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Think Tank Photo
Showing posts with label Ron Magill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ron Magill. Show all posts
Monday, April 3, 2017
LEICA LOUNGE: Zoo Miami Goodwill Ambassador Ron Magill, Thursday, April 6, 2017 | 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Focus on the Everglades Sunrise Wrap Up with Photo Workshops Miami
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Nikon Ambassador Ron Magill leads the sunrise expedition in the Everglades.
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By Pamela Wentworth
pwent84@gmail.com
Focus on the Everglades, presented by Photo Workshops Miami was an
incredible experience from beginning to end.
We started our day - long before dawn –at the Coral Gables Museum where
we met organizer Al Diaz, a Miami Herald photojournalist and one of our guides,
Everglades Historian Cesar Alejandro Becerra on Saturday, January 30th. We
boarded a comfortable van for the first leg of our adventure. Enjoying
pasteles, breakfast sandwiches and fruit as we traveled west, we listened to
Cesar recount the challenges and successes of the early pioneers as they
constructed the “Tampa to Miami” or Tamiami Trail across the Everglades.
As we moved along the Trail, we marveled at the advances that have been made in
the last one hundred years.
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| Sunrise in the Everglades by Enrique Monasterio |
Arriving at the Miccosukee Village, we met our Everglades host and
guide, Houston Cypress. The morning chill and dampness had us all
shivering as we loaded our gear aboard a large airboat, which would be our base
for the next several hours. Earplugs in place, we pulled away from the dock in
the darkness. Our photography guide, Nikon Ambassador and Zoo Miami
Communications Director Ron Magill, had assured us that we would be rewarded
for the early hour by being in the right place at the right time to watch the
sun come up. No one could have predicted the breath-taking beauty we witnessed.
First the grey then the red then a whole rainbow of colors played out
across the water, grass and cypress trees where we sat. As Ron gave us tips and
pointers, shutters clicked. I will admit that at one point I just sat and
drank in the sight, totally mesmerized by the changing light and colors.
Along with my photographs, I will carry that sunrise in my mind’s eye for a
very long time.
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| Enrique Monasterio with Cesar Alejandro Becerra & Houston Cypress |
When the light was fully up, we traveled through the area in the airboat
photographing birds and early morning beauty until we arrived at our next
destination – a hammock island called Little Pot.
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| Our guide Houston Cypress photographed by Max Freund |
We spent some time
there exploring, shooting pictures, and listening to Houston tell about his
life as part of the Otter Clan. Another treat was in store as Al had
arranged for us to share a wonderful lunch prepared by Houston’s mother.
Delicious!
Re-boarding the airboat, we started back, stopping to observe lilies and
lily pads and experimenting with the light as Ron shared tips from his
experiences as a wildlife photographer. His enthusiasm and knowledge were
infectious. Participants were drawn into trying new techniques that resulted in
stunning captures…the wows and ohhh’s as we looked at the results of our work encouraged
more experimentation.
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| Ron Magill photographs flora as he leans over the side of the airboat. Al Diaz Photo. |
We returned to the Coral Gables Museum and were greeted by Al’s wife,
Cindy Seip who arranged coffee, tea and goodies for us to enjoy. We
toured the museum’s Tamiami Trail exhibit, then moved into the conference room
to enjoy a presentation by Ron Magill. To say that the next hour and a
half sped by would be an understatement. Listening to Ron share his
expertise and photos was both delightful and inspiring. Ron’s attitude is
that we can all do what he does so he shares freely and
unselfconsciously. His love for his subject comes through in every shot.
He wove stories into the sequences and showed how to improve pictures both with
framing and with different settings and techniques.
The
day wrapped up with gifts and prizes and a visit to the Leica Store on Miracle
Mile. We came away knowing that because we had spent this day together,
we would all be better photographers.
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| Marc Serota, at left, and the Polaroid University video crew document the day. |
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Main photo above, back left to right, is Enrique Monasterio, Pamela Wentworth, Frederic Friedmann,
Ron Magill, William Freund, Max Freund and Ruth Blenker. Front left to right are, Al Diaz and Elkin Pabon.
Slide Camera Sling and Clutch Hand Strap by Peak Design
Pixel Pocket Rocket and Modular Pixel Pocket Rocket Memory Card Holders by Think Tank Photo Prints by Image Pro International T-Shirts and Earbuds by Polaroid University    |
Thursday, January 28, 2016
FOCUS ON THE EVERGLADES: Photo Workshop with Nikon Ambassador Ron Magill
RON MAGILL IS PLAIN AND SIMPLE ONE OF THE MOST VIBRANT STORYTELLERS IN PHOTOGRAPHY TODAY. — Joe McNally
Improve your photography while spending the day on an airboat along the river of grass learning from the pros // PLUS WIN // some awesome product from MindShift Gear, Peak Design, Think Tank Photo and Polaroid University plus free prints from Image Pro International. We are good to go with two final seats available!
All inclusive | Full Day | Photography Workshop | Space is Limited | Saturday, January 30, 2016
Friday, August 24, 2012
Hurricane Andrew: Flamingos in the Bathroom
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| During Hurricane Andrew, flamingos huddled in the bathroom of Miami Metrozoo. Ron Magill along with the staff of the zoo, now called Zoo Miami, rounded up the flamingos and put them in the bathroom for safety. Photo by Ron Magill. Radio Interview |
APROTHERO@MIAMIHERALD.COM
For his entire adult life, Ron Magill has been responsible for taking care of animals.
Twenty years ago, he was the assistant curator at Miami Metrozoo and the man behind the lens for one of the most famous photos to come out of Hurricane Andrew.
In the picture, a bunch of flamingos huddle in a public restroom in the zoo. Hay covers the tiled floor and a white glare bounces off the tiled walls. The flock of birds looks completely out of place between the sinks and bathroom stalls.
The day before Andrew hit, Magill was nailing plywood over the windows at his house. He was also feeding rhinoceroses and rounding up a couple dozen flamingos.
“I remember thinking, gosh, you know, this hurricane better come after this work because I’m working my butt off and it better not be for nothing,” Magill said.
The staff at Metrozoo waited till the very last minute to move the flamingos. It’s a stressful process for the birds. They can easily break a leg. So, the staff wanted to be as certain as possible that the storm was going to hit.
Around 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, Ron and a group of his co-workers climbed into the flamingo pond by the zoo’s entrance. They formed a half circle and started advancing on the flamingos.
“That’s when all of the sudden we go: OK, one, two go!” Magill said. “And everybody goes in and just grabs as many flamingos as they can.
“And then we’re handing them up – we’ve got people on the bridge — handing them one by one, and they’re walking them to the bathroom, letting them go in the bathroom, coming back, getting more. A person literally hand walks him, holds him up to his chest, hand walks to the bathroom, opens the bathroom door, lets ‘em go.... It’s the first flamingo that gets in the bathroom that’s kind of freaked out. Oh my God I’m the only one here! It’s just a lot of flapping — and flamingos make a very unattractive sound, RAWG RAWG RAWG…”
After all the flamingos were in the bathroom, Ron looked back and saw a tangled mass of long pink bird legs and necks wedged between the sinks and bathroom stalls.
“Twenty to 30 flamingos just standing there. And they’re all in the corner, hovering in the corner, just kind of looking at you,” Magill said, “and looking at their own reflection in the mirror on the wall over the sink. And you look at their faces and they’re kind of like, what the heck is this?”
The zoo had put the flamingos in the bathroom before, during previous hurricane warnings. But this time, Ron had a camera. He had taken up photography because his research was getting published and he needed photos.
On his days off, Ron would shadow Miami Herald photographers.
“I learned from the guys at the Herald that listen, in journalism, you want to capture a moment, you want to have something that will instill some kind of emotion. And for that reason, I always had a point and shoot camera in my pocket. Always.”
So Magill pulled out his camera.
“I didn’t even look through the view finder,” he said.
And he snapped a shot. The shot, as it would turn out. He had no idea that photo would become an iconic image.
Then, Magill went home to his wife, who was nine months pregnant, in West Kendall . He rode out the storm that would ultimately redefine his community and the zoo he loved.
Read more about Hurricane Andrew Here
WLRN Radio Interview with Ron Magill
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