Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I haven't shot anything I'm happy with in quite some time now. The president (yes, of the United States) even stopped by Freehold on Friday, but I wasn't assigned to cover it... even though images shot by reporters with point-n-shoots were the only photos used in our web updates throughout the day. Nice, right? Anyway, I digress. Yesterday I shot a very sad event, a funeral for a local soldier killed in Afghanistan. I don't think there's really much more I can say. Here's a slideshow of a few of my images, they'll tell the story much better than I could with words.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
It Has Arrived!
Just got my prize for placing third in the SportsShooter.com clip contest. Imagine my surprise when I found out that they hadn't shipped me the 30D they'd promised, but a brand-spankin'-new 40D! Awesome. I just want to publically say thanks to SportsShooter.com for running such an awesome contest and to Canon for sponsoring said contest. Thank you guys, you rock! Keep up the good, no, great work!
Monday, March 17, 2008
R.I.P. Wall Township Speedway
Wall Township Speedway, a local racetrack, has announced (here) that it will not reopen this spring, thus ending its long run of great racing and entertainment near the Jersey Shore. Although I will freely admit that I'm not particularly fond of auto racing, I will say that I am sad to see the place go. Everyone there always looked like they were having a great time, and during the day and into the evening the light there was just great to shoot in. The article on my paper's website had over 100 user comments, a few from people glad to see the track shut down, but the majority of which recounted memories from a wide variety of people, of all ages, from all over the country. It got me thinking about my memories at the track, and I put together 10 of my favs and posted them on my SportsShooter page. Lo and behold, the next day they'd spotlighted my gallery! Here's the SportsShooter front page, followed by a slideshow of the 10 images. Thanks for looking!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Press Conference
It's tough to make photos at a press conference. Especially one as lightly-attended as the one I had to shoot this afternoon. Nine or so politicians gathered at the front of the room to complain about funding being taken away. I'm sure it was very important and all, but I guess my paper was the only one that thought so because the room was basically empty. I was there, the reporter I was working with was there, the Senator's PR woman was shooting with a point-and-shoot camera, and there were two other gentlemen with cameras, too, though I'm not sure who they were shooting for. Not exactly the turnout the politicos were expecting, I'm sure. So with nothing (and no one) in the room to photograph other than the talking heads up front, I actually wandered out of the room to make a frame I liked.
The other frame I made was one of these two aforementioned photographers. He was wearing a very loud shirt, considering the business attire of everyone else in the room.
But that was it. Other than the obligatory "head shots" I turned in (of which I'll spare you), there was nothing going on. No one getting particularly passionate, no faces in the audience, nothing. Gotta love the loud shirts that sometimes come to the rescue... If not for the story (it'll never run in the paper) then at least for my sanity as a photographer.
The other frame I made was one of these two aforementioned photographers. He was wearing a very loud shirt, considering the business attire of everyone else in the room.
But that was it. Other than the obligatory "head shots" I turned in (of which I'll spare you), there was nothing going on. No one getting particularly passionate, no faces in the audience, nothing. Gotta love the loud shirts that sometimes come to the rescue... If not for the story (it'll never run in the paper) then at least for my sanity as a photographer.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
High School Basketball State Championship Game
State championship games are always fun... even if the lens I use most often decided to crap out on me at halftime. Here are some more moody, grainy, black-and-white selections from this afternoon's state championship game.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Dodgeball!
Lately I've been into the whole high-ISO-grainy-black-and-white style. I think it probably reflects my mood right about now... Anyway, shot some dodgeball during "Fun Night" at a physical fitness and education center. The place is really cool. They help kids 8-18yo with their homework and other studies and keep them healthy, fit and in shape for school sports... or just healthy and fit for the sake of being healthy and fit. Nifty idea.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
The Night From Hell
Ever have one of those days? You know, the type of day that made you wish you'd called out sick or lived on another planet or been torn apart by a pack of wolves? Welcome to my night. It started on I-287 on my way to the basketball games.
I left at 4, the trip should've taken about an hour and in stead it took almost two. Yes, it was rush hour but there must've been an accident because no one was moving at all. Wonderful. Took me forty five minutes to go the last 10 miles.
So I finally get to the school about 15 minutes to game time. I set up my lights and get ready for the game when I discover ... I left my camera batteries in the battery charger. At home. Wonderful. Luckily, I keep a backup battery in my trunk. (It had been there for over two weeks, but surprisingly still had enough juice to shoot both games. I got lucky.)
Between games I worked on the pics from the first game. When I went to send them I discovered that there was no reception inside the gym. Wonderful. It took the entire first half of the second game to send just three photos from the first. I decided to just send the rest after the second game.
