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The Big One! Elmira Knitting Mills Warehouse Fire – 01/31/16

Had to laugh….I was called in by my Buddy Horseheads FD Chief Artie Sullivan…so I dusted it off & grabbed my trusty old T&C Helmet with my nickname, the trademark BATMAN logo on it. When I got to the scene Artie and Heights Chief Mike Cadek gave me the OK to shoot away among the Fire Troops inside the FD crowd ropes…..while doing so a Heights PD Officer came up, thought I was just an ordinary civilian and was going to move me back….
I explained to him that I had permission to shoot there…..
He asked “Who are you?”
“I’M BATMAN”
End of story……..got lots of great stuff, and lucky for all of us….it was 54 degrees out this January 31st! Felt like a Spring Drill.

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Good Ole’ Bill Shaw, the gentleman in the Yellow Fire Police Jacket & who has been in the Heights FD since he was 9 years old kept saying all night long…”I’ve been waiting Seventy One Years For This S.O.B. to Burn Down!” Well there you go Bill!!!

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11/14/15 Honor Vets Flight – Washington D.C.

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The Wall…

I’ve shot it many times….this Cold, Black Stone Sentinel of Solemn Honor. For men my age, it always takes our breath away. Because if not for the Grace of God and the lucky timing of the stroke of Nixon’s 1973 Vietnam War ending pen, my name could very easily now, have been etched on the inside of this wall, looking out at a life that could have been. So I wanted to do something different this time. So rather than trying to battle the crowds, the distractions, the sheer overwhelming number of endless names on each panel, as I have done in the past,  I decided to simplify this shoot to it’s most basic form.
Alpha & Omega. The Beginning & The End.
I simply focused on the very first name on the Wall, and the very last name on the Wall. Each name placed there pretty much in the very order in which each soldier died during this God Awful Atrocity of War.

John H. Anderson Jr.
Jessie C. Alba

You made the Ultimate Sacrifice for Our Country – Thank You, & May You Rest In Peace.
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WWII Atlantic Memories

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Ned Morrow – WWII Veteran – U.S. Navy

“Pink in the Rink” 2015 Edition

A few Special Moments from last night’s “Pink in the Rink” Ceremony prior to the Jackals-Reading ECHL Hockey Game. Each of the Boys skated out to present flowers to a Brave, Strong, Determined Cancer Survivor. Followed up by a Great Rendition of the National Anthem and a really fun Puck Drop at Center Ice.
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“Bowl Much?”

Isn’t it funny how things just seem to happen for a reason? I had this past Saturday off without a Wedding Shoot, and that’s not too common an occurrence during the middle of July. But as fate would have it that worked out for the best, as last week an old Fire Department Buddy of mine passed away after a long illness. Thomas Lynch was his name……Tommy to his friends….he owned and ran Hibbard’s Hardware in Hanover Square when we were all growing up. So it was the middle of the week when my good friend HFD Chief Artie Sullivan asked if I was available on Saturday, and if I could shoot Tommy’s Funeral services, that would be held at the Station right across the street from my Studio…and as luck would have it I could.

Tommy  was 74 years old, and a Volunteer for 51 years with our Horseheads Fire Department, and back in the ’70’s when I was also a HFD member, I got to share some fun times with Tommy on the Softball Field and also in the local  Bowling Alleys. He and I, we both bowled a lot and we prided ourselves on being(or at least thinking) that we were pretty good……. so that being said we always joked around with each other….whenever one of us was really sucking up the alleys by having a bad night, missed an easy shot, left a split, or especially if we sucked while out of town at a Fire Department Tournament, we always had  something special to yell at each other, right at that moment when we were so pissed that we either blew an easy shot, or just threw a terrible ball….we’d always yell….”BOWL MUCH?”  , and then bust out laughing! Tommy was the first of my teammates on our old softball team to pass away.
Rest In Peace my friend….and every time I’ll hear the thunder from now on, I’ll think of you and quietly mouth the words while asking that time tested question …..“Bowl Much?”

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Anchors Away…

This afternoon, I had the pleasure to meet & shoot a military long timer @ the 211 Studio. Bert J. Olechnowicz – 3rd Assistant Engineer – U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command…..Bert’s back home in Binghamton, NY for a short but well deserved break between deployments in the Middle East. He says he’s heading back in a few weeks for his 5th deployment. Thanks Bert, for all you do to keep us all safe!
And to the rest of you Active Duty Military people out there….contact me while you are home on leave, and as my sincere Thanks to you for your service to all of us….I’ll shoot you for FREE! & you don’t even have to duck!!!!
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My Free Wedding Offer Could be your…. “REDEMPTION”

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My Shawshank Redemption….

Every time this movie comes on, no matter what else is going on I just have to watch it! This,  The Blues Brothers & Animal House are my favorite three of all time, & I know almost all the lines in each from memory!

Anyway, I was Goggling stuff about Shawshank, and found that the 1994 prison drama The Shawshank Redemption is a Hollywood rarity, in that it wasn’t shot in Hollywood. The filmmakers didn’t use New York or Toronto either. Instead, Shawshank was filmed almost entirely on location, in and around the Rust Belt city of Mansfield, Ohio, about halfway between Columbus and Cleveland.

The Reformatory has never been more popular. It turns out the Ohio State Reformatory has become somehow hip. And the tours are just the beginning. You name it, people want to do it here: conventions, trade shows, ghost hunts, concerts, proms. People even want to get married here.

“There are 14 weddings here scheduled for this year(2011),” Klarman says. “There are already four or five scheduled for 2012. And there’s one wedding scheduled for 2013 already. So word has gotten out. It had spread. It’s just amazing.”

So here’s my offer to you….

BOOK YOUR WEDDING THERE & Select me to shoot it,  and my usually priced  $2000 Recovery Wedding Photography Package is ON ME! FREE!

“Salvation Lies Within”

Shawshank-Redemption-Wallpaper-the-shawshank-redemption-10336576-1024-768Note: a $200 Gasoline/Travel Fee will apply, along with Standard Hotel Lodging for my two nights stay.

“Let’s Give Cancer The Boot!”

A few favorites from tonight’s volunteer gig, my fourth or fifth already,  as Official Event Photographer for the 2013 North Chemung County American Cancer Society Relay For Life event at Thorne Street Park in Horseheads, NY.
Great People, Great Time, Great Cause!

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2012 ACS Relay For Life

Tonight, for the Fourth Year in a  row I donated my Shooting Skills to help out my friends at the American Cancer Society with their Horseheads Relay For Life Event, held earlier tonight at the Holding Point Recreation Complex. Here is a small sampling of some of the Fun, Smiles, Love, and Special Moments I captured at tonight’s Rain Shortened event. Pouring rain cancelled the event at 9:30, but I’ve been advised that it will continue & conclude events that were missed tonight especially the Luminaria Service on a yet to be determined Sunday Afternoon or Evening this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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