Photos: New York Red Bulls vs. San Jose

The day started with Air Force cadets being sworn in at midfield and a fly-by by a DC-10, then we got down to business. The game was dominated by the Red Bulls from the start and they controlled every bit of the action. There were a few moments for the Earthquake that could've meant trouble for New York, but San Jose was plagued with poor finishing and a few good saves from Bouna Coundoul for the Red Bulls. Dane Richards cut right through the defense and dribbled around the diving Jon Busch, the native New Yorker and goalkeeper for San Jose, for the first goal just before the half, his first of the season. Check out the amazing goal here. Thierry Henry had a few chances in the first to get his first of the season, both in the 18 yard box that were cleared off the goal line by the defense and hit the woodwork. But then in the 63rd minute, it came.

An important moment, because this is what Red Bull New York hopes is the first of many memorable goals by TH14. The Red Bulls are now 4 points from first in the East trailing Columbus. Here are some photos from the 2-0 win.


























Camera settings: 200mm, f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/500 shutter

Video Gallery of Women's Tennis at the New York Times

Check out this incredible motion gallery of top women's tennis players in slow motion over at the New York Times! It's just another example of how print is being re-imagined in a digital context to include motion, further blurring the line between still photography and video.

This piece was directed by Dewey Nicks and shot on the Phantom Flex camera system.

Post-Production Reel of HBO's John Adams

Check out this incredible post-production reel showcasing the visual effects behind HBO's series John Adams based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize winning book. The show won the Emmy for special visual effects for a miniseries, movie or special. The series was directed by Tom Hooper with Tom Hanks as one of the executive producers.

Visual effects were done by CafeFX. Check out this interview with Jeff Goldman with a breakdown and explanation of some of the work they did on the series.

Photos: New York Red Bulls vs. LA Galaxy

The stadium was sold out. The atmosphere was electric. We honored a retired Metro legend, all time starting XI footballer Clint Mathis. The action was furious from the start and so were the fans. Furious with the linesmen that is. But the joy of a sold out stadium and the goodbye to our hero was short lived.. 10 minutes to be exact. Edison Buddle only needed one chance to make it 1-0 Galaxy. One mistake made the difference, but it's hard to say they didn't battle till the very end. The Galaxy had the referees on their side that day and it's hard to win when you can't get a break. There were many missed set play opportunities. The team needs a lot more practice so that their chemistry doesn't get the best of them. They've added new elements with their recent acquisitions so a lot is expected out of them, but it's going to take a little time. Here are some photos from the game.

Camera settings: 70-200mm 640 ISO 1/500 shutter speed f/2.8

American Apothecary Interview

Check out the recent interview we shot with American Apothecary's Co-Founders Jeremy Sziklay and Matthew Kronenberg, and lead designer Anastasia Fokina!

From American Apothecary's website:

"American Apothecary is an avant-garde T-shirt company showcasing remedies that are no longer available because they are now illegal or exceptionally dangerous. Cocaine, heroin and cigarettes were not always feared and controlled substances. In the early 1900's cocaine was widely used in cough drops for children, heroin was used as a painkiller and cigarettes were offered to asthmatics for instant relief. By placing vintage medicine labels on the finest cotton shirts, American Apothecary is commenting on how our perceptions of these taboo substances have changed drastically over the last 100 years. 

Aiming our attention at these questionable cures are two former assistant district attorneys, who, after finishing their law degrees, opted to create this fashion line to challenge current public opinion. With these daring designs, they hope to expand the public's knowledge of our dubious pharmacological past and encourage people to consider what the future opinion of today's widely prescribed drugs will be."

Camera settings:

We shot this on two Canon 5D MKII's.  The interview portion was shot on a Canon 50mm F1.2 and a Canon 24-105mm F4, both L-series.  B-roll was shot on a Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro and the F4 zoom.  No artificial lights were used and we shot on 1600 ISO, kept the aperture around F8 the shutter at 1/60.  We used a standard picture style and graded the colors in post.  The sound was recorded on a Zoom recorder with a Sony wireless lav and a Rhode NTG-2 mounted on a boom pole.

End of an Era

Media in general is in a state of massive upheaval. Markets are dying and new ones are advancing. Now more than ever, following the status quo and not being an innovator, an iconoclast, is bad business.

Neil Burgess, head of NB Pictures, former head of Magnum Photos in New York and Magnum London, and twice former chairman of World Press Photo, wrote an opinion piece in the EPUK where he talks about the death of photojournalism.

"Magazines and newspapers are no longer putting any money into photojournalism. They will commission a portrait or two. They might send a photographer off with a writer to illustrate the writer’s story, but they no longer fund photojournalism. They no longer fund photo-reportage. They only fund photo illustration."

"We should stop talking about photojournalists altogether...A few are kept on to help provide ‘illustration’ and decorative visual work, but there is simply no visual journalism or reportage being supported by so called news organisations."

"Look at TIME and Newsweek, they are a joke. I cannot imagine anyone buys them on the news-stand anymore. I suspect they only still exist because thousands of schools, and libraries and colleges around the world have forgotten to cancel their subscriptions."

While it's a time of great distress for a lot of professional media makers, it's also a time of great opportunity, because there's an opening to get in on the ground floor with a lot of the emerging markets. If TIME and Newsweek are a joke, clearly the way professionals need to do business has to change.

Hugh MacLeod, in his book "Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity," says:

"Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There's no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one."

Amen.

Headshots: Jimmy Allman