Start Your Engines - Millville 8/5/08

Last weekend saw the opening of New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, Cumberland County. My good friend Ray tipped me off about it a while ago and I pitched doing a story to the paper. This is different from other places because it has two separate road courses, not an oval track like the ones in Nascar. It's built on part of the old Millville Airport where they trained military pilots during WWII, so the tracks are named after period fighter planes, the Thunderbolt and Lightning. There is also a driving school where, for a few thousand dollars a session, you can learn to drive like a pro. Above, Performance Driving Association Instructor Joe Casella goes over the meanings of the different types of racing signal flags as he prepares a class of students to head out onto Thunderbolt Raceway.


The inaugural race was an event by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA). Above are some Group 1 cars navigating an "s" curve at the far end of the Thunderbolt track.


Thunderbolt also was the site of this year's Shelby American Automobile Club yearly convention, SAAC 33. I've loved Shelby's, GT40's, Cobras and Mustangs since I was a kid. Back in the day I had a '72 Mach 1 that I would put up against anything (and did). Of the many examples there, the one that was "the bomb" for me was a Trans-Am Boss 302 originally driven in 1970 by George Follmer (the real car folks, not a replica). OOOOOFAH!

One driver was kind enough to take me for a spin in his 2007 Ariel Atom (so I could get some photos out on the track of course). This British rocket is a cross between and Indy car and a go-kart with a supercharged 300 hp engine. Need I say more? The driver is Allen Smith of Glenside, PA, and his other "toys" include a 427 Shelby Cobra, a new Ford GT and a Soviet era fighter plane. OK then.

BRUUUUUUCE!!! - Giants Staduim 7/27/08

So Springsteen came back to Jersey and played Giants Stadium for maybe the last time. Don't get me wrong, though I'm not a huge fan (except for the Tom Joad album), I do recognize the millions of devout followers he has and applaud him for it. They can't all be wrong. I've photographed Bruce in concert several times and have to say this was the best for me. Photographers are only allowed to shoot for the first three songs (for any artist, not just Springsteen), so I always feel like I have to stuff 10 pounds of pictures in a 2 pound bag when shooting a concert. This show started just at the right time and allowed me to get the nice mix of twilight with the blue stage lights. I think it gives the stage a feeling of being ominous and part of the sky.

This was his first of three shows and Bruce came out with the band all fired up. The fans loved it from what I saw.

The Future Once Grew Here - Holmdel 7/24/08

It's the birthplace of the transistor, cell phone, microwave oven and numerous other innovations. Today, more than a year after it was shut down, the Nobel laureates have moved on and the 2 million square foot glass-enclosed structure is empty and falling into disrepair. Designed by renowned Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, the massive 472-acre Bell Laboratories' Holmdel campus has an uncertain future. Deemed too big and inefficient, there were plans to raze the building and replace it with smaller offices and single family homes. Today, a developer is negotiating to convert the site into a self-contained city, complete with hotel, stores, conference center and condos.

This was a very bizarre experience. I've been in old military and government facilities after they were shut down, but in those cases there has always been some character or sense of place still lingering. Papers left behind giving clues to it's past, or furniture and fixtures that mirror what the place once looked like. This place is empty and barely hanging on to life. Nearing the end of the day there were only two people left in the whole facility. Myself, and the watchman pictured in the top photo. He's a really nice guy and told me I could have the run of the building for as long as I wanted. I love exploring, but it would literally take days to fully check this place out. I saw what I could in the time I had and tried to stay in areas that still had some lights on and doors I knew wouldn't lock behind me for fear of getting trapped in. When Bell moved out they took everything, whether it was bolted down or not. Giant mainframe computer rooms are gutted with barely a rack left behind and floor panels pulled up. Everywhere you look there are endless miles of network cables. Every lab and office I saw was completely barren except for the carpets.

The only apparent life lies in some of the planters, with vines that somehow are still thriving even though they have not been watered in a year. The vine pictured above has branched out of it's planter and grown almost 20 feet across the floor. A few other vines stretch out on the other side and from other planters looking like a balding old man in need of a haircut. The large circular garden in the center of the building (pictured in the 2nd photo) has gone to seed, but the trees behind still have green leaves. Amazing.

On the outside, weeds have begun to take over the vast parking lots, creating thin green lines to reveal the cracks in the asphalt. Maybe the days of any institution or corporation with the means to support a facility like this are gone. Who knows. It would be sad to see it go.

Lightning Strikes Again, 3 Times - Seaside Heights 7/17/08

Every now and then things just fall into place and make for a good day. Serendipity.

