ability to hit the first note beautifully after a running start.

We photographed at a few locations: the Hopkins' property (Thank you so much Hopkins Family!), a few random spots in madison... sneaking onto people's properties for quick photos, and finally the spot at the end of neck road, Madison.

Ashley was great to work with; she was fun and had the perfect attitude to bare the cold and adjust to horses trying to eat her shirt... true story. We had Christy, Michelle, Tyler, and Nikki all around to help out and make the whole experience fun and relaxed! Thanks for all of the help everyone!

Here are a few of my favorite images from the day:

CD Cover Shoot

2010-09-24T01:28:00.002-04:00

This afternoon and early evening, I photographed my soon-to-be father in-law, Jim Paradis. I wanted to try out some new lighting techniques and he needed an image for his album cover. I was so fortunate not only to have beautiful light, and a fun subject, but I also had the best assistant I could ask for... Christy! She helped a ton except for the time she wasn't needed and decided to peg me with acorns while I photographed her father.

Christy was holding a large gold reflector (camera left)... this helped to reflect golden light into this shady spot, and having Christy standing there helped to get some natural smiles from Jim. If I ever needed a smile from him I would just say, "look at Christy"

Here is a fine art image mixed in. I'll have to make a print for the nice woman that let us use her incredible barn for some photographs.

Christy was throwing acorns at me during this shot. Anyone want to guess where this is?... I'll give you a hint.... People are dying to get in here.

having fun on the long walk out to grass island.

For these last two shots Christy held an off camera flash fired through a shoot through umbrella, triggered using the new Pocket Wizard wireless transmitters.

Any votes for the album cover shot?

Nancy and Mike Sneek Peak

2010-09-20T23:36:00.000-04:00

On September 4th, I photographed Nancy and Mike's beautiful Wedding. The Ceremony was at the North Madison Congregational Church and the Reception was at their lake front house. Nancy and Mike did it right! Their day was intimate, filled with love, and most of all fun. Here are a few preview images to check out while I'm working on the rest. There will be a wedding website and slide show posted soon.

Sam and Eli Wedding Slideshow

2010-09-17T18:09:00.000-04:00

Follow this link to see Sam and Eli's wedding slideshow: www.samandeli.coppolaphotography.com

Mario and Nikki Wedding Sneak Peek

2010-09-10T16:24:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I photographed the wedding of my cousin Mario and Nicole! There was a lot of concern about Hurricane Earl during the week leading up to their big day. After a few prayers from Italian mothers, Earl decided that these we not the ladies he wanted to mess with. We were able to take pictures outdoors and the ceremony and reception were amazing! Congrats Mario and Nikki! I can't wait to show the rest of the images. I'll have a website and slideshow up in a few weeks.

Sam and Eli Wedding Sneak Peek

2010-08-27T00:23:00.002-04:00

My first Destination Wedding was at a beautiful location in Southern Vermont. Eli and Sam got married at the Hermitage Inn; a picture perfect small town Vermont paradise. There was even a stocked fishing pond on the grounds. Stay tuned for a wedding website with a slide-show of many more pictures. There might even be a picture of Eli fly-fishing on his wedding day. I also can't wait to show more pics from the dance floor. There were dancers, young and old, tearing up the floor all night... and not everyone kept their shirt on!

Battle of Brimfield: Civil War Reenactment

2010-08-12T18:18:00.001-04:00

All of my images (and some of Christy's) can be seen here:

http://coppolaphotography.exposuremanager.com/g/battle_of_brimfield

More about the day:

Wow!... this was insane. These guys totally transform into character for the weekend. They eat, sleep, breathe, and sometimes die(fake dieing) Civil War reenactment. Myself along with another photographer, Robert Arnold (www.battleofbrimfield.com) were the only two non-reenactors allowed on the battlefield (thanks Sue for the Press Pass!). It was unbelievable! I can't even describe the power of these cannons when they fire... the sound hits you with a thud to your chest. The whole scene was crazy. Guys(and gals dressed as men) were sword fighting and firing rifles, pistols, and cannon's non-stop. There were cavalry units running all over the place. Men dropping left and right... and I stuck out like a sore thumb with this big camera, shorts and Keen sandals. Next time I do this I'll find some Civil War gear and wear it so i fit in. I'll wrap the big white lenses in with some burlap or something.

