Rangefinder Magazine
February 2005

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Bleu Cotton & Alison Pierce by Caresse Muir
Bring Mom and Pop Studios to the 21st Century

Mom and Pop Studio? No way! The married couple that owns Bleu Cotton Photography, Inc. in Costa Mesa, California, runs one of the finest “husband and wife” studios, and Bleu and Alison are showing others how to grow closer as a couple as they expand their business into a high-end, digital studio.

Bleu Cotton began his photography career in the 1970s when his love for the underwater world of scuba diving expanded into underwater photography, which soon emerged onshore to “people photography.” He studied photography at Orange Coast College and was hired soon after to photograph what every young, hot-blooded man would enjoy… sorority girls. What one might think would be a mundane daily assignment actually revealed training for his future as he became skillful at capturing the personality and expression of each individual under conditions that were often quite challenging. This brand of portraiture for very picky young women prepared him for his future in wedding photography, and he soon became a sought-after wedding photographer in Southern California.

Over the years Bleu photographed thousands of weddings and has traveled all over the country, and even as far as Peru, for a wedding. With his gregarious, fun-loving personality, his clients relax, and those natural expressions come easily. He creates romantic images in scenic locations in his engagement sessions and specializes in creative, natural posing on the wedding day. He has an incredible ability to “make the photograph happen” as well as an eye for detail and the ability to handle the pressure of the wedding day with ease.

On the personal side, Bleu kept busy as his business grew, by raising his four children, now ranging in age from 15 to 30 years old. Photographing them inspired Bleu as he captured numerous images of them with their matching light blue eyes and curly Grecian hair. They began assisting him with photography assignments at weddings and portrait sessions and eventually learned how to retouch images.

Knowing the importance of education, Bleu began teaching. His knack for conversation and his humorous personality allowed him to connect with those learning from him. As he worked towards his Master Craftsman degree, he taught fellow photographers all over the world and was an avid attendee of national conferences like WPPI and Ed Pierce’s Photo Vision educational series in the mid-1990s. It was through these events that Bleu met his future wife, Alison Pierce.

Alison comes from a family of photographers and is the third generation of professional photographers. In 1934 her grandfather opened a portrait studio in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he photographed subjects such as Dartmouth College freshmen, the poet Robert Frost and Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower. His wife and daughter specialized in hand-tinting his black-and-white images while his sons were photographing weddings “before they could drive.” To this day Alison’s father and mother continue to operate the family studio in New Hampshire’s Upper Valley. Alison grew up with a camera around her neck and remembers fondly helping her father in the darkroom. She photographed her kindergarten classmates with a camera she received for her fifth birthday. When she was only 16 she began photographing her friends in her makeshift studio, using reading lamps for light and a bedspread for a background.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in graphic design from Lynden State College in Vermont. She then attended the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, and graduated with the “Most Professional Portfolio” award in 1995.

At Hallmark she was exposed to many professional photographers including Arnold Newman and Robert Farber. She learned not only the rules and techniques that were the standards of the photographic industry but also to “break the rules” while still producing quality portraiture. At Hallmark she also learned about career development and goal setting and made many lasting friends. Alison graduated with highest honors and was hired to photograph over 2000 military portraits at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Her next job was as an assistant to the producer for Ed Pierce, the award-winning photographer and educator, in his revolutionary satellite seminar broadcast of “Wedding 2000.” (See how the paths began to romantically entwine?) On weekends she traveled to Washington, D.C., to assist renowned wedding photographers Clay Blackmore and Monte Zucker. This led to her dream job as Clay Blackmore’s full-time personal assistant. Later, Alison became Clay’s associate, photographing weddings with him and attracting new clientele to his studio. Alison had a truly unique and free-spirited style of wedding photography and captured the spontaneous moments of the wedding day.

Clay, like Bleu, traveled to all of the major photographic conventions. Sure enough, Alison would be in tow, helping him set up for his seminars, handing out flyers at the tradeshows, or being a last minute model for posing and lighting demonstrations. It was at one of these conventions that Bleu and Alison met. Thus began a friendship that evolved into a love story. Both being strong photographers in their own right, they fell in love and maintained a coast-to-coast relationship for four years until Alison decided to “follow her heart” and move to California, where “East Coast” combined forces with “West Coast,” and Bleu and Alison began working together. They moved in together and merged both of their styles under one roof. With this magic combination, they were able to offer new coverage including their “tag team” photography. They also discovered their hidden strengths as they had more time to fall into the areas they were best at: Bleu’s soft-selling techniques, Alison’s album designing; Bleu’s portraiture, Alison’s editorial coverage. They have learned that being a “couple” in the photographic industry cannot only intensify their passion for photography but also increase their business.

Just two years ago Bleu Cotton Photography, Inc. moved into a new “dream studio” in Costa Mesa—a five-room gallery on the second floor of a mission-style building just 10 minutes from the beach, complete with a center courtyard with beautiful soft light, fountains, archways and greenery. At this studio they photograph weddings, family portraits, babies and children, corporate events, executive portraits and editorial assignments for magazines.

Bleu and Alison have been photographing digitally for three years now. Remember the D30? Alison fondly remembers when they first got a Canon D30 and how they used it for reception photography. She, like many photographers in the first wave of digital cameras, always kept a film camera as a back-up—photographing the reception highlights on a roll, not to be processed unless a card became corrupted. Oh, how digital has changed! After three years they graduated to five Canon 1Ds cameras and now enjoy their new set of Canon Mark IIs (everything is bought in pairs!). Film is a four-letter word, and now all of their images are taken digitally, from weddings to corporate to portraiture.

Bleu and Alison continue to travel and have been to many foreign countries to teach and photograph. The local people and the uniqueness of each culture fascinate them. From the Philippines to England and most recently to Greece, Bleu’s family’s homeland, they captured the essence of the Olympics and collected images for their newest venture of fine art watercolor images of travel scenics. (See the travel section at www.bleucot ton.com to view their newest portfolio).

For couples and partners in the “Mom and Pop” field, make sure you join Bleu, Alison and “marketers extraordinaire,” Peter Newman and Ahriah Vacare of Gr8Works, to teach their three-day seminar, “The Cotton Exchange.” Learn their secrets in business and how to expand with the extra hidden talents that couples have in the photography world. Information on the three-day seminar is available on their web site.

Also, join Bleu Cotton and Alison Pierce for their WPPI platform presentation, also called “The Cotton Exchange.” The program will be presented Monday, March 21, 4:30–6:30 p.m.

Caresse Muir began her home-based business seven years ago, specializing in family, high school senior and children’s portraits. Four years ago she began photographing weddings and is a member of WPPI who frequently enters print competition.