The 5 Day B&W Photo Challenge

Some friends and colleagues have been passing around a photo challenge, to post one black and white image every day for five days. Posted on FaceBook among us, we got to see some work from long ago to some from the present with a brief story of why.

This was one of mine..." Bonding "

 To be a photographer is to be a witness to life, the good and bad it offers. It's not just one event that sums it up but it can be just one picture. This picture had nothing to do with the actual shoot of mother daughter for a series on South Beach. It was a stolen moment while patiently waiting for the cooperation of a little girl, a bonding of parent and child, a trust, that leads hand in hand into an unknown, the first step, hesitant yet confident in her mother's hand.
There's a moment in a photographer's time, that one or two hundredth of a second when you know what you've caught, plays out a lifetime, sometimes theirs, sometimes your own. For me this image brings back many memories of me and my daughter at that time in her life. 

Another Job...

I went to Catholic school. It was small in size, smaller in thinking but I was a wise guy, so for my sins, my parents sentenced me there. My public school brother took shop, made cool things,worked on cars; I marched through Gaul with Caesar and said the rosary. As a small school it drew large characters from all over the county, some by choice, some by last choice, me…only choice. The teachers, a mix of nuns and laymen formed the base of education…mostly theirs. I learned some things from their school books, which I mostly forgot, but everything from some others whom I still remember.

One, a dynamic physical ed coach was influential on a lot of us, boys that is ( don't get the wrong idea here!) .   it was his philosophy on life that tuck to me. I repeat it every time I fail and it gives me reason to continue. He gave it with your last name first :

                                       "…LaBatts,  ya godda pay the price…"

True words he gave us on one hand.  In the other hand however he carried a golf club that he used like a walking cane and caned the ones that didn't walk the walk. He was a real driver. I liked him deep down. He wasn't parochial, he was a stand up guy. He was also ambitious.

When the northern region of the county built a new regional high school, he got the job as the head coach. When I moved onto a new paper, I got the job to shoot a spread on him. I left one Perry White type editor behind to find another, but a better dressed one. His concern was that I was charging him more than I charged his friend which amounted to nothing really but he had to put on the show. It came with his territory.

" Get me some good stuff this time"…were always his encouraging words and insightful direction. " What's the assignment " I asked, It helps to know at times. They were featuring the new county school and part of it was their new star coach…the golfer and when I heard that, in my mind I shouted…" FOUR!!"

He had a winning football team and still a par swing no doubt..A few years had gone by since my high school but not enough not to recognize him from a distance as I approached him on the filed.  He looked smaller for some reason and very surprised for another. I was glad to see him even though I never played football. He was still the same guy, a great colorful character and after spending a couple of hours photographing him in action, we walked back to his office for the feature shot.

A few more clicked by sitting on his desk, standing in the doorway etc when he asked " Is that it? got it all? "
 " I think so.."  I said turning and stopping next to the famous golf club leaning against the wall…." Hey " I said with an innocent tone " how bout you hold this club for one more shot??? " ( a real pulitzer prize in the making.) He stood up walking towards me… caught in the act  " No ! " Smiling I left quickly…still liked him.

His shoot ran two pages. I never got that Pulitzer…but I'm still  "paying the price".

This one's for you Mr.Scrog

My First Photography Job

Many of us hold deeply that first job. It was the one that ignited your fire. I wanted to be working for National Geographic...still a prevailing dream ( if it's that) . My first time out happened when I walked into a county-wide weekly paper to see if they could use a stringer. The editor looked up at me and what I had , offering $20 an published image. Back then $ 20 seemed good  and  I  really wanted the break. They had a staffer or two, one who carried a Speed Graphic so he could contact the large neg multiple times and pump out  "Handshake"  shots or "The Ribbon Cutting" event for the paper and its attendees. He had three names so his credit line took up a lot of space . Maybe that was clever on his part. He got the "choice" jobs, grand openings, town meetings, check donations. The other one, a lady part time got the cutsy shots...the dog wearing a raincoat on a bad weather day, the grandma who paints Easter eggs in her basement to raise funds for her society. The editor couldn't have been cast any better if it had been from Disney itself. A robust, snarly, grumbling guy with a desk full of random sheets of papers and clippings, half full coffee cup and a totally full ashtray. He was always sitting sometimes leaning back and often leaning forward growling. Typical of Jersey , you were just a last name... hey Pace. 

