allen • Visual Departures

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Flexfill… on a Football Field?!

It’s the week leading to the Super Bowl (again – a year goes by so fast), and I thought it would be fun to revisit number XXVIII, between the Cowboy and the Bills, played in Atlanta. A few months earlier, we heard from the NFL with an interesting question – could Visual Departures make a large number of collapsible disks in red, white, and blue. And keep it secret. Our answer was, “Absolutely, yes,” and we got the assignment.

So on January 30, 1994, about 350 young volunteers dressed in matching red, white and blue jump suits came on to the field as Natalie Cole prepared to sing the National Anthem. Their hands were behind their backs, each one holding a collapsed Flexfill. As the anthem began, they dropped to their knees and the Flexfill disks were popped open over their heads to form an American flag covering the area between the two 35-yard lines. With a little hand movement, the ‘flag’ began to ripple for the almost three minutes that Ms. Cole sang.

I was lucky enough to have a field pass for the game, and even though I took a number of pictures, the best image of all was made by David Tulis of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shooting from high above the playing field. By the way, Buffalo led at halftime, 13-6, but Dallas came back with 24 unanswered points. Final: Cowboys 30-13.

Tags: anthem Flexfill football halftime Natalie Cole Star Spangled Banner Super Bowl Superbowl

Jock Pottle: Architectural Model Photographer, Fine Artist, and Friend

Jock Pottle and I first met nearly 35 years ago, when he had recently arrived in New York and was beginning his career as a photographer. He was my assistant for years, became a very close friend and went on to build a career as a very successful architectural photographer, which he is to this day.

A number of years ago, Jock began working in another area of visual artistry that has resulted in a body of work that is absolutely unique and truly wonderful. As I write this, a solo show of his work has just opened at the Jim Kempner Fine Art gallery in New York at Tenth Avenue and 23^rd Street — in the shadow of the High Line. The weather was decidedly miserable for the opening, but the gallery was packed.

These images will give you some idea of what he’s been up to, but I really want you to spend some time at his web site www.diggingman.com. In particular, read the short bio he’s posted — that will give you an idea of where the ideas behind the work have come from. And when you look at these images, don’t for a moment think that you can absorb it all in one quick look.

On the other hand, Jock’s talents as a shooter are no small matter, either. He’s perhaps the best photographer in the U.S. of architectural models, which themselves can cost a small fortune to make. Sometimes the models are brought to his studio; on other occasions he has to travel to do the photography because the subjects are just too big and complex to be shipped. This area of photography is every bit as complex as food or still life imaging, and a look through his portfolio shows that he’s a master at lighting. It’s also very nice that on the web site Jock lists a number of top tier model builders… you never know.

Tags: architecture art artist gallery High Line Jim Kempner fine art Jock Pottle

In the Studio with Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, T-Bone Walker, and Legendary Jazz Musicians

I've never thought of myself as a 'music photographer,' but there is some evidence to the contrary. The latest reminder came early last week while watching NBC Nightly News and seeing an affectionate obit for Jerry Leiber, half of the legendary music-writing team of Leiber and Stoller. More articles appeared later in the week in print. Much of the popular music I had listened and (poorly) danced to in high school and college came from their collaboration. Leiber wrote the lyrics and Stoller the music for the Coasters, the Drifters, and lots of groups as well as for Elvis Presley. Much later on, their music was turned into a hit Broadway musical, Smokey Joe’s Café, which opened in 1995.

Our paths crossed just once, in New York in 1973, when I was assigned to shoot the studio production photos for an album by the great blues guitarist, T-Bone Walker. Leiber and Stoller produced the album, titled Very Rare, and the guest artists included Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, Zoot Sims, and Herbie Mann, among others.

