Tag Archives: PHOTOGRAPHY

Baseball: Shooting from the Inside Out

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on
© Joe DiMaggio

© Joe DiMaggio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3nexjT6O4Lg

To all the ships at sea,

We’ve heard the comments; there are no new photos. We’ve heard it numerous times. My god, I’ve probably even said it myself. It’s our job as photographers and filmmakers to always try to come up with a new variation of a theme, and every once in a while we may stumble across a fine photograph. After a certain period of years, we may even be able to predict that it will indeed be a fine photograph and not just another snapshot or cliche number 377. As photographers and artists, all we can do is continue to try. If you have a moment, please stop and check out my new Adorama TV video, subscribe to my blog, TV show, and all the other good things.

Thanks, Joe D

Shooting From the Inside Out 2

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

Hi to All the Sips at Sea,

While working on an essay called America, I came across some college students at the U of A who were heavy into mountain biking. We did all of the classic cliché photos and then I decided we can do better. So I took one of the small Canon cameras with a 15mm lens and a remote cord and put it at the end of a painters pole and was actually able (for a  millisecond) to get the camera under the tire as the young man did a wheely.

 

All the Best,

Joe D

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To Young…Sing in Peace

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

To All The Ships At Sea

Image

This is extremely difficult for me to write. We have been photographing Richie Haven’s on and off over the years for a long time. We stopped counting the number of concerts a long time ago. Richie on stage was one of the greatest performers of our time.  Back stage he was a just a regular guy.  The last time he called me he asked permission to use three of my photos in a new book.  I will have a follow up blog and a tribute to Richie in a few months.   Sing in Peace Brother…

I spoke with a NASA scientist a few years back and we were discussing radio telescopes and he explained to me that a note played or sung will go on for infinity so I know Richie’s music will continue on…

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The Missing Angel

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

Hi to All the Ships at Sea,

I remember the first time I heard the words, “Photo” and “Hills and Valleys”. It was at TIME magazine end of year party. A  great up and coming assistants decided to quit. When I asked him why, he said too many hills, too many valleys. The valleys are just too deep. I’m gonna take a 9-5 job. Suffice it to say, I was totally shocked. He was poised to be a staffer in a few years. Well we all make decisions we have to live with. The last 2 weeks I’ve been in a valley. This morning I went to the gym and watched the sun come up. It was glorious. I closed my eyes and I could still see every bit of that sunrise. My iPhone was playing an angel, Mary Travers. The combination of her voice, my eyes shut tight and that sunrise, I got out of the valley and onto Kilimanjaro. It’s amazing how music and photography really go together. No sooner I said that- I went looking for this Mary Travers photo which will be the first photo in my new book. The problem is I can’t find the negative and I’ve been looking for it for about ten years. I made a litho print and hand colored it…not my strong suit. That’s all I have for you today guys. The moral of this story is take real good care of your originals, make sure they’re put away properly so  you’ll be able to retrieve them when you’re getting ready to do your memoirs.

All the Best,

Joe D

You can now follow me on Twitter @dimaggio_photo
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Indy 500

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

Hi to All the Ships at Sea,

The tulips are coming up, seems like the snow is almost gone and the Indy cars are starting to run. Remember what I said, one camera, one lens, all the time. Here’s a shot from the old days with one of my assistants. Count the cameras. Thank god for assistants. Would hate to be looking at his MRI today. On a recent Formula One, which in many ways is much more difficult than the Indy 500, I used 2 cameras and 2 lenses. Two Canon 5D Mark III, one 80mm-200  f/2.8 zoom and a second 5D Mark III with grip and 400mm f/5.6 and carrying a 1.4 extender. Gitso Monopod and 6 lexar cards, 8 gigs up to 32 gigs  Simple. Keep it simple. The photograph on the bottom was named by Sports Illustrated as the third best photograph of all time of the last 100 years.

All the Best,

Joe D

You can now follow me on Twitter @dimaggio_photo                                                                                                                                                              © Joe DiMaggio
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Easy to Destroy, Difficult to Build

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

Hi to all the Ships at Sea,

When you slip a CF card into a digital camera, you plan on going out to make a great photograph and that’s a great motivator.  Question remains, can we do it? The answer is, yes, we can. There’s truly only one judge of YOUR photography that counts, and that’s YOU. If you can satisfy yourself and you’re happy then you’ve accomplished what you set out to do and no one, I mean no one, can tell you different. We have had thousands of people, that we’ve taught in our workshops, lectures, Photowalks,  and the majority of them want to be critiqued. The simple fact of the matter is, it’s the most difficult thing in the world to do. Here’s my analogy: Imagine standing on a sidewalk, holding a beautiful piece of Murano Glass, and you pick it up and smash it onto the cement. I’m not sure I could do it, but there’s no doubt that it can be done. You look down and there are thousands of shards of colored glass in hundreds of different angles and pieces. My question is, how many of us, could make that piece of Murano Glass?  The simple answer is, there are only a small amount of artists in the world that could make it. They take 20, 30, 40 years to perfect their art and their trade. By now you’re asking yourself a question, what the hell does this have to do with photography? That’s also simple, go out, perfect your style, make it YOURS. Put your heart, soul and passion into it. Don’t let anybody, smash it on the sidewalk.

