PHOTO ANTHEMS BLOG: Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

Showing posts with label Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. Show all posts

13 May 2020

My Top 3 Passions Part 1 - Portraiture

I have three primary photography loves in my life. They are the reason I have never been burnt out in the 15 years I've taken photo seriously. Once I bit into it, I've never had to leave photography and come back to it later. I have always had a camera. I didn't care if the money wasn't coming in and for years I would not even accept payment. I guarded my passion in that way so I never let it become a job until I was ready to turn pro.

I began as a purist with film shooting my Minolta Maxxum 70 before seeing a Jerry Uelsmann book in a Vegas library and then jumping in with both feet by purchasing the Canon Elan 7NE kit and the 75-300mm MEGAZOOM lens. I have never looked back or regretted spending thousands on a camera body or lens. After shooting a myriad of different genres and subjects like cars, diamonds, apparel, fashion, weddings, and events, I always come back to these three arts to soothe my soul and calm my mind. The Portraiture, The Nude, And Landscape. This blog post covers Part 1: The Portraiture.

It's the human face. That's where it all began for me. Back when I was maybe 5 years old, my Uncle Ulice Ray asked me to take a photo of him and his friends. All I had to do was hit the button on this instant film camera and I think it may have even had flash cubes. That was a big deal for me. I knew I had to get it right. I looked through the viewfinder and could see everybody in the scene. I hit the button and waited those daunting few minutes until the reveal while my uncle fanned the photo back and forth. The look on his face told me I had failed. I cut off everyone's head and did not understand why.

I have always been intrigued with people's faces. They are all different. Even identical twins, because despite the similarities, no two people experience life the same. Life will leave a mark on you and that is different for everyone. In addition, the same experience is perceived by individuals differently. The camera gives me an opportunity to read the story in a person's life. It may not give me the details, but it still tells me a story as if I'm watching a movie or reading a book. The difference is, I get to record that story and tell my version of it.

The first thing the portrait illustrates is the beauty potential in every story that crosses my viewfinder. An aging face, a dirty face, a baby's face all have their own potential that demonstrate the power of persistence and survival, effort and achievement, or growth and change. In addition, I am a fan of evolution. Time of day and time of season may present a different perspective from one moment to the next. A man or woman can have one face to start the day and then give me a different story at the end of the day. One of optimism and expectation in the morning. Another face of weariness, yet satisfaction, all in a state of dishevel later that evening. And understand me, there is something great there.

I have done portraits of life and death... of the young and the old. I can tell you that a measure of healing was afforded to parents of a deceased newborn or baby. I was able to find the beauty in this art form and capture a portrait that allowed them to see their baby in more than just the perspective of sorrow and loss. I say this illustratively, not boastfully. I'm sharing my experience as a 5-year volunteer photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, an organization that does remembrance photography for parents who loose a baby. Thankfully, I know my limitations. Five years was enough for me. I invite you to pick up the challenge for a while.

Portraits are evidences of life, whether life present or life that once was. Life can be expressed through art in a myriad of ways. They don't have to all be happy smiles. They don't even have to be stoic blank faces. Human emotions are an infinite analog range of feelings and this gives you unlimited options of capture opportunities from each face you encounter. Anger, sadness, joy, a smirk, absent-mindedness, looking into the lens vs looking out of frame, candids, and even a sleeping portrait (a favorite of mine) can all convey something powerful. There is a different story in each.

I love that the portrait is not restricted solely to the face. You can back up! It can be a portrait bust or even full-body. One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever received was from travel editor. He wanted to use one of my shots in a travel mag. After looking further through my portfolio, he told me that no one needs to teach me anything else about capturing a portrait (his words not mine).

HOWEVER, if I'm doing travel photography, it would behoove me to step back and master the environmental portrait. It made all the sense in the world. I had to regroup and think about my travel lens choices, depth of field choices, and poses. Ordinarily, posing is much more simple when its from the bust and up. Posing the whole body can be more challenging for your subject. What do they do with their hands? How do they shift weight or (balance on both feet)? Is my gut sucked in enough?

