Labor Day Weekend - (News Side) Aug. 2008.

A young boy speaks with NY State Police Senior Investigator Terrence Mullen, right, at the scene of an early morning shooting on Prince and Montgomery Streets in Middletown, NY on Saturday, August 30, 2008. One individual was killed and another is in critical condition at Westchester Medical Center. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON

Hustled to the scene of an early morning shooting in Middletown, NY. (top image) This real news event made for better photographs than the all-day dairy farm festival I was initially scheduled for. Then shuttled reporter with me to photograph the actress Debra Winger (above left) - of "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Terms of Endearment" fame reading from her new book, "Undiscovered" in a small independent bookstore in Livingston Manor, NY - about 100 miles r/t from the office. Start of another working holiday weekend.

"Drive Fast. Take chances..." -cg.

Hurricane Katrina. 3 years on.

Today is the 3rd. Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating force when it struck the Gulf Coast & specifically New Orleans, LA back in August of 2005. At the time I was working as a night photo-editor at the NY Daily News, and remember sorting through the hundreds, if not thousands of images our team of photographers as well as the wire service shooters were producing. It was all incredibly mind-boggling, and has left more than a mere blemish on the federal government's response to the disaster. OK, I promise I won't go there in this forum. I managed to get down to the Gulf Coast states for about a week or so, some ten months after Katrina. I'll never forget the destruction I saw, or the people I met along the coast & in the Lower 9th. Ward in NOLA. Having worked at earthquakes, mudslides, and war zones, this was all too similar. Here's some of my take from that trip with a humanitarian client. Image #2 was published in the Oct. 9, 2006 issue of BusinessWeek Magazine:


*(Use the arrows at the bottom of the player or click the image to scroll forward through the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. )

Buffalo Soldier. 87 years young....

History walks among us. Sometimes you just have to open your eyes, ears, and mind. Listen up & grasp someone's true story & the life they've lived. Yesterday I photographed one such individual. It was to be my second "history lesson" I'd receive in 3 months. See my earlier post here about retired fighter Lee Carr. I will re-post his piece here as a slideshow as well:
Lee Carr

Retired US ARMY Sgt. Sanders Matthews strutted into the basement offices of the West Point Visitor's Center yesterday, albeit late, but brought with him a wonderful sense of pride, military history, humor and most of all & affecting me the most; a powerful firsthand history of Black people in this country, particularly in the armed forces when he served in a mounted segregated unit in the Army. He took over the room. It was going to be his show. For a man of 87, he had us in stitches one minute, and had me thinking immediately of my elders and their own difficult racial experiences in this country. As a vet, I smiled a few secretive smiles while working extremely fast, as our schedules were tight. (A high school swimming practice still awaited me.) I knew in my mind's eye that I wanted to photograph Sgt. Matthews in a similar fashion that I'd done with Mr. Carr in his trailer park home in June. Here's a brief slideshow of the take, specifically how I started with a few tight "talking heads" as he stood in the wonderful afternoon window light being interviewed. When I'd finally found a comfortable corner in the museum, moved a bench in place for the portraits & threw up two portable strobes, we went to work. I think I made about 100 frames or so during the interview. Like I mentioned, Sgt. Matthews just took over the room... -cg.


*(Use the arrows at the bottom of the player or click the image to scroll forward through the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. )

*Personal projects...

Now that the software for producing multimedia pieces for the web have become much easier and user friendly, I'm going to occasionally add some of my personal projects here on the blog. Who knows, I may just get around to doing a VO (voice-over) slideshow or two discussing my equipment & shooting style for various assignments, editing work flow, location lighting, or even where my fav places are to eat in the tri-state area.
In all seriousness, I put this piece together last summer with a woman I'd met on an earlier routine assignment here in the neighborhood. Listening to people describe their own everyday work & concerns is basically how I sort of "tune-in" and find a lot of my personal projects. This is one where we hit it on all cylinders right from the beginning. -cg.


