A Very Special Person

Every once in a while you come across a very special person. One of my student's Ann Raine, has had an extremely versatile career. Her travels have taken her all over the world. She's as comfortable in a high level meeting with a Fortune 500 Company as she is making environmental portraits on the streets of NYC. I've recently asked Anne to become one of the the new board members for our DiMaggio/Kalish Photographic Retreats, along with Brian Struble and Larry Malang.  

Holiday Greetings

Would like to thank all of our great students who sent us greetings for a wonderful Holiday Season.  

The Dyna-lite alumni group has recently got in touch with us and requested a second advanced Dyna-lite studio workshop.  We will be adding it to our 2011 schedule. For those interested date will be announced in an upcoming newsletter.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

When Its Cold It's "$#*!' Cold!

A wise man once said, there is nothing you can do about the weather so just grin and bear it. That SOB must have had six layers on because it is just brutally cold. I guess it's a global warming thing. Or maybe its the ozone layer dissipating. No that wouldn't make sense then it would really be hotter. Enough of this. I'm not only running you in circles, I'm running myself in circles. I was going through a hard drive and I ran across a photo done in Tucson, Arizona, it was done with a 16mm lens severally backlit as you can see. I was under a jump while a mountain bike flew over. The key here to remember is the balance between the sun in the background and the biker's face. I took a rigid 4'x8' piece of insulation which was black on one side and chrome on the other and laid it down as a guide for the biker to hit his mark. The sun light reflecting off the chrome surface of the insulation gave me as close to a proper exposure as I could make. If I was to remake this photograph today I would consider using the Lastolight 36" super reflector. Why? It folds up a whole lot better than a 4'x8' piece of insulation,  and you don't have to drive the Lastolight back to the construction site and give it to the foreman. It just makes sense. In 2010 all cameras and all lenses are great. Its up to you, the photographer to come up with a different composition, and maybe a little different lighting. They say everything has been done before, and that may or may not be true. But as Photographers/Artists we have to come up with a different viewpoint.

To all the ships at Sea - Stay warm, I think I'm going to get on a plane and go to Tucson.

-Joe DiMaggio

There have been turning points in the new millennium. The first and foremost turning point was the attack on September 11, 2001 The World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the heroic crash in Pennsylvania.  Up until that point, travel was relatively simple and straight-forward but today travel has become more difficult and rightly so. A bright traveler has so do everything they can  to minimize the shock of intense scrutiny at the airports, ship terminals, train stations and so on.  So the first consideration, is to pack two weeks early.  Once you've done that, cut this in half. If you think I'm joking I'm not!  Forty eight hours before the trip cut things back again.  Like most modern day travelers, you will be traveling with a laptop computer - obviously carry on. I also strongly recommend a carry-on camera/video bag and incorporate your personal and mandatory items in that same bag.  For instance, in a side pouch of your camera bag you want to carry a tooth brush, contact lenses, mouthwash (under 3 oz), and maybe a change of underwear just in case your luggage gets lost and any prescription medication.  The concept here is for you to be mobile and self-contained. 

Now as a traveling photographer, in the new millennium zoom lenses are not only acceptable but in many cases as good as prime lenses and relatively fast. For instance  a 16-35mm, 24-70 and 70-200, and two camera bodies. With that you've got two travelers covered with almost anything you'd want to photograph on your trip.  Always remember extra batteries and a battery charger.  If you recall, when I told you to cut back on your clothing here is where you don't cut back on.  You want to double the number of flash cards you think you need and  if you think you need 6 take 12 cards.  This is also a good time to increase your compact flash size to 16 gig UDMA cards and if you're anything like us and you're shooting video, you will need large fast cards.  Last but not least, you will need an in-the-field downloading unit.  Also, In your luggage you'd want to put a small light carbon fiber tripod and a monopod.  Last but not least carry a strong zip lock bag and before you get to security put your jewelry, coins, wallet, phone, etc into it.  Much easier to do then in dribs and drabs. 

Use it or Lose it!