Another thing the portrait shows me is that it's not fair for me to negatively judge another human being. The story a portrait tells you might be one of a destitute past or someone in desperation. I understand this one simple fact. There, but by the grace of God, go I. In other words, I can be in that same person's shoes inside of a day. Be grateful and compassionate to everyone. Conversely, just because someone looks like a success, they may be more miserable than you are. This might cause you to mis-identify with your client or subject. Now they see you as someone who can't relate to them and you are not rehired or recommended. If you are snapping pics, you have a job. If you are creating art, then you must understand that the art is a relationship. It's a form of communication between your subject and yourself. If you are not relatable, you can easily come across as obscure, ambiguous, or even hostile. The story you capture will be fiction at best.

Via my travels, I get to pass through different lands and see different people. I've become intrigued by the cultural differences of the faces I see. In a sense, I've become anthropological. No, not "in a sense". That's a point of fact. I get a chance to see the differences [from mine] dictated by what region of the world their ancestors originated from. It's glorious. It's like you grow up loving roses and are taught "Roses are Red" and then you leave home and learn there are also 150 different species of roses and thousands of variations. The Vietnamese do not look like me. But, beneath the environmental evolution that alters the skin and superficial features, they are exactly like me. Any doctor here in Vietnam will be perfectly familiar with my anatomy if they have to cut me open. They don't have to look it up or google the location to find the heart of a black man.

Everybody has a story that is different from yours but no less worthy of respect. This is what I love about portraiture. It's therapy for me. I see the spirit of human resolve when I look in someone's face. I know they conquered something in order to stand in front of my lens. They persisted and have survived the challenges life has thrown at them and this is their story... as I see and tell it.

“I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty. I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood friends did... most of whom were murdered or put in prison... but I chose not to go that way. I felt that I could somehow subdue these evils by doing something beautiful that people recognize me by, and thus make a whole different life for myself, which has proved to be so.”

~ Gordon Parks

06 September 2013

Photoshop World, Day 3 - Finale

"Photoshop is not a verb. It is a noun. It is the means to an end, not the end itself."

- Vincent Versace

All good things must come to an end, as its been said. And such is the way with Photoshop World 2013. Overall, I give this year's convention an A-. Today's classes were much like yesterday's results. Lots of good lessons and one that wasn't as great as I had hoped. Today covered my first introduction to video editing. I've done some video, but have not been involved in video production. I've sourced that out opting to stick with photo in the past, but the more I think about it, nobody's got my vision the way I have it. I no longer want to surrender that artistic control.

Art Model, Enyo
© 2011 Terrell Neasley

This was my second Richard Harrington class and he made video editing seem so simple. I got to talk to him afterwards. The guy has been a stalwart in this industry for years yet all you get from him is a sincere desire to help everybody else. He's not elitist in any sense of the word, despite his accomplishments and saying he's approachable is an egregious understatement. It was cool to talk to him after the class, but he came by the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep booth on the expo floor and we talked again briefly about NILMDTS and the new look of the PhotoFocus blog. This is how I know Richard has no high-horse! For a brief moment, you could could see it in his face that we switch roles for a second. He asked for my input about the new look of the blog, but he did so with the look of a little kid seeking approval from a teacher on a new drawing he did! The guy is so on our level, but he's actually trying to get under us to boost us up. I love it. I know I've beat this point up but there was simply no air of superiority in him.

I also got my first Scott Kelby class today covering portrait retouching. Scott Kelby is the king of photog education and is the one responsible for the umbrella of proven photo professionals who come to bless us with insight and inspiration. He's a master educator and is the genius behind Photoshop World. I finished up the day with a class on system back-ups which I didn't feel was as beneficial to me. I was convinced to give DNG more consideration and will likely change my workflow because of the class, but I disagreed with his back-up strategy and did not feel like I took away anything that would make me alter my own in the slightest.