Last week three people drowned on the Jersey shore as a result of riptides from a tropical storm off the coast. We had done several stories over the weekend and the situation seemed to have calmed down. I got a morning call from our photo desk assigning me to the shore to look for more rip current activity (didn't we already do this?) The reporter assigned along with me , Maryann Spoto, is great to work with, is always a huge help and a wealth of information. Maryann told me she heard there may have been some riptides earlier in the day in Seaside Heights and gave me the name of Michael Ward, a lifeguard sergeant I could talk to when I arrived.

Later at the Seaside Heights lifeguard headquarters I asked for Sgt. Ward (seen at right above) and was directed to a lifeguard stand just down the beach. Moments after meeting him (serendipity #1) he jumped up and pointed to three swimmers caught in a riptide who needed rescuing. Lifeguards John Barrett (above left and center below) and James Skopas (2nd down pulling on line) sprung into action.



As you can see, all three swimmers made it out just fine thanks to the lifeguards. As it turns out, Michael Sammons of Newburgh, NY (above center) is an EMT and noticed the two girls being dragged out by the current. He swam out to help them only to find he needed to be rescued as well. Sammons said he's a good swimmer, but the current was just too strong for him.

Also over the weekend, one of the many Bulgarian nationals who flock to the Jersey shore in the summer to work the rides and concessions, was killed by a roller coaster. Stanislov Dragnev was working the Jet Star roller coaster on the Casino Pier in Seaside Heights when he went to retrieve a hat under the rails that had blown off the head of a rider. Not realizing one of the coaster cars was coming so close, he was struck in the head as he stood up with the customer's hat in hand. I was only a few blocks away at the lifeguard stand and, knowing Stanislov was taken off life support this morning, I had to see if there was a picture to be made for tomorrow's paper. At the amusement pier I was escorted back to the coaster by one of their managers. There were some flowers at the base as a memorial, but no other people. I made some photos of the flowers with the coaster and called it quits. Walking back (serendipity #2) I passed a group of kids comingg the other way who were speaking Bulgarian (I'm Russian so I can at least recognize the language, if not understand it). As it turned out, they were all friends and co-workers of Stanislov and were going to the coaster to see the memorial. They didn't want their faces shown but were kind enough to allow me to photograph them.


I transmitted all my photos and was ready to call it a day when Maryann called and said she was hearing about large numbers of jellyfish in the bay a few miles north in Mantoloking. I'm a certified diver but was not prepared to go "jellyfishing" with a camera. I told her it's sort-of on my way home so I'll check it out, but no promises. I looked at a map and found a street adjacent to the bay I thought might work, plugged it into my GPS and headed north.

The GPS said "You have arrived". I walked to the shore with my camera and 300mm lens, looked down into the deep brown of the bay water and (serendipity #3) the fellow shown above was swimming just inches below the surface, practically right at my feet.

Quilting Character - Long Valley 7/1/08

Mark Lipinsky. Where do I start? Well, maybe our reporter Vicki Hyman put it best "Lipinsky is a reformed Catholic schoolboy, a onetime social worker who moonlighted as a dancer in an all-male revue, a behind-the-scenes fixture on daytime television who has worked with Oprah, Barbara, Sally Jessy and Ricki, and currently a gay dad, gentleman farmer and the bad boy of quilting". Did you say QUILTING? YOUBETCHA!! This series of photos was for one of our "I Am NJ" people profiles, which usually comes in the form of a conceptualized portrait. Showing up at Mark's farmhouse outside Califon I was greeted by the man, tall, boisterous and in love with life. In short time I realized he was going to make my job very easy. In his attic is a workspace filled with fabric, sewing stuff and a small photo studio his partner Jeff uses to shoot photos for their magazine, "Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home". Mark threw one of his designs up on the wall and (for the first time in my career) I plugged into SOMEONE ELSE'S lights to shoot the assignment (hey why not, his were nicer than the ones I brought). Occasionally making a few frames in between talking (Mark always says exactly what's on his mind) he supplied me with dozens of different faces. The next day I assembled a bunch of the photos together in a block pattern for our editor, Donna, so she could look them over before the page was designed. Not realizing what I had done (though I'll take the credit for it being subconscious) she emailed me back asking if I deliberately arranged Mark's photos in a square quilting pattern. BADABING!

Taken by Surprise - Sea Girt 6/24/08

I had an assignment earlier in the day in Point Pleasant and decided to hug the coast as I drove back towards the north. Approaching Sea Girt I saw the sky quickly turning very dark out of the northeast. A few minutes later a thick bank of dark rolling clouds blew in. It was not raining and I had only heard some very low thunder off in the distance, so I parked the car and grabbed my cameras. The beach was completely empty except for a lifeguard who, for some reason, was going out of his way to get my attention. I finally realized he was yelling to order me off the sand since lightning was striking about a half mile out on the water. I backed off only enough to appease him (hey, I know what I'm doing) and began concentrating on getting a picture of the lightning with the clouds. I found out (after several hundred frames) it's nearly impossible to capture lightning unless it's at night and you can keep the shutter open a while. Some light rain started to fall and I was about to give up when the sun broke through the clouds and made a spotlight on the lifeguard stand. I made a some frames (including the one above) but was still determined to get the lightning photo. They say you never know when it's coming. Whoever "they" are, I believe them now, since out of nowhere a lightning bolt hit the beach about 150 yards away from me. After regaining my composure I made for the car as fast as I could. As it turned out, those clouds were one of the most violent storms to come through the area in a while bringing hail and high winds. You just never know.

"Waddaya Think You're Doing?" - Newark 6/2/08

That's what I heard from a Federal security officer as I made this photo. While covering the deportation trial of a local Imam who is trying to stay in America, I noticed a lot of extra security guys looking around with binoculars. Maybe the peaceful crowd across the street made up of the Imam's supporters would be bringing some covert jihadists with them. Either way, even though I was on public property, I was told I was committing an illegal act by photographing "security measures" which, as you can see, were in plain sight. I was told by the officer he had the right to confiscate my cameras and disks right there on the spot (I talked my way out of it) and that he does it "regularly" with people walking by taking pictures. My knowledge of the current laws protecting citizens and journalists tell me the officer was wrong on all counts. He strongly disagreed. It's nearly impossible to know what the true laws are now considering a new regulation allowing customs agents to seize laptop computers at airports without prior cause, copy the hard disks and decide to maybe never return the computers to their owners. Anyone hear about that one beforehand?? I'd hate to think I was the wrong one here.

Lucky? Maybe not - Newark 5/12/08

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James in front of the Federal Courthouse in Newark. A sight many of the photographers at the Ledger have gotten used to of late. Here he's strutting his stuff buttoning up his coat with only me following him as he heads for his car. This morning prosecutors decided not to pursue additional charges that he had allegedly abused city credit cards, determining a conviction on those charges probably won't add any more to the prison time he's already facing from last month's guilty verdict. A jury found James guilty of corruption with his mistress Tamika Riley on charges that he arranged the cheap sale of lucrative city land to her between 2001 and 2005. You know what they say; don't count your chickens...

Devils vs. Rangers - Newark and NYC 4/08

I love hockey. I especially love shooting hockey from ice level, but for most of the 2008 Devils season photographers at the Prudential Center had the choice of shooting from above with the TV cameras (kind of boring) or shooting through the dirty, scratched plexiglas at ice level (which renders any lens over 50mm completely useless). We had been promised holes cut through the glass since game one in the new arena, but it eventually became a joke we thought would never happen. Lo and behold, the first day the NHL came in to run the playoffs, wouldn't you know it, a bunch of holes miraculously appeared in the corners of the rink. Now I'm lovin' it again as seen from the frame above of the Rangers Fedor Tyutin killing time keeping the puck away from the Devils David Clarkson and Patrik Elias as the last minute ticks away in the Rangers 5-3 win in Game 5, ending the season for Jersey.


Besides the excitement of the game the other reason I love hockey is because of the players. Across the board they exhibit an integrity and sportsmanship that is sorely lacking in most of the other professional sports in America. So When I saw the antics of the Rangers Sean Avery in Game 3 (2nd image up) playing games as he danced in front of Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur trying to block his vision, I was very disappointed. Come on Sean, suck it up and play the game right. You have talent, but acting like a kindergartener on ice skates takes away from that. With any luck The Devils Arron Asham and John Madden knocked a little sense into you!

The ice level shooting spot paid off for me many times, including the image above of the Rangers Chris Drury (left) celebrating after scoring the go-ahead goal on Brodeur in the last game of the series.

Monster in the Court - Freehold 3/13/08

Monster. He's been called that by many. Suffering from an acute respiratory illness, convicted murderer Robert Zarinsky is wheeled into a Monmouth County courtroom to be arraigned for the 1968 murder of 13 year old Jane Durrua in East Keansburg. New DNA evidence was cited as the key factor in bringing the indictment. Zarinsky was also a prime suspect the 1958 killing of Rahway Police Officer Charles Bernoskie and was acquitted, albeit unfairly to the officer's widow and family. He's been in jail since 1975 for the murder of an Atlantic Highlands teenager and is suspected of killing several other young girls in the area dating back to the mid '60's. The story revolving around Zarinsky is truly compelling, terrifying and filled with irony and deceit. I would encourage all to read the 15 part series "Deadly Secrets" by Star-Ledger reporters Robin Gaby Fisher and Judith Lucas. You will be shocked, amazed and glad he's still behind bars.

State of the State - Trenton 2/26/08

Reminding us of the $32 billion in bonded debt the state is carrying ($3,700 for every man, woman and child) Governor Corzine told the citizens of NJ "the (current) financial emergency became inevitable". He outlined a "restructuring proposal to end the era of financial imbalance and fiscal mismanagement once and for all". Anyone who knows anything about the workings of New Jersey politics knows that is one really tall order. Good luck Mr. Corzine, and for that matter good luck to all of us, we're sure gonna need it.
I was assigned to cover the speech on my own and got in early to put a camera on the gallery railing for a 360 panoramic. It was no more than wishful thinking on my part considering the large crowd and how difficult it would be to get upstairs to even shoot the series of photos for stitching later on. After covering the floor as quickly as I could, I made it up, shot the frames and got back down just before Corzine ended the speech. I did end up with some luck after all.

Lonely Super Bowl Tailgaiters - Giants Stadium 2/3/08

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and working the late shift I needed to come up with a way to put a New Jersey angle on the game in Arizona. A discussion with one of our photo editors tipped me off there may be a chance some folks might show up at Giants Stadium to tailgate during the game. Upon arriving in East Rutherford I drove several laps around the stadium and saw no one. I had no other immediate assignments pending, and figuring I had nothing to lose, I parked and waited. 45 minutes later these college students showed up with a cooler, grill and chairs. They had heard the same rumor about possible tailgate parties. They made their burgers, threw a football around, but ultimately left about an hour before the game started once they realized no one else was going to show up.

NJ Chamber of Commerce Train to Washington D.C. - 1/31/08

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Living in Mercer County I do a lot of assignments at the State House and of state government. One of the annual events I cover is the NJ Chamber Train, a junket to D.C. designed to give politicians, lobbyists and business people a chance for some face time and to literally "press the flesh". Click the link above to see a short walk-through video that really gives you an idea of what it's like.

Garden State Parkway Essex Toll Booths - 1/10/08

Governor Corzine has decided the path to repairing our state's fiscal woes should run directly through the booths of our major toll roads. His monetization plan involves significant toll increases on the Turnpike, Parkway and possibly Rt. 440 in Woodbridge through the next decade. To help illustrate the numerous stories my paper was writing I decided to do a 30 second time lapse just after dark while rush hour was still going.

Virtual Infantry Combat Environment (VICE), Fort Dix, NJ - 1/9/08

I've been a fan of first-person shooter video games ever since I first played the original DOOM back in the early '90's. I'm a pretty good player, even online, but what I saw today at Fort Dix blows everything else I've seen away. According to Sgt. 1st Class Darrin Turner (pictured above), VICE is designed to train soldiers to work cooperatively in as real a combat environment as virtual reality gets. The system brings home the sights, sounds (Turner said they're working on the smells) and feeling of being part of a squad on an actual street in Fallujah or Baghdad. While at the command computer, Turner can observe, control and surprise the trainees with real scenarios of insurgents, IED's and ambushes. He let me try my hand at it for a few minutes, and while I'm not ready for the real Army, I did manage to get a few bad guys before they got me. As long as our soldiers are being put in harms way, it's good to see the military is doing what it can give them the training they need to hopefully come home safely.

Quicktime VRs from the NJ Devils first home game - Newark 10/27/07

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My initial experimenting with stitching panoramas quickly led to the realization that I could do full 360 degree Quicktime VRs using the same equipment. The above examples are several VRs I shot at the Prudential Center on the night of the Devils first home game in their new arena.

Prudential Center Opening Night - Newark 10/25/07

I had fiddled around with stitching multiple images into a panorama several times over the years but never really had a lot of success with it. A month before the Devils' new home opened I was asked by my boss, Pim Van Hemmen, if I wanted to tackle doing a panorama for opening night. I said "sure", not knowing what I was really jumping into. To do these right you need the right equipment ($$$), software (more $$$), know-how and LOTS AND LOTS of practice. I managed to nail down my technique only hours before the grand opening, and put together this image stitched from 5 separate frames made with a Canon 5D and 24mm shift lens.