October 31st, 2009
Orrin C. Hudson of Be Someone
I learned to play Chess when I was 21 years old and only then because my roommate played. He always had babes over teaching them and I wanted to get in on that game too, so I learned.
My friend Orrin Hudson learned at a much younger age but for different reasons. Orrin is the seventh of thirteen kids who found himself in and out of foster care as a kid. He is also an ex-cop and founder of Be Someone, a non-profit crime prevention program.
As a teenager, Orrin did not follow the letter of the law and struggled in school until one of his teachers taught him Chess. “With his help, I began to understand life through a chessboard. He showed me that every move you make has consequences and in order to improve my game and my life, I had to make better choices,” says Hudson. “I slowly realized that I was responsible for my own success or failure.”
Since then, Orrin went on to win the Birmingham City Chess Championships in 1999 and in 2000. He recently won top honors in the Under 1700 section at the 37th Annual World Open in Philly. I tell you, this guy is bad; he can take you down in 3 moves.
Orrin has also dedicated his life to making a difference. And now he does it by teaching kids life lessons through Chess. I visited one of Orrin’s Chess Camps and I was so taken with his presence and teaching skills, I was ready to pick up the game again.
But to Orrin, it’s less about Chess and more about building character. While he is teaching camp goers the game, he uses a variety of call and responses to keep their attention and get them motivated.
To Be Someone you got to get in the game,
I am Orrin C. Hudson; it’s time for a change.
Make the right moves in this game called life,
Think before you move and always be nice.
When the game gets tough and times get rough,
Never give up, cause we are more than enough.
Practice everyday the correct way,
Always better your best before you play.
Orrin is working hard to make every move count. He and Be Someone needs your help. Go to www.besomeone.org to make a donation.
Tags: Chess, crime, Hudson, non-profit, Orrin, Photojournalist Atlanta, prevention, Someone
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October 12th, 2009
Mack Calvin, John Durham, LeRue Martin, Dr. J, Walt Williams, Duane Causewell, George Tinsley, Manute Bol, Charles D. Smith, Kevin Willis and Tom Burleson
Imagine spending the better part of a weekend with the likes of Moses Malone, Rick Barry, Willie Davis, Dolph Schayes, James Donaldson, Don Heinke, Lucius Allen, C.J. Kupec, Jeff Mullins, Muggsy Bogues, Kevin Willis, Manute Bol, Rex Morgan, Cliff Robinson, John Durham, Nate Williams, Marvin Roberts, Jeff Mullins and Julius “Dr. J” Erving. Then, in walks Charles Smith, Levern Tart, Artis Gilmore, Mack Calvin, LeRue Martin, Walt Williams, Tom Burleson, George Tinlsey, Anthony Mason, Duane Causewell, Otis Birdsong and many other former NBA’ers. Man, do these names bring back memories or what?
Julius Ervin recently hosted the NBA Legends Of Basketball conference over a rain-soaked weekend in Atlanta and I was there to cover it. The events kicked off at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Buckhead with a welcome dinner and it was a pleasure to see these guys – many who played during different eras – greet each other. They are an elite group and it was very clear they are fans of each other.
They hugged, laughed, teased and told old stories about each other into the wee hours of the morning. One of the funniest moments Saturday night was Walt Williams’ reminiscence of one of his games against Michael Jordan and how MJ taught him a lesson by stealing the ball and welcoming him to the NBA.
Saturday night was the gala dinner with speeches, awards and music by Ken Ford. Don Cornelius would have been proud of how the retirees strutted, spun, bopped and danced down the Soul Train line. These guys are former big-time ballers who may not take it to the hole as fiercely as they once did but they can still take it to the dance floor.
Tags: Atlanta, Dr. J, Event photographer Atlanta, NBA, photography, Photojournalism
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September 19th, 2009
Make-up Artist Stephanie Kelly and Model Frances Wong
I spent last Thursday in the studio from 9:30 AM to almost 10 PM. Between moving lights, light tests, directing, changing the set, shooting and sweating, I did manage to scoff down a Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a coke around 6:30.
