"Live With ART It's Good For You" Kingston, NY. 28•Oct.•10

A couple of fun images from today... ~cg.

Workers from the Kingston Indian Restaurant remove a mural on John Street in Kingston, NY on Thursday, October 28, 2010. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record


Art teacher Bill Hutcheon with a paper mache werewolf mask at his home in Stone Ridge, NY on Thursday, October 28, 2010. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

Michael Kamber on Military Censorship

BagNewsSalon is pleased to offer this exclusive audio slideshow interview featuring Michael Kamber, and a focused look at the issue of military censorship, including the photos he’s insisted on being seen.

Michael has been “working around the edges” of the Iraq War since 2003 as a photojournalist for The New York Times. Many of the events that took place during the war were not accessible to him. Some incidents that he was able to witness and photograph were never published. “The reality of the war versus the war that people saw in the newspapers and magazines, it’s a very different reality,” said Kamber.

Making pictures and getting them published have their own set of rules dictated by government, military, publishers and editors. The images made by the photojournalists who covered the war can reveal a gruesome reality beyond what the American media has shown us. “I think that we need to publish those photos for history even if we can’t get them in the newspaper today,” said Kamber.

During embeds with the United States military, Kamber was limited in regards to what he was allowed to photograph. One day during his time embedded, Kamber’s unit was attacked by an IED. After a quick recovery from the debris, Kamber began to photograph but the unit captain yelled out to him “no pictures!” Kamber replied “I’m here to do my job and you can take my cameras later.” The U. S. military later warned The New York Times not to publish the photos and also threatened to revoke the paper’s embed access. Mr. Kamber and his editors dug through the images from that day and tried to conform to the military’s requirements. The graphic images were left unpublished.

Now Kamber is working on an oral history project about access and censorship during the conflict. “I don’t feel that an accurate visual record of the war has really been set forth,” he said. Kamber has interviewed many photojournalists who reported from the Iraq war and they all have stories that shed light on the intricate details that went into defining what the general public was able to see from the conflict. Kamber plans to publish the transcribed interviews with the images that have been kept from our eyes.

– Sandra Roa

http://www.kamberphoto.com/

"Football: The Most Dangerous Game..."

Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano (left) and Army head coach Rich Ellerson (right) watch as medical personnel treat Rutgers player Eric LeGrand after he was injured tackling Army runner Malcolm Brown in the fourth quarter of their game at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ on Saturday, October 16, 2010. LeGrand suffered a spinal cord injury in the Scarlet Knights' 23-20 overtime victory against Army and has no movement below his neck, the school announced Sunday. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

I worked the ARMY - Rutgers game at the New Meadowlands Stadium this past weekend over in NJ. Spent a lot of years at the Sports Complex throughout my career covering everything from horse shows, college and pro football in the "old" Giants Stadium, to college basketball and of course the NJ Nets and NJ Devils in their respective arenas. Nothing prepared me for the massive hit that Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand leveled on Army runner Malcolm Brown on a kickoff return late in the game. The collision took place literally 10 yards from me, and I can still hear the crack when LeGrand went airborne and struck Brown head on. I didn't shoot the play as I was blocked by other players and sideline officials, but knew immediately that someone would most likely have been seriously injured after such a crushing hit. There was a deafening silence in the ballpark and you could almost hear every camera firing from both sidelines in those ensuing moments. I only made a few frames when the medical personnel were treating LeGrand, as well as when they carted him off the field. As of today, he remains paralyzed from the neck down after surgery to relieve pressure on his spinal cord, at Hackensack, NJ Medical Center.

You can watch a video of the play by clicking: HERE.

As a teenager I remember Washington Redskins' running back Larry Brown who said in an interview, "Playing in the NFL is like being in a car accident on every play..." ~cg.

Zenfolio Slideshow Test

*looking at a different slideshow app for the blog, but probably won't go with this as it can't display image caption info, nor can the user stop the automated show... ~cg.

"Wow! Just Wow...!"

This from The Big Picture and images from the rescue of the 33 miners rescued from an underground gold & copper mine earlier this week.

"Over two months have passed since the August 5th collapse of the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, when 33 miners were trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) below ground. The men were kept alive over that time by supplies delivered through narrow holes drilled down to them, and kept hope through video conferences with family - until last night, when the first of the 33 miners was successfully lifted to the surface in a specially-designed rescue capsule. Friends and relatives, many of whom had camped nearby for months, slowly let their cautious optimism become joy as they were reunited with their loved ones. As of this writing, at 9:30 pm, Eastern time, all of the 33 men have now made it safely to the surface..."

*I didn't feel the need to add the caption info for each photograph, as these images are strong enough to stand on their own. You can view the 49 photos on the site by clicking HERE. ~cg.

"Welcome to Bermuda... (again)" Oct. 2010

"10•10•10" @ 10:10AM...
Deputy church warden Winifred Jones prepares the altar for service at St. Peter's Church in St. George, Bermuda on Sunday, October 10, 2010.

Sunset over Bailey's Bay, Bermuda on Saturday, October 9, 2010.

