28 August 2012
While on vacation last week, I received a call from the office of Army Athletics.  Lacrosse Magazine runs a story called 'off the field' and they want to feature an Army player.  Garrett Thul was the selection Army Athletics made.  I had the opportunity to photograph him in action a few months ago at Michie Stadium against Navy.  Great player and a really nice guy.  I wish him nothing but the best as he prepares to graduate in the spring and begins his Army career.
This shoot was a tight one, the barracks are not that large and there are 3 cadets to a room.  I brought a lot of equipment and I am glad I did, becaused I used a bunch of it on this job.
2-Dynalite packs, one had a 24 x 24 softbox (camera left) and a shoot through umbrella (behind the bunks) aimed at the ceiling, the other had an umbrella high up, bouncing off the cieling just camera left.  I had one Canon 580EXII high camera right using the bounce card (1/2 power) and a second low camera right with a 1/4" grid spot aimed at the jerseys.
I shot this with a 14mm f.2.8, 125ISO at 1/125th of a second at f/14.  I triggered the lights with pocket wizards.  Not bad for shooting in a confined space, reminds me of shooting on the Aircraft Carrier.
-JM

August Update

Well August is here and where did the summer go?  Been busy the last few months shooting for Newsday.  Newsday for most folks who have heard of it in the NYC area is a newspaper in Long Island.  Newsday began to spread their news media outlet to their cable territory.  Newsday.com and News 12 are now providing media content to Westchester & Rockland Counties as well as the Hudson Valley.  Here are some of the stories I've worked on.  More to come.  Thanks.
• jm

 

There's nothing like Lacrosse.  It is a great game, the fastest game on foot some might say.  I started playing it when I was 12 and didn't stop until I was in my late 20's.

The paper asked me to cover the Army/Navy game a couple of weeks ago and I said, YES with out even thinking twice!  This was the 91 contest between the two academies.  Conditions were great, the sun was out, it was warn with a slight breeze.  The action was great.  Good players make for great images.

Since I am a former Navy Photographer, I hate to say it but, this game went to Army 9 - 6.
The press box was locked, so I had to upload and edit the images from the first half on the sideline.  After the game ended, I said good bye to a couple photographer friends and headed to my car to finish editing.  It was early enough so I could go home and transmit images from there.

• JM

Sometimes you need to be creative to go low...

Every once in a while, we photographers can be crafty and use the tools we already have to create something new.
When I need to lie down for long periods of time, shooting in the 'prone' position like a sniper.  I use my low angle 'tripod' rig.  It is a Manfrotto low light stand and has a monopod angle top on it.  The top is connected to a standard stud and mounted into the low light stand.  It fits me perfect for when I am laying down.  
I try to keep everything semi loose so it can move easily.  I can also clamp everything tight, if I need to lock on a certain position for 'remote' camera shots, like waiting on a goalie in a lacrosse game.
It works great and cost me nothing extra, other than a few brain cells to get it all together.
•JM

Tools of the trade...

 

"Hey your cameras take some great pictures..."

Those of us who shoot for a living, hear that a lot and know it is not all in the gear.  Knowing how to get it to do what we want is a key element in taking good photographs.  My cameras are extensions of my hands and eyes.  Today's cameras are very complex imaging devices and take time to get to know their personality.  They are basically a computer with a lens...

Above, are a couple of shots of my gear.  The first one is it all packed up in my case and the second it it all ready for an assignment.  The case holds 2-camera bodies, 6-lenses, extra camera batteries, strobes (not pictured), extension wires, 2-tele-converters, cleaning stuff, gaffers tape, extra memory cards, a light meter  and a small mono pod for the 300mm.  Now that's a lot of stuff crammed in to that box.
I use the Think Tank belt system instead of a camera bag because it is easier on my back.

A picture tells the story...

You never know what you may find when you look back through the images you shoot.

At the conclusion of practice, offensive coordinator Ian Shields, L, and (former Monroe-Woodbury Wide Receiver) Jared McFarlin discuss practice as Army Football holds their second of several early morning practices at the Foley Athletic Center on the campus of the USMA at West point on Monday, February 13, 2012.

JOHN MEORE/for the Times Herald-Record

McFarlin no longer with team

By SAL INTERDONATO | Published: FEBRUARY 28, 2012 | 3 Comments

Sophomore wide receiver Jared McFarlin, a 2010 Monroe-Woodbury graduate, has left the Army football team.

