The TV Cop...

In December, I shot this ad campaign for the 100 Club of Chicago, which is a non profit org whose mission is to provide for the families of Police and Firefighters that lose their lives in the line of duty. When an officer dies, they come in, write a big check right off the bat, and help take care of the family and the kids of the fallen officer. The concept of the campaign was to photograph actors from Chicago, who play cops on TV. The copy was very simple tag lines like "Real first responders have more to worry about than low ratings", and "real first responders dont get body doubles". It was cool to do a very well written, simple portrait campaign like this. And very cool that it ran in black and white. It wasnt supposed to run black and white, but on set between actors, i was editing and messing with my selects and converting to black and white as i felt thats what would make them graphic and strong. The creative director, Joe Stuart from Downtown Partners in chicago, was on set and loved it so they went that direction with the whole campaign. The actors i got to shoot were Gary Sinise, Dennis Franz, Joe Montegna, and Dennis Farina. These guys are all friends in real life, and the best part was listening in to them all catching up and gossiping as they dont all get together like this very often. It was like the rat pack, very quick witted, giving each other a hard time, and the language these guys were using made even me blush. Farina in particular was one funny dude, giving everybody a hard time and having a good laugh all day. These will be running in local chicago mags and on bus shelters this year, so hoping to get there soon and see them on the bus stops...

first published of the year..

Here's some assorted tear sheets from jobs I did in late november/december....lots of good shoots to round out the year...the fisherman shot was for Money magazine, to illustrate a story about new strategies to increase your investments...the idea was that while in the past we would put lots of money into one big portfolio (hence the marlin on the wall), nowadays you must be more nimble and spread the money around for good returns (hence the group of small fish). It was a blast shooting and concepting this. We had a set built, and styled to look like a stereotypical fisherman. I got to work with creative director Neil Jamieson again, which I can honestly say i've never had a bad shoot for...the next job was for Runners World magazine of marathon runner Desi Davila, shot in detroit...Desi came in second in the boston marathon recently, and was getting ready for the olympic trials for the games in London this summer. It was a great day hanging with her on the shoot..the concept was an homage to the old Rosie the Riveter posters from WWII..SPent all day with her, shooting her training and also portaits. The hardest part of this job is that it was the coldest day of the year. Shot in early december, it was 19 degrees in the morning when we started. For this opening portrait we had to shoot for a minute, let Desi go inside to get warm, shoot for a minute, etc. until we got the shot. Desi is not glam like some of the other women runners, and she kinda came out of nowhere on the elite scene, but in the last year she has been kicking but..and I am very happy to say that she did indeed qualify for the olympic team last week at the trials in Houston. I will be watching for sure this summer crossing my fingers for her...The corporate portrait was for Bloomberg Markets magazine. shot in November in my favorite place to shoot, Central Park. The particular spot in the park I have shot at before, its a favorite for sure. the cool thing about this spot is that you can make it look like its out in the woods, middle of nowhere. Its pretty easy to shoot without showing the skyline in the backround, but for this shot we left a little bit of it in. I love this shot, definitely one of my more fav corporate shoots last year..And the last tearsheet is from Outdoor Life magazine, of bass fisherman Gerald Swindle, shot in Dallas in november. Again, cold, windy, hard conditions, but had to make it work. And make it work we did. Never come home without a great shot, no matter how bad/tough the conditions are, because honestly, your editor just doesnt want to hear it!! heres to another awesome year, 2012....

Day in the life of a football game.

This story for ESPN was definitely one of the highlights for 2011 for me. The assignment was simple: go to an NFL football game, set up a backdrop, and photograph as many people that were there working that day as possible. ESPN was devoting a whole issue to one football game, The houston texans vs. the pittsburgh steelers. The were sending about 50 photographers and writers to cover the game from all angles possible. Nancy Weismann gave me what i think was the best assignment that day. We set up early in the hallways underneath the stadium, and basically just grabbed anyone walking by and took a super fast portrait of them. I photographed about 75 people that day, from the quarterback for the texans, to a guy that sells beer in the stands during the game. Cheerleaders, cameramen, bomb sniffing dog, policeman, janitor, etc.. so much fun....the highlight of the day is in the video attached to this post. At halftime there was a college marching band that entertained...after they came off the field, we had THE WHOLE BAND march across my backdrop while i shot. So much fun and so cool..after they all went by, I looked at my assistant and remarked how much i love my job...

Redemption....

