A Few Faves from March

So here are a few favorite photos from March.

Isn't March the "in like a lion, out like a lamb" month? This year it came in like a snow lion on the heels of a roaring lion ... and went out about the same way. All the damage to homes aside (thankfully, no injuries), tornadoes are just so amazing. The fact that there were no injuries were every bit as amazing.

But to be followed by SNOW!! ... wow ... just, wow. It was so beautiful. And it felt so much like home. (I'm from out West). Most of the snowfall was in Harris County ... and did it ever come down. Simply beautiful. Big, fat, wet flakes blanketed the countryside. Yes.

You can always count on a clan of goof ball teenagers to show up at Lakebottom Park to have dangerous fun in the big rain. They did not disappoint. Boogie-boarding in Weracoba Creek. Who would've thought.

In Alabama along U.S. Highway 280, an 18-wheeler hit the median and rolled as the tornado blew through and scared the you-know-what out of its driver. The trailer was caring a load of toilet paper. I did not write down that bit of information, but I'm sure that I remember it correctly. Those orange things are airbags that help to stabilize the big rig as tow trucks (plural) pull it upright. I have no idea why these two guys are standing on the trailer. Maybe because they can.

Last in the storm story photos - is Katie McCain, 8, of Salem, whose foremost concern were her two puppies Patch and Jake, and all of the McCain family animals, which include the puppies' parents, a Siberian husky, a cat and two ponies.

I covered the Dr. Suess-themed Read Across America at Brewer Elementary. Chase Tucker, 6, read "Wacky Wednesday" with his mother Velisha Hearlson. His expressive concentration was so cute and so sweet.

Another understatement of expressive thought was Collin Cates, 3, who gave a thumbs-up as his picture was being taken at the Thunder in the Valley Air Show. Check out the ear-protecting head gear.

A couple of old soldiers reuniting to honor soldiers not present. Old soldiers who fought together and survived together, and continue to honorably represent those who dedicate their lives to military service. Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Basil Plumley, center, and Retired Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, were a part of the Sacred Soil ceremony at the National Infantry Museum on March 19. Dirt gathered from battlefields from the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were spread onto the parade grounds at the museum site. The first OSUT (One Station Unit Training) graduation also took place that day. Plumley and Moore spread dirt from the LZ X-Ray battlefield in Vietnam were they fought in November 1965. Moore wrote the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young," which documented the battle and the story of the men who fought that battle. It became a movie that was filmed, in part, in Columbus.

Last, but oh not least, is Donald Ford in the ZUMBA aerobics class at the downtown YMCA. The time slot used to be a cycling spin class, but when it changed, he stuck with it. Him and 40 women. Why not?

Cheers, and thanks for tuning in,
Robin

The Thunder in the Valley Air Show holds a media day each year a few days before the weekend festivities, and I covered last week with my colleagues Sonya Sorich and Joe Paull. This usually means going up in vintage airplanes, weather permitting. And usually means an interesting ride in a vintage airplane. One year former L-E photog G. Marc Benavidez made a great shot while flying upside down. I don't like to fly upside down.

This year two World War II Stearman trainers were among the old planes that were on the tarmac for us to photograph ... and take a ride in. A 1938 PT-13 and a 1942 PT-17. They were the primary training planes for the Army Air Corp and the Navy. One is owned and flown by former Navy pilot and retired Northwest Airlines pilot John Laughter. The other is owned and flown by former Air Force pilot and retired Delta pilot Jim Ratliff. How interesting. The plan was for Sonya to ride in the PT-17 and me in the PT-13 so that I could photograph her in the PT-17 in the skies over Columbus.

Well, the pesky little PT-13 did not want to start. Hmmm. It sounded like many of the old cars that I've driven over the years. Pilot John apologized and said that he over primed it. So Sonya and Pilot Jim headed for the wild blue yonder .... and I got a jump start. Really.

The guys pulled up a thing-a-ma-jig, hooked up cables, and cranked her up. So I say to John, "I guess this means we won't be flying upside down, or killing the engine and such." And he said that it (the plane) would actually start easier in the air. "Well, no, let's not," was my nervous reply. These guys are not just amazing pilots, they're all a bit crazy, too. Perhaps it's a prerequisite. Later in the week I met an Army Lt. Col. who was describing to me (us) the pilots who flew the Huey helicopters in Vietnam - the ones that swept in close to the ground to clear out or flush out or whatever they did to the enemy so the helicopters bringing in troops could hover and drop their soldiers. Egad.

Anyway - here we are, getting a jump. That's my foot to the left. And these little planes have cute rear view mirrors. Just another day at the office.

Happy Spring -
Robin

Photo Tip #12: Super Contrast and the Errant Point & Shoot: part 2

Let's follow up on Dave the Dog's coffee break.

As we saw earlier, the high contrast setting with the super bright sidewalk, the dark black metal table and the deep shadows under the storefront awnings sent the light meter in my little point & shoot a little crazy. I did not like the pictures. On the camera that I have (an older Canon PowerShot 550SD), there is limited manual capability, so I set the camera to automatically under expose one stop.

