Images from and thoughts behind some of my newspaper assignments.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Drum and Bugle Corps Senior Competition • 6 August 2011.
Well Saturday evening, I had a chance to photograph a Drum & Bugle competition in Kingston NY. There were 8 teams competing and 2 exhibition teams. This would have been a really cool assignment, had it not been for the weather.
The ride up to Kingston started off as a slight drizzle, and quickly turned into a downpour. When I arrived at the stadium, it again was a drizzle, so I put on my golf rain gear, pants and a rain shirt. With-in 40 minutes, I had to go back to my car for the rain poncho. It was so bad I was shooting while hiding under the poncho. My gear got soaked, so I went back for plan 'C:' the umbrella. Only, how do you hold an umbrella and 2 cameras, one with a 70-200 and the other with a 24-70. Oh yeah, its dark and you can't use a flash... why, because the only thing you'll light up is the rain right in front of you... Push the ISO and hold steady. 1/100th @ 2.8 for most images.
So I attached the umbrella to a mono-pod with a bungee cord. I am sure I looked a little weird, but I was dry, and it was easier to handle the umbrella-pod than shooting from under a poncho.
Job done, images sent... What's next!
The Children's Home of Kingston presents the 2011 March of Champions, Drum and Bugle Corps Senior Competition at Dietz Stadium on Kingston NY on Saturday, August 6, 2011.
JOHN MEORE/for the Times Herald-Record
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Well today I arrived early... about 3 hours early. I was assigned to shoot the arraignment of a former Kingston Police Detective, Lieutenant Tim Matthews. Matthews was indicted on 13 felony counts by a Grand Jury of stealing money of which he was entrusted.. to the tune of over $200,000.00.
The arraignment was set for 1:00 PM, so I was asked if I could meet the papers Staff Photographer, Chet Gordon at 9:30 AM at the papers Kingston office on John Street. The courthouse is right around the corner.
We get to the courthouse at 10:00 AM, walk the building to se if they made arrangement to bring him through a side door, we spoke to a couple of Court Officers, who were of no help with our quest, but were very pleasant. At 11:30 the local TV crew from YNN shows up, then a couple other reporters filter in from the Freeman Press.
Freeman Press Reporter, Patricia Doxsey, said, "...he is not in custody, not under arrest, he should be brought in the front door like everyone else..." A few moments later, she shouts, "there he is..!"
Everyone around the front door swings towards Wall St. and gets to work. I was able to fire off about 15 shots of him walking on the path to the front door. He and his lawyer entered the building, wnd proceeded to go through the metal detector and the press followed. Unfortunately, we were stopped because there was no authorization for cameras to be in the building or the court room. A little down, we headed back outside to wait for him to come out.
I saw this image and was able to pull it off, by resting the camera on the bench in the back of the court room. I was waiting for the lawyer, Michael J. Kavanagh, to make a gesture or put his hand on Matthews shoulder, but it never panned out.
Once bail was made, the whole group headed outside. They took the elevator, and we took the stairs and made it outside first, we set up to get him leaving the building with his family, but he stuck by his attorney. The press peppered him with questions, but Kavanagh gave the obligatory... "Mr. Matthews or I have no comment at this time!"
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Spartan Race, Tuxedo Ridge • 5 June 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
This mornings assignment was at Cornwall High School. Stephen Krasner, a resident of the Town of Newburgh and a candidate for the Town Supervisor in Newburgh, was giving a lecture to students in the Global Studies program. He spoke about the time he spent with the Peace Corp. Where as a young man while traveling in the Middle East, certain events led him to want to do 'something' for the greater good. He earned a BA from University of Hartford, and later a Masters in Non-Profit Management.
His 'something' was to join the Peace Corps and work in a foreign country for two years, bringing new and sustainable agricultural techniques to an impoverished area in Ecuador.
After settling into the Newburgh area and starting a family, he decided to run for Town Supervisor in 2009 gaining 42% of the vote, he will run again this fall. Best of Luck Stephen!
"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do" Helen Keller
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
I only had a few seconds to introduce myself, I shook his hand, said I was with the local paper, but I could tell he was very easy going. I could tell, as he worked with the kids from Newburgh, that he felt at home teaching kids. Showing them the right way and the wrong way to set a pick and a screen. Being firm but also having fun with the kids.
Coach Hurley worked with the kids for 90 minutes. He stressed the importance of basic skills, continued improvement and hard work.
Friday, March 11, 2011
The Spring Rains • 11 March 2011
The first thing to happen is the closing of the East Village Rd. bridge. This bridge is the only way to get to the section of Tuxedo, the East Village, that is located on the east side of the NYS Thruway. This bridge has been washed out many times, once leaving people stranded for 4 days.
Regional Semi-Finals • Burke Catholic v Albertus Magnus • 8 Mar 2011
Regional Semi-Finals • Burke Catholic v Albertus Magnus • 8 Mar 2011 a photo by John Meore on Flickr.
Westchester County Center, White Plains, NY:
Burke Catholic of Section 9 takes on Albertus Magnus of Section 1 in the Regional Semi-finals for Class B division.
Once again I need to thank Chet Gorgon, who shot the first 2 games and left the strobes up for me. This time he set them in the rafters of the County Center. 4 Canon Speedlights, mounted in the catwalk on the railing fired with Pocket Wizards. Although the ambient light was high and the strobes not so powerful, it worked OK.
I was able to pull off some good shots. Not too much motion blur due to shooting at 1/250-1/320th, the strobes were able to freeze most of the action.
Timing and proper lighting make shooting basketball all than much better. You want to shoot images that will make the paper, not necessarily shots that will sell on a website.
For this game, it was an 8:00PM game and the paper's deadline is around 9:45pm... this doesn't leave much time. So, I showed up early, said hello to all the other newspaper guys, talked to the reporters, got a roster of the teams for captioning, set up my laptop, made sure the internet was working. So when game time arrived, I was ready to go. At half time, I loaded the images I had, and was able to select about 8 really good image. Second half, wait for the jubilation or rejection shot, this time the team we were covering won. I was able to grab a shot of two players doing a chest bump. Back to the laptop to up-load, select, edit, caption, transmit by 9:45, pack-up the gear and out the door at 10:15.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Gym Lighting for basketball
Section 9, Class D Boys Basketball • 7 Mar 2011
The Statesman of John A. Coleman Catholic v the Wildcats of Livingston Manor • SUNY New Paltz
You can't say enough about proper lighting in a gymnasium. I shot a double header last night for the Class D (Small School) Section 9 championship at the State University of New York' s New Paltz campus.
I have to give lighting credit and thanks to Chet Gordon, Staff Photographer at the Times Herald-Record for setting up, and leaving the strobes set-up all week end. I just showed up, plugged in the lights, fired a few test shots and was ready to go! I believe 4 photographers took part in covering the games this weekend and all the images looked great, why... the lighting.
Being able to shoot at 400 ISO and get peak action shots that are crisp and sharp is a great feeling as a sports photographer. This 'task' of setting up the lights for HS basketball might seem like overkill, but it makes a world of difference. Even if they only use one shot in the paper. I know that shot is going to be sharp as a tack and perfectly exposed.
The gym was lit with 4 Dyna-Lite strobes, one in each corner of the gym, mounted high pointing at the baskets, set at about 3/4 power fired with PocketWizards. For this to work, the strobes have to be 3, or more, stops above ambient, but the strobes should not be at full power.
Tonight, one more game in the Section 1 - 9 Boys Regional Semi-Final match-up at the Westchester County Center in White Plains. John S. Burke Catholic v. Albertus Magnus, should be a good one!
John