Did anyone slip me serious pills this week?

©Joe DiMaggio

©Joe DiMaggio

All the Best,
Joe D

You can now follow me on Twitter @dimaggio_photo
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Talk About a Small World

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on

Hi to all the Ships at sea,

On a recent trip overseas, I and a young gentleman, who attended one of my lectures, discovered that we both know about 15/20 mutual friends. Furthermore, we were probably in the same press room for an awful lot of fights and baseball games, so please let me introduce you to Sheldon Saltman. He’s got some great talking points. The following football photo has nothing to do with Sheldon’s blog, I just decided to post a football photograph.

©Joe DiMaggio

©Joe DiMaggio

Sheldon Saltman:
I do not know about you dear reader, but as I write today’s column, my eyes are still blurry and maybe a little cross-eyed from watching so many different sports over the past week. It started with NBA Basketball and not to be left behind, there were some terrific College Games. You would think that would be enough, but then the NCAA Football Bowl season began. When I was a kid, it was easy. We only had the Orange, Sugar, Cotton and Rose Bowls. Today, it is quite different! I think I counted over 35 actual Football Games with the title “Bowl” as part of their name. You couldn’t name them all, even using both your hands and taking your shoes and socks off. I believe, every sponsor in this down economy that had extra cash lent his/her name to a Bowl Game. My Dad, the old footballer who was in the meat business, always thought there should be a “Sausage” Bowl. I didn’t see that one. But Dad if you are looking down don’t hold your breath. I think there probably will be a “Kitchen Sink” Bowl”, before one entitled “Sausage”. Nevertheless, there were some great games and some exciting record chases. One of those was that of Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings chasing the record of Eric Dickerson. In 1984 while playing for the Los Angeles Rams. He ran for 2105 yards. Peterson was closing in and Eric was interviewed on many shows about how he felt about Peterson possibly breaking his record. Eric’s answer was simple and honest. Eric said, “I hope he continues to have a great season, remains unhurt and his team does well. I hope he does not break my record.” This past weekend, Eric’s prayers were answered. In a game against Minnesota’s arch-rivals, the Green Bay Packers, Adrian ended the season just 8 short of Eric’s record, accumulating 2097 yards. For the moment, I am sure Adrian is heartsick. However, when he understands that in the long history of the NFL only 5 others have run for 2000 yds., or more, in a season, he will realize his achievement. O. J. Simpson was the first to do it in 1973 with 2003 yds. Realizing that I had been with the Los Angeles Lakers Organization during the 1971-72 season, I was bombarded by questions about the Los Angeles Clippers 17 game win streak. I thought about what Eric had said when he wished Peterson all the best, but not the record. The Clippers are good and they have captured the imagination of the Basketball World. The reason I was asked so many questions was during the ’71-’72 season when the Lakers won 33 straight games. After losing to the Golden State Warriors on October 31, 1971, they did not lose again until January 11, 1972. It was the Milwaukee Bucks with Kareem Abdul Jabaar who did them in. The same Kareem who would lead the Lakers to many more titles. However, the Lakers’ first title was in the ’71 season under Coach Bill Sharman. Bill, himself a Hall-of-Famer as both a Player and Coach worked with such intensity that he completely lost his voice. Today, at 86, he still whispers to communicate. That Laker Team was loaded with Hall-of-famers: Wilt Chamberlain, the only man to ever score 100 points in an NBA game. Jerry West whose shooting style today remains the NBA logo and Elgin Baylor with his famous “floating-in-air” shot. Carrying on that 1971 wining legacy is Pat Riley …at that time, probably the best 6th man in the NBA. He didn’t look like the suave executive of today. Instead, he had long flowing hair with mustache to match. But before every game he would take anyone he could find in a game of H-O-R-S-E. I never beat him. Today’s Clippers may also have one, or two potential Hall-of-Famers.

But for now, I breathe a sigh of relief. For the Laker Record, that I enjoyed as part of the organization, still stands.

All the best,
Joe D

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