Plax. That one name conjured up so much sadness and pity when I got the assingment to shoot him for Mens Journal magazine. Plaxico Burress was one of the highest paid, best receivers in the NFL when he carried a loaded gun into a manhattan nightclub, where it accidentally fired while in hist waistband, striking himself in the leg. NYC has the toughest gun laws in the country, with a mandatory 3 year prison sentence for having a gun in the city. Even you or I, if found with a gun, even if legal outside manhattan, would face a 3 year prison sentence if found with it. I remember when i got the assingment, i remembered very well all the press when he was arrested back in 2008, thinking "what a bummer, from catching the winning touchdown pass in the superbowl, top of your game making millions, and a simple stupid mistake takes it all away." When I photographed him in July, he had only been out of prison for a month, so he was still enjoying all that he lost. His daughter, now 2, he was bonding with, as she was born while he was in prison. No amount of money could ever bring that back...we spent the better part of the afternoon on a football field doing portraits in the 100 degree heat for the story opener, then went inside to do a studio shot on a background as a backup. When he was changing his shirt for the inside shot, i saw the big tattoo on his back, "everything happens for a reason", and instantly knew that that was the picture. I asked Plax if he got it after the gun incident, and he said no, he had had it along time. I really liked him and our time together that day. I fully expected to meet a thuggish guy, with the gun incident and everything, but he wasnt like that at all, just a normal dude that made a major mistake and paid his price, no ready to move on. I've been watching him all season, as he signed with the jets, and have been so happy for him that he had a great season and is climbing back to where he was.

If I had a dime for every billionaire I've photographed...

The October issue of Forbes with Ronald Perelman and his father on the cover....it's was for the Forbes 400 rich list.shot on location at Ron's office on the upper east side. So cool to shoot a father and son that obviously love each other. I was a bit nervous, as was everyone on set, before they arrived...but when they walked in, Ron and his pops really put everyone at ease because they are so close. It was like shooting a father son comedic act..they were going at it the whole shoot. A real highlight shoot this fall...Its always a bit surreal to photograph people that are worth BILLIONS...literally these guys can and do buy anything that they want. We shot this in late summer early fall, and Ron was talking during the shoot how he had to catch a flight to Venice italy later that afternoon. I was talking to his publicist about it later, and it's nowhere near the same experience that you and I have. He was taking his chauffered black escalade to the airport, where he would not wait in any lines, but walk up the steps to his jet, where his pilots had done all the fueling, planning etc. and his assistants had the trip planned and scheduled once he arrived...then they would take off in the early evening, he would have dinner on board with his family, maybe read or watch tv, then go to bed in his stateroom in the back in his king size bed. He would then wake when they landed, and go look at art (he was going to the biennale) for the day...then he was getting on his gigantic yacht, again all prepared and ready to go with his crew, for a sail around the mediterranean...We shot this on a thursday, so he was leaving that thursday afternoon, and he was going to be back in nyc the following wednesday! Only 6 days! When you roll like that, and the stress of travel and cost are taken out of the equation, I guess it is easy to do super cool extravagant stuff like that for a few days at a time. For the next 6 days my assistant johnny and I during the course of that weeks work would sometimes just look at each other and say "I wonder what Ron is doing today".....

I dont even know where to begin...

What can I say, the surreal life of this photographer continues to get weirder...but when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro as someone once told me...Herman Cain, shot in Detroit about a month ago, during the height of his popularity when he was #1 in the polls. I love shooting politicians, because they are definitely the wackiest show on earth. I've shot so many of them, from al gore, orin hatch, john kerry, rick santorum, sarah palin, so many of them. And people always ask me what i think is the dumbest question you could ask "was he nice?" And my answer is always "of course, thats his job, was the most popular person in high school nice?" So yes he was nice, i did like him, and if was a fun shoot. We didnt have anything conceptual planned when we left for detroit. I talked to chris, the photo director at people, and he said, "He's part PT Barnum, the ultimate showman, show that in the picture." The idea literally came to me on the plane as we were about to land. Although originally the idea was to get some birthday cake candles that were the #9, and put three of them on a pizza. That morphed into the pepperoni spelling 999, which i loved. And honestly, we made the pizza (we shot at a local pizza place), without telling him or his handlers we were doing it, but i really knew deep down he would do it. And actually he really loved the pizza when we brought it out. After photographing him and the many other politicians I've shot, my conviction that political jobs should be like jury duty just gets stronger. Because we all know that anybody that really wants to be a lawmaker, probably shouldnt be...

the corporate location portrait...

