Doing A "Weegie"

For whatever reason, protests have evolved to be perceived as less educational and more confrontational, no matter how just the cause might be. One might wish that we have moved pass this resurgence of intolerance, but here we are, forced to confront an issue we, as West Coaster, wanted to believe was long gone. Yet here we are, watching a 13-year old activist reminding us that some issues still weren't resolved since the end of the Civil War.

Weegie: Young photographers may not recognize photographer Arthur Fellig's nom de guerre. He was a press photographer in the 1930's and 40's known for keeping a police scanner in his car, waiting for a murder to be called in. He often arrived before the police, and was known to have "altered" the crime scene to improve the composition and visual impact of his photos. For me, "Doing A Weegie" means going to an assignment without any prior preparation, which in the past meant arriving with a minimal kit of two Fuji bodies (one X100T and currently, a X-S100), along with a short telephoto 56mm F 1.2 and a wide/normal 27mm F 2.8. In addition to a flash, I brought a Nikon D70 with a 70-300 zoom lens, just in case I needed a long lens for a tight head shot.

Nikon D70, 80mm, 1/1250, F 9.0, ISO 400

Working A Crowd: When there is enough open space, a long lens can do wonders when you need to  isolate one's subject from a busy background. It works well in practice if you can choose a subject distance and a focal length to maximize the impact of the image. In this case, I was forced by circumstance to set the Nikon to 80mm, which allowed me to include the entire message of the sign in the background. Remember that your position, relative to you subject, determines the relationship between the background elements and the foreground subject, while your focal length affects the cropping. This can be essential if you are to take advantage of the relatively few megapixels (six, to be exact), available to D70.users. This first head shot was a lucky shot, since the positioning of the poster in the background allowed me to completely fill the frame with relative content. 

Nikon D70, 145mm, 1/1250 second, F 11.0, ISO 400

By changing my shooting position, I was able to get a more frontal shot, but I lost sight of the poster, now partially hidden in the background. 

One can see that there are distinct catchlights in my subject's eyes, courtesy of the shoe-mounted flash and the D70's ability to sync and almost any shutter speed.

I will admit to two major mistakes made during the campaign to assemble the most useful Fuji kit. One is the selling of my 60mm F 2.4 macro, and the other the selling my my 55-200 zoom. These two lenses way minimal field service, but the selling of the former deprived my of suitable macro capabilities, and the later of a relatively light-weight telephoto option. I traded them both to help pay for another Fuji lens, but in hindsight, wish I hadn't. Luckily, the D70 and its attendant zoom lens performed adequately, and the flash capability extremely useful.

Fuji X-T1, 10mm focal length, 1/180 second, F 9.0, ISO 200, Flash Fill

This photo establishes the nature of the protest, providing the caption gives the particulars. I don't know if the published image will show that the two posters are printed in English (left) and Spanish (right). The low angled shooting position afforded by the reticulated LCD of the Fuji T-1 allowed me to use the sky as a neutral background. Tipping the head of the shoe-mounted flash upward allowed me to feather the light output to prevent foreground overexposure.

At the close of the event, our young activist spent a few minutes thanking the supporters and encouraging increased awareness and participation. Before she took the microphone, I asked her to be sure to speak directly to the participants to her left so I could get a shot of the side of her face. I changed the crop to minimize the visual impact of the seated speaker at the right edge of the frame.

Which Photo To Publish: I did not have a single photo that encapsulated all of the elements of the protest and its supporters, but did have some shots that included most of the relevant visual elements. I admit to taking the slacker's way out: I submitted all five, and let the Editor In Chief make the choice.

Protests Past: I've been photographing community events for almost eleven years, and as strange as it sounds, have been cursed with an overabundance of good luck in Cub Reporter, or as a friend described it, my Jimmy Olsen era.

This photo, made in 2012, is as close to a perfect protest photo as could be made. My Editor considered it one of my most memorable photos, and considering the near perfect placement of all of the visual elements, can understand her enthusiasm. This happy confluence of luck and technical preparedness was not to be repeated on this assignment. I am grateful that this photo is part of my oeuvre, and while it may seem unimportant, it is that rare shot when the fates agreed to give this young upstart a break.