alittlenews

I have friends now that I have never met thanks in large part to the Internet.  That is case with Chris Frear who lives in Scotland.  Last week he sent an email with a beautiful slide show from the area around his home in Nithsdale.  I emailed him to ask permission to share the show with you.  It is truly beautiful.  I felt like I had stepped over into the Chronicles of Narnia a couple of times.

There are a couple of things you will notice about Chris’ photography.  First, he loves the people he lives around and with.  Secondly, he has a great appreciation for the land and the animals that live in it.  There are some great moments here.  I hope you all enjoy the show.  You can also see more photos on Chris’ Flickr Photostream and on his website at chrisfrear.photium.com.

 

This time of year is especially hard on the feature hunter.  The weather is not conducive to drawing people outdoors due to cold or rain or just the glum nature of winter when there is no snow.  You have to be a real nature lover to appreciate the stark, rather brown nature of winter in this part of the world.  Those things all create an equation that is difficult to solve.

There is one tried and true method when all other features disappear.  Run to water.  It doesn’t seem to matter how cold it is, how rainy it is or generally how drab the winter is, people are always doing stuff on the Tennessee River.  Decatur has some very nice places on the water but it is also a very industrial waterfront so, even in cold winter there is something going on at the River.  For that matter, fishermen are just plain crazy and they will wet a hook any time of the year.  So waterways are my favorite, uhh, fishing holes.

I will do anything as you can see from these photos.  Fishermen, fish, boats and even scenics are all things I will look for.  When I can combine several of these things that just makes it better.  The only real problem is the photos can be a tad repetitious.  Of course, if you happen to live in a desert I guess you are out of luck on this one.  But for those of us who live near water we have a ready source of features.

I tell you, even the nature surrounding the water is good for features.  We have the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge here and it is home to a wide variety of water fowl as well as everything from fish to alligators.  Of course, you won’t be seeing gators this time of year unless they are being smacked around by The Crimson Tide.  (BIG GRIN)  Sorry Florida fans.  That was a cheap shot.

Back to the point, the water is one of the few places where you can find nice, outdoor color in the winter.  All the flowers and plants that give you color in spring, summer and fall are dormant so the interaction of light and water gives a continuously changing palette of color.  That’s a double bonus in my opinion.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Spot news happens all the time.  Getting to spot news before it is over is the challenge.  This is especially tough with police actions.  You hear something on the scanner and by the time you get there all the drama is over.  Fires are little bit easier because the duration of the actual event is longer and there is usually an extended cleanup.  This happened to me last week.  I heard a scanner report of a fire in a cabinet shop and it was reported with flames showing.  The only problem was it was on the edge of our coverage area and a good 45 minute drive away.

I checked with our editors and they said not to worry about it so I just dropped it.  I left the office to find a feature about a hour later and then got a call from the desk to go check out the fire because they were calling for more help.  I knew from my days as a firefighter that they were calling for help to do the overhaul operation because the firemen who extinguished the blaze were exhausted.  I told the editors this and then went on up because a big fire usually yields some decent pictures even after the fire is out.

Much to my surprise, there was still some smoke coming from the building over an hour and half after I first heard of the blaze.  There were no great firefighting pictures left to be made but there were still pictures there.  Do you remember your best friend on spot news scenes?  Just in case you have forgotten, it is your feet.  Move around and get as many different points of view as you can.  And don’t forget to make pictures and not just take them.  The fireman framed with the loop of hose is an example of making a picture.  Because all the drama was gone I was able to take more time and look for a picture.  Had the blaze been boiling my adrenalin might have been pumping so much that I would have missed this simple photo.  As it turned out, this was the photo we ran in the paper.

Use your full bag, long lenses and short.  Move around and do some framing.  Change your point of view and work the scene.  Because the fire is mostly out the firefighters and police officers will be a little more relaxed about you approaching them for names and information.  I goofed up this one just a couple weeks ago at a plane crash.  I butted in on a converstaion between two officers, knowing better, and asked a question.  One of them let me know I was out of line.  And I was.  So when things are over you have much more flexibility and a more relaxed atmosphere.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

I wrote in an earlier post that I could scratch covering a national championship game from my bucket list and a perceptive reader asked the question what else was on my bucket list.  A good question and one that I had not given any real thought.  I have considered the question a bit so I think I will give it a whirl.  I feel like a kid sitting on Santa’s lap getting ready to present my Christmas wish list.