One of the biggest complaints JoAnne and I hear from amateurs and pros is that they have nothing to photograph. When I hear that sometimes my jaw clenches, and if I'm not careful, I could break a tooth. The reality is you could spend half a lifetime in your backyard and never make the same photograph twice. Let's beat up two more cliches, Practice makes perfect. The other complaint I hear is that, "I don't have enough time in the day to make great photos." My answer is, MAKE THE TIME! One of my students, Larry Malang, asked if I would do his portrait for his webpage. Of course I would be happy to do his portrait for a $1500 sitting fee. Larry thought that was fair. We spent about 20 minutes in the studio, had several usable frames. Oops! I don't mean frames I mean digital images. Sometimes I fall back to  ASA. Okay, I know it's ISO. One of the reasons I jumped at this photographic opportunity is because he is an extremely bright and creative gentleman. He has been reincarnated several times. I find his face and his intensity charming. Larry, the check is in the mail right?

Montauk in September

All Photos © Joe DiMaggio 

Four days off after a major corporate shoot and film for Galvanic Printing, see my vimeo page. Anyone who's been to any of my workshops, lectures, or our DiMaggio/Kalish Learning Center knows that they hear the same thing over and over. Less is more. Both JoAnne and I receive many questions about the quality of photographic products. My answer is relatively simple. Whatever works for you, and whatever you can afford is what it's all about. Let's remember the photographer makes the photograph. One of my long-time assistants Larry Malang asked me "Are Canon and Nikon lenses better then Sigma's?" My answer was very simple. "Canon and Nikon make great glass, and so does Sigma" One thing about Sigma glass that is really impressive, is that the lenses work very well with severe backlight. I shoot a lot of  backlight because I love it!  I took three new lenses with me to Montauk for a well deserved four day busmans holiday. The 8-16mm , the 17-50mm  f/2.8, and the 70-200mm. I use all of these lenses specifically for video. As soon as I can cut some footage, I will post it on Vimeo. In the mean time, here are a few photos that are severely back and side lit.  Utilizing the new lenses. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that they have great color and great contrast. Great shooting.

Joe D.

All Photographs Copyrighted Joe DiMaggio  ©

The Photographic Community

What I'm about to say has absolutely nothing to do with F stops, apertures, depth of field, or depth of focus. It has to do with the photographic community, how I was brought up in it and how it translates to 2010. When I started (x) number of years ago, there was an unwritten law that you would always try to help out a fellow photographer. As the age of the computer and internet arrived, things became a little less personal. I don't believe anybody made a change in attitude with malice of thought but there was obviously some changes. Maybe it had something to do with business becoming tighter and tighter. To be quite honest, I really don't know. Yesterday, I had an hour and a half conversation with one of the greatest photographers of our day, John Iacono. Johnny Eye stated at Sports Illustrated when he was 16 and I think he's now 29, maybe a little older. We've been friends and neighbors for a long time and Johnny is just one of the nicest people God put on this earth. In case I didn't mention it, he is also a great photographer. Earlier yesterday, I ran into another great photographer, Marty Rosengarten from Ringside Photos. Marty is a world class boxing photographer. There's an old Italian adage for someone like Marty, he's a mench. Marty was kind and generous enough to make a photograph of me with my dear friend Yuri Foreman. In the five years I've known Yuri, no one has ever done that- so Marty was the first. Exactly what is the purpose of this blog? What I'm trying to say is the family/community of photographers is alive and well. Thank you Marty, thank you Johnny, thank you Yuri.

Photos © Marty Rosengarten

Backstage Passes

This particular workshop will be unlike any other workshop ever conducted by Joe DiMaggio. Each team member will be expected to shoot 6 or 7 variations on the Bobby Kyle Band; an environmental portrait, an action shot and a candid. The end result will be a final selection of one great photo from each workshop participant. They will be expected to sign a release and they will be the owner of the copyright. Bobby will also have to right to use that photo for the internet, CD or DVD. The photo must not be any larger than 100 dpi. Each participant will have access to some very fast long lenses which will allow them to hopefully push the envelope. Unlike any other workshop, this one will start in the afternoon and go until quite late. The concert will start at 8:00 P.M. There will be rooms available at both Greeley Inn and a few B&B's in the area. Please visit http://www.dimaggio-kalishworkshops.com

This workshop will be quite small and it will be first come

first serve. Looking forward to seeing you. Thanks. Joe D

©Joe DiMaggio

It's Springtime

© Joe DiMaggio

I had an assignment to photograph a springtime event. I chose to photograph a mother bird feeding her newborn babies. How would I go about doing this? One way would be to walk around find a nest, set up a camera, wait for the mother, and spend 2-3 weeks photographing mother and her chicks.