So my overall grade of A- reflects the grade A, top of the line, quality education, but I subtract a bit for the two classes that I felt were not so beneficial to me. I do not think an hour per class is enough time. In college, some of our classes were an hour and 15 mins. There was simply not enough time. Every one of my classes had to rush the end of the presentation, but I'm not sure there is an answer for that. I would have loved a class on photographing the nude! I would have loved to seen some experts on a higher level demonstrate their techniques. I totally MISSED the Light Painting class. I simply didn't see it. Light painting is something I am endeavoring to do more of and master. I wish I had not missed the opportunity to learn.

I think I will make Photoshop World an annual event from this point forward. My experiences were very positive. I was even interviewed by some of Scott Borne's people on my Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep work. And one of the other unmentioned benefits is the camaraderie you have meeting with your peers and better yet making new ones. I met three women in particular who were simply a joy to talk to, each whom I hope to stay in touch with. Photoshop World is not just about learning more photo stuff so you can make more money. Its also about growing the industry and improving the strength of the trade as a whole through a community enrichment effort.

Photoshop World, Day 2

"You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else--and whichever is better you print."

~ Garry Winogrand

Day 2 started of much like its predecessor...An Early Morning! I learned some interesting techniques and completely new Photoshop applications working in video and animation. Corey Barker taught Creating Motion Graphics in Photoshop CC and it was a blast. Not saying I mastered ANY of it, but I know its available to me now, so that's cool. My next class, which I won't name, was a dud for me. I mean, utterly and complete. I then went on to some more masterful techniques in Compositing with Joel Grimes. This guy is definitely a guru in artistic composite work. Most of his is simple portrait on a blended background, which is the way he likes it. I think I'd like to push it a bit more. The guy is a masterful educator. I ended up taking another class with him that I finished my day with.

Art Model, Leslie
©2013 Terrell Neasley

But then there was the next class for me which was sort of duddish. I got nothing. I tried to sit through it more out of respect and appreciation that he came to help us improve our work, but I think I got 40 mins and simply had enough. That happens sometimes. You just don't gel with an instructor. However the surprising element to me was that I did not enjoy his work! We saw some of the images he's made over the years and it was boring to me and almost unimaginative. This guy has made a lot of money in his career and has been hailed and lauded for his vision. I just couldn't see it. But that leaves me questioning what that says about me. Granted, I know what I like. I know what inspires me. His and he did not, I'm sad to say.

But then came redemption. My next class was with Richard Harrington and he covered Digital Publishing. Excellent, excellent work. He told it like it is and entertained us as well. I thoroughly enjoyed his class. If that name sounds familiar to you then you've taken my previous advice and subscribed to the Photofocus podcast, which he now hosts. I've described the Photofocus blog and podcasts as must-do sites to visit a couple times on this blog. But let me just reiterate. If you are a photographer and do not have that blog faved or have subscribed to that podcast, you are wrong...plain and simple.

"You have a lifetime to learn technique. But I can teach you what is more important than technique, how to see; learn that and all you have to do afterwards is press the shutter."

~ Garry Winogrand

At this point we broke off into the Expo session which lasted all afternoon. Vendors and sponsors show and demonstrate their latest wares that help you in various aspects of your photographic trade. You can come by and visit me and my crew at the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep booth #237.

But the day got even better. Get this... my next class was Pricing, Negotiation, and Selling with, who else but Scott Borne. Scott Borne is the celebrated local photographer here in Las Vegas. I'm pretty sure he's the biggest name here and he is responsible for starting Photofocus in the first place. This was my first time to actually get to meet and talk to him and after listening to his voice practically every week and checking out every blog post, the man in the flesh did not disappoint. He was hilarious, but had some of the most practical advice I've ever had. Some of it was a reminder. One thing he asked us to do is read any and every Zig Ziglar book we could find. I've read several and need to reread them. Its been quite some time. Zig Ziglar came to my high school one year and I was impressed beyond belief. No doubt, I benefited most with his class and as I mentioned previously, I finished the day with one more Joel Grimes class on Photoshop techniques. Great day.