I was very lucky this fall to be a part of the Bloomberg Markets 50 most influential issue...it's always great to be a part of a best of package in a magazine...everyone from art directors, editors, writers, photographers, try to raise their game past the top for special issues like this..when i got the call from Amy, I jumped right on board and was very excited to hear who I would be photographing. I've shot a ton of business peeps at this point, sometimes its a great experience, sometimes its not. When its not, its usually not because the subject is difficult or mean, its really because it can be so hard to take an interesting, original picture at an office complex..I can tell you how many times i've sighed when the PR person leads me to a conference room and says "this is where you will be photographing Mr. _________ today." But, i get it, they are busy, not much time, etc.. so I always make a great go of it and more times than not hit a home run, even in a conference room...for these guys in this special issue though, we had a little lead time and I had some ideas. The first one was Martin Feldstein, an economist up at harvard in Cambridge. His assistant was very "you can come do it at his office", but I really pushed with the magazine and with him to do something a bit more iconic and interesting. I had shot in cambridge a couple of times before, and while i had never shot on the pedestrian Weeks Bridge, I had always wanted to. I had seen the bridge and kinda just bookmarked it a few years earlier as a photoshoot location wish. Plus the idea for the portrait of him was to photograph him in an academic environment, as thats what he was, up at harvard, and i knew the bridge was so iconic cambridge, and the background would be super clean and great for a full page. Permits were put in place. location scouted. we showed up for the shoot and crossed our fingers the rain that was forecast would hold off for a bit. When Johnny and I got to location, and got our gear all up on the bridge, I had one of my several panic attacks that day, when i realized the bridge railing was SO high, it would dwarf him if he stood against it with his head barely going above the rail. So i decided that he needed to sit on the railing, even though it was up high over the charles river, and he was a pretty old guy. This goes into the "dont ask, but tell the subject to do something." I didnt really give him a choice. when he showed up, pleasantries were exchanged, then i directed him over to the railing, where i had a couple of photo cases for him to stand up on, and i helped him get up on the bridge. He did it, but only because i told, not asked. Lesson #1 today, keep as much control of the situation and decisions as you can. Act like you've done it 1,000 times before..........................................................

My second subject for the issue was Ray Dalio, hedge fund billionaire. His people were much more controlling of location "you will do it at corporate and we will have a room set for you." Ok, got it. so we decided to bring a backdrop and shoot him in a studio setting as we didtn know what we would be getting when we got there. So we showed up super early, loaded in all the gear, set up the backdrop, lit it, and were waiting. I always have a calm nervousness on set and am always looking for photos, so I stepped outside of the room we were in, walked outside, and fell in love with this location by a little pond. Now Ray is scheduled to show in 10 minutes, but i love the location and really want to try an optoin with Ray here too. And the publicist has already told me Ray is always on time or early and wont give me much time. The location was literally a 30 second walk from our room though and i knew i could pull it off. I went inside, told the publicist my plan, again didnt really give him a choice, and had my assistants grab one light each and walk them out with me to this location. Super quick meter reading, test shots, etc. weather getting sketchy, Ray shows up..We chat, shoot outside for 5 minutes, then rush inside with my assistants dragging lights with us. Reset the studio shot, and shoot him there for 15 minutes...both setups looked great. Lesson #2, NEVER be afraid to change last minute, and never stop looking..

perfect

What can i say...surrounded by beautiful girls all day in a park in New Jersey...hanging out with favorite Photo Editor Andrea Verdone....great pics, great people, great food, great everything...it was a long day but so much fun...

who can you trust

This image was out last month in the July issue of money magazine. The concept was conceptual, we needed to shoot a half boyscout, half business man image for a story about finding financial advice you can trust. I loved the concept, but was very aware that if done wrong it would look hokey and silly. We spent lots of time doing tests of the model in different wardrobe setups and different lighting setups and backgrounds, trying to find that image that was great and not ironic or silly. The thing that finally sold it for me was when i put a heavy amber gel on the backlight thats lights up the right side of his outfit in the picture. When i saw that one of the computer screen, i knew it was going to be great. It gave the image a "vintage" feel and a bit more timeless overall. I wish i had one where the backlight wasnt amber, so i could put it up here for you to compare, but i dont. Great shoot, great to work with Neil Jamieson again since he left Field and Stream, and got to meet and work with Shayla Hunter for the first time as well. Of course we all wanted to put on the boyscout stuff and do shots of us as well...heres one of me doing my best scouts honor...

2 covers is 30 minutes...

Out now is the current Golf Digest with my picture of pro golfer Dustin Johnson standing on a poly ball swinging his club...this shoot happened back in march 2011 in Florida. The photo director there, Christian Iooss, told me we had to get TWO cover shoots done in 30 minutes, one for Golf Digest, and one for their sister publication, Golf World. I was super stoked to get the gig, as covers are always a good thing, but was definitely a little nervous to pull off two different covers in 30 minutes. I knew there wouldbt be enough time for two different locations or setups, so decided to focus on getting two different crops on Dustin, one tighter, and one full length..the Golf Digest cover was the priority, and the concept was set, which was Dustin standing on a poly ball swinging his club, as that is one of his workout techniques. I did the Golf World shoot first as it was less complicated, we shot for 10 minutes, then took a five minute break while i re-lit for the full length shot on the poly ball. One of my biggest strengths as a photographer is being quick, decisive, and focused while on set...no wasting time. Usually by the time the talent arrives on set I totally see the shot in my head and give very detailed direction to the talent. This shoot was the same, quick hello's, here's the concept, now lets start shooting. No small talk or wasting time. The shoot went great, all were happy, and we were done in about 40 minutes with both shots...One thing that stuck out in my head after the shoot was watching Dustin chip some balls between shots. We were shooting on a golf course in south florida on an unused tee box, and there was a green with a pin about 100 feet behind us. Dustin pulled a wedge out of his bag and a few balls while we were resetting the lights, and chipped all three of them very casually with no practice swing about 3 feet from the pin. It always blows me away to watch pro athletes do their thing and make is look so easy and flawless..