I guess the top of the list would have to be to shoot and write a story for National Geographic Magazine.  That would be the ultimate.  I don’t want to be a staffer or anything like that.  I just want to do one story and photo package.  That would just about do it.  Anything after that would be pure gravy.  If any Geographic editors are reading, I have an idea or two.  Just in case, my email address is in the contact info.

This one is a tad more realistic.  I would love to cover a Master’s Championship at Augusta.  I mean, for me that is the ultimate sporting event remaining on my list.  A Super Bowl would be nice but that course in the Spring with the azaleas blooming is just too much.  Maybe my wish list should include Tiger Woods walking up the 18th fairway ready to claim the Green Jacket to surpass my hero Jack Nicklaus.  Now that would be a cherry on top of an already delicious sundae.

I would love to publish a photo book someday.  I actually have a plan working in my mind for that one.  I have a project coming up that will not end with its publication in the newspaper.  More on that one later.  It will be a great project and maybe one to cap a photo career with.

I definitely want to photograph a tornado.  I have considered one of those storm chaser vacations but the one I want to get is the one that I lasso on my own, mano e mano style.  I know this is being picky, but it is my bucket list.  Since I am being picky I want to do it while I am working not while I am out on a special vacation.  I want to publish it on page one of the newspaper and I want to live through the process.  Always a plus.  Several friends at the Huntsville Times got their tornado last week as it swept over the city’s north side.

I want to do my ode to Ansel Adams trip and criss-cross the West shooting those magnificent American landscapes.

I want to win a Pulitzer Prize.  Stop laughing!  It’s my bucket list.  I actually had a picture submitted for consideration once.  Obviously it didn’t win or this wouldn’t be on the list.  I am not picky.  I don’t mind if it is for news or for feature.  Actually, I would probably settle for a Pulitzer nomination.  You know the old saying, I would just be happy to be there.  To tell the truth, I was so honored that my publisher did that I could probably knock this one off the list.  To this day if he brings it up he swears the Pulitzer Committee was blind.  Why don’t we keep it on the list, you know, tomorrow is coming and no one knows what it will bring.

I think the only other sporting event that would make the list is covering the World Series.  I love baseball.  I really love to shoot the sport.  I loved playing the sport.  The game appeals to me.  I would love for the Yankees to be in it.  Not so much because I like the Yankees it just seems if I am going to cover a Series then the most successful team in baseball history should be there.

I almost forgot, and time is running out on this one.  I have always wanted to shoot a Shuttle Launch.  I got to shoot a rocket launch once but the Shuttle is just something else entirely.  That would be beyond cool.  But the Shuttle program is winding down and time is running out.  That one might not happen.

I guess this one would be hard to understand for anyone who is not a working photojournalist so I won’t waste a lot of energy trying.  I would like to cover something like the Haiti earthquake or like the tragedy in Darfur or the famines in Africa a few years ago.  I know how bizarre that sounds to most of you and the only way I can explain it is there are some things about yourself you can’t know until you have been there and faced the music.  When I was a firefighter I wanted to put out fires.  I have talked to soldiers who yearn for the battlefield.  A photojournalist wants to be there wherever there is and whatever is going on there.  You want your photographs to matter, to feel they are making a real difference in the world.

I guess that is a good place to stop.  It is an unrealistic list for a guy working in Decatur, Alabama but, like I said, it is my list.

Photo copyright Gary Cosby Jr.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not reflect those of my employer.

 

 

 

I just got back in town from judging the Kentucky News Photographers Association annual photo contest in Lexington, KY.  Man, what a treat.  I was one of three judges.  The other two were Rob Carr from the AP and Jahi Chikwendiu from the Washington Post.  You are probably thinking the same thing I was when I found out who the other judges were.  What the heck were they thinking!?  Whatever it was, I am glad they asked me to be part of that company.