08 July 2013

What I Wish Photographers Would Do, Part 3

Alright. Here we are at the last and final part of this series, "What I Wish Photographers Would Do." And this third part is probably the one that means the most, benefits you the greatest, and cultivates the photography trade in the best manner possible. So as a matter of much import, this last part should most likely have been brought up first. However, in the natural order of things, it has to come last. Now where are we? Number 1...Stop giving away work. Number 2... Study your trade. With the first point, I'm trying to get you to respect yourself and this business. We already make it seem too easy with our clients. There's no reason to validate that notion. And with the second point, I want to illustrate how important it is to grow your skill set and improve your ability to get a shot in any situation. So what's the third part?

Part 3: GIVE BACK!

Now this third part comes last in the natural order of things because it operates under one primary assumption: That you have been successful at the first two parts and now HAVE something to give back. Let me elaborate on this a bit further. If you haven't studied your trade and you continue to give away your money in the form of cheap services and hi-res images, THEN YOU CAN'T HELP THE NEXT GUY COMING UP!! Giving back is simple. You take the knowledge that you have learned and you help that new batch of aspiring photographers learn a thing or two about the trade. THAT'S giving back.

Or how about this. Volunteer! "Wait...volunteer? Didn't you JUST say quit giving away your work?" Yes. Yes, I did. And I mean that shit. Volunteering is something entirely different. A portion of your work and time can still be donated to a worthy cause. The brand new couple who just became parents that spend $5,000 dollars on a new crib and $20K remodeling the room for Jr, but balk at paying you $500 for good family pics is NOT a worthy cause. That's business. However, if this same family, who has just spent all this money, is devastated because they suddenly find out Jr. has a terminal birth defect...Well, if you volunteer to do remembrance photography for them...THAT'S a worthy cause. I don't care how much money they make. Losing a kid hurts the same across the economic scale.

I've talked about the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation on this blog before. Everything I do is at my own expense. Every family gets my best work as if they are paying me top dollar...but for free. It serves my community, it serves my trade, but it also serves my own heart. Give back. When the young man or woman admires your work, honors you with praise, and then asks for some advice, guidance, and suggestions on how they may also achieve, take a second to light that path. Chances are, you didn't get there on your own. Somebody helped you learn the ropes. Pay if forward. Give back. But I know... everybody can't do NILMDTS. I get it. If you can, great. If not, find your thing. My good buddy Scott Roeben is a complete NATURAL at shooting kids. I mean... A NATURAL. He, and several other friends shoot Joy Prom every year. That's his thing. I can't say its my gift. But we each do our thing and GIVE BACK!

How else can you give back? Find a worthy cause...check. Teach a new photog...check. How about donate some time, prints, or gear to an auction raising money to beautify your community, fight cancer, or help out the homeless. Okay, you're right. That still sounds like just another worthy cause. Okay. How about this then: Every 7th paid gig you do, offer to do an under-privileged family for free. There's no cause to it. Its just an altruistic gesture for somebody that wasn't even expecting it in the first place. Somebody who normally could not afford you gets your full and undivided attention as if they were one of your top-billed clients. How about that? What else? I don't know...YOU BE CREATIVE! Come up with some of your own ideas. I don't care. I just wish more photographers were giving back. Give back. It does your heart well.

05 July 2013

What I Wish Photographers Would Do, Part 1

More and more people are wanting to get into photography these days. Why? Because its much easier. A lot of the hard and challenging aspects of photo have been eliminated by cameras that do more for you in the automatic modes. Does this make it tougher to earn a living in photo? Yes and No. Photography, as we know it, is definitely under attack. With the Chicago Sun Times firing its complete photography department, you can already see the credits starting to roll on photojournalists. A few months before this, Yahoo! CEO, Marissa Mayer makes a statement claiming "there's no such thing as a pro photographer".

I'll talk more on this a little later. The state of the business has got my blood boiling a bit and a third of the fault (if not more) falls at the feet of photographers. Again, more on this later. For now, I would like to see more and expect more from photographers. So I've compiled a short list of what I would like to see more photographers doing, whether they are in business or not.

