Alex Menendez

Ryon McKenzie 10-0

2012-01-30T22:35:00.004-05:00

I have been working on a documentary that has to do with the sport of boxing. I won't get into the details here because I don't want anyone to steal the idea, you'll just have to wait until August.

However, I just returned from a photo shoot with one of the principal fighters to be featured in the film. His name is Ryon McKenzie and he is from the Caribbean. This young man is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, unless you are across the ring from him and planning to scrap....

He won his 10th fight in a row this past Saturday in New York, his 9th knockout in his young pro career.

Memorize his name, he will be a force in the 175 weight class.....and remember you saw him here first!

Dwight Howard media day

2011-12-14T09:56:00.006-05:00

It annoys me when I show up for a shoot and one critical piece of gear is missing or broken....well, it happened to me this past Monday. The Orlando Magic were holding their annual "Media Day" event and the only story in town was that Superstar Dwight Howard had requested a trade from the team! Every sports station, radio, tv , newspaper and magazine was there to see what he had to say. Me, I just needed archive images for Orlando Sports Magazine, if Dwight was actually on his way out of town. (Thanks to Melanie and Joel once again for the access).

So the first thing I did was find my spot on the gym floor to set up, making sure that there was power and plenty of room for those that did not bring their portable lights. Most folks there will hover around the tv guys with their on-board lights and snap stills over their shoulder, unbeknowst to the videographers. Well, as tradition, they have a tendancy to hover around me until the player poses and then multiple flashbulbs blind the athlete until he can no longer see, paparazzi to the fullest...

Anyways, I opened and set my backdrop, set stands and lights and found the necessary power supplies....formatted cards, set camera to Raw/Jpeg and then went to grab the sync cord........um,....the sync cord. Dang, "Now where did I put that?"....I always carry 2 cords just in case one fails.......hmmm.........oh yeah, I was checking lights with my 8 year old a few days back, and we decided to put them back into the Pelican case, not the ThinkTank bag...NOT GOOD! I had the ThinkTank with me now..

Pocket Wizard time, but I only carry one set of these as I hardly ever use them....time to make my own magic.....I was able to put the transmitter on the camera and the only other receiver on my main light....I would just have to let the first light trigger the second light.....with absolutely no back light now......bummed to say the least!!!

The original plan was to set two lights at 90 degrees (aiming directly into the subjects ears) and then front light them with a ring flash much as I did last year. But now that my hotshoe was being used by the PocketWizard, that option was off the table....

My lack of properly preparing my gear came back to bite me in the butt.....

Regardless, you can only do what you can do so I simply pressed on. All of the players themselves were in a good mood it seemed, but the atmosphere was beginning to get tense an hour in, Dwight had not been seen or heard from by anyone.

Then suddenly, like someone had yelled "Fire", everyone moved to the center of the gym and surrounded the basketball logo on the floor. It looked like a giant donut, 5 people deep, with cameras, lights and mic boom poles everywhere. Dwight entered the gym much like Muhammed Ali would have back in the 70's, and after stopping for a brief moment to talk to a coach, he slowly glided across the floor to the buzzing entourage of English/Spanish/Italian? voices all clamoring to ask him about his future.....

......meanwhile, still photographers Fernando, Gary, John and myself all hung WAAAYYYY back and watched as the madness unfolded....scary and funny at the same time.....It sounded like honeybees surrounding the Queen..........had it been me, I probably would have run away!

Then it ended.

Dwight was gone just as quickly as he had arrived, and after about 30 minutes, the gym had a calm, eerie feeling to it. Of the 150 media members that had been in attendance, about 25 remained, not waiting for one-on ones with anyone else....They came, they conquered.......they bolted.

Three hours later the only ones in the gym were us photographers, CEO Alex Martins, and various communications people from the Magic. Almost all were on the phones speaking, texting or twittering.... then out of nowhere, Dwight came in again... He was ALL smiles, jumpy and very much alive...a few hellos to everyone and then it was GAME TIME!!! When he finally made it over to the last station, (mine), he smiled that pearly white smile, gave me a high five and a hug and we talked about our Haiti adventure together....I had seen him a few times over the summer but not as happy or as loose as today......I grabbed some hilarious frames of him acting like a kid, a happy kid, and then he was on his way, one last interview before heading home...

I packed up as quickly as I could, minus sync cord, and was out the back door.

No matter his choice, I sure hope Dwight decides to finish out his career here in Orlando, he is so much more than "just a baskeball player"! He actually gives back through his various charities and events, even those many of us have never heard about.......

More Images to view here:

http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com/gallery/Orlando-Magic-Media-2011/G0000HD4QUs7TteU/

(Hey Dwight....I would take the elephant over the pint!)......better choice

Miguel Cotto Boxing Media Day

2011-11-23T14:46:00.004-05:00

Had the unique opportunity to film three time World Champion Miguel Cotto at the KG Boxing Gym in Orlando the other day. The workout was pretty intense for the media event and I was very surprised at the turnout...about 250 folks showed up...

Top Rank Boxing promoter Bob Arum was also in attendance for the display and there was plenty of nervousness surrounding the fact the the December 3 fight against Antonio Margarito may not even happen due to NY State Laws.

It turns out the event is now "ON", can't wait to see how this bout turns out....these two fighters despise each other......

More images here: http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com

Fall Colors on the interstate

2011-11-10T05:08:00.005-05:00

Driving up to Baltimore this week has been an adventure for sure....

My Chevy work van exploded when the oil filter that I had replaced 3 days prior simply "fell off" on I-95 and spewed 6 quarts of smoking oil all over the roadway and every window of the vehicle.....can't wait to go see the QuikLube manager next week!

Then the next morning I was lucky enough to drive 4 hours in the fog...not just your everyday morning fog either, nope, this was MEGA-FOG, the kind you see in haunted movies on TV.....yup, made for some interesting ideas on using a fog filter on some upcoming gigs...

......then, well, then things started to turn for the better...the sky opened up and the leaves on the trees came into focus....the roadway looked like a rustling rainbow! It brought back memories of me growing up on the farm in Upstate New York and the good times I shared with my little brother Dion, the same one who was stuck there on the roadway waiting for the tow truck driver with me....

