New Jersey wedding photojournalist and editorial photographer | John O'Boyle Photography LLC » Journalism

It’s never too early – Inside Jersey magazine photography

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:16:46 +0000

It’s still a few months away but it’s never to early to start thinking about Saint Patrick’s Day.
The Pipes and Drums of the Jersey Shore has begun practicing in Belmar. Some nice weather has allowed them to practice outside.
A small photo essay on the musicians appears on the Inside Jersey magazine website.

President Obama visits flood damaged New Jersey

admin — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 00:57:19 +0000

What a week it has been.
While Hurricane Irene spared the shore, Manville, Lincoln Park, Wayne and other towns suffered heavy flooding.
Today President Obama visited Wayne and Paterson. I was lucky to be selected to serve as the local pool photographer. In exchange for very close access to the President I had to share the photos with every news organization.
I wish traveling around New Jersey was always as easy as it is while traveling in a Presidential motorcade.

Assignment: The White House

admin — Wed, 04 May 2011 02:37:25 +0000

One of the things I love about being a photographer is the variety and unpredictability that each day brings.

Well the past few days certainly were unpredictable.

On Sunday afternoon I traveled to Washington D.C. to prepare for a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House the next day.
The family of New Jersey native Henry Svehla would receive the Medal of Honor from President Obama. While serving in the Korean War, Svehla was killed when he threw himself on a grenade to save the life of his men. He was 19 years old.

That night news spread of the military action in Pakistan and the death of Osama Bin Laden.
My hotel was only a few blocks from the White House and a taxi was waiting outside.
When I arrived at the White House there were a few dozen people celebrating outside on Pennsylvania Avenue.
I took a few photos and a quick video then called the Star Ledger newsroom so they would be expecting my photos. As I sat on the curb and transmitted the photos hundreds more people, mostly college students, began to run down Pennsylvania Avenue.
The scene was euphoric.
People climbing trees, people wearing flags, people chanting and singing.

I returned to my hotel at about 3 a.m. for a brief few moments of sleep.
The Ledger was producing a rare extra edition in the morning and I had to be back at the White House before dawn.

The scene outside the White House the next morning was much more subdued. The early morning sun illuminated a man with a flag who drove overnight from Pennsylvania.

A few hours later I was inside the White House’s elegant East Room with the President, the First Lady and Private First Class Henry Svehla’s family for the Medal of Honor ceremony.
A poignant event, especially considering the previous day’s military action.

Just when I thought the day was over, there was one more surprise.
A Ledger sports columnist was on his way to Washington. Could I cover military appreciation night at the Washington Nationals baseball game?
Sure, why not.

I have no idea how many hours I worked or how many minutes of sleep I got but historical moments like that don’t happen every day.

I love my job.

Rutgers’ Eric LeGrand portraits

admin — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:14:16 +0000

I had the opportunity to spend some time photographing Eric LeGrand, the paralyzed Rutgers football player.
He has made remarkable progress since his injury during a game last October. He now lives at his aunt’s gorgeous home in New Egypt as he continues his rehabilitation.
You can read more about Eric’s progress on nj.com.

Pulitzer Prize celebration

admin — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:42:45 +0000

I had the opportunity to photograph my good friend and colleague Amy Nutt as she was surprised with the news that she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.
Amy had no idea that she was even a finalist so winning the award was a complete surprise.
You can read her Pulitzer Prize winning story here.

Parents struggle to find housing for their children with disabilities

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 01:36:54 +0000

I just finished a stills and video project on New Jersey’s Special Needs Housing Trust Fund that was supposed to fund housing projects for people with developmental disabilities. There are now 4,879 “priorities” on an 8,000-person waiting list for people with developmental disabilities. The Department of Human Services, facing a severe housing shortage and an unrelenting budget crunch, was able to remove 229 names from the waiting list this fiscal year.

Steelers are going to the Super Bowl

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:55:45 +0000

Ok, so the Jets came close but the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl.
This was my third trip to Heinz Field this football season (one Rutgers game and two Jets games) and with single digit temperatures I was wishing for a nice dome stadium.
I was hoping to shoot some Jets celebration and book my flight to Dallas for the Super Bowl but it was not to be.
Here’s a photo of the Steelers Stevenson Sylvester celebrating their victory in the AFC Championship game.

Giants & Jets locker room portraits

admin — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 01:04:53 +0000

As the NFL regular season comes to a close this weekend here is a look at a series of locker room portraits.

The locker room is much too crowded to set up a light stand so I usually rely on the lights from nearby tv cameras. Usually the tv cameras shoot straight on so I try to shoot from the side giving me nice side lighting on the player’s face. Luckily the Jets locker room has a large window that floods the room with nice light.

As I look at the photos I realize that none of the players look very happy, I guess that sums up the season pretty well.

Jets LaDainian Tomlinson

Giants Eli Manning

Jets Jason Taylor and Giants Justin Tuck

Giants Mario Manningham

Giants Mathias Kiwanuka

Giants Deon Grant

Photographing the best in the world

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 02:33:17 +0000

This is a great time of year for New York City area sports photographers. The U.S. Open, the start of football season and the baseball playoffs heating up.
As I prepared a blog post of my photographs from the U.S. Open tennis tournament I realized that over the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to photograph some of the best athletes in the world: Roger Federer, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, etc…..
Here’s a few of those photos.

Queen Latifah portrait

admin — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:58:22 +0000

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the new issue of Inside Jersey magazine. A photograph of Queen Latifah that I took last year was featured in an article about the New Jersey native.

Usually celebrity portraits require lots of advance setup and coordination with publicity agents.
This photograph was the result of a wonderful day riding on a luxury bus with Queen Latifah as she educated people about steps they can take to stop a home foreclosure.

Being the only photographer on the bus allowed for some nice candid moments. It’s great to see the photo published again.