Party time

The other weekend I was commissioned to photograph a dinner and after party. I don't market myself towards this type of work, but find it comes to me through work of mouth and referrals. I ended up having a lot of fun and made some images I was happy with towards the end of the night at the Mohawk's green room.

NPPA blog post

Thanks to Anita Baca for helping promote Zulu at 100. I wrote about the opening reception and series for the National Press Photographers Association region 8 blog.

You can read it and see some photos here.

Runner recovers and runs

A month ago I met Mark Hager for a phoot shoot near his home in Austin. I've worked with Statesman writer Pam LeBlanc a lot recently and enjoyed the off beat sports related features she pursues. Hager was hit by a truck while running 2 years ago. Since, he has recovered, continued running and set up a website for injured athletes to meet others of the like in a forum setting. He is a very positive person who gives off the impression that his spirit can't be damaged. Please read pam's article is here.

'Deni' Crawford

A few weeks ago the New York Times hired me to shoot portraits of Ms. Crawford, the Texas Securities Commissioner, for a special business section. It was a successful shoot, but a challenge to work in her triangular office that was filled with awards and lots of work. I learned a lot about how big business is done and regulated during my time with her and was thankful for her patience and commitment to helping me make a photo.

She has an impressive resume, as she has been working with the Securities Commission for over 20 years. I was really enamored with the quilt she had hanging on the wall; her grandmother and her sisters made it many years ago. I was happy I could work it into the shot, I think it says something about taking pride in your personal/Texas history. The view from her office was outstanding, right across the street from the Capitol, so she can keep a good eye on the Leg. Here is a link to the NYT story.






Another tragedy hit Austin this week as a man, Joseph Stack, flew his plane into an IRS office building in a fit of rage. I covered the first day for Reuters and the second day for Getty. You can find links to some of my work from the tragic event to the right on in the recently published area.

Good news to share...

No photos but good news:

My "Zulu at 100" book was accepted to the Harry Ransom Center's permanent collection of American history last week. I signed and sent 2 copies, as requested, to be on file in their library... forever!

This is a little late, but in December the Associated Press named this photo from Katrina to their photos of the decade series.

Both are rewarding achievements that I did not anticipate.

A political year...

has arrived. I worked with a political strategy firm recently and was able to get my hands on some of the promos they mailed the last time the Texas Legislature for Rep. Ciro Rodriguez of San Antonio. I think I made these photos in 2008 and didn't get to see the final product. I think it's pretty neat to see my photography used for a purpose outside of a newspaper's pages. In the end, it's all meant to communicate a message. This isn't journalism, but it was a fun and exhausting day of work.

The same firm is working on producing a regional Tv spot for the El Paso area using primarily my photos from the recent shoot with Jose Rodriguez. Can't wait to see what they come up with. In the mean time here are the end product promos from Ciro's shoot:

Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints?

If you haven't heard Black and Gold in the Superbowl, please have a listen... Geaux Saints!

There couldn't have been a better weekend to be in New Orleans. The opening reception at The Darkroom went very well. First off, I owe a big thanks to crew that made it happen Charles, Danielle and Cameron from the gallery, and my mom and Maria for their helpful opinions and culinary skills! There were so many small logistical issues that I never thought of encountering that the support crew really had a handle on, I couldn't have done it without them.

As we were competing with the Superbowl, Mardi Gras, freezing weather and a heated Mayor and local election I'd say we still did pretty well. We didn't get a huge draw unfortunately, but we had a great time and met some good folks who came to see the show. My friends Austin, Julian and Adam came and brought friends, who were great to see. In the end, one print sold from the evening and a bundle of hand stitched books. Having a red dot next to one of my photographs is a memorable experience that really made me feel honored and humbled. It's such a privilege to think that some one wants my work on their walls. Here are some snaps from the event:



The show with vinyl letters.


Maria, me and my mom.


Gurus Danielle and Cameron.


Sold!


The Saints won the Super Bowl and overall Sunday was a lot of fun:

Rue Bourbon before the game.

A local farmer holding a goat.

Jean Lafitte's, oldest bar in New Orleans.