Yup, things are looking up......

Mr. Cooper

2011-11-07T17:06:00.004-05:00

Ran across this image today. Anderson Cooper is the man on CNN who is constantly trekking the world in search of the Breaking News stories. He does a fairly great job in my opinion and he is both fun to watch and not afraid to ask the tough questions....

Just wish he would return to Haiti to see how those folks are doing today..........

......yes, I stopped so he could have his pic taken with me! :-)

NCAA photos of the Week

2011-11-05T20:02:00.002-04:00

Did a quick google search for some images of mine tonite and discovered that I had two images featured in this weeks NCAA Football Photos of the Week for Oct. 29, 2011.

Nothing to fancy, but different none the less.....Check back for more.

San Francisco

2011-10-27T14:09:00.004-04:00

There is a song by the band "TRAIN" called Save Me San Francisco that I have been listening to an awful lot lately, and it seems quite fitting because I have visited that city a few times in the past months. I am absolutely in LOVE with that town now...not sure if its the water, buildings, atmosphere, mountains, the cool weather or just the people, but I can't seem to get enough.....but i digress!

When I had the opportunity to break away from my video work this past week, I scampered back up to the Marin Headlands to try and shoot the Golden Gate bridge and the city once again....unfortunately, the sun had already sunk beneath the clouds and the wind was kicking at about 50 mph..no lie! I figured, something has to eventually come of this and waiting until the sun was gone....as luck would have it, the fog started to fill in and the lights reflected some pretty cool things....

This was shot in the pure dark, only illumination is from the boats and the bridge lights...

I will post more when I get the chance.

Occupy Orlando

2011-10-20T14:45:00.005-04:00

So when this whole "Occupy Wall Street" movement started, people didn't quite know where it would lead. Basically it was a just reported to be a bunch of pissed off hippies and anarchists revolting and rioting over the big banks stealing money from regular, hardworking people.....

flash forward a month and the whole country is starting their own Occupy events....

Well, Orlando had to jump on the bandwagon and I spotted the first meeting on my twitter page one day.....I figured, lemme grab a camera and see what happens...

About 400 locals showed up to the non-violent affair and tried to voice their opinions on whomever would listen...by the end of the rally, they had decided to reorganize and stage a rally on the next Saturday....

I was out of town for the rally, but heard a few hundred folks showed up and protested and even organized a parade through downtown Orlando.....just a few days later, the park where most had tried to camp out, was pretty much deserted.

If you ask me, they have a long way to go and need to be more committed if they plan on changing anything here.......get it together folks!

CBS picked up this image of mine from the first meeting....

GRAIL moonshot launch

2011-09-12T19:42:00.007-04:00

Shot the GRAIL moonshot Atlas launch this past weekend....well, actually I didn't.

Let me explain. I set my remote camera's out on Wednesday so that they would capture the launch on Thursday morning at 8:33. We are allowed to set cameras up the day before and have to leave them out until about 3 hours after the actual launch. NASA has to clear the pad and make sure the surrounding area is "Safe" before they let us back out to retrieve our gear.

Well, Thursday night it rained as hard as it has all year, and the gear got totally drenched.

I went out to the Press Site to shoot the launch with my 400 2.8 and a 70-200 on a Bogen Magic Arm... the weather didn't cooperate though and the launch was scrubbed due to high winds about 3 miles up in the sky. NO GO!!

I was planning on going back out to shoot the launch Thursday morning but that was cancelled on Wednesday evening at 10:40.....and it rained as well.

Luckily I go a bit overboard and cover all of my gear with protective bags and such, due to the rain and dew.

Well, Friday came and a few of us, (those hanging in the media area) were allowed back out to check our remotes and clean our lenses.. Mine was ok but there were some cameras that didn't fare too well.....the rain had damaged a few lenses and bodies.

Saturday came and the launch was expected to go at around 8:30 but that too was scrubbed due to weather. Though the sky was blue, those danged winds just wouldn't quit, the second launch window was in jeopardy....

meanwhile, back in Orlando I was preparing to shoot my 400 on a cropped body with a 2x extender from my front porch. All in all it's about 50 miles from my house and I wasn't sure if I could even see the rocket through the building clouds.

Now, let me explain, I had made a deal with Alan Walters and Paul Hennessey to pick my gear up if I couldn't make it to the actual launch on Saturday. I have been travelling a lot lately and needed to spend some time with my family. I decided to miss the launch with a backup plan in place......it seems to have worked.

Though I would have loved to have shot the launch in person, I gambled and took the chance that the remotes would cover me! I don't recommend this to others who are on assignment, but in this case, I was over the moon!

To see more: log onto www.apimages.com and search Grail Moonshot

American Flags

2011-09-11T10:00:00.003-04:00

Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. A piece of history that most would like to forget. All of the wire services, newspapers, magazines and television shows on today are about that dreadful day. It didn't ever occur to me until I was shooting the UCF football game last night just how beautiful the American flag really is!.....Think about it, how proud are you when you know that this is our symbol of pride and freedom...............?

I am proud to be an American and live where I do, it is a privelege to be here......cherish your family and friends today and thank God for all that you have.....

Mason Foster fined by NFL for Ochocinco Hit

2011-08-24T19:33:00.005-04:00

Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie linebacker Mason Foster was fined $20,000 today for this illegal hit on New England Patriots wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. Foster hasn't even collected his first professional paycheck yet and is already in the red.

I shot this image during the game and haven't seen any other still photos of the hit on any of the wires or in print.

Chad Ochocinco is offering to pay the fine for the rookie after calling the hit "clean".

Lets see what the league says about that.....

Non Disclosure

2011-08-12T17:19:00.004-04:00

So I just returned from a trip where I filmed for 3 days. I only have 25 more shoot days left in the schedule for a job that I can not openly discuss.....these are the times we live in.

Check back in a year and I will show you both the videos and the stills.....!

I know this is not what most write in their blog to drum up business and keep their "peeps" in the loop, but this is all I can offer at this point. Sorry

Please log back on here in a week. I will update for sure.

