TRAINED MONKEES

Gina & Patrick

2009-10-21T12:14:00.008-04:00

Gina and I worked together years ago (she is older than she looks). She and Patrick have been living in Boston, and other than a few times when she has been in town I haven't seen her for quite awhile.

The week of your wedding is quite a whirlwind of activity. So what is one more thing? The four of us got together for their engagement session just two days before the wedding. And as soon as we were done they were off to shop for all those last minute sundries.

A Picture is Worth 1063 Words

2009-07-22T16:53:00.003-04:00

In the 14 months since my father passed away I have come to realize the how much he taught me, and more relevantly, how much more he had tried to teach me. Last year, in honor of him, I put in my first garden. I used my economic stimulus to buy organic fertilizer, a memorial he would have found much humor in.

The cucumbers and snap peas were quickly cut off at the soil by yard varmints, I managed to miss the window on harvesting the cilantro before it went to seed and my basil was attacked by giant caterpillars the size of my index finger. The most disappointing was the tomatoes. I grew bushes as tall as myself of beautiful leafy foliage. There were a few split skinned, haggard fruits, but nothing near what the forest of branches promised.

The garden was my father's refuge from particle physics, a house full of women, and in the DC suburbs, his daily connection to rural Michigan where he grew up. 30 years later my mother still tells the story of how he spent a summer digging by hand the dense clay and cutting it with compost to create a loamy soil in the back corner of the yard.

Whenever my sister and I got too rambunctious my mother would tell us to, "Go ask your father if he needs any help in the garden." What was then a toe dragging, grumbling chore is now a venture I wish I had paid more attention to.

So when I was staring at my tomato trees, I was trying to access in the recesses of my mind hearing my father welcoming us into his sanctuary, and doing his best to pass on to the next generation his wealth of factoids, tips and trivia. I knew there was something I was supposed to trim, but that was as far as the memory served.

This year I put in fewer plants, lost the cucumbers and peas to the rodents and am well on my way to tomato trees again. Every time I look at them I start out for the phone to call my dad to remind me what it is I am supposed to do to shift the scales and turn my thumb from green to red.

I love the back roads of Chester County. When my parents came to visit I would always take them on a tour of my adopted home. While heading out to a location I had seen when I was without my cameras, I was drawn to the symmetry of four pairs of jeans hanging on a clothes line.

They were all facing the same direction, spaced evenly apart. Clothes on a line is not a site you see very often anymore. Come to think of it, hanging the laundry out to dry was another one of those chores my sister and I shared growing up.

The angle from my driver's seat gave me the right height to see over the bed of the pickup in the driveway, and it was a grab shot that made me chuckle. Within seconds the home owners had spotted me and invited me out of my car.

I was slightly embarrassed to be caught taking pictures of their laundry, I explained who I was and where I worked and they started laughing. Even after being with the paper 13 years I still am amazed when people recognize my name, even more so when they start recalling specific photos from my career here.

Dawn and Byron Thompson saw the humor in their laundry too. I told them it was like an art instillation. He told me I should come back when the rest of the laundry was hung, each in its own section of the line. She recognized my pattern of trolling the roads of Cheshire Hunt country. Standing in their quiet country yard I noticed well tended, weed free, organized garden.

And without thinking, I asked what the trick was to getting tomato plants to grow straight, tall, single stems that produced a bounty of fruit and small children would not be able to hide within the greenness.

She laughed knowingly, headed for the house, saying if I had gardening questions he was the man to ask. As he strode to the rows of plants a pocket knife sprouted in his hand. Amongst the waist high, fruit heavy boughs he pointed out the main stem, the leafy branches and the suckers. The suckers he expertly dispatched with the pocket knife.

He starts 200 plants a year, giving some to family and neighbors, planting the others amongst various plots and staggers the planting so he has fruit throughout the summer. He trains his vines so that the fruit grows on one side of the pole he ties them to. He tires to leave the Roma and cherry plants to Dawn, but he can't help trimming away those fast growing suckers.

He wanted to know if I had gotten pictures of his farm stand. He grows sweet corn catty corner to the house. He grew up in the home he and Dawn have raised three children in, and grows hay and raises cattle on the four corners of the intersection.