Art Model/Painter, Emily
©2013 Terrell Neasley

Part 1. STOP GIVING AWAY WORK.

Let me clarify this a bit. I don't mind free work. Two things, however that make me go batty is CHEAP work, and HI-RES give-aways. I would honestly rather do something for free and donate my time rather than go cheap. Cheap work devalues the trade and thins the blood of the business. This is the absolute Number ONE harm and threat to the business. If a client wants cheap, they can go the Wal-Mart studios. If you are doing it and charging $50 or $100...for anything, you need to have your head examined. If your work and your time can only demand that sort of value, get the hell out of the business until you are better. And getting better is easy. Don't fear that or get intimidated by your camera. Don't become a "natural light" photographer just because you don't understand flash or monolights. There are too many tools and free techniques out there for you to learn on, IF you really want to learn.

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."

~Thomas Paine

Why are photogs doing work on the cheap? For a couple reasons. For one, many don't know any better. These photogs are not confident enough to put a real value on their work and don't know what the going rates are anyway. So they throw out a small figure to a client...usually a friend or relative whom they don't want to offend with a price that's "too high". Then you have those photogs who know better, but become desperate for the business and will low-ball another peer or succumb to pressure from a client who threatens to walk in favor of a cheaper photographer. I gotta say, sometimes you have to let people walk. Price conscious clients are going to take advantage of this as best they can, and what shouldn't they if we choose to let them?

The second part of that is the handing over of Hi-Res images. What I mean by this is doing the photos and then handing your client digital images that they can go print on their own. That's your money and your work that's just hemorrhaging out of your wallet. I've heard the argument that its what clients demand. Well, for one they wouldn't be demanding it if photographers all over weren't giving them away en masse. Its not different from back in the day.

Photogs didn't hand over negatives without triple the pay, at least. On top of that, I know of a photog that debated this point ad nauseum, UNTIL a client used said Hi-Res images to RE-EDIT them in a really crappy manner, yet still leaving the photog's watermark on them, and plaster them all over Facebook. I don't know about you, but I own the copyrights to all my images and control the quality of my work and prints. Only ONE group of people get my Hi-Res imagery and that's the families I do the volunteer work associated with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. I voluntarily share those copyrights, and put that info into the meta-tags on each picture.

There is no way you can complain about not making money in photo if you are guilty of any of this. Thankfully, all you have to do is change your ways, but it will take longer to change your reputation. If you start out cheap, it's gonna be a pain in the ass to get beyond that expectation, because you've conditioned your clientele and market to view you this way. Word gets around.

22 February 2013

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

"To introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with a free gift of professional portraiture."

~ NILMDTS Mission Statement

I received a text message on my phone from my area coordinator that requested a photographer come to one of the hospitals in the Las Vegas area. It was Super Bowl Sunday. I was out of town at the time. I watched my phone during the football game in-between plays to see who was going to respond to the urgent call. There were responses but all of them were replying, "Unavailable."

In most situations like this, if I'm busy but no one else is available, I'll try to take it upon myself to drop what I'm doing and answer that call, but I was 2,000 miles away this time. A baby had died. On Super Bowl Sunday. And of the few photographers who serve with the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation in the Las Vegas area, none were available because there are SO FEW of us doing it. All of us are professionals at what we do and when lacking in numbers the way we are, its inevitable that a call will go unanswered. However, this was a first for me in the three years I've been doing this. A hospital called on behalf of grieving parents and the call went unanswered.

