Happy Birthday kiddo!
Thursday, September 1st, 2016One of my two favorite subjects!
Happy Birthday kiddo!
One of my two favorite subjects!
Happy Birthday kiddo!
Went back to school for a 4 day shoot at the oldest and most prestigious private school in South Florida. 30 plus environmental setups throughout two campuses. Greatful for a terrific team that consisted of my crew ( Alfredo, Gaston, Alex and Maya) and Paul, the wonderfully laid back art director. What other school has these wonderful views on their campus coupled with amazing South Florida Winter days and skies. #lovemyjob#Miamicommercialphotography #joshuaprezantphotography
The other day Joshua Prezant Photography got called in to photograph a rising star in the TV media world.  Alicia Menendez.  She is one of the faces that Fusion TV is banking on to bring in the millennial folks to the newly built  English-language channel from ABC and Univision.
The instrcutions from one of my favorite clinets, The Washington Post, was simple and usually what I get from them. Â Have fun and shoot something cool. Although this time I did have one request. Â Nothing behind the news anchor desk. Â So after a quick google search of Menendez I was on the phone with her wonderful people at Fusion. They were extremely helpful and we set up a shoot time.
Having been in many newsroom over the years ( both TV NEWS and Newspapers) I had an idea of what I would be working with and started to visualize ideas. Â But nothing I thought of came close to the vision of what this newly contructed 160,000 square foot studio in Doral, FL looked like. Â It truley was a amazing site with all the new technological toys one could thing of that would be in a digital newsroom built from the ground up. So off I went scouting the location when I arrived at the shoot.
After scounting I met up with Menendez for a quick introduction. Â Witin seconds of meeting and talking with her I knew I would like her. Â And I did. Â Menendez was very friendly, and not the friendliness that most TV personalities put out there. Â She did not come off eager to be liked or to be put in a mold of who she was supposed to be. Â She was just herself. Â For good or bad. Â She had a smart intelectual humor that mixed in equal parts of the ever so slight mix of good rounchiness and “geek” humor. Â And you can see it in her slight wise cracking “this is who i am” smile that came out in the photos.
It was a great shoot and the article by writer Manuel Roig-Franzia came out wonderful.  I wish Alicia all the best on her new gig.
Growing up I had the opportunity to go a a bunch of boxing events throughout Florida. Â This was in a time when Miami Beach was still a fight center in the boxing world. Through my father’s Uncle I was able to not only see some of the great match ups that came through Florida, but to also meet the boxers and promoters. Â As a young kid I thought that this world was amazing ( much to my mother’s dismay). So anytime the opportunity arrises to photograph something boxing related I jump at it.
When Joshua Prezant Photography got the call to photograph legendary boxer and Olympic gold medalist Sugar Ray Leonard I made sure to clear the schedule to make it work. Â Right away my mind started to go wild with all amazing things I wanted to try to do photographically. Â But then I soon learned that I would be photographing him for a story not necessarily about boxing, but for a different fight that he took on. Â He was helping to shed light on a dark time in his life as a teen when he was sexually abused by two people very close to him.
With more details about the story I learned that I would be photographing him in his hotel room in Miami Beach late at night as he was preparing to give a motivational speech the next day to a thousand or so corporate folks from Burger King. Â Out when anything overly related to boxing in the photograph. Â No gloves, no trucks, no wardrobe changes, Â no boxing ring, no sweat! Â Just an intimate portrait of Sugar Ray in his “lounge around the house comfy clothing.”
I had to work with what I had. Â Plus, how much into a photo shoot would he be after being interviewed about his abuse for an hour or so. Â As I was setting up the lighting I carefully listened to his story as writer Wayne Coffey interviewed him. Â After they were done, it was nearly 10:30 pm or so. Â To my amazement Sugar Ray was truly hospital and easy going when we started shooting. Â Although we did not have much time and after what had to be an emotionally draining interview he patiently sat for my photo session…. Even allowing me to get a more upbeat idea in before we ended.
On a beautiful sunny, and unusually breezy day in South Florida I found myself driving down a two way road with gigantic mansions on the left and nothing but sandy beach and ocean to my right. Â I was headed to the home of the prolific writer James Patterson. I was on assignment for the Washington Post Media Company to photograph James for the cover of their upcoming style section.
When I entered into his home I was immediately in awe. Â Not because of the big house or the location, but because of the amazing collection of photography that he and his wife had. And when I saw the picture of James on his mantle with a signed note at the button from your pal Harry ( as in Harry Benson) I got a tad bit nervous. First off, he knew what a good picture was and second off he was pals with some of the best photographers out there. If i screwed up, I would be getting called out by the likes of Harry Benson and Elliot Erwitt!
The assignment called for a very clean background with an emphasis on James’s eyes. I had about 15 minutes with him, mostly talking photography in between shots.  It was a real treat for me to photograph a subject with such a passion for photography.
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