Friday, March 27, 2009

A Complete Turn Around


  So it's now official. I've changed my bad habbits of eating whenever and whatever I want to making healthy choices and seeing the benefits. As you can see from the picture above I really was letting myself go. That picture was taken while covering Hurricane Katrina in September of 2005. 
  As I have mentioned previously, around the time Cathy found out she was pregnant I had a close friend suffer a heart attack. Those two events were the catalyst for me taking a greater interest in my health. I wanted to make sure I would be around a long time for my child.
  I didn't truly know how bad I had gotten until the insurance exam came back in the Spring of 2007. I weighed 225 lbs., my blood pressure was 142/80 and my cholesterol was 211. This was definitely not the way to start fatherhood.
  I immediately changed my diet and started a cardio regimen. Gone were the red meats and fatty foods like McDonalds. In were green veggies and chicken. Out were the times I'd sit on the sofa and watch 90210. That was replaced with biking and eventually jogging (although it was more of walking with a little running in the beginning).
  I called my financial planner in January and told Eric I wanted to option the re-examination clause of my life insurance. I had two years in which to be re-examined to determine if I qualified for a better premium status which I knew I would.
  A few weeks ago the nurse who had examined two years ago came back out to the house to do it all over again. When I answered the door she said she remembered the house but thought it was because she examined Catherine. When I told her that she had examined me she replied, "That's right! Wow I didn't even recognize you."
  So yesterday I received the letter that confirmed I had changed my ways. My blood pressure was 110/70, cholesterol was down to 160 and as of yesterday's weigh the scale read 178. I think I would like to get my weight down to 170 but I'm pleased with where I am currently.
  As I was out on my 7-mile run yesterday I thought about how much better I feel when I'm exercising and how I feel like crap when I eat like crap. I have more energy these days to keep up with Benjamin (although he has that unlimited source I lost when I turned 30). 
  With the weather warming up again I've gotten back in the pool and swim 2 km a couple times a week which helps offset the 15-20 miles I run. Later this year I hope to enter and complete my first half marathon. All of this is in the hopes I never have to see Fat Chris again.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Being my Best Man's Best Man


  This past weekend my best friend Robert married Angela in a beautiful ceremony at the Powell Crosley Mansion in Sarasota. Angela and Robert selected me to give the Best Man speech during the reception. 
  Needless to say I was a bit nervous. What would I say? What should I say? And so I did some research online. Most suggested to start with some light humor before delving in to something more sentimental.
  I got up early one morning last week and wrote my speech. I tried to keep it to under four minutes in duration.
  The following is my speech:

For those who don't know, Robert was the Best Man at my wedding. And after 8 years I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever get to return the favor.

First of all, I want to congratulate the parents of Angela and Robert. I know they must have a great sense of pride in watching their children today.

Robert and I have known each other for 20 years and in that time we have seen each other change from reckless teenagers into the men we are today. It is truly an honor to stand next to you today. I will have to say there were times when I wasn't sure you'd ever find the right woman. I think about some of the conversations we had over the years and thought that maybe you were setting the bar too high.

Then four years ago it happened. I was covering the Terry Schiavo story along with Robert and remember one night Robert telling me about this reporter he'd met. I thought, "You were trying to pick up a chick at Terry Schiavo?" So I had to go check her out the next day. I returned to Robert's house the next day and gave him my assessment that not only was she pretty she she was nice to talk to.

In those four years the two of you have endured many experiences and taken many journeys together. Those experiences and journeys will be the foundation upon which your marriage will be built and it is a strong one.

I would like to say to Robert, while I may have thought at one time that you set the bar too high you have managed to find a woman who goes beyond your expectations for a wife.

Angela you have taken my Best Man and made him into a great man.