Among the cast of characters, I stood there with my samples, my Nikon and two lenses in hand as he told me to come back in a day or two to see what he might have. I did.   

My first assignment was to go up to a reservoir in northern New Jersey " Something's goin on see if  you can get a shot." The three name man smiled,"you're wasting your time, can't do anything with that." of course not who would buy contact prints of a reservoir? None the less, I went charging out like Jimmy Olsen from the Daily Planet... when I got there, a bulldozer had uncovered a overly large bone. Building had halted, no one was talking and nothing seemed to be happening. I left wondering how would I tell the editor that I just got a shot of a guy sitting on bulldozer. So the next day early I returned to find a staff from the museum of Natural History along with some state officials on hand as they laid out the uncovered skeleton of a mastodon. The only thing missing was the head which they were furiously digging for to the dismay of the builder. I couldn't crank the Nikon any faster. At day's end I raced back to my converted by night darkroom , enlarger on the bowl, trays in the tub, prints in the sink. Printing out my day's coverage, I laid out my  prints on boards as a story  hoping the editor would like it. It ran 3 pages and I collected $200. To me it was a gift  from the universe that welcomed a young guy into what became my fever.

 

They never found the head...I found mine.

Happy Father's Day...Dad

" Why can't you turn off the lights when you're finished?" my dad must have said this a hundred times to me. " uh...I don't know..." was always my reply.

It was last week when I sat down to pay all my usual bills, one not as usual. It's summer here in Miami and the more than average electric bill was glowing with no help from an outlet. I left it for last and as the last bead of perspiration convinced me to pay it fast before they shut me off and down the air conditioner. I walked around the empty apartment switching off every needless light and power hungry item running...mmmm

" Why can't they just turn off the lights when they leave??? " a quick turn around to see who was there...wow did I heard my father's voice in the background ?  

Maybe I didn't know why then but I do know now...Happy Father's Day dad....  I'll still keep a light on, just to hear you again.

Shooting Bronzini...and others

I was hired to shoot Bronzini. I didn't know what he did or what he "didn't do" to call me in. All they told me is that he was coming that morning from either Greece or Italy in the Mediterranean. After the shoot they would put him in "The Freezer"

I set it up that day and waited. They brought him over. I grabbed him and wrestled him onto table. He was slippery but cooperative and we all knew what was to happen next. It didn't take too long despite the fact that I had to take a few shots....

This is Bronzini. I shoot Food. I'm also the fish guy


who has
" The Fish Series..." an ongoing art project that is now showing some images with the "Works in Progress"  photo show, as part of the Miami Visual Collective,  appearing at the Jorge Hullian Gallery , 5864 Sunset Drive,South Miami, FL.

So it would be a perfect fit that I should shoot an assignment involving fish. My client had just that in mind when he called. They are one of the best fresh fish providers in the state, supplying top chefs and high end restaurants with both known and some unusual fish from different parts of the world. Bronzini was one of them.

The director of this job couldn't be on location but we kept  communicating by posting images live online as we shot them. With me, besides my assistant, was the designer and owner, watching the monitor as images appeared and after some careful time for initial approvals on backgrounds colors etc, we went on to execute my mission.

It doesn't get any fresher than this by setting it up on location. Full scale lighting for such small colorful items help make them clean and makes their colors sparkle. Styling them is another challenge and sometimes the simpler something looks the harder it is. Luckily my sous chef experience comes into play as this time we didn't bring in one of the great food stylists I work with. This job presented its own set of challenges and time constraints but it's part of the job and why I love doing  it.

PS. my wife made me sleep on the couch that night.

OPENING NIGHT: WORKS IN PROGRESS

OPENING NIGHT: WORKS IN PROGRESS

Collectives

"...the good of the whole benefits the one..." It's something I always thought and still do.  Sure there are many rugged individuals who like to say they made it all on their own...they're full of crap. No one really does. We all need each other or better yet, the right others.

Groups, societies, clubs associations, unions etc become the bowl from where we mix the right ingredients to produce a flavor that makes them come back for more.

Photographers are mostly solo people in a solo game. They are a mostly a one man show with a one man approach. In the telephone era we were all one on one. "Let's do lunch," ...that worked well... then, not so much today. The world for an individual is a much bigger place with its doorway on your desk, on your lap and in your cell phone. Welcome to everyone on the planet and with it global competition.