On paper that sounds like a long, grueling day but because I was surrounded by make-up artist Stephanie Kelly and models Nicole Brown and Frances Wong, it was a pretty spectacular day. Nicole motored in from Gaffney, South Carolina, Stephanie commuted from Hamilton County and Frances… well she lives nearby in Buckhead but hey, she drives a hot looking Black Mustang. I knew Frances was okay the moment that Stang pulled into the lot.
I am very happy with the results from both shoots – Nicole and Frances were fabulous. They came prepared, had their own ideas and took direction well. But Stephanie was the glue that held it all together. Stephanie knows make-up. Plus she is nice, funny and digs hip-hop. Yeah, I heard you rappin along with Jay Z. And again, Stephanie knows make-up.
I can’t wait until another opportunity to work with all three.
Tags: Fashion, Fashion photographer Atlanta, Kelly, make-up, Models, Photojournalism, portrait, Wong
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August 27th, 2009
Marvelous Malvin Whitfield, Fredricka and film producer Miia Jonkka.
Marvelous Malvin Whitfield is a Tuskegee Airman, a former diplomat, an Olympian and among other things, my father-in-law. He earned his Olympic medals running 400m and 800m races during the London and Helsinki games in 1948 and 1952. As he once told me, “The 800 is a man’s race.”
He was recently invited to Helsinki, Finland to take part in a documentary being filmed on Blacks in Finland. There have never been many Blacks in the Scandinavian country. Its population today is 5 million people with less than 20,000 Blacks.
Marvelous Mal is 85 and does not get around the track as well as in the old days. His daughter, and my wife Fredricka, and I traveled with him to help along the way. Mr. Whitfield’s part in the documentary focuses on his time there in 1952; his memories on what he experienced and how he was treated. During the taping he had very vivid memories of walking into the Olympic stadium for the first time, the Finnish ladies who cooked for the American athletes in the athlete’s village and of Finnish Olympic legend Paavo Nurmi, who ran the Olympic flame into the Stadium during the Opening Ceremony.
During our down time, Fredi and I walked and rode the trolley around most of the city. The streets in Helsinki are a joy to walk. Much of the city was built around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a unique National character. Some of the best buildings are from the 1920’s.
One of our funniest moments was our first night and we were both awakened by extremely loud, thumping dance music around 2AM. Our hotel was on the main downtown drag, smack dab in the middle of party central. I got up, looked out the window and the street was crawling with loud and wide-awake Finns. We tried to go back to sleep but it was just too noisy. It sounded like the bass and bongo players were in the room with us.
Around 3 AM we decided, if you can’t beat them, join them, so we got up and dressed. As we were leaving the room, Fredi took one last look out the window and noticed it was slightly ajar. Hence the loud ass music. She closed the window and all of a sudden our room was completely sound proof. We laughed about all of the sleep we had lost and decided we are up so lets go hit the streets. And the streets were lively.
After 15 minutes of walking and taking in the scene (trying not to look like tourist) we learned that 3:30 is the club curfew. It was if someone threw a switch and the music slowed to a crawl then died. And instantly the doors of at least five different clubs flew open and out came a ton of more party people.
Lets just say, the Finns take pride in their ability to party (drink) with the best of them and most of this crowd had done their country well. These people had gotten their drink on. We watched as they scampered – some much slower that others – to McDonalds, street vendors and any other place they could find food.
Of course Fredi had to have fries, so we hit the Helsinki MacDonalds then back to our sound proof room.
Tags: Commercial Photographer Atlanta, documentary, Event photographer Atlanta, Finland, Finns, Fredricka, Helsinki, Jonkka, Malvin, Miia, Olympics, Photojournalism, Stadium, Whitfield
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August 18th, 2009
Selden, Shannon and Melanie of Hi/Lo.
I recently caught up with the crew of Hi/Lo – the Comcast On Demand style show – as they filmed an episode at Nearly New thrift shop on Howell Mill Road. Hi/Lo travels to some of Atlanta’s hottest thriftiques and consignments boutiques creating Hi fashion looks for Lo budget prices.
Shannon Alderman who also serves as executive-producer hosts the show. Her wingmen, make-up artist and hair stylist Selden Beylouni and her assistant Emily Baker, fashion consultant Melanie Zentner, producer Rachel Duch and videographer Willis Boyd ably support Shannon. Willis is the only male on the team and the only person with a perpetual smile on his face.
