*(Above) Doing an archived search in the application CDFinder for Alex Rodriguez images I shot of him a few years ago.
OK, I’m going to give this lesson again. Pay attention. Sit up straight. There will be more explanations and a pop-quiz sometime soon following on the blog. I was a night photo-editor at one of the country’s largest newspapers, and demanded well written and concise captioning information from the photographers who worked for me when I was on the desk. Just as I was trained earlier in my career as a contributing photographer at the NY Times and USA Today, among other clients almost 20 years ago. I have stressed for the longest time to colleagues and anyone with any display of seriousness about wanting to work as a photographer, the importance of writing good captions correctly on your image files and then, more importantly, being able to find & retrieve those images in a timely matter to send to an editor, publication, wire service, or stock agency. I also speak of working in this business, as that is just what this is about – A BUSINESS. Period. Writing good captions correctly is the first and foremost way of archiving your images. If you’re not following me here, it means that the images can be re-used by new potential clients & publications – in turn, listen up, MORE SALES. Bang! Imagine that ? We all have potential money makers right in our archives. Now I am not one to have any thoughts about celebrity news at all, and NY Yankee Alex Rodriguez’ marital problems, first with rumors of his having an affair with the singer Madonna last week (denied by her) then just today, his lovely wife, Cynthia files for divorce; all means nothing to me. 
The same with the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger a few months ago. When I learned of his passing, and thinking quickly, I was able to find the portraits from the take I did with him a few years ago while on assignment for the NY Daily News, and then move a few images to my stock agency, as well as to my current newspaper, where I’m a staff photographer. It was also cool to see the Daily News re-use my images of Ledger, one gracing a full page. Anyway, here are a few of A-Rod during a check passing where he and his wife donated $200,000. to a Boys & Girls Club in Upper Manhattan. I wanted to show that it took all of about two minutes to do an archive search here on the Mac PowerBook at my kitchen table for the thumbnails, pull the corresponding archived DVD and grab the high res originals:
NY Yankee superstar Alex Rodriguez (left) and his wife Cynthia during a press conference where he donated $200,000.00 to the Children’s Aid Society at the Salome Urena De Henriquez School IS 218, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York on Tuesday, May 24, 2005. Cynthia Rodriguez has filed for divorce, with claims of infidelity against her husband. © Chet Gordon / www.chetgordon.com
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
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