Are you still standing alone? 12 photographers chose not to and MiamiVisualCollective was formed. Its ingredients blended together over years of mutual cooperation and reliance on each others expertise and performance via the groups they belonged to, and the assignments and clients they sometimes crossed over with. Over that time, professional respect and trust became the binding factor that brought them together and gives them the ability to perform and produce quickly when needed.

While each have different strengths, all share the same interests and love of what they do. That love can be seen in their first "collective" exhibit..."Works in Progress."   

Happy Father's Day

   

I thought I saw my dad. He was standing right in from of me staring me in the face. He seemed slightly different but then again I haven't seen him in two years. There was a lot to catch up on but it caught me at a sleepy moment. The things he said came to mind from the last discussion we had and I heard his voice when I said hello. I remained there frozen going back to a time space in my mind when we went out in the canoe together.

He, as always, voiced his strong opinions on whatever topic or current event was taking place. The government,the president,the economy,religIons and a myriad of people became unending topics . As usual I disagreed , the devil's advocate but that was the norm. I knew he was right most of the time, just had to challenge it to be sure.

It became funny to me until one day in a friendly argument my wife said " You sound just like your father ! "  Last week Macy had a sale and I was happy to pick up a few new shirts. Trying on a favorite choice brought out another , " That looks your father."  I bought it anyway.Over coffee I read about an eastern religion and renewed my subscription to Time magazine.

I thought I saw my dad, but when I reached out to touch him, my hand hit the bathroom mirror. Happy Father's Day dad…. you're still here.... and I like that shirt even more.

Phoneography

Phoneography ... dinner at one of my favorite spots outdoors calls for a phone shot.

Phoneography

Showering with a freind.

Phoneography..a new world of art..part one..

Anyone aware of the history of photography doesn't have to be told how far we have come. From the "Camera Obscura" to film and now digital, it has provided a steady growth of expression with newer techniques and tools pregress. For those who pursue its medium a new forms of art or looks emerge  with every advance .


Across its brief 150 years apprx, it has struggled in its acceptance as art, coming into its own buyer's scene within the last 20 years or so. It became the realm of masters who were capable of handling the equipment along with its technical procedures and could successfully express and produce fine photographic art. For the most part, it took years of experience.The struggle of films,chemistry,and technique kept the masses at a great distance. Enter digital and with it a  new door opened allowing new artists who might not have be here had media remained the same. What did remain for a long time however, was the tool.


A new tool is born..the Cell Phone: Tool for the masses..

Unobtrusive, at hand,capable of not only processing an image and tweaking its look, but immediately publishing it from within and on the spot, it gives birth to a whole new world of potential artists, some of which have probably never been photographers before. Every person I know has at some point shown me his "Pocket Images" some good, some bad, all fun but mostly random . In their hands, an instant photographer;  In others... an artist's expression, and these are some of what can be done through their eyes and experience taking this new tool to higher level :

In my recent trip to New York, as usual I took my camera bag packed with lenses. Not as usual, they remained that way..packed.



I had a whole new world, an entire studio right in my pocket. Camera,darkroom,publishing house,file folders, mini computer and not to forget "can also make a phone call."




Things looked different to me and once again, I felt like I did when I was in the darkroom...thrilled to see them appear.

The other plus side was that my actions drew no one's suspicion nor questions as to what and why I was doing what I was doing.  These are some of my Iphoneography series... This one to the right is "While having a Beer"

 

Doorway to my Dad

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I know better...I'm a photographer..it's worth a lifetime. My father passed on recently. We were very close, having spent most of my life by him. We had walked a long way on this plane and at times I still feel his presence from another one. When it came time to place his ashes in the niche, I tried to find things to say about him that would talk about his life and what he really meant to me. Never really being at a loss for words, I couldn't find enough of them.

Looking through the many photo albums both sides of my family collected, I embarked on a journey taking me through many lifetimes, a century's worth. Some photos were high end studio portraits, individuals whose ghost remained on paper to introduce themselves to those who hadn't yet arrived ; families that would later through fate and happenstance come together and give reason to how and why  we're here; events that serve as ear markers to fill the spaces left behind in the dust of life; memories on paper, for those who forgot and  needed moments refreshed , and those who would yet come to see who came before them.

