Veterans Day

It was on my third trip to Iraq when I met Marine Capt. Douglas Zembiec, I was embedded with Marines in a forward operating base in Fallujah, Iraq. And earlier that day I made of point of meeting the 3 company commanders at the FOB. The first company commander made it clear about his dislike of the idea of having a journalist alongside his men in battle but would tolerate. The 2nd commander was indifferent, at best. The last commander I was to meet was Capt Douglas Zembiec. Right from the beginning there was something different about him. Zembiec was candid and bluntly honest. He felt there was no greater honor than leading Marines in combat in defense of one’s country.” He later also said One of the most noble things you can do is kill the enemy. He then shared a copy of the letter he wrote to the parents of one of his Marines killed,.. At your son’s memorial services in Iraq, His death brought tears to my eyes, tears that fell in front of my Marines. I am unashamed of that fact.” When I asked if I accompany his Marines on a plan raid he quickly replied “absolutely anytime Nel, the truth will set you free” Like most journalist I wondered how long the invitation would hold true on future missions. On one such mission where his Marines were assembling a quick reaction team to join in a firefight just outside of Fallujah, his Marines kidded me that when all hell breaks out, just stay close to a Marine.. besides Capt Zembiec is going too, things will be o.k. Weeks and several raids and firefights later it didn’t take long to realize that Zembiec’s had a reputation as a warrior who led from the front. And his Marines trusted and believed in him wholeheartedly. I believe if Zembiec were leading them, his Marines would take the fight to the fires of hell and back for him.

On May 11, 2007 Zembiec was serving what was his fourth combat tour in Iraq when he was killed while leading a raid in Baghdad.

I knew you for such a short time, however you have left a lasting impression on me and for that I am grateful to you.

God speed to you Doug.

Nel Cepeda
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Veterans Day

Shadow Flight

The sky looked threatening with what was left from storm clouds that wouldn’t open up and rain on San Diego, but it did make for an interesting backdrop for this photo. So while on assignment near the airport, and with a few minutes to spare, I waited for an airliner to fly through my frame at just the right place. Now if it would rain………

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Shadow Flight

Triathlon Swim

Some of the more than one thousand competitors in the annual Mission Bay Triathlon start the three-event competition by swimming in San Diego’s Mission Bay. It seems like there’s a race of some kind in San Diego most every weekend most of the year, so making a different kind of photo is the challenge. When Mother Nature cooperated by providing the dramatic sunrise, all I had to do was wait for the swimmers as they went by the boat ramp I was standing on along with a lot of the family and friends. I added a little flash fill for good measure. After that, it was just like shooting fish in a barrel.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Triathlon Swim

You’ll Be Fine

It happens every year. Four and five year olds everywhere enter kindergarten, for the most part without fanfare. I went to the Scripps Ranch neighborhood of San Diego looking for something special, and it happened. After checking her backpack for all the essentials; the father of the little girl gave her some fatherly encouragement as they waited for the school day to begin. With little kids, you really don’t know what you’ll get. Most of the time it’s either crying, or hugging. It was a plus that her body language that said anticipation, and her dad reassuring her that you’ll be fine.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

You’ll Be Fine

Serendipity

Shot a wedding not too long ago in L.A. Not too surprisingly, like pretty much everyone right now, the new couple were a little tight on funds and weren't able to get all of the things they wanted for their wedding. In their case, they wanted an old school classic car. Something particulary southern California. And nothing says L.A. like a classic lowrider. Well as it happens, the small park by the beach cliffs where we were shooting happened to be a meeting spot for some guys and there lowriders. The rest was pure serendipity!

Ronnie Revoredo

Serendipity

Happy Birthday America

Members of the Point Loma Optimist Club in San Diego place about 170 American Flags along Rosecrans Street every Sunday, on holidays, and of course on July 4th. While on my way to another early morning assignment, I spotted the flag truck and made a quick detour and followed them for a few minutes. Would like to have spent more time, but the assignment I was heading to couldn’t wait.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Happy Birthday America

Hot Shot

“Murrugun the Mystic,” aka Scott Nelson is a hot act to swallow during a performance in San Diego’s Seaport Village. I shot a lot because the combination of the fire, noon sun, and brightly lit background. There were only a few angles to shoot from in order to get a clean dark background, so the fire would stand out and also minimize the distractions. He likes to move around a lot, so that added to the fun too.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Hot Shot

Sunset Flight

My wife and I were heading home when she commented that the clouds and the light were very pretty. At about at the same time, I noticed a hot air balloon flying high above the clouds on a sunset flight and mentioned that they would have to get down pretty soon, or it would be too dark. Her response; "Duh, why do you think it’s called a sunset flight." After we arrived home I saw the balloon again, and with every passing second, the light was reflecting off the clouds with even more intensity. I pulled out the 300mm, put a teleconverter and monopod on, and started shooting from my driveway until the balloon finally disappeared in the clouds.

