Atlanta Photographer - Josh D. Weiss

News: Sgt. Chris Duke and Rufus [NYP]

Josh D. Weiss — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:27:38 +0000

Late Wednesday night I got an e-mail from Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer Hyosub Shin letting me know the New York Post was looking for someone to shoot an assignment for them the following day. As soon as I got the e-mail I pulled out my cell phone as fast as I could to call their photo editor to let them know I was available.

The assignment was to cover the arrival of two stray Afghani dogs at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport where they were being reunited with Sgt. Chris Duke. Duke was adopting one of them, Rufus, and temporarily holding on to another, Target. The two dogs were part of a group of three that saved his and fellow soldiers lives after they stopped an attempted suicide bomber from detonating his explosives in their barracks. Rufus and Target survived, the third dog didn’t. Duke also believes Rufus went deaf as a result of the blast.

The first part of the assignment was fairly standard, the second part was cool. I had to travel out to west Georgia to to get photos of the dogs at their new home. It went exceedingly well and I was very happy with the results.

Sgt. Chris Duke and his new dog Rufus lay in the living room of Duke’s west Georgia home Thursday after Rufus was flown in from Afghanistan.

Canon 135mm f/2 first reaction

Josh D. Weiss — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:01:12 +0000

Today I got a Canon 135mm f/2 lens. After years of hearing how great a lens it was compounded with my desire to rely more heavily on primes for my non-sports work, I decided I’d make the jump as soon as I found a good deal on the lens. Well, a good deal I found. I haven’t had much time to work with it yet, but here are two quick photos I shot just to illustrate how sharp this thing is wide open at f/2. Rarely, and I mean RARELY, do I ever shoot with my lens all the way open anymore, but I’d have no problem doing just that with this lens. The main reason I won’t is because most lenses are slightly soft at their maximum aperture, but the 135 f/2 is freakin’ sharp. No way around it.

University of Georgia stock photography

Josh D. Weiss — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:05:58 +0000

I shot these about three years ago and just found them. They are some generic photos from the UGA campus I shot for the Red & Black the summer I was photo editor there. I really need to update my stock photography of Athens and hope to make it up there again in the near future. I’ve already made a giant list of things I need to shoot when I go back up.

The Honors Building/Moore College

Iron Bulldog outside of Memorial Hall

The Student Learning Center/Zell Miller Learning Center

Brooks Hall/Terry College of Business

Ilah Dunlap Little Memorial Library

Demosthenian Hall

Wedding: Jenna Findlan and Drew Scott

Josh D. Weiss — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:04:44 +0000

Saturday morning I got to shoot the beautiful wedding of my friend from college, Jenna Findlan and her husband Drew Scott. I met Jenna when we went through the photojournalism program at UGA and she was always one of the people in the class that I knew I could count on to push me to do better. Jenna’s shot a number of her own weddings too, although she isn’t a full-time photographer, so I was honored when she asked me to shoot her ceremony held at the top of Stone Mountain.

It was a small ceremony and was a very nice change of pace from the bigger weddings I’d been shooting lately. Much luck to the new couple and I hope they are enjoying their honeymoon out in California right now!

On top of the world.

Killbot 3000

Josh D. Weiss — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:08:13 +0000

Today I went out and got a kitten and named him “Killbot 3000.” The name dates back to when I was a senior in college and my then roommate told me she wanted to get a kitten. I told her I’d be okay with her getting a kitten as long as I got to name it. For whatever reason, I decided that was the name I wanted, but she never got the cat. I don’t think she realized I was very serious about naming it Killbot 3000. Anyway, after about 3 years of putting it off, I finally decided to go out and get myself a kitten. So, I present to you, my Killbot 3000.

My parents came over tonight to get dinner with me and it gave me the perfect opportunity to grab some photos because he was content just to sit there and get petted instead of hiding under the nearest object.

Introducing Killbot 3000.

Killbot 3000 got a bit sleepy while my mom was petting him.