After the second game, I quickly worked on the images, but since everyone had left the building and reception inside was so poor, I decided to send them from my car. Only by the time I got to the car, my computer had crashed. And when I rebooted it, the pics from the second game were gone. Wonderful. I still had them on the compact flashcard, but now in stead of working on them at a desk in the school, I had to work on them in the front seat of my car.
I did what I needed to do, and by 10:30, all the photos were sent. A little late, but just under my deadline for an 8:00 game. But the worst part of the night was, yet again, I didn't get anything I liked. I've now shot an entire basketball season and I'm still waiting for my first good shot. Here are the best pics from my crappy shoot...
I guess I'd still rather have the night I had than the night he had...
Until next time, thanks for stopping by...
I left at 4, the trip should've taken about an hour and in stead it took almost two. Yes, it was rush hour but there must've been an accident because no one was moving at all. Wonderful. Took me forty five minutes to go the last 10 miles.
So I finally get to the school about 15 minutes to game time. I set up my lights and get ready for the game when I discover ... I left my camera batteries in the battery charger. At home. Wonderful. Luckily, I keep a backup battery in my trunk. (It had been there for over two weeks, but surprisingly still had enough juice to shoot both games. I got lucky.)
Between games I worked on the pics from the first game. When I went to send them I discovered that there was no reception inside the gym. Wonderful. It took the entire first half of the second game to send just three photos from the first. I decided to just send the rest after the second game.
After the second game, I quickly worked on the images, but since everyone had left the building and reception inside was so poor, I decided to send them from my car. Only by the time I got to the car, my computer had crashed. And when I rebooted it, the pics from the second game were gone. Wonderful. I still had them on the compact flashcard, but now in stead of working on them at a desk in the school, I had to work on them in the front seat of my car.
I did what I needed to do, and by 10:30, all the photos were sent. A little late, but just under my deadline for an 8:00 game. But the worst part of the night was, yet again, I didn't get anything I liked. I've now shot an entire basketball season and I'm still waiting for my first good shot. Here are the best pics from my crappy shoot...
I guess I'd still rather have the night I had than the night he had...
Until next time, thanks for stopping by...
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Cleaning Up
One of my jobs today was to photograph a group of students from two different local colleges as they helped clean up a local lake. Among the junk pulled from the muddy water was a bicycle, completely covered in lake muck, but still nearly 100% intact.
This last photo had nothing to do with the bike, I just thought it looked nice and was a neat little story within the story. The two people in the pic are sister/brother, and the boy is still in middle school, but gave up part of his Saturday to come help out his sister and her cause. That just struck me as really classy.
This last photo had nothing to do with the bike, I just thought it looked nice and was a neat little story within the story. The two people in the pic are sister/brother, and the boy is still in middle school, but gave up part of his Saturday to come help out his sister and her cause. That just struck me as really classy.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
HS Girls Basketball
Just an action shot from tonight's game...
Not sure though whether I like it better cropped like this... aside from removing the annoying background elements, this crop is also closer to a "natural" 4x6 image, though it's still not quite 4x6.
What do you think?
What do you think?
Soundslides
This is more or less a test to see how a Soundslides project would look inside a blog post. The pics are from a story I did last year on a jockey making a comeback at the age of 50, after 9 years out of the sport. I also found out just recently that this photo story took third place in the NJPA Better Newspaper Contest. (I also took first place for sports action, for the second year in a row.) I hope you enjoy this. Hell, I hope this works...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Snow!
I love how it's a giant news story when it snows. In the middle of winter. Imagine that, snow during February. It wasn't even an inordinate amount of snow, yet my paper sent the entire photo force out and created multiple photo galleries filled with pictures of kids playing and adults shoveling, as though this is something foreign that never happens. And FOX5 News had at least 5 reporters who all said the same thing. "It's cold, it's snowing, be careful while driving, and now back to the studio!" which, of course, didn't take into account the 15 weather reports we were subjected to over the course of the 1-hour newscast. It's like nothing else goes on around here when it snows...
Anyway, I'm still recovering from the flu, so while the rest of my family played in the snow, (and Evan for his very first time!) I didn't leave the garage for more than 30 seconds at a clip. Evan, Staci and Mocha got to have all the fun, though I did get to take their pictures!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
A New, Old Toy.
