Photo Miami

Went to Photo Miami w/my friend Zayra the other day. Man, there are some people charging a lot of money for photos, some great others not so much.
Here's a lil' snap w/the G9 inside the show tent.

dragging shutter today

Went to Foto Miami/Art Basel today and saw many many pics selling for a crapload of money. Was feeling artistic and of course, what's more artistic than dragging a shutter ?

Adios Orange Bowl

I went to the Orange Bowl in Miami last Saturday to help out my friend Jim Virga's U.M. photo students. They were working on documenting the final day of the legendary stadium. I was supposed to help as somewhat of a photo coach/advisor. Jim had it all under control. I was able to eat a $5 dollar hot dog from a vendor outside and I also got to see Omar, pain in the ass wonder intern.

My red convertible bug

I've finally gotten serious about finishing the restoration work on my '70 vw bug convertible. I got this car back in '99 I think, can't really remember. It belonged to our friend Veronica Costello and it was in bad shape when I got it. There are some pics around that I will find someday of the vert when I got it. I don't remember the order but I think I drove it home from Ft Laud and then had it towed to the body shop in Oakland Park. The body shop guy, named Jose, was a dick, but that's another story. After the floors and paint were done I towed the car to my house. From there I towed it to the interiors/top guy. I left the car there for about a year. I then had it towed back to my house where it sat for the last 6-8 years in the garage. Isaida's been nagging me about fixing it and taking it out of the garage, we need the space since our house is a small 2/1. Like I said before, I've been putting off the work until now. Later I'll xplain why I'm in a hurry to finish it. Anyway, the car needs some heavy duty work. 1st, the engine is dead, no carb mounted, no battery and I bet ALL the electrical needs replacing. 2nd, the engine is probly locked. Unless it can be fixed, I'm probly gonna need to purchase a rebuilt one. 3rd, and I think this is gonna be a pain, I have to get the hard to find/fix window regulators for the rear seat windows. I'm hoping these "minor" things wont cost more than 3k. I dunno. I will post more pics as the project progresses.

Help has arrived

Today we got some professional help. Mr. Henry, the pest control guy a friend of Isaida's uses came to the rescue. He used his professional poison and did exactly what I've been doing; tossing some blocks in the attic. He's coming back w/some custom traps he makes to trap the rats. We'll see if he get the job done.

Sad news, I trapped and killed a bird w/my rat traps.

I didn't shoot apic of it but I somehown managed to kill a little sparrow w/one of my rat trap assault contractions. Apparently it was lured by the "meant for rats" peanut butter/dcon mix. Oh well, I tossed the dead bird in my neighbor's backyard. Maybe her annoying late night yappers will eat it...(just kidding) I wish I'd thought about that earlier though.

Losing the fight

NO rats yet on my traps. I dunno what else to try. Bummer.

Ohhh, they're sooooo gonna die !

Last night I stayed up until 4AM. Fucking rats kept running around and while Isaida slept like a baby I read and read and read online boards where people explained their rat-ridding techniques. This morning I rushed to the local Home Depot and bought all the parts to build my very own "rat trap assault rifle". I put two together and placed one up in the attic. I mixed peanut butter with D-con pellets and put some on the board to entice them to the traps. The 2nd one goes outside later tonight near the spot where it looks like they're getting in. I noticed that they ate some of the D-Con poison bars I placed yesterday. I'm concerned about the smell of poisoned rats in the attic if they die there but I think we can survive a few days @ my brother's if we have to.
It's on BITCHES ! Or to paraphrase my close personal friend Samuel L. Jackson: "I'm sick and tired of this motherfucking rats in this motherfucking house", or something like that.

Shooter

I've been playing sharp shooter the last couple of days. Seems the critters we had in our attic have moved to a gab above our kitchen cabinets. Last night I shot one mouse as it came up from under the plastic covers I had gaffered taped over the cabinets. Later in the night another mouse came up and I shot @ it and missed. This morning I adjusted the sight on my pump action bb gun ;) and took several practice shots. I was dead on and then, the mouse came up again. I got so exited that I shot once and missed. Now the fucker won't come up. It stays in the crawl space gnawing @ something. Tomorrow morning I'm buying a few traps to nail the SOB. I'm fucking stressed out. I hate critters.