Old Friends..

Old friend and collaborator Jesse James for people magazine. I’ve put the people story here as well as a bunch of other stuff from our long journey together these last 10 years. Jesse and I have a pretty great history of creative collaboration..I first met him on a story for GQ in 2000, he was just starting to blow up as his bikes were getting a lot of attention and the Discovery channel show “motorcycle mania” which was about him and was the highest rated discovery show ever, and I think it still is. That show had everyone, including GQ, trying to find out who this guy was..Jesse and I got each other and got along well then on those 2 days together, and the pics were awesome.. ..some subjects you just click with better…maybe it was our similar ages and middle class suburban background. So Fast forward a few years, we reconnected on a cover story I shot for Popular Mechanics magazine about a flying car he built for the show Monster Garage, a show that was created for him by Discovery as he was so popular, and it turned into a hugely popular show also.. When I met him again on that shoot, we caught up, chatted about the GQ shoot and I brought a few prints for him from that shoot. It was then that he said “we should do something together”, at which I responded, “cool, lets do it. I will have some ideas for you and will stop by your shop when I’m in LA in 3 weeks.” It was a vague gesture on both our parts, but I did stop by his place next time I was in LA and told him of my ideas for a book with him.. And that’s how our best body of work ,“Jesse James and his Beautiful Machines” was born. It was great working on that book as Jesse trusted my vision completely, and its still a creative highlight in my life and career. I’m sure even in 50 years it will still look timeless. During the making of the book, design, edit, writing, etc, I kept asking myself, “will I want this on my bookshelf in 50 years?” very simple guiding vision, but crucial. And the truth is that yes, I will be very proud of it even in 50 years..People always think it’s a book about motorcycles, and while motorcycles are all through the book, they are just the metaphor and object that serves as the real subject of the book, which is mans drive, ability, and determination to make things out of metal with their hands and some tools. That’s how I pitched it to jesse, not a boring book about you and motorcycles, but a book about what its like to bend metal into something beautiful and useful. Still stoked about it. And jesse and I became pretty good friends during the making of it.… So when Chris Dougherty from people called to ask if I would head down to Austin to shoot jesse for a feature, I said yes… he had a book coming out and people had the scoop…I was excited to see him again as I had talked and texted with him since the cheating on Sandy scandal happened, but hadn’t seen him and was eager to hang with him a bit again and just see him. I know he was eager to see me too as he was stoked I was shooting the story and wanted me to get there a day early and stop by his house… when I think about it, I think he was looking for pieces of his past that gave him good and pleasant memories, and I was that to him as our history was always about good stuff, and we did the book during his time with Sandy. I’ve gone through the same kind of thing after a love affair gone bad, and grasped at good pieces and memories of my past during the love affair for comfort, and I’m sure that was part of the reason he wanted to see me…to grasp at what was, and see that not all in his life was completely destroyed, that there was still good there. .the pain he must have been going through was certainly profound, and nothing that I’ve experienced…It was great to see him again when I got to his house. He gave a big hug letting me know he was glad I was still there for him. Our relationship has always been rock steady. We weren’t pals or best friends or anything like that, just a constant good thing. When the Sandy thing broke, I instantly contacted him letting him know that a. I was feeling for him and there for him and b. I wouldn’t throw him under the bus and release bad pictures of him for the tabloids to use (I was getting calls, believe me, as no one has an archive on jesse like me). Ultimately I could have made some money off of pictures I had of him when it all went down, but life and friendship and ultimately my work is just too important to sell it for the wrong reasons for money. I thought about it for a quick minute, but just not who I am… It was awesome seeing him for a couple of days, reminiscing a bit, and just hanging out and taking pics like the old days....He was definitely different than before the scandal, he seemed to lose a lot of the anger and edge that he had deep down, I guess all the therapy he went through and pain of it all helped him let go of it..I actually missed the old jesse a bit as that edge and intensity is what made him so good at what he did, and made you want to be around him and his world. At some point though he had to let go of it all and just try and re-ground, which is what he did..…it was great hanging with him and his kids and seeing him as a dad too, which I had never really seen. The shoot was great, jesse has always trusted me and done whatever I wanted him to do (which is hard for him), and generally just a couple of good days. It was great seeing his awesome spread in Austin, a far cry from Long Beach. We even talked about a couple of book ideas again…we said goodbyes, I headed back to NYC and even had a text from him the following day making sure I got home ok…I don’t think our history is over at this point, jesse is the ultimate phoenix, he will rise from the ashes of his self destructed previous life, its just who he is….at one point during the shoot, he said something to me that was so profound and pretty much summed it all up, who he is, why cheated on sandy, and where he will be again someday but a better version... As we walked around he showed me his new shop, which was his garage at his new house, he talked about the 40,000 square foot factory/shop that was west coast choppers in long beach but was now closed. That huge world and business totally gone at this point..He said “it’s funny but I’m back where I started. I started in my moms garage welding and building bikes, and now its full circle, I’m in my garage welding and building bikes, just me.” He never was comfortable with all that WCC had become, and deep deep down I’ve always known he was scared and uncomfortable with the success of WCC, you could always see it in his eyes and I had seen him all along the way and it was obvious…and he always made a point to tell me he was “just a welder”….

