Now interning at the Star-Ledger

Last month I graduate from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and started an internship as a photojournalist at the Star-Ledger in New Jersey. The Star-Ledger is a fantastic newspaper and has an excellent photo staff. They're coming off a Pulitzer Prize win, and in the short two weeks I've been on the job, I've heard nothing but good things from New Jersey residents.

While there, I am just like a staff photographer. I get all the gear, any range of assignments and most importantly a paycheck. I've been lucky in that I've been able to cover a few MLB games recently. I got out to the Mets/Braves and then a couple Yankees games against the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. These games are a workout, as I'm transmitting early and often. Here are some photos from those three games:

A square love affair

About a year ago, I bought a new camera. I was in my last semester at San Jose State University and pretty much had full-range on one of my final projects and I wanted to get back to my roots, so I scoured Craigslist and Ebay for a Rolleiflex. Luckily for myself I found one at a great price in Scotts Valley. The man I bought it from, was selling it with a heavy heart, as hard times were forcing him to part from his father's old camera. He said he felt a little better about selling it to me, seeing as I was looking to use it, instead of simply flipping it.

At the time I was fascinated with all the flags I saw and wanted to do a series on them for my Image and Idea class. I eventually changed my mine, much to my regret now, and didn't really use the camera a whole lot (If you want to see an awesome flag series, which is much better than what I would've produced in a semester check Misha Erwitt's on the Lens blog). When I say I wanted to get back to my roots, I don't really mean by shooting film, though that is part of it, but I wanted to slow down with my shooting and really think about it like I use to when I first started photographing. I wanted to allow myself some time and this twin lens reflex allowed me to do that.

I eventually fell on hard times myself close to graduation and had to part with the camera for a bit. Thanks to my buddy John Russo for helping me out in a tough spot.

In the half year I had it though, I shot about four rolls. I say about, because I knew the first roll I loaded wrong, and thus two pictures came out. I recently got the camera back and took three of the rolls I shot to be processed, finally (If you're in NYC, head to Sunshine Color Lab near MSG, great guys and good work). I love getting film back and the smell of a lab. I use to work in one back in the day. The only problem is that it's slightly expensive to develop and buy film in general.

Some of the better images from those three rolls are up top, unfortunately one roll is actually in my Jeep back in California, and I know I got some images on there. But I absolutely love this camera and plan on having it with me at all times here in New York City. Anyone else shooting with a rollei?

A look at the Think Tank Retrospective 20

Firstly let me just say that I recommend this bag.

Now, let me tell you why.

I can't say enough about the quality of this bag. It is made of strong sturdy material. It's like the difference between a lower end camera and one with a metal frame in it. It just feels so much better.

Because of the quality and thickness of the bag, I don't have to be as worried in the rain. It does come with a rain cover, which is one of those little things that just make you love Think Tank a little more because of their thoughtfulness, but I've been caught in the rain without throwing that on and everything was still dry inside.

This guy has a good amount of pockets as well, all of which I use. The front-most pocket, which is under the main flap, is really useful to toss things in that you constantly grab. You can access it without opening the main flap. I have note pads and such in there.

Just inside the bag are more pockets for smaller things like pens, memory cards (I think at least those slots are for memory cards, I have no idea what else would be intended for those small slots, that are very deep though which makes me wonder.), and what ever else. The main compartment has pockets on either side that house my small Kodak ZI6 and my Zoom H2. There is also a zippered pocket on the back of the main compartment which is where I put my memory cards and batteries, but would be a perfect spot for really important stuff like a wallet or phone as well.

The main compartment itself is deep, made for holding a 70-200mm with a body attached. I am a poor college student, so I don't have one of those but for an extra 10 bucks i figured it was worth it over the Retrospective 10, which is a few inches shorter. I carry my Nikon D200 with a 18-70mm on it in that compartment. It takes up about 2/3 of the bag width wise. I use one partition among the three or four they give you and on the remaining side I put my extra lens and other random stuff like my lunch and whatever.

There's a final pocket on the back of the bag, which I really applaud Think Tank for throwing in. There are more notebooks and papers I throw in there that I don't want ruined or anything.