So I'm stuck in my house with this whole flu bug and everything, and while going through some of my old gear I found one of my old toys. My 50mm f1.4 lens from back in my RIT days. I'm not sure how practical it would be for me to carry around and all, since its autofocus is slower than all my other lenses, but in certain low-light situations or for assignments that call for very selective focusing it might be nice to have it around just in case. I tried it out on two of my favorite subjects today, since going outside was just not a possibility (aside from seeing a doctor). Really though, I should keep myself quarantined from Evan for at least another day or two. Doc said I'd be contagious for the rest of the week. Bad Daddy! Bad!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Intense Wrestling
I'm sick as hell, so here are a few photos from a wrestling match I shot last week. It was intense. The visiting team hung around all meet and, in the final bout of the night, went ahead of the home team, the favorite, by a final score of 30-29. Like I said, intense, and by far the best wrestling match I've ever been to.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Feature Hunting
Found this old school barber shop right down the street from my house. "Tony's Barber Shop." Tony's only open mornings from 9am to noon, and only on days he chooses. He's been cutting hair in this spot (and previously at a location right across the street) for just over 50 years, and man does he have stories. While we were waiting for customers to walk in (he doesn't take appointments) he told me a few of his stories.
First of all, when he started, Route 79 was a dirt road. He showed me a photo of his previous location, and you can kind of see the dirt road. The big, white building was town hall, and is now a Chinese restaurant... He's now located right across the street from here.
The Shell station and strip mall across the street from his shop used to be a dairy farm, and he'd position his chair to face out the window so kids getting their hair cut could watch the cows grazing.
As someone who just moved into the area 2 years ago, and who's only been working in this area for about 7 years, these stories were pretty hard to fathom. Just 50 years ago this was farmland and dirt roads? Wow. I'm glad I went in there this morning.
When he first opened in October, 1957, he charged $1 for a haircut and $.75 for a kid's cut. Now it's $8 for one and all. Here's Tony cutting the hair of a longtime friend who happened to walk in as we were talking.
First of all, when he started, Route 79 was a dirt road. He showed me a photo of his previous location, and you can kind of see the dirt road. The big, white building was town hall, and is now a Chinese restaurant... He's now located right across the street from here.
The Shell station and strip mall across the street from his shop used to be a dairy farm, and he'd position his chair to face out the window so kids getting their hair cut could watch the cows grazing.
As someone who just moved into the area 2 years ago, and who's only been working in this area for about 7 years, these stories were pretty hard to fathom. Just 50 years ago this was farmland and dirt roads? Wow. I'm glad I went in there this morning.
When he first opened in October, 1957, he charged $1 for a haircut and $.75 for a kid's cut. Now it's $8 for one and all. Here's Tony cutting the hair of a longtime friend who happened to walk in as we were talking.
ISO 2500
Yes, this image is average, at best. The reason I'm showing it, though, is because I shot it tonight at a high school girls basketball game. At ISO 2500. I love the new camera (Canon EOS 1D MarkIII). Until now, I could never get away with using available light to shoot games in high school gyms. But now, more than half the gyms in our coverage area are lit well enough to get a shutter speed of 1/800 @ f2.8 @ ISO 2500... and on these cameras, ISO 2500 holds up quite nicely, especially if the final output is just newsprint or the web...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Guide to Life in Freehold
I was sent to the racetrack (Freehold Raceway, to be exact) to get some "slice of life" photos for our "Guide to Life in..." series, with this month's edition featuring Freehold. What a sad place. (The track, not the town...) Barely anyone would even give me their names because a) they were ditching work to be there, or b) they were embarassed to be there, or c) both. Any why wouldn't they be embarassed to be there? To say the place is awful is an understatement. It was the kind of place that makes you feel unshowered just by being there. The entire building smelled like pee. But I'll probably get in a bit of trouble if I go on, so I'll just stop there and show you some of my pictures. By the way, I wouldn't consider this a slice of life in Freehold by any stretch of the imagination. Freehold is a lot nicer than this...
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Black History Month
This is the first of what will probably be many Black History Month profile portraits I shoot over the next few weeks.
This is a citizen activist in Red Bank, as he peers through a hole in a utility pole at the corner of River St. and Leighton Ave., two blocks from his home. He's been trying to get someone to fix this pole for over two years now, and feels it could fall on somebody at any time.
This is a citizen activist in Red Bank, as he peers through a hole in a utility pole at the corner of River St. and Leighton Ave., two blocks from his home. He's been trying to get someone to fix this pole for over two years now, and feels it could fall on somebody at any time.
The Amazing MarkIII
Sure it's a little noisy, but come on. ISO 2000, f2.8, 1/400. At a swim meet in a dungeon of a pool that had no outlets for plugging in strobes. MarkIII to the rescue!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
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