Speaking of fashion chutzpah (?), Shannon and Mel use their style experience to find buried slightly worn treasures while Selden give the guests a pre-shopping visual transformation to get them in the mood to shop til they drop. You have to feel good to shop good. Yeah, I said it.
The team’s project that day was to help beautiful bride-to-be Amber Matz find the perfect wedding gown for her upcoming October wedding. So what they also found time to try on bathing suits, buy shoes and scarves for themselves plus scoff a week supply of Heat Sauce from a nearby Taco Bell (Mel), they were still on a mission.
After a little make-up, a little combing and a little cat herding by Rachel, the fashionistas combed the shelves and found three possible gowns. I won’t reveal which but Amber almost danced her way out of Nearly New with her bargain-priced designer purchase.
Of course you will have to watch the latest episode of Hi/Lo, on Real City TV on Comcast On Demand to see for yourself.
Tags: Alderman, Event photographer Atlanta, Fashion, Hi/Lo, Nearly, New, Photojournalist Atlanta, Selden, Shannon, style, Zentner
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August 1st, 2009
Landon, Alexander and John
Per usual on the weekends, J2 and I are together most of the two days so I look for activities to keep him occupied. Anything interesting that keeps him running, climbing, jumping, hopping, sweating and laughing with more running, qualifies. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I try to tire out my little buddy so he goes to bed peacefully; I just try to tire him out so he goes to bed peacefully. And early is not a bad thing either because Homey wears me out.
I recently took him to the Chattahoochee Nature Center for the Butterfly Festival because it was different and I had visions of Homey chasing butterflies for hours and yep, tiring his self out. Plus we would be together in nature enjoying the natural beauty of some of God’s creatures and yada, yada, yada.
Anyway, J2 loves his school friends and one question he asked right before we arrived was, ‘Will some of my friends be there?” I didn’t want to disappoint him with a no but I did not expect to see his friends so far from our area. I told him I wasn’t sure and changed the subject.
Not five minutes after arriving, we turned a corner in the park and bam, ran into his favorite school chum Landon and his mom. It was an unbelievable coincidence and as soon as they spotted each other, the running began. J2 saw playmate, I saw diversion. I’m sure Landon’s mom thought I was cheesing a little too much but it was like going to a concert with no ticket, little expectation of getting in and finding yourself on the guest list, with all an access pass (you had to be there).
So I’m now on cloud 9 and 10 minutes later, we bump into another friend, Alexander and his family. It was like the starting pistol fired for the start of the 100-meter dash because they were off and running. And now I’m really cheesing and daydreaming about his bedtime. I know it will be painless… for me.
We were there for hours and enjoyed every minute. Alexander, Landon and John had a blast dancing, running, throwing rocks, watching butterflies, fishes and turtles and being buds. I knew he was happy because when we got in the car to go home he started singing.
So long story short, I bathed him, fed him and started cheesing some more when he laid down and immediately went out like a light. Now that was a good day.
Tags: Add new tag, Butterfly, Chattahoochee, Event photographer Atlanta, festival, photography, Photojournalism
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July 17th, 2009
Lanterns at the Temple Of Heaven in Beijing
Surprise, surprise; I recently learned that the cover of the July 2008 issue of Georgia Trend Magazine – with my photo – won silver for best cover in the annual Alliance Of Area Business Publications contest. The annual Editorial Excellence Awards competition recognizes excellence in journalism, photography and design achieved by regional business publications.
I took the photo on one of my trips to China when I actually found some down time to get out and walk around Beijing. I noticed the lanterns because of years of training to look for details. I never saw this photo as a cover but obviously Creative Director Penny Alligood is much smarter so she used it.
Messages from the judges: Color is the message of this elegant cover – Chinese red – seen in the lanterns shot by an Atlanta photographer (me) at Beijing’s famed Temple of Heaven. In fact, there is a bit of heaven about this cover. A great photo, well-chosen color for the logo and smartly placed cover lines in an understated but very readable san serif, seamlessly fuse into a graceful whole. Divine.
Tags: AABP, award, Beijing, contest, cover, Georgia, magazine, photography, trend
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July 15th, 2009
Sondra, Melvin, David, Marc, Shannon, Elliott, Tom, Harry, Monroe and Al
At a recent Media Bistro mixer, I met my now friend, writer, producer and TV show host Shannon, who told me about an article she had written on the Atlanta Jazz Listeners Club. It’s a group of men and women of different ages and diverse backgrounds who share a common pleasure that brings them together once a month. They all dig jazz.
