High School Basketball Portrait

I took a photo of the Norwalk High School girls varsity basketball team to run full-page on the cover of a local paper's winter ports preview section. The team had posted an impressive record last season, and the sports editor figured they'd be a good team to highlight. Turns out the captains are also good sports, too.

We did the photoshoot moments before their first scrimmage of the season. It worked out great, since the players were all suited up already. I had scouted the location earlier, and had come up with this courtyard in the school. It had three things going for it: I liked the warm lights in the background, it was close to the gym so we'd maximize the short time we had together, and since it was freezing outside, no one else was around. I used a couple battery-powered strobes in umbrellas to light 'em.

We did a couple of traditional poses first. The toughest part was getting them all to be serious, since we all had a hard time not laughing. The photo above gives you an idea. It works OK. We had a couple of minutes before the game started, so we figured we'd try something different. Sometimes the best -- and most fun -- shots come when I know I have a "safe" shot in the camera already.

The players climbed up on a rock in the courtyard, figuring we'd get a "we're tall and tough" pose, with the added benefit of getting that nice blue sky in the background. While they were getting ready, I snapped this unposed frame for kicks:



But we weren't quite done. We were having such a good time together, that I asked them if they might be willing to jump off the rock. I was a bit nervous, because I sure didn't want anyone hurting themselves. But they insisted they could do it. We talked through how everyone should position themselves. We only had time for two shots.

The first shot we got a hand out of the frame. Below is the second shot -- my favorite and the girls' favorite from the whole session. It's the one that ran full page.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers -- Back at the Arena

I was back at the Arena at Harbor Yard last night, this time on assignment for the Connecticut Post for professional hockey. Same place as last post, only this time it was on ice. That's Pascal Morency of the Sound Tigers blowing by Lowell's Benoit Mondou.

It got me thinking that I'm on a theme here, since the second-to-last post was about a guy who was helping to put an ice rink into a theater.

Below, Sound Tiger Kurtis McLean gets horizontal for a shot on goal against Lowell goalie Jeff Frazee.

Fairfield University Basketball

Shot a men's college basketball game at the Arena at Harbor Yard recently -- Fairfield University squeaked by Iona. It was a treat to shoot in a place with good light.


Fairfield #44 Greg Nero reacts after having his shot blocked by #23 Iona Devon Clarke late in the first half. Neo reclaimed the ball and took another shot.


Fairfield #32 Anthony Johnson blocks Iona #21 Alejo Rodriguez.


Fairfield #3 Jonathan Han chases down a loose ball in the second half.

Ice Rink in the Palace Theater in Stamford

I've been to ice rinks, I've been to theaters. But it's not often I go to an ice rink in a theater, especially a rink that's only there for a day.

This past Sunday, the Palace Theater in Stamford hosted "Sleeping Beauty on Ice," a holiday show. The Sleeping Beauty part is standard, I suppose; it's the "on ice" part that gets tricky in a traditional theater setting. So on Saturday the Stamford Advocate sent me there to photograph how an ice rink gets built inside a grand old theater.

Turns out it's not too tricky, if you know what you're doing. Not many people do, but Lynn Novakofski does. That's him in the photo above, spraying water on crushed ice cubes. The photo below shows his colleague, Ed Armstrong, taking a turn a half hour later.


Technique note: I shot the frame above with a very long shutter speed -- longer than a second, I think -- on a tripod. I wanted the lights from the theater to burn in nicely.

Speaking of lights, while Lynn, Ed, and crew were setting up the rink, Michael Pegler, house electrician for the Stamford Center for the Arts, fine-tuned the lights for the performance. That's Michael at work, below:

Martha Stewart at Stew Leonard's

Yesterday I was asked by one of my client newspapers to photograph a book signing at Stew Leonard's, a local grocery store. Going to Stew's is as much an event as it is a weekly shopping expedition. For those who don't live near one of their stores, it may be hard to fathom that Stew's is indeed a *venue.*

So it wasn't a shock that Stew's guest would be Martha Stewart. Her new book is called "Martha Stewart's Cooking School."


The press was offered a 10-minute window at the start of the book signing to take photographs. I didn't recognize any of the handful of photographers there, which was a bit of a surprise, since the photojournalist community is pretty small around here. We run into each other from time to time on assignment, and it's a cordial group. Perhaps the event drew media from a bit further away.

In that ten minutes, there was plenty of time to capture a portrait of Martha with her book, as well as images of the first few customers who asked to have their book signed. As an assignment, it was easy. The atmosphere was friendly.

Something unexpected happened while we were making the quick portrait. We were all pointing our cameras at Stewart. Instinctively, I lowered my camera and waited until the other photographers were finished -- a matter of a mere few seconds, really. It's my habit to take turns, rather than blitz a person with shutter clicks.

I figure it's confusing to a person to try to decide which camera to look at. The momentary confusion can show on their face, which mars the image. Besides, if I clicked with all the others, most of my images, like theirs, would show a person looking at someone else's camera. Why take a bunch of images I'll never use and add to the confusion? So I waited my turn.

The unexpected thing was that while I was waiting, I realized that it didn't really matter that I waited. Stewart handled the situation with grace and ease, and gave every photographer a direct gaze, one at a time. In my experience, that's never happened before. It was a small thing, a fleeting thing, but I was impressed. Sure, it helped ensure the photographers got a good image, which helps with publicity. But it was also a courtesy, since the photographers could be on to their next job more quickly and the hundreds of waiting people would wait just a little bit less.

Two clicks from me -- one more than I ended up needing, in case she had blinked (she hadn't) -- and the portrait, seen above, was done.

This isn't the picture that ran in the paper today. The other ones -- the images that included customers -- captured the event better. But I like to give the editors choices.

I then left the book-signing area to look for crowd images. I ran into Terry, the grocery manager, who was restocking a display of the book to accommodate the growing crowd. He said they had ordered a thousand books for the two-hour book signing. "We might not have enough," he said. Here's Terry:


I made a few more crowd images, then headed on to my next assignment.

Cloved Oranges and Holiday Spices

The aroma of holiday baking is in the air...as it was one September when I was photographing a feature that would appear during the holidays. A wonderful editor named Val created the cloved oranges, seen in my photo below, in her home kitchen. We thought it might look nice to photograph them in front of her fireplace.


Alas, the fireplace was a gas fireplace, and the flames were too low to show up well in the photo. But that's not a problem -- just an opportunity for creativity. I put an orange gel over a speedlight, and directed it toward the fireplace -- instant roaring fire. Selective focus added to the effect.

Val had been doing some baking that day, and the ingredients were on the counter. We arranged them on her cutting board, with the help of a talented stylist named Tim.



The cinnamon sticks inspired Val to create an ornament. I photographed it on a white cutting board, so it would be easier for Tim to remove it from the background when he placed it on a page.



When I left Val's house that day, it sure felt like a late November day. But the warm September air reminded me we had a few months to go.