Juno/Atlas V Jupiter trip

2011-08-07T14:48:00.004-04:00

I filmed the Juno/Atlas V rocket launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Friday. It was a "blast"......sorry, I know, really bad pun! You can punch me the next time you see me....

Anyways, I set out 2 remote triggers (thanks Alan Walters for your loaner) with the hopes that at least one would fire this time, and boy did I get lucky.....

The mission itself is an incredible dream, to send a rocket to Jupiter to try and find out some really cool stuff about the planet and other info that is way above my pay grade, all in all it will take 5 years to discover cool things before it suicide bombs itself into the planet....never to be seen or heard from again....

Let me say, the fact that scientists can determine how to get this ship there in the first place is downright incredible, but to get it off of the ground in the first place in mindblowing. This sucker fired off after about 50 minutes in delays but when it did the earth seemed to stand still. The power of this beast can not be shared, you had to see it to believe it....and I did, along with other photographers from the top of the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC. What a day!

The images you see here are what I shot and I can't wait to go back and shoot every type of rocket NASA puts up, it truly is inspiring and dramatic at the same time and the imagery is spectacular....When the smoke clears and the shadow of the trailing smoke highlights the sky, you realize just how lucky we are to see such sights. I am very thankful to the volunteers and NASA workers who allow us to snap memories everytime one launches.......

Until next time, enjoy.

2011-07-22T19:57:00.004-04:00

Just returned from a mind-blowing time in Las Vegas! Tired, worn out and dry.....yup, dry! There is no humidity there whatsoever and stepping off the plane in Florida reminded me what I had missed the past 5 days.

How one can miss that wet sheen of the Florida night is hard to comprehend, but it does happen....

Anyways, I am back home and the usual afternoon showers/thunderstorms made it to my neighborhood, right on schedule. I quickly decided to break out my new lightning trigger that I bought 2 weeks ago for the shuttle Atlantis launch, and placed it right in the back seat of my Ford F-150 to test the trigger. The above image is the first lightning that made it to the CF card.

The rest of this summer should be fun, just need to find the right location for some more fascinating lightning images......send me your ideas!

Shuttle Atlantis landing

2011-07-20T21:19:00.007-04:00

So here I sit in my hotel room, the Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas waiting to finish the video edit for a client of mine. It has been a hectic 3 days so far and though they are very pleased with what I have captured so far, my mind is mush.....

The space shuttle Atlantis lands in a few hours back in Florida and I don't leave Vegas until tomorrow afternoon. Safe to say that I won't make it to the landing pad....and there is no "next time" to get the desired images......guess what....life goes on. There are times when you really want to be there and unfortunately there are times when you just can't. This is the way the photo industry works, and the sooner you figure that out, the less stressed you will be. Trust Me!

To all of my colleagues who will be there, I wish you nothing but the best. Get the exposure right and make history, you've obviously put in the time and deserve to capture beautiful images. Make us proud.

I just came across a cool shot of mine that got picked up today: cool slideshow here-

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2011/07/20/slideshow-nasas-space-shuttle-program/#23

Trevor Bayne is on FIRE!!!

2011-06-30T22:56:00.003-04:00

Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 this past February but has not placed very well since that race. He has suffered health problems as well as sponsorship issues during this years NASCAR season.

Today, he returned to Daytona International Speedway with hopes of repeating his miraculous victory. However, he had a rough start when his car caught fire after his first practice session today, lets hope he can recover quickly and get the Woods Brothers team back to victory lane...!

Images available at www.APImages.com, look under Coke Zero 400.

Dwight Howard Bowling in SI

2011-06-29T22:13:00.004-04:00

Dwight Howard brought his D12Foundation to the Altamonte Springs AMF bowling alley this past weekend. There were plenty of kids there and they had a blast with Dwight and other members of the Orlando Magic family.

The media was out in full force and they did their best to try and ask Dwight about the upcoming NBA lockout, he would have none of that however, stating that he had 2 new jobs in mind if the lockout happened. He would (1) raise chickens and give them steroids for bigger bodies, or he would (2) move to Canada to take up the Olympic sport of curling.......?

Whatever he decides to do will be just fine with me, as long as he keeps his head on straight and continues to help the kids that look up to him!

For more info log onto www.D12Foundation.com

Image published in the lastest Sports Illustrated online photo gallery.

Thanks for looking.

QR reader

2011-06-20T12:15:00.001-04:00

Just got my first QR reader stamp.

Check it out, will be going on my business cards and probably on all photos that I post to the web.

Getcha one!

President orders attack on Osama Bin Laden

2011-05-02T19:06:00.006-04:00

I had no idea what this photo would mean when I took it on Friday.

I was hoping to photograph President Barack Obama when he visited the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center after the announced scrub of Endeavour's STS-134 launch. The first lady and his daughters were with the President to watch the launch and to speak for a few moments with Gabby Giffords, the Congresswoman who was shot in Arizona and the wife of shuttle Endeavour Commander Kelly.

The motorcade arrived about 30 minutes after 5 helicopters began hovering around the property, and it was past us in about 10 seconds. Of course Barack was on the opposite side of us and Michelle waved as their cars drove by.

About an hour later, we all hoped the motorcade would leave in the same direction and they did....I pressed the button on the camera and nailed the image we see here!

Today, just two days later, I learned that just hours after these images were taken, President Obama would approve a military strike in Pakistan on Osama Bin Laden which would result in the death of the terrorist and mastermind of the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.

Sitting here typing this, I admit it feels weird to think of all the problems Obama has to deal with on a daily basis. Perhaps I should feel lucky with how much pressure I don't have to endure every hour that I am awake.....photography doesn't seem that hard anymore.

More pics here: http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com/

Image taken on April 29, 2011. (Photo Credit: Alex Menendez)

NFL Draft on ESPN

2011-04-28T19:51:00.002-04:00

The NFL draft airs tonite on ESPN and nobody has a clue who the first pick will be and if he will even have the opportunity to play this season. The courts will decide what happens with the lockout....