Juice, left, getting crazy with Saints fans after the win.

Saints fans celebrating in traffic on Poydras.

Juice screaming from Austin's car.

S-A-I-N-T-S spelled on hotel on St. Charles circle.

Drew getting Breesy hoisting the trophy.

Austin during the game working his angles.

Monday afternoon a fan celebrating while driving on I-10 out of Nola.

A gas station I thought was cool near Breaux Bridge.

Zulu at 100 next weekend!

amigos dogs and arrow frost

I've been slammed lately with work, but can't update some of it until it publishes. Last week I shot portraits of a professional hockey player for the DMN and later in the week a runner who was hit by a truck 2 years only to fully recover and continue to run. Both great shoots with outstanding people. This weekend I was flown to El Paso by MAP, a political strategy firm, to shoot Texas Senator candidate Jose Rodriguez. It was whirlwind trip that encompassed an early flight, an all day shoot at 7 locations, an outstanding steak dinner, budding professional relationships, bomb promo photos and "good coffee."

These serious photographs are on the way, but in the mean time check out these snaps:








Some of the crew of dudes came back in town recently and we headed out to the lake for some R & R which included shooting a bow and arrow. I never hit the target, but my target was folded can on top of a carpet. Good times all around and a beautiful place even in winter during a drought.


Frost on Maria's car in winter. It hit 17 degrees this January and that's very cold for Austin.


Maria's dog Winnie demonstrates her sitting skills while sporting a French inspired bandana ensemble fresh from the grooomer's.


Nate Biggs clipping a quickdraw on Pee Wee's Big Adventure at the Great Wall on the Greenbelt. This ran about 5 columns wide on the front of the Life & Arts section in the AAS to compliment Pam Leblanc's story about the climbing scene in the greenbelt. Doing the climbs I regularly do with 2 or 3 lenses, a camera body, a flash and a flash transmitter makes them much more challenging. The climbers are a great group of people that were patient and accomodating to Pam and I, thanks!

Texas v Texas A&M

Last week I drove to College Station to meet and photograph Texas A&M basketball player Derrick Roland for the Dallas Morning News. Roland key senior for the Aggies, but unfortunately suffered a horrific injury while playing against Washington in December. He was very well composed and sincere while we shot and had a lot of patience to shoot in multiple locations doing different set ups and positions. We even compared our college sports injuries - me: concussions, torn shoulder ligiments; him: torn shoulder ligiment, broken fibula and tibula, broken patela (high school). After shooting I watched the footage and thought it was remarkable how resilient his character was after a traumatic event like this.


It seems that his career could be over at this point, but he has decided to stick around TAMU for a medical red shirt season and play as a senior next year. He also mentioned coaching wouldn't be a bad thing at some point. I hope things work out for him. You can read the story here.


So this all came full circle when the San Antonio Express-News called that same afternoon asking if I was available Saturday to shoot the game between Tamu and presently No. 1 ranked Texas in Austin. In fact I was getting a coffee still in College Station when they called, odd. The game was very intense and scrappy. Texas didn't play 100% and Tamu came out "punching them in the mouth," according to Texas' Damion James.


I don't routinely shoot a lot of games like this, but really had a great time and was able to really turn all my energy to what was happening on the court to make some snaps. I feel like I shot well and filed quickly. It went into overtime and Texas barely pulled on out the W. You can read the Express-News story here.


Thanks Lisa for emailing me this clip!

End of 2009

As 2009 came to a close I work really picked up. These last few photos came from some of my last assignments of 2009.



Freelance writer Michael Hoinski and I, as well as our significant others Kathy and Maria, went down to Gruene for a Saturday evening with Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis. The top portrait of the couple landed on the cover of the Statesman's 360 weekly special section and the bottom photo of Robison's very cool merchandise manager Gary sharing a dance with a stranger ran inside the special section. I think they ran 7 photos from the shoot!


This group of women formed a cabaret group called Carousel and gets hired to dance at various events and performs shows around Austin. It got the crowd moving at the Movember Gala, a mustache party to raise awareness about men's health issues.



