Jake Rohde | Valo Photography

One of my favorite things to do with photographs is to make things with them and see them in PRINT! I used to be a full time designer and art director, and I still love to design. So I am always stoked when I get to design something with the photographs we make for people. All too often in this digital age, photos never see the site of a good paper or product, and it makes me cry. Digital images are awesome for sharing on Facebook and for an archive of work… but nothing is better than something printed.

Darcie and Matt are getting married this year and I helped them out with their Save the Date cards and their guestbook. One of wedding details is the compass rose, so I used that in details in the save the date and guestbook. It was a lot of fun to work on these two items, because I could incorporate the same items from both pieces and start to create a brand to their day… the image became their main graphic, I could pull typography and style through, and I could use some quality materials to make some great products for them.

The save the dates were made on high-quality New Leaf matte cover stock, 50% recycled fiber and bleached without the use of chlorine compounds. To keep the same feel and make for easy signing the guestbook was made on matte paper as well. The guestbook design is pretty simple, lots of space for people to sign. A dust jacket was made with the main graphic with 40 pages inside. The book is 8×10 landscape, printed on uncoated archival-quality 100# Mohawk Fine Paper (Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Ultrawhite). For the cover we did an Oatmeal Linen which is made of 100% renewable cotton and linen fibers and backed with tissue for increased durability, paired with White End Sheets. We did the dust cover, just for the added flexibility to remove it and just have the linen hardcover book.

Take a look:

If you need some help making some products for your wedding, let me know!

No Comments | In: Products | tags: guestbook, Milwaukee, milwaukee wisconsin, Photographers, Photography, products, save the date, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

I have known Dana for quite a while, and always seem to run into him at Milwaukee tech meetings and social events. He runs a tech company called dfco, and they find their passion in new media and web technologies. It was an honor when he asked Simon and I to make some photographs of him and his business partner Lance, while he was in town. Dana is also a huge cycling fan (so am I) so I was pretty stoked when we showed up and found out he and Lance had rode their bikes to the shoot and wanted to use them in some of the shots. Anyways, check out some favorites from the set Simon and I made for dfco.

1 Comment | In: Commercial, Personal Branding | tags: branding, co, colorado, environmental, lifestyle, Milwaukee, milwaukee wisconsin, Photographers, Photography, portraits, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

A follow up to these posts about our recent work with 2 Cents MKE:

2 CENTS MKE – MILWAUKEE FASHION STORY
and
“PASSING” A SHORT FILM DONE FOR 2 CENTS MKE

I finally got my hands on a physical copy of the new issue, so I thought I would snap a few photos of it. You can pick yours up at a ton of local spots. I got mine at Beans and Barley. I know they are also located at Comet Cafe, Ians Pizza, Stonefly, Project M, Art Bar, and Alterra on Humbolt – just to name a few…

No Comments | In: Commercial, Fashion | tags: @jakedavidrohde, Jake, Jake Rohde, Milwaukee, milwaukee fashion photography, milwaukee wisconsin, Photographers, Photography, Rohde, Valo, Valo Photography, Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin. | #

Two Cents is a new visual resource guide for Milwaukee, by Milwaukee. Simon and I had the pleasure of working with Publisher, Editor In Chief, and art director, Katie Donoghue, of Two Cents for their latest issue. Every issue contains an 8 page photo spread that deals with the overall issue topic. Issue #5, the issue we were working on, was all about Riverwest. So we got together with Ms Katie and brainstormed about what we wanted to do. After a lot of thoughts we decided to do a two person story, which ended up being called “Passing”. We came up with a loose story, and Katie went to work on organizing… and man, she is good. So with the fantastic team that Katie put together, with the great Riverwest locations we had to work with, we made the story come to life in photographs and video.

A quick synopsis of the team:
For – 2 Cents MKE
Photography and Video: Valo Photography – Jake Rohde & Simon McConico
Art Director: Katie Donoghue
Fashion Stylist: Bree Rose | Project M Boutique
Makeup Artist: Kristin Lindemann
Hair Stylist: Maggie Connolly
Models: Svetlana Stoycheva & David Taniguchi

Again, I can’t say how great this team was. Everyone was awesome.

So take a look at the issue… some of my photographs from the issue… and go out and get an issue, because there is nothing like the real thing. Oh and also watch the short fashion movie for “Passing” if you haven’t already…

1 Comment | In: Commercial, Fashion | tags: @jakedavidrohde, Jake, Jake Rohde, Milwaukee, milwaukee fashion photography, milwaukee wisconsin, Photographers, Photography, Rohde, Valo, Valo Photography, Waukesha, WI, Wisconsin. | #

Being that Valo Photography is only two people, Simon McConico and myself, it allows us to really concentrate and connect with our clients. It also allows us to be flexible, which came in handy for Sarah’s senior photos. Sarah called me up about 1 hour before her shoot, and started to explain that there was some logistical complications with the locations we had picked out. Basically she couldn’t make it downtown Milwaukee, and was wondering if there was any way we could move the shoot. She needed to shoot somewhere close to Waukesha. I do not know the area all that well, so I pulled up Google maps, and found a couple locations that looked promising. We met up at Frame Park after finding out that there was some kind of festival (Freeman Friday Night Live) going on Downtown, and we couldn’t find parking there, or even get close… We started a bit late, but Sarah was so fun and ready to rock, that we were off and shooting in a matter of minutes.

Sarah is going to be an actress, and from what I saw of her presence in front of a camera, she will have no problem being a great actress. On top of that she is a huge Marquette Basketball fan, and even though I am not a huge sports fan, Marquette Basketball is on the top of my list (thanks to my wife and my father in-law). Oh and I also forgot, Sarah is an aspiring photographer as well… So we chatted about cameras, photography, Marquette, acting… and before you knew it, we were done. Sarah made my job easy, and I hope I made her job easy as well.

The light was great, and a new location is always fun. Here are some of my favorites from the Senior Shoot with Sarah at Frame Park, Waukesha:

After we were done shooting, Sarah mentioned she has a sister who would be graduating next year… So, to Sarah’s sister; apply for the Valo Street Team next year!

No Comments | In: Senior Photos | tags: @jakedavidrohde, class of 2011, graduation photos, high school, highschool photographer, highschool photos, highschool senior, Jake, Jake Rohde, Milwaukee, milwaukee senior photography, milwaukee senior photos, milwaukee wisconsin, Photography, Rohde, senior, senior photographer, Senior Photos, Senior Portraits, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #

Paul sent me an email that went something like this:

“I am not a big fan of having my picture taken, but it seems like everything you guys do turns out great. So I thought I would like you guys to do my senior photos.”

From that statement, I could tell that the De-Caf session would be perfect for Paul.

I met Paul and his friend Maddy (whom I will be working with very shortly) at the Alterra in the fifth ward (the Foundry). I had a Iced Chai Latte as a refreshment and a bit of caffeine before the shoot. I knew it was going to be quick and fast paced… once Paul and Maddy showed up we started right away, the first shots out of the gate were in the fabulous outdoor area at Alterra. From there we ran around the Fifth Ward and rocked out! It was great to have Maddy along for the ride as well, since she was friends with Paul, it made shooting a bit more fun. Here are some of my favorites from the day:

3 Comments | In: Senior Photos | tags: @jakedavidrohde, class of 2011, graduation photos, high school, highschool photographer, highschool photos, highschool senior, Jake, Jake Rohde, Milwaukee, milwaukee senior photography, milwaukee senior photos, milwaukee wisconsin, Photography, Rohde, senior, senior photographer, Senior Photos, Senior Portraits, Valo, Valo Photography, WI, Wisconsin. | #