Rob is an old friend from his days working for AP in Alabama so I was a little bit familiar with his work.  Jahi is a new friend and I had never seen any of his work but now that I have I am totally amazed.  And what great guys to judge with.  We didn’t always see eye to eye on images but that is because we come from three very different worlds.  Rob’s job takes him in an out of situations all over the country and around the world.  He shoots lots and lots of sports.  And I do mean, lots and lots of sports.  Jahi does a lot of documentary work and, as he puts it, he tells stories from the standpoint of the conquered rather than from the conqueror.  And then there is me.  I tell most of my stories from within three counties in north Alabama.

I wasn’t really intimidated during the judging on Friday.  We were just three guys up there debating over pictures.  That was not a big deal even when we differed on pictures.  On Saturday each of us, plus Patrick Murphy Racey who is a freelancer based in Knoxville, TN., each gave a presentation to the KNPA members.  My theme was basically what it is on this blog, how to shoot in a small market with a big time mindset.  Rob presented a year of work in slide show format and his NFL work from the past year.  Patrick’s presentation dealt with the changing world of photojournalism and how technology is impacting our present and our future.  Then Jahi presented a number of his stories and what he called a highlight reel of his work.

Let me just say I was glad Jahi was last.  I don’t think I would have had the heart to stand up there after his presentation.  He has an amazing way of telling stories.  I am at a loss for adjectives to apply to those images.  He has worked extensively overseas as well as in the DC metro area and his roots are in Kentucky.  Rob’s work I was already familiar with and that is not to downplay it at all.  He is an amazing shooter too.  I just wasn’t as wowed because I have followed him for several years.  I think the thing that impressed me the most about Jahi’s work as compared with anything else I have seen is the relational quality of the images.  You can tell that he has worked his way inside people’s lives.  That takes major time.  Rob usually doesn’t have that kind of time.  He hits an event, shoots and moves on to the next event.  He is constantly going.  Neither approach is wrong and maybe both approaches fit each man pretty well.

In fact, I think now what I have always though; if I see enough of your pictures I will know who you are.  I think that is why I am so impressed by my fellow judges.  I am not really like either of them all that much.  Maybe my sports shooting style is similar to Rob’s.  I don’t pretend to be on his level but there are some similarities at least.  I would love to find even an echo of Jahi’s work in mine.  I am not sure I can but I am certainly going to be looking at situations differently from now on.  I saw elements in both Rob and Jahi that I want to incorporate into my own work.  There are some things I can do in sports that I saw in Rob’s work that I will be working harder on.  To be honest, I think I am a little bit lazy relative to the effort I saw in his images.  I think the one word I would use to sum up Jahi’s work is relational.  That is probably the one aspect of his work that I can bring to my own.  I can do more to be less standoffish and more intimate with my subjects.  I can’t imitate either man’s style but I can do a little cherry picking from both.

Bottom line, this was a great weekend and I am very appreciative to Joe Imel who is head of the KNPA and works in Bowling Green, KY.  I am also grateful to Jonathan Palmer who was already a friend and ran the KNPA judging.  There are others I could name but I am sure I would forget someone so let me say a blanket thanks to all at KNPA for their hospitality and professionalism.  It was great.  Now, if you guys could just do something about those 1AM fire alarms!

If you are an AP member please check out Rob Carr’s work on the AP site.  Just search his name.  Please visit Jahi on his site at JahiChikwendiu.com.. Please visit KNPA’sweb site and you can see some of what we did. Patrick Murphy Racey can be found at PMRphoto.com.  Of course, you already know how to find me.

 

I had no idea there would be questions from the behind the scenes post.  Since there were several I decided the easiest way to answer them would be to just write another post so here we go.

First question related to the use of a motor drive?  The answer was absolutely I used the motor drive.  I was firing as fast as the camera could accurately focus track which is about 8 fps.  Which leads to the second question.  Was I manual focusing or using continuous auto-focus?  I almost had to laugh here.  I was using AF in continuous mode.  I was never good at follow focus at f2.8 and I am very grateful for the accurate AF on the D3 especially with 46 year old eyes.  Another related question was what equipment was I using?  I shot with the D3 and the D2h bodies but almost totally with the D3.  There is such a huge difference in image quality between the two that shooting them side by side can yield jarringly different results.  Rounding out the technical questions, what was the exposure settings?  I had to look back at my EXIF data here but the ISO was 5000 on the game action with a shutter speed of 1600 at f2.8 with no converter and 1/800 at f4 with the 1.4 converter.  That was for the D3.  The D2h settings were ISO 1000 with a shutter speed of 1/500 at f2.8.

