Martin Luther King Day - 2018

Podium Shot: Okay, this is the sort of shot I usually do at the awards ceremony of the winners of the essay and poetry contest. Broken down by grade level, it is interesting to see young six and seven year olds rise to the challenge of their first public speaking adventure. But getting that moment when the speaker actually looks up can be a challenge, and this calm and collected tenth grader a little easier. She did look at the audience from time to time, and her phrasing allowed for predictable pauses for emphasis.

In the past, I was reluctant to "machine gun" a Nikon DSLR because the clacking from within the mirror box would be very distracting. But when using a Fuji T-1 with a 56mm 1.2 lens, my bursts were not exactly silent, but darned quiet. This shot, culled from a burst of about six shots, had lots of smile, bright catchlights, and most of her far eye. There is a price to pay, because emptying the buffer takes a while, and this time off target might result in a missed shot. It worked here, however, and I am glad it did.

The Big Group:  I thought for sure that this shot would run on the Community Page, since I had included the names and award level for each of the eighteen winners. I used my go-to technique of a dual speedlight on a lightstand for a key light in a open-shade courtyard. No real need for flash automation. I had plenty of time to get the exposure via trial and error, a quick and efficient way to work if you can make a selfie of yourself standing where my subjects would eventually be arranged.

Subject Identification: I streamlined the caption writing by asking the Master of Ceremonies to tell my subjects that a group photo would be made at the end of the ceremony, and needed to bring their certificates with them. As it turned out, they were all able to hold them up for the photo, and considering the high pixel count of the Fuji T2, I could almost read the names of of the final image. Instead,  I told everybody they would be dismissed (ever school child knows THAT word) after I made an individual photo of them. As soon as I made the "keeper" photo, I photographed the first row from left to right, getting  close enough for the certificate and a little bit of their clothing to show. By going from left to right, I knew the names would already be in order, and writing the caption was a snap.

Americorp Volunteers: I made a similar shot last year, which was not more of a grab shot made in bright sunlight which created some uneven shadowing that could be evenly filled.But today's overcast lighting made it easy to create a shot using a hand-held speedlight held high overhead for a key light, and the ambient lighting as a convenient fill.

Managing The Shot: I was pretty heavy-handed in my directions to my subjects. First, I had the subjects facing the light. By doing this, the ambient fill would be coming from the front anyway, and would add to the light provide by the key light. Next, I had them position themselves so they could see the camera. I had to remind them that they didn't need to look at the camera, but just be sure that the camera could see them. Next, I told them to look up, just so the shot would look more spontaneous, even though it was pretty obvious that it wasn't. Still, it worked out well, and everybody was pleased with the result.

To Send, Or Not To Send: I tend to overthink my assignments, trying to achieve a balance between technical quality, composition, and event relevance. When you think about the event, one has to acknowledge several approaches at play:

The Train: Showing a train, with people getting on board, might fail as a photo unless there is something that identifies the train as part of the event. Otherwise, it's just a photo of people getting on a train. However, a very nice image was submitted by the writer sent by the Journal, which you'll see below.

The Awards: In the photo I submitted, I showed a local activist who was named the Honorary Chairman of he event. Here I was counting on name recognition of a prominent member of the community, so I submitted it. I actually had a photo of all three of them sitting in the front row. Unfortunately, I couldn't use it because one of the recipients was an organization, and I didn't get the name of the representative receiving the award on their behalf.

We Shall Overcome: Singing has always been associated with the movement, and a photo of some people singing might work. I seldom manage to make photographs where are attractive when they sing, with the obvious exception of paid performers  If you time it properly, people singing a long "A" sound usually show a hint of a smile, and a photographer would do well to try to capture that  moment, if possible. I had more grimaces than smiles, so I scrubbed the singing photos.

Editor's Choices: The Editor In Chief chose to run this pair of photos, one of mine and one submitted by the article's author Anna Schuessler. I like her photo, primarily because it has several visually appearing elements than you might not notice at first glance. I like the fact that one passenger is looking back toward the rest of the crowd, giving the shot some visual interest and a counter-point to everyone else rushing to board the train. Just as important, you can see the "San Mateo" station sign at the far left edge of the photo. 

The Editor chose to not run the yellow banner photo, which I believed carried the context message most strongly, and was anything but subtle. The photo is very similar to a photo I submitted last year, although the more recent version corrected all of the shortcomings of last year's version. Looking back, that image was more of a save, snatching a victory from the jaws of some very ordinary photos I sent along with it. I am satisfied with this years's version, and content to say some variation of the technique will be used in the future, but just not here.

