"Click...You got me"...It's taking me a while to get crafty with the digital camera, but here are a few of my sights. My photography is at an extreme amateur level, but what the hell...Catching moments is fun.

Let me know what you think by emailing me at bret.dougherty@gmail.com. Also, his page was done way before Flickr. If you want to share photos, check out my Flickr account here.

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Malcolm Gladwell, "Don't 'Blink'" @ The Sanford Institute for Public Policy at Duke University, Durham, NC, February 2005

I caught this one of Gladwell at the Hart Leadership Program at Duke University during his 2005 booktour for "Blink".

Many of his topics addressed what goes through a person's mind when an impulsive decision or choice needs to be made? Some examples that he used are what goes on in a policeman's mind during a high speed car chase and what goes on in the mind of Tom Brady during the split second of time that he drops back to pass.

I jumped behind the convoy of fandom after reading "The Tipping Point". What I really like about Gladwell is that he stated the main reason of why he writes is" to start conversation."

Rasheed Wallace - " Shloopin' in the Smith Center Tunnel", Chapel Hill, North Carolina, September, 2004

I caught up with Rasheed in the tunnel during the Jerry Stackhouse's Carolina Pros event in late August of 2004.

He's one of the easiest dudes that you'll run into. What's cool is that he still holds the same playful attitude that he had in the past when my old roomate and I used to shoot bottle rockets at him in the Granville Towers West Parking Lot.

People don't understand is that the guy is a straight-up team-player. Just don't bulls#!^ him, and the dude will come to play. He's the last player that I'll watch on TV. So, get off his ass...He's gotta ring, and he is one of the last great fundamentally sound players in the game.

Dan Aykroyd "Not Ready for Prime-Time Brother " @ Lincoln Center, New York City, NY, December, 2005.

I snapped this photo of Dan Aykroyd at a lecture and appearance for the 2005 book release of, "Belushi." His abilities to capture people's nuances and his attention for detail are mind-blowing.

In 1979, Aykroyd's writing along co-writers, John Belushi and John Landis, captured Chicago-life in The Blues Brothers that few films would have spent time delving into for a comedy.. And I thanked him for it. His work surrounding the character of Elwood Blues through TV, film, and radio was a huge intro for me to R&B, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, James Brown, Sam & Dave, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, and Booker T & The MGs.

Aykroyd's work with the House of Blues Foundation and his business interests with the Hard Rock Cafe and the House of Blues venues are nothing less than extrordinary. I'll be awaiting an 'autobio' from the "King of the Bass-O-Matic" soon..."Let The Good Times Roll."

Rakim "Slings a Left-Hook" @ the Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, North Carolina, September 26, 2006.

1987 to 2006...This show was incredible. Like watching Marvin Hagler throwing one hook after another.. 

I caught this one of Rakim, 'The 18th Letter.' I don't think that I'm going out on the limb on this one, but he's the "MJ" of hip-hop with Chuck D as Barkley. His voice should be patented, and he is the most dominant lyricist in hip-hop during the '80s. Yes, debate if you must. Pair his voice with a Rod Strickland highlight reel, and your engine will run smooth forever.

I caught him on stage at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, which is probably one of the best band-boxes in the U.S. for getting up close. The cool thing is that his stage presence is as smooth as his voice is in the studio. Check out this photo of me and Ra workin' a deal,

An ad in "TimeOut NYC" led me to an event where Pulitzer Prize winner, David Halberstam was promoting his book "The Teammates" at the opening of the Time Warner Center.

I had a great conversation with him concerning his book on the run of the Chicago Bulls and the man they simply call "Mike" (check my favorite hoops reads).

When touching on a question of the Red Sox curse, I was glad to see that he supports my belief that there is no such thing as a cursed team...It's all about ownership and leadership. Believe me, when you see the guy, he had a presence. He was not only one of the great writers of the 20th century, but he's also one of the best sportswriters ever. I caught him in the Smith Center stands during the UNC/Wake Forest game in 2007. He tragically passed three months later in a 2007 auto accident.

Brandon Jennings - "Supreme Point" @ MLK Invitational, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro NC, 1/18/08

Great point guards can be found every year...Hopefully, your squad has one of them.

For pure point-guard high school play, you had Calvin Murphy for the '60s, Isiah Thomas for the '70s, Kenny Anderson in the '80s, and Allen Iverson for the '90s. For the '00s, you have Brandon Jennings of Los Angeles, CA, who has been playing at Oak Hill the past two seasons. Catch him while you can.

