Welcome. And in some cases, welcome back.
How've you been? Good? Magnificent. Me? Thanks for asking - I've been busier than, as they say over here, than a one armed paper hanger.
In a few spare minutes of admin time, I've decided to update this blog with a few more of my recent images - make the jump to find out (and see) more...
So I should start with a disclaimer. The disclaimer being that the images displayed in this particular post remain the copyright of News Local. Other than obvious copyright issues, this disclaimer is important because working for a news organisation as a photojournalist directly affects my workflow. In fact, it greatly minimises it.
How? Simple. I am very, very limited by my post-production options - namely, there is very little I can do in Photoshop. So instead of spending hours toiling over images, I can crop, dodge and burn (or the non-destructive equivalent) and save. No cloning, adding, removing, clear-cutting/deep-etching/stripping/extracting. In this instance, life is good. It helps when I'm on deadline. It helps me concentrate on setting up the camera and flashes and getting it right from the start without having the fall-back option of just 'fixing it in post'.
But in my mind, most importantly, it provides sincerity, believability and honesty to the readers. They know that what they see, really happened. And when you're in the news industry, this is exceptionally important - whether you're a war correspondent reporting on a long term, international conflict or if you're photographing feeding egrets - images that appear in newspapers and associated news media cannot afford to be photoshopped. If this happens, the reputation of the news organisation is jeopardised.
So check out the images. In the next, well, while, I'll add a bit of a story and explanation behind their creation, but today, I'll let them speak for themselves.
Looks like a cinema? Actually the board room in an office. A large soft box with a 1/4 CTO gel directly behind the camera, two SB900s left and right of the subject for skim, and an SB800 on a very low ratio and also on a lightstand behind. Oh, and popcorn. Gotta have popcorn.
These artists were exhibiting on Sydney's Cockatoo Island, so I added a green gel to a flash held high and left by a VAPLS.
This time - a refugee recently released from a detention facility is taking part in an arts programme run by the local council. As the programme is being held in a now-unused boy's home, I decided to go with natural light, but shot through the bars that were across the windows.
Sometimes, when I'm photographing photographers, a little nervous voice inside wonders if I'm being judged. I find this useful as it keeps me concentrating, focussed and as an previous boss once said "If you're nervous, it means that you still care." The plus side of photographing photographers is that they know what's required (generally), and (most of them) respond well to directi- er, suggestion...
Improv 101: Photographing a cartoonist - so I asked him to draw on a glass door, with the fabric blind hanging down behind him. Natural light again.
One dark room, one flash, and highly polished grand piano and an award winning screen writer. Measure to taste, mix, and serve.
It's not natural - it's available. Light that is. Sometimes assignments provide lots of light, in case, not the case. A Scottish artist was exhibiting, and the gallery wouldn't allow me to use flashes. Solution? Expose for the artwork, and wait (in the darkness) for someone to view the painting.
Shooting a story about depression, the subject owned a small white dog, which provided him with a form of animal therapy in dealing with his condition. A poetic counterpoint to the 'big black dog' that was in the room.
A dog's life: And a dog's point of view. Mimi comes into the office everyday with her owner, and supported a story regarding the health and social benefits of bringing pets to work.
Another artist - one whose face as well as his artworks told a story. I lit this with a small soft box directly above and in front of his face, but the shadows were too extreme for my liking. So, for my next improvised lighting mod, the journalist I was with held an empty picture frame under his chin. The reflected light softened the shadow, and the soft box provided a beautiful key light in his eyes.
A policewoman starts to provide first aid on a serious assault victim, lying in the doorway of a petrol station. High ISO, and available light.
On the other hand, these emergency services staff were instrumental in the handling of an extortion case, in which a teenage girl had a collar-bomb placed around her neck in a home invasion. Shot in a police garage, I was able to include a police car in the background, but added a red gel onto a flash to provide drama.
Note: Even professional lenses and bodies can have difficulty auto-focussing in zero-light situations. A small LED torch on my keyring solved this issue.
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