Esperanza Spalding... Hot Hot Hot!!!!

I recently found a real gem on You Tube. A young rising star on the jazz scene by the name of Esperanza Spalding. Amazing singer, wicked bass player, and a beautiful soul. This woman is TALENTED! A real example of "Play what you feel, and do things your own way". This should serve as a lesson to us all.

She has performed for President Obama several times. Take a look.

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Hurricane Agyness!!

No!!!!! Not THAT Hurricane Agnes from 1972 that tore through Maryland and opened my 7 year old eyes to the almighty power of wind, water, and weather. No, I'm talking about super model Agyness Deyn. The English model with the spiked blonde hair, beautiful face, and long, long, long, legs. She was discovered on the streets of London, and decided to give modeling a shot. I'm glad she did.
What I love SO MUCH about Agyness Deyn is that Agyness is Agyness. She is not trying to be like anyone else in any way. She knows who she is and she likes who she is. Like I always say, "Be true to thy own self", or was that some other famous dude that said that? Either way, Agyness stands out, loves being who she is, and runs with it. What a great idea, Be Yourself!!! It works for her, it will work for you.

This video is not only a fly on the wall look at one of her shoots, but it could double as an aerobic workout video. God I love a high energy photo shoot! This girl is what more models need to be. Cool, down to earth, FUN, energetic, and passionate about making great photos.


She makes it all look SO EASY!!! True sign of a professional. I wonder if she ever passes through Hagerstown, and might have time for a quick shoot. Agyness, if you are reading this post, CALL ME!!!!!!!! Seriously, CALL ME!!! I'll shoot with you anytime you want.

Spence Jackson & The Hub City State Of Mind

Jay Z has given the music world so much, but local Hagerstown rap recording artist Spencer "Spence" Jackson, pictured above, took it another step and recently wrote, recorded, and stared in this locally produced "Hub City State of Mind" video below. Yeah it is a take off video from that OTHER town, on a small island a few hours north of here, but does NYC have The Maryland Theatre, Krumpe's Do-Nuts, a WAL-MART Super Center, and The Prime Outlets? I think not.



Spence is a really cool person, and a smart young man who will go places and do just fine for himself. He is smooth, and never over does things. A great person to represent the Hub City, and he is for hire!


So like the song says, "Where are your H's at? Get 'em up." and be proud of your home town, the Hub City. Thanks Spence

Taking It On The Chin!

It's late June in Washington County and that means two things, fresh picked corn and tons of Little League 9 and 10 year old All-Star games!!!! The best players battling it out for the MD District 1 Championship title. I shot a winner's bracket game tonight, Clear Spring vs West End, at West End LL. Clear Spring went up 11-0, West End rallied to make it 11-7, but Clear Spring came back to make it a 26-7 game. Great Game! I really thought West End might pull it off.


A few tuff breaks for West End, a great team effort by Clear Spring.



The 9 and 10 year olds only go to state championships, the 11-12 year olds go to states, regionals, and if they are REALLY good, The SHOW. Yeah, The SHOW!!! The Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. THAT show!!! Is there any other?

Richard Avedon, My Hero & One Of The Greatest Photographers Ever. I Think You will Agree.

Several photographers have made a huge impact on my life, my photos, and the way I approach photography. I will talk in depth of these men and women in future posts. Yes, names like Annie, Mary Ellen, Henri, Eugene, Tom, Mark, Terry, Kendal, and several others. Photogs that encourage me and all of us to be ourselves, see images the way we see them, and shoot what and who you like THE WAY you like.

I got into photography in the mid 1980's, and two things became very clear to me early on. You either shoot color or you shoot black and white. And I mean you shoot COLOR as in Kodachrome 25 or 64, underexposed by a 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop, and shot with strobes OR you shoot gritty available light 400/1600 ASA B&W or smooth studio lit B&W film on a black, grey, or white seamless paper backdrop.

Richard Avedon was the master of Black and White photography shot on a white seamless backdrop. There have been others and there will always be others who gravitate to this style, I am guilty as charged, but I think we all owe a tip of the cap to Avedon for this and SO MUCH MORE.



Avedon (May 15, 1923 - October 1, 2004) was more than a great B&W shooter, beyond a celebrity shooter, or a magazine shooter. He was THE photog that changed fashion photography forever. He took it from catalog work to artwork. He breathed life into it, gave it energy, and made the viewer of his photos think while also engaging themselves into the mood or style of the clothes he was shooting. A career that spanned from the mid 1940's til 2004, that is parts of 7 decades. This man changed the way things were done, and changed them for the better.

