Net Results

Working for a daily newspaper is so much fun. Every day is the same, in the sense that you come in to work, grab your assignments, go out and shoot them, and then come back in and get them out to the editors. Yet at the same time, every day is different. You travel new places, meet new people, shoot new events, and come back with new experiences. All while getting paid to have a camera in your hand five days a week, and get better at what you love to do. Cool gig!!!

Last Monday the paper sent me out to get a stand alone feature photo. A photograph that is really a "Photographer's Choice" picture. It does not go with a reporter's story, just the photograph and a photo caption, and it usually is not hard news. Rather it is a slice of life type of image, that news photographers get to capture while most of the world is trapped inside their work cubicle, hating their boss and co-workers, and counting down the minutes till happy hour. God I love my job!!!



I drove around Hagerstown looking for a photo, it was freezing, and no one was out. So I dropped in to one of the local Boys and Girls Clubs. I checked in with the director, I asked what was going on that might lend itself to a nice pictiure, and was told "nothing really." At that point photographers have two options, either bail out, or look beyond the obviuos and find something a little different.

I found Jeremiah shooting hoops in the gym after he finished his homework for the day. Nothing unusual there, EXCEPT FOR THE GIGANTIC SHADOW OF THE BASKETBALL NET ON THE WALL BEYOND JEREMIAH. No need to show the net itself in my image, I had it all over the background. A D3 at 1600 ISO, a 80-200 zoom lens, a motor drive at 11fps, and the spelling of Jeremiah's name was all I needed to get my shot and get back to the Herald-Mail.

The photo ran 3 columns wide on the front page Tuesday. Like I said, sometimes you bail out, and sometimes you just look harder.

Lights, Camera, VEAL!!!

I love photography, I love food, and I love working at a newspaper. So when it comes time to shoot food for the Herald-Mail, I look forward to it, especially when the assignment is at a very nice restaurant like Al Pomodoro in Hagerstown. I have shot there several times before, and I always have a great time doing so.

Last Monday I was greeted by sou chef Jeremiah and the staff at Al Pomodoro and set up for the shot while Jeremiah put the finishing touches on the Ossobucco DiVitello. That is Italian for "veal shank" for the rest of us fast food junkies and microwave chefs. The assignment calls for a tight shot of the food to show detail of the featured dish. No problem, who wants to see the entire white plate it sits on or the chef holding it up anyway, right? Show me the ODV!!!

This dish looks, smells, and I am guessing tastes out of this world. Jeremiah placed the dish on the table facing me the same way it would a customer. He lit the garnish and what you see is the smoke wafting at top left.

A+ Jeremiah. This is another case of a great photograph just falling in front of me and all I have to do is push the button. Well, there is a little more to it than that, but you get where I am going with this.

I had Jeremiah hold an SB-800 on a ttl cord above and slightly behind the dish. The SB-800 had the pull out internal diffuser in place, and a Gary Fong Lightsphere Universal diffuser on top. The Lightsphere was open at top and pointing at a nearby white wall to my right to provide fill from the right. The main light source is the rounded side wall of the Ligtsphere. No direct light was hitting the dish, just diffused light from the Lightsphere and bounced light from the wall off camera at right.

This photo only took a few minutes to shoot, it would have been even quicker, but we re-lit the garnish several times to get different smoke patterns and this was the clear winner from the set. Jeremiah had one hand on the SB-800 and the other hand was holding the lighter. Jeremiah did all of the work. There is nothing better than having a free photo assistant with you on a shoot.

So if you like what you see, rush over and visit Jeremiah and the staff at Al Pomodoro for this very special dish. They are located at 1101 Opal Court in Hagerstown, right off of the Dual Highway and N Eastern Blvd. There telephone number is 301-739-0440.