For me it was a moment refreshed , that I had completely forgotten about, buried deep by all the moments gathered after that. It sat there held by corners, framed, a frozen piece of time, a magical doorway that opened to a massive garden kept in the same condition as the day we left it and I now returned as time traveler. I sat a long time staring at it remembering that day, the things we did, where we lived, even how I felt. It was a defining moment, standing as the sum total of what my father meant to me.. the man who stood by my side all of my life and still does now,  though thick and thin, no matter what, a buddy, a sponsor, a guide...a hero.

I photographed a whole lot of people in this career and still do, paying proper attention to the world behind and in front of the camera. Behind, I am conductor, producer, director...witness. In front, I am the object or part of a moment. From behind I deliver results and walk away leaving the product of our trade and move on to the next. My judgment of my work is based by my professional standards, not by my personal emotions... but that is where the real impact of photography lies, not how I did it nor what it might mean to me but what it means to another.

Pictures say more than words. They have a life of their own superseding the ones who took them. They are keys to doorways of time spent making those who create them its locksmiths. Inside they speak. This one did to me..It spoke for all good dads, what they really mean to us who were lucky enough to have and have had them.  It now sits next to my dad, my hero, and in my heart.       

Publishing Your Own Photo Book

So  you want to publish your own photo book and you're looking at all those self publishing companies online...now what?

To start off...  color balance your monitor with a device like Spyder. There are many to pick from if you Google search it or go to a good photo dealer.I use one from Monico.  Collect your images into one folder. Gather more than you intend to use because often some images will work better with others once you see them laid out, as well as some present better as a collection of 2-4 on a page. Most printers base their price on 20 single side pages, but rest assured once you get going you will pass that amount.

Next, import the folder into a program like Light Room, or Aperture making any adjustments to them like converting into B&W. Sepias or shifting to a warmer color balance, helpful if you are trying to keep a uniform look to all of your book. Don't forget imbedding Metadata with all your info including notice of copyright. Make your images larger to start with, in case you might want to bump up the size of your book later on. I use  300ppi jpeg, maximum quality 10, 9x12 inches or 12 inches on the longest side... and assign them an sRGB profile.

If after you assign sRGB profile to what was your RGB originals and they seem a little flatter in contrast or color, here's a trick I do... In general I assign all my images with RGB profiles tweaking them to to where I want them in Photoshop or LightRoom . If later I need to re-assign them with an sRGB profile, as we need to do here, I first make a duplicate from the original keeping the original open. I then assign an sRGB to the dupe, and compare it to its original and correct it to match.

RGB Profile original

sRGB Copy..uncorrected.
If you're not sure what you have..look at the top of your image where the numbers are and go to the right..if it says sRGB, you're fine,,if it say RGB then this trick is for you.To convert it in PhotoShop go to edit/assign profile, click Working RGB: sRGB IEC61966-2.1( which is really just sRGB ) and save.

Most companies have offer their  free program, a drag and drop with various layouts. For a better crop or anything special you may want to fill on the page, it is better to create the size of the page in PhotoShop, via New Document, then add your image or images to that  document, flatten layers, save as mentioned above, making sure that is is still sRGB and dragging it into the book page as a full page.  

I used the same images for all four..Mac Book...A&I...My Pubisher...Blurb.
Well here's my opinion based on my experiences.

http://fine-art-photographers.blogspot.com/2010/09/self-publishing-photo-books.html
http://fine-art-photographers.blogspot.com/2010/10/dreamstates.html#comments

The "decisive moment"..when you find it and when it finds you

There are times when you're drawn to an image in the making. Searching to find it is one thing. Stopping to see it is another. Waiting to feel it is something different. Being there long enough is everything.

I love getting back to my roots in photography and for me that's film..B& W, and with a larger format than 35mm...this case my Blad...man do I love that camera for this. Something about looking down into that square. I once read from another photographer , can't remember who though. He said that a square somehow makes the statement that a photographer was here and deliberately made this frame , as is. For me it's a Zen moment, much needed in the world of pixels and workflows.

So here I was with a group of all kinds of photographers simply loving to do what they do. They chose the Gold Coast Train Museum in Miami,Fl to spend the day. MMM..still lifes=Blad!! Somewhere along the way, I stepped back into a time when train travel was prevalent. I remembered when I was a child living in New York and leaving for Tampa,Fl. by train to visit my grandmother, a 24 hour ride clickedy-clackedy all the way, basically sitting up..ah a time to relax between each screeching stop at the next major station.."those were the days" right?  ok so all aboard!!  

