Warwick Valley Holiday Tip Off Tournament

December 29, 2009: The Tuxedo Tornados made through the first round of the Warwick Valley Holiday Tip Off Tournament, with a win over Livingston Manor, who replaced Chapel Field in the field.

Tuxedo faced The Wildcats of Warwick Valley and played a hard game but were not able make it two in a row. Warwick pulled away in the second half and finished off with a 55-38 victory taking first place in their tournament.

I shot this tournament with:

Canon 1D MK III w/70-200 f/2.8

Canon 5D w/24 - 105 f/4

2 DynaLite 500XL Packs with a 1015 head at each corner of the gym mounted on the railings pointed at the top of the 3 point circle.

They were fired with Pocket Wizards

Christmas Card 2009 (Maybe)

Christmas Card 2009 (Maybe)
Originally uploaded by John Meore

It's Christmas time again, and that means a new photo for the Harrow Family Christmas Card... With 5 children, 5 Spouses and 14 Grandchildren it is almost impossible for everyone to be in on place at one time.
This year the family decided to make a different card, and have everyone stop by the office and shoot a few head shots and by Brother-in-Law Jeff will put it all together...
Here are the ones of my kids that I shot at home and sent in.

Working with Depth of Field...

One of the first things you learn in a basic photography class, after exposure and shutter speed, is depth of field. It doesn't matter if you learned it 50 years ago or 50 days ago. Depth of Field is Depth of Field, analog or digital it is still the same. It is still achieved the same way, we open or close the aperture of the lens to allow the proper amount of light in to the camera to achieve the proper exposure and it also determines how much of the field will be in focus in fron and behind the actual point at which the camera is in focus.

Many folks have lost touch with what it's like to shoot with a shallow depth of field or blur out the foreground and background. The lenses on Point & Shoot Cameras of today are made to get almost everything in focus and Cell Phone cameras all have a fixed aperture so everything is in focus from about 2' to infinity.

I have used many types of cameras in my photographic life, 8x10 & 4x5 cameras, Rapid-Omega, Twin Lens Reflex Cameras, Hasselblad and Mamiya 120 cameras, 120 & 35mm SLR and range finders, 70mm Aerial Cameras, Arriflex 16 & 35mm Motion Picture Cameras, DSLR Cameras and yes I have used a Point and Shoot. On each one of the cameras,, even some of the higher end P & S, you have to use the aperture to set exposure.

Knowing the depth of field is important so you will know how much will be in focus at a given distance. In the past it was more important to know exactly how much DOF you had because we had to wait to see the results. Today the results are immediate, and you can make changes as necessary.

The closer you get to the lens and the wider the aperture, the less DOF you have. The more you move away from the lens and the higher the aperture the more DOF. Simple right...

The photo above of my 15 year old cat, Edy, was taken with a Canon 5D and a Canon 50mm F/1.2L lens wide open at its closest focus point. There is probably .5 cm of the image that is in focus. The Telecaster Guitar was also shot with my Canon 5D and the 50mm f/1.2 @ f/1.8. I lit the guitar with a metallic umbrella and a Canon 580 EX strobe 1/128th power.

A great place to check out your Depth of Field is http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

It has a calculator so you can plug in the information and it will calculate the DOF. It also tells you the Hyper Focal Distance... That is a story for another day.

Never work with Kids or Animals...

A famous Hollywood Director once said, "If you want to keep your career, never work with kids or animals..."

Well... I've just done a shoot with both. 3 kids and a small dog... The kids were great and the dog, I swear, is a union dog. After 4-5 shot the dog would get up and walk away. He would come back, 4-5 shots and he would get up and walk away. This went on for the entire shoot. It's hard for the kids to stay focused and just look at the camera. So I tried to keep reminding them to don't worry about Louie (the dog) I'll shoot when he's ready...

Veterans Day 2009:

I am reminded on a daily basis of my service. I have a shadow box in my office with all the "Stuff" I collected as a Sailor and Photographer. The shadow box was a gift from my wife and my daughters. All my stuff was in boxes and they thought it should be on display.