McFarlin hasn’t attended recent practices and his name was removed from Army’s roster on its athletics site.

McFarlin was a feel-good story early in the 2011 season. He earned an opening day start and made four catches including his first college touchdown against Northern Illinois. The 6-foot-5 target started two of the next three games. McFarlin’s playing time began to diminish with senior Austin Barr returned to full health in week 5. McFarlin had just one catch in Army’s nine games.

McFarlin finished the season with seven catches for 74 yards.

An assignment is an assignment...

No matter how large or small the assignment, no matter how exciting it may or may not be, you give it 110% of your effort.
This assignment was to shoot a HS Cheerleading Championship for OCIAA Section 9.  It didn't matter which team I photographed, there was no instructions to shoot any particular athlete, coach or routine.  It didn't matter how long I was there, just get something the paper can run with the 'box scores.'  I showed up early, I stayed late and this is what I got!  
I guess these will work...

 

 

Early to rise...

"Can you shoot this?" the e-mail said.  Monday morning 6:55 AM (Yes AM)

Sure, why not...
I left the house at 5:50 AM to be on-site at West Point at 6:30 AM.  I had the above shot in mind, but was not sure how it would play out.  As I walked down the hill from the parking lot, I could see players leaving the weight room and walking across the practice field to the athletic center.  I hustled over and tried to get a low, long shot of the players crossing the field by the moonlight, but that didn't work.  So, I peaked inside and grabbed a couple of shots of players stretching.  I headed back outside to see if there were any late comers.  I heard a few players running along the fence, so I set up for the above shot.  I used a wide angle zoom lens, I popped on my strobe, dialed back the flash exposure, grabbed an exposure for the sky, composed the frame, focus and wait... Click!

Army football has re-arranged their spring practice schedules to have the players start at 6:55 in the Foley Athletic center.  This will give the player/student/cadets a chance to get their school work done in the afternoon, have dinner as a team, work on their military training and get a good nights sleep.

Coach Ellerson said in his interview that he has used this method at other schools and it worked well in keeping the players grades up as well as getting in the spring practices required.

At West Point, the cadets are up early anyway so why not use this time to work out.  The football administration worked with the Dean of Students and other logistical departments to re-arrange their class, transportation and meal schedules to fit this into their day.  Since they Academy has the players for the weekends, they can use that time to get in some longer practices and conditioning.

Emma's Bars and Floor routine from Winter Wonderland • 11 Feb 2012

Changing conditions

As a photographer, I have to be accustomed to changing environments... Weather, lighting conditions, gear limitations, etc.
The last three days of work have been under very different lighting conditions.

A cheerleading competition, with studio strobes set up on the railing of the balcony.  Set to just under full power, I was able to shoot at ISO 320, 1/250th of a second at f/3.5 and get results like this:





















The next assignment was to shoot 64 swimming races, thats right 64!  I was tired and wet at the end of the day.
Under probably the worst lights possible, fluorescent lights, only around the outside of the pool, with no lights over the water.  As well, there was a very large set of windows behind the starting blocks.  There goes all the good starting block shots.
I had my camera max'd out at 6400 shooting at 1/640th, wide open.  using a custom white balance on the bad lights... Now, some of these swimmers were really good, but most were beginners and could barely bring the heads out of the water for me to get action shots.  And I had to deal with a really nice reflection from the windows!  I'll look for a sample from this event.

Next we go to shooting green-screen portraits of a small basketball league.  3rd grade to 8th grade boys and girls, about 20 teams.  Setting up the green-screen is like second nature, and not difficult. Keep the large shadows off the background, use a lighting pattern that shows a main light and control the shadows with a fill light, about 1 stop less than the main.  On the meter, it read f/11 on the main and f/9 on the fill.  I added a grid spot to the top of the backdrop holder to offer a a hair light and a little separation from the backdrop.  Here is a shot of the set-up.

When all the hard work pays off...

I returned home Thursday to see a message on my office phone.  I didn't recognize the number so I listened to the message.  I had to play the message 3 times to make sure I heard it right.  
A Picture Editor from SI, that's right Sports Illustrated, wanted to talk to me about a few images they saw on one of the websites, of a football player from Don Bosco Prep, Leonte Carroo, who committed and signed with Rutgers University.

