Saed Hindash Photographer

A Stairway to ...

2011-06-08T18:59:00.005-04:00

I want to let all of my subscribers (all two of you!) know the past three years have been fun at blogspot. After much coaxing from friends and a few colleagues, I have decided to leave blogspot and switch to Tumblr. I have no idea where this will lead me, but I hope upward and onward.

So this will be my final blogspot post. If you wish to follow me on my new blog, you can find me at saedhindashblog.tumblr.com. I hope to see you there.

Cheers!

Goalies

2011-04-10T20:06:00.005-04:00

Today I photographed the New Jersey Devils last game of the season, as they played against the Boston Bruins. This was the first time in 14 years the Devils didn't advance to the playoffs. The Devils played well with a 3-2 victory, and I was able to make a couple of nice pictures of both goalies making some saves.

The first image is of Devils backup goalie Johan Hedberg, who eyes the puck as he makes a glove save against the Boston Bruins in the 1st period.

The second image is of Bruins backup goalie Tuukka Rask, who deflects the puck with his pad as he kicks his leg in the air, blocking Devils David Clarkson's shot on goal in the 2nd period.

Even though the Devils season has come to and end, I'm already for the 2011-2012 season. Let's Go Devils!!

Persistence Pays Off

2011-04-05T23:00:00.004-04:00

After two failed attempts due to mishaps - I finally was able to successfully place a remote camera behind the glass (backboard) during tonight's New Jersey Nets/Minnesota Timberwolves game.

I've done a fare about of remotes at professional sporting events, but have never done one from behind the backboard. So I had set out a couple of weeks ago when Carmelo Anthony came to town. I had it all set up and ready and tested the camera and it wouldn't work. The damn thing worked before I installed it, but wouldn't work for me when I had everything locked down. I wasn't happy.

So I made a second attempt recently when LeBron James and the Heat made an appearance at the Prudential Center. This time - the tripod mount on the bottom of my camera broke, as I tightened it down in place. No go! I had to take everything down. Very disappointing.

Today was the day. Even though it wasn't going to be a high profile game like the others, I was determined to make it happen. I mounted it in place and did my tests. Now it was up to the guys on the court to come through for me. It also helps when you have support from friends like Adam Pantozzi, Jeff Zelevansky and Julio Cortez. I guess persistence pays off. Thanks guys!

Here are a few of my favorite images from that camera.

Snooki

2011-03-31T22:12:00.009-04:00

Snooki from "Jersey Shore" blows a kiss to the photographer following her first of two shows Thursday night March 31, 2011 at Rutgers University's Livingston Campus. The show featured Snooki being interviewed by comedian Adam Ace for 'Inside the Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi Studio'.

Check out other photographs from the Snooki event.

Dramatic Save

2011-03-30T22:08:00.002-04:00

New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur flies onto his back to make a dramatic save late in the 3rd period, as he stops New York Islanders center Josh Bailey's shot Wednesday March 30, 2011 at the Prudential Center. Devils hung onto win 3-2.

High School Athletes

2011-03-20T21:58:00.003-04:00

This past week was very busy. Most of my assignments centered around doing high school athletes of the year portraits. These can be difficult, especially if you have more than one from the same sport, shot during the same week or even on the same day. It's hard to keep it fresh and make them look different. Because they will all together in a section.

Here are some of my favorites.

Agony of Defeat

2011-02-27T19:00:00.001-05:00

Sunday I photographed professional bowling for the first time in my career. Yes, you heard it right. I shot the 68th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open in North Brunswick. All this was new to me. A small area was roped off for the photographers (there were three of us) and one ESPN camera. That's right: It was broadcast on ESPN.

The shooters and cameraman face the bowlers, slightly to one side, to shoot them bowling. Having never shot professional bowling before, I didn't know much about shooting it. So during the action I would move slightly, maybe by a few feet, to get a better view. That apparently irritated the bowling pros, because at one moment, as bowler Mika Koivuniemi was getting set, I moved again - prompting him to pause and walk over to a tournament organizer to complain. Meanwhile, the TV announcers were only about 8 feet from him in their booth, commenting to TV viewers about the disruption I caused. Not a good moment for me.

Back to live action. Mika Koivuniemi was bowling against Norm Duke for the U.S. Open Championship. Koivuniemi was only one frame away from sealing his win and upsetting Norm Duke, when he missed a strike. I jumped on my motor drive to capture his reaction. All he had to do was knock down the 10-pin for the spare and win the match, but he missed and collapsed to the floor as Norm Duke just sat there in disbelief. It was Duke's second title in four years.