Anyways, not to carry on, but I had an assignment a few weeks back from ESPN. Bill Parcells was in Orlando at Full Center University and was taping a show called "Bill Parcells Draft Confidential", where the old ballcoach rated the current draftees and his guesses on their draft order. I was hired to shoot behind the scenes for distribution and marketing. Everyone was fun to hang with and I have to say, shooting for ESPN is always a good time!

Orlando City Lions

2011-04-26T14:36:00.005-04:00

The Orlando City Lions of the United Soccer League have officially begun their season and I think this is just what the Orlando market needs to draw new blood to the sport.

The Lions are in their first season here and have assembled a pretty good team to boot!

I had the opportunity to shoot the match against visiting Puerto Rico and the fan support and game action was better than expected. Look for a feature in the next issue of Orlando Sports Mag!

More game images can be found here:

http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com/gallery/Orlando-City-Soccer/G0000gvtWCBL2lM4/

Rock Climbing NC

2011-04-13T21:23:00.004-04:00

Family took a trip to Chimney Rock, North Carolina a few weeks back. Rainy weather with the temps in the high 30's. Not exactly what I had planned for Spring Break weather but you know what, my phone didn't work there and that was alright with me. My boys, ages 6 and 7, regularly climb at the indoor rock wall in Longwood and get a kick out of it. We decided that for this trip we would try to climb real rocks....game on!!

We hired Fox Mountain Guides and were on our way. Blaze and Zane had a blast climbing, even though it was so foggy and we were so high up that they couldn't exactly see where it was that they were climbing to....

Fun, never the less.

Shuttle Endeavour Roll Out

2011-03-11T09:57:00.003-05:00

Shuttle Endeavour rolled out last night from the Vehicle Assembly Building and headed over to Launch Pad 39A. This is mission STS-134 and is scheduled to blast off on April 19, 2011. I had the really cool chance to photograph this from inside the VAB and was so glad that I drove all the way to Kennedy Space Center and did it. I love the way the shuttle lights up with the Xenon lights hitting it and couldn't get over how big the building and the Endeavour actually are.

The space program at KSC seems to be winding down, (which sucks), and this is the last ever launch of Endeavour, so I will put out as many remote cameras as I can and pray for a successful mission.

Thanks to all who helped me at the VAB and to all of the folks at NASA.

Shuttle Discovery Final Flight

2011-03-01T09:44:00.005-05:00

I had the coolest time shooting the final liftoff of the Space Shuttle Discovery this past week. With all the hype and worry surrounding the NASA shuttle program, this was indeed one cool shoot that I am very appreciative of being able to cover. Not everyone gets the chance to stand this close to a rocket and I will never forget the feeling of it taking off.

I set a Canon 7d remote camera set up in the swamps facing a waterway with a sound trigger to activate the camera upon liftoff. The trigger turns the camera on from its sleep mode about 10 minutes before the scheduled liftoff time. The "awake" camera automatically starts snapping images when the sound trigger hears a loud noise. The shuttle is loud when the boosters fire up and this starts the image capture.

I have a lot of people to thank in helping me learn the ropes on this type of shooting but I want to put a big shout out to Don Montague and Red Huber. They know what they are doing and are not afraid or too stuck up to share their knowledge!

By the way, we went to retrieve our camera's at about 10p.m. in the pitch black and we encountered monster mosquitos and a rather large alligator in the water keeping watch on my tripod. It's always an adventure here in Florida.

More pics: http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com/

2011 Daytona 500 NASCAR race

2011-02-22T17:07:00.004-05:00

Twenty year old Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 in one of the wildest races in ages. The kid who had no major sponsor the day before the race and who last week couldn't get anyone to speak to him at the NASCAR media day, silenced everyone!

He won the race in the last lap with no help from his teammates and held off Carl Edwards for his first Sprint Cup victory in only his second Cup race.

This God loving dude laid down the pedal when it mattered and hasn't stopped smiling since, I guarantee you his jaws are hurting right now.....anyways, Congrats young man and thanks for making the weekend a good time for all!

Images found here: http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com/.

Capital One VISIGOTHS

2011-02-17T17:05:00.004-05:00

I shot over 1000 images for a promo with the Capital One Visigoths yesterday. You, know, the "viking" looking guys who wreak havoc in whatever city they decide to invade. This was without a doubt one of the funnest shoots that I have had in years. I laughed my butt off for about 7 straight hours and gasped for air everytime they got around a good looking girl.

This was an assignment for Cap One and Kohls.

I am sending images to them when they return to L.A. and can't wait to work with them again...

Thanks Guys

Jadeveon Clowney picks SC

2011-02-14T21:41:00.005-05:00

Jadeveon Clowney, the number one high school player in the nation picked South Carolina as his school to play football at this season. There was much speculation as to who he would pick as his school. I shot him as he practiced for the Under Armour All American football game last month. CBS sports picked up the story and ran my image today on their site. Pretty cool and I am pleased that my assignment paid off.

More images can be found on my www.alexmenendez.photoshelter.com website.

Magic dominate Clippers

2011-02-09T11:37:00.005-05:00

The Orlando Magic had a pretty good night against Blake Griffin and the LA Clippers last night. Dwight was suppose to wear goggles to protect his scratched eyeball but he decided that he couldn't see through them very well and played on without them.

The new arena is a bit more difficult to shoot in than the old Amway arena. The crowd sits back more from the floor and there are some lighting fixtures that cause massive flares when you are shooting wide. It will take a while to get use to them I suppose.

Anyway, lets hope the Magic can get back on track and make another successful run at the playoffs......off to shoot the UCF Knights Mens basketball team tonite.....putting in my earplugs as I type.

Busiest month in years....

2011-01-27T20:53:00.004-05:00

This month has been the busiest month that I have had in years. Not sure how everyone remembered my phone number, but thanks. Everyone has been great and 2011 is looking to be a spectacular year for shooting and editing.

I just started the Florida Scenic Highways program this month and shot this beauty tonite. YOU SHOULD SEE THE VIDEO SHOT WITH 15MM, 24 SHIFT TILT, 24-70 AND THE 70-200. I will keep you posted when it goes up on VIMEO, until then, keep calling and get out there and shoot, will ya????

