8.4.2022 a live talk with brother ernie paniccioli moderated by ralph mcdaniels of video music box held at the grammy museum experience in the prudential center newark, nj. on october 5, 1995 the urban aid concert took place at madison square garden. i was a junior at bishop loughlin high school brooklyn, ny at the time & also the school newspapers photographer. @jsharpeceo the papers editor tasked me with capturing images of the concert. arriving at msg i was given my press credentials and whisked away to the press room to be given the venues do's and don't's for the concert. while in this room I saw some of the hugest most expensive cameras i've ever seen in my life. i was immediately taken out of my element. keep in mind i am in high school shooting with a point & shoot camera & also an older model olympus that was passed down to me from my father that he used in the vietnam war. a few moments later the photographers started being taken to the pit. ( the pit or the photography pit is the section between the stage & the audience ) while shooting in the pit i kept noticing this towering photographer with a ponytail who ( let's say ) was extremely vocal to his fellow photographers. about half way thru the show me and who I found out later on was @erniepaniccioli were side by side in the pit during a musicians set while all the photographers were trying to postion themselves to capture the best photographs. i don't know what made me do this but i tapped brother ernie on the shoulder & asked him what I had to do as a teenager to become a professional photographer. brother ernie in the middle of capturing pictures stopped what he was doing & with so much care in the middle of this concert answered my question. i kept asking him questions & we spoke in the pit for about 20 to 30 minutes during that musician's performance ( if your an event photographer this is your bread & butter ) he told me it doesn't matter how expensive your camera is.... if you don't have the eye... it's meaningless. i've never forgotten this exchange brother ernie and never will. i only realized how important this exchange would be to me years later when I was older. thank you brother.