I had a few nice shots of both of them bowling and also Norm Duke reacting to his trophy, but I felt the pictures that told the story were centered around Mika Koivuniemi and his mistake at the end. After it was all over, someone told me I just witnessed one of the closest U.S. Opens in history.

Not bad for my first PBA U.S Open, eh!

First Net Cam

2011-02-23T23:20:00.006-05:00

Tonight it happened. I waited a year to use it. I used a hockey net cam for the first time. No unfortunately it wasn't during a New Jersey Devils game. I can't get past the NHL's new rules, so that will never happen. It was during a boys high school game. I was photographing Montgomery High School vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High School, during the 2011 Skyland Conference Ice Hockey Cup at the Bridgewater Sports Arena.

Ok enough with that. Instead of shooting available light to take advantage of a fast motor drive to stop the action, I had to make it more difficult and shoot with strobes. Shooting sports with strobes isn't easy. You can't shoot with a motor drive, because the recycling time of the strobes takes too long to reach full power before you can shoot again. So it's just one shot at a time.

I learned many things tonight using the net cam. 1) Stay hunched over as you exit the goal. 2) Stay hunched over as you exit the goal. 3) Stay hunched over as you exit the goal. You would think I would have learned it after the first or second time, but no. I hit the top of my head each time I exited the goal. I'm surprised I didn't pass out or get a concussion.

There are so many variables you have to think about when using a net cam. I really don't know where to begin. So I won't. My head still hurts and I can't think straight.

All I'll do is share my best frame of the night. It is of Montgomery's Kevin Wanke, left, scoring against Bridgewater-Raritan goalie Mike Haggerty Wednesday Feb 23, 2011. He went onto score the game winning goal for Montgomery to win 4-3 in overtime.

Quick Reaction

2011-02-16T22:27:00.004-05:00

New Jersey Devils right wing Vladimir Zharkov (18) goes airborne as he tries to avoid crashing into Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (30) in the 2nd period as the puck flies by, Feb 16, 2011 at the Prudential Center.

Saved

2011-02-15T21:16:00.008-05:00

Today I photographed Kelly, a Pit Bull Terrier puppy approximately 6-9 months-old, who is currently living with it's foster family in Northern New Jersey. She was rescued off the streets of Philadelphia and is currently up for adoption through Animal Alliance in Lambertville, NJ. Kelly, is recovering from a broken jaw and bite wounds on it's legs and head. It is believed she was being used as a bait dog during dog fights. The puppy seems to love people even though what it has gone through. It was a lot of fun photographing this little female pup. I wish I could take her home, but we have too many pets. Two frogs, four Gold fish, two Guinea Pigs and one loving black Labrador. Check out Kelly's profile.

Close Call

2011-02-14T22:12:00.005-05:00

My camera almost gets hit by the ball, as New Jersey Nets center Johan Petro (27) allows the ball to go out-of-bounds against the San Antonio Spurs Monday February 14, 2011 at the Prudential Center.

Testing, testing, 1-2-3

2011-02-08T22:24:00.003-05:00

Testing my remote camera before the Rutgers women's game against Pittsburgh Tuesday Feb 8, 2011.

KMart before my eyes.

2011-01-31T22:31:00.006-05:00

The first image, was the last thing I saw through my lens, Kenyon Martin of the Denver Nuggets scrambling for a loose ball, before he landed in my lap along with the photographers next to me. I was covering the New Jersey Nets/Denver Nuggets game Jan 31, 2011 at the Prudential Center.

I also placed a remote camera near the basket and was able to make a interesting shot, which is the second image. This is something I've never tried before - and hope to experiment with again in the future.

More Snow

2011-01-30T19:19:00.003-05:00

A few images from this past weeks snow storm.

Shattered

2011-01-23T19:16:00.004-05:00

Newark AP Photographer Julio Cortez sees what a puck can do to his 70-200mm lens when it's hit. We were covering todays New Jersey Devils game against the Florida Panthers at the Prudential Center. Lucky for him it only shattered the protective filter. The lens was unharmed.

There are small holes in the glass at hockey arenas which allows photographers to shoot through. Sometimes things happen. Tonight was one of those nights. Moments before I had my lens get hit, but it wasn't the glass, it was the side of the lens. There is a nice black mark from the puck. I had something similar happen to me several years back, but I wasn't so lucky. I had a 300mm lens get hit by a foul ball. The lens was destroyed.

