I started off the morning at an event where the Emergency Aid Coalition was giving away back packs and school supplies to their clients who were low income families. It was inspiring to see the excitement in these young children's faces...just receiving these back packs.
From a photo stand point, however, there were some bumps in the road that I had to wind around.
The first was that I was not allowed to take photos of anyone until there was a photo release signed by the parent. This type of rule is frustrating because you miss some incredible moments - and believe me, I watched as beautiful photographs unfolded in front of me but I felt like I was unable to capture it because of the rule. Later on yesterday I talked to Johnny Hanson who told me - yes, you need to keep in mind the whole photo release rule...but he said - if there's a moment, just shoot it. You can always go back and ask them if you can use the photo and get their name, but you can never regain the moment.
The second road block was that because they had to sign a release, the families new when they were being photographed. This resulted in ALOT of poses. If I brought the camera to my face, they would stiffin up and smile, or adjust themselves to look poised. To overcome this sometimes I would pull the camera away and then sneak it up again really fast before they would look at me again. Or I would stand there and patiently wait for them to look away - taking a photo or two of them posed so that they knew I got that -and then I'd wait to see what else I could get.
Before going to this event Steve told me to visualize what I was going to see, shoot it like a picture story and get all the elements. He also said that it was important to follow a family from the very start to the very end...sometimes your best photo could be the kids loading up into the car. Sometimes it's not. But you never know if you don't try.
I headed back to the office feeling fairly confident with what I had to show of the event. There were several things I had wished I would have done, but you get that with every assignment and that's how you learn and grow. You can never push yourself too much. Two of the photos showed up in today's online gallery at chron.com.
Although that's where my photo assignments ended, that's not where my day ended.
While I was sitting in the photo room with Johnny Hanson we started talking about an array of things.
One thing he talked to me about was the One in 8 Million photo essays that The NY Times does. I explained to him that we will be doing them at the DI in the fall and asked if he had any tips on how we should execute, etc.
This is what he said:
- Quality is key with these so try and spend time with these people. If you read the Q&A on the photographer who does the 1 in 8 Million - he spends about two to three different days with them - a few hours each day. This is time. And time is what it takes to do things well.
- I explained to him that we are going to attempt to do it everyday. He discouraged this for quality reasons but said if you have to, assign a different photographer for each day of the week and just have them work on it all week (on top of other daily assignments) and see if they can execute quality in that way.
- He said that if you can limit the slideshows to just twice a week and have better quality do it. That way, he said, you could put a little teaser on the page and say check back tomorrow or keep up every Monday and Wednesday for such and such.
It was really insightful and I'll be keeping all of these things in mind when I head back to Iowa. He also mentioned the reason you do the slideshows is to really tell a story - so make sure that that's how it's done.
Johnny Hanson also talked to me about feeling uncomfortable in certain situations and how we as journalists have to sometimes confront people on the worst day of their life. Sympothesize with them and show them you are human and they will respond better.
He also talked about when shooting portraits, sometimes it's helpful to sit with your camera in your lap and talk to the person. Be a journalist - ask questions. Sometimes when a person talks about their story - they show the emotion you need to make a good photograph. Or they show off their personality which can in turn give you a good photograph. We're not just photographers, we're photojournalists. Johnny also said that sometimes it's helpful to say something like, I'm still listening but I'm going to get some photos of you while you talk about this.
On Tuesday I also briefly talked to James Nielsen in the studio. He was doing food shoots and had all kinds of studio lights set up and I came in at the tail end of the shoot, but saw a bit of the interaction he had with the designer and what was going on in the studio.
I also chatted with Jeremy Carter who does all kind of producing and editing of video. He's really into cinema and is preparing to produce some shows, reality TV, films, etc. He's done all kinds of things and has a great background story. He's really pumped about what he does and it was extremely inspiring.
WEDNESDAY
It's interesting when sometimes you think you're doing what you should be doing. And when it's all said and done there is either a million other ways you can do that one thing or the way you execute it just doesn't work out.
Today was one of those interesting days. I started off in Kingwood at an elementary school shooting a drawing camp. I felt like I was covering all angles - I had several details, over all shots and worked on switching up lenses and getting various angles and tight shots of the kids and instructor who were there. I felt good about it.
On my way back to the office I got a call from my boss who needed me to head out to a spot news story - a car accident that happened on Hwy 290 (I have no idea where this highway is). I start heading in what direction I think I should be heading in, and I hear Mayra's voice in the back of my head saying you lose time by guessing, sometimes you just have to stop and figure out exactly where you are going. So I stopped, I looked at my map, a man tapped on my window and I asked him for directions and I took off. It was fast. And as I was driving I called Mayra because on Monday she had said to give her a call if I was ever in a bind. I described where I was and where I needed to go and she told me exactly how to get there. I was amazed. I really don't think anyone can fathom how much I appreciated the gesture. I had been overwhelmed by the uncertainty and her calm matter-of-fact information put me at ease.
The next step was: getting the shot.
After whipping around to the eastbound side of the highway I found the accident which looked pretty bad and I patiently waited to get through the traffic before I could pull over, park my car, LOCK IT, and head over to the scene. There were about three officers there when I got there. Emergency vehicles had already left and so I photographed the smashed Excursion against a pole. The man had been transported to the hospital and had been in and out of consciousness - they didn't know if he was going to survive.
There was no reporter on the scene so I needed to get information on what happened. It just so happens that the first person I went to ask what happened to - ended up being the father of the girl who had been driving the other car (she was okay). He pointed me into her direction and I asked her some questions and then I headed over to an officer.
When I brought the photos back, Steve was happy with the one and told me that I did a good job of covering myself and I came back with the shot I needed. Relief.
However, as he thumbed through the drawing photos, I knew he wasn't seeing what he wanted. And when I really think about it - I did miss some key moments that I should have captured.
What I learned from that assignment is to execute on moments I encounter. When drawn into a subject - stick with them until you get the perfect moment inside the perfect composition. Get all angles, get details, get the over all, but you got to have the moment.
Steve told me that my next assignment needs to be focused on the moment. Yes, get all the technical stuff down. But really look for that moment and show that you see what you are acting like you see.
He explained to me that photographers are photographers because they see things differently than a normal person. Don't give me the shot that these people pay admission for - show me something different. Show me the other side of the room. Show me how you zero in with a telephoto lens on someone's eyes with their hand being raised. Stick with it until you get the shot.
After turning in those photos, there was a fire called onto the scanner and he had me run on that. It turned out to be nothing but I met up with Karen Warren there and we decided to jump in the car and chase lightning. Although we were too late for the lightning show (it had started pouring) we drove through downtown with our windows down and photographed people out the car window running through the rain with these high winds during rush hour traffic. It was quite entertaining. And it was the end of my day.
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