Possibly this alternative is much simpler... At the end of the cycle of life, mothers and babies abandon their nest. So what I suggest is to go out and collect one or two nests the year before and put them in an elevated position extremely close to your home in a place safe from harm. Why would you do this? Because it allows you a mini studio. The mother discovers the nest, she lays her eggs and you now have a period of 3-5 weeks to make some interesting photos. Your going to want to shoot at least 1-2 times a day over a period of a couple weeks. This is also a great opportunity to utilize your electronic flash. What I used for this photograph was a 300mm f/2.8 lens and a 1.4 extender, at maximum aperture. You want a very shallow depth of field to throw background clutter out of focus. I used a Dyna-lite Uni 400 and a Jack Rabbit power pack on absolute minimum power. We were not looking for a flash photograph but rather a fill light and a catch light. By moving the strobe away and using less power I was able to utilize mixed light successfully. I also used a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod, self timer on-camera, and a Lastolite reflector. You may read this and say to yourself, isn't that an awful lot of work to get the photo? The answer is no. Pre-production is what its all about. One of the greatest sports photographers in the world was Neil Leifer. Neil had literally hundreds of Sports Illustrated covers and the reason for this was he was a fanatic about research & pre-production so he would get the best possible photographs. He covered all the bases all the time. There were no accidents.

Gleason's Workshop

©Dylan DiMaggio

I remember the first time I walked into Gleason's gym in 1972. The sights, the sounds, the smell- it was pretty amazing. When I was working with Sports Illustrated and Gerry Cooney, I spent an awful lot of time there in the late 70s and I decided I was going to do a documentary on boxing. Thus was born, a five year project, "In This Corner". I brought my class to Gleason's and it was pretty amazing. They got with the program really quickly. Several gigs of photos were done and from what I can see, some of them are very good. This may be the last Joe DiMaggio/ Gleason's workshop in the front street location. Gleason's, born in 1937, will be relocating several blocks away. When? We don't know. I'd like to share a photo taken by Adrian. Special thanks to my friend Bruce Silverglade, who was kind enough to allow our class in.

Another Great Group

©JoAnne Kalish

Under normal circumstances, I never worry about a lecture or giving a workshop. I think it comes pretty natural to me. The level of pain was off the chart but I had agreed to do this workshop a year ago and I come from a school of “if you give your word, you better deliver the goods”. Dylan, who is usually much tougher than I am and tends to be not only hard on me but hard on himself and doesn't give a whole lot of compliments, said it was a great workshop. And you know what? He was right. Not because of what I did, but because of the participants. You guys. You made it great. Great questions. I learned a lot from you and you know what, you made the pain bearable. I was interviewed today for a magazine article and I started by saying that I am the luckiest guy in the world. It’s not only my friends and family and my photography but it’s because of people like you who make it worthwhile, and I’d like to thank you. And while I’m at it I’d like to thank JoAnne Kalish for coming out of a warm bed at 3:45A.M. and Dylan and of course Monica; she’s the power behind the throne, she works extremely hard and never fails to get the job done. Keep Shooting.

©JoAnne Kalish

Kayaking With Murphy

©Joe DiMaggio

You would think after several decades of making photographs there would be no surprises, but the greatest thing about photography is that there’s always a surprise. You can pre plan everything to the final millimeter, you can pick the perfect day for light, you can have the best athletes or models, but invariably something will come up and will bite you on the –whatever. This is a perfect example, of Murphy rearing his ugly head. We planned this shoot several months ago waiting for the right rain conditions so we could make great photographs on the upper portions of the Raymondskill Creek. Cue the cameras! Cue the kayakers, let’s go! But Murphy cued three logs that broke loose and were blocking the creek. Ya can’t kayak over a log, and you can’t kayak through a log, so we went to plan B. Plan B was a 44 foot drop. To put that into perspective, that s a 4 story building straight down. The problem with the shot is the extreme heavy mist. It was like putting a Tupperware cap over your lens. The front element of the lens was absolutely soaking wet all the time and as we all know, anything put in front of a lens will degrade the image. I was shooting with the Sigma 150-500 and I didn’t have the underwater version- OK that’s me trying to be funny again. One of the keys in photography is your ability to be flexible, when you don’t get what you want- you gotta get something. We hiked up one more mile to a tributary and were able to get a 30 foot drop shot with the 24-70 Sigma. ISO and exposure are approximately the same; the difference would be considerably less mist. Keep on shooting, it’s all good. Next time I see you- I’ll have a brand new set of wheels- half titanium and half ceramic. Next workshop is Brooklyn Bridge in Gleason’s on April 25, 2010.

