“March Madness… Hoops du Jour… Bring Your a-Game… Game-Face… I (Still) Love This Game…” March 1 – 3, 2013.
Kingston head coach Ron Kelder (left) embraces starting guard Justin Robinson (#12) late in the fourth quarter of their Section 9 Boys Class AA Championship game against FDR at SUNY New Paltz in New Paltz, NY on Sunday, March 3, 2013. Robinson had 13 points as Kingston defeated FDR 80 – 52. © CHET GORDON/Times [...]
“Back in the Black…” (Army Black Knights Basketball) 22•Dec.•12
Army guard Maxwell Lenox (#0) is fouled by Derrick Carter (#12, right) of Rosemont during the second half of their men’s basketball game in Christl Arena at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY on Saturday, December 22, 2012. Army defeated Rosemont 90 – 48. © CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record Began my sixth season [...]
“On Being Hardcor(e)…” October 2012
Last week I had an assignment to photograph a local high school football player who’s first name is Hardcor. As in “Hardcore…” The young man, Hardcor Coleman is a senior linebacker and tight end at Newburgh Free Academy, known for his hard-nosed style of play, and bone crushing hits. Since the weather wasn’t too cooperative, [...]
“Play Like You Practice…” 31•Aug.•12
Brittany Friese of NFA swims underwater during practice at the high school in Newburgh, NY on Friday, August 31, 2012. She is the two-time defending NY State champion in the 200 and 500 freestyle. © CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record Yesterday I had an assignment to photograph the Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) Girls Swimming team. At 7:30AM. [...]
High School State Championship Basketball. Glens Falls, NY March 2012
“Hoop Dreams Shattered in a Game of Inches Played 200 Miles from Home…” My thoughts on covering the New York State HS Basketball Championship Tournament last weekend, March 15 – 17, 2012. Finally getting around to recapping my weekend (albeit shortened) up in Glens Falls, NY for the state basketball championship tournament. We had two [...]
“Own the Night…” *(particularly for basketball) March 2012
A long time ago when I was just starting out in the business, and while attending a professional level weekend workshop ~ a colleague told me one of his basic philosophies for shooting big time sports: “You’re basically just in a big room (stadium, arena, etc.) and still have to make pictures…” I never forgot [...]
"They’re just ‘Hammers & Nails’, man…" (Part 2) 24•Jan.•12
Packing up the hardware for a junior college basketball game between two local rivals tonight: Here’s a few favorites from the night, which included working with four cameras (one as a remote installed in the bleachers & aimed down toward a basket), two Dyna-Lite Uni-Jr. strobes clamped high in the stands in either corner of [...]
"They’re just ‘Hammers & Nails’, man…" Jan. 2012
My gear used to cover Boys HS Varsity swimming between Monroe-Woodbury & Kingston High Schools at Monroe-Woodbury Middle School in Central Valley, NY on Tuesday, January 17, 2012. © www.chetgordon.com/blog Now that covering the indoor sports seasons are finally in full swing for me again, here’s a brief look at what I go through as [...]
"Run – Bags, Location Lighting, & Making the Portraits I Really Like…" Late December 2011
Sometimes the pictures are already in your head. You just have to show up. With the appropriate amount of gear and occasionally your “A-Game…” These few images made in the last week or so were just simply fun to create with really pleasant subjects in front of the camera. (3) – Newly elected Newburgh mayor [...]
"No NBA…? No Problem." Basketball coverage has begun for the 2011 / 2012 season for me. Newburgh, NY 15•Nov.•11
The game ball rolls to a stop at court side after the Mount Saint Mary College – SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball game in Newburgh, NY on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. Mount Saint Mary College defeated SUNY New Paltz 62 – 47. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record For those of you already missing your “Lebron and / [...]
Working an all-day "Zombie BBQ…" Newburgh, NY. 1•Oct.•11
Had some time off coming from the day job, so I was able to do a few things for a good friend & local restaurant owner here in town yesterday. A good day for a good cause, as the “Psychedelic Zombie BBQ II” was held inside the old Newburgh Armory. Some very large spaces, smaller [...]
*"Building a Picture…" 14• June•2011
Ken and Jeannie Veltz in the backseat of their 1982 Mercedes Benz 240D outside their Cold Spring, NY home on Tuesday, June 14, 2011. The 60 year-old couple, both established musicians and married for 36 years, and now grandparents, are taking off on a cross-country tour in the car, reminiscing their days as a touring [...]
(Photographing) *The People We Know… June 2010.
