I got to take a portrait of oil man turned wind man T. Boone Pickens for The New York Times. He is continuing his advertising push to promote wind energy and natural gas as a way to get off our oil problems. He claims it is a matter of national security. The man has some points. He also avoids others.
I did shoot a speech, but by far, the highlight was taking his portrait and visiting his office in Dallas. The only other office with more of a “museum” feel is the Perot offices. Boone (what a name!) has a great Western painting collection. The best place to take the portrait was his office. I had some other ideas, but after waiting two hours for Mr. Pickens to finish his lunch I only had three minutes to shoot. After three minutes (exactly three minutes…17 frames to be exact) I was told “you got it.” I think I did OK. Without being sarcastic, this is not to say Boone is rude. He was extremely nice and I was impressed to see he remembered my name immediately (after all, Matt is an odd one.) He introduced me to people wherever we went and we had a great conversation about his amazingly large ranch in Texas.
The New York Times ran a great 5 column picture in print. I also liked the shot of Boone looking out the window into downtown Dallas. The curtains give it a cool old look. You can see the article written by Cliff Krauss online.
I took some pictures of Research In Motion (think Blackberry) COO Larry Conlee for Canadian Business Monthly a while back.
They wanted some very straight forward head shots with a very particular lighting set up. It was a good opportunity to focus directly with fine tune the lighting set up. With little variation on the position, expression, or lens use, I really wanted to make sure the lighting went over well.
The photos was for a “Top CEO” issue for the publication. They wanted me to match the style of photos they had pre-planned. Mr. Conlee was very accommodating, and despite the simple set up, he was gave me 20 minutes to shoot. Very much appreciated.
Here are a few variations of the shot and how they ran it in the publication.
Be sure to stay tuned for the announcement. Coming in the next day or two!
Published on
December 6, 2009 in
Uncategorized.
Tags: America, assignment, Clip, Dallas Morning News, fun, people, portrait, robotics, robots, Texas.
I got to photograph the Texas regional robotics championship yesterday for the Dallas Morning News. It was my second assignment of the day, so I admit I was totally unprepared for the awesomeness that was awaiting inside the University of North Texas basketball coliseum. Not only were there loud, large, and energetic cheer squads and awesome engineering nerds, but they had robots! Now, I’m obviously somewhat nerdy myself, but these kids kick my ass. I actually think they are cool and not not nerds at all – just teens.
Each team of students, which came from high schools all around Texas and New Mexico, built a robot which had to battle others in timed matches. The goal of each match was to gather balls, globes, and cans and direct them back to a designated location. I don’t think I could even drive one, let alone build it.
I am kicking myself for not bring my lights to the event. I did manage to take a series of portraits with some of the kids and their robots. I could have spent all day with a studio set up…and would have. I’m pleased with the images I got simply because it was so fun to shoot. These kids are the future and they seem to be loving it. Pretty refreshing.
You can see the Dallas Morning News article written by Jeffrey Weiss online.
***Just as a note: I did not tell the kid to flex his arms like that. I suppose his ripped body just does it on his own.
I photographed the President and CEO of American Eurocopter Marc Paganini for the NY Times a couple weeks ago. It ran in Sunday’s business section.
You can find the article here.
Several years ago, I heard Jay Maisel speak about the power of gesture in photography. Specifically, he was talking about light as gesture and noticing how this relates to our perceptions of landscapes. These ideas have stuck with me over the years, as I strive to develop and define my style. While I continue to explore stylistically, recently, I am attempting to explore the subtle gestures of my subjects. It is easy to overlook the position of a foot or the placement of a hand. The simple extension of a foot or the intertwining of fingers are the details that define a photograph. I would like to begin using lights again to focus on the idea of shaping my subject’s subtle gestures with additional subtleties of light. I want to use light not to overpower, but to enhance the physical eccentricities of my subject. This goes hand in hand with the idea of realism and placing my subject in a natural setting. Natural in both a physical and a mental state of being.
The first two photos are Jay Jensen. I owe Jay a lot. Jay let me sleep on his floor for the entire summer while shooting my project on the border. If it were not for Jay I would not have afforded to spend so much time on my self-funded story. Thanks Jay.
The second set of photos are of psychiatrist Dr. Bharat Patel next to the garden he and his staff planted in front of their medical clinic. Dr. Patel feels the garden helps heal the mind and aids in relieving mental stress. I completely agree.
I’ve been away. One post a months seems pathetic..and it is. I am pleased to say it has been a result of traveling and lack of time as opposed to a lack of photos.
April took me to Nicaragua. In May I was in Colorado. On Tuesday I leave for Arizona to begin my next project. I am super excited to begin work on the story I have been researching for almost six months.
I was in Nicaragua shooting a travel story which will soon make publication. So…until then I will leave you with a couple photos which didn’t fit the story and thus did not make the cut.
All too often I go to an assignment and find a large room, full of brochures, booths, and people talking up their ideas. Usually these are not the most exciting assignments. There will be one person and product I am there to highlight. Ten or 15 minutes inside then off to file on deadline.
Today was different. I saw the same booths, selling the same products, yet the people seemed different . Maybe it was the humidity outside, but I wanted to stay as long as possible. Around every corner was another face waiting to be captured. Nothing fancy. Just a face under a light. I love faces.
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