There were a bunch of photographers on the sidelines but I don’t know how many.  I saw about 10 from Alabama.  I don’t know for sure how many were from Texas, California news papers and agencies and all the national and international news agencies plus magazines and others who I have no idea who they were shooting for.  The good thing about it was the video folks were kept off the sidelines and had to accept a network feed which there were heavy restrictions on use for.  The video folks came out at the end of the game and were there for the post game stuff. We were not restricted as far as movement along the sidelines and backs of end zones went.  The area between the 25 yard lines is restricted for the teams and no media is allowed in this area.  Other than that we could move freely.

The Rose Bowl set up two shooting lines, one for kneeling and one for standing.  This worked out great.  It ensured you could always get a place to shoot from.  When you have a 300mm lens this is really important because you have to move a lot more to follow the action than if you were shooting with a 400mm lens.  I try to spend as much time in the back of the end zone as possible because it gives you the cleanest view and it allows more action to be coming right at you.  I probably spent 60-70 percent of my time in the back of the end zone and the rest running up and down the sidelines.

There was a pre-game meeting among photographers to go over the ground rules for shooting the game.  At this meeting, select news organizations which were determined by the universities were issued a special arm band that allowed close up access to the post-game presentation ensuring no one would be between them and the presentation.  Unfortunately, The Decatur Daily was not among those selected for this access.  I chose to go back and shoot with long glass.  It made sense at the time but turned out to be not so good a choice.  Really, that is what photography comes down to.  It is a product of the choices you make in terms of position, lens, movement and moment.  When you have most of them going for you you have a successful night.  When you have most of them going against you you struggle mightily.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr. and Deangelo McDaniel.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

This Soundslides show is designed to give you a glimpse behind the pictures and let you know what I was thinking, when there was thinking (grin), on my BCS National Championship coverage.  I hope you guys enjoy this and I hope you can pick up some tips.  You can usually apply lessons you learn in one area of photojournalism across the board and use them on other assignments.  So kick back and enjoy.  Leave a comment and let me know if this is helpful.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily. As always, the photos are of student athletes. No unauthorized reproduction or reuse of these photos is permitted to protect the eligibility of the student athletes. The photos are for editorial/educational use by readers of this site. Do not download these photos in any form. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Oh California, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.  Okay, I know.  It’s enough already.  I agree.  But I have to fly home to snow and cold so I am a bit wistful right now.  After we finished our day yesterday wrapping up all the stuff we have to do Mark Edwards, Michael Casagrande and I went down to Newport Beach’s public beach area and it was just after sunset.  The surfers were out and it was a fine evening.

I loved the interplay of blue on the water and the orange after glow of the sun in the sky.  So the surfers will serve as my ode to California as we jet home.  I am really, really looking forward to getting home and seeing my wife and kids again.  Eight days is a long time to be away from the family.  I will take the cold.  Maybe we can bring a little California sunshine to North Alabama.  So bye, bye California.  It’s been fun.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer; although, my coworkers are probably ready for me to return from my little vacation as I am sure they are calling it right about now.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE:  These photographs are for the viewing of this audience only.  They are not for sale or republication in any way, shape or form.  DO NOT DOWNLOAD THESE PHOTOS OR TAKE SCREEN SHOTS.  Play nice or you will get me in trouble and you won’t be able to see football pictures in the future.  The purpose of this site is editorial and teaching and in no way represents a commercial venture in any form.

You guys might have heard there was a little football game out in Pasadena yesterday evening.  I was there.  No big deal.  Just a National Championship on the line.  Fun times.  Actually, it was a great honor to be here shooting the game and surrounding festivities.  This has been a career goal and now I can cross that one off the list.  Of course, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at shooting another one someday.

The good thing is that the game is just a football game.  Big crowd, lots of excitement, fireworks, F18 flyover, parachute drops into the stadium but still just a football game.  That is what the coaches try to get the players to see.  You still just go out there and play football.  I just focused my mind on that.  It is a big stage.  There is a lot of hype.  The whole country is watching.  But it is still a football game and you have ride the horse that brought you.  In other words, shoot the game the same way you would shoot any game.  Work your angles.  Move as much as necessary.  Play the percentages.  It is just football and the teams are going to do basically what got them here.  Same for me.

