East Coast, West Coast Rivalry

June 6th, 2009
Actor Flex Alexander

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 was 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.

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A Tall Glass Of Water

May 22nd, 2009
Gretchen Corliss

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.

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Playin’ in her hair

April 11th, 2009
Hair Stylist Mario Yildiz

Hair Stylist Mario Yildiz

I recently did a shoot with hair stylist extraordinaire Mario Yildiz. Mario is a talented stylist with a big heart, a big personality and most importantly, is a great guy. There is no doubt Mario will be a friend. And as I do with all my friends, I pressure and badger them to go to jazzfest. Hey, it’s what I do. I love New Orleans and I want all my friends to love it too.

The shoot was fun and worked largely because of our model Gretchen who sat in a chair giving her all, even though she knew she would be out of focus and just an eye-catching shape in the background. A very eye-catching shape, I might add. I showed a frame to a friend and the first question he asked was, “Who is the chick?” He looked right pass Mario. Thank you Gretchen.

Next month we plan to regroup and shoot more models with Mario’s creative hairstyles for his portfolio. I won’t be dreading that assignment.

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Fredi swims with the fishes

April 6th, 2009
Fredi Whitfield

Fredi Whitfield

The title is a take-off on the line from Godfather when Clemenza explained to Santino the meaning of the package they received containing a wet bulletproof vest wrapped around a dead fish. Clemenza said “Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes,” which meant Luca was dead and at the bottom of the Hudson.

Fortunately, Fredi is alive and well. She only swam with the fishes and is not at the bottom of the Georgia Aquarium. For a story she did on vacations-on-a-budget, she got in and had a blast swimming with 20 feet long Whale sharks, Hammerheads, Giant Groupers, Zebra sharks, Nandi the Manta ray and an overly chatty writer from the Miami Herald. I’ll have to ask my friend Karen Burkett at the Herald if she knows her.

It goes without saying; I stayed dry and manned my cameras on the other side of the glass, far away from animals higher on the food chain than me.

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Pregnant beauty

September 28th, 2008

My very stunning friend Mo is even more stunning as she enters her 7th month of pregnancy. I have personally witnessed what an exciting and special time this is for pregnant women. Even though they sometimes feel less pretty during this stage, mothers-to-be glow and even take on a sexier level of sexiness.

Many women find beauty in taking artsy photos while carrying a child — especially those like Mo who are independent and adventurous — so I totally understood when Mo asked me about taking “Demi Moore” type pictures. Her request immediately reminded me of the photos I had taken of my wife and good friend Michelle – who still has my negatives. I haven’t forgotten Michelle.

Anyway, comfort, trust, soft lighting and a mutual vision are essential for doing these bare belly au natural images. Mo was very comfortable with the idea of posing. The word she used most as we discussed the shoot was “tasteful.” We agreed on a couple of concepts then had a pleasant and comfortable time shooting the pictures.

Mo’s adventurous spirit, her confidence plus her inner and outer beauty made it an easy shoot for me.

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Back in the U.S.A.

September 2nd, 2008

I was in Beijing for 44 days and I’m proud to say, 3 of those days were alcohol free.

I flew 16,380 round trip nautical miles.

Watched 9 in-flight movies and that number does not reflect watching “Iron Man” twice.

Under intense peer pressure and guidance from my Aussie friends and a few late nights at Olympic parties and bar row in Sanlitun, I averaged about 3 beers a day.

I watched the better part of 272 boxing matches. Count em, that is roughly 4352 minutes or 1088 rounds of boxing. I think I’m feeling kinda punch drunk.

Survived different face-offs with about 30 Mongolians and 3 drunken Irishmen. Not sure which was the tougher group.

Dined on almost everything at 15 – 20 different restaurants. The only bad meal was at the venue.

Thanks to Laura, Charlotte and Sammy – my Uk mates - I was delivered 4 Big Macs… just in the nick of time.

Made new acquaintances and reconnected with many photog friends from all over the world.

Met 2 interesting ladies, Anna Laurell from Sweden and Natasha Ragozina from Russia. As beautiful as they are, these two female boxers you would not want to insult.

Actually started to answer when people called me Astro or Softie.

I ran into 2 Atlantans and heard from 4 other people that Ed Hula was in town. That is one stealthy man – I never saw him.

Had the pleasure of working with the best 25 volunteers of the games. And they are Jackie, Taylor, Laura, Lucia, Kate, Coco, Dreamy, Ami, Rene, Charlotte, Sophie, Shelly, Samantha, Serena, Andy, Caral, Cindy, Echo, Rukey, Rita, Jessica, Lily, Clover, Cherry and that outsider from ONS Lydia.

The scream you just heard was me opening my iphone bill to the tune of $1300.

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B to the Fly

August 19th, 2008

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Amateur boxing legend Teofilo Stevenson visited our venue and he is still quite impressive. That’s him in the middle of me mates, Press Manager Asst. Neil Bowes and Richard Baker, communications manager for AIBA. Neil is the one with the smooth dome.

Before I go on about Teofilo Stevenson, I must mention my dear friend Jennifer “Butterfly” Brett, the intrepid, bloodhound of a reporter for the AJC, who is here covering the Olympic scene.

But first, let me give you the lay of the land. The Workers Indoor Gymnasium (boxing) is one block from the Workers Outdoor Stadium (soccer). They both are located in a very trendy area with many bars and restaurants.

