Once a Great Writer, Always a Great Writer

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 24, 2012

Luck. It’s a good thing. I met Mark Joseph in the early seventies. He had just finished up at Berkeley and decided to work as a writer for an underground newspaper. I think the name was “Rolling Stones”… but don’t quote me on that. He also drove a San Francisco cab to get story ideas. I don’t know if I should say this, but he would hang around for hours in a certain bar listening to naval war stories, which led him to write one of the greatest novels of all time: “To Kill the Potemkin”. It did land on the New York Times best seller list. In those days, Mark was an expert on everything, especially wine and baseball. Some things never change. He is now an expert on baseball, football, and wine. Mark, JoAnne, and I had a great day out. It started at Sunset Beach for coffee and finished up at a great taqueria in the Castro. He is one if the brightest, most lovely people I know. We bet 25 cents on the Giants San Francisco game and yes, I will make him spend 49 cents to mail me a quarter. God really did bless San Francisco. By the way, Mark has a beautiful wife by the name of Nancy who is a great artist and creative director. His son Jessie has taken after his father and he’s a Sommelier. Enjoy a few of the photos. Go Big Blue! JoeD

For all the photographers out there, here’s a tip from mark: “You can’t write a great american novel until you learn how to write a great sentence.” F2.8 between the lines.

Back Lit Photo Tip: JoAnne being a former Sports Illustrated photographer is used to working extremely fast on the fly. No time to check the meter, or check the exposure. She knows the front lit exposure, therefore she opens between 1 and 1.5 stops. Then being the consummate pro she fills in her catch light with her strobe minus 3 stops. Great catch light, and a minor fill an aging skin. (On Mark not me!) Last but no least, if you want to read a really great book, pick up “Typhoon” by Mark Joseph or “Mexico Bente Uno”.

The Day The Photographic Earth Stood Still

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 23, 2012

The day the Photographic earth stood still one second later went into light speed. I had a dual assignment to photograph Joe Paterno in 2002 for Time Magazine and my agent who had clients in Europe and Asia. We broke out all the big guns total 7 cameras. Both JoAnne and I were the prime shooters, 2 assistants and one security PA. Started at approximately 6AM shot all pre-game ceremony (lots of partying young and old) When we actually got down to game time the prime lenses were 400 f/2.8 and 600 f/4 and 35-350mm. We did the post game and turned the film over to our assistant who was getting ready to transmit a few frames before we returned to the studio. Total 7 cameras, 5 film cameras 4 of which were never loaded. The one loaded had 28 frames, the two digital there were approximately 1,000 frames. Without knowing it the third reincarnation of DiMaggio now as a digital shooter was born. The story was on Joe Paterno and he died yesterday from complications from Lung Cancer age 85. I will not comment on his dismissal from Penn State. Our son Dylan spent 4 years there and any communications I had with the administration was absolutely miserable. Oops I said I would not comment. Whatever Paterno’s sins were he was one hell of a football coach. RIP Joe I hope things are get better on the other side.

©Joe DiMaggio

©JoAnne Kalish

Lady Sings the Blues

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 23, 2012

I was recently interviewed by a French Magazine and they asked me to supply them with a short list of people I would have loved to photograph but never did. My partial answer was Buckminster Fuller, Roy Orbison, Janis Joplin, Alistair Cooke, and on that list was Etta James. I never met her but evidentally she lived the blues, sang the blues and died by the blues. If you need a photographic lesson out of this – never hesitate, seize the opportunity of make the opportunity. RIP Etta

Winter III – It’s 11 degrees!

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 20, 2012

At the end of my location shoot, I decided to bring all of the equipment back to the automobile, got a plastic bag, and decided to take the ice back to the studio. The thought process was to change the perspective that I was unable to get in the original concept on the river (were the jewelry kept going into the water). I tucked the ice away for the night and the next afternoon, totally overcast, I built a small table-top studio outside and continued to explore the possibilities and tried to come up with a fresh (cold) photograph. Yes, I do lose my sense of humor when I’m cold.

Equipment Used: 1 Large Sartek LED light, 1 small Sartek LED light, Manfrotto carbon fiber monopod, Manfrotto small ball head, Manfrotto light fluid head tripod, Sony camera 135mm zeiss lens.

Winter II … It’s still cold.

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 19, 2012

I was not satisfied with the studio photographs for the Norwegian Jewelry. I made an executive decision to go to a gorgeous waterfall near my studio. Both of my assistants were away so I was on my own, traveling super light. One trip down to the falls and one back to the automobile.