Under Armour All America Football 2011

2011-01-15T20:56:00.004-05:00

Maxwell Club President Ron Jaworski today announced that Jeff Driskel, from Hagerty High School, Oviedo, Florida, has been selected as the Player of the Year. I recently shot Jeff and ESPN Rise Magazine number one overall recruit Jadeveon Clowney as they practiced for the 2011 Under Armour All America Football game.

Pretty good players for sure...check more images here http://alexmenendez.photoshelter.com/

UCF Ranked at #24

2010-12-22T16:56:00.009-05:00

The University of Central Florida Knights mens basketball team is ranked for the first time ever at #24. This is due to their undefeated season thus far, where they currently sit with a 11-0 record.

No doubt first year Head Coach Donnie Jones has things rolling in the right direction, with HUGE victories against both Florida and Miami.

Marcus Jordan, A.J. Rompza and Keith Clanton are the early team leaders, lets hope they stay in the rankings for the rest of the season and give UCF all the press that they deserve...like this photo of mine that was posted on ESPN!

NUMA Sunglasses

2010-12-17T14:35:00.002-05:00

This commercial was shot on Lake Okeechobee by Darren Sheppard on a Panasonic 900 DVC-PRO camera. It features Pro Bass Champion Scott Martin wearing NUMA polarized sunglasses.
The product shots were filmed by me in my studio, here in Orlando.
I edited this in Final Cut Pro with backup help from Tim Baker, as the deadline was the day we received the tapes.

This commercial is currently airing on the VERSUS television network.

Space X Falcon 9 with Dragon

2010-12-08T16:32:00.004-05:00

Today SpaceX launched its Dragon spacecraft into low-Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 10:43 AM EST from the Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral. This is a very significant step towards getting the US space program back on its feet after the Space Shuttle program ends.

I was very fortunate to have people like Red Huber and Don Montague guide me in the proper techniques of setting up remote cameras for this launch. I will be forever indebted to them for their patience and expertise.

This was by far one of the coolest setups I have done to date and the space program just blows my mind!

I will be featuring a story on rockets and 'rocket clubs" in the upcoming issue of Orlando Sports Mag right after Christmas. I will keep you posted.

Seminole Nation

2010-11-28T20:56:00.003-05:00

Jimbo Fisher took over at the helm this year when Bobby Bowden was let go as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles football program has not beaten the Florida Gators in the past 7 seasons. That all changed this year when the Gators strolled into Doak Campbell Stadium and it's over capacity crowd. With Tim Tebow out of the picture, John Brantley was forced to try his best at quarterback, but unfortunately, it was not the outcome he was hoping for. The Seminoles blew out the Gators 31-7 on ESPN and are now on their way to the ACC Championship. All in all it was a fun game with a great crowd, no rain and temps in the 40's.

UCF Basketball

2010-11-18T13:56:00.006-05:00

This UCF Knights started their season off right against the visiting team from West Florida, by winning 115-61. Marcus Jordan scored a career high 24 points and the defense hustled and impressed first year coach Donnie Jones.

The cool thing about these first three games is that they are played on the same night as the Orlando Magic games, so there are only about 3 photographers on the court to capture the action.

Lets see how tonights "Blackout" game goes against the visiting USF Bulls, the cross State rival of the Knights.

Hooped Up-Haiti

2010-11-15T20:37:00.004-05:00

Still pushing the DwightHowardFund video to the masses and just this week we have had over 8,000 loads on the Vimeo site alone.

The cholera epidemic is just now hitting hard and there are over 900 deaths with 12,000 cases confirmed in and around Port-Au-Prince. These people do not deserve this and anything that we can do to help them will be felt, no matter how small.

Say a prayer, send money, or just let others know your thoughts about giving a helping hand. Please re-tweet or spread this video so that others can donate.....thanks.

link: http://vimeo.com/16521946

NASCAR Ending

2010-11-13T11:56:00.003-05:00

It just hit me that are only two races left in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and this is the closest the drivers have been in points in over 5 years. However I am just excited to shoot back at Daytona in a few months because they have been repaving the entire speedway for the past few months. This means everyone of the drivers has a chance to win because A: nobody will have experience on the new surface and B: nobody will know which line to run in February. This will actually make the first race of the season a very fun and exciting on to watch!

Effenheimer Beer

2010-11-12T15:06:00.003-05:00

Here's a quick website that was put together using photos I shot in Minneola, Florida.

The brewery is called Effenheimer and these guys are producing some pretty good beer onsite. If you happen to make it down to Central Florida, feel free to stop by and enjoy a "tasting". They are very down to earth fella's who will treat you right.

Eyes of Faith Optical

2010-11-09T07:58:00.004-05:00

It suddenly came to me as I was at the eye doctor this week that I had photographed a new line of eyewear called "Eyes of Faith" last year during the Disney Night of Joy weekend. Tim Baker and I were hired to shoot the bands that were performing on the Eyes of Faith sponsored stage that weekend. We shot 8 bands in all and the concerts were amazing!

A few days later we filmed about 40 pair of eyeglasses with pretty cool frames at my small studio in Orlando. I have to tell you, it was harder than you would think...

Eyes of Faith is a Christian company that also has a foundation that pledges to donate a minimum of 10 percent of their gross to children's charities worldwide. Pretty cool eh?

Fantasy Surf

2010-11-08T14:39:00.005-05:00

The next time you visit Orlando and want to go surfing but are afraid of sharks or whatever lurks below the surface of the water, relax and know that there is a new attraction that you can ride, and its indoors. Fantasy Surf opened its doors, literally, this past weekend and the attraction allows you to ride a board on a man-made wave, all inside a building. My buddy over at Keene-Ideas hired me to shoot promo stills for the billboards, print and website. I have to admit, I lost 5 pounds shooting this because the room itself was warm and humid, but I didn't get bit by anything....

Discovery pushed

2010-11-05T16:59:00.006-04:00

The Space Shuttle Discovery was scheduled to launch this week but there were a few setbacks including the rainy weather and a hydrogen gas leak.

Liftoff has been set for November 30 and I will be back there setting up remote cameras the day before. Check back for the images that should feature the shuttle launching at night!

