Not My First Rodeo

To All The Ships At Sea

One of the great advantages of being a photographer is travel. I’ve been blessed because over my career I’ve been around the world twice and am now working on the third time. Many of my assignments revolved around sports and action. With all the assignments and travel, I had never photographed a rodeo until last week.It was my first. While shooting, an official came over and was kind enough to give me insight on who, what, and where the action would be taking place and for how long. I looked at him and said you do understand this is not my first rodeo and then realized what I had said and immediately corrected myself. Utilizing this cowboy’s thirty years of doing rodeo helped me make a better photograph with less mistakes.  This is what I call important pre-production. I make it my business to  seek out the elder of the village whether it’s in Botswana, Palermo or Utah. Do your research and seek out whatever help you can get to make your work better. Keeping your mind open to learn and trying knew things is important and it’s what makes the world go round.  The DiMaggio/Kalish Learning Center will be doing two professional rodeo workshops this year and they will be awesome.

Rodeo

©2012 Joe DiMaggio

All Photos ©2012 Joe DiMaggio

©’12 Joe DiMaggio

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©’12 Joe DiMaggio

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©’12 Joe DiMaggio

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©’12 Joe DiMaggio

20 Years Ahead of the Curve

 ©Joe DiMaggio

There is an old adage when all else fails tell the truth. It’s something I genuinely believe in.  The new word today is “transparency” – tough to stay up with the brave new world!  About 20 years ago I had a conversation with one of the most powerful women in the world of photography.  She took a $50,000 corporation and turned it into the second largest agency in the world and sold it for upwards of thirty-million dollars.  I said to Sally, I guess I’m 20 years behind the time and she said that it was the exact opposite and that I was way ahead of my time.  It was a wonderful compliment but I’m not sure if I actually believed it.  When the technology came for the motor drives, I did not embrace it. The next big leap was auto programming and I did not embrace this. Shortly afterwards, autofocusing came out and I did an interview and was quoted as saying my clients want me to focus the camera – I’m not a grandfather yet!  Need I say, I did not embrace that technology either? I’ve been making photographs on film for 5 decades. When digital came out I did not embrace it.  Is it possible that one man could be wrong about so many things? I’m afraid the answer is yes.

Of course, in 2011, I utilize all this new technology. There is no doubt that when you use these tools properly you’ll be rewarded. Wiebetech has given me an opportunity to not be 20 years behind the times but actually to be 20 years ahead of the time. The combination of the big three – The Double Barreled Derringer (ToughTech Duo), The Little Gun (RTX220-QR) and the Big Gun (RTX800-IR) give me a tremendous advantage in filing, storing and retrieving all of my photographs and films.  It is definitively the best technology today and to be honest, probably for a long time to come. Wiebetech has allowed me for the first time in a long time, to be ahead of the curve. I strongly recommend that every advanced photographer and filmmaker incorporates this technology to protect their life’s work. We all travel different roads and have different motivations and needs but with your solutions we will have choices. Thanks so much.  Keep up the great work.

Joe DiMaggio