Life near the beach

After 20 years living in So/Fla I've decided to hit the beach @ least once/week. This was last Sunday. This is a quiet beach near 71 street and Collins. BTW, I got stung by a jellyfish. Ouch.

Waiting for bags

Isaida reads her book while waiting for our luggage @ FLL airport a couple of weeks after flying back to Fl from Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican grass

My dad is re-sodding his house in Rio Grande. This is a slow process as he drives his Toyota Rav-4 to the grass place which is about 10 miles away, buys 38 blocks of sod and plants it. He's done this quite a few times. He prefers to take his time and not pay someone to do this for him because they won't do as good a job as him. Isaida and I took one trip w/him and filled my rental Mazda 3 with sod. Isaida returned later w/another 38 blocks. I tried to convince him to get a truck load of sod to get the trips over with. He vehemently said, NO WAY. He's in no hurry to finish the job. He sez this is a good therapeutical endeavor for him. Plus, if he finishes this project too soon my mother will something else for him to do...

Rata, Raton !

Hemos estado en Puerto Rico desde el 25 de Agosto. Decidimos quedarnos par de dias extra porque la 1ra semana estuvimos comprando los materiales para la renovacion del baño del apto de playa. Nuestra vecina Norma descubrió que tiene rataS en su apto. Ayer ella y su hija formaron tremenda griteria y cuando entre a su casa a averiguar lo que pasaba vi la cola de una rata enorme que se escondia detras de unos gabinetes. Esta mañana como a las 6AM toco nuestra puerta. Encontramos a esta ratita muerta al lado de su refrigerador. No se, pero me parece que hay mas animalitos...


We've been vacationing in Puerto Rico since the 25th of last month. We stayed a few extra days to enjoy our visit. The 1st week we spent most of the time buying materials for the bathroom which will be done soon. Our neighbor Norma has rats in her apartment. Yesterday she and her daughter started screaming and when I rushed into her apt I saw the tail of a huge rat hiding behind some cabinets. This morning @ 6Am she knocked on our door. One of the traps her husband had set up had caught a rat. This one is smaller than the one I saw. I think she has more critters...

Is it wrong to NOT go back to work ever ? We don't wanna leave P.R.

Chicago

So I flew to Chicago last Monday to shoot a portrait of Chicago Bears star Devin Hester. The worst trip I've ever taken, period. But I'll post something on that later on. Now I just wanna share some random snapshots.

6 XL

I was in the studio Thursday shooting football fans for the ALMOST FINISHED pre-season section covers. One of the subjects is a Jason Taylor (Miami Dolphins) fanatic. A writer brought his size 6 XL Taylor jersey to use on the fan. I had to try it on, I had no idea they make shirts that big. I had to use clothes pins on the back of the shirt to make it look decent on the lady/fan. Sports intern Perry Gattegno shot these snaps.

Gainesville, G-Town, GainesVegas, The G-Spot

With assistant, and former El Sentinel intern, Andrea Morales in Gainesville. Andrea is crashing at a friend's house near UF. This is the back porch/patio.

T A L A H A S S E E

I misspelled this freaking name 3 times in my last 3 blogs.

M35

I drove back home from Talahassee last night. I left @ 2:30PM. Got home around @ 10:00PM. The drive was tiresome. The only good thing about driving almost 8 hours was the fact that I rented a 2007 Infinty M35, the BEST car I've ever driven, and of course, seeing Isaida again. Understand, I haven't driven many nice cars before. I've owned a Ford Maverick, four VW Bugs, a Mazda pick-up truck, a Honda Civic and currently a Honda Element. The M35 was like a dream to drive. Somewhere near Port St. Lucie, I was cruising @ 81 mph when a Black 2007 Mercedes Benz S500 flew past me. No traffic in sight I floored the M35 to try to catch up. Within seconds I was passing the 100 mph mark. As quickly as I hit 110 mph, which took about 4 seconds or so, I slowed back down to a responsible 81 mph. I think they arrest you in Florida for driving that recklessly. Ahhh, woulda been nice to keep pushing the M35. Today I return the M35 and pick up my Element.

