Rangefinder Magazine
July 2006
Tradition Meets Technology at Sherwood-Triart Studio by CharMaine Beleele
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1 This is the second of Sherwood-Triart’s two camera
rooms. 2 The Fuji Frontier room 3 The first of
the two camera rooms
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At a time when most adolescents
were wondering about their futures, Earl Friedman and Rich
Marchisotto were already learning the
foundations of photography from their fa-
thers, who were themselves master photog-
raphers. Earl and Rich grew up to become
the partners who own Sherwood-Triart
Studio in Woodbury, New York, and this is
the story of how they have recently reached
many of their goals, both as photographic
artists and as business developers.
As a young man Rich worked with his
parents, Tony and Tad Marchisotto, at
Sherwood Studio in Hicksville, New York.
At the same time, about 30 miles away in
Brooklyn, Earl Friedman also worked with
his parents, Irving and Lita Friedman, in
their family business, Triart Studios. Rich
says, “We attended every photographic
workshop, conference and print exhibit
we could.” As they worked in their sepa-
rate family studios, these two friends day-
dreamed about someday being partners in
their own photography business. By the
time they were 22 and 25, respectively,
they had presented so many programs and
won so many awards that they had earned
their masters’ distinctions, despite their
youth. As the years went by, both sets of
parents retired, and Rich and Earl gradu-
ally took over the operations of the studios.
Rich says, “Once each of us had taken
over each family business, we realized our
growth would be limited if we maintained
separate studios.” So, about 15 years ago,
they accomplished their dream by blend-
ing their businesses together at the Sher-
wood location on Long Island. Thus, the
name became Sherwood-Triart studio.
As partners, they continued the tradi-
tions of excellence established by their
parents’ studios, but the location (although
twice augmented) eventually proved too
small. In 2003 Rich and Earl started shop-
ping for a new “enhanced visibility” loca-
tion, and in 2005 they completed a large
facility in an upscale shopping center in
Woodbury, New York. Rich says, “The
result today is a technologically savvy es-
tablishment that artfully extends the vivid
photographic histories of both families.” A
look inside this 6000-square-foot studio
reveals an open gallery, four consultation
rooms, a screening room, two camera
rooms, a production room and frame
shop, and an in-house digital lab. The two-
story studio gleams with lustrous glass and
cherry walls, maple wood floors, cherry
cabinetry and 16-foot high ceilings. Con-
temporary furniture reinforces the clean
architectural lines, and exquisitely framed
photographs grace the walls. Rich and Earl
feel the studio is a direct reflection of who
they are. Rich says, “Every detail from the
ceiling down to the hardware on the cabi-
nets has been chosen with a great deal of
thought.” The complete impression is that
of a stylish art gallery. Dana Harris, a Sher-
wood-Triart photographer, adds, “Earl and
Richard give us a creative environment
and a push to challenge ourselves.”
As he surveys this architectural accom-
plishment, Rich says, “The key to our
success is that Earl and I did not stand
still, but embraced new technology and
contemporary styles that clients are drawn
to.” Each of the four consultation rooms
features a Mac Mini and a 23-inch Apple
display mounted on the wall; these present
continuous slideshows for clients to view.
Here and throughout the studio, cutting-
edge technology takes center stage. Rich
explains, “The key to our workflow and
distribution of photographs to each of our
six areas of consultation and 10 worksta-
tions is the Apple G5 Dual 2.3 GHz Xserve
and 5.6 TB Xserve RAID.” Rich adds,
“Our Photoshop workstations are Apple
G5 Dual 2.3 GHz towers connected to 23-
inch Apple displays, and all the displays in-
cluded in the consultations and sales areas
are calibrated using the GretagMacbeth
solutions.”
Physical structure and 21st-century
technology are not the only ingredients
in the Sherwood-Triart vision. Earl and
Rich have cultivated an extended family of
talented photographers, production staff
and sales team individuals: Karen Mand-
racchia, Brian Phelps, Dana Harris, Benny
Migliorino and the newcomer, Brandon
Merkel. Rich declares, “Change is crucial
and exciting. We have grown and built
our current environment with fresh cre-
ative minds. The team here helps keep us
aligned with the digital revolution.”