I spent a few hours shooting the exteriors of the trains deep in my Blad and into a time gone by. Somewhere during the day,needing a sun break, I stepped inside a car and back to my childhood sitting in one of those seats..summer vacation,out of the city,.. I set up the Blad on the tripod and took my time framing the scene, I thought I found the right moment..As I bent down to focus an older gentlemen came in tapping his cane..followed by his younger granddaughter..She sat down to duck..he asked..
" Am I in the picture?" I raised my head slowly, as though to receive communion ..."You are the picture" .. I asked his granddaughter to come forward ( out of the frame ) and asked the gentleman to just stay where he was and remember his travels in this car, typical of many others from that era, he did... and strike a pose, cane in hand . He was off to a time past and I was on my way back to visiting Tampa at 5 years old again..CaChunk..CaChunk...two frames, back to reality from a moment in time.

There are many moments that we find when we take the time to connect and once in while if we just take a little more time, a better moment finds us. It's an afterglow that we don't see, in this hurried world, unless we stay in the moment long enough to see it. While it doesn't always happen, when it does...like a matador's "moment of truth" you know it and it becomes yours.  

for more train images click here

How do 4 photographers say goodbye to 2009

Go shooting...

Above, Matthew Pace, Sam Notarbartolo,

Paul Morris, Robert Klemm. (photo.Paul Morris)

The dawn of a new year in a familiar place..The Florida Everglades.

Often called the River of Grass, and you will quickly know why when you are hiking in it,offers unique opportunities once you see from the inside and not from the road. The sights,sounds and smells add to the sky show while an untouched nature plays the lead.

What better place is there than to be surrounded by nature reminding us that it is a perfect world..we screw it up, but it always prevails,always. Seen on the left is Robert Klemm, shooting with his 4x5...YES
FILM!

To the right..Paul Morris..mmm is that FILM?

Left again..Sam Notarbartolo..OK digital..always one in the group.

Yours truly above,center I know I couldn't make up my mind...I like it all!!
(photo..Robert Klemm)..

Now onto the new year with a fresh start and vision....

Large Format..and the circle of Photo Life

They say life is a circle.For me it is a rectangle and a square.

I started with View Camera a very misunderstood item at the time and full of mishaps for me. It scared me.It was unsurmountable. It was in fact "OLD FASHIONED " and I was a hip photographer who wanted to be like the guy in "Blow-Up" a very cool flick.So on the shelf it went and 35mm entered my life.

When I first cranked my Nikon, I learned how to blister my thumb on the lightning speed of film advancing...a crank at a time.It became a dance with subjects and put me into a rhythm that somehow became part of the picture process.Every third crank or so, I would lower the camera while cranking to take another "two eyed" look and come back to the viewfinder with a fresher eye.

As I progressed and graduated to the Hasselblad..(AHHH)..I still love to hold it and appreciate how dam well it was made... I wound instead of cranked and more often had to look up to get the "two eyed" view before firing the shutter. Twelve exposures and it was time to change backs or reload and take advantage of a time to think..or panic, like "crap I forgot to advance to #1" or " Is this really a model?" and sometimes," do I really belong here???"


Then motors came in to my budget and wow look at me now, whirrrrrr...cachunk-cachunk..




Finally Digital came and larger cards and man the camera never leaves my one eye..I became like the Borg on Star Trek...attached to a device seeing the world in ones and zeros and moving through it with great speed. I started to fill drives adn spend endless time and money worrying how to save it all much less how to process it as well,now and God forbid, the future.

Dizzy from the spinning wheel of technology, I stepped off the merry-go-round to try and see the world stand still for a moment in hopes that my vision would clear...and I turned to an old adversary from the shelf who with age mellowed out for me...the 4x5.Its discipline has no forgiveness unless you can convince viewers that this is the new movement in the art world and you are its leader.

Under the dark cloth your view of the world becomes private, an intimate place where no one really knows what you are looking at.It becomes a space for study and second thought.Its methodical movements become a Zen experience once mastered, if that's possible, actually enjoyed, like fly fishing, and art of execution.It is a deliberate choice of view with a rewarding image that often needs no editing, and the best part is, for a future back-up....shoot an extra frame.

There is also something to be said about filing the sheets as well,holding them and viewing them..like a jeweler with his loupe..a time for thinking,admiring,relishing if you will and looking forward to the next.

