You can see some of his photos too as an added bonus.All remarkable photos and I must say I love the imagery captured in the photo of the handstand!
Charlie started riding on the streets of NYC during childhood and maintains an active lifestyle today that includes skateboarding. He's a professional skateboarder. Staying physically, mentally and emotionally fit - yep, that's Charlie.
I met Charlie while enrolled in a photojournalism class at SUNY Adirondack. Dr. Renee O'Brien, our professor invited a professional to come in and share life experience with the class. It was a thrill to hear what he had to share and to see his printed portfolio.
While enrolled in the extensive photography courses I worked with a company that is involved with sports journal photography, like group team shots and individual portraits. While there I also worked on the office side of it all too - prepping order forms, sending mail outs, bulk order forms, taking orders, processing and delivering photo orders to clients. Lots of filing and record keeping.
I also completed an internship in studio photography. Studio shoots are amazing, but for me, there is nothing like being out in field, on assignment and not having the luxury to control every element of lighting and the surroundings.
So all of that, to say... I love studio photography, event photography, staged shoots... well, let me just say photography is a real passion of mine and I enjoy shoots that involve both the controlled and uncontrolled environment. Being flexible and knowledgeable for studio and assignment shoots are great skills to possess. The complexity of being quick on foot, having to think fast and accurate, being able to control and know how to use the right gear the first time, and having the ability to stay calm and focused to get the shot while on assignment is something is exhilarating!
Many times you cannot reproduce or re-do a shot. An interruption in the flow of life is - well... an interruption. Time cannot be rewound without causing abrupt abortive thought to the continuum. You will see change and it is never more evident than that of what is caught in a frame. To have the same facial expressions, body movement, and the uninterrupted journey... it's an impossible. You may get close to having something similar but it will not be the same. There is something lost when you try to re-do life in stills.
That first shot is the shot you go with. And, I've learned much about that from studio photography, because while in studio people expect to be posed, positioned and shot, re-shot in another angle... holding, hoping and wanting an image that represents how they feel at the moment. I DO enjoy it more in field, uninterrupted and many times, the shot that no one knows I took. That natural shot that captures the best in a person while they are uninterrupted. That is a technique and skill that I observed and learned about by being in studio and also as an assistant, in field, with Charlie.
I'm honored to know him and to have had the opportunity to learn about being out there, in the field, and on assignment.
On one of the photo assignments Charlie's photos were published in the New York Times as he covered the induction of Tony Kubek into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. (yeah, I got to meet Tony Kubec a former NBC Analyst, Bob Costas a NBC Sportscaster and Harold Rynolds of the MLB Network).
More of Charlie's photos from photo assignments that I assisted on were published in an article about the Tour de Battenkill, featured in Bicycling Magazine.
While traveling to an assignment with him... he mentioned something about his sound guy and I immediately thought about moving forward with audio, film and broadcasting.
Later I interviewed Charlie for radio broadcast on WGFR while involved in the Radio Broadcast degree. You can hear the interview here.
So, cheers to Charlie, one of the many people who has and will always be an inspiration to me.
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Update to this blog post on Feb 2, 2011 at 12:06am EST
Charlie sent this link to the book with 8 of his photos. Thank you Charlie!
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