*(Click the arrow at the bottom left of the player to start the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. Remember to turn up your speakers, or plug in a set of headphones if you have them. )

Ending the Week that was. August 24, 2008.

this was some week, spiritually, financially, emotionally, and when I had a little time in between, creatively. to say this week kicked my butt with some troubling personal issues is a grand understatement. but, as in the past, you learn to put on a happy face, dig-in and continue to march. thanks to the wonderful friends I have in and outside of the business, and those who were just willing to listen. I cannot illustrate how very humbling and enlightening it is to correspond with a colleague working in Beijing, another working in aviation in the southern part of the US, be acknowledged by an international recording artist during his show, or get into a deep, heartfelt discussion on world affairs with a handful of professional Muslim brothers at a weekend retreat in the area yesterday. Covered a few back to college campus move-in days, couple of early morning HS football practices, the opening of a "multi-gazillion dollar" library at West Point, and the three day retreat for Muslim men. Typical late summer work week in the news business...
Starting with my most peaceful and enjoyable moment of the past two weeks or so, from a free concert just today in the park here in my town. Got to see jazz percussionist Jeff Haynes and Ugandan recording artist Samite performing again only a few blocks from home.
Here's a brief slideshow with a few of my favorites from the past week or so. Starting off with the Gregg Allman image from a concert at Bethel Woods the weekend before, and even though I'm not a fan, I do know and appreciate that he's a big name in the business. Besides, shooting another concert long with a 300mm and 80mm-200mm zoom lenses on two camera bodies warrants some web time here. "Cheers..." -cg.



*(Use the arrows at the bottom of the player or click the image to scroll forward through the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. )

**New Features Added to Blog Slideshows**

I've added a few new features to the slideshows here on the blog. You can now view my slideshows in FULL SCREEN mode on your machine. Follow the directions below each slideshow viewer to either scroll through the slideshow on the blog page itself or enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button in the lower right of each player. To exit full screen viewing, click your ESC (escape) key or the 4-way arrow key at the lower right of your screen.  -cg.

SWAT Drill. Newburgh, NY. August 2008.

You don't get to see this type of tactical operation everyday. I was particularly leery of these officers pointing automatic weapons at me while advancing on the scene of a mock shooting and hostage situation at a local college on Friday morning.
*(CAUTION: Objects photographed with a 300mm AF lens & tele-extender appear closer than they actually are...) -cg.



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*The (real) "Boys of Summer..." Part II.

More baseball during the last week. This time covering the state semi-finals of the American Legion Tournament here in my hometown of Newburgh, NY. Photographed two big games on Thursday & Saturday, and stopped by the ballpark on my day off on Sunday to see our home team loose their chance to continue onto Virginia during the national tournament series. These young men; 17, 18, and 19 year olds were some pretty good ball players, and I saw some fundamentally sound, skillfully played baseball in the tournament. 


*(Use the arrows at the bottom of the player or click the image to scroll forward through the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. )

"Dawn..." 10 August 08 6:14AM

"Always look for the good light..."
A much needed mini-escape to witness the sunrise here in the Hudson Valley of New York, just blocks from home. (why don't we just call it the suburbs like everybody else...?) Peaceful and tranquil. When you stand still long enough, listen, and observe, and I mean really listen; you're privvy to all the moments of a day just beginning. Before the sun burned through, I was thrilled to just hear only the waves from a passing frieghter slapping the piers, pleasure boats, and such. (Not enough sailboats here in this marina for me though.) Thought of how many foreign lands I've witnessed just this scene, to begin another day of anticipating & chasing moments to capture the images I'd already formed in my mind's eye. Thought of friends and colleagues around the world working under the same beautiful light on this day, wherever they are on the planet. *(Personal reflective time concluded.) -cg.

"Dewey" wins the 2008 Hambletonian.

After spending a couple days covering the harness racehorse, Deweycheatumnhowe earlier in the week, it was good to get the assignment for the 83rd. running of the $1.5 Million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, NJ yesterday. It was long & tiring day, with ugly rain showers before the feature race, which drenched one of my remote cameras. With the help of a hard working assistant, we were able to come up with a few different looks from the race, and I'm pretty happy with the results. *(Note: It was kind of special to work a race like this and continue the coverage of heavily favored Deweycheatumnhowe, as this is one of the tracks my mother took me to as a kid. I remember making some of my first bets here when I was finally of age, years ago.) Here's a quick look at the day. Enjoy. -cg.


*(Use the arrows at the bottom of the player or click the image to scroll forward through the slideshow. Enable full screen viewing by clicking the 4-way arrow icon above the credits button at lower right of the player. )