Now I'm no fool...for most of my commercial work especially these days,nothing beats a digital and I DO USE ONE and like it, but lately I am returning to where I started and feel more like a photographer than a Borg and I'm meeting many others who are feeling the same. For some it's a discovery; for others it's a circle.

Tale of Two Lenses part2/Dilemma...

Besides adding to my series "DreamStates" I wanted to find an image that would go well in my new living room, this time leaning on my 24mm 1.4L Canon lense but still bringing my LensBaby along. As usual, I am once again caught between the difference in feel of each, and adding to that, as the image progressed, a new dilemma emerges,(reminds me of the darkroom days of endless printing variations!!)

Here on the let is the original view, 24mm 1.4L Canon, not much correction via Lightroom, my favorite program. Shot raw as all the images I capture..why?...so I can add more to my dilemma as time goes on.


This next one on the left was shot with the LensBaby, which makes up the bulk of my series and I am addicted to like a great drug, only a lot cheaper.
The only technical thing I can tell you is that I use the ring with the medium sized circle in it and bend the tube like I am massaging a bruise until it looks good to me. I would have been ok with either one, maybe do a test print to see it on a wall EXCEPT..Once in LightRoom the one on the right emerges with one of my presets.....now I know"what color is the living room??"
Well both ...I had to take the twelve step program to break away from the program and try to deal with just these three images..digital has no end only capped by the amount of money you can spend on hard drives. Lenses are like a painter's brushes and programs, like LightRoom, are his paints..
PS..if you ever order a LensBaby...please let them know you got the urge from me here!!
I've been trying to some sponsorship from them to continue this series and bring it to show.

I'm not an anti digital guy. I use it, I get it and I do pay for it as well. It has a good place but sometimes it sort of becomes the place and I get lost in it.

The weather was crappy, not unsual for NJ in early winter months. I was just visiting family and left the "equipment" home. What I did bring though was a 1935 Agfa box camera and a few roll of 120 TriX...yes I said it..FILM..get over it!


Always looking for a new brush to work with, this $10.00 beauty and my magnifyer glasses to see through its small finder, was all I had during my walk, 3 blocks from home. Somehow, F/stops,lenses,file endings,program settings went silent, as silent as this moment , and I was able to hear it. While I don't hold this up as a great masterpiece, from time to time it talks to me. The argument of film vs digital and all the fancy expensive equipment settles on one thing...it's not what 's in your hands, it's what's in your soul and if you listen hard enough, if you can block out the voices that break the silence of a Zen experience...you find what it's really all about...communication.

Photography,Business,Fishing

We've all been hearing our fellow photographers complain that despite all best efforts, business is not coming their way. I can relate...made me think long on what am I doing wrong. Did I miss some program or fancy campaign, some subscription that I should have taken, a multi tiered service I should have tried? Was I not listening to the well meaning savants advising me on how to dress and smell better to attract that deified client who could anoint me into the sainthood of photography? Depression was setting in quickly, along with some vino, because there is nothing like drowning from the inside , makes your gut float to the top where your brain is and sometimes when they meet, you get a lot of reasons why, like " it's them ".. usually followed by " no.. it's me..."

But this isn't about me. Its about the business, and it's also about fishing... the Shark river inlet to be exact.

When I was much younger, ( don't go there,wise ass) my best friend, high school pal, best man at my wedding (first one) and I , would go down to the Jersey shore on weekends to fish on the rocky jetty along the Shark River inlet. We fished for two elusive things, Stripe Bass (Stripers to the natives) and Bluefish (Blues to them as well..not the Ken Burns type though that came later in life) . Both ran in large schools during Autumn right up untill maybe early December depending on the weather and at that time Jersey was cold, cold enough to see the ice form on the end of the jetty from the ocean spraying the rocks and us in our foul weather outfits. We would arrive at daybreak after long studies of the tide with our best gear in hand, surf rods taller than most men and able to land an Orca if we had to or even could. We had all the right lures. Some costing up to $2.00 each, a lot at that time considering that going to a movie cost .75 cents. We were fully dressed with waders that had boots with cleats to scale the higher slippery rocks. We had belted knives, pliers, ammo bags for hooks etc., in fact we looked like an assault team coming in for a strike. Ours was the state of the art gear, the newest and best things the sporting goods store had to offer. We made money, were single and spent it. It would take us twenty minutes just to gear up once we parked the car.