The first image shows his lens sticking through one of the holes made for photographers, to shoot through. It wasn't long after that when his lens was struck.

Scramble

2011-01-18T21:41:00.001-05:00

Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell and Jason Clark of Georgetown scramble for a loose ball Tuesday Jan 18, 2011 at the Prudential Center.

Vigil for Officer Matlosz

2011-01-17T21:50:00.004-05:00

Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil for slain Lakewood Police Officer Christopher Matlosz Monday Jan. 17, 2011, outside the Lakewood Police Department. Officer Matlosz was shot and killed while on duty by Jahmell Crockam. To see more images from the vigil, please see: candlelight vigil gallery.

Tappin' with Savion Glover

2010-12-10T21:29:00.008-05:00

Next week, the January issue of Inside Jersey magazine will run a profile on famed tap dancer Savion Glover, for which I shot the cover and the inside double-truck image.

I really wanted to approach this shoot differently. After brainstorming with editors, we came up with a few portrait ideas, including creating a multiple-exposure of him as performed. That would freeze him at different moments in one image.

If you don't know how to do this, here's how: Put your camera on the bulb setting, which keeps the shutter open once you depress the button and leaves it open until you release the button. While the shutter is open, you manually trigger the lights several times as your subject moves. With Savion, I asked him to dance across the studio floor in front of a white screen, while I triggered the lights and kept the shutter open. That froze him at different moments. Once I reached my desired number of flashes, I released the shutter button, ending the shot.

We did this many times - analyzing the result after each attempt. I shot more than 300 images during a photo that lasted two hours. Usually celebrities don't give photographers that much time (usually, they only grant more like 5 to 10 minutes). But Savion was patient - he wanted as cool and interesting an image as we did.

Nyier Abdou, one of the Star-Ledger videographers, produced a behind-the-scenes video about the photo shoot.

You can find the link below. Enjoy!

Behind-the-scenes photo shoot with Savion Glover.

Looking up

2010-11-28T22:55:00.005-05:00

Tonight I tried something new. I set up a remote camera over one of the baskets, during the New Jersey Nets game against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Prudential Center. I've used remote cameras before, but only for hockey. I'm happy with my first try at this. So here are a couple of examples taken with the remote camera.

Mixed bag of assignments

2010-11-18T19:03:00.004-05:00

Looking back on the week, it was filled with grieving and blackouts. I was taken off a job for spot news - where a 17 year-old boy was shot and killed in front of a row of businesses in Plainfield. The scene was challenging because the victim wasn't covered and friends and family were very emotional.

Through out my career, I've always tried to tell the story without overstepping boundaries and being insensitive. I had felt I had to show the victim but do it respectfully and tried to show how much pain friends and family were going through. It wasn't easy, and became more difficult when I was approached and told to stop taking pictures. You have to learn when you have enough and step away. It didn't take long. I was done in about 15 minutes after arriving on the scene.

Later in the week, I photographed the New York Giants battle the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants were expected to win but the Cowboys turned the lights out on the Giants. Another thing happened that night that was unexpected. The New Meadowlands Stadium went through a blackout for moments. All the lights went out for about 15 seconds or so when a transformer blew suppling power to the stadium.

Lets see what's in store for me next week?

Roger Waters - The Wall

2010-11-03T22:58:00.005-04:00

In recent months I've been covering primarily sports - so tonight was a nice change. I photographed Roger Waters in concert at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ. He performed The Wall. Very elaborate set-up. A lot of fun to shoot. Here are a few images from the show.

Wet Cheerleaders

2010-10-14T11:29:00.006-04:00

The New York Jets Flight Crew wasn't fazed by the monsoon like storm Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings. The fierce rain hit during the last 3 minutes of the first half at the New Meadowlands Stadium. Luckily it slowed down as the night went on.

Giant Interception

2010-10-05T16:34:00.005-04:00

Giants Cornerback Terrell Thomas comes down with an interception in front of Bears tight end Greg Olsen Sunday Oct. 3, 2010.

Sequence

2010-09-23T22:45:00.006-04:00

Here is a neat sequence from a boys high school soccer game I photographed. Livingston against West Essex.

U.S. Open

2010-09-06T00:36:00.002-04:00

A few moments from Sunday nights U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. 1) Samantha Stosur strong arms a shot. 2) Mikhail Youzhny salutes the crowd. 3) Andy Murray gets some assistance.