Summer In The Hub City

We are experiencing one of the hottest Junes on record, and with the heat and humidity come editors that ask the Herald-Mail photo staff for a "Heat" feature photo. Yes, a photo that shows the impact of the heat, or one that shows man's ability (or inability) to deal with the heat. I found Verizon road crew member Keith Bloyed Wednesday afternoon battling the heat the old-fashioned way, a couple ice cubes placed directly on the head. Quite a balancing act if you ask me.

Don't laugh, it works. If the brain is cool, or believes it is cool, so is the rest of the body. Like Vanilla Ice used to say, Ice Ice Baby!!!!!

It's Not Rio De Janeiro, But It Is A CARNIVAL!!!!!

Like I said in Tuesday's post, you know summer is here when the annual fireman's carnivals are happening. I had the pleasure of a ride in the countryside Tuesday evening as I made my way to the annual Mont Alto (PA) Fireman's Carnival. They have a brand new carnival grounds, tons of space, lots of buildings for bingo, food and drink, a stage area, and oh yah, RIDES!!!!!

So if you are in the Franklin County, PA area this week, stop in, enjoy yourself, and help out the Mont Alto Volunteer Fire Company.

Summer Is Here!!!

You know it's summer time when the heat and humidity, gas grills, swimming pools, tractor pulls, carnivals, long lines at the Dairy Queen, and Super Soakers come out. Such was the case yesterday when I was cruising Hagerstown for a Herald-Mail feature photo and found these two "kids" fighting it out in a local neighborhood.



I think I'll make a stop at the local dollar store and restock the Crocetta family's fully automatic water gun collection. Good clean fun!

iPod Earbuds 4.0

My oldest son Max demos the new sleek iPod earbuds 4.0, which produce life like AM radio quality, Low-Fi, low volume, low quality, sound.

One size fits all, hand held OR duct tape-able, and can double as a pair of portable speakers. So run out and get a pair for your new iPhone 4.0!!!!!!

Oh Christina!!!

A model I work with mentioned this Christina Aguilera video as a starting point of ideas for our next shoot. Yowzaaaa!!



Keep posted.

Andrea, My Amazing Friend

Several years ago I met an amazing young lady named Andrea. She is a photographer and a model who likes to be on both sides of the camera. She is one of the nicest people I know, a genuine artist and free spirit, and loves life. She is a very driven, focused, and hard working person yet she never places herself ahead of others. She is the type of person we should all try to be a little more like.

I give her a lot of credit for helping me out with my personal shooting. Several months after we met and I began to help her with her photography, she asked me to photograph her. I'm a long time news photographer with some freelance experience, but I'm not really a portrait/fashion photographer. Andrea pushed me to try something DIFFERENT, something OUTSIDE of my daily comfort zone of newspapers, and that has made all the difference in my personal work these last few years.



I have had so much fun shooting with Andrea and other models in the last two years. Usually I am shooting models for free as a way to work on my lighting and location work. I shoot what the newspaper needs all week, I shoot what the occasional freelance client needs, but what do I shoot for my own personal work? Photographers need to shoot subjects that interest them and in ways that don't have restrictions or expectations other than those placed on the photographer by himself. Personal work is pure, fun, and an absolute MUST to keep one's sanity.


These images are from our shoot last October at Elwood's junkyard on Rt 64 near Chewsville. Yes, there REALLY IS a village in Washington County called Chewsville and Elwood Grimm's junkyard is 72 acres of pure magic for any photographer. Andrea and I shot color, black & white, we used available light, strobes, and a ringflash and after two hours we had over 650 images of what ever we wanted to shoot and they rocked. It just felt great to stretch out and shoot new things in a new location.

Subman, Yes I Am!!!

I was covering South Mountain LL opening day today and after the ceremonies I was walking off the field when who walks on the field but the Subway Subman. Subway sponsors one of the T-Ball teams and they sent Subman on the field for a team photo. Well, I just couldn't resist a self portrait with an animated mascot that looks too similar to yours truly.

It's Twins Time

I have three sisters and NO brothers, Thanks Mom! Well if you count Maxwell and Jacob I guess they are the two brothers I never had. Thanks Gerry! Jackie is my older sister, and Valerie and Alison are my younger twin sisters. Growing up with twins was pretty cool. People always got a kick out of it, and It felt special having twins as siblings.

I have always wanted to shot a series of twins portraits, and last summer I did it for a full page spread in the Herald-Mail's Lifestyle section and an online photo/audio slideshow. With the ever shrinking photo space in newspapers these days and reproduction variables to deal with, not to mention limited geographic distribution, online images and multimedia photo projects have saved the photo story. Servers are almost endless in space, and urls have a mighty long shelf life.

The link to my audio/photo slideshow is here. Warning - you might want to get a drink or snack first and get comfy, it runs in the 5 minute range. Let me know what you think, comment box below.

The Borland twins


The Bowman twins


Deb and Dot


Jami and Jennifer


The Mozingo twins

The Searles twins


The Sokol twins


The Zamora twins

Looking Back

Where does TIME go?? My oldest son Max just turned 11, Jacob will be 7 this July, I hit the FOUR FIVE last week, and my better half Gerry is only one year behind me. Came across some vintage Max pics from March 0f 2002. It was his 3rd Birthday party, we were living in an apartment at Eagle's Nest near HCC, and these are color negs, scanned, and converted to gritty B&Ws. VIVA la FILM!!!





Freehanded this one, left handed, while driving a five speed. Even Max can't believe it. What was I thinking??







A little George Turner ALL THE WAY!!!





Max refuses to share his Power Wheels front loader with Austin.




Gerry allows NO photos, so Max's grandmother June stood in for this one.

Erick Gibson and The Red Cafe

I turned 45 recently, and celebrated this ocassion with my good friends Erick Gibson, Kendal Carr, Jager, and all the fine folks at The RED CAFE. Cleaned up on the pool table, relaxed with friends, had a blast, and DJ DIRTY even let me Rock The Mic!!!! The party pics are here.

One SUPER Superintendent

Dr Elizabeth Morgan is Superintendent of Washington County (MD) Public Schools, the current Maryland State Superintendent of the Year, and the current National Superintendent of the Year. Yup, right here in little ol' Hagerstown, MD. I love this town!

She was asked to read to children at Maugansville Elementary School during Read Across America Week, and I was their to shoot images for the Herald-Mail. Dr Morgan really got into the spirit of things and captured the children's attention and imagination with her animated voice and gestures.



This photo captures perfectly the interaction Dr Morgan had with the students and the story. Not everyday that your 1st grader has a story read to them by the National Superintendent of the Year! So back to the paper I go feeling like I did my job. Not So. The editors thought the photo made her look angry and scary. Please, just read the photo caption and you know what is going on in the photo. So the photo was cut, it didn't even make the web, and they ran this one.



Once again, Photojournalism was kept in the closet and a weaker image made the paper, all because someone thought we MIGHT make someone look bad. Please, Just read the photo caption.

What is it About Women and SUVs?

Last Tuesday night I was in Funkstown, MD (yes there really is a town called Funkstown) covering a meeting of the Washington County Commissioners and the Funkstown Town Council. Less than ten minutes in to the meeting I was called by our Tri-State editor to get to the west side of Greencastle, Pa for a "truck in to a house". I don't know about you, but pictures of a truck in to a house sure beat pictures of white guys in ties sitting around a table being nice to eachother. No offence commissioners, and I hate to see people get hurt, but shooting pictures is my job and the truck in to the house wins.

I got to Hill road, the site of the accident, in record time. See, when there is a big ol' wreck in Pennsyltucky, every State, County, and Burrough cop is THERE, so the roads are, well, wide open. Joey likes that.

I talked my way in to the scene, love them PA Fire Police, and parked close. As I walked up to the scene, the helicopter transporting the driver of the SUV to York Hospital was taking off from behind the house in to the black of night. Not really a telling photo, like this one.



The ambulance carrying the two victims from inside the home had already passed my 5 minutes before on Rt 11. It was MOVING!!! So all I was left with was the wreckage. This was all I needed to show exactly what happened without showing victims. Photos of victims involved in serious accidents typicaly do not make it in the paper. Even newspapers are afraid of getting sued or getting an earfull of dislike from it's readers.



I got my shots in a few minutes, touched base with the reporter telling her what I knew, and headed back to the Herald-Mail. It never hurts to slow down and thank the Fire Police on the way OUT of a scene, chances are they will be the same ones you see next time your heading IN TO a scene in that town. If they remember you, you're in!

The photos ran on the front page the next day, and online here.

Revin' To Go

Last Thursday I was asked to find a stand alone photo that could run on the front page of our TRi-State section as the lead art. I jumped in the car, cruised north on I-81 to Pensylvania, a voice in my head told me to go north, and headed to Greencastle. Always something going on in the Castle!!!

It was one of the freakishly warm January days, 54 degrees I think, and all of Greencastle was basking in the sun. Literally. It was warm enough that some people were actually washing their cars in their driveways. In January. Yah, THAT freakishly warm. I passed on that photo, having shot it once too many times.

I knew someone would be at the Greencastle-Antrim school complex doing something. When I arrived I saw Darwin being pulled by his brother-in-law's Pug Revin'. Not sure who was walking who.



I parked the car, grabbed a 28-85 lens, the D3, and introduced my self to Darwin as I back-peddled in front of Revin' holding the D3 and lens at arm's length just inches off the ground. Nothing like freehanding and blindly shooting the next day's section front art. I manually set the focus and started shooting too many frames. Remember, shoot first ask questions later.

A quick check of the D3 viewing screen, and I knew I had it. Now I was Revin' to get back to the Herald-Mail and get this puppy done. Here is Revin in the Herald-Mail.

Catching The Last Train

A few Saturdays ago I arrived at an assignment for the Herald-Mail, an auction of William Burkholder's life long collection of model trains, and I knew instantly what needed to be done...a photo SLIDESHOW!




The Herald-Mail Photography deptartment started producing slideshows for our website in late 2007, we only made a few that year, but they have grown in number and quality ever since. They are a series of still photographs set to an audio track and together they really bring the viewer to an event or story far better than the printed page ever could.

Slideshows on the web give photographers the space to stretch out photographically and display almost an unlimited number of images, in the order and duration they choose, to help tell a story or part of a story without the limitations of shrinking space in the print edition, reproduction flaws of the press, and that all too familiar one day shelf life that newspapers suffer from. Viva La Web!!!!

The Herald-Mail story link is here. A link to my slideshow is here.

The slideshows take more time to shoot, collect audio, edit and tone the photos, edit audio, and then assemble the slideshow itself, but when it all comes together and you click on that little triangle shapped PLAY button, you remember why you became a news photographer... to tell other people's story.

Net Results

Working for a daily newspaper is so much fun. Every day is the same, in the sense that you come in to work, grab your assignments, go out and shoot them, and then come back in and get them out to the editors. Yet at the same time, every day is different. You travel new places, meet new people, shoot new events, and come back with new experiences. All while getting paid to have a camera in your hand five days a week, and get better at what you love to do. Cool gig!!!

Last Monday the paper sent me out to get a stand alone feature photo. A photograph that is really a "Photographer's Choice" picture. It does not go with a reporter's story, just the photograph and a photo caption, and it usually is not hard news. Rather it is a slice of life type of image, that news photographers get to capture while most of the world is trapped inside their work cubicle, hating their boss and co-workers, and counting down the minutes till happy hour. God I love my job!!!



I drove around Hagerstown looking for a photo, it was freezing, and no one was out. So I dropped in to one of the local Boys and Girls Clubs. I checked in with the director, I asked what was going on that might lend itself to a nice pictiure, and was told "nothing really." At that point photographers have two options, either bail out, or look beyond the obviuos and find something a little different.

I found Jeremiah shooting hoops in the gym after he finished his homework for the day. Nothing unusual there, EXCEPT FOR THE GIGANTIC SHADOW OF THE BASKETBALL NET ON THE WALL BEYOND JEREMIAH. No need to show the net itself in my image, I had it all over the background. A D3 at 1600 ISO, a 80-200 zoom lens, a motor drive at 11fps, and the spelling of Jeremiah's name was all I needed to get my shot and get back to the Herald-Mail.

The photo ran 3 columns wide on the front page Tuesday. Like I said, sometimes you bail out, and sometimes you just look harder.

The Agony of Defeat

You know the old saying, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." Yeah, right!!!! Try telling that to a goalie that has been scored on four times halfway through the first period, 6 times by the end of that same period, and 9 times by the end of the night.



Such was the case for Washington County goalie Alex Benda last Monday night as his team the Northstars fell to the Glenelg Gladiators 9-3. Now in all fareness, the Northstars were 5 skaters down due to illness and injury, and they are a new team on the scene with only a few seasons on the ice. So it wasn't Alex's fault, nor was it a night to remember. We'll get 'em next game, right?????

Wedding Photography Portfolio

Your wedding day is a story, a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Complete wedding day coverage is the only way to capture your story in photographs. Making formal portraits, capturing candid shots, recording real life moments, and saving details of your big day with photographs is what I deliver to all of my clients.