Joe D

©Joe DiMaggio

If You Have Nothing Good To Say...

Photo ©Ann Raine

My best friend, life partner, and one of the finest photographers I know tries to remind me that in the world of blazing speed and internet no one really knows how old you are and you don't have to remind them. Never let it be said that I sometimes don't listen to advice.

I was brought up in the West Village on Carmine Street. You were taught early in life, if you didn't have anything good to say, keep your mouth shut. There's a whole lot of truth to that, so what I'm about to say is not designed to hurt anybody or any company. I'm just trying to relate the old days with the new days. In the beginning of my career I shot with Leicas and Nikons. For all intensive purposes I shot Nikon from 1968 to 1984. In 1984, I signed a contract with the IOC and as part of that contract I had to shoot Canon and Fuji film, rather than Nikon and Kodak. The people at Nikon were the best; totally dedicated, great products, great service, great everything. Okay, I'm going on; let's cut to the chase... A student of ours, Ann Raine, is a Nikon shooter. She purchased the NEW Nikon D3s, for the cost of a used Volkswagen. She had her new camera mounted on a tripod and it had a minor fall onto the carpet and two screws fell, out of the flash hot shoe mount. She returned it to Nikon and they took over a month to repair it and the repair bill was $500. I guess what I'm trying to say is I better listen to what my mother and father taught me and shut up. Where have you gone Dominick Bastello? (he headed the repair department at Nikon & was a wonderful human being, a very good black & white photographer who also taught me a lot about life and my photography.) I miss you

Ann Raine the Great

As a photographer and a film maker, I have the ultimate obligation to make my clients happy. They pay me and they expect to get what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. That's my job and I do the best possible job I can do. Of course, you always try to push the envelope or think out of the box, all of those cliches, which I interpret as putting a little of your own style into the visual medium. As a mentor and a teacher, I feel the same obligation. I take it very seriously and sometimes I go back to the studio and I wonder, "Did I do a good job, did they get it, were they able to make a better photograph?" Sometimes you know, sometimes you don't. In every workshop there are a few photographers that shine brighter than the rest. They're not necessarily the best photographers, but they put forth one hell of an effort. Ann Raine is a California girl who's been transplanted to the East Coast. She loves Arabian horses and she loves photography. Attached you'll find three of her photos and a link to several more. I'd like to thank Ann for the kind words. She motivates me to do a better job. As the truth be known, I constantly learn from the students. The student becomes the teacher, and the teacher becomes the student.

Photos ©Ann Raine

http://www.annraine.com/-/annraine/gallery.asp?cat=136818&pID=1&row=15

"I've attended numerous photo-walk workshops with Joe DiMaggio over the last several years, and I keep returning for a number of reasons: Great mentoring, interesting photographic venues, but most importantly, every time I participate in one of these day-long events, I feel a freedom to experiment, a license to open up and go-for-it (photographically speaking.) I am not as concerned about getting every photo perfect as I am in pushing the limits of my skill and knowledge, by practicing and experimenting to ultimately get the great photo!"

- Ann Raine

Bass Guitar for Dummies

Photos © Joe DiMaggio

There is no doubt in my mind I’m blessed with extremely bright and creative friends. I’ve know an awful lot of bass players in my day but Everett Boyd is special. There virtually isn’t anything he can’t do with a stand up bass or electric bass.

We did a photo session one day and I took him to one of my favorite outdoor studios called the Tunnel (or at least I call it the tunnel.) I asked him for a few different looks, and voila! We came up with the cover of Bass Guitar for Dummies Book.

Everett is now the key bass player for the Bobby Kyle Band. Everett will be one of our models for my upcoming workshop on How to Photograph Musicians and How to Make CD Covers. Soon to be posted on our DiMaggio-kalishworkshops.com site.

30 Years and Counting

Back in the Apollo days, it was a great time for photographers. As a matter of fact, the comradery between photographers was equal to the competition between the photographers. It may have been the end of the golden age of photography and the very beginning of the cold, calculating, digitizing of photography. Al was never a close friend but he was, and is, a great recorder of light, action, stories, and now a very accomplished filmmaker. You learn in our business, you have to respect the competition. Respect is paramount in any relationship, or for that matter it may be the only critical part of a relationship. Al e-mailed me a multi-media show he did which is absolutely awesome called The South in the 60's and I’d like to share it with you. I’m hoping Al and I will have the opportunity to work together in the near future. Check him out; check out his books, he’s an old school heavy weight. Joe D

Al Satterwhite -

Al Satterwhite film -

Ron Thompson, Anthony Donna, Director of Photography Time Magazine- Arnold Drapkin, Ralph Morse, Joe DiMaggio &

Brian Struble

Copyright Brian Struble

There is an old adage that the student becomes the teacher and the teacher becomes the student, or something like that. Brian started out as a student and I believe went to four workshops. One day I had lost my assistant due to a conflict in scheduling and Brian was kind enough to offer his expertise, not only as an assistant, or second shooter but also as an IT expert. He is well accomplished across the board and when he assists, more times than not, the workshops tend to be better. Brian invited me to a bicycle race but unfortunately, I had an assignment on the west coast. He sent me some photos that he shot. I was so blown away that I incorporated some of his photos into a presentation I did for Adorama. My studio manger passed a comment something to the effect of "why would I put his photos in my presentation" and my answer was "his photos are great and why not?" I'm not the end all of all photography.

Photos Copyright Brian Struble

Great Photographer, Great Friend, and Survivor

Photo Copyright Don Nelson

To All the ships at Sea

If you know me, you know I tend to repeat myself. It's what I do. I've told you before I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I've got the best friends anyone could ask for. My friendship and respect for Don Nelson goes back a long way. He is truly a hero to me. He is bright, tough and never gives up. Great photographer; and a great friend. We all could learn by his courage.

Joe D.

About Don -

"My 23 years as a Nikon rep represent my times of most accomplishments. Calling on the large camera stores, the White House, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, AP, UPI, USA TODAY and being a staff photographer for the Redskins for six years brought me closer to understanding the needs of photojournalists. Washington, DC, the photojournalists' headquarters taught and tested me. It was a good time. In 1987 I resigned to buy a business in Nashville. My sons were in high school at the time and after several years my business in Nashville failed. It was time to be back in the photo (equipment) business. I went to work for Pentax and moved from Nashville area down to the Atlanta area of Georgia. I worked for them for fourteen years until my cancer (Hodgkins) was discovered in 2005. After chemo,

radiation, and stem cell transplant I'm quietly getting ready to move back to the Nashville area. Our sons (2), Scott and Jeffrey still live there. It'll be good to be convenient to them. My favorite photography is scenic in nature. Slow shutter speeds at dawn; in the attached photo the shutter speed was at 123 seconds."

This is a photo of my friend Don Nelson Copyright Bob Dew

Best Damn Non-Slip Camera Straps

I'm always amazed by how live takes strange turns and bends. Life seems to have a mind of it's own. The day JoAnne and I got married on the beach in Centerport, NY when one of my crazy neighbors crashed the wedding. Actually, it was two brothers, Doug Stegmeyer and Al Stegmeyer. Doug was the bass guitar player for Billy Joel, and Al was a worold class music engineer, and their mother Peggy was and still is a piano teacher - who buys Rainbows.

I photographed Doug many times over the years and Al and I became friends. Then, one day, Al moved away and I didn't see him for a long, long time. You know how life is. It takes those strange turns. One day I ran into him and he was making camera straps, which I thought was kind of crazy. Al was nice enough to send me one. It's called the UPstrap best damn strap I've ever had on a camera. Subsequently, I bought a few more. If you need a great camera strap, check out Al's strap.

Al's still making straps, Peggy's teaching music, and Doug's playing bass in heaven.

Photos ©JoAnne Kalish

Al Stegmeyer's non-slip straps -

http://www.upstrap-pro.com