Besides being in the middle of a crazy civil war battle, my highlights of the day were teaching Christy some photography, eating the pig roast, and meeting Bob Arnold. Bob has been a photographer for over 30 years and he's got a great passion for the art! it was great dodging non-existent cannonballs on the battlefield, and then having lunch with him.

Sam and Eli Engagement

2010-07-28T12:42:00.001-04:00

Sam and Eli Engagement Shoot at Chatfield Hollow (Killingworth, CT) and Hammonasset Beach (Madison, CT)

now that's funny!! sorry Eli for posting this ... I had to.

2010-07-28T00:31:00.001-04:00

shooting what I love to shoot.

If I were to make a list of my favorite subjects to photograph... biking would be in the top three. This past week I went mountain biking and Yurt camping in Maine (whats a Yurt??... it's a permanent tent structure, made of canvas wrapped around a wooden circular frame) Here are some pictures from the trip... arriving, getting ready the night before a ride, the bluegrass festival, and some technical bridge riding. Enjoy!

Thanks to Jason for planning the trip, Stephen for hitting some insane obstacles for the camera, and Tim for being my photography/bridge repair assistant. I had a blast and I can't wait to do it again.

Jennifer and Robert 7-3-10

2010-07-08T16:29:00.001-04:00

This past fourth of July weekend I photographed one of my best friend's sister's wedding. Jen and Bobby had a great wedding on the beach, a celebration at Anthony's Ocean view, and then a beach party/bonfire at their house on the water in East Haven. I gotta say Jen and Bobby where two of the most action packed bride and groom to photograph... The laughter, the tackling in the sand, cake in the face, and an unexpected run into the ocean at the end of the night created some really fun pictures! These two had a blast on their wedding day and the pictures show it! Thanks again Jen and Bobby for having me capture your wedding day!

Here are a few preview pictures that I wanted to show off now while I work on the others. There will be many many more; I look forward to creating a website and showing you a slideshow of whole day.

Congrats to Jen and Bobby!

Kate and Christiaan Website and Slideshow

2010-07-06T01:24:00.000-04:00

I finally finished Kate and Christiaan's wedding website and slideshow. Let me know what you think.

Don't forget to click on the slideshow tab.

www.kateandchristiaan.coppolaphotography.com

Kim and Chad

2010-06-23T13:45:00.002-04:00

Last Friday, I was hired to photograph the wedding of Kim Orefice and Chad Turner. Kim's Family is one that holds a special place in my heart; I was so happy to be the photographer at this wedding! Kim and Chad were so great to work with, I loved the '55 Chevy Bellaire, and holy cow!!... everyone was having so much fun at the reception! Here is a preview of a few pictures from their wedding day. There will be a website and slide show posted soon (~ 3 Weeks).

Can't wait to show you all the others!

REV 3 Triathlon for Cannondale

2010-06-11T15:58:00.002-04:00

I was hired by Cannondale bikes again this year to photograph one of their professional rider's at a triathalon in Middlebury, CT. Many of the top triathletes in the world were competing in this race. Miranda Carfrae, the pro rider I was following, was the first female finisher by 6 minutes! She is ranked as the second best female triathlete in the world! It was an awesome event!

I have to throw a big thanks out to my buddy Craig for waking up early and helping me out; He drove me through the entire length of the bike course (56 miles) dodging and weaving bikers, cars, and film crews on motorcycles. I think he was loving the fact that we were flying through intersections, stop lights, and stop signs, with police at every one of them, and just because we had a little laminated peice of paper that said "Race Support Vehicle", It was Okay! Pretty hilarious! If it weren't for him I wouldn't have gotten half the shots I'll be sending over to Cannondale.