Ribbons, medals, stripes from my dress uniforms, patches from my flight suits, my dog tags and even a photo of me when I made Petty Officer Second Class all displayed on the wall in my office at home. I even have one of my original hats from when I arrived on the ship in 1983.

For years I never really felt proud of my time in the Navy, until people I hardly knew would come up to me and thank me for my service and ask me a million questions on what it was like and where I've been. After hearing this a few dozen times and telling the stories, over the course of about 10 years, I began to feel more and more proud of what I had accomplished. I'm wasn't a hero, just a kid who wanted to learn and travel.

Along with the shadow box, I have some great memories of my youth, serving my country, learning and honing my photographic skills, traveling the world and working with some great guys.

Happy Veterans Day, and "Thank you for your Service!"

Local Politics...

Politics2009-3
Originally uploaded by John Meore

Tuxedo residents went to the polls and voted in 3 residents of the Maple Brook neighborhood. Cliff Loncar ran unopposed for a vacant seat on the Town Board. Shawn Brown beat out the incumbent for the seat on the bench as Town Justice and Dan Castricone (R) beat Noel Spencer (D) for the 8th District of the Orange County Legislature.
Also returning are Town Supervisor Peter Dolan, Town Board Member Lisa Spivak and Edward Pfizenmaier was elected as Supervisor of Highways. Also voted in by residents was an increase in funding to the town library.

Doing the work...

Another week has passed and I find myself with a whole bunch of images to sift through. Yesterday I shot a football game in Fair Lawn, NJ; Where the Cutters of Fair Lawn took on the Highlanders of West Milford.

I played football as a freshman in High School, but had to give it up due to the fact that I was fast, but small in my sophomore year...So I stuck to Hockey and Lacrosse where it was OK to be small, as long as you had skills. Being quick was also good when you needed to get away from the rather large defensive players who wanted to crush you... While I was in the Navy, I played Lacrosse at Old Dominion University on a club team and I played Hockey for a mens league in Virginia Beach. I also cycled on a racing team that was started by my Navy Division Officer.

I loved the team environment and being part of something larger than just myself. In every sport I played I was always playing for the good of the team, never for myself. I always seemed to give the puck, the ball away or the race to someone else who had better odds in scoring than myself...Selfless, not really, I was selfish in that I wanted the team to play well together, put the team before self and last but not least, put the team in a position to win.

I see a lot of those same ideals in some, but not all, of the athletes I photograph.

Is it hard watching the sports from the sidelines and not from the bench...Yes.

Does being a good athlete make me a better photographer, I think so. If you understand the dynamics of the sport you are photographing, it makes it easier to focus on where to look for the action.

High School Cross Country

High School Cross Country
Originally uploaded by John Meore

After a 15min. run through the woods, you know there's a 3 min stretch, up hill, past the crowd of on-looking parents to the finish-line...you come around the bend, see the finish-line and you feel relief and the pain...

You hear your coaches voice in your head...
"...shoulders back, breath...you can do this...personal best...there you go...kick it out..."

His facial expression says it all...

Bicycle Tricks...

JM-Circus-5
Originally uploaded by John Meore

Well the run at the circus is winding down. With only 2 days of shows left, I have finally been able to go in and watch parts of the show. (I have not seen the show from start to finish...)
I decided to go in and watch Justin Case perform the final part of his act. Justin is a bicycle performer who is from Australia, but performs as a Frenchman, dead on I must say...He performs for most of the show. He finishes his act by requesting an encore as he leave the ring. He returns with a small box, he opens the box and pulls out a 6" bicycle. He rides the super small bike through a ring on fire. Very cool...even if you've seen it more than 40 times...

Check out more photos on my Flickr site...

After the storm

After the storm
Originally uploaded by John Meore

People have been asking me to put up some images from my days as a Navy Photographer. I had this one on one of my storage drives. It was taken on a quiet evening after a rain storm in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember where we were or exactly when it was. I do remember taking the shot and that I could not wait to see it processed and printed.
I remember printing this a lot and using it to "purchase" many things I needed on the ship. It was amazing what a few prints of the ship can get you...
This was taken with my Nikon FE2 and I believe my 24mm f/2.8 with Kodak VPS Film.

