Day 17 (Sat., Sept. 17)

Boy! Today was a lot of fun. I shot a really cool concert. The Three Amigos: (above, from left) Marc Anthony, Chayanne and Alejandro Fernandez. That was fun.

But first, I enjoyed half of my day off in a different way. I headed out to the Marlins/Phillies baseball game at ProPlayer Stadium in Miami. A few days ago I got an e-mail from Ben Volin, a sports reporter who was an intern w/ me at the Dallas Morning News last summer. He's in Palm Beach working w/ the Post. I told him it would be cool to hang out again. I really miss my internship friends from Dallas, New York, Fort Worth and San Angelo. I made a lot of great friendships at these places. Hey guys/gals, drop me a line sometime. Let's keep in touch. E-mail me because I miss y'all.

The Marlins and Phillies are in a tight race for the wild card in the National League of Major League Baseball. So, I had to make my way down to the stadium and check out some of that action myself. It was fun as the Marlins took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning. Marlins fans (above) celebrated every time something went well for the Marlins. A few fans behind me kept on hackling the Phillies rightfielder. They also kept on calling out after the Marlins' star closer: Todd Jones. "Who?" one fan screamed. "Todd Jones!" the other would answer.

"Who?"

"Todd Jones!"

"Who?"

"Todd Jones!"

It almost made me scream out "Leo!", as in my nickname "Who? Leo!"

But all I heard was:

"Who?"

"Todd Jones!"

Over and over and over and over. Especially toward the end of the game. I guess by the time the heat and beer finally caught up to them. I quickly found out who Todd Jones was because he got shelled in the ninth as the Marlins went into self-destruct mode and allowed 10 runs w/o getting a single out in the ninth inning. It was sad seeing this. The cool thing about the game is that I can add another major league baseball stadium I have attended.

Gosh, today was so hot at the stadium. It didn't take long before I soaked my shirt. I brought a change of shirt so that I can head off to the concert after the game, but I ended driving home for a quick shower because it was too hot. I didn't want to show up at a nice concert smelling the way I do after I finish a marathon. So, I went home and got purdy.

Everyone got purdy for this event. The performers wore some crazy outfits. Above you can see Alejandro Fernandez decked out in a leather shirt. He also wore leather pants.

Chayanne didn't fall behind. He also sported leather pants.

Marc Anthony did not go down the leather pants. At least not tonight. Still, whatever these guys wore drove the ladies wild. I began to wonder if it was the leather or just their fame. Perhaps their voice.

Or maybe their dance moves.

Whatever it was, it drove the ladies wild. It's amazing how crazy all of these attractive w/omen (that's not a typo) went. I was dumbfounded. I couldn't understand why. I wonder if it's some kind of subliminal message. Hmm.

And these aren't just attractive w/omen. These are attractive, rich and famous w/omen. Like Jennifer Lopez (above), who was on hand to see her hubby's performance.

It was cool looking around the crowd. Not just because everyone was dressed to impress, but because there were so many familiar faces. Above, on the right, is the host of a popular Spanish television show that is broadcasted throughout the U.S. and Latin America on Univision. I forget her name, but she became famous by being a model on the famous Saturday show w/ Don Francisco, also on the same network. Other cool faces in the crowd were baseball star Sammy Sosa, Puerto Rico boxer Tito Trinidad, a few Spanish soap opera actors and, of course, J-Lo.

Another cool face in the crowd was John Sevigny, a correspondent for the Spanish wire service EFE. He's seen on the above photo making photos of Marc Anthony. It was cool hanging out w/ John tonight. Although I had a chance to rub elbows w/ the stars and the singers, doing this sort of assignment can be boring. There's a lot of waiting involved. The media has to show up early and wait until the performers take stage. From then, you are escorted in and out to shoot photos of a few songs. In talking to John I found out he's quite a cool guy. He was a correspondent for the Associated Press in Mexico. He's worked out of Mexico City and Monterrey. Cool! We discussed many things including photo strategies and family. Turns out, he is married to a news reporter from Mexico and he talks Spanish very well. He actually sounds like a "chilango", ha! Not bad for a gringo w/ blue eyes. I was excited to hear about his family. Very cool!

One of the not so cool things about tonight was when a guy approached me in the media room and asked me to teach him how to use his camera. He swore to the person in charge that he wasn't a paparazi. The one in charge did not believe him; and neither did I. I felt bad for not being able to do much for the guy, but to tell you the truth, I didn't want to help him much because he had the look of a paparazzi. I HATE paparazzis. They make their living by shooting photos of people who happen to be famous. The thing that bugs me is that they shoot these crappy photos when these famous people have some expectation of privacy. I say these photos are crappy (for the lack of better terms) because they are awful. Just look at the photos that run on those composites that call themselves magazines. The photos have no composition, the lighting is awful, most of the photos are blurry. These photos would get you an F if you turned them in for a grade in a beginner's course in photography. The photos have absolutely no news value. It's a waste of time, if you ask me.

So, what made me think this guy was paparazzi? Let's see. He carried a cheap backpack, he did not have an idea what a press credential was, he was going to shoot a major concert w/ flash, and he tried to get his friend in, too. So you might be asking yourself what I mean. Every photographer in sight tonight had about $10,000 or so worth in equipment. It's quite an investment. Paying all that much, you do not want to throw your gear into a cheap backpack. You pay the $200 for a specialized bag that is built to protect your investment. When the guy got asked for his media credential, he didn't know what to answer. He was fixing to go into the concert w/ a flash on his camera. There's no way you will be allowed to shoot a concert w/ a flash. That's a well-known No-No. It disturbs the performer and there's really no need for a flash because most concerts have amazing lighting. Like the one tonight. Look at my photos, they have great lighting and I didn't need to use a flash. Neither did the other 15 or so photographers who were there for their respective agencies. When the person in charge told the guy he was not going to be able to shoot flash, the guy ran around asking everyone how to "set up" his camera. Sure, we all have questions about equipment from time to time, but this guy acted like if I was talking Chinese when I mentioned shutter speed, ISO and apperture. "What?... You don't know about photography?" I asked him. "Who do you shoot for?"

The guy stumbled as she could not say the name of his employer. PAPARAZZI!!!!

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Some how he managed to get a photo pit pass. But he blew it when he tried to get a second one, so that his "friend" could get in, too. Shady!!!!... Hey! That rhymes w/ Paparazzi. Because of this, he got kicked out.

I'm sorry, but I do not have any tolerance for people who call themselves photographers but do not know the meaning of an F-stop.

Nonetheless, tonight was a lot of fun. It's been a while since I shot a concert. About nine months. So, the fact that I was able to get some key moments on film made me real happy. I can't wait to see what my editors will say about these photos.

By the way, above I wrote the word w/omen. I think that's a perfect way to spell it. As in the shorthand "w/o" to say without. Without Men. Without Man. I guess it's a way I can make a feminist statement. You might have noticed that I also write womyn. I use the "y" because of there's a "y" in gynecology. Also, because of the Y chromosome. Oh wow! I learned something in biology class.

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