In many of the shots seen below, I used a technique called motion panning. I would close down the aperture or reduce the ISO in order to slow the shutter speed. I would slow the shutter speed enough to blur the subjects surroundings, but not too much, in order to keep Mirinda sharp, and sometimes only the bike sharp, and sometimes nothing sharp... which is a cool effect. This can only be done when you are moving in the same direction as your subject. Sometimes the bike was the only object that was sharp... this occurs because the bike was the only object that remained still relative to the camera while the shutter was open.

A photographer that I like to follow, Kevin Winzeler, has a great video about this technique:

http://www.kevinwinzeler.com/Video/Behind-The-Scenes/10014828_hXeBi#866953976_dHYJK-A-LB

Here are some of the shots I got from the Day:

Kate and Christiaan

2010-06-04T19:05:00.000-04:00

On May 29th I met and photographed two amazing people, Kate and Christiaan Enthoven. This is the first wedding I have photographed without knowing the Bride and Groom before the wedding day. I quickly learned that Kate and Christiaan are an easy-going, care-free, happy couple. They had a beautiful wedding and I was fortunate to be there capturing it all. Here is a sneak peak of the images from their wedding. There will be a website and slideshow within the next few weeks.

Congrats Kate and Christiaan!!!

Laura & Greg Sneak Peek!

2010-05-04T01:38:00.002-04:00

Here are a few images from Laura and Greg's wedding on May 1st. What an amazing wedding and beautiful day. The weather was perfect and Laura and Greg were incredible to work with. I can't wait to show all the highlights in a slideshow!

Thank You so much Laura and Greg! Enjoy your honeymoon!... and I hope the weather is just like it was on your wedding day!

Madison Little League Opening Day

2010-04-26T00:59:00.002-04:00

Saturday was opening day for Madison Little League and it was a perfect sunny day! There was music playing, hot dogs cooking, infield dirt flying, and hundreds of kids decked out in their new jerseys running around and throwing the baseball. It was an awesome sight to see.

This league has always been a big part of my life. I have always loved baseball and I'll never forget my Little League experience. This year I will be the Madison Little League Photographer. I am very excited to capture some of the special moments that I experienced many years ago.

I just want to write a quick thanks to my dad who coached me for so many years. Growing up, he had probably thrown me a million batting practice pitches, hit another million fly-balls at me, and coached me throughout most of my little league career. Thanks Dad!

Good Luck Little Leaguers! Play hard! Thank your coaches and umps! Have fun!

To view more images from opening day, Click here

Bike Shot Lighting

2010-04-23T01:09:00.000-04:00

I received a few questions about the lighting in my recent bike image photography. Hope this helps:

This is the lighting set up for the first two muddy bike images below:

Fantastic Mr. Fox

2010-04-19T21:29:00.000-04:00

The other day I was able to photograph an entire fox family.... mom, pops, and three babies (about two weeks old). Thanks to the Brucher family! who gave me a call and let me know about this Discovery-Channel-like experience in their backyard. I hung out in their pool area and captured a little of the fox family action. It was quite a show until the dog came into the picture. Here is what I got.

More Images from Root 66 Race Series

2010-04-13T01:18:00.001-04:00

Here are some more images from the root 66 bike race:

My First Film

2010-04-12T02:07:00.008-04:00

Coppolaphotography Root 66 XC Race Series: Hopbrook Dam from Adam Coppola on Vimeo.

Here is my first film using the canon 5D mkII. I'm actually a lot more excited about the photography in the film than the film itself. Check out the lighting in the pics.

Root 66 Race Series: Hop Brook Dam

2010-04-11T01:26:00.009-04:00

I traveled to Middlebury, CT today to photograph a bike race. Challenged myself to get creative with off camera speedlites. Here are a few. More to come.

