Legislative Hall, Dover, Delaware

Where were you today, Sunday, May 2 at 15:00 U.T.C./G.M.T.?  For those who don’t have the iPhone app CityTime – World Time ($0.99), 15:00 U.T.C./G.M.T. was 11:00 A.M. on the East coast or 8:00 A.M. on the West coast.  U.T.C. stands for Coordinated Universal Time and G.M.T. is Greenwich Mean Time; both are the same.  Then there is Zulu time which the military uses; I won’t get into that because you probably are confused enough.  Please don’t ask me why Coordinated Universal Time is abbreviated U.T.C. because I don’t have a logical answer.  I’m just a photographer.

Anyway, today at 15:00 U.T.C./G.M.T., photographers around the world were asked to take a photo or photos at that exact hour or close to it as part of the “A Moment in Time” project by the New York Times.  I took my photo at 11:00, downloaded the images, selected my one submission, did a little Photoshop magic, and uploaded my photo to the New York Times.  All photos submitted for this project should be viewable soon.

The photo I submitted is of Legislative Hall in Dover, Delaware.  Dover is the capital of Delaware; most people would think Wilmington is because it is the biggest city here in the First State.  Getting back to the photo, I submitted it in the Community category.  There were numerous categories for this project but this category required the least amount of pre-planning and a little luck from the weather.  I decided to convert the photo to black & white for two reasons, one being I wanted the white clouds and white top of the building to stand out against the sky.  Second, I could bring out the detail in the statues more than in the original color version.

It was fun participating in this global project today and I’m looking forward to taking some great photos at the New York Pro show on May 8th.  See you there!

Tribeca Performing Arts Center at the BMCC, New York City, NY

This year is moving by really quick for me. Here it is again, time for the IFBB New York Pro shows on May 8th at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center at BMCC, 199 Chambers Street, New York, New York. This year we have the Muscletech 2010 IFBB New York Men’s Professional Bodybuilding Championships, the Muscular Development IFBB Men’s 202 and under Professional Bodybuilding Championships, the Species IFBB Women’s Professional Bodybuilding Championships, and the NutriGenix IFBB Women’s Professional Bikini Championships. Sounds like it’s going to be an exciting weekend in the City.  Steve Weinberger and Bev Francis always put a great show together and this year should be no exception. I’m looking forward to going up to the “City” to photograph all four championships.

Usually about the same time of the year when the pro shows are being held, a couple of other great event are happening too. Starting today, April 21, and running until May 2nd, the Tribeca Film Festival is going on. I won’t make it this year but for those who are in the area and are film buffs, check out the festival at this link, www.tribecafilm.com/festival/ for more information.

The second event that I would like to mention is the Taste of Tribeca which is being held the weekend after the pro shows. Last year the Taste of Tribeca was held the same weekend as the pro shows. After prejudging on the way back to the hotel, I made a detour for about an hour enjoying the food and music. It was an awesome time and it is all for a good cause; money raised during the festival benefits PS150 and PS234, two local public schools in the area. For additional info, go to www.tasteoftribeca.org/ or just show up at Duane and Greenwich Streets on May 15th, rain or shine.

For those who may have some time on championship weekend and are photo buffs, the Museum of Modern Art has an exhibit displaying the works of photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bresson’s career started in the 1930′s until his death in 2004. This exhibit runs from April 11 through June 28. For more info, visit moma.org or read the NY Times article on Cartier-Bresson at the following link, http://s.nyt.com/u/yxK

Gee Whiz Diner

For me, I’ll probably make my yearly pilgrimage to Carnegie Deli for a corned beef sandwich on Friday night. If anybody would like to join me, email me or Tweet me, @ironmanphotog. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the prejudging on Saturday morning and the finals on Saturday night! I’m also going to have a great breakfast around 9 am at the Gee Whiz Diner on the corner of Greenwich and Warren Streets. Go to www.ironmanmagazine.com or contests.ironmanmagazine.com to view my the photos from all four championships. See ya in the City!

We were expecting this since the beginning of the week. Yesterday was crazy here in Dover; gas stations had long lines and the grocery stores were packed. It looked like people were doing their last-minute Christmas shopping, except it was for food & gas. The traffic was so heavy with people preparing for the worse, I saw numerous accidents last night on the way home. The funny thing about that was the snow, rain and ice didn’t even start yet.

Anyway, I just wanted to blog and say all is good here in Dover, Delaware! Blogging is better than shoveling snow at this point. I already dug out the cars once this morning at 9 am. By then, we received about 8 inches of snow and it was still coming down. This is a good time to relax, blog, take photos and reading how to “Get Big! 5 Fast-Mass Winter Workouts” in the January 2010 edition of IRON MAN Magazine; starting with the Editor’s Note by Steve Holman on page 26.

Time to go! Dave Goodin and Crystal West are getting a little cold out here.

Every now and then, I receive an email from a news agency requesting permission to use one of my photos I have shot over the past 3 and a half years for IRON MAN Magazine.  Most of the time it is for the positive side of bodybuilding and the promotion of good health and fitness.  So far, I’ve had only one request for one of my photos that a newspaper wanted to use to identify an accused individual in a pending investigation.

Last week I was contacted by the Army Times Publishing Co. requesting a photo I took of David Henry at the 2007 Atlantic City Pro, where he placed 3rd. I’ve taken many more photos of The Giant Killer since that contest but it’s the one they wanted. I personally think some of my better photos of David were from the 2008 Olympia Weekend, Men’s and Men’s 202 and Under, placing 15th and 1st respectively. Photos from the 2009 IFBB New York Pro 202 & Under, 3rd Place; and 2009 Olympia Weekend, Men’s 202 and Under, 2nd Place; are my favorites of David.

One thing I did not know about The Giant Killer is that he is in the Air Force; something we have in common except that I retired from the Air Force in 2001 after 22+ years of service. I have a great deal of respect for David knowing the demands of being a top pro bodybuilder while serving his country. The operational tempo and deployments make it hard for the regular military service member; I can just imagine how hard it is for any pro athlete to train and compete on a regular basis.

I know I went off in a different direction than I intended to but here is the point of this whole blog: Read what David has to say in the article named “Get ripped: Build a bigger, badder, bolder body” in any the following publications:

• Air Force Times
• Army Times
• Marine Corps Times
• Navy Times

David, best of luck in the 2010 pro season and thank you for your service. HOOAH!

It’s been a long time since I blogged. I tried to at the USA and Olympia, both in Las Vegas, but was too busy processing & posting images. This time I’m hoping to have a little more time to blog even though there are 500 competitors between Men, Women, Figure & Bikini.

I’m covering the Nationals with Ironleader this weekend. Between the both of us, we have some fanatstic Canon cameras & lenses to capture the action. I also brought the latest addition to the coverage arsenal; a Canon VIXIA HF S100 HD video camera. I’m hoping to capture some great interviews with Lonnie “The Swami” Teper as he moves around the venue. Tentatively we are hoping to do interview Jon “The Jaguar” Lindsay and Jennifer Nicole Lee. Look for these videos to up sometime this weekend, as well as all the images from this weekend here in beautiful Hollywood, F-L-A!

Catch me on Twitter! Getting ready to head out to Vegas next week for the USA. Got some new toys for video production; can’t wait to use them on Lonnie & Ruth!