Thank God For America

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on July 4, 2012

Proud to be an American

Joe D.

Old Glory

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on July 3, 2012

Much younger than before

Wheeler The Great

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on July 2, 2012

I’ve started many lectures, workshops, TV shows, radio shows, and magazine articles, with similar words; I’m the luckiest man in the world. My life is full of extremely creative, intelligent, and dynamic artists. One day it may be a blues musician; another day it may be a jazz man; the following week, a world class athlete; a retired boxer; or an author who has actually changed the world. This weekend, it was Dennis Wheeler; one of the finest artists in the United States today. Wheeler’s career has spanned six decades, he’s responsible for 45 Time Magazine covers, his work appears in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, all of his children are extremely bright and creative, and he’s married to an adorable young lady named Kathi Doolan. Dennis was kind and generous enough to allow me to bring an elite group of advanced photographers to the Wheeler farm in Columbia County, New York. Unbeknownst to me, the timing could not have been perfect (Murphy had left the building). Wheeler, his son Dave, and Kathi launched the Atlantis for the Floatable piece of art. I believe, and I could be wrong, it is a 1/16,000 scale of a futuristic and green city of the future; right out of Buckminster Fuller. When built full size, it will be around 2,654 feet tall and house 30,000 people, with schools, shops, and a landing strip which will allow you to land and take off a 737. A dream; maybe. But sometimes dreams can become reality; remember Buck Rogers?

Atlantis 4, full size will be 265 stories and 2,654 feet

http://lindapedersenphotography.zenfolio.com/p405196090

To all the ships at sea, I will return to this blog and caption the photographs. The people in the photographs know who they are. I have to leave for Manhattan for a meeting, and will try to get back to it in a day or so. In my opinion, this was one great workshop.

Politics No – Respect Yes

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on June 18, 2012

One of the first things I remember being taught was that Americans live in the greatest country in the world. It is the longest standing Republic, and we are truly a free country. If any of you have done any traveling, you realize just how great a country we have. There are certain basic and fundamental rules; rules that never change, rules that are not open for discussion. Most of these rules are extremely simple and to the point. In a Democracy, the right to freedom of speech is imperative; it’s basic. But respect for fellow human beings should be part of the protocol, and respect for the President of the United States must be mandated. Whether you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent; whether you agree or disagree with policies, you must respect the office of the presidency. If you don’t like what’s happening, you should take your inalienable right to vote and vote the president out of office. In my opinion, Mr. Neil Munro was totally disrespectful to the President of the United States, and he should have his credentials removed from the White House press corps. To add insult to injury, Munro didn’t have the common sense or courtesy to apologize during or after the incident. I don’t expect anyone to live up to my standards, I will share this with you. The above photograph was sent to George W Bush after the events of September 11. I sent him a letter with the photograph, and I said to him in this letter that this photograph was for his personal archives, and that while I did not vote for him, I certainly respected him as the President of the United States. Next week, I will send president Obama my lady liberty photograph and tell him that I respect him and the office.

Memorial Day Bike Race

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on June 1, 2012

To All The Ships At Sea

For the Last Three years my dear friend Brian has invited me to the oldest bicycle race in the US held in Somerville, N.J. on Memorial Day. Every year I promise to go and cancel because of this that or the other thing. This year I decided I was going to go and am extremely happy I went. Brian was not exaggerating it is an amazing experience. Hundreds of racers and thousands of spectators. Colorful is an understatement. Towards the end of the day, JoAnne and I ran into Dave and Linda. There may be a possibility next year of doing a Sports/Action semi-private workshop. Could be a lot of fun. It’s a great place to hone your eye hand coordination and to tweak your panning skills. Prepping for a rodeo shoot to be continued….

Old Glory – Not a Cliché

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on May 15, 2012

In reality many photos are considered clichés The Empire State Building, The Arc de Triomphe the Great Wall of China, Lady Liberty, a sunrise, and a sunset. All can be considered clichés. You would think for an American the American Flag would be a cliché but not to me. The American Flag has beautiful colors, great design, balance and when the wind blows right it has powerful stance. While on a run, one day, I came across this flag blowing and as Bob Dylan would say “Blowing in the Wind.” I spent one or two minutes observing it. I made a photograph that was intentionally high key with one of my favorite filters the Singh Ray high intensity. I designed the “V” for victory and had one of my assistants assemble it in Photoshop for me. For me it’s simple clean and elegant. Thank you Betsy Ross & Dr. Singh

F/1.8 and Be There

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on May 14, 2012

I’ve been working on a documentary film on Bobby Kyle for several years. Bobby is a world-class blues player and an extremely high energy person. The ability for a photographer to wait for peak action and not try to machine gun everything in my opinion is crucial. The photo of Bobby Kyle in the Blues Festival was shot with the 200mm 1.8 lens with an exposure of 1/2000th of a second 1.8 camera Canon 5D ISO 200 single shot.

Ellis Island: 1979

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on April 29, 2012

It seems like I’m spending more and more time looking at my archives. It may have something to do with the fact that we are finishing up our next book, and the working title is “Visual Literacy.” Time Magazine sent me to Ellis Island in 1979 before the beginning of renovations. There was no service there so I went over on a police boat. This was before the days of cell phones, and for whatever reason I did not have an assistant. The original photograph was made with a Nikon F, a 35mm F2 lens, Ektachrome ASA 100. “I can say ASA, not ISO.” I scanned the original slide, recently for the book and decided to pull a little bit more out of it. More photos of Ellis Island to come.

Fish On Friday

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on April 27, 2012

I just received an email by a wild life photographer from Australia wanting some private lessons. We are in the process of arranging three days on both wild life photography and sports photography. All indications are that this is going to be a lot of fun for both student and mentor. He motivated me to look at some of my Great Barrier Reef photographs. Cannon camera, 24mm lens, Fuji Velvia, 1/80 of a second, f/5.6, Ikelite housing, and two Ikelite strobes. Have a great weekend- Joe D

Mary Travers

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on April 25, 2012

If you have been following my blog you would know that when Mary Travers past away, I used a photograph from my first assignment a few years ago. In that blog I said that I would find the original Mary Travers photos. When looking for some vintage black and whites I stumbled across this photo of Mary. It was done with Tri-X pushed to 1200 in acufine with a Nikon F, 180 mm 2.8 lens, at 2.8, 1/500 of a second. I would love to go back in time with a high end digital camera, but as we all know you can not go home again. Mary was my first love and I still love her today.