Boom - a - Ring, Coney Island, NY

IMG_3627
Originally uploaded by John Meore

The Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus has hit Coney Island. Feld Entertainment, owners of the circus, have struck an agreement with the City of New York to hold a 3 month engagement on New York's legendary Coney Island.

Light this...

St. Augustine-5
Originally uploaded by John Meore

Scenario...Evening, Large white Tent, A few hundred people, 1 Speaker and a couple of Musicians. "Please shoot the speaker and keep the shadows to a minimum."

Solution...Use the white tent ceiling as a giant reflector. Use direct and in-direct lighting to fill the shadows and dark spots.

Here I used 3 strobes, one on each side of the tent, stage right and left about half way back, pointed at the stage and the ceiling. One more strobe was placed in the back center of the tent pointed at the stage and ceiling. I fired them with PocketWizards.
This allowed me to move around the tent and hot worry about harsh shadows with the on camera flash.
I used several lenses, from a wide angle zoom (17-40) to a telephoto zoom (70 - 200).

Memorial Day Parade

MemorialDay-1
Originally uploaded by John Meore

This Memorial Day marks 21 years since my honorable discharge from the Navy.  Seems like there has been a lot that has gone on around the world over the last 20 years. When I served it was all about the Russians, where the were and what they were up to.
Today's Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen are not sure who the enemy is but, we are sure of what their intentions are.
I am proud to say I am a Veteran and want to thank all those who have served and who are serving now, I may even try to squeeze in to my uniform and march alongside the other veterans in town.
A friend of mine just gave a speech at a wreath ceremony and used this quote from Lincoln's address at Gettysburg, afterwards he asked me if it sounded OK. I said that if it didn't reach out and grab you by the throat, there is something wrong with you...
Here is the quote...
"... that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Steeplechase

HS Track & Field
Originally uploaded by John Meore

High School Track & Field teams in Rockland County competed in the season ending "Sectional Qualifier" at Suffern Middle School on Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15th.
Todays competition was the Pentathlon and the Steeplechase.

Suffern takes Byram Hills 6 - 5 in Triple Overtime.

SuffernLax-11
Originally uploaded by John Meore

With an amazing show of endurance, Suffern lead a comeback and tied the game at 5 late in the fourth quarter to force the overtime. 

The mounties were able to hold off Byram Hills in overtime. Suffern took the win with Kevin McNally's (3) game winning goal late in the 3rd overtime. 

This is Suffern's last home game of the season. Pre-game, the Suffern Mounties celebrated their senior players and their parents.

Tuxedo Little League celebrates their opening day

Tuxedo, NY:  The Tuxedo Little League celebrates their opening day with a carnival like atmosphere.  All the players and teams entered the field as their names were being called over the loud speaker.  The players were met with "high-fives"  and applause from parents and guests.  Player introductions were followed by league announcements, dedications, raffles and a blessing of the coaches, parents and players.  

All players and teams went through batting practice which was followed by a highlight game between the Reds and the Rockies.

River Dell HS Baseball

  

After I finished a Track & Field assignment for the yearbook company I work for, I decided to watch the boys varsity baseball team play against Fort Lee HS.

Baseball is a fun sport to photograph, there is a lot of action very close, home plate and the pitchers mound.  Being prepared is half the battle, locking focus and exposure then waiting for the action...

For shooting sports, I mostly use a Canon 70 - 200mm f/2.8 lens, often with a 2.0x tele-converter.  I edit my images using Adobe Lightroom 2.0.

   

Upper Nyack Elementary School Outdoor Garden Program

Upper Nyack, NY:  Anne Meore, Horticultural Therapist and owner Planthropy LLC, presents her program to groups of students at The Upper Nyack Elementary School.  

This program, developed by Anne Meore, is being used to add to their Science program with the use of indoor and outdoor garden.  The students are learning about how to prepare a garden for planting, how plants grow, composting, sustainable gardening and how we interact with plants.  Today students weeded the gardens and built "Earth Box" growing systems for use indoors.  The "Earth Box" is a self contained growing system, which uses a water reservoir to "wick" the water up to the roots of the plants.

Pitching from a stretch

GarfieldBB-2
Originally uploaded by John Meore

Garfield (HS) Boilermakers take on the Cardinals from Pompton Lakes.