We talked about the neighboring fields, trapping ground hogs, the various features of my particular model of SUV.. We all shared a laugh that my sister and her husband, who were visiting the weekend of the Fleetwood Street arson, are expecting their first child about the nine month anniversary.

He wanted to know if I had photographed his farm stand. He said he knew the economy was bad since he has three "I Owe Yous" in his honor system payment can. He says it works out in the end because, even though he leaves coins in for change, many people just leave the excess.

Dawn came out to make sure I didn't have any place to be because he could keep me there all day talking about the garden. He invited me back with any future gardening questions.

As I wound my way back to the office I found myself wanting to call my dad and tell him I had gotten the answer to that nagging question. And when I get home tonight I will be tending my garden just like my father did nightly during my formative years.

Phoenixville, PA - 07/10/09

2009-07-11T10:54:00.003-04:00

In the summer of 1957 what would become a cult B movie classic was filmed in and around Chester County. A young actor named Steve McQueen had the lead, and the most famous scene was filmed at the Colonial Theater where "The Blob" attacked patrons of the movie house.

For the past 10 years fans have celebrated the film with a weekend of movie screenings, tin foil hat contests, a parade a fire extinguishers and a reenactment of the crazed running from the theater. And then the man who owns the mass of 50-year-old hazy, red silicone gets his moment in the spotlight, emerging to the screaming masses who have rolled out of the local bars to witness the spectacle.

Stop Waffling

2009-05-12T12:43:00.003-04:00

I have been wrestling with watermarking my images. This portion of an e-mail I got today made the decision for me. The first two images of this horse are mine in the MSN search. MSN does not host my websites. And neither the host of my site, nor the host of my database include content stealing in their terms.

"you are likely aware of the World Cup photos of her that are posted and available for free use (by the terms of the websites' hosts, such as MSN, etc.) "

As much as I prefer my images to be seen without a watermark, the general misinformation of the public makes me unable to do so. Though a copyright infringement would pay much more than the licensing of the image in question, it is much more of a hassle and not the way to do business.

Using What You Have

2009-05-08T12:55:00.003-04:00

The paper produces a bi-monthly lifestyle tab with a column with local bands. We are mandated to shoot them all in the same small studio, as it is a working space the conditions are cluttered, so the options are a bit limited.

Being a fly-by-the-seat of my pants kind of girl I enjoy the challenge of making something with what the location provides. Last night it was the disco ball laying on the floor.

I wanted to do something strongly back lit. The disco ball became great fill.
1. The first shot was the first shot with one light.
2. Adding the disco ball with the same exposure.
3. Adding a second person, same exposure. The band has four people, and I was pretty sure I would have to add a light, but I didn't want to light it from the front, and I wanted to play with the reflective squares from the ball.
4. I knew we were going to get something out of this when the first thing they said when they walked in the room was, "Can we use the disco ball?" This confirmed that I needed to add a second light.
5. Lost some of the punch of the reflections, but I really like how the prisms of light from shooting into the second light add to the reflections from the ball.

Goat Racing

2009-05-03T22:52:00.003-04:00

The first Sunday in May id the annual Bock Fest at Sly Fox Brewery in Phoenixville, PA. The year's Maibock is named for the winning goat of the goat races. 2009 is Dax Bock. It sounds like a 70's porn star to me. There was a photo finish for second and third places as determined by my image.

WCU Graduation

2009-05-02T12:37:00.002-04:00

In 12 years at the paper I haven't covered graduation at West Chester University. I don't feel like the 15 years have past since I was on the other side of the lens on the field of Farrell Stadium.

Rolex Oddity

2009-04-25T21:53:00.002-04:00

So after a few thousand frames this weekend I have discovered this oddity. I must say, I have never seen this in millions of frames.

Happy Accident

2009-04-19T01:34:00.002-04:00

I set my remote tonight for the hopes of a close to the judge finish and reaction by the winner of the 2009 Dressage World Cup. (Hoping it would be Steffen, and it was!) During the opening ceremonies I whacked off a couple of the flag bearer, and I just love this one.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

2009-04-17T01:11:00.001-04:00

Photos & Video

2009-03-23T13:09:00.004-04:00

Practical Horseman 3/09

Cool Stuff

2009-03-20T08:06:00.001-04:00

Ongoing updates of useful, fun and unique stuff.
Saxon PC

Equine Stock Database

2009-02-18T00:20:00.002-05:00

The first installment of the Exquis Dressage Masters were in Wellington, Florida the end of January. I believe there were more hours in the day when I was in college, so it has taken me until now to get the images to the database. Hmm, I'm a bit late on the resolutions, but getting things done within the week seems like a good one.