Howard Lipin

Sunset Flight

Foggy Fishermen

Many days the agenda includes looking for slice of life feature photos that stand on their own and don’t relate to a specific story. This kind of photo can be the most challenging because you can look for hours and not find anything worthy of publication. So using any element that can make them stand out and be different is a good thing. Interesting photos on a foggy days can happen, but it’s not always a slam-dunk. When all my other ideas didn’t pan out, I decided to look at a boat dock I hadn’t been to in the past. Boating photos in San Diego are easy to come by, so it would have to be different enough to make it worthy of publication. I arrived just as the fishermen were about to shove off, so working fast was important and paid off. If the photo didn’t happen with them, it wouldn’t have happened. They were the only people at the dock.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Foggy Fishermen

21-Gun Salute

The Marine Corps Rifle Team fire a 21-Gun Salute at the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial atop Mount Soledad in San Diego during the annual Memorial Day ceremony. As the team moved into position at the start of the ceremony I figured, I would get a cool close angle at the end when they normally do the salute. WRONG. They did it right at the beginning and I wasn’t where I was planning to be and pretty much had no choice but to shoot from where I was. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had planned, but maybe it’s where it was suppose to be all the time.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

21-Gun Salute

The Pomeranian and the Monk

Tashi, the 3-year old Pomeranian companion of Tibetan Monk, Drupon Samten Rinpoche puts his paws on his master’s head in the meditation room at the Tibetan Meditation Center in Escondido. The dog is pretty amazing in what he can do on command. He’s been in television commercials, print ads and is the star of a calendar for an air conditioning company in San Diego. Drupon Samten, says Tashi learns almost everything in only one or two attempts.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

The Pomeranian and the Monk

Sister Act

Sister Ana Rosa Aceves’ habit floats in the wind as she makes her rounds at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School where she is the principal. It was hard to get her profile and the wind working together all at the same time. It was a waiting game. I shot many frames and only this one had all the ingredients.

Howard Lipin
Photo used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Sister Act

Graduation Day

Assignments that come around every year pose the special challenge of trying to shoot something different each time. Most readers won’t know the difference if the photos are pretty much the same year-to year, but we as photographers do, which is what keeps us searching for that different image. For the last several years I’ve shot the graduation of the University of San Diego, and like all assignments, shoot the obvious stuff while looking for those few opportunities that make it all different. I always try and arrive at scheduled events well in advance of the start time so I can scope everything out and see if I can make interesting photos before everything gets going which is what I did with the headless graduate. He was standing behind one of the numbered signs where the students were to gather based on their name, and his body was placed just in the right place right to make it look like the sign was his head. Still searching for a different kind of image paid off at almost at the end of the ceremony. I was just finishing the seventh or eighth lap around the graduates in the gym, when I noticed two students kissing at the bottom of one of the stairs nearby. I shot several photos with different lenses until they came running back inside just as the full class of 2009 was being introduced as the newest graduates of the university.

Howard Lipin
Photos used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Graduation Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day; it's a typical assignment. In fact it’s an annual assignment almost every newspaper photographer has had to shoot at one point or another. My assignment was to come up with a few photos from Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery that would be iconic for a broader story on the entire cemetery that would run on Memorial day. Carrying everything from a 16mm to 300/2.8 I must have walked the entire cemetery’s 70+ acres at least a dozen times, wandering in every direction for hours, shooting with wide angle lenses, closeups, telephoto, shallow and deep depth of field and yes even the low-low angle photos. In fact on two occasions while shooting several photos on my knees I was caught off guard when the cemetery's auto sprinkler system started. On my 2nd day out on the cemetery I was fortunate to stumble upon a Marine burial guard. And of course the gear I needed was back in my car. I had less than 10 minutes to get back to my car, drive my car over to where the burial guard was and to quickly setup a couple of portable strobes to photograph Cpl. Kevin Silva playing taps.

Nelvin C. Cepeda
Photos used by permission of The San Diego Union-Tribune

Memorial Day

Michelle Obama at UC Merced

Sitting in the 102° University of California Merced sun, thousands of family members, friends, faculty and staff gathered from what has to be up to this point in UC Merced’s history, it’s most prestigious and proudest moment. Thanks to an incredible letter writing campaign started by students at the university and continued by its community, they achieved what other larger and more prestigious universities and schools haven’t been able to do. They got the First Lady, Michelle Obama to be the Keynote speaker at their graduation.

Up to that point, it had already been a long day for most family members and graduates. People had started arriving as early as 7:30 in the morning for a 1:30pm graduation. Some even attending smaller ceremonies on the small and remote campus.

The nervousness of people could be seen in the fast flitting eyes of the many who were working to bring this event to fruition. University staff and faculty darted about trying to get people and things in the right places. Police officials screened visitors through large metal detectors. Secret Service agents walked stoically among the crowd with dark sunglasses and occasionally speaking into the cuff of their coats. In the distance of the campus’ rooftops, small silhouettes could be seen raising binoculars to their eyes and shifting from one end of a rooftop to the other.

The nervous energy present earlier in the staff could now be felt spreading among the attendees even in the 100 plus degree weather. Eventually the time passed and the time grew closer for the graduation. Some of the elderly or those who did not drink enough water had to be attended to by Emergency Services only to ultimately be carted away to a shadier respite, no doubt where there was water and shade available.

It was then, after a few minutes of standing, saluting and crowd cheering did the graduation platform come onto the stage. During the few speeches and introductions before the First Lady’s commencement address, the vibe in the crowd was electric and soon enough erupted in tremendous applause when Michelle Obama stepped to the dais.

Mrs. Obama spoke about inspiration and giving back. Speaking confidently and directly to the crowd she talked about why she decided to make UC Merced the first university to give her very first commencement address as First Lady. She told the crowd that it was because the students and the people of Merced inspired her and touched her so much that she felt that she had to go. When referring to the vast diversity of Merced’s community and the struggles of their families to get their sons and daughters to this graduation, she asked them to give back to the community that gave them the very university that they were graduating from.

Reminding the crowd of graduates that “you are blessed”, and that everyone once in a while they should “bend down and let someone else stand on [their] shoulders”, and asking them to be the “realization of our dreams and the hope for the next generation”.

Ronnie Revoredo

Michelle Obama at UC Merced