The Candy (wo)Man

What can I say…the gorgeous Dylan Lauren for the cover of Forbes magazine…I shot this at Dylans Candy Bar, her legendary candy store on the upper east side. Really one of the more brilliant ideas that in restrospect makes yo u think “why didn’t I think of that?” So obvious that a story like this will do great, and hers is doing great and growing to more and more locations and a truly global brand…sounds familiar for her family right? Her papa is Ralph Lauren, and I know I don’t need to tell you who he is. The cover story was about success, and is it learned? Or inherited in your genes? What made Dylan successful, besides the obvious, which is great connections, you still gotta produce and have the ideas and instinct..So it was a story about that, is success inherited. It was awesome hanging out in her store that morning before opening, we set up a studio downstairs for the cover shoot. And when it was all over she said “take whatever you want”. And of course we had sweets for the week. The funniest thing I saw were candy cigs…I had no idea they still made them, but they do. It brought me back to when I was a kid and I remember buying them and pretending to be an adult.. but now it seems so insane getting fake cigs for your kid. But it is a free country after all still isn’t it??

Glamour

This one is tough, and even hard to write about to be honest…it was for glamour magazine, a real people story in Denver about a woman named Kristen Stillman and her brother Will. Basically, they are twins who were born to a junkie loser mom, who ended up giving them when they were 8 to an aquaintance guy and his family who was another loser, mean, nasty person. She was raped her whole life, he was beat. She bore children by the man, etc etc etc. They finally ran away when she realized her kids were in for the same life as her.. It really is the kind of story that makes me deep down question being human and not just giving up on everything altogether. I just lose all hope when I hear about stuff like this.. Again, its about having my own child now. I see it all differently now that I have him. Before I would have thought yea, its awful, he’s awful, I hope he gets the death penalty or worse. But I could have let go after the shoot and moved on. Now I see henry and how could anyone do that to a child. They’re all so pure when theyre born. Not winners or losers, just pure. No hate, no racism, just pure. The real tragedy of this story is that the cops, child protective services, etc, were called many many times to the house by the neighboors, who knew something was up, but every time the system failed them. Makes me really upset and not trust the system even more…I honestly don’t even want to write about this anymore, but you owe it to yourself to read their story…I’ve posted the story here on the blog, so read it if you can, or google Kristen Stillman, read about her story, hug your kids, and wonder how in the hell stuff like this happens….

Beers and Tears on the golf course...

Here’s a recent tear sheet from Golf Digest of Roger Maltbie, on course tournament commentator extraordinaire…This dude used to be a pro, and was now on the other side of the game now as an analyst and commentator. I knew he was going to be awesome and he was, in spite of our 7am call time for the shoot in Louisville…I knew it would be a good shoot when I showed up at 7 and he was outside smoking a cig and offered me one… He’s one of those guys that everybody likes, players and fans alike. Roger was never an awesome player or force on the pro tour, but he did win a few tournaments, but no majors. But what he did do is he got to play on the tour during the golden age of golf, in the 70’s with Nicklaus and Palmer and Player and Watson and Chi Chi…before tiger ruined it all and made golfers realize they must be in great shape and awesome overall athletes in general and spend lots of time at the gym, not just time on the course…must have been so much fun in Rogers day…. And Roger was known as a guy that lived life to the fullest, you could always count on finding him in the bar after a round hanging with the guys and caddies. The most notorious story of him happened in 1975. He won a tournament, was celebrating in a bar that night, and lost the $40,000 winners check. True story, I asked him during the shoot and he did indeed confirm. Of course he did get them to issue another check, but so funny that he actually lost it in a bar…and roger hasn’t really slowed down much…when he offered me the smoke, I told him I quit a few years ago and he shared with me a recent story…he was at his doctors office and the doc told him he needed to quit drinking and smoking for his health, as his health isn’t great. He told his doc quitting both would indeed kill him for sure, so he would slow his drinking down but he still needed to smoke, quitting both he just couldn’t do…the idea for the shoot was to get him in as many animated expressions as possible, as he is very animated and has been known to cry on camera during an interview. So we had some eye drops to do a crying shot too… ..for 7am he really went through an awesome range of expression…the crying shot was great too, but it didn’t make the magazine, so here it is for your viewing pleasure…