DHFundQuick

2010-11-04T20:29:00.000-04:00

Orlando Titans done!

2010-10-29T21:07:00.004-04:00

The Orlando Titans, a professional lacrosse team, pretty much folded after making it to the final 4 in the league this year. They were here for a total of 1 season and recently announced that they were going on hiatus for next year in hopes of returning again the following year.....good luck with that. The game itself was somewhat amusing to watch, especially when the teams didn't like each other, but the line changes and rules took some getting use to. Lets see what happens in a year with the old Amway Arena and if anyone we be back to play there.....

Google yourself!

2010-10-27T16:55:00.003-04:00

Have you ever tried to google yourself? I did a search yesterday to see who was using my photos and to see if I had any images out there that I was unaware of. I found a few interesting sites using my photos...like this one from FanNation of a NBA game I shot 2 years ago.

Keep everyone in check by patrolling the web, nobody else will do it for you.

Good luck and send those invoices as soon as you see a problem.

ESPN Rise magazine

2010-10-26T09:39:00.003-04:00

ESPN has a magazine called "Rise" that features high school athletes who are highly sought after by NCAA colleges across the U.S..

Recently, the network featured a nationally televised football game between South Lake, Florida and Apopka, Florida. I was contracted to provide photos for the website as well as the magazine. The job itself was fun to shoot and I am glad that they brought in extra lights to illuminate the stadium, when you are use to shooting in NCAA and NFL stadiums, we photographers get spoiled I guess.

The game was fun and I can't wait to shoot more for the magazine.

Super Bowl XLIV

2010-10-18T20:31:00.003-04:00

Last year I was in Miami to shoot my second NFL Super Bowl. This matchup featured the New Orleans Saints against the Indianapolis Colts, with the Colts being the odds on favorites to win another Super Bowl. Drew Brees however decided the State of Louisiana had been through enough heartache and was not going to let his people down.. The Saints 31-17 victory over the Colts was watched by over 106 million people and surpassed the 1983 finale of M.A.S.H. to become the most watched program in U.S. television history. I forgot about these images as they were only used for my magazine and have not seen the light of day until now. Shot with Canon MarkIII, 400 f2.8 with 1.4 extender, or the shift-tilt 24mm.

UCF Media Day/Basketball

2010-10-14T21:31:00.003-04:00

Had the unique pleasure of shooting the University of Central Florida Knight mens and womens basketball teams this afternoon for their yearly media day event. Everyone from the players to the directors and media reps were really cool and the event went off without a hitch. I used the same lighting scheme that I used for the Orlando Magic media day but had more time with each of the players which was very nice. All in all I am pretty pleased with the images and will have a week or so before I need to finish them.

The two players featured in this shot are Marcus Jordan (5) and his brother Jeff (13). Yes, they are the sons of NBA legend Michael Jordan. Marcus will play this season while Jeff has to wait until next year due to NCAA rules on player transfers. I can't wait for this season to begin!

Dwight Howard Fund

2010-10-13T09:23:00.003-04:00

I recently traveled with NBA Superstars Dwight Howard and Adonal Foyle to Haiti to document their time meeting with school children and charitable organizations in the area. The website GlobalGrind.com picked up on the story and featured a bunch of the images I took while on the trip. Keep checking back here for an update with the latest photos and info on the upcoming video for the website www.DwightHowardFund.com.

A-Rod misses 600

2010-10-13T09:13:00.007-04:00

Shot for the European Pressphoto Agency when the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez came to Tampa for a MLB baseball game. A-Rod was chasing his 600th home run and I was hired to document it if he so happened to hit it. Unfortunately, Alex did not start the game and the sold out crowd was pretty upset. Before the 7th inning began I sauntered over to the first base dugout and was the only shooter in position when Manager Joe Girardi announced A-Rod was entering the game.

After being called out on a close pitch, Alex argued briefly with the home plate umpire and I captured this image. It ran both on-line and in print the next day in the New York Times.

Orlando Magic media day

2010-10-12T16:26:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I finally remembered my password to this blog account. Lets see how often I make it back to this page. Anywho....here is a quick pic I shot at the Orlando Magic media day event last week. Dwight Howard and my first day with the new Orbis ringflash. More coming up on this shoot in the near future, as well as some shots from my time in Haiti with the Dwight Howard Fund....

Shuttle is a go!

2009-12-09T15:28:00.005-05:00

Wow,

Where has the time gone? I know, I know,....I have been VERY busy trying to run 3 businesses, shoot, travel, edit and play with my 2 youngsters.....all while trying to sell more business. If you are in the media/ad business then you know exactly what I am talking about. Anyhoo, here comes the first of what should be a slew of updates coming your way soon, I promise. Lets start with a few very quick posts on the Shuttle-129 mission that I shot about a month ago. I am doing a story on Astronaut Leland Melvin, a former NFL football player and his training methods... Look for the article in the January issue of OrlandoSportsMag.

Here are a few quick snaps that I edited for your viewing pleasure. I will get caught up over the Holidays....enjoy!

Portrait Time

2009-08-04T14:03:00.006-04:00

Well, what can I say, I am finally posting on my blog. It has been months since I have had time to update but here we go.

What have I been doing you ask, well I shot a little NASCAR, a little Orlando Magic playoffs, some professional soccer, a few portraits with director David Bermejo and a ton of video with the new Canon 5DMKII. Awesome camera for those who want to get into HD.

I plan on updating with more info here soon, I promise.

For now, here are a few portraits I messed around with model Sharon from Orlando.

Philips Medical North America

2009-02-20T09:13:00.007-05:00

I have had the pleasure of shooting for Philips Medical for the past 10 years whenever they come to Florida. Normally the jobs would be filming video interviews of doctors, patients, nurses and executives. They also specialize in making really cool medical exam devices such as MRI imaging machines and such and the rooms are really high-tech, kind of like the crime labs on the TV show C.S.I. and I shoot these rooms for publicity.

