Revin' To Go

Last Thursday I was asked to find a stand alone photo that could run on the front page of our TRi-State section as the lead art. I jumped in the car, cruised north on I-81 to Pensylvania, a voice in my head told me to go north, and headed to Greencastle. Always something going on in the Castle!!!

It was one of the freakishly warm January days, 54 degrees I think, and all of Greencastle was basking in the sun. Literally. It was warm enough that some people were actually washing their cars in their driveways. In January. Yah, THAT freakishly warm. I passed on that photo, having shot it once too many times.

I knew someone would be at the Greencastle-Antrim school complex doing something. When I arrived I saw Darwin being pulled by his brother-in-law's Pug Revin'. Not sure who was walking who.



I parked the car, grabbed a 28-85 lens, the D3, and introduced my self to Darwin as I back-peddled in front of Revin' holding the D3 and lens at arm's length just inches off the ground. Nothing like freehanding and blindly shooting the next day's section front art. I manually set the focus and started shooting too many frames. Remember, shoot first ask questions later.

A quick check of the D3 viewing screen, and I knew I had it. Now I was Revin' to get back to the Herald-Mail and get this puppy done. Here is Revin in the Herald-Mail.

Catching The Last Train

A few Saturdays ago I arrived at an assignment for the Herald-Mail, an auction of William Burkholder's life long collection of model trains, and I knew instantly what needed to be done...a photo SLIDESHOW!




The Herald-Mail Photography deptartment started producing slideshows for our website in late 2007, we only made a few that year, but they have grown in number and quality ever since. They are a series of still photographs set to an audio track and together they really bring the viewer to an event or story far better than the printed page ever could.

Slideshows on the web give photographers the space to stretch out photographically and display almost an unlimited number of images, in the order and duration they choose, to help tell a story or part of a story without the limitations of shrinking space in the print edition, reproduction flaws of the press, and that all too familiar one day shelf life that newspapers suffer from. Viva La Web!!!!

The Herald-Mail story link is here. A link to my slideshow is here.

The slideshows take more time to shoot, collect audio, edit and tone the photos, edit audio, and then assemble the slideshow itself, but when it all comes together and you click on that little triangle shapped PLAY button, you remember why you became a news photographer... to tell other people's story.

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.

The Agony of Defeat

You know the old saying, "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game." Yeah, right!!!! Try telling that to a goalie that has been scored on four times halfway through the first period, 6 times by the end of that same period, and 9 times by the end of the night.



Such was the case for Washington County goalie Alex Benda last Monday night as his team the Northstars fell to the Glenelg Gladiators 9-3. Now in all fareness, the Northstars were 5 skaters down due to illness and injury, and they are a new team on the scene with only a few seasons on the ice. So it wasn't Alex's fault, nor was it a night to remember. We'll get 'em next game, right?????

Wedding Photography Portfolio

Your wedding day is a story, a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Complete wedding day coverage is the only way to capture your story in photographs. Making formal portraits, capturing candid shots, recording real life moments, and saving details of your big day with photographs is what I deliver to all of my clients.

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.

Never Look A Gift Annaconda in the Mouth!!!

Growing up in Montgomery County Maryland, the joke about neighboring Prince George's County Police was that they would "Shoot first, and ask questions later." Not sure if that was 100% true, but there is a lesson in there somewhere.

When a photo opportunity presents itself, JUST SHOOT IT, and ask questions later. Don't over think it, just shoot it and look at it later, like 2 seconds later as soon as it writes to your card!! There is an old saying in sports photography, "If you saw it, you missed it."

That was the case with David Dean and this 10 foot Annaconda. He was letting the snake move freely on his back, arms, and neck and then the snake started for David's head and I started rippin frames. I saw David's eyes get REAL BIG when the Annaconda was on his head. What I did not see was the snake's tongue. Sometimes a motordrive with 11 fps is your best friend.

Excuse the noise in this image, It's 3200 ASA in a very low light museum setting. I did not want to use flash in an art museum nor did I want to tick off any Annacondas. I don't want to be the person that turned a reptile demo into a spot news event or degrade a Norman Rockwell original. The Annaconda attack photos would be intense I am sure, but it is my job to record the news, NOT MAKE THE NEWS.

In the film days you had to be selective with your 36 frames per roll. Now with 4, 8, and 16 gig memory cards ... you SHOOT FIRST, and ask questions later. Lots cheaper than bullets.

Every Picture Tells A Story.

As a photojournalist I try to make images that tell a story, THE story of the event or people I am sent to cover. Sometimes it is easy as pie, and other times ... well it is nothing more than a photo that represents what went on before me. They can't ALL be winners, right?

Trying to make a connection with my subject through photographs is what is all about for me. If I can connect with my subject, the photos will come, their story will be told, and everyone is happy. In this business there are good nights, and then there are nights that get you from one good night to the next. Like fishing, sometimes you go 2 hours with out a bite, and other times the fish, uh photos, are jumping in your boat. ( I LOVE those days!!!!!) Experience teaches and prepares you to a certain degree, being mentally focused ups your odds for success, but instinct usually seals the deal.

Friday night I had three assignments and not much time to spend at my first one, a tree lighting and candle light remembrance walk at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown. Having shot this before, I knew that the faces in the crowd, people who lost a loved one in the last year, were the story. Not the politician throwing the switch on the tree lighting, no offense Don, but the people with a real loss.

Scanning the crowd of people, two faces stood out. Al Scibilia and his two-year-old daughter Gianna. Al's father John Scibilia, a long time Mack employee and Hagerstown resident, passed away in April of this year at age 80. Al was holding a candle and Gianna and very deep in thought. This image for me sums up the event, and it ran on the front page of Saturday's Herald-Mail. It was one of those images that just jumps in the boat, uh camera, and tells a story.