Through the Eyes of Former White House Photographer Eric Draper on 9/11

White House photographer Eric Draper talks about his experience photographing George W. Bush on 9/11. Draper says, "It was a moment of utter disbelief."

Round Two of Think Tank Photo Contest!

The fine folks at Think Tank Photo want your guess in their TTP10 contest.
How many images will ten round one winners take on an 8gb Lexar 600x memory card in one day. You can start guessing now via the link below... Also! There may well be a spot prize for those that SHOUT about the competition using the hash tag #TTP10 on Twitter... oh la la!
Get your votes in NOW!
http://conta.cc/oVfjv0

Good luck and may the best shots be yours!

Awesome Image Voted Top Ten by Think Tank Photo and Lexar Media

 

Think Tank Photo in conjunction with Lexar Media choose a photograph by Al Diaz for their Ten Most Awesome Images competition.

The contest continues.

For round two of the competition the ten winning photographers will shoot with a 8gb Lexar 600x memory card for a day or two, as many or as little images as they like.

There will be a public ‘Guess’ at how many images, collectively, were taken by the winning ten. That winner will win a bag of their choice (excluding the Logistics Manager, sorry!) from the Think Tank Photo website… AND an 8GB 600x Lexar Memory card!

PUBLIC GUESS STARTS MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5^th. PUBLIC GUESS WINNER ANNOUNCED FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9^{TH
For contest rules click here.}

Al’s winning image was published on assignment for the book “A Day in the Life of the United States Armed Forces.”

Al says, The most awesome moment occurred moments before taking this image at the US Coast Guard Training Center. "Before sunrise and half asleep, I stumbled my way towards the mess hall to photograph the trainees at breakfast. The entrance was packed shoulder to shoulder and layers deep of raw cadets. The Chief Quartermaster hollers, make way! An entire company of men and woman stomped their boots then slammed their backs up against the wall, three deep on either side. I walked straight up the middle into the kitchen and spotted the eggs. 

To light up their expressions I placed a strobe on the side, fired by using my Pocket Wizard remote flash triggers.” 

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, knock out eight, it's Octomom in the ring!

Dropping the f-bomb, shooting the bird, Octomom dukes it out with local bartender Cassandra "Patience" Andersen at the Ocean Manor Resort on Miami Beach in Fort Lauderdale on August 20, 2011.

I never wanted to be a tabloid photographer or paparazzi but here I am banging away, shooting frames of Nadya Suleman, aka the Octomom, who came to international attention when she gave birth to octuplets. The controversial mom conceived them through in vitro fertilization.

Miami Herald writer Glen Garvin called the boxing match “an evening bizarre even by the standards of manufactured media events in what will doubtless be remembered as the golden age of faux fame.”

Using my finely honed photojournalistic skills I scanned the boxing ring, anticipating where to capture the most compelling images, while angling for a view of the crowd and their incredulous expressions.

That’s when the pseudo prosumer photographer piped up and asked the fight promoter to keep the media on one side of the ring so multiple flashes would not mess up his pictures.

Are you kidding me? I love it when I catch an errant strobe in the background. Sometimes you have to stand your ground so I piped up, expressed my concern and stood in a spot that would make famed photographer Robert Capa proud.  He once said, “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.”


Capa may not have had "pulp journo" in mind but I can apply his approach just the same.

Photographer Al Diaz works the ropes. Photo by Michael Laughlin.

“Reggie, Reggie, Reggie!” Henne and Bush give Dolfans reason to dream.

 

Intersection of Greatness – The Legends Meet in Miami

Elvis Presley performing at the Olympia Theater in Miami, Florida, 1956.

Rare images of Ali, Elvis and the Beatles, discovered in an 8 X 10 Kodak paper box, were lost in time, stashed in a closet for decades. Charles Trainor Jr., the son of Miami News photographer Charles Trainor, found the negatives of the iconic images while helping his mother move from his childhood home in Miami. “I kept finding negatives everywhere,” Trainor said.

“I sat for weeks looking at every single frame and just finding gems that, at the, time weren’t considered maybe great images but 50 years later they are fantastic images!” Trainor said.

He is especially impressed with the Elvis pictures. “He was using a camera where there is one shot, BOOM! You would have to pull the film out, turn it around and put it back in. It took three minutes to shoot a picture. His composition, if you look at the photograph of Ali boxing with the kids, his lower angle of the house, that all leads into the subject.

“I have to give my dad credit” Trainor says. His father found an artsy way to record these celebrities. Aesthetically pleasing, technically proficient, the images stand the test of time.

Armando Arorizo, owner of The Perfect Exposure Gallery, met Trainor during the NBA Finals in Miami. “We sat for lunch at the AmericanAirlines Arena and I was told about the great images on film Charlie had discovered. “There is still a great demand for those early images shot on film. They are rare single frame shots, unlike today, with the click, click, click of a motor drive,” Arorizo said.

The reception opens at 6-9 tonight, August 18, at The Perfect Exposure Gallery 3519 West Sixth Street, Los Angeles, Ca. 90020.

Mohammad Ali and the Beatles at the 5th Street Gym on Miami Beach 1964

Intersection of Greatness-The Legends Meet in Miami features rare historical images of The Beatles, Elvis and Mohammad Ali captured against a Miami backdrop. This exhibit honors monumental anniversaries in pop history as 2011 marks 50 years since the Beatles had their first ever gig at The Cavern in Liverpool and 55 years since a trio of firsts for Elvis: RCA single release: Heartbreak Hotel, movie appearance: Love Me Tender and television appearances.

Charles Trainor (1927-1987) was a photographer in Miami from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. During the middle years of the last century Trainor crossed paths with subjects that would become icons in the present day. The photos of Elvis, The Beatles, and Ali not only defined his photography but also a city that was becoming a player on the world’s stage. Miami was the point in all three of their history where the world took noticed, two with concerts and one with a fight. Trainor’s dramatic photograph of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy caught the attention of the late President who requested a copy of the photograph and returned one to Trainor with his signature. Over the years Trainor’s work was published in national and international publications: LIFE and LOOK Magazine, PARIS MATCH, GEO, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, ROLLING STONE Magazine and various books and documentaries.

The Perfect Exposure Gallery is the recognized venue in Southern California to display the work of award winning and accomplished photojournalists as well as works of photographers that regard artistry and craftsmanship as a standard of excellence. The mission of the Perfect Exposure Gallery is to present exhibits free of charge to the general public with the following goals to exemplify the rich variety and impact of photography, freedom of expression, a forum for the aesthetic, the contemptible and the sublime.

Magnum Photographer Eli Reed says, “If you are a serious photojournalist with work that means something to you. The Perfect Exposure Gallery is the perfect place to show your work.”

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 18th from 6-9pm

Exhibit Dates: August 19th – September 18th, 2011

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11am-5pm

Location: The Perfect Exposure Gallery 3519 West Sixth Street, Los Angeles, Ca 90020

Mohammad Ali in Miami, Circa 1960's.


http://bit.ly/RareAliBeatlesElvisPhotos