Photographing my Bro for Shore Publishing

2010-04-03T13:46:00.006-04:00

Shore Publishing assigned me to shoot an author talk and book signing at RJ Julia's bookstore in madison. Who was the Author?.... My Bro!!!, Dr. Chris Coppola. He spoke about his book "Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq" The book is all about his experience being an Air Force pediatric surgeon in Iraq. He is an amazing person and an incredible role model for me. I strongly recommend his book; it will give you a new perspective to the experiences of a family man in Iraq. Check out the book website:

Coppola: A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq

Chris reading a passage from the book

Signing many books

Meredith (Chris' wife), My Bro, and My Mom

Ice Climbers in NH

2010-01-18T23:40:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year!... I know its been 2010 for almost a month now but I just wanted to tell you about my big new years resolution. I realize that following blogs of the photographers that I look up to is one of my favorite ways to learn and gain inspiration. My hope is that I too can provide that for a photographer or two. So one of my New Year's resolutions is to blog, blog, blog. Minimum one blog per month. I hope that I can help to teach and or inspire another photographer with my blog.

Christy and I spent this past weekend in New Hampshire with a bunch of my Providence College buddies... It was a blast. Before we began the trip home, Christy and I stopped at a park right down the street from my friends house. I've passed this park several times and frequently look up at the cliffs to spot the ice climbers. We decided to stop and watch. Here is what I captured.

A few tips for shooting ICE Climbing

-If you are shooting Aperture priority (Av) or Shutter Pritority (Tv), out-smart your camera!... Over expose about 1 stop. The camera wants to expose for middle gray on the ice. Over-expose the wall until the ice begins to blow-out and then back-off 1/3 stop. Once you've got the exposure set... I recommend switching to Manual dailing in and then firing away. This rule can work for shooting anything in snow/ice/or bright white. Do the opposite when photographing something black.

-Get Close to the wall but watch-out for falling ice chunks. Next time I'm bringing my snowboarding helmet.

-Play around with angles. if you tilt the camera certain ways the climb will look twice as intense. Don't get too carried away or else your viewers will wonder why the ice and trees are growing sideways and the climber is relaxed while cliffhanging.

A big thanks to the climbers I met that day... They were great people! Within a half hour they were sharing their gorpum, trying to get Christy and I on the ice with their gear, and inviting us to future trips. Thanks for being so friendly.

Here are some of the shots I got. I wish I took a few more shots of the details; close ups of the cramp-ons, axes, carribeaners, rope, ice... there was soo much to photograph.

She said "YES"

2009-12-20T21:29:00.004-05:00

Most amazing weekend of my life!... and I'm engaged.

"love lights the world"

Nancy and Bob

2009-10-12T19:31:00.022-04:00

I just finished the slideshow from Nancy and Bob's wedding. It was a great day and a wonderful wedding. The rain stopped for the perfect amount of time allowing for the portraits and the ceremony to be outdoors. Thank you Nancy and Bob!!! There are many more images but here are some of my favorites... enjoy the pictures!

Nancy and Bob Wedding Website

AFRICA

2009-08-11T14:41:00.007-04:00

(To skip the writing and go straight to the pics: CLICK HERE FOR AFRICA SLIDESHOW)

Wow... almost two months since my last post. I am pretty horrible at this blog thing. Sorry about the blog delay but I think you are gonna like this one...

Christy and I had a pretty amazing time in Africa. We spent most of our time visiting and traveling with Christy's bro Dave (African name: Daudi Kimuli... pronounced Dow-Dee Chee-Moo-lee), and the rest of the time venturing out to Masai Mara, Northern Serengheti, in Kenya. I am so amazed by what I have experienced in Africa. Everything is so incredibly different... the people, the transportation, the food, culture, landscape, wildlife, daily routines, time, showering,... everything.

