It's a small world after all... How the Amanda Berry story came my way

  We have all been captivated by the real life "Criminal Minds" episode that is unraveling in Cleveland over the past few days.  The huge story about Amanda Berry, the heroic young woman recently freed in Cleveland, entered into my life yesterday.   I was editing video at my office when my cell vibrated.  It was Mark Humphrey of the Associated Press who asked, "what are you doing right now?"  I knew that he was calling because he was probably desperate and had already called a number of people that were likely busy.  I stopped working fort the AP many years ago right after I left the newspaper world in 1992.  "I'm game Mark, what do you have for me," was my response.
  Mark told me to simply grab my gear and laptop and start driving towards Elizabethton, TN and that he would contact me later on when he had an address and additional information.  I hit the "super-slab" and headed East.
  It turns out that Amanda Berry's Father, Grandmother, and Uncle all live in Tennessee, and it was that part of the story that AP needed photo reportage of.
  As I headed up I-81 towards Bristol, I began to reflect that this is what my life had been for years, running on news stories first for dailies and later in my career for People, Time, and Sports Illustrated.  That part of my life has waned in recent years but I still know how to do that work.  Editorial never paid very well but it was often fun and required you to not just be a good photographer but to be a good reporter, learn to read people, and gently ask for additional access.
  As I drove through Johnson City, I got the address for Amanda's uncle Curtiss and her Father John.  When I arrived, I was greeted by four cute kids, all under 8 and a house completely saturated with cigarette smoke so bad, it was hard for me to breathe inside.
 The first image I made was of all the kids and Curtiss watching CNN on a flatscreen in the living room:

AP- 24-70, D3s, small Chimera with Youongo Strobe

  After being told by Curtiss that Amanda's father John was very sick and was coming home from the doctor and would not agree to be photographed, I made a few frames and then prepared to leave the house.  As I walked outside, a car pulled up with John in the passenger side front seat.  He was in bad shape.  It turns out John has had three back surgeries, can't walk, and has a hard time holding his head up so he wears a neck brace to assist him.  I asked him if I could make his photograph and he agreed as long as he didn't have to get out of the car.  I ran back into the house, grabbed a large blow up photo of Amanda, and went back outside.  A nice ABC-TV producer named Janice held a light bank for me, and I made this image in about 20 seconds, shooting a few frames to get the exposure right:

AP- 24-70, D3s, small Chimera with Youongo Strobe

  Curtiss mentioned to me that in that last year, John has really gone down and has been maybe losing his will to live.  He offered that Amanda being found after all these years has lifted his spirits up high and that he was hopeful that John might rally and improve.
  My assignment was to try to get a photo of John, which few had gotten at that point, and that AP wanted badly.  To get John with the photo of his daughter Amanda was something that AP didn't ask for but that I knew would be important to link the Tennessee photos to the rest of them coming out of Cleveland.  At that point, I knew I had an important image to get out.
  My last move at the house was to go back inside to thank Curtiss and all the kids.  When I entered through the front door, I saw Hannah Berry coloring something on the table in front of the couch.  As I looked closer, I saw that the kids had been taking the old missing person posters, cutting out Amanda's photo, and then drawing hearts and putting her name on a separate piece of paper.  I shot a few quick frames of this, knowing I already had captions of all the kids from the first image I made, and then it was time to find wireless as fast as possible.

AP- 24-70, D3s, small Chimera with Youongo Strobe

  The Associated Press is actually a non-profit entity that services member newspapers for what is called "photo stream."  All day long, staffers and stringers (freelancers) upload images to NY and Washington from around the USA.  The bigger stories obviously need more photos.  It was essential to get these images first to Mark in Nashville, and then he would upload them to DC.
  I went to a Krystal hamburger place that advertised free wireless and sat down to edit and caption all the photos.  I ended up keeping 16 total from what I had shot.  once I finished that process, I went to hit the wireless and no go.  I had to run across the street into the lobby of a motel where a nice clerk gave me the access code for their wireless and allowed me to sit at a table to work.  It was slow connection but finally worked as all the images went through.  It took about 25 minutes to send everything in and then I was headed home.
  It was an exciting day that ended very differently than I had planned.  I finally got home around 9pm after having left Knoxville at noon but it felt good to have stepped back into that life for a moment.
  Last, while there are many exceptions to the rule, working around TV is very difficult.  On-air talent is often filled with a self-rightous need to bust in on people, demand things, and then sulk when they don't get what they want.  As I shot a portrait of Curtiss in his own living room, I was interrupted twice by TV people who walked in and just ignored me working.  Curtiss was polite but firm through all this but I felt bad for him.  Once I had shot his picture, I sat an talked with him for a while.  I think that the extra time I spent there shooting baskets with his kids, asking about John's health, and generally being a good person allowed me to get the photo of John even though he was tired of being interviewed and was in a lot of pain.  I can remember earlier days in my career when I would not have spent that time.  Sadly, I had to admit that I saw my younger self in some of the TV people and their self-centered tactics.  I'm glad I've grown some, but I'm also glad I got my image of John for the AP yesterday; it was a win-win.