HS Cellist @ THE WHEREHOUSE Restaurant. Newburgh, NY. 6•June•10 (Hardware / Software info): Nikon D-1X w/ 28mm – 70mm f/2.8AF. Nikon SB-800 into a shoot-thru umbrella at camera right at 1/4 power. Second small strobe at lower left w/ Stofen Dome on the floor at 1/16th. power. Triggered by Pocket-Wizard Multi-Max’s. ISO 400. 1/250th. sec. [...]
"Mastering the 5 – minute portrait…" Newburgh, NY 14•May•10
“Sometimes the images are there waiting for you to just show up …” Graduating college student in an empty hallway in Aquinas Hall at Mount Saint Mary College in the City of Newburgh, NY on Friday, May 14, 2010. She is graduating with her MBA and has a job lined up with a local accounting [...]
"I Gotta Get a Bigger Luggage Cart…" Back from Glens Falls, NY 22•March•10
Packing up my gear at 12:30AM including the Apple 12″ PowerBook, (4) head DynaLite arena strobe kit, (4) digital cameras, lenses, remote mounting hardware, tools, heavy duty extension cords, and Pocket-Wizard kits after four NYSPHSAA Tournament games in the Glens Falls Civic Center on Saturday, March 20, 2010. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON Yea that’s it, a [...]
Chef Carlos Olivares w/ his New Orleans Roasted Duck. Newburgh, NY. 5•March•10
Food Photography. *(for me, like riding a bicycle…) I cut my teeth in NYC years ago shooting big cameras on chrome with 4 x 5 cameras and even an occasional 8 x 10 Linhoff while assisting during tabletop food photography shoots in a commercial studio on lower Broadway in Manhattan. Then later in my career, [...]
*The making of a meaningful (sports) portrait. Feb. 2010
Eric Culver of New Paltz High School photographed in the pool at SUNY New Paltz in New Paltz, NY on Friday, February 19, 2010. Culver is an Olympic hopeful, qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON_____________________________________________________ *Sometimes you hit a home run. With the bases loaded, in the bottom of the ninth [...]
"Hoops du Jour 2009-2010"
Welcome to the beginning of the 2009 – 2010 High School (and college) basketball season. I’ve been waiting for a long time to get back into the local gyms in our coverage area for games and practices. Well, maybe some of them.Others are just plain nightmares and challenges to work in for photographers. Probably started [...]
10-minute "Quick & Dirty" one light portraits – on location. Aug • 2009
Mary Phillips photographed on the Hudson Valley Rail Trail in Highland, NY on Thursday, August 13, 2009. Phillips is known as the trailkeeper of the picturesque 2.5 mile paved path. Times Herald-Record/CHET GORDON Yesterday I was faced with cloudy skies most of the day for another outdoor feature assignment for our “Go” section, which appears [...]
*A Portrait that just ‘Sings…’ Newburgh, NY 22•July•09
It doesn’t happen often. You never, ever know when everything is going to work precisely as planned. Even visualizing the final image in my head doesn’t always reach this level of simple satisfaction. The few images of orchestral conductor and classical composer Marcus Parris of Worcester, MA and Boston, literally jumped out of the camera [...]
"Back to the Ballpark…" 17•June•09
It was kind of fun to return to a pro ballpark yesterday for a minor baseball team’s media day. Even it was only a Class A Short Season team here in our area, The Hudson Valley Renegades. There’s still something nice about arriving to a ballpark or arena when it’s empty, and you’re there to [...]
"2009 POTY…" (Player of the Year)
Got the assignment earlier this week to photograph our newspaper’s HS Player of the Year again. Cory Quimby (left) is a repeat winner of the award – and he had the numbers to prove it. I think he averaged something like 27 points / 17 rebounds per night. No way would his Minisink Valley HS [...]
"Winding Down…" 2009 HS Player & Coach of the Year portraits.
Well, it’s finally over. The basketball season, that is. After a few days of recovery & a good night’s sleep after my third trip to Glens Falls, NY over the weekend (drove nearly 1,000 miles on three trips upstate the past two weekends) in covering Newburgh Free Academy in the NY State and Federation Championship [...]
"Heartbreak in Glens Falls, NY." 03•29•09
The Newburgh Free Academy boys basketball team almost did it tonight. Took Rice HS of NYC into overtime, and lost by two. This team really, really showed a lot of heart and pure guts. It was a pleasure to photograph a lot of their games this season, and be around kids who to the man [...]
