May 31 2009
This is a photo that probably isn't going to make the paper.
On any given day, I have anywhere between one and three assignments. I'd say that at an average assignment, I take about 400 photographs. At an assignment that is prolonged, or more visually interesting, I can shoot 1,000 frames. And it's all in search of that one perfect photograph.
Today, my second assignment was at the Pittsburgh City Theater, where actor Tami Dixon was hosting a forum called "What's Your South Side Story?" She's collecting stories about the history and evolution of the South Side in order to create a documentary theater piece.
This photo is one of the 97 I shot there. I was looking for a more interesting angle on the presentation, and ended up wandering backstage and finding this narrow space where I couldn't see the group, only the presenter. I like the photograph because it's visually distinctive to me; I've always enjoyed playing with negative space in my composition.
But, for a newspaper photograph, being visually interesting isn't always enough. A photojournalist's primary concern is the torytelling aspect of his photography. And while I like this photo, if you just looked at it and knew nothing about the situation, it wouldn't make any sense.
And so, other than this blog, this image will likely forever be lost in obscurity. Filed away into an archive that holds terabytes of data, amid the hundreds of thousands of photographs I've taken in my career.
May 21 2009
Not all of my assignments are great. Not all of them are even good. Sometimes, they can be outright terrible. Today wasn’t one of those days.
I once heard a photographer, whose name escapes me, say that the 90 percent of assignments that are bad prepare a photographer for the 10 percent that are good. We spend all this time honing skills and training our eyes with days like this being the payoff.
Today at 7 a.m., a miserable hour for a photojournalist who works the night shift, I got in a car with videographer Andrew Rush and drove to Washington, D.C., to photograph President Barack Obama receiving the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers at the White House.
I really can’t get over that.
I think part of pursuing photojournalism is the desire to see things that normally you don’t get to see. Photographers have this mad desire for every day to be different, to stay away from desk jobs and seek out new opportunities to learn and share. I leaped at the chance to come here today.
After the four-hour drive this morning, Andrew and I went through White House security, spent some time in the Press Room (we stopped at one point in an aisle to take in our surroundings, and an irritated Washington press veteran snipped, “Can we keep the line moving?” It made me miss Pittsburgh.), and gathered with the pool of media photographers waiting outside the White House to be escorted into the Rose Garden.
As we entered the garden, the Steelers were being instructed on where to stand during the photo op, and I quickly began snapping frames. My only instructions from editors back at the paper were to “transmit as quick as you can for the web.”
After I had a few photos, I bent over my laptop while sitting on the grass, trying to see the screen under the sun’s glare. A technical issue with my wireless air card led to several panicky phone calls with my editor. As I was dealing with that, a public relations officer from the White House gathered up the three photographers that were being given access, along with the standard national media pool, to a team photograph of the Steelers with Obama.
Along with myself, there was a photographer from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and, for reasons I never discerned, a photographer from NASA. I didn’t even know NASA had staff photographers.
We were taken into the White House and kept together in a group. We were told that we would be given 30 seconds in the room to get our photograph. The NASA photographer joked that 30 seconds was twice what we’d have been given were George W. Bush still president.
From outside the room, we could hear Obama joking with the team, as their laughter echoed into the hall. Finally, we entered, and true to their words, were given 30 seconds to photograph the team. I didn’t hesitate; I had no time to. I hurriedly walked into the room, and even as I was walking into place I was triggering the shutter and taking photographs. Finally, I settled into my spot in the center of the room, shot off another 30 or so in 5 seconds, and then was told to exit.
Finally, back outside in the garden, the Steelers and Obama came out, said a few words, and began to make care packages to be sent to the troops. Obama was outside for about 15 minutes, walking around the tables as he greeted everyone there.
And now, hours later, I’m holed up in a hotel room in downtown D.C., unwinding and trying to put today in perspective. But words aren’t always enough for me.
May 19 2009
The last time I was in Washington, D.C., I was covering President Barack Obama's inauguration for the Post-Gazette. When I was first asked to go, I hesitated. A record crowd was expected. Streets throughout the capital would be shut down. It seemed like every hotel in the nation's capital was booked. And I doubted that we would get anywhere near the president that day.
I was wrong.
