2007.09.07

So its happened. The inevitable has happened.

The New York Daily News figured out that I know more than they do about 'multi-media'. They have wasted no time in putting me in charge of pumping out slideshows for New York's ever-so-fabulous Fashion Week. Celebrities, designers, photographers, wafer-thin women--what a majestic time of year! My question, as well as my co-worker Claus, is just who is going to the tabloid hometown hard news paper to get their dish on Fashion Week. What Daily News reader even cares about Fashion Week?? Oh well. At least I'm doing what I love.

My co-worker in the 'multimedia' department is a tall, thin man named Claus. He was orginally working in archives but was told to learn the program soundslides and figure out how to jump on this whole new media bandwagon. He's been at it for a month. Then I came along. I figured out that I have done for them in 2 hours what took them over a month to do. And so have they. The photography director has offered me a quasi-job after my internship is over. I'm not gonna lie, it feels pretty good get a job offer at one of the largest news publication in the country. However, it will take a good amount of time for this department to be at the level of new media where I want to be and possibly could be working now. The biggest task will be getting everyone on the same page, for example.

I decided to make a small slideshow about the tent construction of Fashion Week. I got access to the construction site, shot some images, collected ambient audio, made a few friends with some gay PR assistant boys, hung out in Bryant Park people watching--not a bad gig. So I created the slideshow with the majorit y (all) of my images horizontal. I learned Soundslides pretty easily even though its limitations drive me batty. How I miss thee Final Cut Pro. About an hour later I get a call from the web department.

"So...about your slideshow, looks great, however we created the slot on the website for the pictures to be vertical because all the images coming in from Fashion Week will be vertical--models on the runway, that sorta thing. So, um, we need you to make all those images vertical."

"But, they're all horiztonal images..."

"Right. I understand."

"So, you want me to crop them into verticals?"

"Really?! That'd be great, just send it over when you're done! [click]"

I know Photoshop has the 90 degree rotate tool but give me a break.....

 

2007.09.02

Is it wiser to forgive the past with the possibility of learning from it a third time? Or just walk away?

2007.08.30

If you're upset, it's probably not the wisest idea to grab a machete and threaten to jump from your14th story apartment window. It's really not. Because then the cops will come and do this. And I don't think you want a pole camera peeking in your window invading your privacy. So just keep the machete inside.

...an artsy shot from that night....I waited awhile but nada happened. Lucas did too. He has a Blackberry that emails emergency response events from all over NYC, like I scanner. So he called me on my way home to come check out machete lady. Nothing ever happened. I did get chatty with an emergency response service cop who was very resourceful about the city and covering situations. He even gave me the phone number of the precinct to "come on down anytime if you wanna take pictures or need any info from us." hehe.... It's good to have boobs.

 

2007.08.21

There is a picture in this town everytime you breathe.

2007.08.15

The male reporter interns I've been working with here are wonderful. They have great sense of humors and are incredibly intelligent.

2007.08.14

When subway turnstiles attack....

(insert photo of 5 inch bruise on my thigh. very gross. very R rated, so I chose not to take a foto of it. ew.)

The other day I met Lucas out in Brooklyn where he was helping a friend load up a Uhaul. The house was a bit far from the train station so I managed to enjoy a few thrift stores and friscalating golden hour light through McCarren Park on the way there. Can we say HIPSTER CENTRAL?! I remember doing a story on newly installed bike racks in the area a few weeks earlier with a reporter. Every other person he talked to was a graphic designer or engineer. Total hipster occupations. Very funny. Upon my arrival to the street where I was given directions, I spotted a tall, red-headed boy drinking a 40 oz. of beer in the back of Uhaul truck. It's amazing how easy it is to spot Lucas from afar. So for the next hour or so, inbetween sips of Bud Light and getting eaten alive by mosquitos, I watched Brian and Lucas attempt to pack an entire New York townhouse into a tiny truck. Of course, not without 20 minutes of horseplay with a foam mattress.

Last week a tornado hit Brooklyn and New York saw 3 inches of rain in a ridiculous short amount of time. The morning after the storm nearly every subway line was shut down--and I had an assignment at the most northern point of the Bronx. What would normally take me 40 minutes, took me 3 and half hours. And only after that I had to work in 98 degree heat for a few hours getting features from a beach with no shade. The pictures I moved from that day weren't anything to write home about, but I have to say it was the physically most difficult day I've had since I've been here.

I worry about moving images fast so I tend to skip meals for fear the photodesk will call me at the fateful moment I decide to quench my low blood sugar (which has happened almost everytime). It's frustrating and taking its toll on my health. I'm having a lupus flare-up. It's mostly in my legs, which I unfortunately rely on the most in this dang town. I haven't told my work I'm in pain. I doubt they even remember I have lupus which I mentioned in my application essay. So to avoid the whole situation I'm increasing my prednisone medicine, which I haaaaaate to do. It makes you fat, but relieves pain and swollen joints.

Also a rainy day feature I was quite proud of last week that the Daily News would never, EVER run.

 

2007.07.25

I shot stickball in the projects today.

 

2007.07.24

Running full jog for 6 blocks with full camera equipment strapped to your back in tropical downpour because your photodesk failed to clarify a deadline is not fun. Feeling the effects of arthritis because of it the next few days is not fun either.

Needless to say it's been a rough last week or so. Ups and downs at work. Ups and downs living with someone domestically and emotionally. However, I'm still standing on my two feet in my fourth week here. Granted they are achey and tired, but still in working condition. As is my heart.

Last weekend I managed to snag friday off and tag along with Lucas to Springfield, VT for the premiere of the Simpsons Movie. Springfield, VT beat out Springfields in Ilinois and Oregon for the chance to host the world premiere of the film. It was a nice breath of fresh air from the city. We stayed in the only hotel in town called the Hartness House (see me jumping below) where I had the best Maple Syrup Creme Brulee. Yum! The next day I watched madness unfold upon little Springfield, VT. A town square no larger than the Ventura Brooks Campus. A theater no larger than 100 seats. Even though I wasn't on assignment I had my long lens in hand eager to feature hunt. I didn't get much but chatted awhile with a local gentleman about my age who donned a Moe's Tavern shirt among the gathered crowd of about 1000 people. He struck up conversation by asking me as I lifted my camera to shoot Matt Groening's entrance--"you can get on my shoulders if you want?" I politely declined. He was facscinated that I was there from New York and even more facsinated that before that I was from California. He's never left his little suberb of Vermont nor hand any desire to. Aaron claimed to be an unemployed writer who had two books in the works. One on the possible future separation of Vermont from the United States and another about the New England economy. After enough insisting of me hopping on his shoulders and that he'd love to show me around Vermont's points of interest--I smiled sweetly and pointed in the distance at Lucas who was sauntering up the yellow carpet outside the theater sun burnt, soaking with sweat, panting in exhaustion while lugging a caravan of photo equipment saying, "Oh look, there's my boyfriend!" and excused myself from Aaron's company.

After Vermont's Simpson extravaganza, Lucas and I headed to his family's house in York Harbor, Maine where his Grandmother stays during the summer months. It was a scene this little east LA born chicana was very green to. It was beautiful and just how I saw it in the movies and photographs. The house that had been in the family for years was a treasure trove of family history and artifacts of the 19th century. I was in vintage wallpaper heaven (for those of you who know my addiction). His grama was gracious, classy, and had Lucas' eyes. And through hers you could catch a glimpse of the proper, high society lady she was decades ago. However, in spite of all this, she was still a cute little old grama--and I was thankful for that. It made me greatly miss my own.

Today's assignments were to photograph blueprints of an apartment building built in 1887. Last week I shot a resident team of 'clown doctors' in a pediatric ward in the Bronx. I have to say that was my best assignment yet. I'm thinking of returning and doing a multimedia on the group. Maybe this weekend's Rage Against the Machine concert will amp me up for some personal projects.

-G

 

2007.07.13

The last few days have been rough. Some miscommunication between reporters and the photodesk about a simple assignment that involves just headshots have left me tired and ready for the weekend. However, today what I thought would be a quiet night

2007. 07.11

There is no such thing as sauntering here.

You get off the subway as FAST as you can so you don't get stuck behind someone only walking 5 mph. It's ridiculous. I'm truly learning the ways of a "New York Minute". In fact when I called my mom the other day on my lunch break, she paused in the middle of our conversation and said, "You are already talking like them." "What?" I asked. "You are already talking so fast," she repeated. "Oh. Really?" I was surprised I had already caught on to the speed of this place. But I guess its in my nature to adapt pretty well to situations in a short amount of time. I couldn't tell by the tone of her voice if it was a bad thing or a good thing.