UF shoot

In the end, things worked out. The folks @ UF were cool and I was able to shoot our football player. Andrea Morales, ex El Sentinel intern was in town to assist me and offer moral support. Tomorrow Saturday we're off to Talahassee to shoot one more kid. Here's a pic shot by ANDREA. I'm making sure I don't post something we'd use in the paper. The guy on the left is a local shooter who was grabbing some video for the web.

Holocaust Memorial (South Beach)

Today I had a chance to take my folks to the Holocaust Memorial in South Beach. My dad just turned 80 last night and he'd been wanting to go. However, my mom didn't want to. So I told my dad I'd take him and mom could stay @ my brother's. My mom changed her mind. I've been to the memorial a few times over the years. The experience is powerful each time I go. My folks were very moved. I'm no historian but I got to explain to my mom who Anne Frank was and what little I know about the Jewish people. We didn't know any Jewish people growing up and only had some general knowledge of the Nazi campaign and Adolf Hitler. The 1st time I saw an old Jewish man with a number tattooed on his forearm I was really blown away. Over the years I've come to understand how brutal and inhumane people can be. I talked to my folks about how dangerous it is to blindly and fanatically follow any man. My dad got to shoot a ton of pics w/his new P&S which he got on Father's Day. When I was a child I used to ask him to let me use his little 110 camera. He would hesitate but would eventually relent. That's how and when I started shooting bad pics, only difference is now I get paid for it. He kept bragging all day about how much better his photos are than mine.
Peace

Colleen standing in

Our summer intern Colleen Cummins (CC) was volunteered (or pimped) by me to stand in for fellow Palm Beach Post shooter Damon Higgins as we both waited for a couple of University of Miami Hurricanes football players to show up for portraits. CC was standing on my little step stool trying to look like the 6'5" dude Damon had to shoot. She was about a foot shorter even on the stool.

Fujifilm's new cameras

So I get my dpreview.com e-newsletter and guess what ? Fujifilm has a new line of Finepix cameras coming out in September ! This only a week after I sold my F31 and bought a Z5. Now I'm having 2nd thoughts. One of the models sounds too good to be true. The F50fd is only .1mm thicker and .2mm longer than my current Z5 which is super small. It's described as the newest replacement for the F30 and F31 which is ranked as THE BEST low light performing P & S digi in the market. The awsome thing is that it now features FULL MANUAL controls, which to me takes it to a different ballpark. It's carry all the time small, low light kick ass performance and now it has full manual controls. The other 2 models are basically outside design upgrades to the Z5; the Z50 and the Z100. Both look great but are pretty much the same camera as the Z5. AND, there's the S480 which is slim and black AND it features a 28mm wide angle lens.
Here's the link: http://www.dpreview.com/

Mija gets a treat

Mija got a rawhide bone from our neighbor Ellie yesterday. This was a thank you from her and her son Jose. Tuesday I found their dog "Mickey" who had gotten out of the house when they were getting ready to leave their house for the day. Actually, Mickey found me. He walked up to me. Anyway, he's back home and Ellie and Jose gave Mija the treat and we got a thank you note written by Jose. After almost an hour of her chewing the thing I took it away, some dogs will choke on the pieces of rawhide.

Yeah, why not ?

I think this was in the old David's Diner in Miami Shores (currently a Starbucks).
Gotta love the eyes.

My bling and Josue

My buddy Josue Fraticelli got me some serious bling during a Puerto Rican Christmas celebration in Miami 2 years ago. It was December in South Florida, temperatures were all the way down to the low 70's, brrrrrrrrrr.

Cheo Feliciano

Isaida and I flew cack from P.R. on the cheap 1st class section of a Spirit Air flight from San Juan last January. Sitting behind us was the legendary Cheo Feliciano ! I didn't realize he is so short (he's my height), he sounds larger than life. Isaida recognized him. We did our groupie pic. He was very very nice. The next day we saw him on tv promoting a upcoming show in Miami. I kept looking for "Amada Mia" in my ipods. No luck. I gotta get that song. I do have Raton (or whatever that song is called), "de cualquier malla, sale un raton oye..."

