What Things May Come

Road Trip Update #3

kingmikeip — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:41:43 +0000

Alright folks, this is the third installment of the road trip blogging. This contains the remnants of New Orleans. New additions include Arizona and California.

A pigeon hangs out on the pier overlooked the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

A man busks for change on Riverwalk in New Orleans.

A World War II era Lockheed PV-2 Bomber is on display at the PIMA Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Ariz.

Fan line up to enter the gates at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz. The Diamondbacks hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Tourists walk about on the Santa Monica Piers in Santa Monica, Calif.

Palm trees in Santa Monica.

Santa Monica beach.

Road Trip Update #2

kingmikeip — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:19:05 +0000

Here is post #2 from the NYC to Los Angeles road trip. This consists of Bowling Green, Ky., Nashville and New Orleans.

Brenda and Mandy give Jim Bye kisses after not having seen him for a few years.

Cooking dinner in Nashville.

Self-portrait with Bob’s Burgers somewhere in Alabama.

A couple decide whether or not to eat at a restaurant in New Orleans.

Party-goers drink on a second-floor balcony on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

A couple gets ready to have their pictures taken on Bourbon Street.

Road Trip Post #1

kingmikeip — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:42:51 +0000

So on May 15, 2012, Mandolin McConaha and I embarked on a two week road trip. Our point of origin was New York City and our end point is going to be Los Angeles. Here are highlights of the first two days of our trip (May 15, 16).

Mandy stares out the window as she marvels at the streets of New York City.

Storm clouds gather over the White House.

The flag is flown at half-staff above the U.S. Treasury building.

Driving in West Virginia.

Cat and kitten in Richmond, Ind.

Puma, the tailless cat, cozies up to Mandy in Richmond, Ind.

Unoccupy Wall Street

kingmikeip — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 08:03:51 +0000

During the early morning hours of November 15, 2011, police officers from the New York Police Department ordered an edict that Occupy Wall Street protesters camping out in Zuccotti Park must vacate immediately. Predictably, many resisted. Here are some scenes from the aftermath – just hours after the orders to evict were issued.

A police officer directs a bus filled with arrested protesters. Multiple buses waited in queue as each bus filled up.

Two arrested protesters chat with police officers tasked with loading the police truck with arrestees.

Two protesters kiss atop a telephone booth as the await the fate of Zuccotti Park.

A group of protesters perch up on a ledge to try to grab a glimpse at what the police are doing.

Police swarm in on protesters who were standing on Broadway. The officers had to clear off the street to make way for morning traffic.

A few tired protesters try to grab some rest as the await the fate of Zuccotti Park.

Contractors work furiously to clean Zuccotti Park.

As the daylight arrived, police officers glanced into the newly cleaned Zuccotti Park. This was the first time in two months the park was not occupied.

Police officers guard a clean – and empty – Zuccotti Park.

A small group of protesters interlocked arms in front of City Hall to prevent members of the media from attending a press conference given by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Protesters evicted from Zuccotti Park slept in Foley Square.

Long awaited update and New York Ink

kingmikeip — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 03:28:41 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog. Between taking a “sabbatical” in the fall and taking a photo editing job, I haven’t been shooting as much as I would like.

That being said, the last few months I’ve been working on a Tattoo project. It consisted of New Yorkers with interesting tattoos and stories behind it. Here is my edit for the New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/galleries/tattooed_/tattooed_.html

October 2010 Update

kingmikeip — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 05:54:05 +0000

It’s been over two months since I’ve updated my blog. It’s embarrassing to say the least to have neglected it so much. I have been focusing a lot of my attention on studio work and video, so while I worked through those problems, I hadn’t shot too many frames worthy of sharing. That being said, here is a small selection of what I’ve been shooting this month (and is worth sharing).

Ok the first image was taken on June 24, 2010 outside of Cooper Union, however, I felt compelled to share it. It’s not the composition that makes me want to share it, it’s who is in the picture. In this picture is Jimmy McMillan, who has generated a following as he is running for New York Governor under the “Rent is too DAMN High” Party.

I was covering a hearing at Cooper Union where a housing panel was to decide how much to raise rent stabilized housing. While small groups protested the rent hikes, McMillan had his car parked off to the side. He was willing to talk to anyone willing to give him some time.

I shot a few pictures of him just because he seemed to be an interesting person. I didn’t think twice about these pictures after the event, though. Fast forward to last Monday. I was watching tv and saw McMillan speaking at a New York Governor’s candidate debate and he essentially stole the show. When I saw him, I just have to laugh out loud because he had made a big enough impression on me that I vividly remembered my brief encounter with him.

So perhaps I should dedicate this blog post to Mr. McMillan as he was the main driving force behind me wanting to make this update.

I shot Rand Paul in Erlanger, Ky. on Oct. 2, 2010. It was a Tea Party rally the featured Paul, his father, Congressman Ron Paul and U.S. Senator Jim Demint of South Carolina. This was the first Tea Party event I had covered and I was blown away by the turnout. Picture three hotel conference rooms, standing room-only. It was at that moment I realized how big a deal Rand Paul was and is going to be.

On Oct. 11, I sought out the oldest-living person in Kentucky. After a little digging and snooping around, I found her.

Lera Williams, 110-years-old, of Campbellsville, Ky. is the oldest known living person in Kentucky. She was born on Feb. 9, 1900. She has lived in Campbellsville since 1928. Williams is one of 59 super-centenarians living in the United States and the only one living in Kentucky.

When her daughter called me letting me know that they would love to meet me, I dropped everything I was doing and drove the 90-minutes to Campbellsville. When I finally arrived at their home, I walked into Lera’s room and there she was sitting in her chair with an ear-to-ear grin on her face. Before I even had the opportunity to express my excitement in meeting her, Lera said, “I’m so happy you came to visit. I love it when people visit.” That pretty much was the tone of our conversation.

Before I even considered taking out my camera, I had to ask her a few questions. My first question was simply, “What is your secret to longevity?” to which she nonchalantly replied, “the secret to happiness is not to worry. God will take care of you. Life is just beautiful.”

Her response was just so perfect. Such a simple answer to such a complex question.

She proceeded to tell me how she had to use a skiff boat to cross a river to go to elementary school and how she had to borrow her neighbor’s car on her wedding day because it was the only car in town. Amazing story after amazing story flowed from Ms. Williams as if she were free-styling fantasy.

After about 45-minutes of chatting with her, I shot a few frames of her. I felt the image above was the most telling about her. 110-year-old hands – so fragile looking, but about as tough as they get.

I left her house that day enlightened. I rushed home to tell everyone about her. She really had an amazing impact on me. I must say to date, she had been the most interesting person I have ever photographed (and yes even more interesting than Lady Gaga).

On Oct. 22, I decided to dust off my sports shooting skills and shoot some Western Kentucky University volleyball. I parked up on the far seats and shot with my 400 mm.

Having never shot volleyball before, I found it to be a nice challenge. This was by far my favorite image I shot.

Summer Concerts

kingmikeip — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 04:19:39 +0000

This summer one of my consistent gigs was shooting the ‘Today Show’ concerts every Friday morning at Rockefeller Center. They were all very early morning shows, however, it was something I looked forward to each week as the lineup was pretty solid.

Prior to shooting these concerts, I had virtually no experience shooting them, so it was definitely a learning experience. By show three or four, I had the whole deal completely down pat and knew the routine. I forged friendships with some of the other photographers who frequented the concerts as well.

Lady Gaga put on quite the performance on July 9, 2010. Over 22,000 fans came out to see her. As fate would have it, before her final song began, torrential rains came pouring down. As the great performer she was, she made it part of her act. It was quite the experience.

Enrique Iglesias performed a few of his classics on July 16.

John Mayer came out rocking on July 23. He played a couple of his well known songs as well as the Robert Johnson classic ‘Crossroads.’

Carrie Underwood played to a huge crowd on July 30. She performed hits such as “Cowboy Casanova” and “Before He Cheats.”

Train performed on Aug. 6. After a three-year absence from the music scene, the San Francisco based band found a hit in “Hey Soul Sister.”

Ke$ha played to her fans’ delight on Aug. 13. With a colorful stage set and constant dancer costume changes, she put on a very visual show.

A Small July Post

kingmikeip — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:58:41 +0000

It’s been a hot summer thus far. Here are two pics from July that I like.

Children cool off in the Washington Square Park fountain on July 6, 2010. Temperature hit 102 degrees.

Lady Gaga performs at Rockefeller Center during the Today Show on July 9, 2010.

Long overdue update

kingmikeip — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:19:43 +0000

It’s been over a month since I’ve updated this blog. So here are a few favorites since I last updated.

Dariana Casado practices with her teammate, Tiffany Chen, at the Kingsway Gym on W. 28th St. on March 23, 2010.

Casado competed in the 152-weight class championship at the 2010 Golden Gloves at Madison Square Garden on March 26, 2010. She ended up losing to La Tarisha Fountain by decision.

A church member holds up his palm during Palm Sunday mass at the Most Holy Trinity-St. Mary’s Church in Brooklyn. March 28, 2010.

The following pictures are from the Five Boro Bike Tour which occurred on May 2, 2010. These pictures were all taken in Queens.

Bikers come into Queens via the Queensboro Bridge.

Pillow Fight! April 3, 2010. Union Square.

kingmikeip — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 21:41:16 +0000

New York City’s Fifth Annual Pillow Fight took place on April 3, 2010 in Union Square. Hundreds of pillow-wielding gladiators proceeded to pummel anyone within arms reach of them.

Prior to the battle, three girls decorate their pillows.

As the battle began, anyone with a pillow became fair game.

A battler winds up to unleash his pillow fury.

This guy has his battle face on.

There were hundreds of simultaneous battles taking place.

This girl tries to protect herself.

Union Square was inundated with pillow fighters.

These two girls decided to have a one-on-one battle up in the air.

This guy tried to fend off a whole crowd.

Sitting on top of a friend’s shoulder made this girl an easy target.