Before I called her back, I went through the images I had on Carroo to see which ones they might be interested in.  I had 10 - 15 that were in the gallery, but had a bunch more that did not make it.  
We finally connected, and talked about the images they were looking for, the possible layout and the SI process of using images from photographers.  
She sent me screen shots of the images.  I quickly began editing the images to the sizes they needed and added all my information the the files as required.  I added a couple of different shots that I thought may work.  The images were sent off un-cropped at 300dpi, about 10MB per image.  This way they can crop the image to the layout as needed.  I don't usually send out non-water-marked, high res files to someone who just asks for them, but hey, it's Sport Illustrated!  Zoom, of they go...


The response I received back... "Perfect!"

The story closes on Monday and Claudia, the picture editor, will let me know how the images fit the article and how much to bill.  They pay a standard rate for the size of the article, so it could be a good one.  Very exciting to get noticed for all my hard work on the sidelines, especially from SI.  This has to lead to bigger and better things!  If they make it into the article, I post a copy of the page. JM


Just received word back that they didn't choose any of my images.  Oh Well!  Nice to be asked. JM

For the love of the game...

This was from an assignment a couple of years ago.  All afternoon the rain was coming down in buckets.  I thought this game was going to be cancelled.  I even called the scheduling department and the schools office to check... it was on!  These girls slogged through the rain and mud and freezing temperatures to complete this game.  These athletes were covered in mud and soaking wet by half time.

Me, I was under an umbrella with a winter jacket, rain pants and boots.   Hey, I'm glad I'm not playing!

Lowes roof fire • January 25, 2012

Lowes roof fire • January 25, 2012, a photo by John Meore on Flickr.

You never know what's going to happen, that's why I almost always have my gear with me.
Bringing my daughter to gymnastics the other day, we were passed by a whole bunch of fire-trucks and police cars. Didn't see where they were going and had to drop her off. Left the gym and noticed more trucks driving down the road by the gym, and decided to follow. Noticed the whole South Orangetown Fire Department and Ambulance were surrounding the local Lowes Home Center. The power to the building was off, there was a burning electrical small, and smoke coming from the roof at the back of the building. The fire department had the fire contained and put out very quickly. Took a few wide angle shots. All the workers were mustered out front waiting to hear from the management as to what to do. As I walked past, I got heckled as they wanted me to take their picture.... what are you 12?
This shot shows the crescent moon and Jupiter in the upper right part of the frame.

Crow takes flight from tree • 31 JAN 2012

Crow takes flight from tree • 31 JAN 2012, a photo by John Meore on Flickr.

Left the house this morning and heard a bunch of crows making a ruckus up in the trees. I noticed one alone calling back to the others.
I grabbed my camera and tossed on the 70 - 200, set up the exposure, focused on the trees and waited for about ten seconds for the crow to take flight.
Off he goes, wings out... Snap, got it!

Pre-Season Baseball Assignment

I received an assignment to shoot some of the baseball players of the Don Bosco Prep HS in Ramsey, NJ.  The request was for the photos to be done on the diamond... mind you, the Northeast it is winter.
I made contact with the new head coach and set the date and time.  I showed up to the school, unloaded my car of all the gear I thought I might need and use.  Strobes, stands, umbrellas, softboxes, power cords and camera equipment.  I get everything on to the gym and search for the players.  I hoped the players would be in full uniforms, but I was told, they can not be in uniform, hold bats or baseballs, as it would break a NJ HS Athletics rule.  The coaches are not allowed to have anything to do with the players until March 1st.  Wearing the uniform and posing with bats and balls would be considered a 'team event' and be considered a breach of the rule.  The AD said they could wear the Freshmen jerseys and no pants.
I had planed on using the gym and the large school logo on the gym wall, so I didn't bring a backdrop.  I scope out the gym and it is full of basketball players and coaches, no go.  The hallway and stands, alternate choices, was also being used by a strength training program, and the weight room was out of the question.
So the locker room was all that was left.  I tell the coach, that I be setting up in the locker room, and I'll need about 20 min.  His comment, was great, I'll let them know, some of them have to leave in 45 min.   At that point, all the players start to pile into the locker room, along with all the other students changing for an after school work out.
With the clock ticking, I throw together a set-up for the standard mug shots, two lights; main and fill.  I have the players come through one at at time, take their head shots.  Then we look for a spot to do a group shot.  Before the group shot, I try an alternate head shot; a main light and a grid spot kicker from behind.  Here are a couple of the shots I got.  I only wish I had more time, more room and the kids in full uniforms.  Outside would have been challenging, but would have also made for some great photo opportunities.