Dana Dolly and Manfroto 561BHDV-1 video monopod introduced and explained.

This is a long video so if you are just surfing, move on.  If you want to see the Dana Dolly and Manfroto 561BHDV-1 in action, keep watching.  This is designed for an intermediate shooter working with HD-DSLR video on a regular basis...

click here to watch: https://vimeo.com/63985187

Looking backwards, moving forwards...

  I took some much needed time to think, to ride, and to visit good friends in Fort Worth, Texas, last weekend.  I needed a retreat.  I was attending the Southwest Photojournalism Conference which I have attended only three times since it began.  After listening to some really great photographers talk about their work as well as their faith, I started for home Sunday, after attending Mass in a few blocks from the seminary.
  As I rode up I-30 towards Dallas, I passed the Cotton Bowl where Al Fuchs and I got locked in after sending over 40 images back to the Knoxville News-Sentinel using our new Leafax 35 unit.  It was like 3AM when we finished and security had locked all the gates with us inside.  As I rode past the big Ferris Wheel, I thought of that time in my life and pondered.
  Next, I rode past the Cowboys Stadium where Peter Read Miller taught me how to deal with shooting a night game and a day game at the same time: two identical sets of cameras and lenses!!!
  While it's no longer there, I thought of all the games I shot at Reunion Arena, shooting Jason Kidd and the rest of the boys in the NBA down there for Upper Deck.  Now Reunion is gone, replaced by a brand new arena and Upper Deck is part of trading card history, having gone belly up years ago.
  I went to the conference to seek encouragement about my career as I've been thinking about maybe hanging it up lately.  I've been wondering if the whole escape from reality in going to grad school might be a good call for me at this point.
  But then, I listened to Dave Black sharing how we have to keep pushing our work with editors to be able to do the things we want to do.  I thought on Eugene Richard's talk and how he shared he had spent a year working on Iraq and Afghanistan homecoming stories because he could no longer find magazines to pay for his travel.  Then, after a year of shooting, no one wanted to publish the work.  Did I mention this was Eugene Richards???  So now he is working with his son to do an online version, a slide show, and he's looking at Blurb as options.  He talked about how the work must be seen, no matter what because it was so important.  Thanks Dave.  Thanks Eugene.
  I have Haiti images by the pound so one of the goals I set for myself is to do something with them.  I'm going to cold call some people this week with some story ideas and try to reconnect with editors that probably think I'm dead.

  I'm still here, the economy sucks, but I'm not done yet.  I'm not ready to go the way of Reunion Arena, Texas Stadium, or Upper Deck.  2013 will be a year of push for me.  Hear me roar...

I actually shot a vertical today!!! Yes, I'm serious.

  As some of you know, I shoot a lot of video these days.  To be more accurate, I shoot more video than stills at this juncture and so today I faced a situation during a quick scout of a location that led me to lock-in on a vertical composition.  Once I turned the camera sideways and looked through the viewfinder, I knew it was a right call.  This may seem a little dramatic to say but I rarely shoot vertical anymore.  Most of the reasons for this are that vertical images online require workarounds because most slots on webpages are setup for 16:9 which is always in landscape format.  I often get hired to shoot both stills and video on assignments these days, so shooting verticals can be dangerous.  Next time you are at Best-Buy to pick up discounted iTunes cards, check out the TV's.  No one even makes 4:3 sets anymore.  I often wonder if we are experiencing our first generation of photographers that will never shoot a vertical frame.  There's no profit in it.  Even I edit out really nice vertical frames when I consider what to update my website with because they just show too small in my 16:9 template driven pages.  Ole' Victor Hasselblad might have had something by making cameras that only shoot squares back in the day..