But that is a good lead into some of the minor draw backs of the bag. I use this bag without my camera a lot. It's my main bag that I carry to class, because it I really like it, but it could be a little more versatile. You might be thinking well it's a camera bag, and it does that real well. You're right, but is it wrong to want just a tad more, especially when it's already almost there?

The Retrospective 20 is listed as 13 inches wide, but in that back pocket, which stretches across the bag, I struggle to fit a full length piece of paper in. I usually fold anything that goes in that pocket. The width of this bag has been a peeve of mine. If it were just like an inch longer, maybe even a half inch, it would truly be perfect. I can snugly fit my 13" Macbook into the bag, but it's really tight. Another inch would make it so much easier. But like I said it fits.

Another wish, is that those side pockets on the outside of the bag were big enough to accommodate a bottle of water. At least one of them. That seems minor, but it's something that I've continued to run into. It does hold my umbrella however and is a great spot for my Ipod.

And I think my last gripe would be the lack of dedicated memory card slots. Granted I can just get a pixel pocket, but I paid nearly $200 for the bag, so give me a couple slots for those cards.

But overall, this is a fantastic bag. When they first came out I was extremely turned off by them, but once I moved to New York City I wanted an inconspicuous bag. And it doesn't get more inconspicuous than this bag. Think Tank has the Urban Disguise, (which does have a lap top space) but I think this bag is much more appropriate for a name like that.

The only place that there is the mention of Think Tank, is a small square on the back of the back and a zipper on the inside back pocket. And the bag is kind of ugly if your considering fashion standards, if you get the pinestone one, which adds to the inconspicuousness of it. But it's not horribly looking, I mean I dig it, but fashion isn't my thing.

This bag would be perfect for the photographer that travels light, wants something low-key and is looking for a lot of use out of a small package.

Sixth Annual New York Hustle Congress

I spent a good chunk of the weekend shooting the Sixth Annual New York Hustle Congress. I have to say that it was a tremendous amount of fun. I really enjoyed snapping pictures of people who were having the times of their lives. A lot of people had just expressions of pure fun on their faces and it was a pleasure to document.

If you are looking to purchase photos from the event, go to www.joeproudman.com/nyhustle and follow the directions from there. If you have any questions just shoot me an email I'll get right back to you.

This is what the galleries will look like when you start searching for photos.


I've realized that it might not be a bad idea to learn a dance or two. It's rather impressive what some people were doing on the floor with just a few well placed and timed steps.

Dance lessons

Shot this for my RW1 photo boot camp this past week. Two soon-to-be newly weds graciously allowed me to shoot their dance lesson in preparation for their wedding. It was a great experience and this whole thing about New Yorkers being rude and obnoxious is proving to be a myth more and more. Click here to see the photo slideshow.

A face lift

If you're in the market for a good lookin' photography blog site, check out these 30 Amazing photoblogs.

Portaits

It's been a while since I have been blogging, school and work are catching up with me. But I had an interesting assignment not this week for the Spartan Daily. I was assigned to take portraits of two photographers, Valerie Mendoza and Kirkman Amyx. Mendoza is an instructor at SJSU, while Amyx is a graduate student.

I am not always sure what to expect when I am shooting a photo of a fellow photographer. Sometimes I expect them to be picky and kind of like a backseat photographer. But both of my subjects were nothing of the sort. Mendoza didn't really have time, as we had about five minutes to shoot and Amyx was a patient man as we tried to find some kind of shot.

For Mendoza I went in with one SB-24 and bounced it off the wall to the left. I figured since we were not going to have much time I needed to shoot in her office. I wanted soft lighting from the side. Couldn't get any simpler. She was a natural at posing, didn't really have to tell her to do much. The thing I love about her photo, is how she cocks her head slightly at a similar angle to the crow in the photo above her. The Daily ran a different photo than this one.

Amyx's photo, which is different than what ran in the Daily, came right at the end. We had originally planned to shoot in small studio that was displaying his work, but didn't have a way into it. So we went to Plan B, which was to figure out a Plan C. We took several shots in a really ugly room before I took an idea from Strobist Guru David Hobby. Amyx does a lot of his work digitally, inclding the piece behind him in which he compiled 10,000 rolls of dice. I pretty much just used one flash to light his print in the back and computer light to light his face and the light on my cell phone for the front of his computer.

This assignment was all about being resourceful, with limited amount of time.