Church Bay Beach, Bermuda on Friday, October 8, 2010.

Dinghies at Sandy's Boat Club near Somerset Village, Bermuda on Friday, October 8, 2010.

A boat owner paddles his dinghy out to his powerboat at Sandy's Boat Club near Somerset Village, Bermuda on Friday, October 8, 2010.

(2) Race teams compete in the Argo Group Gold Cup at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in Hamilton, Bermuda on Thursday, October 7, 2010.

Jobson's Cove, Bermuda on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.
Horseshoe Bay Beach, Bermuda on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.
Warwick Long Bay, Bermuda on Tuesday, October 5, 2010.

*(Another Photographer's) Creativity....

Haven't posted in a while & I apologize. I found this piece on the web a few weeks ago while researching other forms of stop-motion animation with a still camera. It's a year or so old, but man is it something to watch...
Make sure you view the second video on how this piece was produced. 2,000+ images were shot to make the piece. Talk about creativity, planning, attention to detail, and spot-on execution by a team of artists. ~cg.



Behind the scenes. The making of "Her Morning Elegance..."

"ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL...?"

Members of the West Point cadet parachute team land on the field prior to the Army - Hawaii game in Michie Stadium at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY on Saturday, September 11, 2010. Hawaii defeated Army 31 - 28. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

FOOTBALL 2010. Well it's finally here. The football season I mean. After what seemed like about 2 or more months of covering football practice and preseason related stories this summer, the football season has officially begun. (with apologies to last week's HS game up in Kingston under the lights...) Come to think of it, I'd begun covering football stories leading up to the season beginning back in late March / early April during Army's brief Spring practice season and their annual Spring scrimmage. Friday night began a back-to-back schedule of a local HS game here in Newburgh, followed by Army's home opener against Hawaii down at West Point yesterday (above).

*Michie Stadium. *Yankee Stadium. *The New Meadowlands Stadium. *Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, PA). *M&T BAnk Stadium (Baltimore, MD). *Carrier Dome at Syracuse University. Even Dietz Stadium for HS football up in Kingston, NY and countless high school fields throughout my career. These are all venues where I'll probably find myself working games this season. (actually my season's coverage started two weeks ago at Dietz - see earlier post: "Friday Night Lights..." and this past weekend's game at West Point above.) Michie Stadium (top image) is already a familiar venue, and after three previous years of covering Army football, I "own" the stadium. Used to feel that way about the old Yankee & Shea Stadiums as well as the Meadowlands Arena and of course Madison Square Garden while I was on the NYC pro sports beat for a number of years earlier in my career. I'd been thinking about what this new post would mean here on the blog and what covering football games now mean to me, no matter what level the competition.

Football. F-O-O-T-B-A-L-L. No single sport that I've covered throughout my career carries the immediate stigma of "covering the big game", as much as football does. Football is "America's Game" and all that, so naturally there are a lot of routine picture opportunities to expect, plan for, and anticipate; it's just those unforeseen ones that keep me awake nights, cause an occasional rapid heartbeat and sweaty palms, and oh, the sore knees, back, hips, shoulders and neck the following day or two after more than 8 hours at a given stadium. Football is like no other sport for a photographer to cover correctly. Obviously the game encompasses a large playing field and the potential for good photographs can happen anywhere on the field (OK, soccer, rugby, cricket, and lacrosse photographers & fans, I hear hear your howls on all this...) from all angles, and from literally all over a stadium. And let's not forget those "B-roll" type feature images that can also be game telling and powerful - it's just knowing how and when to put yourself in a position to make those images as well.
All of these picture making scenarios require a lot of different mindsets for me. Short glass. A fisheye (superwide) lens. short and medium telephoto lenses and of course a major requirement for outdoor and most sports I cover, the super-telephoto. (usually a 300mm f/2.8 or longer. add the 1.4x or even 2.x tele-extenders, thank you very much...)

*to be continued... ~cg.

"Friday Night Lights..." Kingston, NY. 03•Sept.•10

The 2010 High School Football season opened tonight, and I drew the Kingston - Cornwall game up in Kingston, NY. Tonight's game was just as much about the new turf field at Kington's Dietz Stadium, as it was about Cornwall's tailback Tyree Smallwood. Smallwood is a bona fide HS star, having already signed his letter of intent last season to attend Syracuse University on a four year ride next Fall. I knew going into the game I'd want to make the overhead fisheye view of the field, highlighting their new turf. (above) And the remote gear setup for making the image. (below) The original image was shot on RAW, Aperature Priority with +1 f/stop exposure compensation. The RAW 30MB file selects were then re-sized down to working sized .jpgs. ~cg.

My remote Nikon D-1X and 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye clamped to the press box roof for the overhead view of the Kingston - Cornwall varsity HS football game at Dietz Stadium in Kingston, NY on Friday, September 3, 2010. Cornwall defeated Kingston 32 - 15. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record

"FIT TO PRINT" A documentary film.

FIT TO PRINT

A DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE U.S. NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY

I believe this film is going to be released in the Fall. Probably worth a look at this documentary and where this industry is going... ~cg.

http://fittoprintfilm.com/