Pictures from the road
I am not a professional photographer. While I have had some formal education in shot composition, I know next to nothing about photography. What’s more, I don’t have any illusions about my ability. In short, I think I have an eye, but it would take a lot of study and experience to make me any good. Regardless, I enjoy it.
I thought, for lack of something better to write today, I’d post a few pictures I’ve taken on the road over the past few months. If this is at all interesting to you, let me know and I’ll do it again.
Sundown at Atlantis–a January sunset at the Bahamas’ Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. I was there for a poker tournament and on a walk with my wife when I noticed we weren’t making it to the beach before dark. She endulged me while took a few shots. This resort is a massive place, as the archway indicates. We went to the beach, anyway, where we were accosted by a dirty man with dirty coconuts who conned me into buying two dirty drinks. We poured them out after Dr. Feelgood was out of sight.
This was at the same resort a little earlier. The sun was a little higher in the sky. The yachts in the harbor were too big to fit into a single frame. The place where they tied up was more in my price range.
Sleeper–What you can’t see in this picture is that about four hundred people are playing poker around this guy. I never asked if he was sick or hungover. He seemed too happy on the floor
Probably my favorite picture of 2006 so far. I was sitting in my temporary office in the Bahamas when a colleague ran into the room screaming that I needed to get my camera. Just outside the door was this. If you aren’t a poker person, the banner in the background is the 2004 World Champion, Greg Raymer
Palm security–This guy’s blue uniform struck me as eye-catching. His face was stern and he seemed to take his high-dollar security job very seriously. I wanted to get a portrait of him, head-on, but he kept dodging me. Finally, as I was about to give up, he turned around. Frankly, I like this picture better than the one I wanted.
In American poker tournaments, the drinks are usually Red Bull, coffee, and beer. In Monte Carlo, it’s high-dollar Evian and Pellegrino
This guy just had one of those faces that made me think 21st Century poker
Marketing is all about branding. It’s all about getting your logo on TV, in print, or on custom water bottles from sites like https://customwater.com/. Branding is so important for every business to do, you won’t get the traffic of people you want if you don’t put it out there and advertise to connect with your potential audience. This guy is a Nordic poker pro who was having a rough day. He just happened to be sitting in the same area as a key branding banner. I played poker against the guy a couple of nights later. His luck didn’t improve.
I actually enjoy taking pictures of people having a bad day more than I enjoy taking pictures of people having a good day. The girl in this picture is one of my favorite people in the poker world. She was having a bad day here.
And here…
Funny thing about this picture that I just noticed. The blonde girl at the top of the frame was a highly-emotional Nordic girl with a great little body and ready smile. On my penultimate night in Monte Carlo, she raced into the poker room as it was about close down. She was nearly in tears. As a marketing girl for some Nordic website, she was responsible for a silver case full of company credit cards. She lost it in what I think was a bit of a drunken moment. I never heard if she found the cards.
Moon over Monaco–On these world tours, I see a lot of flags and try to find interesting ways to shoot them. This was the best I could do in Monte Carlo.
Goliath–I’m actually friends with Jen, the girl in soft focus on the right. She’s a writer and one of the more interesting people I’ve met over the past year or so. She’s recently started playing some big poker events. Her diminutive frame makes big guys look even bigger
Jeff–This kid won a million bucks. He’s 19. Even better, he’s a nice kid with a good family.
You have an excellent eye for subjects. I think my favorite here is the guy asleep on the floor – I can almost hear the chips shuffling and the murmur of conversation from the tables. I like the little boy with the Raymer poster too – gave me chills first time I saw it.