Ow!

...and yet she managed to keep her foot on the bag! Nice slide!

Agony...

The team I was covering tonight (girl's lacrosse) lost 12-11 in the semifinal game of the NJ Tournament of Champions (state championship tournament), and the winning goal was scored with less than a minute left in the game. What a heartbreaking way to end a season.

Evan's Toys R Us Photo Shoot!!

Evan had a photo shoot today for Toys R Us! He wore an adorable pair of pajamas, and everything went great! If they choose Evan's photo (two other kids also modeled that same pair of pajamas) it will appear in catalogs sometime around August or September at Toys R Us stores that sell clothing. At least that's what they tell us... But who really cares, the important thing is that we all had a blast, which we did.

Nice Light and Catching Up

You know what I don't get? Why a team, on any level, would purchase uniforms without numbers on the front. I dealt with that all day today, as I shot a middle school softball championship game in which one team had front numbers but the other didn't, and a youth soccer game in which neither team had front numbers, making identifications very tough. It's not like they're playing in the pros where a player could be identified by their face. All these middle school kids look the same!

So the aforementioned soccer match began at 6:30, making the light phenomenal. Some of the best light I've worked with all season. The game wasn't much in terms of action though. The team I was there to shoot was clearly dominant over the other. I feel bad for the inferior team in situations like this. It's no fun to be a kid and clearly outmatched.


Updating a story from a few days ago, remember the eggs that the bird laid in our front yard? Well, they're gone. And no, they didn't hatch. Someone or something must've been in the mood for an afternoon omelette. In fact, I must've noticed within hours of them being pilfered, because the bird kept returning to search for them. It would walk up, peck at the nest a few times, look around, then fly away... and repeat this every five minutes or so for the rest of the day. I haven't seen it since. The worst part is that I feel, in a way, responsible. We'd just put up a bird feeder not too far away, creating more air traffic than a busy day at O'Hare. I can't help but wonder if we called unnecessary attention to the area. That was Sunday, and here it's Wednesday and it's still bothering me. Nature's cruel.

On a lighter note, something funny happened yesterday. We stopped at Babies'R'Us to pick up a few things, and Evan and I waited in the car while Staci ran inside. Well while we were waiting, a woman dressed entirely in yellow (covered head to toe, as a matter of fact) walked by our car. Evan pointed and kept saying "Banana! Banana! Banana!" (Well okay, he didn't actually say "banana." His word for banana is a lot like his word for my brother, Alan, which is "Ah-Aah!" But that means banana. Trust me, it does.) I almost coughed up a lung I was laughing so hard. Then Evan took the cue from me and he also laughed uncontrollably. Made for a fun wait.

That's enough for now, I've wasted more than enough of your time. Until next time...

Another Photo

It's late and I'm tired. Also, I don't really have much to say today. (It's not like anyone reads this anyway!) So here's a photo from today. I have four days off now, so I probably won't post until Wednesday. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Nikon, Respect, and a Photo

So tonight I listened to the Mets lose to Atlanta, again, and between innings there was a commercial for Nikon and their "Picturetown" project. "Anyone can start taking amazing digital pictures the minute you hand them the ... Nikon D40. To prove it, we gave 200 to the people of Georgetown, SC. What happened next was extraordinary."

Anyone, eh? So I guess I should just buy a D40, sit back, and watch my awards roll in. Screw you, Nikon. I suppose the right pots and pans can turn anyone into Emeril Lagasse, or the right Louisville Slugger can turn anyone into Albert Pujols. Right.

I had nothing against Nikon until this ad campaign. Now I'm glad I shoot Canon. What an insult this is to professional photographers everywhere, especially those that forked over tens of thousands of dollars to Nikon, only to be slapped in the face by some ad exec who's probably never taken a photo in his life.

In other news, I shot a college graduation tonight, just as the sun was setting at twilight, so the light was awesome. This is my favorite image from the night. Let's see those Nikon D40 test subjects use light like this.

Big Day for NJ Baseball (Part 2)

Roger Clemens warms up in the outfield of Waterfront Park, where he started for the Trenton Thunder.