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

2009-02-10T13:41:00.004-05:00

By ANNE PICKERING, Staff Writer Daily Local News

SADSBURY — A pedestrian from Gap was struck and killed and four other people were injured in a three-car crash about 12:28 p.m. Monday at Route 10 and Business Route 30, state police at Embreeville said.

Police said Christian Beiler, 69, was talking to a motorist parked in a produce store parking lot near the intersection when a Mercedes Benz that had run a red light struck him and the other vehicle.

Beiler was killed by the impact, and the operators of the three vehicles involved and one passenger were taken to Lancaster General Hospital for treatment, police said.

The intersection was closed in all directions for about five hours while emergency crews and police responded.

Police said the crash unfolded when a 1987 Mercedes driven by Julianna Swede, 68, of Parkesburg, who was northbound on Route 10, ran a red light at Business Route 30.

The Mercedes hit an eastbound 2007 Toyota Camry driven by Rose Migdal, 23, of Coatesville, on Business Route 30, police said.

After hitting the Toyota, the Mercedes careened through the intersection, left the road and entered the produce store parking lot, where it struck Beiler and a 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan.

Samuel Storm, 65, of Coatesville, was the Dodge's driver.

Pomeroy and Sadsburyville Fire Department provided traffic control and assisted at the crash. Parkesburg Ambulance provided medical treatment.

The crash remains under investigation.

Moving Monkee

2008-11-06T18:12:00.003-05:00

In this day and age of electronic media, and the shift from print to web based products I have been expanding my offerings. Just over a year ago my paper required the photographers to add video shooting and editing to our arsenal. While I fought it at first, it has actually opend a number of doors.

In the past year I have regularly been shooting video shorts in conjunction with the training articles I shoot for Practical Horseman, I edit video shot by other photographers and I have shot and produced a 1.5 hour documentary training DVD and am currently working on editing the sessions from a two day clinic I shot with Olympian Nona Garson.

Still images are still my love, but now I can take a photo story and create a slideshow with audio, voice and/or music.

This past year has shown me a number of new avenues to venture down. As soon as I looked beyond the extra work it would be, I realized the extra income it could provide.

Crazy Monkees

2008-10-30T16:57:00.009-04:00

Though not from Philadelphia this did not excuse me from having to bear witness to the craziness in West Chester 10/29/08 following the Phillies clinching of the World Series. There was a destructive nature to those celebrating in the south side of town near the University. Those in the center of the borough were civil, nosiy and prone to removing their clothes in the chilly evening air.

Captured Monkee

2008-10-03T11:30:00.005-04:00

One of my favorite photographers, Terri Miller, caught me, and my shoes during Dressage at Devon. Guess which are mine!

Dead Monkee

2008-10-03T10:50:00.005-04:00

As of October 10, 2008 Photoshelter will no longer offer the Collection, an attempt to take on the photo stock market with a photographer friendly/fair business model.

http://psc.photoshelter.com/about/index/news/20080911

Lowly Monkee

2008-04-21T13:39:00.002-04:00

Alas, Barrack did have the old fashioned train car with the bunting and flags. But this monkee didn't rate the clearance to shoot the slow roll away from the station. Only the traveling press. The only consolation is that it was Obama and Senator Bob Casey, Jr., not the family or even in suits. So unless he becomes the VP candidate it won't be the classic shot. But then again, this is what I am telling myself.

Stretch Running Monkee

2008-04-18T17:06:00.006-04:00

The race is on! Three days to primary day, and tomorrow brings us our first visit yet by Hillary, and two stops for Barack. He is kickin' it old school and doing a whistle stop tour at train stations between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. I can only hope that this will be from the back of a old-time train car with cool patriotic bunting. But if I create the photos in my mind it is never what I hope for. Best to fly by the seat of my pants.

Hillary is getting me up early on my day off, I will be arriving at 7 am to make sure I have my gear in for the security sweep. Better early than late.

Check this space for further details!