Just above the jetty along the inlet was an older, typical for its time, small NJ luncheonette owned and ran by an old Italian man, salted by the years that he lived by the ocean. He was a real character but further trumped by his buddies who held a permanent position on claimed diner stools that fronted the matching formica and pitted chrome bar from where behind, Louie would slap down another grisly patty that served as a burger, before Macs came to town. Behind Louie and above all along the walls, were stuffed tributes to their conquests gathering dust, still having the very lures dangling from their mouths that lead to their capture. If this was the capital of fishing then this was its Whitehouse. But best of all each of these old Italian men had their various rods outside,as old as them, leaning on the building just by the door perfectly stacked side by side in a row, like army rifles ready for combat at any moment. It was a different time...try that today and hurry to the pawn shop to see where they went. It was a scene that couldn't have been cast better for any photographer, but I wasn't one yet...I was a fisherman...and we were here for business.

A few hours passed after daybreak and as usual my friend and I needed a break, some warmth and a Louie burger.. not a MAC... NOT THERE..this was an original place and the men in it were more than original. We would take a spot on the outer fringe where the booths hadn't seen a rag in years, and sat to order breaking the silence of dozen or so sets of eyes scanning us, staring us down wondering who "deeze" guys were, despite the many times we went there. It was NJ Italian protocol. The chatter would pick up again and while we couldn't understand what they were saying, we did understand one thing loud and clear. That was when another older than them Italian ran inside shouting....

" Da Blues are in."

Like a rehearsed dance troupe they sprang up and ran out grabbing their respective rods while in motion and charged out to the jetty, with us clanking behind. We never could keep up with those guys. Maybe it was all our gear,my rod was too big, our boots too heavy, who knows cause those guys had little, I know since we made enough fun of them about it. Each took his respective spot out there and like a beautiful synchronization of branches dancing in the wind, their rods and lines would whip out sending their lines above the crashing surf and with almost every cast reeled in, a huge Bluefish would land behind them. We joined in furiously. Our luck wasn't as good but still we caught some smaller ones and lost a lot of lures. Frustrated, I went to see what each of the men were using, to find an answer, a magic pill, but it didn't seem to matter, even a bare hook on their old rods, properly cast brought back a good result.

Then it ended like it started.." dats it, der gonna" and they simply picked up the best fish that they kept and went back to where they were, taking their places like extras in a movie, their coffee still warm and continued conversation as though nothing had interrupted it to start with. We of course stayed on the jetty working hard at trying to get more, something bigger, better, but all there was there were the occasional crap fish that often got you tangled in the rocks. We did that for a few years. Time showed more worn stools and less rods and finally the very place itself and Louie were gone, and so were we.

Years went by and still I often think of those times, especially in these. I had learned two important thing from that experience about business especially this one.

One...It's not your rod, your gear, the lure, nor is it the fact that you might not speak Italian...I think it's very simple. The Blues aren't running and like my old friends there who knew how to be ready, pick up your rod, and strike when they do run, they in the meantime, went inside, met up with friends, got together, had a coffee,talked, and shared a part of what makes up their lives, the things that brought them there week after week. Maybe its not all about the fishing after all. Enjoy life. Take part in getting together... When the Blues start running again, grab your rod and go...meantime don't get hung up and study why they left or where they went...they will be back..they just run with the tide and run in schools.

The second..and more important..

Remembering my friend... I went back to Jersey one year after the hurricane, to the very spot we used to fish from. They had turned the place into a college town and had even paved over the jetty for those "lilly pad walkers." I walked out to the end on the now smooth jetty. It did seem different but when I looked out, some seagulls were diving into the water, a sign of a passing school feeding on smaller fish. When I reached the end I looked down and there scratched into what was once fresh cement, now wetted by calmer ocean waves, was written,

" Man is never defeated, he just simply gives up " ...

one man had left his mark , .. and this man heard his voice.

Two out of One

You can drive yourself to drink by sitting with Lightroom and seeing how many variations you can get from one image. On the bright side however, that drink can be a celebration one, when you can re-interpret that image into the "feel" of what you see and the rescue
of what you got.

This is the original on the right,in raw,he stepped out quick and my response was more to the scene than to my settings. Had this been in the film era or 7BD , I would have sadly trashed it but it isn't.




It is 5 AD and I was able to rescue it. I always shoot raw and as a result was able to translate it , on the right ,to my preset color palate that I use for this series...

The question now becomes which one captures the "feel" better. More drinks!