A week or so before the inauguration, I found out that the PG had received one credential for the main media riser for Obama's swearing-in ceremony. And, through what I can only assume is random, dumb luck, the credential was mine.
It was a hard week to work. Even finding a space to set down a laptop and transmit photos was difficult.My back ached, sore from hours of wandering the Mall while carrying my backpack with two still cameras, a laptop, a video camera, etc.
On the day of the inauguration, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. in order to walk to a security checkpoint for media. After several hours in security lines, I was allowed onto the media riser.
I thought I had dressed warmly enough, wearing four layers, the heaviest coat I own, several pairs of socks, a scarf, a hat, and gloves and boots stuffed with hand warmers. I was so wrong. On the press riser, a bitter cold wind assaulted the group of photojournalists waiting four hours for Obama to arrive. I've never been so cold in all of my life. All I could feel in my hands and feet was a numb pain. I was miserable, and spent a lot of the time rethinking my choice of profession. Maybe it would be nice to sit behind a desk all day.
Those feelings didn't last long. Obama finally emerged, and I watched as history unfolded.
And now, through what I can only assume is random, dumb luck, I'm going to the White House this Thursday to photograph President Obama as he greets the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm excited, mostly because the weather on this trip to Washington won't have me worried about losing a toe to frostbite.
Keep an eye on the blog for my photos from the White House.
May 13 2009
Photojournalists often use the term "seeing," which basically refers to a photographer's ability to look beyond the obvious. I've spent years of my life photographing parades, baseball games, concerts, and so many other events that can become repetitive.
The trick, what keeps me interested in these photographs, is trying to find a new way to present them to the viewer. I pay very close attention to things like light and shadow, reflections, odd shapes and forms, etc.
In this photo, I was assigned to meet Castle Shannon Councilman Mike Warhold to take a tour of their mostly vacant business district. When I saw his reflection inside this "For Rent" sign, and the way the sunlight was hitting half of his face, I quickly knew I had a storytelling image that went beyond the norm.
May 07 2009
After an insanely busy week, I finally got a chance to sit down and sift through the several thousand images I shot while spending a day with city Councilman William Peduto.
This project started as an idea pitched at a multimedia meeting at the Post-Gazette about a month ago. Since then, I've photographed two people for a full day of their lives. Now, I'm combining the still images with video interviews of the subjects, and the results, I hope, will be on our Web site sometime next week.
These are some of my favorite photographs from my day with Peduto, and there will be plenty more when "A day in the life" launches next week.
May 06 2009
My second assignment tonight was to photograph the Penguins' rally outside Mellon Arena. Unfortunately, the rally was canceled because of bad weather. But I didn't get that message before trudging my way up the hill in the rain.
Pittsburgh is a pretty amazing city, in that there were still fans gathered outside two hours before the start of the game just to watch it on the jumbo screen. Despite the rain, some were even cheering. The entire crowd would join in on a "boo" when someone wearing a Capitals jersey walked by.
Check back tomorrow for what I hope will be a post on the start of a "Day in the Life" series. It's been a busy week, but I've got a few hours blocked off tomorrow to do some editing on the series, and I'm excited.
May 04 2009
Sometimes when a photographer can't get to a high enough vantage point, they'll take their camera and hold it in the air, supress the shutter and take a string of photographs without looking through the viewfinder.
Among photojournalists, this is known as a "Hail Mary." It's a move of desperation.
Often times after shooting a Hail Mary, I'll check the display on my digital camera to see if it worked. When it doesn't, I hold my camera into the air, change the angle of my wrist, and try again.
One of my favorite Hail Marys that I've shot was during the Steelers' Super Bowl victory parade. Troy Polamalu leaped into the crowd right in front of me. As he was crowd surfing, I was too close and confined to make a photograph without holding my camera in the air and hoping for the best:
After he left the crowd, I looked at my camera and was pleasantly surprised. The photograph was our dominant image on our Web site for the rest of the day, and ran in various papers across the country the next day when the Associated Press picked it up.
On Sunday, Bishop David Zubik led a Eucharistic Procession through the streets of Pittsburgh. Several men carried a statue of the Virgin Mary on their shoulders. I found myself thinking that the best way to photograph the Virgin Mary was with a Hail Mary: