For our August portfolio event, we felt it was time for a change of scenery, so Rachel, Jessica and myself headed to the Baltimore area to meet with the creatives at Loyola University, HZDG and The Travel Channel. We were up nice and early and were greeted by stars in the sky as we started the drive towards the Old Line State.
Jessica pushes our cart of portfolios to our first meeting at Loyola University.
Our first stop was a bit north of the city at one of Loyola University’s graduate buildings that housed their creative services department. We met with Malia Leary, one of the associate directors who helps spearhead the creative projects not only for the university itself, but for Loyola Magazine as well. Because they often photograph donors and alumni who live all over, she was excited to see the geographical variety of our portrait photographers, and hear about our “On the Move” feature.
Malia and I talk about our photographers as she reviews some portfolios.
Malia had requested to see some sports photographers, so she was not disappointed when looking through Ryan Gibson and James Quantz Jr.’s portfolios. She also really enjoyed Gregory Miller’s book, and loved the natural style of Porter Gifford’s work.
Next we took the short drive down to the Baltimore office of HZDG, a marketing communications agency located in the heart of the city. We walked into their beautiful office that was adorned with fun lights and gorgeous furniture, and were greeted by producer Brenna Mathers. We set up shop in their glass-walled conference room, and spread out a variety of sports, hospitality and lifestyle books. We were lucky enough to be joined by some other HZDG creatives from their Rockville office, including Gillian Goodman, who talked about multiple Wonderful Machine photographers that she had worked with in the past, like Trent Bell and Eli Meir Kaplan.
Fabulous Baltimore signage.
They were excited to hear about our production capabilities and stock tool, and enjoyed being able to look through some physical books, as they’re so used to viewing work in a digital format. Francesco Ridolfi, Lauryn Ishak and Taylor Roades were some of their favorites, and they especially liked Taylor’s fun clipboard calendar promos.
Rachel and I chat with the HZDG team about our photographers.
After exchanging commute stories and a few laughs, we prepared ourselves for the trip down to Travel Channel, whose offices are right outside of DC. We were able to avoid any horrendous traffic, and even had time for a quick lunch, before meeting with Andy Ward. As a photo editor for Travel Channel, Andy told us he meets with photographers frequently, and had even met with Scott Suchman, whose book we brought along. He also talked about working with WM-er Hollis Bennett, and was excited to hear that we could help him with production. Among his favorite portfolios were Rolando Diaz and Matt Dutile—Matt’s fun travel-themed promo helped his work be even more memorable. Take a look through Rolando’s portfolio below.
Rachel and Andy talk about trying to schedule some Florida shoots in the winter.
We then packed up and prepared for the three and a half hour ride back to Pennsylvania, though in a car filled with My Best Friend’s Wedding and Grease soundtracks and ’90s throwbacks, the time flew by (playlist available on request). Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but let’s not wait so long until next time, Baltimore!
Goodbye Baltimore harbor!
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