Thursday, August 30, 2007

::the story, the Open::


On Aug. 28 Justin Gimelstob took the court for the last US Open singles match before his retirement. In the draw, Gimelstob, once ranked 63rd in the world of men's singles tennis and from the county my paper covers, drew his first round opponent to be Andy Roddick, seeded fifth in the tournament.

The first set was great--Gimelstob led Roddick to a tie breaker with an overhand near the net.


...a few action shots...


Here he's waiting for the call on a challenge he made against Roddick's serve.
Sixth game, second set-Gimelstob is up to serve but waits as the men's and women's tennis teams from West Point exit the stadium. When he does step up to serve, the chair ump called it a second serve because of the delay. Gimelstob headed to the chair to protest the call.
Gimelstob leads the crowd in the chant, "first serve, first serve."

Gimelstob's protest was successfull, the ump reniged the call only for Gimelstob to double fault on the serves.
Roddick yelled across the court, "After all that, you go and do that!"
In this frame, Gimelstob replies across the court, "Trust me, I am more disappointed than you are."

Gimelstob reacts to accidentally hitting Roddick in the back saying that he would never intentionally hit him there. Gimelstob is bowing out of the sport becuase of back injuries that recent back surgery was unable to fix.

Gimelstob jokes around by sitting in the lap of officials on the court while waiting for a call on his serve, challenged by Roddick.

Gimelstob reacts to winning a challenge. I kept trying to ge somethig like this frame to work, but it just wouldn't. I think it needed a combination of different things--a longer lens, a different location in the photo pit, a different moment, etc...


I don't know much about tennis, but it seems to be largely a game of reactions, when it comes to the visuals of it all.

In a press conference after the match around 11:25 pm, Gimelstob said, "My back started bothering me in the third set. In a way, it makes (retiring) easier. I know in my heart I can't play at this level anymore. It was hard enough to play at this level when I was healthy. I can't compete with these guys on week-in week-out basis."

the press conference

A crew from the USA Network interviews Gimelstob at center court after the match.

Roddick won the game 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-3.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

::the outtakes, the Open::

|the pit|
a fellow photographer frams Sharapova
Sharapova

|the other woman|
All of the cameras pointed to Sharapova at the other end of the court until Roberta Vinici scored a point.

|Outside Ashe|
outside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Watching Jimmy Connors play on a practice court...the light was more interesting to me than what was happening on the court.


Arthur Ashe Stadium.

::ladder legs:

The Ford Mansion is getting a really expensive face lift.

Light floods into the auditorium under renovation at the Ford Mansion Museum. Prior to renovation, the auditorium windows were covered by cinderblocks and a drop ceiling was in place.

Pedro Moreno (R) and Victor Manual drywall the a room that will house the Library Stacks at the Ford Mansion Museum

::golf::

Brian Komline of Morris Plains has won the New Jersey Men's Amateur Golf title twice in the last three years.

::keeping the bees::


Janet Katz maintains a beehive at Delbarton School. She keeps over 50 hive in Morris County. She's had to put the hives at Delbarton in a shed because the bears like the bees.

::food shoots::

Another attempt at shooting food...it's difficult.

::summertime summertime sum sum summertime::

the slug for this assignment was "last call summer." I'm not ready for it to be summer's last call.

::a new leaf::

fall means...
the end of softball...
and the beginning of football...

::doing business::

It seems like whenever I get sent to photograph biz assignments there are no customers. This is a boutique in Motown.

::Bald Soprano::

Greg Jackson, who plays Mr. Martin, watches fellow cast members of NJ Shakespeare Theater's production of "The Bald Soprano" rehearse at Drew University's Kirby Theater

Pasty?

Funny thing, before my wedding, I admitedly got a spray tan. I won't defend it, I know it is silly. I knew the second I stood in front of someone naked while they sprayed me with tanning solution, I would see them again...

A week after the wedding, I was assigned to photograph at the tanning booth. Here's an outtake from that biz shoot.

::4H Fair::

Members of The New Jersey Martial Arts Academy perform a skit at the 4H Fair.



"Danny"
People at the fair were more than happy to ignore me, but
this python kept smelling my camera lenses.

::they'll be home soon::

Jim Benoit was severely injured by an IED in Iraq. Shortly after his return from Iraq, he and Pam got married. They have spent the majority of their time since his return at Walter Reed Medical Center in DC. They lived in something like a hotel room in DC--the only accomodations that are handicapped accessable at Walter Reed are rooms without kitchens, so they only had a microwave. When not at Walter Reed, Jim and Pam Benoit call a trailer at Picatinny Arsenal home. Only half of the trailer is accessable to Jim when he is in his wheelchair because of the narrow hallway.

An organization called, "Homes for Troops" is building a new house for Jim & Pam in Wharton, NJ.

This is a peek at where they live now.


They try to visit the new house site every Saturday to take a look at the progress and say thank you to the volunteers building the house.