Equipment Used: 1 Large Sartek LED light, 1 small Sartek LED light, Manfrotto carbon fiber monopod, Manfrotto small ball head, Manfrotto light fluid head tripod, Sony camera 135mm zeiss lens.

Jewelry on ice at riverside. Jewelry went into the river… Happened a second and third time. If you look closely you’ll see my dive glove is completely wet. Decided to pull a large piece of ice away a brought it up to a rock pile then set up my portable studio there. Then started the shoot.

Joe's not Cool, he's COLD! Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Winter! Sorry, just not my thing…

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 18, 2012

I make a sincere effort to leave the north-east as much as possible between the months of January and March. Even with more body fat that I should have, I still get extremely cold. A week in California ranging between 62 and 76 was heaven. For that matter, God blessed California. It truly is a special place. OK, here comes the two by four across my forehead! I’m back in the upper Delaware Valley, and I have an assignment to photograph some very special jewelry from Norway. The European client has been gracious enough to give me free rein on the style of the photos, background, and how to incorporate it into their marketing plans. That does not happen often, but all photographers should be thankful when it does. That’s the good news. It’s also the BAD news. When you’re the photographer, the producer, and the art/creative director, you’d better be careful not to OVER produce. My answer is “KISS” keep-it-simple-stupid. We’re going to divide the blog into three parts. 1: A controlled situation in a warm, dry, elegant, studio. 2: A location studio shot at Shahola Falls. and 3: Taking the falls back to the studio. Lets start with #1.

The studio: simple, clean, but requires Photoshop to make the end product shot acceptable. Both to me and certainly the client.

Photo Copyright Joe DiMaggio

Last but not least, equipment used: custom built shooting table, Gitzo tripod, Dynalite electronic flash, Tight Grid Sony Camera 135mm ziess 1.8 Lens

One Week In San Francisco. Not enough time!

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 18, 2012

Photo Copyright Joe DiMaggio

www.tommasos.com

As you’ve heard me say before, I am one of the luckiest people on this planet. Great family, and great friends. JoAnne and I just spent one week with Charles Rudnick and Carmen Crotti. Charles is an award-winning film maker with four decades of great work. Carmen is not only beautiful, but she’s the owner of Tommaso’s. One of the finest restaurants in the United States. Between Charles and Carmen their family is absolutely huge. Their lives are constantly filled with love and something is happening virtually around the clock. You certainly will never get bored at the Rudnick home. They were gracious enough to take us into their home. I could not think of a better way to spend time with great friends.

Quick Photo Tip: Photograph of the wood burning stove by 1) Asking permission to get behind the counter 2) Pre-selecting shutter speed, aperture, and focus 3) Putting the camera on “continuous (which I normally never do) 4) removing the lens shade 5) Lining up the shot 6) Pushing the camera into the oven 7) Eye NOT up to the view-finder 8) 8 quick shots, it’s all good!

Alternative Lighting

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 17, 2012

To all the ships at sea. If you ever have watched a true craftsman working on a 150 year old piece of oak and converting it to a gorgeous piece of furniture, what you quickly realize is that it’s all about his or her experience and their ability to utilize the tools of the trade. While producing a 1 minute spot for CBS, I approached it with traditional lighting and after two shoots, I decided to utilize two different Sartek underwater lights. For a few different reasons: Number one, the quality of light is a consistent 5800 kelvin. The burn time on the LED light is approximately 20+ hours. The angle of the beam gives me broad enough light to cover the ice formations from above, and also below. Obviously not at the same time. Oops! I forgot, I do have two lights. Carl Saieva is not only a great cave diver, and a super business person, but a fantastic design engineer. He has created these lights for use under 300 feet which is great, but when I dive I stay above 120 feet. 95% of all of the footage is 1080I. There are a few isolated stills. I’ll follow this blog up in a week with Carls mini-light which I utilize on the Go-Pro to get the camera and the light under the ice. JoeD

http://www.sarind.com/

Simply Elegant

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 16, 2012

I met Andrew Ehrlich approximately thirty years ago. Andrew worked not only as my assistant, but as my studio manager. He loaded my camera on some of the most important shoots of my career. We became much more than a photographer and an assistant. I consider him part of my family and vice versa. Andrew went to NYU film school and went onto a career as a staff photographer with Avis and traveled all over the world. Andrew now has a beautiful wife and three dynamic kids. He is an extremely successful business man. On super major shoots, Andrew comes out of his retirement and works with me even today. I just received the above photograph in an email and when I looked at it my heart stopped. It is simple, it is clean, it is elegant, it is dynamic, and it is everything in a photograph that I love to see. I am totally elated when I see one of my protegés shoot something this magnificent. Andrew thanks for sending it and well see you Chinese New Year. JoeD