To Angela and Robert

Monday, March 16, 2009

Block Party Weekend


This past Saturday we had a block party in our part of the neighborhood. This was the second time we as neighbors had done this with the last one occurring well over a year ago. It gives us a chance to visit with old friends as well as meet new families who have moved into our little section of Westyn Bay.
Cathy and I have always felt like we lucked out when we built our home as we have made great friends with our neighbors. It reminds me of my neighborhood as a kid. If I was going out I would tell my mom that JR and I were going down to Jimmy's to play. She knew JR's parents as well as Jimmy's mom. (That and because Jimmy's mom was also my 2nd grade Language Arts teacher and then there was that whole "little chair" incident but that's for another time.)
Back to the party. Barb and Pablo always host it and provide the tables, some refreshments, entertainment and traffic control. They live at the end of the street that is more cul-de-sac than corner. The rest of us bring a dish and we usually end up with more food than we all can eat.
At the last party Benjamin only stayed out for maybe 30 minutes before he went back to the house but that was because he was only a month old. This time he was all over the place. He wanted to mainly play with the older boys in the bounce house but we kept him outside of the "house" for safety.
The party was supposed to run from 4:30-8 but everyone was having such a good time and the kids seemed to be occupied with one another that it went later. We ended up taking Mr. Exhausted home around 8:45 so he could go to bed. When I talked with our neighbor Lisa on Sunday she told me the party was still going when she left at midnight. That's what will happen when Pablo makes his sangria.
I've told Cathy this many times before that this is the type of neighborhood in which I want to raise a family. You see on the news frequently when the police make a drug bust or worse the reporter asks neighbors to describe the person arrested. They usually respond with, "I dunno he seemed like a nice guy. I'd wave at him when we were going out but I never knew him."
That's not Cardassi Drive. If we're heading out and we see Chuck or Kathy walking the dogs we usually roll the window down and start a 15-minute conversation. That's how neighbors were when I was a kid and that's what I want for mine.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Gainesvile- A Surprise in Culture


  If you pick up today's copy of The New York Times and turn to the Escapes section you'll see my travel story on Gainesville.  The basis of the story was that the little town in North Central Florida isn't just a college town. Gainesville has some interesting places for visitors to see that have nothing to do with the Gator nation.
  I spent one very long day hitting six locations around the Gainesville area. They included botanical gardens, art museums, butterflies as well as a Lady Gator basketball game.
  First on my list was the state park created around the historical home of Pulitzer Prize winning author Marjorie Rawlings who wrote "The Yearling". 
  Rawlings' home hasn't changed much from the time when she wrote that book back in 1938. It was interesting to tag along with a tour and listen to the stories of how the home and it's 52 acres helped to inspire the author.
  Next I headed to the University of Florida to capture some images of students on campus before heading to the women's basketball game against South Carolina. It was a bit of a struggle to make it look like a campus on a Sunday but luckily students were walking along the tree-lined campus. (So much for their reputation as the number 1 party school.)
  Funny thing though at the basketball game. I had the Times request a credential for me so I could roam around the O'Connell Center to make my pictures of fans during the game. The school's Sports Information Director approached me and asked if I needed a roster. I told her I had already grabbed one in the media room when I entered. The reality was that I could care less about the game and who was wearing number 12. I needed fans with orange and blue painted on their faces.
  After the game I headed over to the museum area of the campus. Inside the Natural History Museum I saw a beautiful and large living exhibit on butterflies. In fact it was so large that the volunteer warned me before entering to watch where I stepped as I might be stepping on a butterfly.
  The last stop on my list was the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens off Archer Road. The Gardens has the region's largest collection of bamboo which seems to grow everywhere. It was a nice way to end my travel story. The place was very peaceful with lots of areas to sit and collect your thoughts or just zone out. I wish I would've had little more time there as I felt like I could sit under one of the oak trees and read a book for a few hours.
  Well it wasn't kayaking in the Keys but it was an interesting to shoot. I'm finding that I enjoy travel photography more these days. I guess it's partly because people bend over backwards to assist you in getting the images you want to make. Whereas when I shoot a sporting event I have more hassles than it's worth. Besides wouldn't you prefer to be in a relaxing garden or on a warm beach rather than making sure a baseball isn't getting ready nail you in the nuts?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Moment of Impact


  A few weeks ago my friend Gary called me and said he noticed one of my pictures in a Sports Illustrated book called The College Football Book at Barnes & Noble. Gary told me the picture took up the entire page. He described the image to me and I knew exactly which one it was.
  I shot the picture during the 2007 football season when Cincinnati played USF in Tampa. In fact the picture stands out to me for many reasons not just because it made it into an SI coffee table book.
  On that particular play I was in the North endzone and focused on the quarterback, who was in full sun, while he dropped back to pass. As he turned to his right and released the ball I started turning to the receiver who was straight ahead of m. As I turned my lens to the area of the catch I began to rack the shutter speed down to help open my exposure up because the receiver was in the shadow of the stadium.
  I fired off about 10 frames as the ball entered the receiver's hands and never expected to see what I saw in between frames. The receiver's helmet flew off upon impact with the cornerback who was tackling him.
  After the play I reviewed the sequence on the back of the camera to see if I got the hit. "Holy Cr@p!" was my expression when I saw the frame. I zoomed in to make sure I had gotten the focus in time as everything happened so quickly. It was dead on.
  The reason why this images stands out is not because of the impact but because of the format. I know you're probably scratching your head and asking, "What?"
  You see while I was able to open my exposure up a stop it still was under exposed by another 1-2 stops. In other words it was dark.
  Because I shot the picture in the JPEG format I was only able to "fix" the image to a certain degree. Had I set the camera to capture in the RAW format I would've been able to get more detail and color balance out of the file.
  Because of the that image I now shoot everything in the RAW format. You just never know when you'll need it to save your butt.
  {If you are interested the book is available on Amazon or if you're at B&N check it out in their Sports section of Non-Fiction. The picture is on page 131.}