Big Day for NJ Baseball (Part 1)

Ryan Howard and the rest of the Lakewood BlueClaws watch his seventh-inning, opposite-field, three-run blast leave FirstEnergy Park.

Fun With Birds!

My brother and my father have recently gone bird crazy, setting up bird feeders in their backyards to try and take photos of birds. So I figured 'why not?' and Staci, Evan and I did the same. As we were setting the feeder up in our front yard, we kept on getting harassed by this one bird, which systematically ran at us, and then once it had our attention, away from us.


It didn't take too long to figure out why. The bird has a nest right in front of our house, with four eggs in it! How exciting!


So we will definitely keep our eyes on that. I hope they don't leave once the eggs hatch. I'd like to try and photograph the chicks too.

____________________


Friday night I photographed the boys lacrosse Shore Conference Tournament championship game. It was a night game, so good photos were few and far between. Shooting at night is tough, especially on a high school field, where you'd be lucky to get 1/500th-sec at f2.8 and ISO 1600. Lucky. So I came out of it with this photo. It won't win any contests, but it was good enough.


Until they did this to it.


Look, if they're gonna do this, why not just choose another photo? In the caption they even claim the ball was knocked loose! Well, as you can see in the first photo, it was... But to a reader, how are they supposed to know? Sometimes I really wonder what people are thinking.

Nothing to Show

The huge story here has been an out-of-control forest fire raging through the Pinelands in Ocean County. Unfortunately, I was assigned all the other stories. You know, the ones vacated by the photographers sent to shoot the fires. So here are two photos from my non-fire jobs. The first one was at Ocean County's 16th annual Law Enforcement Memorial Day. The other was a portrait of the New Jersey Student of the Year. (Student of the Year according to who, I can't tell you, but somebody did choose her as such.)



Anyway, that's all I've got for ya for now, but it can only go up from here, right?


____________________


In other news, yesterday (it's after midnight as I post this) was our third wedding anniversary. I surprised Staci by having my parents come over to watch Evan, and taking her out to a nice, adults-only dinner. It's the first time we've gone out, alone, since Evan was born. It was also, obviously, the first time we'd ever left Evan with "baby sitters," even though the sitters in question were only my parents. It was nice to get out, but the entire time we were gone all we could think about was how Evan was doing. No offense to my parents - they did a great job ... even put him to bed - but it's just something you never really understand until you become a parent. Dinner was wonderful, but we were very happy to get home, even though Evan was already sleeping. Just being here makes us feel better.

Later today, we're taking Evan for his first real photo shoot! Toys-R-Us chose him from a "look/see" we took him to for Babies-R-Us. We need to be there by 10am though, and that means driving in rush hour traffic, so I think that's it for me for tonight. I'll keep you posted on the results.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

The day started with me burning breakfast in bed for Staci. Well, the pancakes came out as yummy as ever (if I do say so myself), but my eggs could use some work. Okay, a lot of work. Ah well, it's the thought that counts, right? :) I ended up eating burnt eggs for breakfast... I really didn't mind. :) After breakfast, we headed north for an absolutely wonderful day with the family. Evan was extremely cute, as usual. He danced for everybody whenever there was music on. Everybody loves Evan. How could they not? :) We had lunch at the very yummy Outback Steakhouse. All in all, it was a perfect Mother's Day. But don't take my word for it, even Staci said today was great, and that's what matters most. Happy mommies.

____________________


So I didn't post yesterday because it was such a long day, but here are some shots from my two jobs. The first one was a story about the cleanup of a local river. Nearby, these swans were just hanging out, completely oblivious to the fine people who gave up their Saturday morning to make the environment a little cleaner. I liked this shot better than any of the photos of the actual cleanup. Notice the trash built right into the nest. Go figure.


Then it was off to Monmouth Park, for the racetrack's opening day of the season. I got the typical track stuff first, but then tried to do different things with shadows, silhouettes, and unusual angles. These are just four of my favorites, though I think I turned in over 20 images to my editors. (Hey, they asked for a lot.)


That's all for now. Talk to ya soon...

Lousy Day

As far as images were concerned, today stunk. My first job was supposed to be the return of a local man after he sailed around the world. For whatever reason, the time I was given was just for the interview and a portrait shoot, not his actual arrival at port. I thought I was going out on a boat to follow him back in. That's what it said on my assignment sheet, anyway. So it was a disappointment to learn that he'd already been back for hours when I went to photograph him. Ah well.

My second job was the preparation of a prom after-party. It actually wasn't all that bad, as some of the parents from the school's PTSA went all out, redecorating the school as a South Beach night club. I think one of them was an interior designer of some sort, because it really was impressive. That's the assignment that today's photos are from.


My final job was supposed to be my best of the day, a woman who is a terminal cancer patient, who was given a day of beauty and gifts from many area businesses so that she could enjoy Mother's Day. But when I showed up, they weren't expecting me. Apparently she wasn't well enough to be there today. What a shame. I hope she's doing okay. What bothers me, though, is that the reporter was told much earlier in the day that she wasn't feeling well enough to be there, and even told the salon that he would cancel the photographer... and somehow that message never made it to me. That kind of thing is inexcusable in a profession where so much depends on quick and accurate communication, and that's why I'm upset.

Tomorrow should be fun. Monmouth Park is opening for the season... and I'm being sent there to get every aspect of the horseracing, except for the horseracing. Apparently none of the races are all too intriguing, so they want more featurish kinds of images. At least the weather's supposed to cooperate. We'll see what happens.

Until tomorrow...

A Long Day

I know I didn't post anything yesterday, but I really didn't shoot anything terribly exciting.

Anyway, we left this morning around 8:30AM to take Evan into the city for another look-see, this time for The Children's Place. After battling through an hour and a half of rush hour traffic, the entire thing lasted ten minutes. It was over so quickly, in fact, that by the time I'd parked the car and made it up to the studio, Staci and Evan were already on their way out.

Once we got back to Jersey, we went straight to My Gym, a gym/play place for children. Evan loves it. They have swings and bouncy balls and a ball pit! So we spent 45 minutes there, then went to lunch. After lunch, Evan fell asleep, and I went to work.

My first job was to photograph a local photographer whose photos will be featured in a gallery show. Portrait jobs like these are really tough to do, since nothing's going on. I photographed him with some of his photographs, we talked a bit about photography, and I went to my second job.

Manalapan will be expanding their playing fields so I was sent to get generic photos of kids playing on the existing fields. I like this one, even though I'm pretty sure it won't run.



Then there was a really bad tanker truck fire on I-195 tonight. I was one of three Press photographers who covered it, but I was the farthest away when it happened, so by the time I got there, they'd blocked off most of the road, so I didn't really have great access. I did what I could.


So it was a long day. I'm gonna go relax now. Until next time...

Portraits

My two jobs today were both portraits. A first-year high school track coach attempting to bring credibility to a track program that's never had any, and a grandmother with her granddaughter, for a Mother's Day story. Since the 2-year-old granddaughter wanted nothing to do with being photographed, my best photo from the day is this nice moment of the coach.



On another note, ever wonder how to get rid of a door-to-door cable salesman? No joke, he rang our doorbell after 8pm, just as we were headed upstairs to put Evan to bed! He was trying to sell us on Cablevision's Optimum Triple Play, and his first question was, "what does DirecTV offer you that we can't?" I answered, pretty quickly, "the NFL Network and Sunday Ticket." That shot him down real quickly, though it didn't really shut him up. He still made his pitch, but I could tell from his face that he knew there was no way he was making a sale. The funny thing is, we don't even subscribe to Sunday Ticket; I just knew that there was no way he could promise it to us since DirecTV is the only one authorized to offer it. The nerve of some people, to go door-to-door selling Cablevision after 8pm. He got from us exactly what he deserved. Nothing.

The Beach

Today was a non-work day, and the weather was beautiful, so Staci and I took Evan to the beach in Manasquan. We had a great time playing in the sand and looking at the birds and boats go by. When the weather gets even warmer, I will take him into the water, but right now it's still too cool to do that. (At our house it was around 65 degrees but by the water is was more like 55 degrees, and windy.)

When we got home we played with our bubble machine on our deck in the backyard. This warmer weather is great, and as you can see, Evan loves the bubbles.

