Last night, I attended an annual event held at the Seattle Public Library by the Seattle Times photography staff. The event was a slideshow presentation of the pictures of the year by the Seattle Times. It was my first time attending the event.
After having shot thousands and thousands of images for the year, their staff of photographers had many to choose from for their favorites. One of my favorites showed Amanda Knox’s arrival back to the States where she got emotional during her interview. Another one was of the riot in Vancouver, Canada after their hockey team lost to the Boston Bruins. It showed a car on fire with a big crowd around. Very dramatic! The fire made it really stand out. To pick out your favorites from their photos of the year, check them out here.
One of the Times photographers, Steve Ringman, spoke at the event. He took one of my favorite photos in 2008. It was of the Seattle cityscape with a full moon photographed from the ferry. As a photographer, I know how challenging this shot was to get due to low light and a ferry vibrating from its engine. I emailed Steve after that photo and he was gracious enough to provide me with the story on how he captured that image. You can see the image here.
Below are some photography and videography tips I picked up from the Seattle Times staff:
Photography:
1) Look at the entire composition, from the outside edges in
2) The expression: “be a fly on the wall” doesn’t work for news photography. Get in close to the subject when appropriate and move back at different times
3) Capture emotion. Be very watchful of the little subtleties in your subject that can tell a story with one click of the shutter
4) Sometimes it is necessary to shoot “Hail Mary” style – holding camera up high or over a cliff without seeing what you are shooting
As a side note, Steve Ringman shoots in jpg format. Also, the Times archives every photo they take.
Videography:
1) Ambient noise can be your best friend
2) Don’t forget to capture what seems to be an uninteresting scene with lots of white space or black space. You may need it for the title screen
3) See #3 above
4) Be very patient in videography. Photography is waiting to push the shutter while videography is sometimes pushing record and waiting
Times photographer, Alan Berner, talked with me after the event. I asked him how well he’s been able to coordinate with police on a photo shoot since some police and photographers don’t always get along very well. He says he just asks the police where they want him to be when needed and makes sure he gives them their space. He says that most scuffles between photographers and police are mainly due to the photographers provoking the police and getting too much up in their space. Alan was cordial and accommodating and seems to be doing his passion – photography.
Below are two photos I took at Green Lake last night prior to the Seattle Times event. Enjoy!
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