ELVIS

Elvis was in the house on this day. An impersonator sang to the ladies at the Santa Ana Star Casino.

Palin and McCain in Albuquerque

Fans were going nuts for Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on this night.

McCain in Albuquerque

Somehow I was always stuck shooting the Republicans when they were in town.
Pictured is Sen. John McCain shaking hands with fans at a rally in Albuquerque
earlier this month. I was lucky enough to be part of the national pool of photographers
for the event, thus allowing to get this close.

Oktoberfest

September brought a lot of opportunities to photograph different subjects. This
was taken for a story on Oktoberfest.

Whacky September month

Here are a few photos from the month of September.

More NYC in Black and White

NYC in Black and White

These are two samples of my New York City trip. I brought along a Canon G9 point and shoot digital camera but most of the
serious work was done on a medium format camera shooting T-max 100 film. These two images were taken as I stumbled onto
the Dominican Republic parade near Bryant Park.

Politics

Recently I was sent to cover Senator John McCain's visit to Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was my first assignment after returning from a two week long vacation in the East Coast. It didn't take long to get back in the swing of things. After mingling with photographers and news media people it was down to business as I try to focus on the work at hand. The Media relations people for McCain were very cool. They know local press is at the bottom of the totem pole, so when I got the chance to shoot up close of him speaking it was a bit nerve wrecking. Security personnel keeping their eyes on you at all times. The experience seems to be surreal. In these cases you can only try to get something "different" and not embarrass yourself or the people you work for. These two images above are some of my observations from the event.

East Coast Trip

For the last two weeks I've bee on the east coast visiting family and friends. On the first day of my trip I got to go to the
new Newseum which is the museum dedicated to journalism. It's an amazing building and one can spend hours just staring at the photos, mementos , and videos of anything journalism related. The most powerful section of the museum is perhaps the 9-11 display where a wall displays the hundred of front pages of Newspapers' coverage of the event. Very powerful!!, and in the foreground
is the radio tower atop one of the fallen towers. The picture above is a panoramic I shot with my Canon G9 from the terrace overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue. With the stitch program the camera came with it was super easy compiling five different shots to make this image.

Thank you so much to everyone who made out to the 'OUTTAKES' exhibit last Friday night. The photos you see here are from
the journalist crew who helped install the exhibit and who have work in it. Again, thanks so much to everyone. The photographers posing for the group photo are from left to right: Adolphe Pierre-Louis, Jaelyn deMaria, Cable Hoover, Nick Layman, Greg Sorber, Roberto E. Rosales, Dean Hanson.

photography exhibit

I'm glad to announce an upcoming exhibit titled OUTTAKES where photographers from the newspaper I work for; The Albuquerque Journal, have gathered to show previously unpublished work. The opening reception in Friday July 4th, 2008
at the Harwood Art Center on the corner of 7th and Mountain. Bring a friend or family and talk to photojournalists who cover the great state of New Mexico. For more information go to www.Harwoodartcenter.org. The photo above is the photo I'll be showing at the exhibit. It shows three generations of fishermen on the Island of Meanguera.

Los Pescadores (The Fishermen)

For several years now I have been working on a project which some day I will hopefully turn into a book. Shortly after
i moved to New Mexico from Maryland, I started travelling back home mainly to go to the beach and drink beer. Soon under
a light buzz I started noticing what was always in front of me and that was the fishermen in El Salvador, my own people. I grew up near the ocean until I was about to turn eleven and migrated to the United States. My uncle would take us the beach every Sunday and what always caught my attention was the fishermen returning in the afternoons with the catch of the day. Today I'm trying to return home as often as I can to photograph these fishermen pulling their nets at odd times of the day to find a surprise caught on the net. I just got back on April 13th from a two week trip to El Salvador where I concentrated my efforts around the fishermen on the island of Meanguera which is located on the gulf of Fonseca. I've gone there several times where I met Don Francisco Orellana seen in the second photo. Don Francisco, is a native of the Island who knows the ocean like the back of his hand. He tells me stories about the fishermen like himself and the struggles they go through just to survive. Fishing in these waters of the Pacific ocean means statying out at sea for several days because gas costs so much in those areas. These fishermen navigate the waters with now compass, GPS system, life vests, or radios. They are at the mercy of God out there and luckily they always return to a familiar light and warmth found on the island of Meanguera. I plan to keep going back every year to capture these fishermen so their experience will be documented. Today they encounter international competition from foreign comerical fishing vessels from japan, the U.S, and Europe. These are vessels who violate international laws which prohibit them from dragging their nets three miles from shore or closer. As a result of these violations the native fishermen have to go out deeper and deeper out at sea to catch what they would just off shore on their backyard just several years ago.
Shark fishermen now must go some 50 miles out at sea just to make their trip worth the effort. They traveled in fiberglass boats which is a change from the old dugout canoes of the past.

To El Salvador

So at the beginning of April I managed to go back home to El Salvador.
This was a great chance to catch up with relatives who I had not seen
in years and also to continue working on a project that I started back in 90'S.
It deals with documenting the fishermen of El Salvador particularly in the
area near the island of Meanguera in the Gulf of Fonseca. as you
can see my lunch at my aunt's house was fresh. This chicken made for a great soup
on the first day I arrived in San Salvador. Before I dedicated my efforts to photographing
the fishermen on the coast I decided to spend sometime at the beach in the central
part of the country called Costa del Sol. Just being near the ocean my senses were
coming back to life. Traffic jams on the way to the beach become come in four legs.

Soon after seeing the beach I headed to the town of Suchitoto which is located
in the mountainous region east of San Salvador. Suchitoto is where a lot of my family
came from but were forced to leave because of the civil war in the 80's. The church
in the plaza is a sight to see. Built by the Spanish in the 1850's the church pretty much
looks the same as it does today. Currently, it is going through a renovation in the
interior where architects discovered an under laying fresco hiding behind a layer of paint.
It will be revealed in the months to come. The door seen in the third photo is a typical door
from a house on a side street off the main plaza. It remains as it did some fifty years ago.
I'll posting some images of the fishermen project in the days to come. I shot film and scanning
it is a tedious process.

March Madness

So it was time to shoot the boys class 5A Championship game between Hobbs and Clovis. The finish came down to the last seconds with Hobbs pulling out the victory. Then, the celebration began, I wasn't the main shooter that night since the game had been assigned to my coworker Jim Thompson seen here on the right with the big lens hanging from his shoulder. my main objective was to stay out of his way since he was on deadline but I saw this moment when Hobbs star Jeff Taylor drop to his knees and cry.

year after year

I don't know who this man is but every year he shows up for the state basketball tournament held
at the famous Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico. March Madness is upon us. I kind of wanted know what
happened to him but I also don't want to know. Today was a great day of action from all the schools I covered.

Cuba and the Night

I'm not a reader but every now and then a book will catch my eye, especially when it deals with Latin America or photography. Cuba and the Night is set in contemporary Cuba as it follows an uneasy love affair between a cynical American photojournalist and a voluptuous young Cuban woman. The ending is a classic. I'm waiting for this work to be turn into a movie. I loved it.

fixed gear project

So , on top of being super busy, I have decided to start doing a multimedia project on the phenomenon of fixed gear bicycles. This past Sunday a race was organized called CRANK 2 that was opened to any single speed, fixed gear or BMX cyclists. Some 60 participants showed up at the parking lot of seventh and Silver in downtown Albuquerque. I recorded audio as well as took photos of the riders and bikes. It was a great time and next time I cover one of these events I think I will participate. This image shows riders lined up against a wall waiting for the GO signal to run to their bike and read a map where checkpoints where placed throughout Albuquerque. First one with all the check points in hand wins. It was awesome.

returning home

I was privileged to cover the coming home celebration of some New Mexico troops from Iraq on Tuesday. I was nervous and overwhelmed when the troops got off the buses carrying them from El Paso, Texas. Right away there was a family that caught my eye and stuck by them for a few minutes . The scene played out before me. Mr. Dodson was returning home and to his family after six months of duty in Iraq. Here he holds his daughter while his mother runs to greet him. The event took place at the Rio Rancho Armory.

Last run

A driver walks to his truck carrying copies of the last edition of the Albuquerque Tribune for delivery.

The End

The Albuquerque Tribune which was Albuquerque's afternoon paper published its last edition on Saturday February 23, 2008.
I had friends over there who were very helpful in my young career, especially the entire photo staff. I'll miss them and wish them
the best in the future. They were a total class act. This photo shows Editor Phil Casaus on the left raising a toast just before the presses started to run for the last time. The gentleman pictured in the middle is Rick Hindley(cq) who had been at the paper for more than 40 years.

Where are you shaminder?

This is Shaminder Dulai

This past weekend, Shaminder Dulai, perhaps the last intern at the Albuquerque Journal left after six months of work. We hit it off
right from the beginning because we had a lot in common when it came to discussing photographers, movies, multimedia, cameras, etc. The guy is brilliant and up to date with all the latest technology. He in fact, helped make this blog. Unfortunately, it all came to an end but not before he showed great flashes of brilliance through his camera. I'll miss Shaminder.

It had to happen

After graduating from college I started to travel back to El Salvador in Central America. I don't know if I did it to avoid getting
a job as a photojournalist and compete with the rest or treat it as an error and trial period. The following image is from this
period where even if technically I wasn't all there, I was started to see for the first time. The Image was taken with a Yashica medium format camera. The bananas were photographed near a coffee plantation on the slopes of the San Vincente Volcano in Central region of El Salvador. This was the trip when it happened for me, when I got the courage to be a photojournalist.

Rocky

This is Rocky. Up until one month ago he lived with my mother in Gaithersburg, Maryland. He's a strong dog so I decided
to fly him to live with me in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here he is holding his favorite toy, a stuffed postman.

My backyard UFO

I walked out to let Rocky my dog out to pee and there it was, disguised as a cloud over the Sandia Mountains on Tuesday Feb12, 2008.