Last Sunday on my first day off Lucas took me back to this teeny little shop called the New York Hat Company. They had an amazing collection of cabbie hats last time I had visited but I failed to buy one because I didn't think I needed it even though I wanted one so bad. This time I didn't leave empty handed. I've told myself I'm going to try to keep clothes shopping to a minimum as best I can. Meaning I'm only going to splurge if the item is super unique. This also means I'll be spending alot of time at the thrift stores here. Dangit. However fashion here still fascinates me. Its an entirely overwhelming culture within this city. The current trend with the hot weather for women is short flimsy cotton skirts or dresses with brightly colored non-supportive slip-on shoes. The shoes I can do. The dresses, perhaps. As long as I don't have to show the bottom of my butt cheeks which is the case most of the time for these leggy girls. Beautiful, thin, doe-eyed, model-esque women are everywhere. They all look exactly the same to me. Not that I'm discounting the fact they probably woke up this morning, spent 3 hours on hair and make up to evoke the "I just rolled out of bed like this" beauty so it appears they're not trying too hard. However, its hard to stand out when the next 10 women behind you have the exact same look. I've found a deeper sense of beauty in the girls from the ghettos and outer burroughs in Brooklyn and Queens and the Bronx. The larger Black, Puerto Rican, Haitian girls who hang out in groups on the subways enjoying their summer vacation. They talk outloud with thick New York accents and slang. They laugh soulfully and loudly without reservation. The sassy t-shirts and jeans they wear are several sizes too small for them but are proud to show off their full figured bodies. I guess living in southern California for so long where skinny is the societal preference and norm, its nice to see a culture that embraces a different kind of beauty.

And oh yeah. I saw MC Hammer perform live at a free Brooklyn concert. He might be up there with the most entertaining musical acts I've ever seen. You better believe he sang, "Can't Touch This."

 

2007. 07.06

My first few assignments have been fun, but I need to work off the butterflies I always get before an assignment. The fact I'm working 6 days a week will hopefully chase them away and I'll get used to the routine. As I look over my images after a shoot, I realize the butterflies are hindering me from doing work I know I'm capable of. Grrr...

So I admit, I try to boycott Starbucks as best as I can. Unfortunately, Starbucks is now my official best friend for the summer. The Daily News has a T-Mobile internet account with Starbucks so photogs can "move" their images from different locations around the city quickly after an assignment. Okay, now think about the town you live in. And think about how many times you've joked, "Geez, there's so many Starbucks here. Like, one of every corner." Okay. Now think about the metropolitan city of New York. How many Starbucks do you think are here? Right. So that's how I've managed to get my images in pretty quickly. For example, I'm in Brooklyn right now. I've had assignments in Queens, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Weird to think I've only been here a week and have seen more of New York than Lucas apparently has.

Today I had an assignment to shoot co-owners of Blue Bass Vintage Clothing Company -www.bluebassvintage.com. Very cute ladies. Very nice. They reminded me of my friend Tiffany in SB. I told them I'd come back on my day off because I was so tempted to drop some serious money there after my assignments.

Learning the subway is going much smoother than I thought. The tough part is realizing that weekend, holiday, and express schedules sometimes skip stops and have trains that don't run at all. I learned that the hard way. So hard I was late to an assignment in the Bronx, but everything worked out okay. I pulled the "its my second day on the job and I'm from California doing this job on foot." Fortunately, they were very understanding.

 

2007.07.05

This city will eat you alive.

Seriously. Yesterday as I was boarding the D train, the doors closed in on me as I was halfway on the car. With two sore forearms I tried to move forward but they only closed in on my backpack. I felt like a turtle having my shell taken from me! With enough oomph I got in. As I regained my footing I looked around trying to hide my embarrassment. No one even looked up. Perhaps this happens alot? Nevertheless...

I am alive and here. :)

My first day started out with lots of paperwork. I didn't know weather to dress up or show up in casual vj clothes. Everyone said do combo of the two. However, my problem is that I never do a combo of the two. I'm either totally dressy or totally dressed down. I went with a skirt and a pair of jeans in my camera bag. I later changed in the car of a staffer who took me out for the day with her on her assignments. After paperwork, I was taken to the equipment room and was given a Nikon D200, a 17-35 2.8, a SB-800 flash, and used 80-200. It felt like getting a whole bunch of really nice expensive new gift clothes that don't fit you or look hideous on you. (I shoot Canon). I thought it was funny. I didn't complain. I had to learn it all in one night as I had my first assignment the next day.

Going out with staffer Julia Xanthos was great and I'd be completely lost and flustered if it wasn't for meeting her on the first day. We went to three different assignments. A 'studio' shot of a photo of a man who was arrested for a drunk driving accident in which an off duty cop was killed on a motorcycle. Then pictures of the deceased cop's co-workers going into the precinct for work. Then a stake-out for a portrait outside a hospital to wait for a man whose two boys were badly injured in a building collapse. It boggles my mind that building collapses here are more common than not. I have an appreciation now for west coast architecture built within the last few decades.