Photographers & Triathletes Never Stop Learning

After recently finishing my third Nautica South Beach Triathlon in Miami this past weekend, with a better time than my first two, I realized that there's much to be said about the similarities between triathletes and photographers. We must never stop learning, continuing to develop new techniques, in order to evolve and improve our abilities. This is what cognitive thinking is all about, the ability to push your mind's elasticity, and teach that old dog some new tricks.

It turns out that whether you're talking about the best triathletes, or the best photographers, experience comes in handy, and the younger ones tend to waste a lot of energy. Across disciplines, it requires profound mental focus and efficiency, to either "get the shot" or cross the finish line. In my experience, eliminating the variables, as I like to call it, removes much of the chaos from the equation. So, like anything worth while, it takes intense training and tenacity to succeed.

A friend of mine didn't even know how to swim, before beginning to train a little over three years ago. He just finished in the top ten percent of his division, despite having flipped head first off of his bike, ignoring cuts and bruises to his shoulder, hip, leg and foot, and persevering for hist best finish time yet. Another competitor vomited twice during the swim, and managed to finish the race, while others were pulled out of the rough seas by lifeguards. As U.S. Marines like to say, "Improvise. Adapt. Overcome." That being said, many of the competitors on race day, have gone through the brutal training that it takes to become a member of the military, and a triathlon might just feel like another exercise, if you're a Navy Seal.

However, many of the people that compete in these races, actually feel like it's impossible to do something like this at first, but if you set up a twelve-week workout calendar, pretty much anyone can do it. Let's just say that, after the nineteen-mile bike, very few people run like a Gazelle. Many people are overweight, injured, and the most inspiring groups to see, are the disabled and amputees. Anyone can do this, and I often say that if I lost my sight, I'd still want to make photos.

Of course, these days, everyone is a photographer, as I said in my Apple store lecture in the Fall of 2011 in Chelsea, NY. So it goes, seasoned veteran photogs have been feeling threatened by the expanding playing field, ever since the Brownie camera came out. While the entry fee for a triathlon can be as low as $150.00, around the equivalent price of a decent snappy camera, the truth is, it's always been a level playing field, and you're really in a race against yourself. 

My Photo Session With Carrie Underwood

Portrait of Carrie Underwood for American Idol

After Carrie Underwood won another Grammy Award tonight, it reminded me of my still shoot with the country music star.  We produced a fourteen-month calendar during a one-day photo shoot, and this is my favorite outtake.  Carrie was a true professional, and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to photograph her early in her career.  Needless to say, it was a challenging day, logistically, but I had a great crew.  We had four different sets that we rotated through, so while we were shooting on one, the next set would be dressed and ready for us.  

Although Carrie's been photographed countless times since, this always remains the image that is most iconic for me.  She was leaving the little girl from Oklahoma behind, and moving into the limelight.  Congrats again Carrie! 

Provoking a Portrait

Denis Leary, NYC

In order to make a successful portrait, there needs to be a dialogue between photographer and subject. Otherwise, you're making a different kind of picture, and capturing another kind of moment. For Reportage or Photojournalism, photographers are expected to be passive. We can't interfere, because if we do, we're not documenting events as they unfold in front of our lens. Coming from this fly-on-the-wall point of view, has always been part of my process, even if I'm shooting an elaborate set for an advertising campaign. This documentary style is just a starting point for me, though, as is Yousuf Karsh's portrait of Winston Churchill, or many other iconic images. There's an exchange between the lens, and the viewer gets to feel like they were there with you, because of the unique moment that took place between two people. 