  The assignment was to shoot a woman holding a portrait of her son Daniel who was killed in action in Iraq back in 2004.  She is the president of the local "Gold Star Mothers" organization.  She works on staff at UTK in the Arts and Sciences Department and will be featured in an upcoming story.

  I used my D600 with the AFS 28mm f/1.8G lens.  1/200th @ f/11 at 50 ISO did the trick.  The sky wasn't nearly as blue as it appears but through underexposing the image by about 1.5 stops, even the super-bright and directly lit granite towers toned down enough to allow the Elinchrom EL600S light to illuminate Kim Harrison.  Once again, Chimera small bank (super pro with white interior) on top of an Avenger A635B light stand.

 Note to those of you that may try something like this:  You have to really work hard to keep your senors clean if you are going to stop down lenses past f/8, especially if you plan to shoot with big skies behind your subject.  If you have a lot of dust on your chip surface, it can be an ugly experience trying to repair that after an important shoot on deadline.  I try never to actually touch the chip inside the camera physically but I do used canned air to blow them off as needed.

  The D600 can be a bit of a pain for shoots like this as it lacks two very important things essential for lit portraits in high ambient light: 1. 1/250th sync, and 2. a proper PC outlet.  The PC outlet is easy to fix with either the Nikon AS-15 or Chinese knock-off.  The 1/200th sync speed on the D600 can only be dealt with by using a "real" flash unit as opposed to a speedlight or even multiple speedlights.  There are times when using more powerful flash units just make sense and, if you do the numbers, it costs a lot less to buy a single unit and an inverter than to buy a suitcase full of overpriced "SB what-evers" to the the job with slow recycle, all the while entrusting your shoot to AA batteries.  So much of lit portraiture these days can be summed up in laziness on the part of shooters.  The strobe I shot this photo with was puchased new back in about 1998 and still has the original flash-tube in it.  The SB-900 that I bought when I switched to Nikon a year ago was replaced within six months by the SB-910.  I fully expect Nikon to respond to Canon's 600EX-RT flash soon, so as not to leave themselves exposed without radio control for too much longer.  Note that I didn't even bother linking to the SB-910 as I figure it's already old news...

  At any rate, I shot a vertical today...  weird!  I guess I will never get the gig to shoot the annual report for that flagpole company. 

  

Environmental Portraits: LOVE THEM!

  Yesterday, I got a call from one of my favorite people, Roger Hagy.  Every once in a while you run across a fellow creative where things just click (no pun intended).  Roger is a talented designer who works for the University of Tennessee School if Arts and Sciences.  My assignment for this image was to create a photograph of Miwa Ishii,  a costume designer at the Clarence Brown Theater on campus.  She designed the dress she poses with that was worn by actor Dale Dickey for the play Sweeney Todd, which ran at the Clarence Brown recently.
  After scouting locations where they do production, and after seeing that the main stage was filled with set builders, we decided on the dressing room where Dickey would have dressed for each performance.
  Roger's instructions to me were pretty straightforward: shoot an image that could run across both pages in their annual report (also known as a double-truck in designer-speak).  This way Roger can begin the story on one page, drop reversed type on the area on the left side, and let the subject of the story take up the whole right side of the page:

  Miwa was extremely cooperative which is sort of where a successful environmental portrait really begins.  You need the patience of your subject to pull a photo like this off.  She was willing to drag this metal framed mannequin thingamabob all over the building for us, which included going up and down stairs, and through more doors than on the Titanic.  Roger and I kind of offered to help her with it but we kind of think she wasn't willing to trust even a creative duo for the task and did it all herself.  She also mentioned that the dress would be auctioned off soon for a benefit.  We took the hint and kept a wide berth.
  To make this image, I used my trusty Nikon D600 with an Samyang 35mm f/1.4 manual focus lens.  The exposure was 1/50th (to pull in the ambient light) at f/2.2 at ISO 100.  To light her, I used my trusty Yongnuo YN-560 flash into a Chimera medium light bank on a stand.  To trip the flash without cords, I used a radio remote system also from Yongnuo (RF-603).  I really like this Chinese stuff because it's so simple to use.  I once saw using the Canon and Nikon TTL flash units as a convenience because you don't have to haul around heavy lighting gear but once I began using this system, I find I can work faster and I'm not fighting with my gear to get it to cooperate.  Some shooters might not like the yellow background but when you have that much tungsten light in a small space and the shelving is UT Orange, it seemed crazy to remove any of the warmth from that room.  I would say the background actually looks like it does in the photo even though I shot the D600 on a daylight setting.
  The main point I'm trying to make in this little post is that good images are not the result of just the photographer.  We have to listen closely to those who engage us, be flexible with people, look around, scout, try things that fail, and work hard often with other peoples' cooperation in order to make good images.  Great photos are often the result of a collaboration of many people working together to get a solid image for the end result, which I hope to post here once the piece has been published at some point in the near future.  Kindest regards to Miwa and Roger for working with me on this one...  pm-r :)