Photographer Benny Migliorino says,
“As a team, we feel it is good to have other
things to reinvigorate yourself so your
wedding shooting stays fresh. All of us
have specialties other than our wedding
work. Dana creates fine art landscapes,
and I shoot rock bands.”
Rich describes some of the division of
labor among team members: “Karen, a
gifted photographer in her own right, de-
signs many of the wedding albums for the
7 Shooting in the first camera room 8 The Sher-
wood-Triart storefront 9 Inside the assembly
and framing room team.”
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4 The reception desk and consultation rooms
5 The large-format print room 6 The gallery
and frame table
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Karen notes, “I have known Earl and
Rich for 30 and 32 years, respectively.
Their enthusiasm and energy are conta-
gious to all of us. They have taught us all
to enjoy and love the business, and people
know when you are giving it your all.” She
adds, “Everyone here has great images,
and we motivate each other to do our best
work.” Rich agrees: “These photographers
not only possess stellar photographic
abilities but digital production talents
too. They operate the studio’s in-house
Fujifilm Digital Minilab Frontier 570,
and they are all Photoshop experts.” For
large-format printing, Rich and Karen
print on the Epson 7600 and 9600 print-
ers, equipped with Colorbyte Software’s
ImagePrint RIP. They utilize either lus-
ter paper or Epson’s watercolor paper
for fine art printing.
These five are not the only key people
at Sherwood-Triart. Tony, Rich’s broth-
er, is the studio manager and expertly
oversees the customer relations team,
which includes Kevin Togher, Tricia
Hauser and Tonianne Phelps. Shane
Eric and Walfred Cabrera complete the
lineup. “Shane takes care of clients’ spe-
cial requests and operates the Fujifilm
Frontier. Walfred Cabrera is a graphic
designer and creates the studio’s adver-
tising and promotional pieces, plus the
Two of the many Power Mac G5 workstations
Accessing the Xserve RAID, which houses the
studio’s files and photos studio’s slide shows.”
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7 Shooting in the first camera room 8 The Sherwood-
Triart storefront 9 Inside the assembly
and framing room
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A very big part of the Sherwood-Triart
experience is the full-service ability of
the studio, which includes hand-finish-
ing in Sherwood’s extensive frame gal-
lery (right). Kevin creates unique custom
framing and mat designs, utilizing a state-
of-the-art computerized mat cutter.
With so many team members collabo-
rating, workflow and organization are
very important. Projects on the comput-
er are grouped into folders. Each folder
bears the name and date of the job, the
initials of the photographer and the loca-
tion of the job; folders are stored on the
Apple Xserve RAID.
Tradition meets technology in the new
location. Earl says, “Our Apple Xserve
RAID is currently storing photographs
from over 600 weddings, as well as our
portrait shoots from the last two years.
All the files are available to any of the
photographers or staff, at the touch of a
button.” Rich explains, “We had a gigabit
network installed with 36 terminals for
various computers.”
Rich’s nephew, Brian Phelps, joined the
studio fresh out of high school. He began
his career by apprenticing in the studio
and working closely with Karen for sev-
eral years on various projects. Rich says,
“Now Brian has become an award-win-
ning photographer himself.”
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10 Two of the many Power Mac G5 workstations
11 Accessing the Xserve RAID, which houses the
studio’s files and photos 12 Inside the rotunda
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Brian says of the new facility, “Because
of the high visibility of the setup, many
more people will be exposed to the vari-
ous types of photography we offer. It’s
incredibly gratifying to be a part of this
team.”
It is clear that Earl Friedman and Rich
Marchisotto have built more than a stu-
dio, furthered more than a tradition. In
their New York studio, Rich and Earl have
discovered that the challenge of teamwork
is worth the effort. It is the family of pho-
tographic artists at Sherwood-Triart that
is their true masterpiece. Visit www.sherwoodtriart.com for a taste of this multital-
ented studio’s artistic expressions.
CharMaine R. Beleele is a photographic artist,
speech communications professor at the University
of Arkansas, a writer for rangefinder magazine
andWppi photography monthly, and acorrespon-
dent for the arkansas catholic newspaper. She
can be contacted via her website: www.angelkissed
photography.com.
Earl Friedman
Karen Mandracchia
Dana Harris
Rich Marchisotto
Brandon Merkel
Benny Migliorino
Brian Phelps
