All Is Sharp Celebrates 30 Years in Business – “It’s Not just pictures . . . It’s HISTORY!”
All Is Sharp Photography, a full-service photographic business, Farmingdale, N.J., founded in 1990, is celebrating its 30th year in business on April 1.
Joe Sharp started his photography career with his first newspaper printed image in 1973. He received a B.S. in Photographic Science and Instrumentation from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1983 that included extensive training into the chemistry, physics and optics of photography. Still and motion picture photography, television production, and aerial reconnaissance training from several U.S. Navy Schools of Photography added to Sharp’s expertise.
After RIT, he spent 10 years as a research chemist, designing and manufacturing photographic film and paper for Polychrome Corporation in Clark, N.J., and Anitec Imaging in Binghamton, N.Y.
For three years, Sharp was a ship’s photographer on the aircraft carrier USS FORRESTAL where he photographed everything from the 1976 Bicentennial in New York with President Ford to medical autopsies, to aerial photos spending hundreds of hours in helicopters.
April 2002, with the pending birth of their second child, Sharp became a self-employed, full-time photographer. Allyson was born 28 days later with Down Syndrome. A much differently balanced home and work life started. Today, Ally is a happy healthy 27-year-old who won two medals at this year’s Winter Special Olympics.
In 2003 All Is Sharp Photography went digital; and today offers a full range of photo and video services. In December 2006, after five years working as a freelance photographer at Georgian Court University (GCU), Sharp became a photography instructor there. Today, after eight years at GCU, Sharp is an adjunct instructor at Ocean County College. Sharp said, “My photography job is incredible fun . . . teaching it is completely over the top.
In 2015, after decades of aerial photography of real estate and construction sites, All is Sharp added drone photography to its photographic services. Licensed by the FAA, and completely insured for everyone’s safety, All is Sharp offers a full range of photo and video services from the air.
A long-standing relationship with Don Lordi and the Allaire Studio gave Sharp access to a range of clients throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties. Lordi’s retirement broadened and deepened Sharp’s relationship with Monmouth County, its people, and businesses. Sharp said, “I will never be able to repay the opportunities and experiences Don gave me, but I try every day!”
For Sharp, every work situation is unique and different. “Human beings are consumed by a desire to remember. That’s what a photographer creates . . . memories for you and future generations. Photography is a tremendously personal activity. It catches people and situations at their best and worst; and, occasionally, simultaneously. A talented photographer must be invisible in the middle of the situation, very sensitive to people and their feelings, and still record that memory for them. I have been very blessed by the level of trust that my clients put in me.”
Sharp’s upbringing in a family of teachers and his time in the Navy taught him that service to others, either individuals or institutions, is satisfying; and in that spirit, Sharp strives to anticipate clients’ needs and meet their every expectation.
Sharp said, “As we approach our 30th anniversary, we’re still asking the same question: ‘What can All Is Sharp shoot for you?’”
For more information, contact Joe Sharp at jmsharp@allissharp.com or call 732-942-9229. Visit www.allissharp.com.