Several weeks ago Mike Kortoci studio was pleased to welcome the NFL New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes to our studio for a photo shoot. He was here shooting for a billboard advertisement, and we decided to have a little fun by taking a shot with Lawrence and Mike. On the behalf of our studio we would like to congratulate him and the New York Giants for winning the Super Bowl and being NFL Champions! Can’t wait until he comes back for another photo shoot!

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Back in November at our studio we had our second annual New Face Contest final round where we crowned our winner, Natalie Pantano. She is a very attractive girl and she was the  winner of our contest out of hundreds of aspiring young models. As our grand prize winner she won a full day photo shoot, makeup artist, hair stylist, and much more! Check out her modeling transformation. The first photo on the left is her first attempt at modeling from the semifinal round of our New Face Contest and the second photo on the right is the beautiful image we were able to create out of a full day photo shoot. She has an amazing future ahead of her!

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Here at the Mike Kortoci Studio we hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and will continue to do so by having a great new year! Today we are shooting two models in a full day photo shoot. The first is Rebecca, one of our New Face America modeling winners of a half day photo shoot in our first annual competition. To complement her, we are also shooting her beautiful sister which is sure to be an exciting day of modeling! During todays photo shoot we will also be filming high definition video promotions. Cinematography clips will be captured by Arben from Exceed Studios. Working with someone with a creative vision is very important in this industry. His company was assigned to the project and is doing an extraordinary job with the website design.  We are very excited about launching our spring contest on a much bigger scale than our last. Keep up to date with our blog and stay tuned for our official contest announcement.

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As always, before a big event you worry if it will go according to plan. For me, it was “will the show live up to my dreams and expectations?”.  At first I was unsure, but when you work with such a extraordinarily talented and professional group of people that sacrificed so much of their time the answer is “of course it will”.  With that being said I have to give a belated, but well deserved thank you to all of the magnificent members of the panel that made  the “New Face 2011” contest such an enjoyable experience that surpassed all of my greatest expectations.  In result to the success of this years “New Face 2011” we will be hosting a much larger scaled “New Face America 2012” later in the Spring which will be announced soon.  Special thanks again to Erriette Lenas former Model/Beauty Advisor, Suzana Halili Celebrity Hair/Makeup Artist, Marc Passera Editor of Super Models Unlimited Magazine, and David Ammirata Image Specialist/Coordinator for making this such an amazing experience.

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Recently, I was able to get into a new area of photography- Billboards.

Here at the studio we had the NFL- New York Giants Kicker Lawrence Tynes doing a photoshoot for an advertisement.

It was really a great time for everyone. As you can see, we took some fun photos too!

I can’t wait to see the billboard!

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500 Applications. 2 Months. One Top 40 Semifinal Round. 12 Finalists.  One Winner.

The final round of our New Face Contest was quite extraordinary! On Saturday, November 5th, our top twelve finalists competed against each other to be the grand prize winner as the New Face of 2011. We were joined by our celebrity judging panel of Erriette Lenas (Former fashion model), Suzana Halili (Celebrity makeup/hair stylist), Marc Passera (Executive Editor of Supermodels Unlimited Magazine), and David Ammirata (Multimedia Specialist and Musician).

Each contestant had a personal interview with the judging panel and the chance to view their images from the semifinal round. Competition was significant and the judges agreed each and every finalist had what it takes to be a model.

But at the end of the day there had to be only three winners. Our New Face Grand Prize Winner of 2011 won our competition by only .05 points! What a contest!

Congratulations goes to….1st place…Natalie Pantano
2nd place…Rebecca Nathanson
3rd place…Krystel Sanford

We thank everyone for participating and hope aspiring models will be looking forward to our next Spring contest!

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A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to work with Grammy Award-winning directors Alex Topaller and Dan Shapiro. They have directed music videos for some of the world’s biggest artists including Michael Jackson, the Stone Temple Pilots, and Juanes. I was honored to be chosen to shoot their own publicity image. Both were a pleasure to work with and were very humble for two men of their prominence.

I find great satisfaction working with others who have such vast creative mindsets. Be sure to check them out at www.aggressive.tv.

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It’s a common conception of people that New York is the place where models look for photographers. Surprisingly enough I’m getting more and more phone calls and e-mails from promising New Faces. The most frequent conversations start with, “I’ve been thinking…I was told…how can I…who can I contact…what do I need to do?” and as much as I try to be helpful I always remind them that the best thing they can get from me is a beautiful image.  One of the places I guide them to is a website called Models and Moguls which explains to someone new in the industry how to build a portfolio. Proudly, the photo they use as a sample for a portfolio image is my own shot of CariDee English, a finalist from America’s Top Model.

Check out the link below to see the article on how to build a portfolio by Models and Moguls. http://www.modelsandmoguls.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=100

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Looking back, I have encountered and worked with such astounding individuals. From world famous ballerinas, and models to several hit television shows, I feel like I have not described my wonderful experiences to the fullest. In doing so here are some past articles that shares a bit more about myself.

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On March 28th 2011 I had the opportunity to be interviewed regarding Model Susan Coffey at susancoffey.net.

In the interview I had spoken about Susan’s beauty and skills on her first professional photoshoot and my experience working with her. As said in the article she is a wonderful model with a lot potential. Susan is a beautiful person inside and out.

“When it comes to modeling, there is work to be done. You have a gift, you have beauty, which is a gift from God or from your parents or however you want to phrase it. But that’s only half of the job. The other half takes a lot of practice, a lot of experience, a lot of observing, to succeed in the industry. It’s not as simple as you might think. In some ways I like to push every girl who I work with a little bit hard so that they know that when you try a little bit harder you might be able to achieve something better.”

Read more at: Mike Kortoci’s Interview about Model Susan Coffey

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