 I have a great friend named Doug who is a retired Dayton Police officer.  Now living in Knoxville, in his second career doing construction, he often bails me out of all kinds of trouble and does beautiful renovation work and repairs for us at our home, in my building, and at a couple more "trouble-prone" rental properties.  Doug is a "Kraut," just like my wife Ellie.  Doug only knows how to do it "right" and will fight for doing quality work even on some of my more dubious real estate projects.  The German in him is what makes him great at what he does.  He won't cut a corner for anything.

  I've learned to simply trust Doug when I call him to give me an estimate on work I need done.  I don't kid myself into thinking that I could do the same work he does because "I just don't have time."  I know otherwise.  Owning a bunch of tools does not make me good at the trades.

  Right now Doug and John (one of his carpenter co-worker dudes) are converting a two car garage into two bedrooms for me at my new place on the mountain in Powell.  Words like "plumb," "straight," and "true" are not approximate terminology; he lives by a strict code and never wields to thoughts of putting a band-aid on something that needs to be set right.  He simply rescues my properties from... well, me.

  To use a more "Church-ish" terminology, Doug pours all of himself into his work in and around construction and increases the dignity of the structure he improves.  I sometimes have used people for repairs that I would never recommend to others I know when they have needs for additions, repairs, or new construction.  With Doug, I love to give his name out to people.  Everyone I have ever recommended him to has returned later in awe of the quality of his work and sings his praises to everyone they know.  And my stock goes up in the process by default.

  The other day Doug and John were talking as they worked and they were saying that they wondered what their work really meant.  "All we do is frame, hang sheetrock, pull wire, mud and tape...does it really matter?"  He continued as we ate lunch together that "some people really make a difference in the world and in life. I wonder about what we do..." and then his words trailed off as he ate a taco and stared at the floor.

  I tried to tell him that his work was great and that he really helps me by improving the properties he works on, that he helps people improve the homes in which they invest and spend so much time in.  He would have none of this.

  I began to think about Doug on a recent road trip to Chicago as I had 20 hours in the truck there and back.  The fact is, Doug's Christian witness is so apparent in the work he does.  He is a craftsman that take a bunch of boards, some wire, wallboard, and create something real off of plans or even from my imagination.  He redid our kitchen a few years ago and first-time visitors to our home often comment that it looks like something out of a magazine.

  So many people go through life missing their own vocations, not in that they don't respond to what God is calling them to do or be, but crediting themselves for the good work they do.  Doug might be a good example of a guy who just doesn't see his role in God's plan.  He can't see how important what he does is, even as he knows many cut corners in construction and the trades.  Doug is living out his ministry as father, husband, friend, and contractor every day.  All that is missing is to have him recognize his excessive talent and skills and begin to be mindful that what he does helps others and that his gifts were given to him by God.  The excellent service he provides to so many increases his reputation for doing good work but even Doug may not credit his expertise, work ethic, and skill as coming from God, through Christ, and with the help of the Holy Spirit.  Doug's not recognizing this does not diminish God's role.  All that needs to take place is for Doug to sort of "baptize" his work and be more open and share his day to day with God.  Like so many, the hard part of Doug's work is already done which is his awesome construction.  The easy part is authentically sharing every hammer strike, smear of mud, mitre cut, and "plumb stick" adjustment with the Lord.  In this way, Doug could enjoy not so much a new relationship with the Father, but uncover the one that is already present.  Doug is really good at what he does.  God is good.  It's that simple.