It's back to work tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have something to show for the next couple of days. That's about it, so until then...

School Bus Road-E-O!

Today (yesterday, technically) I shot a "Road-E-O" (Get it? "Rodeo?") for NJ school bus drivers. It certainly was something I'd never shot before. Bus drivers from around the state competed in an obstacle course set up in the parking lot of Six Flags Great Adventure's Hurricane Harbor. I got the opportunity to ride along with a bus driver from the Matawan-Aberdeen School District, as well as walk out onto the course to make photos, but my favorite image from the event was just this detail shot of some of the buses lined up, ready to head out into competition.


Just something a little different. In retrospect, I wish there was somebody in between the buses, doing something... or even just standing there. But looking at it now, it probably does need a person in it. Or maybe I'm just being too hard on myself; I am my own toughest critic. Until next time...

New Strategy

So what I'm gonna do from now on to keep this photo blog thing going is post my favorite photo from my day, every day. Most likely it will be from work, but sometimes it won't be ... and on my days off where I don't take any photos, well, if I have something to talk about I will, and if not, I won't. :)

This photo was taken tonight at a high school prom for special needs students, thrown by members of various school clubs and organizations. It really was an emotional event, but because of my deadlines I was able to stay only about 20 minutes. A real shame, because there was some nice light coming in through the windows, and the kids were all having a blast. But deadlines are deadlines.

What I tried to get was something that looked like any other prom (flowers, dancing, etc.) while just hinting that there was something a little different going on at the same time. This isn't exactly what I'd envisioned, but I think it's a success, especially considering my time constraint.

On a side note, I placed second again in the SportsShooter Monthly Clip Contest! Again, in the news category. This is the image, entitled "Vigil for a Teammate." If I never have to shoot another accident/vigil/funeral for a high school student, it'll be too soon.

Until tomorrow...

Sports! Lots of Sports!

My video training is finally over and I'm back to shooting mostly stills. The next time I pick up a video camera will be my first real video job. I really have no problems using the camera or the microphones or the software, but what I am concerned about is my ability to use video to tell a good story. That part you can't really get from training. Only time will tell.

Anyway, now that my video training is, in fact, over, I spent the last three days of my week (Thursday-Saturday) shooting sports. Actually, Thursday and Saturday I shot sports. Both of my Friday sports assignments were canceled by lousy weather. That was disappointing.

Man am I still rusty. Shot lacrosse on Thursday and high school baseball (in a minor league ballpark, First Energy Park) on Saturday. I got one shot that I liked on Thursday, and nothing Saturday. Hopefully there's more baseball coming my way. I love the sport so damn much, and it kills me that it's my worst to shoot.

On Friday night, a group of us from the Press got together to send off one of our photographers, who decided to jump ship for PhotoShelter.com after 15 years of shooting. Our loss is PhotoShelter's gain. The gathering was somewhat of a downer, too. Aside from the fact that we're losing a great shooter, to hear the stories of how the Press used to operate, especially with regards to their sports coverage, really made me realize that I got into this business ten years too late. The year before I signed on there was the last season they covered any MLB, and of course, it culminated in the Mets/Yankees World Series. Now, the Mets could be playing the Yankees at First Energy Park and we wouldn't bother sending anyone. "That's what the AP's for, right?" ...sigh... We do (for now) still cover the NFL, so I can only hope that if one of our teams (Jets/Giants) reaches the Super Bowl, we'd send someone. It wouldn't even have to be me. I'm just holding out hope that it could still happen. (Though while I am holding out hope, I'm not holding my breath.)

Anyway, it's late and I'm tired (and I could rant like this until the sun comes up) so I'm gonna call it a night. Now that my video training is over and I'm back to shooting mostly stills, I'm gonna try and update more often. For the whole two of you who are actually reading this. Until next time...

Vigil

Last night (4/20) I shot the candlelight vigil for a young woman from our area, Julia Pryde, who was killed in the VaTech shooting. These are never fun, although I will say that her friends really tried to keep positive even through their tears, remembering all the good times and funny moments they shared together. Even her closest friends and family couldn't help but laugh at some of the funny stories that were told. "She's probably looking down at us right now and laughing," one of her friends said. I've gotta give them credit. I don't know how positive I'd be if this affected me so closely.