Stumpin' Monkee

2008-04-15T17:26:00.007-04:00

One week to go and the race shifts into high gear. Bill Clinton made multiple appearances in Pa. today. I covered his first stop at the Steel Workers Union Hall in Coatesville. Former Governor Ed Rendell introduced the former President, and I captured a moment that has caused many laughs in the newsroom, and a scramble to figure out how to justify running the photo.

The second image is another totally random moment. Catching someone else's flash is pretty typical, but I have never had it happen so brightly and specifically as to cause a reverse silhouette. It almost looks like he was erased from the image.

These sort of surprises were much more typical back in the film days. Since I didn't chimp all my images I didn't know about either of these until having downloaded.

I have had flashbacks (no pun intended) to the days of yesteryear. Sadly, they were only a few years ago. In the past 11 years I have gone from shooting and processing black and white film, printing half tones which were sized for the hole on the page designated for them, waxing them and pasting them on the page. Then it was color neg, first dipped and dunked and then processed through a Wing Lynch. Those negs were scanned and the electronic file then made its way to those who put together the paper. We are now on our second generation of digital cameras at the paper (I am on my third personally).

The fastest I could turn around a roll of film was 25 minutes from entering the darkroom to having the images scanned. Now I can be done and on my way home in 25 minutes, that is if I haven't sent the photos from the comfort of my own couch!

Primary Monkee

2008-04-10T18:49:00.005-04:00

The race for the Democrat's nominee is heating up. Barack Obama has been to Chester County twice in the past week; first to be interviewed live on Hardball with Chris Matthews from West Chester University, and second for a town hall meeting at Great Valley High School in Malvern.

But the real sign things are heating up is, that Annie Liebowitz was in the photo pool at the public meeting. Even photographers I have known for years were all a buzz that she was there.

But Annie is just like the rest of us. She chimps too.

Techie Monkee

2008-03-28T11:10:00.007-04:00

PhotoShelter: Fresh Stock Photos Served Daily

Random Acts of Portraiture

2008-03-27T12:07:00.005-04:00

At the conclusion of every sports season my paper (as many others do) name a player of the year in each sport. Years ago I took over the project, hoping to challenge myself and the paper to make the awards a special section instead of the randomly placed article in the daily sports section.

So each season and year I try to come up with a new concept. Some work, some don't, but each season I look forward to the expansion of my skill set. This season has started off strong. I conceived the idea and my first subject was quite personable and liked the idea. I have found that I am getting more comfortable asking my subjects to sit longer than I would have in the past so I can work an idea. I ask each of the athletes to bring with them something of their sport, a ball, goggles, stick, awards. Props give them something to do with their hands and add let the viewer know what sport they play.

Portraiture has never been my strong suit. But instead of running from it like I did early in my career I now look forward to the challenge.

Agile Monkee

2008-03-18T11:56:00.001-04:00

Logo and Gear

2007-07-25T17:47:00.001-04:00

Get your Trained Monkees gear here!

Opening post

2007-07-05T18:23:00.000-04:00

So after a few months of joking about Trained Monkees, I am finally sitting down for the first post. This blog stems from both the frustration and amusment of watching how idiot proof photography has become. The gap has closed between the "professional" camera and the "consumer" level camera. Combined with the rise of the internet and online proofing the result is that everyone is now a professional.

Between myself and my photographer colleagues I see this phenomenom in many venues. The businesses who used to hire professionals for annual reports and corporate work are now satisfied with images from a secretary's cell phone. The youth sports photographers who can't understand why a 5.6 lens just won't cut it in the local hockey rink. The photographers all who give their work away for a photo credit.

This is not saying that everyone can get lucky sometime. But being a professional is not just having a camera and a website. Copyright, liscensing, contracts, knowing your equipment and how to trouble shoot it. Knowing how to use the equipment, not just setting the camera on Program (someone please explain this to me, I do not understand this mode). These are all things that factor into being a professional.

This is not to say that we all don't use some of the features available to us. I use shutter and aperture priority when the situation warrents, but I know what the settings mean. I use my auto focus, but is the lighting doesn't allow for a sharp edge the auto focus goes off.

At the risk of sounding like an old foggey.... with every new body the more technology is at one's fingertips. This is not to say we all need to go back to the pinhole. But at least understand what the science is.