Mens Journal Sports

Its been forever since i've last posted...i've got lots of stuff to post, just hard to get the mojo to do it with a 3 year old in the house...blogging isnt easy for me, as i like to write a bit about the shoot and not just throw up a photo or two...but this recent shoot out now got me off my butt and i have an hour before i have to pick henry up from camp..this shoot of James Harrison i did for mens journal magazine and michelle wolfe, the photo director over there. The other shoot mentioned here i did for them last fall, of NY ranger hockey player Derek Boogaard. I never blogged about that shoot either so will do it here as well. First up is the Derek Boogaard shoot last fall in NYC....I'll start by letting you know Derek passed away unexpectedly this spring, about 4 months after our shoot, which was a big shock to everyone as he was only 30. I didnt even know he died, but got a suspicious email from my agent at corbis, ben hampel, asking me to send a bigger selection from my shoot with him..of course i instantly knew something was up, maybe he was busted for DUI or something scandalous, and corbis was getting alot of requests...it was only when i googled him did i find out he was found dead in his apartment....very shocking when i read it and sad....it really is always a bit of a reality check when someone you photograph dies, having spent intimate time on a collaborative thing like a portrait. ..i touched on that on this blog when gary coleman aka arnold from different strokes died. just a quick gut check and trying to remember the details of the shoot and my time with them. my memory seems to get worse and worse as i get older, ask jess, she will definately concur...but when it comes to the photos i take, all i have to do is look at it, and i remember everything about the shoot..even a shoot 20 years ago, i may not remember it now, but show me the picture and it will all come flooding back in...this photo of derek i really remember the smell of meat in the locker and the sound of hte huge refrigeration units humming...such a cool way to live life and work life especially. so i went and had a look at this take again and it all came back...We shot Derek in a meat locker down in the meat packing district of NYC, in a sort of homage to the famous scene in rocky where rocky trains by pounding sides of beef...derek was known as a bruiser and keen fighter in the NHL and protecter of the talent....but true to any tough guy i've ever met, he was sweet, quiet, and nice. He showed up with his girlfriend, just coming from a charity appearance with kids, and he and his girl had only been in nyc for a couple months as he'd only recently signed with the rangers..i wrote a list of my fav restaurants down for them, with 32nd street (close to garden) and korea town bbq's as my fav for them to try..and he said any time you want tickets, just give a ring..the shoot went great, we all loved the pictures, and had a generally great time...a fav shoot for sure last fall....and i ended up getting 4 tickets to a game over the winter at the garden, first time seeing the rangers, and henry loved it....very sad when i heard he passed, but another reminder that every day is awesome no matter what....it was very cool shooting in a meat locker too,,,we had to wear winter coats on this warm september day as it was 35 degrees in the cooler...and the guys working at the meat packing house there said "anytime you need a good cut, just stop by", which i havent but a nice gesture....RIP derek, thanks for the experience of meeting and photographing you......now on to my shoot with James Harrison of the steelers, out on newstands now, also for mens journal....this shoot and story is BLOWING UP HUGE right now...and it wasnt a surprise to me as i read the story on the plane to pittsburgh last mont....i instantly knew as i read him say "if roger goodell was on fire i wouldnt piss on him to put it out, thats how much i hate him." Roger Goodell being the boss, the NFL commish...James was fined a ton last year for hard hits... with all the new rules out now to lower injury and brain injuries specifically, the NFL (no fun league), has basically been trying to reign in guys like james who's life passion is to run full speed into guys and hit them as hard as he can. Its awesome to watch....not sure how they can really enforce it as the nature of football is violent....its like when i hear about people or countries complaining during a war that the other side isnt fighting fair....like there should be rules for how you kill people...just absurd...we as a country tend to call them terrorists...gee, thats exactly what england called the colonists back in the 1700's.."those guys arent fighting fair! they're hiding behind trees and shooting and not standing in a line in a field!" duh...dont get me started.... anyway it was an assignment i was a little bit tepid to accept, as it was a reshoot...yes, the dreaded reshoot...not mine though...MJ had sent another photog there the week before to shoot him (note to mj, next time hire yours truly first), and lets just say he didnt come back with pictures the editors were in love with. and in true dont jinx it anymore, i didnt want to see the pictures he took, or even know who took them, too much bad juju....dont ask dont tell.....i told my assistant johnny that this was a classic "sucker" job...going back to photogrpah a professional athlete (notorious "are we done yet" guys), and one as big and angry as james, who had already dedicated alot of time to the other photoshoot...and hes thinking "wtf, cant you mo fos do it right the first time?" But he agreed to let another photog come back, and michelle thought of me...in our pre pro meeting, she finishes with "oh yea nathaniel, we also hear he has a bunch of guns, can you get him to hold one?" great. thanks for making me almost throw up there in your office michelle....of course i said "yep no problem, i can pretty much gaurantee i can get him to hold guns." and in truth i really believed it...i've been doing this so long now, i know how to make stuff like that happen. No secret really, you just dont ask, you tell. i can tell pretty much anyone to do anything, although i do get a no occasionally..I didnt ask james if he minded holding a gun or two, i TOLD him i needed him to hold a gun... So it really wasnt that hard like everyone at MJ thought it would be. I just didnt give him a choice, although he could have said no or looked at me like i was insane, but he was fine with it. And So the photographs came out awesome...once again, the big mean guy couldnt have been nicer or more chill...the magazine FREAKED when they saw the shoot (i knew they would), and the story looks awesome, but i feel bad for james as hes getting hammered in the press for those few sentences out of hundreds that people are latching on to...he did have a some great points though....my favorite was about goodell himself....whats a white rich dude from new york (goodell) whos never played a down of pro football or even college football running the league for?? He has no perspective of what a player needs and wants. good point james....Another point...he says theres an unwritten policy amongst nfl players to hit high on purpose and not tackle below the waist, cause you can keep playing if you get your bell rung a little by a hard hit, but tear an ACL or achilles, and your career and earning potential are OVER. makes sense.....so i think in the broader sense of the story, James will be fine as he has valid points and reason to be so mad. Now lets hope these knuckleheads end this lockout soon, cause fall aint fall without football.....