Grindhouse Killer Burgers

Josh D. Weiss — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:10:19 +0000

On Saturday I decided to go check out this place called Grindhouse Killer Burgers that’s located inside the Sweet Auburn Corner Market downtown. The place had a cool atmosphere and the food was pretty good as well. The single, 1/4 lb, was enough to fill me up in conjunction with the fries and drink so that’s always a good sign. Apparently they are opening up a new location sometime in the near future closer to where I live. I’ll definitely be hitting that up whenever they open.

Baseball: The iPad & the New York Gothams [WSJ]

Josh D. Weiss — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:55:28 +0000

Last week I got a call out of nowhere from the Wall Street Journal asking if I was available for an assignment the next morning. I was in fact available, so I accepted the assignment. The next day I woke up early and made my way up to Smyrna, Ga., to cover a game at the World Wood Bat Championship. The particular team of interest was the New York Gothams from Manhattan. Also of interest was how one of the parents scored the game, instead of pen and paper he used his iPad.

Apparently more people are using the iPad and iPhone to score baseball games, and presumably other sports so the WSJ was writing about it. They also wanted game action photos so I tried to proportion my time to get the best of what I could from both.

You can see their story here.

Yes, I know the horizon is tilted, but I like it for this one.

News: Seventh-Day Adventist Parade of Nations for the AJC

Josh D. Weiss — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:07:58 +0000

Last week the AJC called me up and asked me to shoot the Parade of Nations event at the 59th Session of the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists at the Georgia Dome. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. It wasn’t anything completely outrageous, but the abysmal light at the Georgia Dome was even worse than usual because they turned off most of the lights used for football games. Add to that that the event started about 20 minutes late and I was on a tight deadline as it was, and you have one frantic Josh trying to make sure I got enough variety.

Some African nations cross the stage during the Seventh-Day Adventists’ Parade of Nations in the Georgia Dome on July 3, 2010.

Sam E. Lawrence turns 22

Josh D. Weiss — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:36:00 +0000

Last Friday my friend Sam celebrated his 22nd birthday by going to Spoon and Morelli’s Ice Cream in East Atlanta. I’d never been to either before and both are definitely worth checking out.

My future roommate, Sam, doesn’t look a day older than 12.

In Memorium: Jerome “Jerry” Weiss

Josh D. Weiss — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:08:39 +0000

At 12:02 p.m. on Sunday, July 4, my grandfather Jerome “Jerry” Weiss passed away at the age of 95.

Until I was 10 my grandfather lived in a house one street over from where my family lived, but after some heart trouble in the mid-90′s, he moved in with us into a new house (my grandmother died in 1994). He drove until my dad took his keys away from him around age 92 and was a regular fixture at a gym where he exercised several times per week. For the last 15 years he lived mostly by himself, in our basement. He’s kind of been a fixture there, and I can’t imagine going downstairs and him not being there. The idea still seems strange to me. Honestly, it could be a little while before I manage to make it back down there for that reason.

What can you say about a guy who was a soldier during World War II, lived through the Great Depression and witnessed the largest steps forward humanity has made technologically all in his lifetime? During the 90′s he harassed Newt Gingrich as a member of the group “Newt Watch,” and called for a single payer health-care before it was the talking point of the week for liberal groups. He was also an unrepentant Ralph Nader voter in 2000.

His death wasn’t unexpected in the least. Over the past year he’d been in and out of the hospital and early last month was moved to hospice care, for the second time. Yeah, for the second time. Last year after first going to the hospital, he was moved into one but got into a bit of a fight with the service because the food wasn’t healthy enough. Instead, he moved back home and managed to stick it out for another year. It’s kind of a metaphor for his life though, he always wanted to dictate his own terms. I think that’s what people will remember him for: the guy who when being admitted to the emergency room proceeded to lecture the doctor about antibiotics in his food when asked if he was taking any medication. So, when I got the call I’d been expecting for over a decade on Sunday, it was more of a relief than anything else.

Even in his 90′s, he never lost his fight.

In honor of his life, I’m posting some of the photos I have taken of him over the last few years. His funeral is Tuesday, July 6th at 10 a.m. at Arlington Memorial Cemetery in Sandy Springs. He’s survived by his sons Mark Weiss (my father) and Stanley Weiss (my uncle), and his grandsons Matthew Weiss (my brother) and me.

Allegedly, this was my grandfather’s favorite picture of himself according to my parents.