In between our fall bookings, we found time to shoot pro boxer Jessie Vargas at Floyd Mayweather’s Gym in Las Vegas. Unpacking our “studio in a bag,” we set up shop alongside one of Floyd’s two rings and got to work on Jessie, who will be fighting Sept. 17 on the Mayweather vs. Ortiz card in Las Vegas.
Alright, so we’re officially behind in our deadlines for the month.
Don’t blame us – blame our new friend on the right.
After spending several nights and early, early mornings trying to win over a stray dog at a local park, we finally got close enough to entice our new pal to follow us home. We plan on fostering the new addition only until we can find a new home for her.
Anyone want a blue heeler? She’s about a year old, quite housebroken and super sweet. She also has no microchip in her ear so it’s doubtful we’re going to find her past owner – we suspect she was dumped in the park.
If you’re in the Las Vegas area, give us a call if you’re interested!
UPDATE: “Vilda” has since found a new home in Summerlin, Las Vegas! Thanks for all your emails of support!
We’re not suggesting you replace us with iPhone photos, but we can’t help but give a thumbs-up to Hipstamatic’s app. Want your cell phone shots to look old, beat-up, vintage or like Grandma’s old film snapshots? Give it a shot.
We’re not ashamed to admit, while keeping our Hipstamatic app off during jobs, use it quite freely – it weighs a lot less than our Nikon D3s – it’s a bit cheaper, too.
Writer/photographer Chris Cozzone has inked a two-volume book deal with McFarland Press on the history of boxing in New Mexico. In between his work with WriteShot and covering boxing, Cozzone has spent the last six years in heavy research. He inherited the project in 2005 from the late Jim Boggio, who will share the byline. Boggio began his research in the ’80s, logging in over 400 fight cards throughout N.M. history. Cozzone has brought brought that number to 2,300.
Volume I of the two-book set will cover 1868 to World War II and Volume II, from the ’40s to modern era. Featured fighters in the book include Johnny Tapia, Danny Romero, Bob Foster, Benny Chavez, Eddie Mack, Benny Cordova, Abie Chavez, Larry Cisneros, Art Aragon, Emilio Martinez, Julio Chiaramonte (pictured) and dozens more. Hall-of-Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler will write the foreword. Cozzone expects Volume I’s completion later this year and to hit the sands in 2012. Stay tuned.
Two book signings are planned for the newly-released “The First Black Boxing Champions – Essays on Fighters of the 1800s to the 1920s,” on Saturday, April 2.
The first time & location will be 1 p.m., at the Albuquerque Public Library, Lomas & Tramway Branch, Eastridge St. (the library sits on the SW corner of Tramway and Lomas, but has an Eastridge address.)
The second time & location will correspond with Saturday night’s “Rising Stars Battle at the Bosque” fight card at the Santa Ana Star Casino in Bernalillo. Prior to first bell, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., a table will be set up near the entrance to the arena.
Along with a book signing, a lecture, historic film, photos and archives will be made available by editor Colleen Aycock and Chris Cozzone, who has a New Mexico-related essay in the book. Cozzone will also talk about his upcoming book, “The History of Boxing in New Mexico,” which will be printed by McFarland Press, publisher of “The First Black Boxing Champions” and Aycock’s last book, “Joe Gans: A Biography of the First African American World Boxing Champion.”
The book is also available at Amazon: Click here
WriteShot owner/photographer Chris Cozzone had one of his recent boxing images featured in a two-page spread in the current issue of ESPN Magazine, now on newsstands. In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, the shot shows Irish heavyweight Mike Lee, former Notre Dame football star, knocking out the mouthpiece of his opponent in what was the knockout shot.
Jen’s fiancé, Gus, is an addict. Action figures, toys, superheroes with amped up muscles and bendable elbows and, of course, comics – zillions of them, all wrapped neatly in special plastic with an acid-free cardboard backing – invade their home. Spiderman is his favorite. Or maybe it’s the Incredible Hulk (“Hulk Smash!”). There’s also his fiancée, Jen, she ranks up there, too.
It takes a superwoman to marry a man whose first love affair continues to run its course and is still going strong after 35 years.
The artist weighs in
And, it’s going to take one heck of a book to earn a coveted spot in the couple’s Manhattan digs. We pulled out all the stops by commissioning comic book artist Scott Rosema, a regular contributor to Marvel’s X-Men and DC’s Batman series, to join in the fun making Jen and Gus’ WriteShot book. Read the rest of this entry …
Meet Viva. Blink and you’ll miss her. She’s that fast. And, quite frankly, she’s not too keen about the sound of a Nikon. That sound – that rapid clickety-click-click-click – sends this camera-shy dog sprinting in the opposite direction.
Jessica is Viva’s mom. She’s fast, too. She needs to be in order to keep Viva in sight. Viva, Jessica and I met up for a few quick shots at the Spring Fling Flyball Tournament hosted by Stampede Flyball Racing Team and held in Hurricane, Utah. Jessica and Viva are members of Las Vegas’ Fly’N Aces Flyball Team.
We just learned that we’ve been invited to shoot portraits for Flashes of Hope, an organization, whose goal is to photograph every child with cancer until every child is cured. We’re scheduled to shoot March 17 in Vegas. We’ll be paired with a make-up artist, whose information we are awaiting.
Flashes of Hope has a sister organization, Kick-It, which was founded by a nine year old cancer patient. Kick-It raises money for cancer research through organized kick ball games. I played kick ball as a kid on Harrison Avenue in my hometown, Northampton; I played it at Hidden Valley Camp and at Jackson Street School. So, it’s no surprise that I think Kick It’s idea of “kicking it up” at a mitzvah or other event would work well at a rehearsal dinner or even on a wedding day or following a day-after brunch. I will certainly be talking up both Flashes of Hope and Kick It with our clients.