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