So I'd like to make a special appeal to the local Las Vegas area photographers to consider donating some time to this cause. It is not an easy task by any means. A mother gives birth to a child who, for whatever reason, is not going to make it or may actually be stillborn. The only records that prove this child ever existed will be a birth and a death certificate with dates too close together. Many people will not understand this service and some may disagree with it. Nonetheless, that child still made an impact in this world if only for the briefest of moments. Lives that ripple out from the parents are affected...brothers and sisters, grandparents, friends of the family, and others. That child will be missed and that pain of loss can radiate outwards for quite some time. Having a well-done portraiture will mark the occasion better than anything else, as well as help bring healing, and a more positive way to remember that child.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is a global foundation of affiliate photographers and volunteers who offer their professional services FREE of charge and at their own expense. The foundation serves the community by doing portraits of the babies and families involved. Last year, I photographed the family you see in these images who gave me special permission to use them to promote this cause. I very much appreciate their desire to help me ask you for your help. We are too few in numbers here in the Las Vegas Valley and could use your help. This is not an easy portrait session to so. Taking memorable photos of a deceased child or a dying child will be one of the hardest things you will encounter. Nonetheless, the need for our services is great and is only equaled by the need for more photographers to volunteer the help.

Right now is a great time to find out more about the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep foundation and to see if you can serve. The WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) 2013 Convention is just around the corner and there will be a NILMDTS booth on the Expo floor. Better than this however, are the NILMDTS Certification classes that always accompany WPPI Conventions. So this is an excellent opportunity to submit your portfolios for review, get accepted, and attend the certification course in just a few weeks. So visit the site to become an affiliate photographer for the Las Vegas area and give us a hand in giving back to our community. We don't want anyone else to be turned away.

If you simply KNOW for a fact that this is not for you, then no worries. No hard feelings. I have genres of photography that simply aren't for me as well. That's understood. It takes both a stomach and a heart to do this. No two assignments or cases are alike. I've been on some like the family in these pictures where I was with the family for 16 hours. Others were less than an hour. That doesn't matter. All that counts is answering the call, doing the job, and delivering your best work. For more information on Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, please peruse the website, contact the staff, or contact myself. I can only end this blog with this; We need your help. Even if you are not a photographer, there are ways you can volunteer or donate to the foundation. Thanks.

16 March 2010

Happy Birthday Mr. Norris...So Long, Mr. Moore

Chuck Norris once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are known today as giraffes.

The square root of Chuck Norris is PAIN.

Godzilla is a Japanese rendition of Chuck Norris' first visit to Tokyo.

When Bruce Banner gets mad, he turns into the Hulk. When the Hulk gets mad, he turns into Chuck Norris.

Yes, We live in an expanding universe. All of it is trying to get away from Chuck Norris.

Model, Joan "By the Serenity Pool"

Last week I attended the WPPI 2010 Trade Show and got my hands on a few interesting new products that I think could be helpful in my arsenal of photo works. And then I also encountered a booth that promoted their wedding albums at every 3.2 stations I passed by. Good GRIEF! I think there should be a limit to how much of one product or service that we should be inundated with. They were like the porn card pushers you encounter on the Las Vegas strip.There's got to be some regulation on that sort of thing. Of everything that I came across, I think the most intriguing thing and funniest was the View-Master style reels and views being offered by Celebrations3D. Everybody had a View-Master when we were kids. To see one now, was both funny and a potentially great novelty to promote. It wasn't all that cheap though, but it could be well worth it to pursue. Check 'em out.

A few days before the WPPI trade show, I also did a certification training seminar for the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation, which is a special organization of which I have recently become a volunteer. The workshop proved to be very insightful for me. In a nutshell, this group was founded about 5 years ago to help parents deal with the grief of giving birth to a stillborn child or one who is not expected to be in this world very long. This is a nationwide foundation that collaborates with hospitals and parents to provide professional portraiture of these babies free of charge for the families as a remembrance that these babies were actually here and to confirm that they did indeed exist. A birth certificate is certainly a certification of proof of life. However a photograph truly announces to the world that a life existed today and has left an indelible impact on the world, even if that world only consists of a mother and a father.

I've taken a personal interest in promoting this cause because they could use a few more photographers to lend a hand and serve this need. I understand that this is not for everybody. It's actually a good thing for you to know your limitations and accept them, if even just for the time being until those limits change. For those of you wishing to find out more about NILMDTS, you can visit the website,www.NILMDTS.org. A documentary has recently been produced on DVD entitled Capturing a Short Life. You can view a short trailer on the film by going to it's website and then selecting the TRAILER tab. www.capturingashortlife.com. If this is something you feel you have a heart for, please consider a closer look and become well informed before making a decision. I believe this to be a cause worthy, not only for consideration, but also service.