Life's simple pleasures I miss

Today I had to shoot a swimsuit trade show @ the Miami Beach Convention Center. Sounded like something I'd enjoy. WRONG ! I had to check in @ the show office where I was quickly told I'd have to have a chaperone w/me @ all times. The chaperone was to get permission from anyone I was to photograph BEFORE I shot anything. So much for candid moments. Turns out the fashionistas are super protective of their newest designs. Apparently fashion people go around stealing other peeps designs and selling the crap before the originators have a chance to do so. Who knew ? I was questioned several times by different minders in the booths who I was ? what where the pics for ? blablabla. After about an hour trying to make pics, my minder told me that the woman in charge called her and said that my time was up and it was time I for me to leave. She even took my credential away when we walked out of the hall ! When I got to my car I found 2 text messages and a voice mail from one of the models I shot in one booth (she had asked for a biz card). She was all freaked out about her picture running in the Sentinel. Turns out she's a teacher in Broward and doesn't wanna appear modeling in the paper, like she was turning tricks or something. A complete disaster of an assignment. My pics sucked and my attitude about it too. Call me old school but if we're gonna give a damn swimsuit trade show a free plug, they should kiss our behinds and be more grateful. Enough bitching. I shot this pic of this kid playing w/his PSP outside of the trade show hall. I wish I was him.

Miguel, Dontrelle and me

Shot a portrait of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis last year for some story. I had a few minutes with them. Shot them in some eating area with lockers, a small ass room I was told I could use to set up. They were really cool and funny, no egos and attitude. Please don't laugh @ my setup.

Cancun @ night

A snapshot with my F30 (3 secs xposure) from my hotel room balcony last year. I was on my way to Cuba.

Ahi viene Iris Chacon

I had never done this before, and haven't done it since this happened. I had to shoot a portrait of Iris Chacón in a hotel room. I was still working for El Nuevo Herald. It has to be a very powerful thing to know that amost every man who sees you thinks "coño, que rica esta esa jeva". Even though she is a little over the hill now, when I see her I think about that Coolant commercial. Anyway, I asked her to pose w/me for a picture and she suggested we jump in the bed together. I had my sneakers on !!! Si tu boquita fuera, de chocolate, de chocolate, yo me la pasaria, bate que bate... Jaja

Isaida and FALV

I found this old picture of Isaida with the guys from Fiel a la Vega "backstage" after performing a set in Calle 8 in Miami a few years ago. I don't really remember what year this wasy, I shot this w/a FILM point and shoot ! I had just given Tito the personalized license plate from my convertible VW bug (which is STILL parked in my garage). Tito didn't wanna take the plate, I had to convince him to.

Studio test

Our summer intern Colleen Cummins got stuck with me today working in the studio. I've been drafted to shoot the Sun-Sentinel's football section covers this year. I've never done this, I don't cover sports @ the Sentinel, but that's another story. I had to shoot some tests to show what I will be doing with the athletes I'll be photographing in the next couple of weeks. Since I am Colleen's mentor @ the paper, I drafted her to be my assistant on this project. We spent a few hours in the studio until we got a fairly decent setup that SHOULD work for this assignment. This frame is @ the end of our experiment. I will post some outtakes from the actual shoots later on.

Isaida en La Vena

This is Isaida performing earlier this year in La Vena del Gusto. She didn't know I'd shot this video clip of her and of course I didn't tell her I'd posted in on You Tube. CLICK ON THE TITLE TO VIEW VIDEO. Enjoy.

My people, part 2

Here's even more proof that my people are goofy. Here's my tio Quique pulling my dad Angel Luis on a little utility dolly in front of my folks new smaller/bigger house in Rio Grande.

My people

My dad Angel Luis, left, and his brother Quique goofing around in front of my uncle's house in Puerto Rico. They're both goofballs. Now you know where I got my goofiness.