I really think we traveled in a way that allowed us to do as the African's do. "When in Rome"... right!... Well, while we were in Africa... we did as the Africans did. We ate "matoke" with our hands, we pooped in pits, stuffed 24 people into a 14 person "matatu" (taxi-bus), traveled by Boda-Boda (motorcycle), and best of all, spoke a little Lugandan and Swahili. Without Dave, I don't think we could have done this. He quickly showed us African culture, mannerisms, and many, many words of conversational Lugandan. With his daily lessons we were able to constantly greet, converse, and properly thank all of the people that we came into contact with. I quickly realized that speaking a native tribal language completely separated us from other "Mzungu"(white person). Whenever we tried speaking Luganda with a local, they were so blown away that they had to keep us in a conversation. Our Luganda quickly ran out, but that didn't matter- they were just happy that we took the time to try.

After a few days in Lukaya, we decided to bargain with the local "boda-boys" (motorcyle taxi drivers) to see if we could borrow two of their motorcyles for a week. We think they make around $5 a day driving around locals by Motorcylce, so for $10 a day for 7 days they were doing pretty well with our deal... Minus the risk of us crazy mzungu's wiping out or never bringing back their Boda Bodas. So without signing a single piece of paper, showing any license, or giving any credit card we took off on their bikes for an epic week of traveling Africa by Motorcycle. My guess is that we did about 300 - 400 miles on these bikes but there is really no way to tell, because we rode on unmapped dirt roads that would have challenged even the dirt bike I used to own. We arrived at national parks on the bikes at dusk (when hunting animals are their most active). We were charged by elephants, and almost blown off the dirt roads by trucks screaming by at insane speeds.

At the national parks we mostly camped out in our tent. It was like the guards of a zoo allowed us into the wildest cages of the biggest beasts and set up a tent... only we weren't at the zoo and the animals were all in the same cage... our camp site! Just to give an idea of the proximity of these animals... IN our tent, we had an elephant tusk. Reaching distance, we had baboons and other monkees. Within sight, we had warthogs. Within ear-shot, we had hippos. We even heard that their was a lion walking around our camp sight before we woke up. Our camp sight was only about ten tents big!

Well that is about all I have in me for writing... I put all of my story-telling effort into the pictures. Everyone always asks "how many did you take?"... I took about 2800 this trip and narrowed a slide show down to 200. My hope is to show you a little bit of African life, happy faces, wildlife, landscape, and our interaction. A majority of the wildlife pictures are taken in 1. Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda 2. Lake Mburo National Park, Uganda and 3. Masai Mara, Kenya. A majority of the people pictures are taken in Dave's town (Lukaya, Masaka) and at his children's center (Hope Destitute Children's Center). I'm sorry that the pictures are not in order... I'll get to that some day soon.

If you ever get a chance to travel to Africa... Go! The people are amazing!... It will change your life.

Enjoy the pictures!

CLICK HERE FOR AFRICA SLIDESHOW

REV3 Triathlon Assignment

2009-06-10T07:58:00.014-04:00

By far the coolest photo assignment I have ever had!!! This past weekend I was hired by Cannondale bikes to photograph the Revolution 3 Triathalon in Middlebury, CT. The half Ironman (1.2mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) had about 30 Professional athletes and almost a thousand amateurs. I focused mainly on Mirinda Carfrae, Cannondale's pro rider, from brisbane, Australia. She was up against a few Olympic triathletes and former Hawaii Ironman champs (Joanna Zeiger USA and Natascha Badmann SWI). I knew she was an amazing triathlete but I never expected her to finish first!!! What an amazing day!

listen how crazy this weekend was.... I photographed for shore publishing on sat. from 930 to 1230, shot a wedding with Steve Depino (awesome photographer) from 2pm until midnight. I got home around 1230am and spent the next hour clearing memory cards and recharging batteries. I fell asleep in my chair around 130am and woke up at 330am for the tri shoot. Arrived at 5am, The athletes came soon after to prepare and warm-up. They hit the water for the swim at 7am. I was cruising around in the back of a pick up truck following the bikers from about 830-10, and captured Miranda's finish at around 1130. One of the best photography weekends I've had!