The Big Group: Our young essayists and poets also got their due. The photo made it to Page 5 of the Tuesday edition, three days after the event. I'm glad they got the recognition they deserve, and am thankful that the shot ran as smoothly as it did. Giving the proud parents a chance to make their own cell-phone images surely won their cooperation at the end, and all my subjects appear focused on being part of the best group photo of their day.

After several years, I still look forward to photographing the the Martin Luther King events, despite the fact they require both a Saturday and a Monday to cover both events. I find that I refine my technique a little bit each year, and enjoy working with excited children and proud parents. Helping each of them commemorate the event in some small way is a very worthwhile endeavor.

Painting With Flash

This classic Contax IIIa rangefinder camera, a gift from a family friend. It was her prized possession, and was so protective that she would not allow her (then) husband to touch it, let along make photos with it. It came with original instructions, box, and "never-ready" case, the latter a bit shop worn from the sharp edges of the top plate of the camera. Based on its serial number, its manufacturing date is placed in early 1961, and its overall mint condition makes this camera a rare prize indeed. Safely stored in my camera locker, I take  this flawless mid-century antique out occasionally to just admire its perfection.

Painting With Flash is a technique that is well suited for photographing objects that are highly reflective, such as the Contax. Done properly, the technique can create soft, non-specular highlights, incredible detail, and shadowless exposures similar to those you could achieve using a light tent, but with a much smaller investment in equipment. To make this shot, all you need are:

• A clean, flat surface for your subject to support your subject.,
• A camera capable of small shooting apertures (F16 or smaller),
• Two fast-recycling flashes,
• Light modifiers of your choice ,
• A steady tripod, and
• A dark room in which to work.

Lighting Is Cumulative: One quick note before we proceed: Light is cumulative. The shot will be the result of from twelve to fifteen individual flash exposures, each made from a slightly different position. This results in a "smearing" of the specular highlight to cover a larger surface without creating a "hot" highlight. Remember to that this a trial and error process, so it helps to remember how many flashes you had to make when you find the result particularly pleasing. In case you were wondering, Polaroid cameras were employed to check exposure during the pre-digital days.

The Setup: This shot was an attempt to show you what's going on in the darkened workspace. In my left hand, you can see a speedlight with a small softbox, triggered by a remote trigger in my right hand (More on that later). On the floor, there is an optically triggered flash with a Gary Fong Cloud Dome aimed to direct light towards the foreground while lighting the scene from underneath. It's partially hidden by a book I used to prevent light spill into the camera mounted on the tripod. And yes, the plane of focus is on the tripod, which explains my out of focus-ness.

The Technique: Painting with a continuous light source, a technique often used by interior photographers, had the photographer use brush-like strokes to put layer upon layer of light on the walls and ceiling,  just as one might do with a paint brush. The process usually involved a photo flood and a long extension cord. But since flash is not a continuous light source, the technique is different. First, I focus the camera in the manual mode, since the camera won't function in total darkness. Next, I position my foot light to where I think it will produce the most pleasing light pattern beneath my subject. I purposely set the output to 1/8 or 1/16 of the necessary output (I'm guessing here) for reasons you'll understand in a moment. Finally, I set my hand-held key light to about 1/4 power to start, set the camera to a 20 second exposure. Now turn out the lights so there is no ambient light to affect the final exposure.

Next, I'll manually trip the camera shutter. I now have 20 seconds to position my key light, trigger it with the controller, and re-position the light about 8 inches from its current location, and trigger the flash again. I'll do this as many times as I can, which means about 15 pops if my key light flash is recycling quickly enough. Each time I trigger my main light, I am simultaneously triggering my foot light, so that after 15 pops, my foot light has given me the equivalent of a full power burst of light. And because I move the key light after each shot, the highlights grow, and flow, into each other, giving me the large, soft highlights I wanted in the first place.

New be forewarned, the results are not always perfect the first time. But with a little practice, you'll start to get photos with plenty of fine detail in the shadows (if you have any) and no burnt out highlights.

If I had it to do over, I put a bit more light on Contax's right side, which is noticeably darker than the left. But overall, the normal glare-prone chrome finish glows more than sparkles, and there is lots of detail in the knurling of the control knobs.

They really don't make them like they used to!