  I believe many people walk through life like Doug, working hard, trying to raise a family as best he can, giving honor to his name, and doing good work.  Each of us though needs to share every moment of our day with God so that the relationship is always building.  Faith is a funny thing;  even those who find doubt in their hearts about the existence of God often lead productive lives that honor the Creator even when they may not express it in normal ways like attending church.  Each of us needs to know that it's not necessarily "what" we do for a living that counts as much as sharing all of ourselves with God in our approach and attitude to what we do.  Doug makes cool stuff with his hands, I make photographs and video, but understanding ourselves as being in relationship with God who holds the keys to our happiness--now that is the essence of vocation.  We are all called to find God in our work just as I believe Sisyphus once did, rolling the stone up the same mountain every day.  Joseph Campbell's work finds Truth and authentic meaning in myth.  Some of us just need to jettison the myth part of our lives and find the underlying Truth deep within each of us, that God is so awesome He even wants Doug to share every nail strike with Him.  He's really not too busy being perfect all day long through eternity.  While it seems crazy, we human beings matter to Him and he loves us.  Now let's get out there and share every part of our lives with God...

Looking forward to 2013....

  I've been doing some thinking lately about how things are going in the photography craft in the last few years.  Note that I didn't say business.  Many people get into photography as a business and I understand that lure.  It looks and sounds like fun, shooting interesting things and people for a living.  Many people try photography but few find real success at it.  At a certain point, many that try simply live off their spouse's income and lose money as they outfit themselves with cameras, lenses, and maybe some lights.
  I've always considered photography more as a vocation, something I've been called to do so I feel pretty possessive about my trade, as you might expect.  I have a degree in Photojournalism and have paid some serious dues through the last twenty-five years.  I've had some amazing years in terms of income and have a lot to show for my hard work, but these days, it's tough even for me to want to stay in the profession.  There are fewer and fewer people about there with budgets even to pay a fair wage for editorial work, let alone commercial assignments.
  Some of my friends I've known for years have fallen on hard times, and ultimately bailed and found other work.  While I sometimes think about that as an option, lately I'm thinking I'm in the for long haul.
  I'm pissed about the way Facebook and Instagram have devalued the still image.  It's difficult to pay out big money every 2-3 years buying expensive camera bodies only to have the same megapixels available in crap cameras a couple years or even months later.
  To add insult to injury, some woman posts and ad on Craiglsist about once a month.  She advertises that she is an accomplished photographer, that she will work on location for up to two hours, and gives 100 photos and some 8x10's for $50.  This person has no idea that just putting the key in the ignition is losing money.
  I sometimes wish that photography was a licensed craft, regulated like pipe fitters, electricians, or contractors.  Most people that advertise online that they are photographers have no BA, studio space, or even minimal lighting equipment.  It's often a 2nd or 3rd career and like roofers, those that are in business now won't be in three years.
  Those of us that are still left standing have to decide to either fold our cards or throw in.  I'll be in that latter group.  My hope is simple but multifaceted:
  First, there is a lot of just plain crap being put forth as good photography in the marketplace right now.  This whole thing of post-production pre-sets and photoshop actions is just trying to dress up mediocre work.  It's like putting a set of aftermarket wheels and fancy paint on an AMC Pacer.  It's just an ugly car no matter what you do with it.  I still don't know what the term "lifestyle" means and I don't think I want to.  I never liked pumped up color and overexposed faces
  Second, bad work in black and white looks worse because it doesn't have color going for it.  This is why b&w is always my favorite way to work.  It's just stripped-down raw photography so that things like selective focus, composition, and decent subject matter add to this simple canvas allowing for real images that capture something special to really come through.
  Third, I'm totally committed to full-frame photography.  My deciding to bag film back in 2001 was a bummer because I left medium format and 4x5 behind and the distinct looks they provided me.  How current digital shooters could ever be satisfied with a cropped sensor image is hard for me to understand.  Even on the video side of things these days, many shooters remain satisfied using crop sensor cameras with expensive fast lenses the sensor can't even see the complete beauty of.
  Fourth, the only way to set my work apart from the rest is by showing it large either in print form or through projection.  On the internet, even with a decent monitor, you can't show what a 36 MP sensor is capable of, so why would people want to pay me more than the competition to get my work?  I have to figure out a new answer to this problem.  Showing people what's possible is the only way to get the better gigs.
  Discouragement can only be a temporary reality for us that remain to fight for photography.  If I whine more than I make good pictures, I need to be honest with myself over the next few years and get out of the profession.  In the darkness of my heart when I feel vulnerable, I wonder if I'm just too old but then I make good frames and I know I can compete with the best shooters.  And so I choose to be a good photographer rather than give up and give in.  It's too important not to keep fighting for my work.  I'm committed to making 2013 a stand of sorts.  I want to do great work this year and push myself harder than ever before.  I'm hopeful that some will notice and appreciate the great craft and art that photography can be.

  If not, there's always law school...  Happy new Year!  pm-r :)