Do you like this photo?
OK. Not sure how many responses I will get, but I am curious about what others think of this photo. An attempt at something different. I will tell more about it after I get some votes in the can.
Civil Disobedience – Kinda
There were three photographers in the Senate Press Photographer’s Gallery when Mark Abraham, the gallery deputy director, received an email saying that the Capitol Police were responding to a disturbance in the Capitol Rotunda. After the obligatory 15 seconds of trying to determine if he was serious or just messing with us, we took off [...]
For Oil Spill Victims, Fair Compensation Requires a Crystal Ball (Washington Independent)
While shooting Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of the BP Oil Spill Victim Compensation Fund, as he testified before congress the other day, I played around with some strange in-camera cropping. I was not sure if it worked and I am still undecided, but apparently The Washington Independent like one of them since they used it [...]
Where’s the Beef? (PETA Protests on Capitol Hill)
If an organization has a message that it feels strongly about, I think it would really help their cause if their presentation was not taken from the Gypsy Rose Lee playbook. PETA was on Capitol Hill yesterday to protest National Hot Dog Month. The event has turned into a yearly sideshow. PETA has been coming [...]
Visiting Lincoln
I try to make myself take a camera everywhere. This is not always practical and sometimes I end up looking like Joe tourist but now that I think about it, that may be an advantage. I was going to write about carrying the camera everywhere in the off chance a photo shows up. Making photographs [...]
Induction Day (USNA)
Since my father was in the Marine Corps for 32 years, I have a certain affinity for the military. So I recently decided to take off for Annapolis, Maryland to shoot a project on personal time – Induction Day at the United States Naval Academy. I figured if nothing else, my agency, ZUMA, would be [...]
The National Spelling Bee and RAW vs JPG. (How fast is fast enough?)
It is hard to believe that with all the work I have done for newspapers that I have just covered my first spelling bee. The cool thing is that it was the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The contest itself was great. We did have some issues with the people running the show when they threw [...]
Memorial Day 2010 in Washington D.C.
I just finished covering the Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C. There is always a lot going on in the Nation’s Capital during this holiday. But is it actually a holiday? We do get a day off from work like any other holiday. People all over the country spend the day at picnics or at [...]
The “Long” and “Short” of it.
The Goldman Sachs Hearings on Capitol Hill 8:30 a.m. Arrived early for a 10:00 hearing. There are already 15 or 20 photographers and a slew of writers and TV already in the room. Thankfully it is a bigger room than the one that held the Toyota hearings a few months back. First thing is to [...]
iPad Fever
I went out this morning to get a few shots of the first day of iPad sales at a local Apple store in Reston, Va. OK, I actually went to play with an iPad and figured it is a news event, so pictures would be a good idea too. No, I did not buy one, [...]
Protect the Penis (I am not making this up)
OK. It was going to be a simple assignment at the White House. The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife were in town for a visit with our President. Easy enough. Show up and photograph the short press conference, send the photos to ZUMA and head home. But as I was leaving the [...]
ZUMA Picture of the Day
The last photo I shot while covering the historic Health Care vote in the House of Representatives over the weekend was also the first photo I shot on Monday, March 22, 2010. This photo was a happy accident. It was 1 a.m. and after covering the healthcare vote for 16 hours, I was looking for [...]
Working at the White House
I have covered a lot of cool stuff over my 25-plus years as a photojournalist. I have covered 10 U.S. Open golf tournaments, been to the Masters 4 times and played Augusta National. I have gone up in 2 blimps for shoots and ridden with game wardens in those cool little helicopters. I covered protests [...]
Covering a Historic Vote
One thing I think all photojournalists know is that trying to cover any big event as a one-man-band is a lot of work and sometimes a bit of a crap shoot. Nobody can be everywhere at once. And since you can’t, you have to accept the fact that you are going to miss stuff. So [...]
And then it got UGLY…
Apparently when all else fails, civil discourse is set aside in the Tea Party movement. From CNN: “Civil rights icon and veteran Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, said anti-health care bill protesters Saturday repeatedly yelled the “N” word at him as he left a heath care meeting and walked to the Capitol.” Click here for the [...]
Prizefighters and Politicians
I had two assignments today. One was covering the issuing of the first marriage licenses to the Washington, D.C. gay and lesbian community and the second was the Floyd Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley press conference. The press conference was part of their public relations tour leading up to their fight at the MGM Grand [...]
Some of My Favorite Photography Magazine and Blog sites
I have decided to post a list of some of my favorite photography sites on the internet. I have probably forgotten some that I visit from time to time but when I remember I will add them here. This list is just magazine style sites and blogs. I will make another post soon with links [...]
Covering Capitol Hill
I had my first opportunity to cover hearings on Capitol Hill this week and according to the Hill veteran photographers it was a pretty big event on which to get my feet wet. There was a LOT of media there. It was the Toyota hearings before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. One [...]
D.C. Metro Blues
“If you are leaving downtown D.C. for the East Falls Church station, is it a bad thing if you end up in L’Enfant Plaza station twice?” OK. The D.C. Metro cannot be that difficult, even after a few drinks. But last night I apparently thought it would be fun to take my lovely bride on [...]
Scott Strazzante’s Reflections
I know this should be a place where I write about my own original thoughts, but this needs to be an exception. I was reading my friend, Scott Strazzante’s blog today and he has a piece from the other day titled “Reflections.” Scott is an award-winning photojournalist with the Chicago Tribune, and he has some [...]
Moving to D.C.
Well, the time has come for a change. It may seem strange to voluntarily leave my job as director of photography at a newspaper for a freelance career, especially in this economy, but I feel the time has come to move on to be able to work on personal projects. My wife, Jenny, and I [...]
Basketball Remote – An Almost
I have been messing around with setting up a remote with a wide lens that sits on a small tripod in front of me when I shoot basketball. I shoot most of the game with a 70-200mm and I generally sit on one of the corners of the court. This works out pretty good except [...]
Me, Jenny and Smokin’ Joe
One of the best things about being a photojournalist is having the opportunity to meet people from all walks of life. From the everyday working stiff to the rich and famous. Back in October 2006 I was planning on attending the NPPA’s Flying Short Course in Philadelphia. A few days before I was to leave [...]
Sleeping Cadets (Redux)
Back in October when I as redesigning my website, I posted a photo I had taken from a graduation ceremony at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va. It was a bit of an amusing photo of non-graduating cadets in the audience and some of them had nodded off to sleep. Funny, but not uncommon at [...]