So, I emailed JB and tipped her that Evander Holyfield was in the house. She messaged back; she was in route and to keep him there. Some time later she called and said she had just cleared security and to come meet her. I immediately went to the media gate and no Jennifer. I walked to the north gate and no Jennifer; I then walked to the west gate and still no Jennifer.

Ten minutes later she called back asking where was I. You know me; by now I’m getting a little huffy and annoyed because I can’t find her and I have work to do. The conversation then went something like this.

ME: Where the hell are you JB?
JB: I’m in the stadium waiting for you?
ME: Did you come in the media entrance?
JB: Yes, I’m in the stadium (with attitude).
ME: Where in the damn stadium (with more attitude)?
JB: I’m standing under the big screen monitor that has the guy kicking the ba… oh, s**t, I’m in the wrong stadium.

Poor Butterfly. She eventually flittered to the boxing arena, found Evander, had a good interview and filed on time. She even had the endurance to meet me later for a beer.

And I’m sure she knew I was lying when I said I would never mention the wrong stadium debacle to anybody.

Okay, watching Teofilo Stevenson walk is like watching a svelte, powerful black cat prowling the jungle like he rules it. Mr Stevenson looks like he could still take on some of the young boxers competing now. It was like having royalty in the joint with him there. Hell, even Jim Gray asked me to take a shot of him with the legend.

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My main man Jason

August 15th, 2008

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This morning I left the media village later than I should – it took awhile to find a cab and there was traffic. The cab driver took a different route then let me out at the east gate. Now since we arrived in Beijing it has been made perfectly clear that employees (that would be us) can only enter at the west gate. So there we were on the wrong side of the venue and of course I thought I would give it a shot and talk my way in. No such luck.

Jason is a young bright-eyed volunteer I met earlier during the games and he was working the gate. He was sorry he couldn’t let us in and he tried to explained why. In essence, he did his job. I may have walked off in a huff with my backpack. I then stormed around the venue to the other side. Yes, it was a 10-15 minute walk and it was hot, but it didn’t kill me.

As soon as I got through security – at the proper gate – there was Jason to greet me and explain again why he didn’t let me in. This guy was so concerned with my happiness he ran to the other side to meet me.

Just one more example of how kind, caring and willing to please the Chinese are. I love these people. If they have a job to do, they do it. If they can assist you in anyway, they will.

So far the Beijing Olympics have been a winner because of the games, the technology and the venues. But in my book, the people are the real story.

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Somebody looks dead tired…

August 14th, 2008

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and it’s not Kobe. He came by last night - not to my crib but to the arena. Kobe and a few of his NBA friends dropped by to watch a few Olympic bouts. They chilled, laughed with each other, did a couple of interviews with NBC and had a good time.

Surprisingly, the level of excitement did not reach that of two nights before when Atlantan Dwight Howard visited. At one point, Dwight left the VIP section and walked around the arena to go to the mixed zone for an interview. It sounded like a thundering herd of buffalo when spectators spotted him and ran down the steps to get a closer glimpse.

He did his interview and I chatted him up about Atlanta before he exited the secure area. I got him to sign a couple of autographs for 2 kids hanging around and that’s when the shit hit the fan. Word was out, so small media crews and photogs were on the scene faster than Grant went through Richmond.

Dwight asked me how to get back to his seat, I led the way and we proceeded to walk the gauntlet. And it was not easy. There was a wall of point and shoots, excited fans, screaming girls and stunned security. I don’t think the security force at the venue had ever experience anything like that. I was so impressed with young brother Howard because he smiled through it all. A real gentleman.

My help with Dwight is probably why I was pressed in to a minor security role for Kobe and his crew. It was a cakewalk compared to the stroll with Dwight.

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“Where you from, brother?”

August 12th, 2008

Sunday evening the deputy photo manager told me there were “Mongolian spectators” sitting in one of our photo sections and he could not get them to leave. He said, they do not speak Chinese and he thought they were pretending to not understand English.

I first asked if he had notified security. I then told him, it’s late in the session, we don’t have photographers using that section, so it’s probably best to let them stay. I didn’t see the point in starting, what could be, a confrontational situation with just one hour to go.

He asked me to walk there with him, so I did. I saw the group as we neared the section and there were about 20-30 tough looking Mongolians, waving their flags, drinking their beers and having a good time. A few of them looked like they were former boxers.

And regardless of whether they are American, Cuban, French, Irish, Thai or any other nationality, I know all boxing fans are nuts. That’s when I though, what am I doing here? I am not security.

My deputy photo manager led the way around the arena about 4-5 steps ahead of me. When we walked in front of the invaded section, I noticed he walked faster and didn’t make eye contact with them. As I walked by, one leaned over the railing and asked, “Where you from, brother?”

Well, so much for not speaking English. I stopped and chatted with them and in less than 30 seconds we were high fiving, posing for pictures and joking about their countryman who would fight in the next bout.

I told them they were sitting in a restricted area but it was okay to stay today to watch their boxer. I also warned them, they could not sit there if they returned again. They agreed and we high fived some more.

I watched from the doorway as their lean but mean boxer beat the crap out of some poor guy. The Mongolian horde cheered, got up after the fight, left politely and nodded as they walked by. After looking at them and seeing their boxer, I knew this group was not to be messed with.

Sure enough, they returned the next day and sure enough, they sat in the same photo section like it was their’s. It looked like they even brought friends. I acted as if I didn’t see a thing.

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