Of course, I had an ace in the hole that I don’t know if anyone else shooting the game had.  I had two churches back home praying for me.  It is pretty hard to fail when you have that much support.  So I take off my crowns and lay them at the feet of the one who gets the glory.  We sing a song sometimes that says “not unto us, oh Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name be glory.”  I like that.  When I do well it is nothing more than God’s gift working.  I had a nice game and probably did about as good as I could considering I was shooting alone.  The bigger newspapers and agencies sent multiple photographers.  But I guess when I have a little divine help that kind of evens out the field.  And really, a lot of big plays happened right in front of me.  You can’t ask for more than that.

I know some of you are probably thinking God doesn’t care about football or pictures and I agree with that.  What God cares about is people so I have no problem thanking Him publicly for helping me perform well.

With the proper accolades in place let me tell you, this was a great experience.  The Rose Bowl in an awesome place to work.  It would have been more awesome in daylight.  The light out here is wonderful and shooting that game in daylight would have been a treat.  The stadium is a bit lower than most of the ones I typically shoot in which means the light stands were lower and that creates a few problems with light quality.  Other than that small complaint I was great working here.  The Rose Bowl is the most beautiful place I have ever shot a football game.  Truly a special stadium.

Shooting this game was no different from doing any college game.  The sidelines were crowded but I had no trouble moving around or working with the other shooters.  To their credit, the BCS did a wonderful job of managing this entire week and the folks who run the Rose Bowl did an excellent job managing the media and meeting our needs.  I shot the game with a D3 and a D2H, same as always.  I used the 300 f2.8 and sometimes had a 1.4 extender on it.  I also used the 80-200 and the 17-35.  In other words, I used the same stuff I always use.  It is probably not a good idea to bring unfamiliar equipment into the biggest game of the year.

I am going to post some photos here with this post and when I get back home I am going to do a narrated slide show for this site to kind of take you behind the pictures and give you an idea of what I did, what I was thinking and why.  Just some stuff you don’t usually think about.  In the mean time, enjoy a few shots from the game.

[caption id="attachment_3327" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Trent Richardson scores a touchdown on a long run in front of Texas defenders Aaron Williams and Earl Thomas during the first half in the Rose Bowl. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 01/07/10"][/caption][caption id="attachment_3323" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="Mark Ingram dives down near the Texas goal line with Blake Gideon making the tackle during the first half in the Rose Bowl. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 01/07/10"][/caption]

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

It is game day!  Finally.  I am jazzed up, ready to shoot.  Let me confess up front that I hope this game is a blow out.  Our deadlines are so tight the very last thing I want is a game that comes down to the wire or, God forbid, goes into overtime.  I want early emotion because that is the only way I will get reaction stuff in the newspaper.  That said, I simply am about to explode with excitement.

It’s funny because I have to control my emotions and focus my mind in much the same way the football players do because if I go in to fired up I will actually miss pictures.  I think having an extended pregame shooting time will help tone me down some and help me take the edge off the nerves.  I feel like the players in the tunnel when they are all jumping up and down and getting ready to sprint onto the field.

But yesterday was the calm day before all the big stuff happens, the calm before the storm if you will.  We had a press conference, actually two.  I don’t know what a day out here would be like without a couple of good pressers.  Today it was Mack Brown and Nick Saban individually and together with the trophy.  Talk about a blitz of cameras.  Wow!

After the obligatory press conferences, Mark Edwards, Michael Casagrande and Deangelo McDaniel and I all went down to the beach for a little down time.  Of course I carried a camera.  And I want to show you guys a little warmth in January.  This only applies to  you northern hemisphere folks.  Down south of the equator y’all don’t need any reminder that it is warm.  Most of America is locked in a deep freeze right now so consider these photos a little touch of sunshine to warm your hearts if not your bodies.

I am also including an illustration I composited today of the coaches.  It was just something to help spice things up a bit and take the edge off the steady flow of press conferences.  Hope you feel a little warmer after looking at these.

As a special note to my boys and my girls I have included some pirate pictures just for you guys.  Check out the pirate ship and see if you can find the pirate’s cove hideouts!  Have fun.  Love you guys.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.   The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.