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Taking One for the Team


  Yesterday I covered an exhibition game between Team USA and the New York Yankees over at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Team USA is gearing up for the World Baseball Classic next week and was getting in some innings against the Yankees. My client was most interested in the feature and candid aspects of this exhibition game than the actual game action.
  I headed to the field during Team USA's batting practice to get shots of Derek Jeter palling around with his American teammates who are normally his opponents.
  Now for anyone who hasn't been to a baseball game, batting practice is just that practice for your batting swing. Players stand inside a cage of netting around home plate and hit patsy pitches from one of the coaches. It's a way for them to work on their mechanics. There are also screens around the infields to protect the players catching the balls on their return to the coach on the pitching mound.
  At Steinbrenner Field, you enter in right field and walk down the first base line to get to your shooting positions. As I walked the line I made sure I knew where the balls were being hit and when I was behind one of the infield screens. Well apparently I wasn't directly behind the first base screen.
  CRACK! "BALL!!!" screamed the players behind the batting cage. I looked up and saw a laser line drive heading right at me. In my right hand I had my big 400mm lens and slung over my left shoulder was my other camera and zoom lens. I wasn't agile enough to jump as I had about 25 pounds of gear on me.
  In a split second I decided I was just going to have to take one for the team. I tensed up my core muscles in anticipation of the impact.
  WHAM! I took the line drive right between the family jewels and left hip. I kind of bent over in an effort to catch the ball in my waist but the ball fell to the ground.
  I winced slightly and kept walking. As I past the dugout I heard players yell out, "Holy @#%&!" And, "Are you alright?"
  I merely looked at Team USA and replied, "What? Just because I'm only shooting baseball I shouldn't wear a cup? You gotta be careful out here. It's dangerous."
  Many of my colleagues came up to me after and asked if I really got hit by the ball. Or if I was hurt. One even said he thought I was wearing a fanny pack where the ball hit me because I never broke stride. I told Al that I didn't get hurt because of all the core strengthening I do.
  BTW, I have a very slight bruise where the ball hit me. Also I was only kidding about wearing the cup.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Missing at Sea


  Last night Cathy and I were watching television while she was surfing the web. She piped up with a news story about some football players missing at sea a couple of which were former USF players. They went fishing Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico and never returned.
  At first I didn't think much of it until late this afternoon when the U.S. Coast Guard found one of the missing men. Then tonight while watching Charlie Gibson I saw an update on the story and it hit me how much of a national story this was turning in to.
  I ran to my office and began searching the web for information on the remaining USF player. I found out what year Will Bleakley played and his jersey number. Then I pulled the first USF game I could find for the 2006 season which just happened to be a game here in Orlando against UCF. 
  I scrolled through the 800 images I had from that game and didn't see anything pop at first. But then it jumped out at me and screamed. I had shot a few frames of some USF players waiting in the tunnel to enter the field before the game. There on the left side of my frame was Will. It was a great frame to have of him. He had nice soft light on his face and a dark background behind him.
  I checked the box score for that game and Bleakley only caught two passes the whole game. I had shot one of them. Actually I had an entire sequence of him being pulled down by half of the UCF defense.
  Then at the end of the game I fired one frame (and only one frame) of Bleakly celebrating the Bulls' 24-17 victory over the Knights. He was jovial and smiling. Perfect!
  I tagged about six images in all and emailed my agent to notify them that I was moving some file images for this story.
  After I typed the captions for the images I uploaded them to Icon and let them know when the transmission was complete. Sell baby sell!
  It looks like I'm the only one out there right now with any action images of Will which should hopefully garner me some sales to news outlets. More importantly all three remaining men missing in the Gulf have my prayers. 
  This is another reason why I stay away from bad contracts where I don't own the rights to my own images. I would've never guessed 2 1/2 years ago that those "throw-away" images would have any value but today they do.
  Say a prayer for Will, Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith.