Business Week

I love the calls that take my photography in a direction that I have been wanting to go. Last week I got such a a call from Kathy Moore at Business Week magazine to shoot a CEO portrait. It took a while to arrange our schedules and find a good weather window, but on Friday morning I photographed Jerry Norman, the president and CEO of the Neptune Society on the Neptune Memorial Reef in Biscayne Bay. My idea for the shot was for a traditional CEO portrait in a non-traditional location, and Jerry was game to give it a try. Of course, the realities of having a person stand on the bottom in forty feet of water wearing only a business suit are quite challenging. Peter Manno and Neil Andrea were my assistants and were essential parts of the shoot. The water could have been a little clearer, but I think that all things considered, we got some great images. Once the article runs, I will post a few more images.

Myth Busters

I usually get one call a year right around Shark Week to shoot for the Discovery Channel. Last year it was for the documentary about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. This year it was with the Myth Busters crew. Since the program is still a few weeks from running, I probably can't say too much about the show. However, the crew was a lot of fun, and it is a unique set of hosts that can look good filling syringes with dog urine and fecal secretions. (If that doesn't make you want to tune in, then I don't know what will.)

The shoot took place in Nassau and we dove with JP Genasi and Stuart Cove's. I always like getting into the water at Stuart Cove's shark dive. There is nothing natural about that spot, or about 50 Caribbean Reef sharks circling in forty feet of water. However, it is as close to a studio situation as you will ever find for photographing sharks. The white sand bottom produces amazing light, the sharks are everywhere, and if you have an idea that you want to try ... shooting down on a shark, have a shark swim left to right through frame, or panning for a blur, or using the sharks to frame a diver ... you don't have to wait too long for the opportunity. And in most cases, JP Genasi can make it happen. All he needs is a fist full of bait and a chain mail suit.

JP Genasi