I've shot a lot of vigils already this year. Three separate car accidents involving teenage fatalities, and now this. It never gets any easier. Very, very sad.

The rest of today's post will be images from last night.

Evan's Audition...

So yesterday Staci took Evan into the city for a look-see (apparently this is modeling industry lingo for "audition") for Fisher-Price, and they called us back last night and said that Evan made it into "round two" of the auditions. So today, back into New York we went, this time all three of us, for his call-back, or second audition. Evan had a blast. While we were waiting for them to call us in, he ran around the waiting room, played with other babies, and with me and Staci, and with anything else in the room that looked like fun.

Once we got called in, we couldn't have been in there for longer than five minutes. They had him sit and smile into a video camera, then walk from left to right for the video camera, and then finally play with a toy, you guessed it, also in front of the video camera. The woman running the thing was very nice, and said that Evan was a pleasure to work with, though I bet she says that to all of the parents whose babies don't spend the entire time screaming. Oh, and of course, being the photographer that I am, I had to snap a frame or two of the whole process with our point-and-shoot camera.


Anyway, they haven't called us back yet... and probably won't. The important thing is that Evan (and Staci and I) had a great time in New York. Would we do this again? Absolutely.

Finally, Some Sports...

The first week back at work following a vacation is always difficult to get through. But two of my jobs were high school sports, so that made it a bit easier. Boys lacrosse is fun to shoot. It's very fast, with lots of hitting and lots of scoring. That was the game I shot on Tuesday. Today, I shot a softball game. Man was it cold. My car's thermometer said it was 50 degrees, but it felt more like 35 because there was a strong, steady wind blowing the entire game. I also set up a remote for the softball game. That was pretty neat. (An image from the remote is below.) I'm gonna try to do that for all baseball/softball games this season, weather permitting.

Oh, by the way, you guys didn't try hard enough for me. (I say that tongue-in-cheek, since I know that nobody actually reads this.) I only finished second in the Asbury Park Press Battle of the Pet Photographers. A coworker of mine (who finished third) suggested that I demand a recount, but I'm not a sore loser. Besides, the photographer who won simply photographed a cuter pet.

Oh, last week I also received my first major photography award. I won first place in the Sports Action Photography category in the 2006 NJPA (www.njpa.org) Better Newspaper Contest for a high school football image I shot last season. That's always a good feeling. I also took second place in the SportsShooter monthly clip contest (news category) for a February storm photo. Hopefully, the first two of many...

My contest winners:









NJPA







SportsShooter




That's all for now. Now that I'm home and back in the swing of things, I'll try to write more often.

I'm back!

Didja miss me? (Of course not, no one reads this anyway!)

So we were on vacation for a week and a half, 5 days in California visiting my brother, then 4 more in Arizona with extended family. Here's a really quick synopsis of the events I remember, anyway.

In LAX we were approached by a woman who found our son Evan so cute she just had to come over and tell us so. The familiar-looking woman turned out to be comedian Brett Butler. Go figure.

We drove from LA to Santa Barbara in the rain, that was fun.

Alan (my brother) bowled his highest series ever, and credits it all to Evan being there to cheer him on.

We took Evan to his first zoo, the Santa Barbara Zoo! That was fun! He called all the animals "Mocha," which is the name of our dog, and one of three words he says right now. (The other two words are "dada," which can mean dada, dirty or diaper, and "aa-aaa," which means Alan.)

Evan really likes pinball.

Walking around Solvang was nice.

LAX keeping their rental car providers off-premises is very inconvenient.

Watching my relatives run back and forth to the TV to watch the NCAA championship game during family dinners is funny. Running back and forth to the TV to watch the Mets' opener during dinner is necessary. After all, the other is only college basketball.

Evan really enjoys the pool at the Arizona Inn.

We love the Arizona Inn.

Celebrity sighting #2. Though we didn't engage in any conversation, Spin City "star" Richard Kind was on our jetBlue flight from Tucson back to JFK.

Taking the red-eye home from Tucson really screwed with all of us, though Evan seems to be the least affected.

Vacations are never long enough, and unpacking is depressing.