The Euless Trinity football team won the 5a state championship defeating my high school rival Westlake in San Antonio. The game went into overtime and was decided by a lob pass to the corner of the end zone. The Morning News ran the catch photo inside pretty large. However, I had a great time shooting the Haka dance they performed before/after the game. The dance is similar to that of the New Zealand All Blacks if you watch rugby and was lead by the Tongans that make up about a third of the team. I found it interesting to see a large immigrant group unite with Texans on the football field to win State.


Stay posted for more posts as more photos are on the way.

Finally, time for an update

Attorney John P. Galligan will represent Major Nidal Malik Hasan for his murderous rampage that left 13 dead and injured 30 at Fort Hood in November:





A few weeks ago the Dallas Morning News called about photographing Colonel Galligan, the attorney famous for representing soldiers on trial. After a few attempts to schedule a day and time we met at his office in Belton on a dreary Tuesday afternoon. He was very friendly, welcoming and accomodating as I explained what I was trying to accomplish in photographing him. He kept repeating himself saying with his native Texan accent something along the lines of "wow, what is all this stuff? I thought you were just gonna walk in here and snap, snap and be on your way... You're a real professional, I can tell, not like those other photographers."

It was a compliment I genuinely appreciated as I worked very hard to set up multiple sets and positions to give my editors options. Going into the assignment I knew I wanted try and shoot him on seamless to make a well lit, tight clean headshot. I set up the paper renegade style, measure the light and went to work with Galligan. It was a lot of fun working in this way and caused for a positive interaction between he and I as we warmed up the shoot. I set up another lighting set up near a waterway and walking path to do some full length portraits. I wanted to show him for who he is, just being himself. But also given the context of the story I wanted to highlight his own characteristics; adjusting the tie, diverse facial expressions, optimistic personality.

In the end the story ran on Sunday's A1 and jumped to the top diptych on A20. I was impressed that it ran as I envisioned. Read the story here.


Austin runner Jeff Lahr's wife, Erin, died last year during the Whiterock Marathon in Dallas as she collapsed at mile 23:




A few days later, I had the privilege to meet Jeff Lahr and photograph him for the Dallas Morning News. He was an incredibly accomodating person as I photographed him Thursday evening after he got off work and before he went back to work for an emergency. He gave me time and patience to do multiple lighting and location set ups throughout his condo. We talked a lot about his wife's unexpected death and I was impressed at his ability to be strong through such a tragedy. Photos of Erin hang throughout the condo and Jeff ran the race this past Saturday in a relay format with 20 plus friends and supporters. Its always impressive for a group of people, many strangers in this case, rally behind some one going through something challenging. The top photo ran as the lead on Saturday's A1 cover. Read the story here.


Disabled rowers training for the 2012 Paralympics:







Back a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet a diverse group of disabled people, learning to row and trying out for the 2012 paralympic rowing team. It was impressive to say the least. I was again working with Austin American Statesman writer Pam LeBlanc for her column and looking forward to making some powerful photos. It took 2 days to cover this story because the first day it was 50 degrees and pouring rain.

We went out on a boat with one of the staff at the Austin Rowing Center and I would make a few pictures of the group on the water then quickly hide my camera in my gortex jacket to keep it from getting soaked. It was challenging and wish I had brought my camera's raincover. As the athletes came in from morning practice I was able to interact and make some photos of them bringing in the boat or reattaching their prosthetics.

The second day I came back because I thought these people impressed me with their ability to overcome life changing experiences and channel their energy to a sport. I set up my lights on the row center's dock and made portraits before they started practice. My goal was to show each person and their injury or disability. They were all great sports about participating in the photo project and I was excited to have the opportunity like this.

A friend described the way I photograph as "taking genuine interest people that I photograph, committing myself to them with undivided attention and an almost (childlike) wonderment."
I found his analysis interesting and complimentary to me, my outlook on life and approach to photography. Similar to the commitment of the disabled athletes overcoming their own personal obstacles to pursue rowing. They a 2 page color spread on the cover of Monday's Life/Arts section, but you can still see some of the photos and read Pam's story here.