the awards season has begun.....

I heard some super good news the other day via my inbox...I got an email from maggie kennedy, the photo director over at Garden and Gun magazine, that a story we did won an SPD merit award!! So very very happy and excited about this, as SPD is the grand pubah (is that correct?) of awards for photography and design...and for those of you scratching your heads, yes there is a magazing called Garden and Gun, and its an awesome magazine about all things southern.... cause if youre from the south, you probably have a garden and a gun, but the magazine goes much deeper than that... This story was about the endangered kemp's ridley sea turtle in the gulf after the oil spill, and the people that were trying to save them...I spent a good bit of time down there on 3 separate trips over the summer on different stories (scroll down to see my oil spill posts), with this story being the last and most uplifting... My first trip down there was still a big question mark...would the oil come ashore and cover the shore and the bayous of LA?? My second trip confirmed that yes, the oil is coming ashore, but not as bad as everyone at first thought. And this last trip was pretty much "the whole gulf coast pretty much dodged a bullet, but who knows what is happening off shore." And i think thats pretty much the thought even today. things are pretty much back to "normal", fishing and shrimping are open again, but nobody really knows what the long term prognosis is for the gulf. But an oil spill like this seemed to happen in the best possible place (if there is such a thing), as the gulf of mexico is like a giant toilet bowl. warm water+naturally occurring oil eating microbes+favorable currents and winds went to work on all of that oil...i still dont think its ok, and still cannot believe that a leak like this could go on as long as it did without a quick way to shut it down. just nuts.... there HAS to be better protocol in place, or just dont drill that deep, very simple. Of course oil today over $100 a barrel and talks of $200 a barrel this summer makes us all want to solve our energy problems domestically. my personal worry from the spill is what will happen to the bluefin tuna. Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn in the gulf every spring, and the hatch coincided with the oil spill..not good if youre a little bluefin fry... so it will be years before anyone knows how bad the tuna were hit. as you know i've caught lots of different kinds of fish over the years as its my passion...but bluefin tuna are on my bucket list and i've yet to catch one. they are a hearty bunch, so I'm hoping they come back strong as well....

Risk Takers...

Here's some work that just came out in golf digest this month on risk takers in golf...I got a call from Christian Iooss in december asking what If i'd like to shoot a big feature about people in golf that are known for taking risks both on the course and off. When he called, the story was really just getting going and there were no concepts yet for the photos, so we did some brainstorming trying to come up with illustrative metaphors that would be cool and also show "risk" (without looking ironic or hokey, as that is ALWAYS the risk for us on shoots like this)..the subjects were Ian Poulter, Ben Crane, and Donald Tump....Ian was considered a risk taker because he has been a very brash dresser, kinda mouthy, and an early adopter of social media..and he backs it all up with an excellent game and very high ranking...lets just say he's really colorful, and golf needs that. After tossing around some ideas, we settled on putting him on a giant rotating knife throwing wheel, wearing one of his signature loud outfits (that he designs). After Christian and I envisioned how awesome it would be, we realized we only had a few days to prop it, and the shoot was in southwest florida...Miami is close by, should be able to find a knife throwing wheel in miami no problem, right? You know where this is heading,,,couldnt find one in any prop houses, so had to hire a set builder in miami to build one, and oh yea you only have 3 days. Like SO MANY editorial jobs, you just gotta go with it, have faith, and improvise when you need to, but mostly just cross your fingers...got to the location the day before (ritz carlton in naples), scouted the property with the PR girl and had a little panic attack..."you cant put it there. You cant put it there either. nope, no there either. ok, you can put it there but keep quiet about it." The wheel showed up 2 hours before the shoot, and it looked AWESOME. Ran to walmart and bought some knives "call me if he shows up early!" Ian showed up right on time, was an awesome sport and got the concept...great shoot..and we all had the cathartic experience of stepping up on that wheel!....Ok, on to texas now to shoot Ben Crane. Bens shoot the concept was an homage to risky business. The iconic scene where tom dances to "old time rock and roll" in his skivies. Ben has always been a bit of a stick in the mudd on the tour, he lists his hobies as "fly fishing and bible study", not a very polarizing figure. But he recently has been doing these hilarious very dry self deprecating videos of late and putting them on youtube, and he is getting a big following for them. Again, like alot of shoots, i had no idea what the location (his house) would look like or if we would have a location that made sense for the concept. After a quick scout, the coffee table was PERFECT, just like in the movie when tom jumps up on the coffee table half way through the song. I had picked up a classic pair of wayfarers the day before, and the magazine was sending the shirt. me: "so ben, wheres the shirt the magazine sent?" ben: "huh?" uh oh. the magazine forgot to send...panic time again. we went in bens closet, he had a bunch of shirts with loud prints and this one shirt his wife got two days before, and it was perfect, pin stripped just like the movie. The concept was a little risky, i wasnt even sure he would do it. would you get on a table in your underwear and sunglasses and dance in front of strangers while they took you picture? But even ben said "wow, cant believe i have this shirt as i would NEVER wear one like this. This is a sign, its meant to be." So he hoped up on the table, we bought "old time rock and roll" at itunes (your welcome bob seger), pumped it up, and we had a blast for about twenty minutes while bens wife and three year old daughter looked on in disbelief. Again, awesome shoot. The last shoot was probably my favorite, as it was with Donald Trump, and we were shooting it at his club in palm beach, Mar A Lago. I had shot Mr. trump, as he likes to be called, 2 previous times, the last time was just this past august. And let me say, the dude is one of the nicest you will meet. I always gauge how nice a person is in reality based on how they treat my assistants. They are always nice to me (they have to be or i will make them look bad!) but not the case with my assistants necassarily. Alot of subjects are kinda dismissive to my assistants. Not really rude, just not interested. Donald has never been like that on set. he is always genuinely interested and kind to everyone. I think he's just a nice guy at heart. Anyway, Donald is always buying and building golf courses, even in risky times, so the magazine wanted to feature him as well. After lots of brainstorming, we thought a shot of him standing on a ledge on the roof at mar a lago would be a good way to illustrate risk. But we would have to shoot him on white in a ballroom, and shoot plates of the roof top view and drop him in later. So we got to mar a lago early, and scouted, and scouted, (hey isnt that billy crystal having breakfast?) and panicked a bit, and scouted some more...only a couple of places would work, but at least we did have a view and we didnt need to get him up there. So we shot the location plate, (and sat for an hour after to enjoy the view from the roof), and then went back to the ballroom and waited for Donald. He showed up early (he always does), and was as gracious as ever. We had a bit of fun reminiscing about our last shoot in august, i showed him some of the outtakes on my computer, then we got down to business. After the shoot, he invited us to have dinner there at the club. And it was by far the most over the top buffet i have ever experienced. Piles of lobster, prime rib,scallops wrapped in bacon, a whole baked grouper, you name it, it was there. Washed it all down with an excellent bottle of red wine. It was december 23, the last shoot of the year, and an awesome way to end my work year....two days later i was in Cabo with jess and henry.....thanks christian!

100 billion!

This is my first cover of 2011!! New forbes cover i shot in December of scientist, Dr., and inventor Jonathan Rothberg...very cool guy, I had a great time with him up at his house in Connecticut on a chilly December afternoon...alot of times on shoots for business magazines I spend hours with the people i photograph and still dont have a clue what it is that they do. I've shot derivatives traders for example and spent time with them over a beer after the shoot while they explain derivatives, and I still leave the shoot scratching my head about derivatives...Jonathan Rothberg was kinda like that. I did understand that he invented a technology that does DNA sequencing much cheaper and faster than its done now, but the technology and machine that he uses left me wondering what the heck he did!..... But, the one thing I did really enjoy was my time with him as he was a super nice and cool person.... I spent the better part of an afternoon with Jonathan on his waterfront compound riding around in his "gator" (a small but cool work ATV that gardeners use) and admiring the life size replica of stonehenge that he had installed on his 6 acre lawn. Sounds strange and impossible, but i assure you he actually did pull it off. The other cool thing at his house was his dinosaur T Rex skull that he had, very cool to see that. He also had a skull of something called a Cave Bear, which was a couple of hundred thousand years old, and which I'm holding in the other picture in this post as we used it as a prop for some of the shots....2010 was great, and this shoot was one of the last of an awesome year. I'm looking very forward to all the adventures and pictures that 2011 will bring, the craziness has already started so keep checking back here for more!