*"Untold Stories..." Darrell White. January 2009.

After a few months of coordinating, phone calls, emails and just plain 'ole finger crossing, I am embarking on a multi-media personal project here in the area; proving once again that you needn't travel far from home to find and tell good stories in a true documentary style.
Yesterday (January 19th.) I met with and began a personal documentary project on Mr. Darrell White up in Monticello, NY. Mr. White, 57, is a former Harlem resident who's HIV+...











I'll occasionally post updates about my shooting and editing process, and share pieces of the project here on the blog, as well as the finished piece with audio. -cg.

"The Turk..."

Every since I can remember, I'd always read of "The Turk" coming in the late summer - usually making unannounced appearances at pro football training camps. You see, "The Turk" is the mythical character that makes the cuts on pro teams. Well, our own version of "The Turk" has been eviscerating the newspaper photography staffs, and the news business in general for quite a while now. Every few days one can find in the journalism and photojournalism trades the latest announcements of newspaper staff reductions, layoffs, buyouts, and even closings. This is a most troubling and difficult time for the business I truly love and have devoted most of my adult life to. I've been monitoring photography staff reductions, buyouts and just plain elimination of personnel across the board. On one paper last year in Madison, WI the photography staff was reduced from 5 or 6 photographers down to two, and the paper was going to weekly distribution. This is at the second largest paper in the state and in their state capitol. Of course those two remaining photographers would be expected to continue the workload. My colleagues at the Star-Ledger, New Jersey's largest paper, went through a very troubling time last Fall. The owners offered 200 buyouts to begin cutting costs, and immediately upwards of 400 employees signed up. After negotiations and employee reductions and buyouts, the paper began hiring college interns to work in their bureaus - without benefits, and of course at the lowest pay possible. The Christian Science Monitor, one of the most respected daily papers carrying international content will begin a web-only edition in the Spring, with only a weekly wrap up print edition. Two final examples of how troubling all this is for me to recall is what Newsday did to their photography staff recently. All of their staff photographers were called into the office on a Friday; even those on their off day, and told they were technically "fired and could reapply" for their jobs by the beginning of the new workweek. Their new job titles were something like "visual journalists." I don't recall the actual numbers, but there were only 7 or so full-time positions for the 20 or so photographers then on staff. Finally, and hitting very close to home; the Gannett Company has announced in the last week that all employees will be required to take a one-week furlough (without pay) sometime during this first quarter. (I spent five years at The Journal News in White Plains, NY, a Gannett Co. paper, and know their staff photographers, as well as dedicated photographers at Gannett papers in Poughkeepsie, NY and Phoenix, AZ.)

After 20+ years as a photojournalist, I am not sure how the business will recover from all this. Troubling times indeed... -cg.

"Hoops du Jour." 01•08•09

It's good to be back inside shooting sports again, particularly an early season big game here close to home. Managed to arrive early in a familiar gym, put a few studio strobes on stands in the corners at one end of the court and added a small Canon 550-EX strobe clamped up in the stands near half-court to give a little more light in the back court, as a lot of good images like rebounds, dunks, and just plain good "filers" of the starting guards bringing the ball upcourt are always good to make with the 300mm at the other end of the court. A game like this between two sectional rivals will usually offer good images, but I also wanted to be able to make a few file images of some of the starters, coaches, etc. for stories later in the season. Although this was sort of a difficult gym to shoot in, as I was blocked by the referees on a quite a few plays near the basket, and distracted by fans walking too close to the photographers working the baseline, it's the kind of game I secretly needed to be assigned to. This game quickly got me back in the mindset to prepare for more games where I can "light up" additional HS / college venues not only for basketball, but also wrestling, and swimming. Of course I am looking to begin running a remote third camera body, occasionally on strobes as well. Stay tuned. -cg.

Brain surgery. Poughkeepsie, NY. 1•05•09

My friend and colleague photographer Daniel Morel recuperating in his room at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie, NY on Monday, January 5, 2009.
Morel had a brain tumor removed on Christmas Eve. I've known Daniel for 15 years or so, since we first met on my first international shooting mission to his native Haiti back in 1993. He's going to write about his whole experience here once he's released, as he kept his Canon 5D with him the whole time through his ordeal in the ambulance ride to the hospital, surgery, and now recovery.
He's got an incredible story to tell from a personal perspective.
Stay tuned.



With Daniel in my NY apt. while editing his Haiti work & portfolio back in May 2007.

"Get well, my friend..." -cg.

"The West Point Experience"

Covering the USMA in 2008. Since it's contest time again, I've been reviewing a lot of my work from 2008, particularly at the United States Military Academy. For the past few months I've thought about putting together a piece like this containing the best images I've shot there at West Point. Here's my take on covering the USMA at West Point during 2008:


*(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. )

*Visit my paper's webpage on our West Point coverage by clicking here.

"Back to work..." 12•26•2008

Had Christmas Day off for a change. Friday I was right back on the grind. Out on the mountain of a small ski facility here in the area. Made a few nice images of kids snowboarding and skiing; remembering to keep my feet firmly planted in the softer snow off to the sides of the main runs.
Managed to make a few file type images too, which could come in handy for future winter economy, business or just plain old ski / sport stories this winter. Or any winter for that matter.
I'll probably head to my favorite outdoor shop to pick up a pair of those clip-on type traction "thingies" that'll fit over your boots too.
Guessing the next time I get a ski assignment I'll consider riding the ski lift to the top of the course for different images, particularly at the starting gate of a competition like last year.
I'm already thinking about schlepping up another snow & ice covered mountain with two or three camera bodies, including one with a 300mm, and wondering secretly where I can possibly place a remote somewhere along the course for the high school championships at Belleayre Mountain, should I get that assignment again like last winter. (at right.)

Stay tuned & Happy New Year! -cg.

"The Card. Happy Holidays...!" Christmas Day 2008.

For the past 12 years or so, I've been producing my own "Holiday series" cards. What initially started out as a few late nights slumped over developing trays in the darkroom at The Journal News in White Plains, NY in the mid-90's. (Boy that all seems like eons ago...) has progressed into a full-blown work schedule, and in past years, a mailing list of nearly 100 recipients. One year I think I put 105 cards in the mail.
Production of the cards has progressed along with my PhotoShop and Microsoft Word skills, as well as the self-assigning the work to actually photograph an image(s) intended for the card production. A lot of those early images were intentionally made on the streets of New York City, particularly found while roaming around the East Village neighborhood in lower Manhattan. Seemed as though I was always able to find compelling imagery down there. I will have to put together some sort of collage of those earlier images, as they've become a collector's item for quite a few friends and colleagues. As a photojournalist, there probably isn't any greater honor than to have a viewer make the effort to keep my work. -cg.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night..."

"Monster Snowstorm #1 (Day 2)..." 12•20•08

This one from Saturday up in Ulster County after covering a college graduation at SUNY New Paltz in the morning. -cg.
Ann Beeble of Highland with her horse, "Renegade", a 25 year old Appaloosa at the Gray Horse Farm in Gardiner, NY on Saturday, December 20, 2008. Friday's snowstorm dumped nearly a foot of snow in the Hudson Valley region with another storm expected to bring snow, rain and ice tomorrow. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON

"Monster Snowstorm #1..." 12•19•08

I must be slippin' here. (no pun). I forget to put a few of these images up last night. Had to 'be out in it' yesterday, making images and avoiding accidents for work. Just stayed in the Newburgh / home area, so it wasn't too bad at least. Today hopefully will prove much easier to get around the coverage area. *(I sometimes secretly wonder to myself when I'm out working in weather like this; what all those folks who say they'd like to come out with me and "carry your camera bag..." are doing. Especially when the hands get numb, the snow is collecting on the gear, or worse, melting down the back of my neck...) I'll probably have my fill of making snow photographs by 10:47AM today or so. More snow expected on Sunday too. We'll see.

Back to work. -cg.

*"Overnight repairs on the TZB..." Nov. 13-14, 2008.

2AM - Over the Hudson River:
This is from an assignment I shot last month, but had to wait until it was published last week, before writing about it here. (of course I had the HS State Championship
and Army vs. Navy
football games to cover in Syracuse and Philadelphia during the interim.) It certainly wasn't your typical work environment on the Tappan Zee Bridge, spanning the Hudson River up here between Rockland & Westchester Counties in NY. Spent an overnight shift on a chilly mid-November night with union iron workers and other laborers as they removed sections of the original roadway surface, and replaced them with new, pre-fabricated roadway sections, weighing upwards of 50-tons. That's right, 50-tons! It was some night to watch & photograph these specialized workers. I remember thinking it was quite the intricate dance they perform every night there over the river, in all kinds of weather. Here's the slideshow from that overnight. *(Note: All the images were shot available light, utilizing a bank of industrial floodlights powered by a generator, mostly behind me and to the left of my shooting positions.) -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. )