I was called in to photograph the Boys Varsity Baseball team at Garfield HS for their yearbook.

Tuxedo Modified Softball

23 April 2009, Tuxedo Middle School Softball, coached my Mr. and Mrs. Martin, played S. S. Seward of Florida (NY) at Euvard Field in Tuxedo.

MLB Network holds "Family Day" at their Secaucus facility

Secaucus, NJ: The MLB Network holds their "Family Day" in conjunction with "Take Your Kids to Work Day."  The network invited their employes to bring family and friends to visit the production facility and tour their studios.

Kids were playing whiffle ball in their mock stadium studio and face painting artists were stationed in "Hair and Make-up."

The 2009 Tuxedo Little League Softball Season is under way.

19 April 2009, Tuxedo, NY: The Tuxedo Little League held their first girls softball game Sunday, with the Tuxedo Angels hosting the Marlins of Stony Point.  Tuxedo lost the game, but this marks what League Officials hope will be a great future for Girls Softball in Tuxedo.  Last year's program was an instructional season, with hopes of this years program having a full schedule.  With 10 games on the roster, this season will be exciting to say the least. 

 

 

Northern Highlands defeats Demarest 17 - 4

16 Apr 09, Allendale, NJ: The Lady Highlanders pulled of an amazing display of offensive shot-making. Northern Highlands dumped 17 shots in the net of their opponent, only giving up four goals to take the victory.These images were taken for the Lady Highlanders Yearbook. For Davis Studios/John MEORE

Quick Environmental Portrait Session

Anne Meore of Planthropy LLC, is a Horticultural Therapist and graduate of the HT Certificate Program at the New York Botanical Gardens.  Asked is she would like to be a part in their 2009 fall brochure highlighting her path to becoming a Horticultural Therapist via the NYBG Program, she was asked to provide a head shot...ASAP.  Here is the head shot I took for for the blog entry.  

Quick and Simple...Set-up time 10 min....Under the deck umbrella to hold off the bright sun, I used 1 Canon 580 EX @ 1/16th power w/a white umbrella camera left, fired w/a pocket wizard; White board/reflector camera right for fill. ISO 50, 1/160th, f/3.5  Canon 5D w/a Canon 70-200 f/2.8.

Tuxedo spanks Seward

TGVSoftball-1
Originally uploaded by John Meore

The Tornados of Tuxedo ripped through the Spartans of S. S. Seward.

Jennifer and Jeff Mariano serve up the first cone of the year at "Take-A-Break Ice Cream and Dairy Barn."  The Mariano's are the new owners of this long established business located on Route 17 in the small town of Tuxedo, New York.  Soon after purchasing Take-A-Break, the Mariano's have added pizza to the menu.

Minisink Boys Varsity Lacrosse

Boys Varsity Lacrosse
Originally uploaded by John Meore

April 2, 2009, Middletown, NY: The Minisink Warriors beat the Middletown Middies 8 - 1. The photos takes were for the Minisink Yearbook.

Tuxedo High School performs "Once on this Island"

Students at Tuxedo's George F Baker High School perform the musical "Once on this island."

The show dates and times are April 3 & 4 @ 8:00 pm and April 5 @ 2:00 pm.

Mets Fantasy Camp

Mets2009-1
Originally uploaded by John Meore

This past January, I was asked to assist photographing the Mets Fantasy Camp in Port St. Lucie, FL. The camps were 5 days each and there were 2 of them. The first day we photographed the camp attendees during their warm-ups and evaluations. The rest of the week was double headers, a game in the morning and one in the afternoon. On the final day, the campers got a chance to play against the Pros in a 3 inning game. 1, 2, 3 strikes...your out! The Pros may be "older" but they can still throw the heat and field the ball...
I got a chance to see some of the Mets players I used to watch in Shea back in the early-mid '70's.

Galaxy Gymnastics compete at the "2009 Niagara Cup" Invitational

Galaxy Gymnastics of Orangeburg, NY, traveled to Buffalo to compete in this years 2009 Niagara Cup.  The full team from Levels 4 - 10 teams competed from Thursday - Sunday.