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photojournalism

Premiere of The Muppets movie

November 14, 2011
celebrities, editorial, events, photojournalism
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I don’t know that I was fully prepared for the craziness surrounding the premiere of The Muppets movie on November 12. An army of photographers, videographers and assorted other media types all jockeying for position in a space large enough for about half as many as showed up. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen dozens of middle-aged photographers screaming at the top of their lungs, “Miss Piggy, Miss Piggy, over here, give us a look over your shoulder.”

Despite the chaos, it was fun and I got some good images. Next time I’ll wear Kevlar.

Premiere of The Muppets at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood

Bonneville Speed Week

August 23, 2011
events, landscapes, photography, photojournalism, sports
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It is said the Bonneville Salt Flats are so huge and so flat that from certain perspectives one can see the curvature of the Earth. It is also one of the few places on the Earth wide enough and flat enough for motorized land speed records to be set. Several times each year, hundreds of highly modified cars and motorcycles converge on the flats to see who can push the speed envelope just a tiny bit further. Some of the vehicles don’t look much different than what you might see driving on a neighborhood road and others bear more resemblance to aircraft than they do to automobiles.

Bonneville Speed Week, one of the largest annual events on the salt flats, was held last week and I was able to get out on the salt for a day to capture some of the action. I had a great time, met some fantastic people and saw a bunch of cars and motorcycles go really, really fast. Here are a couple of the images:

Bonneville Salt Flats

An unblown fuel streamliner getting ready to go fast.

Monochrome – Bonneville Speed Week

Some folks come to go fast and some come to ogle.

This is the short course. The long course is seven or more miles long.

Spectators. Mountains. Salt.

Arizona Celebration of Freedom – Night 1

July 2, 2011
candids, events, photography, photojournalism
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Decided to wander downtown last night to check out the first night of a two night Fourth of July celebration. It was still meltingly hot – 109 at 7 pm – but seemed relatively tame after the combined heat and humidity of my recent visit New Orleans. Maybe there’s something to this whole “it’s a dry heat” mantra after all. Lots of activity and interesting people downtown last night. Here are a few:
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Republican Leadership Conference – Pt. II

June 27, 2011
adults, celebrities, editorial, events, photography, photojournalism, politics
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In addition to the various Presidential candidates who appeared at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans a week ago, a number of additional GOP luminaries – some of them former or soon to be candidates – also gave speeches. These included Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.  And, finally, there was the controversial Barack Obama impersonator, Reggie Brown, whose tasteless and racist spiel got him yanked from the stage. Here they are:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry

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Mike Huckabee

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Senator Jim DeMint (R – SC)

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Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour

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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal

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Barack Obama Impersonator Reggie Brown

Republican Leadership Conference – Presidential Candidates

June 20, 2011
celebrities, editorial, events, photography, photojournalism, politics, portraits
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I have just returned from several days in New Orleans where I was photographing the Republican Leadership Conference, an annual gathering of 2,000 or more of the party faithful. It was an interesting glimpse into Republican philosophy and strategy for the 2012 Presidential election and a revelation about the nature of grass roots politics. The conference felt as much like a religious revival as it did a political event. The forces of evil were embodied by Barack Obama and his liberal minions and the instrument of salvation, the messianic figure, was personified by Ronald Reagan, whose image appeared constantly on huge video screens and whose memory was invoked by nearly every noteworthy speaker over the course of the three days. The quality of the rhetoric varied greatly, from tough but thoughtful speeches by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to bombastic invective by a variety of lesser party lights. I was disappointed by the absence of Pawlenty, Huntsman and Romney, but the potential 2012 Presidential nominees were otherwise well represented. Here are a few images of those who have declared:

Michele Bachmann


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Newt Gingrich


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Ron Paul

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Herman Cain

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Rick Santorum

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Gary Johnson

W

March 17, 2011
celebrities, editorial, events, news, photography, photojournalism
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President George W. Bush was in town last night to speak at a fundraiser for Arizona Christian University held at the Phoenix Convention Center. Photographers were only given access for three minutes (that’s 3!), so I didn’t get a chance, obviously, to hear much of the speech. He began with a couple of quips about the sense of liberation he felt when he and Laura left Washington for their ranch in Crawford, TX. Here he talks about coming into the living room and saying to Laura, “Free at last!”

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Although, again, it’s difficult to gauge the tone of a speech based on three minutes of exposure, he was genial and seemed very relaxed.

Drive the Dream Gala | Arizona Event Photography

January 17, 2011
celebrities, editorial, events, photography, photojournalism, portraits
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Every year, Childhelp, an Arizona-based charity founded to aid abused children, holds its principal fundraiser in conjunction with the Barrett Jackson automobile auction in Scottsdale. The event attracts a number of local celebrities and politicians and usually features a musical performance of some kind. The featured artist this year was Willie Nelson:

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Other celebrities in attendance included NFL quarterback Kurt Warner:

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Actors Cheryl Ladd and Jane Seymour:

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Arizona Governor Jan Brewer:

And controversial Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (note the tie pin):