Florida Hospital Orlando has just doubled the size of their main hospital just a few miles from my house and Philips teamed up with Walt Disney World to create what they have dubbed the "Ambient Experience" for children. In short, there is a pediatric emergency room dedicated to kids and the idea is to use mood lighting and video programming to calm them down while they are in their room.

The whole concept is to have a virtual light show and video interactivity controlled by the patient with a remote control. Philips wanted me to shoot this for publicity and internal use across the world to show employees how the final product turned out.

I arrived with my video crew and started shooting at 5 a.m.. We were told that we had approximately 2 hours to get in and get out. The goal was to film 6 locations with models before the ER room officially came to life -they had 38 kids run through these 8 rooms the day before!

Luckily, I brought my Canon5DMKII with me with about 8 lenses for the still shots. The video camera that I had was not really wide enough to get all of the effects of the lighting even with a wide angle adapter screwed on, so I showed the client the room using the 5D with a 20mm and a plugged in HD monitor. She loved it and from that point on the rest of the shoot was filmed with the camera. I must admit, I was thoroughly impressed when I exported the footage into my Final Cut Pro edit suite. The colors popped and everyone was thrilled with the quality. The roughs were sent up to Boston where they were edited into a 2 minute final movie and aired 2 days later in Amsterdam.

Unfortunately I can't show you the video footage or many stills so this is all you get but I will post the final product as soon as Philips gives me the go ahead. It is really cool to see the rooms change color and how the nurse interacts with the patient.

ARCA race 2009

2009-02-10T09:49:00.002-05:00

Speedweek in Daytona Beach has officially begun and the action has been very hot at the track in Daytona. The ARCA boys and girls took to the track on Saturday and only 21 of the 43 starting cars stuck around to finish the race. I shot a ton of wrecks but none as scary as the above sequence. The green car spun, slid around the upper turn 4 curve and was then T-boned by another driver who could not see ahead of him due to the large amount of smoke covering the track. This is every racecar drivers worst nightmare and it happened. Both drivers were transported to the hospital after taking 24 minutes to extricate them from their cars. Broken vertebrae, bruised lungs and plenty of aches and pains are in store on their road to recovery. I will post more action after the Daytona 500 race this upcoming weekend.

Pepsi Smash Concert

2009-02-06T14:38:00.004-05:00

A few days before the Superbowl, VH1 aired a live concert featuring performances by Lifehouse, Fall Out Boy and Rhianna. The Ford Ampitheater in Tampa was the venue and it was pretty cool. It was raining out really hard and the venue is nothing but a few huge tents covering the stage, it worked out rather well however. The concert was decent with Fall Out Boy performing the most of any of the groups and Rhianna doing her skit live for the VH1 cameras. I love shooting concerts and this one was fun and something to do a few days before the Superbowl.

Superbowl XLIII

2009-02-03T20:23:00.004-05:00

Well I finally did it! I had the opportunity to shoot a SUPER BOWL and I did it, I really did it...

I have shot many NFL football games in the past few years, (14 teams to be exact-but who's counting?), but this game was by far the biggest in my sporting career.

I shot media day, the Pepsi Smash concert series and then of course the game.

Let me explain how the process worked once I got there. I checked in all of my gear through security, lying all of my gear on the ground for the Police dogs to sniff, and then through a metal detector to check me out, very similar to an airport screening. I was then given a yellow vest with the words Upper Level Photographer on the back. I was originally told to leave ALL monopods and tripods at home, we would not be allowed to use them. Imagine if you will holding a 400mm lens with a teleconverter attached trying to shoot from above with the camera set to ISO2000, f2.8 at 600th of a second, following a man in red running the ball with no monopod... if you are not a photographer let me explain it like this: Hold 2 gallons of milk directly out in front of your body for 1o seconds, squint, bend your upper body forward about 9 inches so you can see the tops of your shoes, push your trigger finger in and out, rotate your body to the right 66 degrees while still holding the 2 gallons of milk directly in front of your body with your arms still straight out in front of you! RELAX for 20 seconds-now do it again and this time get it in focus.

I snuck the monopod in just like 40 other photographers and used it religiously on every play.

The game was very exciting and I would love to shoot next year in Miami, hopefully the Dolphins would join me.

I shot over 1200 images of the game, packed 6 lenses with 2 camera bodies and drove home after the game like an over excited 10 year old boy. I love the NFL!

Super Bowl Media Day

2009-01-27T20:26:00.004-05:00

I made the trek to Raymond James Stadium today to shoot the NFL Super Bowl XLIII media day with players from the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We had one hour to ask whatever questions we wanted and shoot whatever photos we could manage while trying not to get smushed in the crowd. The sun was out and lit all of the interview tables from directly behind, a flash was recommended for the players wearing hats.......all of them!

The biggest throngs of reporters and cameramen were obviously around the quarterbacks and head coaches.

All in all it was a pretty easy day and we were hustled off of the field before the team photos were taken. The Cardinals seemed very professional, focused and uptight, while the Steelers were overly relaxed and joking, even shooting their own video memories with handheld camcorders. Lets see how Sunday goes, I'll try to post game photos on Monday.

Rolex 24

2009-01-26T10:19:00.009-05:00

I went out Saturday afternoon carrying 2 bodies, a tripod and plenty of CF Cards in the hopes of shooting some great images and more test footage in High Definition 1080p video. The race was pretty boring with no major crashes so my buddy Donald and I just kept walking the inside of the track before the light disappeared behind the grandstands. We knew that we had about 1 hour of good light before the sun sank away. I shot more video than I did stills on this job and the camera (5DMKII) held its own.

Images were captured with a 400 f2.8, a 70-200 f2.8, a 15mm and a 24 TS lens.

Keep me in mind if you need any images of the Daytona 500, Sprint races, motorcycles or NASCAR Truck series.

Check out the video below:

Rolex 24 Hours Race from Alex Menendez on Vimeo.

Castel Lager

2009-01-20T10:11:00.003-05:00

Here are a few images that I shot earlier this year for Castel Lager. This beer is produced and distributed throughout South Africa and England and for some strange reason, they chose to shoot the television commercials and print ads in Orlando. The clients were very fun to work with, the main lady was from South Africa and was as kind as humanly possible, the two art directors were from France and had to purchase more luggage to bring home all of the pairs of shoes they purchased, literally dozens. The American dollar was not worth anything and they were loving the deals at the outlet malls.

