Phil Cantor Photography

Alice Star Markham Cantor is Bat Mitzvah

Phil Cantor — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:41:00 +0000

Alice was Bat Mitzvahed this past Saturday at the Prospect Park Picnic House in Brooklyn. She was poised and practiced and gave a marvelous speech about the meaning of biblical Esther.

The ceremony was wonderful: over 30 family members and friends spoke or read poetry. Cantor Doug Cotler, a cousin of Alice's, officiated on the guitar and Alice charmed everyone, including Doug, with her amazing voice.

-----------Oh yeah, Alice is this photographer's niece.

Sammy's Bar Mitzvah

Phil Cantor — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Sammy Mellman's Bar Mitzvah is March 29, 2008. He is the son of musician Bob Mellman and artist Janice Belove. I first met Sammy, not in my role as photographer, but rather as a baseball umpire for the town of Montclair. Unfortunately, Sammy struck out the first time he came to bat when I was behind the plate. The next time he hit a double. Not bad!

Congratulations to Sammy and the Mellman family.

Giclée: the ultimate in wall portraits

Phil Cantor — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:14:00 +0000

I have added Giclée to the list of beautiful wall portraits that I offer and I want to take a moment to answer some questions about Giclée, which means "spray" in French.

What is distinctive about Giclée Printmaking?
My Giclée prints are extensively worked on to be more dramatic than a regular portrait. They can be in color, though, I often choose to convert them to a strong black and white. They are produced on heavy weight fine art papers which impart a rich look and feel that cannot be duplicated on standard resin-coated photographic papers.

Do Giclée Prints require any special care?
Just like any piece of fine art, they should be kept from direct sunlight, extreme heat or humidity. Classic gallery-style display, matted and glassed with a simple frame will provide protection with an elegant look. They may be hung without glass protection because we use DuraFiber, which provides a waterproof, scuff-free finish.

Why are Giclée prints more expensive than standard photo lab prints?
The Giclée process is time intensive and requires expensive museum quality paper and archival inks.

Matthew, Six Months Old

Phil Cantor — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:56:00 +0000

Matthew has been to the studio twice to have his portrait taken as part of my BABY COLLECTION series of portraits. He came with his mom Rebecca and his dad, seen here, also named Matt. \

What a wonderful personality this little guy has. I love this portrait...there is something so "disneyesque" about it...it is both cold and hot at the same time.

Phil Cantor — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:59:00 +0000

The talk in the wedding community is about the demise of Celebration Studios, one of the largest "factory" type wedding photography studios around. Their impending bankruptcy has left hundreds of brides without their proofs or albums or even, a photographer for their 2008 wedding.

The Montclair Times did an extensive story about Celebrations - http://www.montclairtimes.com/page.php?page=16603 - in which I am interviewed about how to avoid such an annoying outcome. I do think that all the 2007 brides will eventually get their pictures and all the 2008 brides will find a new photographer. Caveat Emptor.

Holiday Portraits: deck the halls with boughs of pixels

Phil Cantor — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 02:08:00 +0000

What a great time of year...dinners cooking in the kitchen, leaves falling...we just need some snow to make it picture perfect. I've been making lots of wonderful portraits as people gather for the holidays.
Happy holidays!

Petography

Phil Cantor — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 01:45:00 +0000

On a whim, I put a sign in the store window inviting folks to bring in their pets for a free photograph. First of all, I got lots of calls asking what the catch was. "I'm not kidding," I told the callers, "it's really free." When the day arrived, there was a line out the door of people and their pets. Denise Gebroe, who assists me is also a dog trainer and veterinary technician, and she was in charge of making the cats and dogs smile for the camera. It was so funny and silly and I look forward to doing it again. And, everyone got their free picture in the mail.

Norman Mailer, 1923-2007

Phil Cantor — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 01:00:00 +0000

Norman Mailer died on Saturday, November 10. He was 84. I photographed him, quite by accident, at his home in Brooklyn Heights. It was an accident because I was on an assignment for Lord & Taylor. The department store was giving its annual Rose Award to Mailer and I was documenting his life. I had already photographed his friends George Plimpton, Milos Forman, and Yitzhak Perlman. I was at his brownstone to photograph his wife when he unexpectedly came home (it was all supposed to be a big surprise). I have no idea what Mailer thought, but he did not take much notice of me and went to his kitchen table and started ripping open the day's mail. I like to think he was looking for royalty checks.

Here is the obituary from the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/11mailer.html?ref=obituaries

Phil Leo marries (finally)

Phil Cantor — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 13:36:00 +0000

My longtime friend and Senior photographer, Phil Leo, was married on September 23 to Amy Edelman. Phil, who has probably photographed over 200 weddings, was finally the groom. It was so much fun to be present at this momentous event, but also it was strange to be a photographer photographing a photographer. Even though Phil knows all my tricks and techniques, he still managed to ignore me and let me make beautiful pictures of his wedding day. Amy is the author of The Little Black Dress and the soon-to-be-released Manless in Montclair: How a Happily Married Woman Became a Widow Looking for Love in the Wilds of Suburbia

Bloomies "Pre-Wedding" Wedding Party!