In the case of my recent portrait of Denis Leary at HBO for the Writer's Guild, I'd prepared for him to assault my idea, but figured that it would just make for a more interesting picture. Instead, he was being really friendly & appearing, at first, less rugged than I had thought he'd be. What I did was take a small step toward him, knowing that I'd just pushed into his space, and his grin changed to something more indicative of his complex personality. He's a hysterical guy, and charming, despite his biting wit, but also a man that's capable of knocking you out, and that's what I wanted to portray. Sure, he's got a glamorous life, but I wanted to convey his masculinity, and so I needed to stand on that line, but if I crossed it, he'd either pull the plug on my shoot, or take a swing at me. Neither of those happened, and the laughs continued, but now there's this moment that shows what a tremendously interesting person he is.

I'm intrigued by the dialogue that happens when my camera confronts someone with a strength of character like Mr. Leary, yet also an honest vulnerability, and I'm pushing them to be present. Often, and especially for actors, we become the characters that we play, and get intimidated by allowing someone to capture our humble identity. For big actors who play larger-than-life people, delivering brilliantly written lines, they are typically intimidated by the grounding quality of the still camera. Their last experience was probably with some Paparazzi who was catching them off-guard, with crappy light.  

In my work, I aim to put people at ease, so that these barriers are lifted, and we come together, in the interest of making a strong portrait. Once they trust that's why I'm there, and not to exploit them, it becomes a collaboration to get something meaningful. An introspective portrait should always come from the heart, convey integrity, and be engaging, whether or not it's all been provoked.

Pastry Chef, Maarten Steenman, of La Tulipe Desserts

Maarten Steenman is a second-generation Dutch-born pastry chef with extensive experience as an apprentice at the finest patisseries in Europe, (Holland, France, Belgium and Norway, to be precise). His modest-sized pastry shop, La Tulipe Desserts, is located in Westchester, and has many loyal celebrity customers, such as Martha Stewart, the Clintons, and Vanessa Williams, to name a few. Even in New York City, it is unlikely that you will find pastries that are on this level of quality and taste. Maarten's gourmet food creations are simply unparalleled, outside of Paris. This is why I've long been a customer, an admirer, and eventually a friend.
You see, Maarten is quite a remarkable person, in that he is obviously a tenacious perfectionist. Yet, upon first meeting, something not so obvious, almost went unnoticed. Unlike most of us, he was not born with all ten fingers, but has only eight. For some, this might seem to be a disability, but Maarten has never seen it that way. In fact, it is barely an obstacle for him.
Maarten began his business in Bedford, NY with only a few hundred dollars, back in the 90's. Since that humble beginning, he and his wife Frances have been living the American Dream. They've always served their community the best quality, artisanal, artistic creations, using mostly organic ingredients, from purveyors with the highest standards.
While I urge you to taste anything that Maarten creates, remember that the man behind the art, has put his heart and soul into your dessert. As each sweet bite disappears, you will have enjoyed eating your most memorable treat, but behind that pastry case, there is an artist still creating. This is where you may too find me, behind my camera, creating moments, exploring timelessness.
We've recently been discussing making a book together, so stay tuned...

Gulf Islands Nat'l Seashore- Perdido Key, FL

This is a snapshot from my iPhone, "just the tip of the iceberg", near the tip of Perdido Key, Gulf Islands National Seashore. This is a once pristine, pure white sand National Park, and it is slowly being destroyed by our addiction to oil. It's the home and nesting ground to Herons, Plovers, Pelicans, Sea Turtles, Black Skimmers, etc... Tragically, their numbers have been greatly reduced, and many species, already endangered, like the especially cute Ridley's Sea Turtle, will be lucky if they can adapt quickly enough to the dramatically changed air, water, and landscape. What will happen if they disappear? Maybe the Ghost Crab will too? Nobody knows for sure, but we do know that slight changes in the environment can cause dramatic changes for all species.
Humans will be no exception to the struggle for survival in the rapidly deteriorating Eco-system. The food chain in the Gulf of Mexico may be headed for collapse. Once this happens, there's no telling if it will ever be the same.
As you look at old postcards and historical footage of these 99% white quartz beaches, you will have a visual control for the dramatic onslaught of black oil and green dispersant, that has changed everything in the Gulf.
It is what we do not see, that has me perplexed, since we know that the dispersant is helping to break down the oil and cause it to sink from the surface of the water. Why are we filling the ocean floor with black tar, and what will be the solutions to these new problems?
Moreover, if the bottom of the Gulf is normally white sand, but is quickly converting to black tar, the temperature will, therefore, continue to rise. More of this will be coming soon, as a Physicist friend of mine, Brian Hoover, Ph.D., will be discussing his theory soon...