Anyhow, the lighting guys did a fantastic job of gaffing this job and the results show. The skies were sunny but the air temp was somewhere around 40 degrees, cold for Central Florida.

The shot of the beers in the ice was fun to light. We placed 2 small lighting fixtures in to the ice in a bathtub behind a fish tank filled with ice, the bottles were highlighted from the bottom of the tub through the ice and fishtank. A small bounceboard was placed in the tub with a silver metal reflective side facing the beers. We then had two light on stands forming an "x" pattern from beside the bottles. We then used a chimera directly above the beers and that light bounced off of the card onto the labels of the beer bottles.

A slight adjustment of the RAW files in photoshop yielded the results you see.

Photoshelter

2009-01-19T20:57:00.003-05:00

I had great news at the beginning of last year. Photoshelter was starting a new stock agency named "The Collection" and it would turn the stock industry upside down, and they wanted to feature a photo of mine along with 8 others as a promotional mailout to buyers all across the world, right on!!!

Well, to be honest it got a lot of press and I actually sold something on their site, but then the inevitable happened, "The Collection" closed its doors and the industry began its rapid demise. Today the stock model continues to be a joke as prices keep dropping like a rock and every person with a camera thinks that they are a pro photographer. Whats a guy/girl to do???, just stick with it if that is what you truly want to do, only try to do it a little bit different.

Change up the angle, experiment a little, don't run with the crowd, stand out above it and challenge yourself, get a different perspective. If you don't adapt then you will grow stale, from what I hear its very lonely....

Brian Laye'

2009-01-19T20:18:00.006-05:00

I received a call from Doni at the agency Keene-Ideas about shooting a few images for a CD cover in Clermont, Florida. The artist is a young man named Brain Laye and he is releasing an album entitled "2 Koi". He plays guitar and sings and needed the album art done for a demo that he is handing out at the Cannes Film Festival this week, talk about quick turnaround. The shoot was completed in just under 2 hours and Tim from Chameleon Mobile Video shot behind the scenes for bonus coverage.

I really enjoy this type of work and the chance to break out the big lights while shooting outdoors. The talent and crew were wonderful to work with and I hope Brian hits it big time!

Gators win BCS

2009-01-17T21:38:00.009-05:00

My wife Tara and I went to the BCS Championship game between the Florida Gators and the number one ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Miami last week. I had previously shot the Gators winning the National Championship in Arizona against the Ohio State Buckeyes and promised her that when the Gators were in the Big Game again, we would go. Here it is 2 years later and it was time for me to step up to the plate. We were denied media credentials by the Orange Bowl committee, (whatever???), so we went the StubHub route this game and brought the brand new Canon 5dMKII 21 megapixel camera with HD 1080p video capabilities, you can see the test footage of the game here : http://www.vimeo.com/2814383 .

The Gators won, lead by last years Heisman winner Tim Tebow. Lets see what happens next year as he decided to pass on the NFL this year and will return to Gainesville for another whopping NCAA football season.

Gatorland

2009-01-16T20:34:00.004-05:00

Any person that has ever ventured into Central Florida has surely seen the billboards promoting Gatorland. Reptiles abound and man challenges gators by wrestling them into submission, you can even see them eat chicken meat......Colonel Sanders would be so proud. On December 31 our Florida resident annual family pass expired so I grabbed my 5 year old Blaze and we headed out to smell the attraction one last time. I brought a 70-200 and he brought his point and shoot. These are the best images we could come up with, however, if you want to snap your own images be sure to check out the $20 early morning ticket to enter the gates just after sunrise. Blaze and I are waiting to venture out there after dark with our cameras and a flashlight, it will be fun.

Orlando Magic Pt.1

2009-01-16T09:57:00.006-05:00

The Orlando Magic have been on a tear as of late and have been voted by ESPN and TNT and all of the basketball experts as one on the top 3 teams in the NBA today, and possibly set to make it to the Finals this year.
I have had the unique opportunity and privilege to shoot Dwight Howard for the past few years and have been thoroughly impressed with his skills, I sure hope he will be one of the all-time greats if not the best someday. I plan on covering the Magic for the rest of this year and hopefully follow them into the new Arena that will open next season in Orlando.

Vince Carter

2009-01-15T16:06:00.004-05:00

I have had the unique opportunity to work with Adeo Media Group on several occasions and most recently with their Project Pressure Campaign. We have shot numerous television commercials for the local market as well as print and internet ads. NBA superstar Vince Carter, who was raised in Central Florida, donated his time to Adeo for the second time in two years to help with this project. All in all the whole shoot lasted about 7 minutes and then Vince was off. It was kind of cool to have him drive to my tiny office for the shoot but he had a great time and Rob from Adeo did a great job as the artist for the final products.

Chargers in Florida

2009-01-15T10:44:00.004-05:00

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped out of the NFL playoff picture with 4 consecutive losses to end the season. To say the fans were upset would be an understatement. Tampa had high hopes once again this year, only to collapse like they have the past few years.

The "good news" for the city is that this years Superbowl will be held at Raymond James Stadium in February. I have been granted access to the week of game festivities and hopefully we be blessed with a pass to actually shoot the game, only time will tell. Here are a few photos of the Buccaneers playing the visiting San Diego Chargers.

Campaign Trail

2009-01-14T14:55:00.001-05:00

I had never really covered a campaign before this year's Presidential election and thought it would be cool to follow Hillary, Barack, McCain and the rest of the appointed. What ensued was 4 trips throughout Central Florida and 4 very unique views of how the elected chose their words and mannerisms to sway voters. I have always thought politics were a joke and after seeing the campaigns and volunteers, I now feel strongly about what these elected officials must endure on a daily basis. I would not want to walk in their shoes and can't imagine how hard it would be to keep everybody happy, all of the time. Hopefully this country will continue to grow and get back on its feet, for the sake of all Americans.

Here are a few of my favorite images from the campaign trail. I hope I get the opportunity to film President Barack Obama again.