Phil Cantor — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 17:38:00 +0000

Getting married? Phil Cantor Photography is the exclusive photographer for Bloomingdale's Wedding Party. I am very excited about this event-- it should be a lot of fun, so stop by!

Bloomingdale's "Pre-Wedding" Wedding Party
When: Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007, 6pm - 8pm
Where: Willowbrook store, The Registry, Level 3, Wayne, New Jersey

Interested? Here's some more info:
Join other couples for cocktails by Martini & Rossi, Bobbi Brown makeup consultations, and great goodie bags. Check out vendor representatives who can help you create the wedding of your dreams - Phil Cantor Photography (www.philcantor.com), Pink Cake Box Bakery (www.pinkcakebox.com), Craig Scott Entertainment (www.craigscott.com) and more! Register that night* and Bloomingdale's will donate $5 the help the Breast Cancer Research Foundation's fight against breast cancer. Think of it as partying with a purpose.
[*Qualifying registries only. To say "I do", please RSVP to 973.582.2600 or simply drop by to join the party. 6pm - 8pm, The Registry, Level 3.]

It's that time of year again!

Phil Cantor — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:55:00 +0000

Mid- summer is a popular time to start getting senior portraits taken. Recently I have been working with high school seniors in the area. Some seniors simply missed out on their school pictures, and others just wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary.

Andrea, from Verona High wanted something natural to capture her peachy complexion and free spirit. We took all sorts of shots outside, it was a beautiful day and the light seemed to cooperate perfectly.

Oliver, from Montclair High brought his guitar along for the shoot. We took a walk down to the railroad tracks and kept the shoot casual. In the end it was tough choosing just one, they all came out so differently!

Shereen, from Paramus Catholic missed her senior picture day because she was traveling though Egypt. Shereen's adventurous spirit and warm brown eyes really captured the camera. Even though it started to rain, we made it work.

I had a blast in each session, we got some really wonderful pictures out of those spontaneous moments. Just look at these faces!

Ready, Aim, Fire

Phil Cantor — Tue, 08 May 2007 18:31:00 +0000

After more than seven months of careful planning, the Montclair Police shoot finally took place yesterday. The project started almost by chance when I approached Police Chief Sabagh last fall with the idea of setting up a photo shoot to document the entire 2007 Montclair Police Department. The most recent photo of the entire department was taken in 1946, and Chief Sabagh agreed with me that it was time for a new one.

Roads blocked, newspaper coverage, and me commanding more than 100 officers with guns-- what more could I want in a photo shoot?

If interested, take a look at these articles from the Montclair Times and the Star Ledger:

Montclair Times

Star Ledger

Play ball!

Phil Cantor — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:03:00 +0000

After the long winter, I was finally able to get back out onto the baseball field... no, not for my usual umpiring, but rather to take pictures for the Montclair Baseball Club. The weather was a bit cold, but we still managed to have a great time. Today we took the portraits, and in a few weeks it will be time for the action shots.

Congratulations, Lindsey

Phil Cantor — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:40:00 +0000

Over the weekend I had the great pleasure of attending Lindsey's Bat Mitzvah, where I was not only the photographer, but also a guest. Her parents are the founders of Wedding Podcast Network (www.weddingpodcastnetwork.com) and are close friends, so it was a delight to share this day with them all.

As an added bonus, my son's band, "Tromboner" performed-- their first paying gig!

Lyla's day to shine

Phil Cantor — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:58:00 +0000

My weekend was spent photographing and celebrating Lyla's Bat Mitzvah. On Friday we headed off to shoot the portraits at the temple. The whole family was extremely prepared for the celebrations-- their Hebrew was impeccable (thanks to several years living in Israel) and Lyla had a live-in rabbi to help with her studies (her mother!). On Sunday it was time for the party-- a warm and down-to-earth affair, and I must mention that the Wilshire Grand put out a beautiful spread. Lyla herself was self composed, confident and dramatic, not to mention extremely photogenic.

What a cute kid!

Phil Cantor — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:44:00 +0000

I recently had a photo session with Luke, an adorable (and very well behaved!) 7-month old. He just finished his 2nd session in his baby collection package and it was amazing to see how much he has grown in the past few months. He can now sit up on his own, and I can't help but wonder how much he will grow before our next photo shoot. Here are some of the photos from both shoots:

Welcome!

Phil Cantor — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:40:00 +0000

Welcome to my blog! I started this to keep everyone posted on what's going in the studio-- check in for news, images, and more.