Gulf Coast Reportage

Scientist, Brian Hoover, surveys the catastrophic oil slick along Gulf Islands National Seashore, Pensacola, FL.

With each passing day, the devastation appears to be worse and worse. First, there are a few small tar balls, and then larger patties of oil. In many areas, once pristine, toxic waves of oil continually accumulate into pools of sticky crude on the white sand. Slowly, the beaches in this beautiful refuge for wildlife, are getting polluted beyond any magnitude of environmental devastation ever witnessed. This one-of-a-kind National Park is home to nesting grounds for many bird species, such as the Plover, and this delicate eco-system is sure to be affected for decades.
Just days before the Fourth of July, there are very few signs of people, other than the small groups of workers and officials. The tourists have reluctantly gone elsewhere, but the crews work day and night, in futility. With primitive tools, such as shovels and plastic bags, the cleanup effort seems to be more of a public relations spectacle. If the gusher can't be stopped, how long will the workers need to be here "cleaning" our beaches? Just because you shovel away a pool of tar, what about the chemicals that have leached into the sand? There is Benzene, among other highly toxic chemicals in this raw crude. Since these are known carcinogens, what will happen to the creatures that live under the sand in the tidal zone? Where is all of the seaweed that is normally here? What is happening under this murky water, where we cannot see?
Moreover, what will happen to the people if and when they return? Is the air safe to breathe? The raw crude contains many other volatile organic compounds, and we normally only come in close contact with refined motor oil and fuel, but this is something else, from miles beneath the ocean floor. Do we even have data on this substance, which has been mixed with dispersants? Maybe we should we all be wearing respirators, as the oily smell fills the air, and it continues to spread? What will going to the beach along the Gulf Coast be like from now on? Most of what we have seen has been devastating to wildlife in LA & MS, but now the slick has moved into areas that have greater populations of beach-goers in FL. The storm that was supposed to help disperse the oil out at sea, has clearly exacerbated the spread of oil onto more and more of our once heavily populated beaches, and has now been escalated to Hurricane Alex.
It's very curious that I've seen no other reporters or journalists out here this week. It's as though they felt that the story was covered, and there was nothing else to see. On the contrary, this may just be the beginning of something none of us were prepared for. Our oil companies perceive spills as a cost of doing business, but the impact on our well-being as a species may be in question now. Was this really unforeseen, while too many unnecessary risks were taken? The costs will weigh heavily on all of us.

Full Moon Fire Ceremony, Laguna Beach

Full Moon Fire Ceremony With Q'uero Shaman, Laguna Beach

People have always gathered by the edge of the water, to sit in awe of the sublime forces of Nature. Now is no different, except that some are trying to prevent others from witnessing the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. In preparation to shine more light on this region, my respected team of journalists, and a scientist, are developing stories of integrity, that bring voices and faces out of the darkness...

LAKOTA SIOUX PRAYER

Grandfather Great Spirit
All Over The World,
The Faces Of Living Ones
Are Alike.
With Tenderness,
They Have Come
Up Out Of The Ground.
Look Upon Your Children
That They May Face The Winds
And Walk The Good Road
To The Day Of Quiet.
Grandfather Great Spirit
Fill Us With The Light.
Give Us the Strength
To Understand
And the Eyes To See.
Teach Us To Walk The Soft Earth
As Relatives....
To All That Live.

If you are interested in helping our oil disaster reportage team:
http://www.edivvy.com/event/135A7B4