I caught him at the Greensboro Coliseum for the MLK Inviational. The kid has a tough chin, commands the court, holds Penn Relay speed, mesmerizes the court with dizzying handles, and what makes him even more special...A slick left-handed jumper that launches and hits from deep.

The kid is supposedly headed to Arizona in 2008...Watch out for this pure point guard. He is the 'supreme' point guard for this decade. - BD 2/08

Daze @ eyejammie Arts Gallery, New York City, NY, November, 2005

Daze is a legendary graffitti artist, who was one of the young artists appearing in Tony Silver's famed 1982 PBS documentary, Style Wars. (Do yourself a favor and check out the Style Wars site)

I had met Daze once before at Bill Adler's eyejammie Art Gallery, and I was very impressed as to how down-to-earth the guy is. When I asked him how he gets over mistakes in his work, he said. "There are no mistakes. Just start with drawing and go from there to see what you create."

In this picture, Daze is in front of a piece that he and Mass Appeal editor and culture extrodinairre, Sacha Jenkins, collaborated upon. The piece is called "Hustler's Convention...If you can zoom in, dig the cover shot of "Paid In Full" in the corner.

Ghostface Killah @ Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC, December, 2007

Ricky Powell and Bill Adler- "Pushing buttons" @ eyejammie Arts Gallery, New York City, NY, June 2004.

If you're a hip-hop historian, this is a beauty...During the summer of '04, I did an article for 'Waxpoetics' on Bill Adler, and I caught up with him and the "King of the Bummy Sophisitcate" Ricky Powell at Ego Trip Magazine's 10th Anniversary Party at Adler's Eyejammie Gallery in Chelsea.

Ricky came in blazin', and I caught this one of him and Bill. The book that Ricky is holding is the first pressing of his famed postcard book "Frozeade Moments" from Eyejammie Press. I hope that I can chill with this combo again. Lots of history people...Lots of flavor...

Big UPs to Ricky: This page has been heavily influenced by his photos and writings.

Dudley High School Panthers - " Preppin'" at the Beach Ball Classic, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, December 2003

These my boys...The Dudley High School Panthers...I spent a lot of time around this high school back in the day...I caught a major black eye off a ground ball on the rock pile that the Greensboro Board of Education calls a baseball field.

Over the past decade, Dudley has built a pretty good hoops program, and I caught them outside the Myrtle Beach Convention Center hustling mall girls and sippin' Cokes from the vacant snack booths in the hallways...Ahhh to be young and hustlin' with your boys....

Check out Kevin Swinton in the middle left center. When I snapped this pic of him and his boys, he had just signed with Wake Forest. Good kid.

I first saw the name, "Bobbito", off the liner notes on Third Bass's Catcus Album in 1989 when he was working at Def Jam. And like any strong researcher, I've been following the climb of the 'hip-hop renaissance man' with much respect.

He became the shoe aficionado for Vibe Magazine, and he's one of the few people who have been able to link the influence of sports upon urban and pop culture in inner cities...Especially, New York City, and that's why you should check out his book, "Where'd You Get Those?", Not only does it describe what shoes were 'butters' and what shoes were for 'burgers', but also the photos make for one of the best coffee-table type books that I own.

I caught this photo after interviewing him at his new crib in Harlem. He's one of the few people that I know who own "Rockin' Steady" by Walt "Clyde" Frazier.

Little Brother - "The Yo Yo" @ Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC 4/22/05

You know how you catch moments on the groundswell...For me, it's like the first time I saw a raw Tim Duncan from Wake Forest or an artsy Mos Def from Brooklyn...Each time, I said "Pro."

Well, here's a group that's "Pro." Little Brother out of Durham. What's great about these guys is that not only did they emerge from "Bull City", Durham, NC, but they also rose from College Radio at perhaps one of the best independent radio stations from their alma mater, North Carolina Central University. These guys love hip-hop. Yet, what's great about them is that there's no thug, gold-toothed, back-roads crap to their game.

An even better note on them is that they love tecnnology. How they're utilizing online promotion and their website is incredible. Phonte, the lead MC, who you see bugging-out here, met up with Nicodemus via an online message board, and they both created the tandem Foreign Exchange after exchanging beats and lyrics via IM that resulted in the album "Connected". (My top album of 2004. Hint: Forget that mash-up crap. Pick this up)

Better yet, most of their beats are mixed and produced by Durham's 9th Wonder. 9th has done some great work with Jay-Z and others. Check these guys out on a tour near you...Let's watch how they grow.