Once again, it was a fantastic time shooting the Joe Torre Safe At Home® Foundation Annual Gala -- their 6th one. This year centered around a tribute to the 1998 world championship New York Yankees: with an appearance of Scott Brosius, Homer Bush, José Cardenal, Tony Cloninger, David Cone, Joe Girardi, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, Paul O’Neill, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Willie Randolph, Mariano Rivera, Mel Stottlemyre, David Wells, Bernie Williams and Don Zimmer all on stage together. They passed around inside stories and jokes about that year -- and each other -- and had the house in peals of laughter with all the behind-the-scenes tattling and razzing. (There's a distinct chemistry with these guys, for certain)
[The two shots of the team in this set were taken from the foot of the stage, (notice the amused look on Pettitte's face at my crawling around down there), and from the back of the room, while standing on my trusty hand truck/ladder thing-o-majiggy. If you have to shoot over lots of heads, never leave home without one.]
There were also plenty of celebrities attending, as well, with Lorraine Bracco, Dominic Chianese, Bob Costas, Ari Fleischer, Steve Kroft, James Lipton, Penny Marshall, Stone Phillips, and too many others to count. Needless to say: event photographer heaven. ; )
It also didn't hurt to have Bon Jovi finish the night off, either. Ultra fun stuff shooting him in action from 5 feet away. [The two shots of the band in this set were both taken with my 70-200mm VR lens]
Y'know... thank goodness that even through this down economy there are celebrities and donors attracted to Joe's cause -- and Joe himself -- that are willing to dig deep into their wallets and time schedules to help out. I've shot at a few of the Margaret's Places, and have seen, and captured, how meaningful and important they are as a safe haven for middle/high school students to discuss any and all issues of abuse. It's a worthy cause worth checking into, and I'm proud once again to cover it for them.