So now that we're back, it's back to business as usual. The Mets are now 4-0, and even more impressive is their pitching. In four games (and yes, I know it's only four games) they've outscored their opponents (Three against the Cards and one against the Braves) by a count of 31-3. Seeing the World Championship banner raised in St. Louis probably got them fired up. Let's hope it lasts.

I guess that's about it for now. I know, that was a pretty crappy description of our vacation, but hey, at least the photo's cute. :)

Until next time...

I Need Your Vote!!

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MULTIMEDIA09

As promised, The Asbury Park Press Battle of the Pet Photographers has begun! I need your help! I, like each of the other staff photographers, have two entries in the contest. Here's how it works: Over 2400 pet owners sent in photos of their beloved pets. Each photographer chose two to go out and make "professional" photographs of. Then, the public votes on which pet is their favorite. This is where you come in. For whatever reason, this is not an anonymous contest. Because of that, I can campaign for votes for my two pets. The two dogs that I photographed are named "Brodi," and "Brooklyn."

This is Brodi:



And this is Brooklyn:


They're both extremely friendly, and they need your help to take home the grand (and only) prize. That's right, there's just one winner, and 23 losers! Help us not be losers! :)

Go here: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MULTIMEDIA09 and cast your vote for either Brodi or Brooklyn! There are bragging rights (and cash!) at stake here!!

One more time, it's: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=MULTIMEDIA09. We appreciate your support!

Hollywood Comes to Asbury Park ... Sort of.

Asbury Park was transformed into a mini-Hollywood today, complete with a rooftop cocktail hour and bright spotlights, during the 5th Annual Garden State Film Festival at the historic Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. The only thing missing were the real celebrities! Of course, because of my deadline, I wasn't able to stay and actually view any of the films, or even shoot festival-goers watching them. I left before the movies actually started! Some coverage there! I was, however, able to make this pretty frame before having to run... To the left is the famous (I guess) Howard Johnson's of Asbury Park. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either 'til I moved to Monmouth County. :)

OK, that's all for now... Like I said, I'm going to try and keep posting here regularly so that maybe someone, somewhere will actually read this drivel. :)

And still coming soon: The Asbury Park Press Battle of the Pet Photographers. Continue to stay tuned...

Signs of Spring

Spring. The word itself evokes thoughts of flowers blooming, birds chirping, children playing, and of course, baseball. Today I shot my first baseball game of the season, Monmouth University's home opener against St. Peter's. The weather cooperated, too, as I didn't even need to wear a jacket. Nice.

Not two innings into the game came my first scare of the season. You guessed it. I'd chosen a spot down the third base line, just past the visitors' dugout, and of course, a screaming foul ball comes within inches of my knee, hitting my bag with a loud crack! (I hope my flash still works!) Everyone thought it'd hit me, too. (And boy do I hate being the center of attention.) At least the umps didn't ask me to leave the field, though as soon as the inning ended I found a new spot, protected by the netting behind home plate.

I'm still rusty with my baseball shooting. Besides the fact that it's been, oh, at least six months since I've last shot baseball, I find that it's my toughest sport to shoot because it's my favorite to watch, and sometimes I find myself watching when I should be shooting. I've really got to change that. Anyway, my assignment today read, "We need pix of any Monmouth University pitchers who play while you are there." Well, okay, that took all of the top of the first inning. Monmouth's pitcher lasted at least the next five innings, so I spent the rest of my time shooting game action (I was underwhelmed with my results) until I had to leave the game for another assignment.

I still may be rusty with my baseball shooting, but after shooting indoor sports all winter, working in the warm sun (I may have even gotten a little bit of color!) was a very welcomed change!

Coming soon: The Asbury Park Press Battle of the Pet Photographers!

It's been a while, hasn't it...

And still, nothing to show. Been very busy with my family. My son just turned 1. I'm thinking about blogging more and more though, so stay tuned and maybe, just maybe, I'll find the time... I'll leave you today with a photo of myself and my family. Aren't we cute!!

Like I said...

May be often, may be never. Seems more the latter for now. Not that anyone would actually read this if I was writing... Stay tuned, more to come ............. eventually.