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photojournalism

Port of Long Beach

May 14, 2012
industrial, photography, photojournalism, travel
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I recently spent part of a day shooting the operations of the Port of Long Beach, something I have long wanted to do. For security and safety reasons, the logistics of photographing a busy port can be complicated. I have driven around both the Port of Long Beach and the neighboring Port of Los Angeles a couple of times to try to figure out vantage points from which I could shoot without either being arrested or hit by a truck.

That problem was solved recently when I discovered that the Port of Long Beach offers weekly boat tours. Instead of shooting from land, I was able to capture my images from the water, out of range of the trucks and with the blessing of law enforcement.

I love shooting big industrial landscapes. What they lack in conventional beauty, they often make up for in aesthetically pleasing geometry and symmetry. I also like being witness to the innovative ways we solve big problems. How do we efficiently transport as many cars as we can from one continent to another? How do we reduce the cost of launching a rocket into space? How do we efficiently load and unload a ship the size of four football fields?

Here, for example, is a group of gantry cranes used to load and unload container ships:

Gantry Cranes – Port of Long Beach, California

Because the Earth is nearest to space at the middle of the planet, rockets are occasionally launched from floating platforms at the equator in order to reduce costs. Long Beach is home to one such  platform, called the Sea Launch, which is towed by a ship called the Sea Launch Commander. Here they are:

The Sea Launch and Sea Launch Commander – Port of Long Beach, California

Electricity is produced at the port by the Harbor Cogeneration Facility, which is a 100 megawatt natural gas-fired electrical generation plant.

Harbor Cogeneration Facility – Port of Long Beach, California

In addition to all of this 21st century technology, the Port also has some throwbacks to the past, including the Queen Mary…

Queen Mary – Long Beach, California

…and some Art Deco warehouse facilities, dating from the mid 1950s:

Pier D – Port of Long Beach

 

Premiere of Dark Shadows

May 8, 2012
candids, celebrities, editorial, events, photojournalism
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I expected last night’s Dark Shadows premiere to be a zoo, but, at least in the media corral, it was much more civilized than other entertainment events I’ve shot. We were herded like cattle, as we always are, but more like free range grass fed cattle than the corn fed feedlot variety.

The fans, some of them hard core, were out in droves. Check out the costumes in this group of folks  trying to attract Johnny Depp’s attention:

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And, here’s Johnny…..

Michelle Pfeiffer

The lovely Bella Heathcote…

The director, Tim Burton….

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer….

And wacky Steven Tyler and Cloris Leachman…

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

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