Over the years, my own musical tastes had changed, moving much more toward jazz, so it was a real thrill (no exaggeration) to be in the studio at the same time with the composers who had written the first tunes I knew by heart and, almost 20 years later, the artists whose music I had come to appreciate just as much. So it seemed a good idea to dig into the archives and put up a bunch of images to remember those days…

Tags: album blues Coasters Dizzy Gillespie Drifters Elvis Presley Gerry Mulligan Herbie Mann jazz Jerry Leiber Mike Stoller music recording studio T-Bone Walker Zoot Sims

President Obama Returns to Martha's Vineyard, and I Check My 'Priorities'

Two days ago, the President returned to a Martha’s Vineyard golf course very near our home, so I had the chance (away from the rest of the press) to make a new image of Mr. Obama at play. After the expected full inspection by the Secret Service ahead of the President’s arrival, there was a wait of about 15 minutes while he played the previous hole.

There are things you can control, and particularly with the President of the U.S., even more things you can’t. Instead of playing to the 8^th green where I was, the President and his foursome skipped the hole and went straight to the adjacent 9^th tee, after driving his cart over to say hello. He was friendly enough in his greeting, but said he was running late (if you’re the President, I guess you can play the just holes you want).

I had already mounted the latest version of Nikon’s tack-sharp and very fine 70-200mm f/2.8ED on my D300, figuring that would cover his short game and putting. And here comes today’s photo lesson —

What shooting mode to use? First of all, there was plenty of light, even though the subject matter was largely back-lit. I wanted a bit of depth-of-field, but since the picture was all about Mr. Obama, what’s far more important was a fast shutter speed. That dictated going to Aperture-Priority set at f/4. With the VR turned on, I ended up with a shutter speed of 1/640, which guaranteed a sharp image.

It always makes me crazy that there are so many people who buy a fine camera and great optics, whether an SLR or a point-and-shoot, and then just leave it in AUTO mode. And yet, it’s what I see all the time, even with friends and family — they eagerly seek my advice on what to buy, and then leave in AUTO until they’re ready to buy a new camera. Here’s my point: you definitely will never learn all the options and gimmicks your new camera offers, but please, at least learn how, when, and why to use the various shooting modes.

It was all over in just a few seconds and eight frames (I’m not a fan of high-speed motor drive shooting.) Then, on the 9^th tee, he was a good bit farther away, but I took a couple of more shots and caught the President in the midst of the classic Obama fist-bump with one of his partners. That picture, appearing inside the paper and cropped a bit, was just a bit of pure lucky timing.

The President leaves the Island this evening, a day early. Now I and the rest of the Gazette staff are turning our full attention to something just as unpredictable as covering Mr. Obama: tracking Hurricane Irene.

Tags: aperture Barack Obama club game golf Martha's Vineyard Mink Meadows Nikon Nikon D300 Obama president priority telephoto vacation vineyard Vineyard Gazette

Anticipation: Planning a Photo of President Obama Playing Golf

I’m in the office in Connecticut this week, and not at our home on Martha’s Vineyard, where my wife and I spend much of the year, even in the winter. For a number of years, I’ve worked part-time for the Vineyard Gazette, a great paper with a history of more than 160 years. Seeing the coverage, both print and television, of President Obama’s vacation on the Vineyard for the third year in a row, I thought I’d share two images from 2009, his first year in office.

Wherever the President travels, the press follows. Being a Vineyard resident was what made possible this front-page photo of Mr. Obama on one of the island’s golf courses. A good friend’s home adjoins one of the greens, so once I knew which course he was playing, it was an easy matter to be waiting for him to arrive. Of course, his Secret Service detail (with lots of equipment) shadowed his play, and I had to have my pockets searched and all my gear checked out. But in the end, it was my picture alone, and that’s always satisfying.

While the accredited press (myself included) operate from a local site set up by the White House press office, in this case the cafeteria of one of the island’s schools, it's never known when the President may take a break from his vacation to appear for a formal announcement. That was the case almost exactly two years ago, on August 25^th, 2009, when Mr. Obama re-appointed Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Besides all the usual photos of the President and Mr. Bernanke, I particularly liked making this one – the staffer with the task of putting the Presidential Seal on the podium, and making sure, absolutely sure, that it is perfectly positioned. He probably has other duties as well.