Check out the Cannondale website www.cannondale.com , two of my images of Mirinda are on the homepage!

I'll be shooting for Cannondale again tonight... they will be testing out a new bike at a local race. I'll be photographing from the back of a motorcycle... wish me luck.

Iconic Madison Assignment

2009-06-04T12:39:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I had an assignment from ELAN magazine. A small local magazine that is part of Shore Publishing. They sent me out to capture a few Iconic Madison shots... here are a few of the images I submitted. I think they are using one of them for their cover image... Sweet!

Allison and Dave Wedding

2009-05-25T20:52:00.027-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

I had a wonderful weekend and It all started with a much anticipated wedding on Friday afternoon and night. The wedding was amazing...it could not have been better! Allison and Dave were so great to photograph, the weather was perfect, I had Tony Spinelli helping me out, and everyone was having a blast. I've got hundreds of pictures that I can't wait to compile into a slideshow and into an album for Allison and Dave. Here are just a few of the images:

Stay tuned for a wedding slideshow on the website. I hope to have the wedding images and a slideshow on the website within a week or two.

BLOCK ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY

2009-05-21T10:45:00.014-04:00

Here are a few images from my trip out to Block Island. I spent a few hours hanging my work up at the KORU ECO SPA and spent the rest of my time exploring and photographing the island. Living the life of a landscape photographer for two days was pretty sweet.... Waking up before sunrise, hanging art work, napping on the beach during the bright hours, and then racing around capturing golden sunset light.... Not a bad lifestyle.

Let me know what you think... give a bro-tographer some feedback!

Little League Photography

2009-05-18T02:14:00.007-04:00

I had a great time photographing the AAA Minors Yankees vs Athletics on Saturday before I went to Erin's Wedding.

Here are some examples of the Little league Photography.

I'm heading out to Block Island to hang my photography at a gallery/spa out there. If you visit Block Island this summer.... be sure to visit the KORU ECO SPA www.koruecospa.com . The spa is right next to the main hotel when you get off the ferry.

-Adam

Mattingly Baseball

2009-05-08T10:15:00.005-04:00

Check out Donny Baseball's website. I've got one of my images on Mattingly baseball's home page. Last summer I did some product photography for them. I photographed a prototype of a training bases product.

Here is the link:

MATTINGLY BASEBALL

One of my pics is still being used on the cannondale website too...

Check it out:

CANNONDALE BIKES

Thanks for reading!

-Adam

GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!

2009-05-07T23:14:00.005-04:00

CHRISTY AND I BOOKED OUR FLIGHT TO UGANDA TODAY!!! OH YEAH!

WHENEVER I PLAN A BIG SUMMER TRIP I NEVER KNOW IF IT IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN UNTIL THE PLANE TICKETS ARE BOUGHT. WELL... THEY'RE BOUGHT. SO.. IT'S ON.

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE AFRICA, VISIT AND TRAVEL WITH CRAZY DAUDI KIMULI (DAVE), EXPLORE UGANDA, TANZANIA, AND MAYBE EVEN TAKE A TRIP TO ZANZIBAR. CHRISTY KEEPS TALKING ABOUT THESE ZANZIBARBARIANS, WHOEVER THEY ARE.

I'LL KEEP YOU UPDATED ON THE TRIP. THE DATES ARE JUNE 28 TO JULY 17 FOR ME, AND CHRISTY WILL BE STAYING A WEEK AND A HALF LONGER WITH DAVE.

THE LION PICTURE IS A PICTURE FROM SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK... ONE OF OUR SPOTS TO EXPLORE. I COULD NOT FIND OUT WHO THE PHOTOGRAPHER WAS SO I AM UNABLE TO GIVE CREDIT FOR THIS AMAZING IMAGE.

-ADAM