Category Archives: Sports

location shoot, NFL, photography, San Diego, Sports, Uncategorized

Tomlinson Over the Top?

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So, can LT finally get over the top? LaDanian Tomlinson record setting running back for the San Diego Chargers and now the New York Jets had his playoffs dream cut short once again.  L.T and the Chargers parted ways almost a year ago, the Chargers unwilling to resign him at this stage of his career.  Looking for that one missing goal, The Super Bowl, L.T. signed with the Jets stating they were the best opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl.  One game short of the Super Bowl and one yard short, Tomlinson was unable to get that one last yard to score a TD late in the game against the Steelers.  The Steel Curtain held and Tomlinson’s dream once again was shattered.  So, the big question is will he have enough for one more try next year.

Photo: shot with a Nikon D3 and 70-200 2.8 lens in a playoff game in San Diego vs. the Tennessee Titans Dec. 25,2009.

My other site is:  www.zwink.com

NFL, photography, San Diego, Sports

Giving Back

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I believe in charity, I believe in getting paid. The one thing about a lot of charities is that they believe photography should either be free, donated or minimal cost. A lot of times the requester will mention the great marketing potential and visibility and best of all it’s for charity. Generally the staffer from the charity is paid, the venue is paid, the catering either paid or discounted, the photographer……. free? See why I rarely do charity events?

So, I found a way to give, feel good and not abused. I went to San Diego State University, fell in love with the campus and after leaving for a job continued to actively support them. I eventually was awarded the sports department photography contract and met two young men that both personified the love of sports, friendship and life. Carlos Gutierrez, then Monty Montezuma, and I became great friends while on the sidelines at the Aztecs sporting events. I also met a freshman running back that would put SDSU on the map. Marshall Faulk went on to become an All American, runner up for the Heisman Trophy (he got robbed), first round NFL draft pick and now a future Hall of Famer.

Faulk now a NFL Network analyst is still loyal to SDSU. The last couple years he has been involved in a marketing program to get more alumni involved. It’s called “Aztec for Life”. In the photo above at a event promoting that is (left-right) Carlos Gutierrez, Marshall Faulk and SDSU President Stephen Weber.

Faulk also has his own charity called the Marshall Faulk Foundation. The mission is to improve the quality of life for San Diego youth by increasing opportunities for them. So Carlos G. and I came up with the perfect solution. I donated the image of Faulk (top left) from a game against USC and Carlos had a friend donate the printing of the image. The image was printed on canvas and then stretched on a frame, ready for Marshall’s autograph and the auction. So far copies of the image have garnered nearly $3,000 for the charity. This was a win for me and for the foundation. My old archived images had created the means to help the children of San Diego. What’s in your archives and who can you help? Happy Holidays.

My other work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com

photography, Sports, Uncategorized

An Island Mourns

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Andy Irons Memorial

Three times surfing world champion Andy Irons died on November 2, 2010.  We arrived on Kauai Nov. 12 to a community in mourning preparing for a memorial service and a paddle out by fellow surfers, friends and family.  It was an overwhelming experience.  Driving up to Hanalei Bay we passed numerous signs and painted surfboards  along side of the the road that expressed the love, sorrow and loss of their homegrown son.

Over 5,000 people of all ages converged onto Pines Beach for the memorial that was open to the public.  All the flights to the island were sold out as people came to say their final goodbye.  Following a traditional Hawaiian service on the beach attended by the family and friends of the Iron’s family it was finally time.  There was already a large group of surfers circling about a 100 yards off the beach.  The rest of the surfers from the inner circle made their way out through the surf to the final celebration of life.  Once they arrived and the circle was reformed the group started cheering and splashing the water.  Iron’s family then arrived aboard a Polynesian boat and dispersed Andy’s ashes into the ocean where he had lived his life.  As the ashes were being spread a helicopter circling over the surfers dropping flowers and petals onto the ocean and the surfers below as thousands others watched and cheered from the beach.  Once the copter left the circle slowly broke and the surfers and the paddle boarders came back to the beach through an ever increasing surf one set at a time.

Originally, I was just going to take a few photos of the scene but the emotional outpouring changed my mind.  I’ve done a lot of documentary work before so my instincts took over.  I wanted to show the environment, the diversity of the people and the the sense of loss that the surfing community suffered.

A collection of the images can be found at: http://zwinkftp.com/aimemorialhtml/

ANDY IRONS, RIP…….

location shoot, photography, San Diego, Sports, Uncategorized

The Double Bird

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When do you take or not take the photo?  Whether or not you are a professional at times this can be a dilemma and potentially create problems for you.  Hopefully if you’ve pondered this question ahead of time you won’t freeze when it’s your time to capture that once in a lifetime photo.  As my mentors often told me, it’s easier to delete or throw away a photo than it is to not have one to start with.

I previously worked for the San Diego Padres as one of two contract team photographers.  My assignment was to cover a fundraiser for the Hall of Champions featuring two of the best hitters ever in baseball, Ted Williams (right) and Tony Gwynn.  Going into the event the premise was simple.  The patrons for the evening would be able to have their photo taken with Mr. Williams and Mr. Gwynn and then later enjoy a discussion on the art of hitting.  Simple concept?  No……

Hall of Famer, Ted Williams was passionate about hitting.  He had a profound respect and enjoyed talking about the art with Tony Gwynn.  Apparently either he wasn’t told about the photo shoot, or he didn’t care.  All he was interested in was talking hitting with Gwynn.  Each time someone one came up behind them for a photo I would have to say something like, ” look here sir, look here Ted, look here Captain” to get his attention.  Finally “The Splendid Splinter” got fed up.  Without any hint he went ballistic and angrily blurted out “I show you something to look at…..” and proceeded to award me the double bird.  I shot the photo without hesitation.  Needless to say William’s handlers rushed in to stop him and calm him down.  Gwynn and John Moore’s nephew (the boy behind them) were shocked and later Gwynn would laugh and joke about it.  After a few minutes we continued shooting the last few guests and moved on to the rest of the evening’s schedule.

After the film was processed and printed the image was circulated to the ownership of the Padres.  It was decided that even though it was a great photo that it would not be released or published until after the death of Mr. Williams.  However, several prints were made and given to a select few.

I have great respect for the subjects in my photo.  However, I am first and foremost a photojournalist.  Without the photo, often times there is no story.

Technical notes:  Shot with a Hasseblad ELM and a 50mm lens on neg film using Dynalites.  The image above was scanned and color corrected in Photoshop from an 8×10 print.

My other work can be viewed at: www.zwink.com

Old archives and sports images are on: www.bigstudioz.com