At 3:21 yesterday morning a very beautiful American Irish Lad was born by the name of Dylan Michael Moore to two beautiful parents James & Leanne Moore and Leanne Moore.  It is their first child.  His height, weight, and arm reach to be posted at a later date.  The three things that are for sure is he’s beautiful, an American, and a chip off both blocks.The Irish Eyes are Smiling.  The only thing that could have been better if if he waited to be born on March 17.  Okay, Leanne just joking…   Dinner and a family portrait will be arranged soon.

Congratulations

I’d like to mention another young lady who works for Dick Blick Art Supplies. We were having an opening in our gallery and I needed to procure a wooden art stand.  When it arrived within three days of our show, it had a minor defect.  I called Blick and they FedEx’d a second one out in time at no charge and told me to keep the first one.  They also followed up with a replacement piece making the first one work properly.  Sound familiar? Again they did the right thing.

To be continue…

To all the ships at Sea,

My partner and my son decided they have to have iPhones.  I tried to resist strongly for a while but figured if they had to have one there was something to it.  It was something I just did not want to do, but figured maybe I was behind the times.

Our son insisted that my iPhone be encased in a heavy duty Otter box case because I am sometimes tough on my phone. I guess that was a good thing because yesterday I went to physical therapy for almost two hours then came back and decided to take me best friend Ace for a three mile walk. Getting into the car I decided to take his bell off, but my hands were full so I placed my iPhone on the roof of the car. I drove the four and half miles home, went in, and went back to the studio for some editing work. Dylan was just back for a visit after  being out at sea for a month filming tuna fishing. He took the car downtown to get the mail, I didn’t think anything of it but he was gone for an hour and a half. He walked in and said something to the effect that there was a minor problem with an iPhone.  Told him that if he broke his company iPhone I was not going to replace it (he has the iPhone 4). He then began to tell me on his trip back he heard a scratching sound and then a thump, the phone hit one of the struts on the roof rack before it decided to fly out at 60mph on route six. My son looked into the rear view mirror when he hit the bump and he saw the phone hit the pavement and preceded to do a Nascar tumble, all this time I’m thinking its his phone, and I’m not happy. Then he informed me it was my phone. He handed back to me a phone without a mark on it, the case was a little chewed up but it worked perfectly. It wouldn’t allow me to make any phone calls but with ATT that was normal.

If you are crazy enough to buy an iPhone I strongly suggest you buy an Otter box case. By the way I’ve dropped it three or four times without any problems. What the hell does this have to do with photography? You forgot my iPhone is a camera. Next week I’ll tell you a story about a Nikon F, Yankee  Stadium and a Volkswagen. The Otter box case is drop dead stupendous, it is more than enough protection I will ever need to protect my iPhone camera.

Signing off,
-Joe DiMaggio

As most of you know I  had bilateral hip surgery late April. I’ve just been informed that I have graduated from my physical therapy. I have been taking physical therapy at the Drayer physical therapy institute.

Dear Mr. Drayer:
I’ve just been handed a patient satisfactory survey. In filling it out I realized that I would be unable to tell you how I feel about your company. I think it needed more of a letter. In the past 30 plus years, as an internationally known photographer and filmmaker, I’ve had the pleasure to work with several Fortune 500 companies- IBM, Apple, ATT etc.

Let me get to the point, I judge a corporation not by its logo, color scheme or proximity to a major road. The most important thing is service and people. You’re a lucky man. every person that i have ever dealt with at Drayer has been 100% helpful and wonderful. what you have are great people and that’s what makes a great company.  the interesting part to me, is NO not in their vocabulary from the Senior PT gentleman Chris Ferlo, to the young female receptionist.

If you were a public company I’d buy your stock. I presume their passion and their understanding must come from the top man at the company and that’s you.

Sincerely ,
Joe DiMaggio

Just to bring everything full circle Chris has offered me a health maintenance program which I jumped at, so my relationship with Drayer will continue for a long time.
Great people, great leadership, great attitudes. WHAT A PLEASURE ITS ALL GOOD.

A photographer has to have some basic fundamental skills in lighting, composition, impact, structure and dynamics that all come down to visual literacy. The other thing a photographer has to have is a great personality and he has to understand and emphasize with the people he is photographing. For the most part you become an amateur psychologist. The personnel at Drayer have a wonderful understanding of the individual problems that people go through not only physically but mentally. The key with my family at Drayer is they genuinely care, they understand and they’re there for me. They’re there for the high school student who hurt their ankle the senior citizen who broke a hip, the police officer who dislocated his shoulder.

The reality is they are really amazing people who are motivated to help people. You just couldn’t get a better group. Thank you to the crew; Chris, Nancy, Christina, Ryan, Penny, Toni, Tracey, Carol, Jess, Stacy, Connie, Danielle, Chrissy, Jean, Scott, Kevin, Dale, Laura, Denise.

You guys are great,
-Joe DiMaggio

I was driving back from a gig in Montauk Point at 1 AM and heard two back to back songs from Patty Smith. It kinda blew me away and got me thinking. I photographed them several times, but of course that was film. Trying to find the negatives was not going to be easy. My filing system leaves a little bit to be desired, okay it leaves a lot to be desired. I did come across a work print, which i put in my Epson scanner. I’ll continue to look for the negative. I guess this is Joe D. just reminiscing. But that is not a bad.TRIX at 1200, 85mm 1.2 500 of a second at 1.4. That’s it. Signing off Joe D.

The combination of severe backlight, high key, and a half to three quarters of overexposure will give you some very dynamic photographs. It is simple, straight forward, and works all the time. I was finishing up a three mile walk with my puppy and I stumbled across this American Flag blowing in the wind. There are a few variations here. The lead shot is my favorite. They were done with a 17 to 50, 2.8 Sigma lens. At the end of a fall day the sky was gray. By blowing it out, we now have a white sky. Cropping in the camera is mandatory, moving it as close to possible and cutting down the air space between flag and lens is also critical. Have fun with the shutter speed. You could also fill it with flash. It’s a fun little project.