Shannon worked at Colony Square and would occasionally see Monroe in the parking garage – a distinguished looking gentleman – who always had jazz playing in the background. She eventually asked about his music and he gave her the story of a sound while dropping names like Miles, Monk, Mingus and Marsalis. None of the names meant much to Shannon but she liked the tunes. During one of their chance meetings Monroe told her about the AJLC and invited her to one of their monthly meetings. Shannon accepted, attended, loved it and hence the article.
Soon after, I read her article and immediately began a groveling and almost embarrassing campaign to wrangle an invite to the next meeting. The AJLC gave her the thumbs-up to bring a stranger to their June meeting at Marc’s home and just like that, I was in like Flint.
Forget the fact I arrived at the meeting about 20 minutes before Shannon – which was somewhat awkward – the AJLC, which is made up of a couple of scientists, a dentist, a few retired executives, a professor, a musician and a guy who sings in a jazz choir and claims he lives in the “hood,” all welcomed me with open arms. They had the tunes, the vibe, the bar, the coolness and the smiles turned on and I was immediately glad to be there.
I quickly learned it’s not about who you are, what you have or where you’ve been. It’s all about the music. They sat, listened, nodded, smiled, chatted (if you wanted to) and enjoyed being there.
Later in the evening David leaned over and said, “I hope you didn’t eat much before you came.” I knew what he meant because the delightful aromas coming from the kitchen had been in the air since I arrived. My smile got even brighter. Lets just say Marc’s wife Johnetta knows her way around a kitchen. The salmon, the Brown Stew Chicken, the veggies, the sauces and peach cobbler sealed it for me. My next question was… how do I become a member?
Tags: Alderman, Jazz, photography, portrait, Professional Photographer Atlanta
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June 6th, 2009
Actor Flex Alexander
Director Kenny Leon held his annual fun-filled ‘Greens in the Day, Blues in the Night’ Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Celebrity International Golf Course in Tucker. The event quickly reminded me of lyrics from an old R&B song by Shorty Long, titled ‘Function at the Junction.’
I’m getting ready for the function at the junction,
And baby you better come on right now.
Because everybody’s gonna be there,
We got people coming from everywhere.
Okay, they didn’t have everybody because neither Tiger nor Bagger Vance were there. However, Kenny had over 100 other duffers on the immaculate greens and they came ready to play. In fact, they came ready to play and talk a little smack. After one of his early drives Julius “Dr J.” Erving declared it so bad, he would walk because he didn’t deserve to ride. He quickly teased Steve Smith that he should walk too because his drive was even worse.
The golfers were divided into two camps; Kenny Leon led the east coast team and Samuel L. Jackson took charge of the west. And Kenny made it clear from the start; he didn’t want Sam taking his trophy back to Hollywood. It wasn’t quite Tupac vs. Biggie but it was serious.
The cast of characters included Flex Alexander, Dr. Christopher Leggett, Brian Jordan, Glynn Turman, James Pickens Jr., John Thomas Grant Jr., Danny Simmons, John Ahee, Royal Marshall and Andre Watts.
Tags: charity, Dr. J, golf, Kenny Leon, Samuel L. Jackson, Sports photographer Atlanta, tucker
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May 22nd, 2009
Model Gretchen Corliss
In 1899, Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the US Office of Patents said, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” In 1927 Harry M. Warner of Warner Bros said, “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” Some years after that, Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team and The Beatles were turned down for a recording contract by Decca Records. Who knew?!
Well today I had my second photo shoot with the long and beautiful Gretchen Corliss. That is her in the photo above. During the first shoot, believe it or not, I posed Gretchen far in the back, over exposed and way pass my depth of field… just for an effect. Talk about being under utilized.
Today I saw the light and moved Gretchen to the front of the frame, where she belongs.
So maybe it’s not as big an oops as the others or when Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear on his first automobile, but it wasn’t very insightful on my part.
Tags: Commercial Photographer Atlanta, Corliss, Fashion, Fashion photographer Atlanta, Gretchen, model, photography, portrait
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