You'd think that a person who's dedicated to his craft would know 90% about the history of their chosen field. Sort of like an actor who knows of all the notables who came before him; or the musician who has studied all the famous artists of her genre. I'm so not there yet. There are a whole bunch of photographers. I was talking to a lady on the phone today who asked me about a few photogs here in Vegas. I think I had heard of one. Vegas is chock full of photographers. Even moreso than a Chips A'Hoy cookie has chocolate chips that you are promised to get in every bite. Well, in a little bigger news, I was surprised to see a good friend of mine make a message board post about Charles Moore who passed away at the age of 79. This guy was the front and center photographer who was up close and personal getting many of the shots from the civil rights days. According to Wikipedia, he also covered conflicts in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Venezuela, and also Haiti. He was all over, but he's mostly know for his shots traveling throughout the South.

I've seen his shots, but never knew who took them. The images were so powerful in nature that, I just never bothered to ask who the author was. You were too emotional about the images and the people in them. He's got the one image of the demonstrators being hit with high-pressure water hose. Finding out who took the picture would have been the last thing on your mind unless you were a newspaper editor and needed it on your front page. No, in this case your heart would inevitably go out to the young black people being blasted with the water and then become so angered by such atrocities that you want to cry out. But you don't really stop to ask how the images came to be. Until my friend Scott, mentioned it, I never knew the man. The guy certainly put his life on the line to get these shots. It was one thing to be black during these days. But being white and supportive of black causes could have been even more appalling. You can see one of his books at Amazon, "Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moore". Do a Google Image search on his name.

These are images of Joan who wanted to see how I might capture her with a camera. I was humbled that she felt I was the right guy to do these shots and was very pleased that she enjoyed them. Being so uninhibited made her easy to shoot and I knew things were flowing well when we were interrupted by 3 hikers and her clothes were out of reach. There was no sense of anxiety. I even gave some directions to the hikers to help find a path up the canyon walls since I had been up there before and gotten stuck.We kept on shooting for another few hours and called it a day. AND she waited patiently for me to edit the shots. As anxious as she was, she never called me once about them to ask to see "some" of them. It was a cool shoot. Expect more.

Oh, Chuck Norris recently had a birthday and turned 70. Thought I'd share some interesting facts I found out about him from Chuck Norris Facts.com.

James Cameron wanted Chuck Norris to play the Terminator. However, upon reflection, he realized that would have turned his movie into a documentary, so he went with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
According to Einstein's theory of relativity, Chuck Norris can actually roundhouse kick you yesterday.
Chuck Norris CAN divide by zero.
Police label anyone attacking Chuck Norris as a Code 45-11.... a suicide.
Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King, and GOT one.
If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. FOREVER...
Google won't search for Chuck Norris because it knows you don't find Chuck Norris, he finds you.
Chuck Norris uses a night light. Not because Chuck Norris is afraid of the dark, but the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris' first job was as a paperboy. There were no survivors.
Contrary to popular belief, the Titanic didn't hit an iceberg. The ship was off course and accidentally ran into Chuck Norris while he was doing the backstroke across the Atlantic.
Human cloning is outlawed because if Chuck Norris were cloned, then it would be possible for a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to meet another Chuck Norris roundhouse kick. Physicists theorize that this contact would end the universe.
There are no such things as tornadoes. Chuck Norris just hates trailer parks.
Chuck Norris and Mr. T walked into a bar. The bar was instantly destroyed, as that level of awesome cannot be contained in one building.
Chuck Norris does not follow fashion trends, they follow him. But then he turns around and kicks their ass. Nobody follows Chuck Norris.
When an episode of Walker Texas Ranger was aired in France, the French surrendered to Chuck Norris just to be on the safe side.

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