Seize the Moment

Sometimes the perfect image comes along when you aren't completely ready for the shot. Every time this happens....take the shot anyway... you never know how it will turn out. You are guaranteed to have nothing if you hesitate, so what's the risk?

(Click the images to see them full size).

Concord Records flew me out to Malibu to photograph the amazing jazz pianist, Peter Cincotti a few years ago for an article which was to appear in JazzTimes magazine. I much prefer to shoot on location, and to travel light, so rather than rent a studio we went for a more extemporanious look. Luckily, I'd had time to do a location scout in the morning. Peter's publicist, Jo Foster, and I had picked out several areas along the beach, and just off it that looked promising for some good photography. Things were going well, and we were moving from one location to another when out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two cyclists whizzing along the beach path. I didn't even have time to tell Peter I was about to shoot... just quickly raising my camera and triggering the shot. Luckily, I had a little fill flash set into the camera, otherwise he'd have been completely backlit (like the cyclists). I never had the time to adjust anything, other than make the composition. The magazine loved the image so much that they ran it double truck... my first! The record lable loved it too, and that led to a significant licensing fee. Sometimes you just have to shut up and shoot!

I took the above photograph at a wedding last year. Again, we were moving from one location to another, and a moment arose which had to be captured. This time, I was less fortunate with the camera settings, and really under-exposed the image. Thankfully, I'd been shooting in RAW, instead of JPEG, so I was able to dig the image out of the dirt.

It's a wonderful moment. I even feel that the extra noise and color distortion caused from having to really push the digital negative, actually adds a little to the drama. When you're on a shoot, you have to be constantly aware of your subjects. I know that sounds a little like the blindingly obvious, but you'd be surprised at what you will miss if you don't pay close attention! Even if your camera is on the wrong settings... Shoot, and ask questions later.... because you'll never be able to replicate the moment.

It's those fleeting, natural reactions on a person's face which make the difference between the controlled, technically perfect image where your subject is giving you what they want to give you, or what they think you want to see, rather than what it is inside them which makes them who they are. It is the latter that we should all be striving for.

Another note: ALWAYS shoot in RAW, because you never know when the shot is coming.

Ok.... this one's slightly different. I took the above image on an air-to-air sortie over Ottawa, the Canadian capital. This was early on in my shooting career, and I was second fiddle on this flight. The main photographer was shooting from the waist position, and I was in the tail of the old B-25, photographing through a huge, man-sized hole where the rear guns had once been. I'd had my chance to get some stunning head on shots, which really worked, but only of the aircraft individually and not the main event, which was to get the WWII Spitfire fighter plane in formation with the modern Canadian Air Force CF-118 Hornet fighter (something which had never been done before). I was lying down in the tail of the photo-ship, and could just see the rear of the other aircraft from my position, but not the whole frame... it was infuriating to be so near to a wonderful shot, and yet, not be able to take it. In a fit of frustration, I stuck my arms out of the back of the aircraft, and pointed the camera in the general direction where I thought my subject aircraft would be. The slipstream was well away from where my arms were (I'd tested it), so I had no fear of the camera being ripped from my grasp, thankfully. Anyway, I chimped away, taking a few pictures, then checking to see my composition, and repeating until I figured out where to point my camera... and took this shot. The two aircraft perfectly frame the Canadian parliament buildings in the background, and I couldn't really have composed the image that much better had I tried.

Sometimes you have to take a calculated risk to get the shot you want. Although this particular image didn't run in the magazine article, it is one of the pilots' favorite shots, and gave me a great deal of credibility for future work, but more importantly to me, it led to some wonderful friendships which I still carry today.

Ticker Tape Parade

Ok, today I'm going to do something slightly different and talk about event coverage. I photographed the ticker tape parade thrown by New York City when the Giants won the Superbowl in February 2008. It would have been much easier to do this with the press, but I chose to photograph it from the fans' perspective, as their antics were, in general, far more interesting than the honorees. However, that being said, there were some good moments up with the stars too. It was tough being in the scrum with the crowd, because everyone was jostling for a better view. They also stuck every form of photographic device up in the air to get their shots too... so I had to resort to something similar. This is the first time that I actually saw a real benefit to the Live View feature that had only just been introduced to the Canon SLR line with the 1D MkIII. I was able to hold my heavy camera up in the air, but still compose my images cleanly because I could see what the lens was seeing. It was hard work of course, but good exercise, as I like to think. (Please click on the images to see larger versions).

Compositionally, there were some fantastic moments, especially when the float carrying quarterback Eli Manning, and defensive end Michael Strahan trundled by. They passed a storefront which advertised "Clothing Bargains for Millionaires"... but in my shot, the name got truncated to "Gains for Millionaires" with the two men showing off the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the crowd. It was an interesting juxtaposition, and surprisingly fortuitous. It's important to notice these little details, as they can add extra, or unintended context to the shot.

Then there was the moment when the Giants of Yore floated on by. Just as they passed where I was standing, they all brandished the commemorative Superbowl Victory newspaper. One of them looked right at me with the most incredible grin on his face. It seemed to be a deliberate act, just for my camera. I wish I knew who he was, because I love this image, and it's his look which makes it work.

Then there was the moment I saw these children with their parents, clearly financial workers, behind the screened off windows of their office building. I thought it looked rather snooty at the time... an us versus them attitude to the rest of the crowd outside, but given the banking meltdown that began to unfurl just a short period later, it lends a whole new context to the image.

Then there was the mess... paper was flying, and lying everywhere... draped upon the buildings, on the streets, hanging from the stop lights, and even covering the graves in a local church. An army of street cleaners moved in to remove it all as soon as the parade had ended, ... it was an impressive display of the city in action... coupled with the enormously heavy police presence.

The following images show some of the street scenes with police and fans... hope you enjoy the mayhem. It was a fascinating event to witness.

The Fox in Winter

Ok! Time for my first post! This little female fox came foraging around outside, underneath one of our bird feeders yesterday. Her coat was a fabulous, rich red. It was snowing lightly too, which provided a perfect backdrop to show off her gorgeous coat. She hung around for quite a while. I had to photograph her through a rather rough window unfortunately, as opening the sliding door would have chased her away for sure. It doesn't seem to have harmed the image too much though. I used my Canon 5DMkII, which I adore, and a 100-400mm image stabilized tele-zoom. I'm not too keen on this lens, as it is pretty slow, but luckily my target was very close, and relatively stationary. I selected a very wide aperture, as I really wanted to push the background out of focus and even most of her body... so long as her face was sharp it was ok! And these were some of the results. Click on the image to see a lager version. I hope you like them!