Photojournalist Charles Trainor Jr. captures Dwyane Wade's Final Dance

By Al Diaz

Miami Herald Photojournalist

Legendary point guard Dywane Wade crashed into John Legend and Chrissy Teigen while shooting a jump shot during his final regular season home game for the Miami Heat. Miami Herald photojournalist Charles Trainor Jr. captured the decisive moment in a photograph. Once tweeted, the image went viral. 

Charlie and I covered many of Wade’s games over the years during his time in Miami, playoff games and NBA Championships in cities across the country. We were both assigned to cover the "The Last Dance", his final year and a tribute to the NBA All-Star on Tuesday night along with Matias Ocner shooting video.  

All the photographers that night seemed anxious, not knowing how the night would play out and hoping to get the perfect moment to compliment this future NBA Hall of Fame member. Charlie, Matias and I divided the coverage with only one position on the court, Charlie and I rotated as Matias shot pregame and postgame video. 

In the fourth quarter, I was sitting under the basket capturing Wade’s reactions after hitting several three-pointers. Charlie was shooting from the overhead position with a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x Lens mounted on a Canon EOS 1D-X. 

Charlie says, “In the final two minutes my lens was locked on Wade. I felt this is where the sentimental, emotional, heartwarming image would be captured. Then he shot a fade and fell back crushing his good friends, model and author, Christine Teigen and singer-songwriter, John Legend in their courtside seats.” 

The photograph was retweeted by Teigen, who wrote “a renaissance painting.” From there, it went VIRAL and used on TMZ, BuzzFeed, NBC's TODAY SHOW and Entertainment Tonight.

Charlie says, “My friends at FOX WSVN did a 90-second news segment and comedian Jimmy Fallon displayed it during his nightly monologue. I think it was the most viral photo of the day. It seemed to be everywhere and several celebrities continued the retweets, including Reese Witherspoon! Who would ever guess that Reese would Tweet me! Charlie said.

The Sunday Still: Legend on Legend

Photojournalist Patrick Farrell has joined the blog with his weekly feature, The Sunday Still. Farrell selects one image each week that showcases the best photojournalism by photojournalists from around the world. The feature runs weekly in The Sunday Long Read. The goal of the newsletter, edited by Don Van Natta Jr. and Jacob Feldman, is to put the week’s best journalism in your hands every Sunday morning. The Sunday Still from Patrick Farrell

Legend on Legend  Miami Herald photography legend Charles Trainor Jr. nailed the most talked-about photograph of legendary Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade’s final home game as Wade landed in the laps of legend Chrissy Teigen and her husband, John, on April 9. Trainor, a veteran photographer with three decades of experience shooting world-class athletes, knew that taking a position up high in American Airlines Arena would provide the opportunity to capture classic images of the retiring Wade on and off the court. The still image froze the moment of impact in a way that no video footage could duplicate. Patrick Farrell, the curator of The Sunday Still, is the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winner for Breaking News Photography for The Miami Herald, where he has worked since 1987. He is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Media Management at the University of Miami School of Communication.

PHOTOS: Miami Heat Media Day 2019

Now that football season is officially over after tonight's SuperBowl I get to cover a lot more basketball. These portraits are from Miami Heat Media Day. Some of the players are no longer on the team. Visit my gallery from last night's game against the Pacers https://hrld.us/2WDoTnF 
Miami Herald Sports, #ThinkTankPro #MyThinkTank 
3 Legged Thing

Caution, Season Opener for NBA's Hassan Whiteside & Miami Heat

Looking forward to tonight's season opener for the Miami Heat at the American Airlines Arena. For the Miami Herald's Season Preview 2016-17 I photographed the Heat's Hassan Whiteside. Throwing Caution to the wind. Now that Dwyane Wade has joined the Chicago Bulls and Chris Bosh's NBA future is in limbo, the Heat must rely on Hassan Whiteside to lead an untested roster. 

I created this image using a Canon EOS 1D-X and a Canon EF 24-70mm f2.8L II USM Zoom Lens, ISO 100, Shutter 200 at Aperature 7.1 The magic in all this is my Think Tank Photo Production Manager 40 carrying a multi-set of Dynalites and a B1 Profoto Head and beauty dish.

Photo by Al Diaz / Miami Herald

Photo of Al Diaz by David Santiago / Miami Herald

The Perfect Shot with Charles Trainor Jr.

Ever go to a Miami Heat game and wonder about how photographers get those perfect action shots? Here is how Miami Herald photographer Charles Trainor Jr. does it. Video by Aubrey Leigh.



The Perfect Shot from Aubrey Leigh on Vimeo

PHOTOS: Miami Heat gets outpaced by Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals

The action from last nights game using four cameras, 
including a remote camera on the post: 

• Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR Camera
• Canon 1D Mark IV Digital SLR Camera Body 
• Canon EOS-5D Mark IIIDigital SLR Camera Body 
• Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM AutoFocus Telephoto Zoom Lens
• Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Zoom Lens 
• Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
• Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Image Stabilizer AutoFocus Telephoto Lens
• Peak Design Camera Straps 
• Think Tank Photo Camera Bags

The Heat entered Game 1 looking to take away homecourt advantage at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the Pacers rolled with a wire-to-wire win.

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN

JGOODMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

INDIANAPOLIS -- Shell shock.

That was the look on Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s face at one point in the third quarter of a disastrous start for his team to begin the Eastern Conference finals.

After rolling through the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Heat looked dumbfounded at times Sunday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The rest of the time the defending back-to-back champions simply looked lost defensively.

It made for a sobering reminder of just how difficult last year’s championship run really was and how much work the Heat has ahead of itself to win three in a row. Miami’s 107-96 loss to the Indiana Pacers felt like an extension of last year’s back-and-forth conference championship series and this latest best-of-7 set already feels like it’s going the distance.

“That’s probably us at our worst defensively,” Spoelstra said after the game.

READ MORE HERE: Photo gallery, videos and more stories at MiamiHerald.com

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/19/4123690/miami-heat-outpaced-by-indiana.html#storylink=cpy

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Photos: Miami Heat Grinds Out Game 2 Win Over Brooklyn Nets

Recording artist Rihanna with Jackson Cohlan, 14

Miami Heat takes control with Game 2 win over Brooklyn Nets

A 15-5 run in the fourth quarter sealed the Heat’s victory against the Brooklyn Nets and gave Miami a 2-0 lead in the series.

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN

JGOODMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

One hundred seconds.

Three offensive rebounds.

One game-defining possession.

The Nets wanted to slow it down and play it physical inside. Brooklyn succeeded in that task most of the night, but the Heat was simply better at the Nets’ own game when it mattered most.

In a grind-it-out Game 2 that played exactly to the Nets’ game plan, the Heat was the team that made the hustle plays in crunch time and extended its postseason winning streak to six games with a 94-82 victory on Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena. The Heat now leads the Eastern Conference semifinal series 2-0 with Saturday’s Game 3 and Monday’s Game 4 at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

The Heat closed out the game with a 15-5 run that spanned the final six minutes. A three-pointer by Mario Chalmers sealed the victory with 56.6 seconds left. The defining sequence of the game was a series of three consecutive offensive rebounds by the Heat that drained 100 seconds off the clock and ended with layup by LeBron James with 1:59 to play. READ MORE HERE PLUS GAME PHOTO GALLERY

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/09/4106221/miami-heat-grinds-out-game-2-win.html#storylink=cpy

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Miami Heat: Ripping The Nets

David Beckham in the house.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS, GAME 1 | HEAT 107, NETS 86

Rest romps rust as Miami Heat routs Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of Eastern Conference Semifinals

The Heat came out strong after a week layoff and used balanced scoring to blow out the Nets in Game 1 of their semifinal series.

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN

JGOODMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

The Charlotte Bobcats put up a better fight.

After a week of resting their legs and watching the playoffs on TV, the defending back-to-back NBA champions rejoined the fray on Tuesday at AmericanAirlines Arena, but, like the Heat’s entire first-round series, this opening game of Round 2 didn’t offer much drama — just another blowout.

After sweeping the Bobcats to begin the playoffs, the Heat ran through the Brooklyn Nets 107-86 to take a 1-0 lead in its best-of-7, second-round playoff series. The Bobcats felt like a tune-up at the time, but Charlotte gave the Heat more trouble in Game 1 than the high-dollar Nets, who were put together at great cost to compete against the Heat in a postseason series. READ MORE HERE.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/07/4102043/rest-romps-rust-as-miami-heat.html#storylink=cpy

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LeBron James: LeBATMAN!

Masked LeBron James leads Miami Heat in rout of New York Knicks

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/28/3964301/masked-lebron-james-leads-miami.html#storylink=cpy

BY JOSEPH GOODMAN

JGOODMAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Nothing is slowing down the Heat at this point in the season — not broken noses, not masks and certainly not the broken New York Knicks and their masquerading excuse for a basketball team.

With LeBron James back in the lineup after suffering a broken nose last week, the Heat made easy work of the struggling Knicks, defeating Carmelo Anthony’s team 108-82 on Thursday at AmericanAirlines Arena. James waited until the lights were dimmed for player introductions to reveal his protective black mask. The scene played like some kind of hardwood adaptation of Phantom of the Opera.

Read More Here

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View Photo Gallery by David Santiago & Al Diaz HERE