For the first image, the camera chose a 250th shutter speed at f/stop 7.1. This is almost the exposure that the camera picked for the first fully auto shot (1/200 at 7.1; the second fully auto frame was shot at 1/500 at 2.8). The next one was also 250th at 7.1 f/stop, though the second one came out a little darker. At -1.00 exposure compensation, the camera also shot a frame at 1/400th at 3.5 f/stop. Don't know why.

In the camera LCD screen, the pictures still looked to light. So I set the exposure compensation to -2.00, or two stops under exposed. It shot at 1/320th at 9.0 f/stop. Oops - too dark. And what kind of a setting selection is that? (But wow, what a face!)

I then set the camera to shoot at -0.67. (check for 'exposure compensation' in your camera manual. This is done in-camera, and it might also be possible to set it for your flash.) The fourth pic shot at /125th at 7.1 f/stop. Now that is a FULL stop over exposed as compared to the first auto-exposure, which was 250th at 7.1. Hmmm. It is set to under expose. The camera also made a frame at 1/160th and 7.1 f/stop. Okay ... this little point & shoot is wigging out in this contrasty situation.

For the afternoon take - which was just a quick hello, a cup of coffee to go and a few snaps - my favorite exposure is this last one. And it shot at -1.00, 250th, 7.1 f/stop. Go figure.

So what do we take from this? Well, I was quite surprised at how the exposure settings in this point & shoot bounced around so much. It also told me not to get to upset with, or invested in, photos that this particular camera can make in difficult light. Under better conditions, it makes beautiful images. But it definitely has its limits, as do most point & shoot cameras. Know your equipment, however simple or advanced it is. And read the owners manual so that you know all of the ins and outs of what it CAN do.

Also -- take note where the camera is aimed to take its exposure readings. Is it reading mostly off of the dark table or the bright sidewalk? Is there a balance of dark, light and midtones for the light meter to read from? This was not only a high contrast situation, it was high contrast with primarily black, white, deep shadows and a guy in a gray sweatshirt with a cap that covered his eyes. Thank the photo gods for a blue ceramic cup. A more colorful scene with a range textures and reflective surfaces might not have been so difficult.

And -- while taking these types of pictures, watch your subject. You can see that as Dave moves his head around, those big floppy ears can shadow his eyes. Or a slight look down to the table will shadow his eyes. When he looked up, his face was all nicely and somewhat evenly exposed by the sun. Just under exposed by me. Oh well.

The highlights under the awning are interesting to note. The neon sign, the reflecting edges of the chairs, and the red jacket. With more work, this could be nicely composed.

One more thing. That -2.00 under exposed shot of Dave that I liked best (what a face) lightened up pretty well in Photoshop. All was not lost.

Here's to almost Spring,
Robin

Photo Tip #11 - Super contrast and Auto Exposure: Dave the Dog and the Errant Point and Shoot

So I was walking down Broadway not long ago headed back to the office and ran into L-E reporter Lily Gordon and her husband Morgan with their big, lovable boy - Dave the Dog. They were sitting outside the Fountain City coffehouse enjoying some espresso. Dave is a teenaged Weimaraner and as sweet as can be. You can pat Dave's head without reaching down to pat Dave's head.

I pulled out a little point & shoot that is with me almost always, and commenced to make a few pictures. Now, it was a bright, clear, sunny beautiful day. One would think that the light would be perfect for pictures. And it would've been -- in a different setting. That little point & shoot was making exposures all over the map. Why?

We had a super-bright sidewalk in the midday sun. The store front awnings made for deep shadows close to the building where many patrons were seated. And although the tables are black and somewhat relective, they are, or course, very dark compared with the 'hot' sidewalk. (Here, I use 'hot' as a photo-term, meaning that it is quite bright and will require either a fast shutter speed or a small aperture opening, or both, to tone down the strong reflection. Also, remember that a small f/stop opening is a large f/stop number.) The bright sun and cloudless sky created deep shadows everywhere. Which can be fine ... just not here.

(Before I continue, let me remind everyone that photos look different on different computer monitors. On mine, these photos look too light. Trust me, the shadows were deep!)

These were taken on fully automatic. The first shot exposed at a 1/200th shutter speed with 7.1 f/stop. Dave and the sidewalk are a bit overexposed. Too overexposed for my taste. You can see right away that Morgan's face was going stay in the shadows if I didn't sit down. So I sat down to take more pictures. This second shot was WAY too hot, meaning overexposed. The camera picked 1/500 shutter speed at f/stop 2.8. This is just a little more than one shutter speed faster (1/200 to 1/500), but it opened up 2-1/2 f/stops from 7.1 to 2.8. Which means that for the second shot, the camera made its exposure primarily off of a much darker area than the first photo, and so it 'opened up' the aperture to allow more light but probably could not speed up the shutter any further.

Let's visit that again. Consider the center of the frame for the first shot. It's roughly the area of Morgan's hands, his jacket and Dave's gray coat. The bright sidewalk and the dark table might have contributed somewhat. I don't know really how big of an area of the center of the frame is used to take the exposure reading. But there was a range of reflected light and contrast for the light meter to bring together to make the exposure.

Now look at the second shot. The center of the frame is mostly the black table, and the shadowed area of Dave and Morgan's hand. Most of the cup is in shadow. So the camera opened up the aperture to expose for the dark table and make it 18% gray (Google this if you want an explanation now --- this subject is another photo tip session), thereby overexposing the cup and the sunny side of Dave's face. If you think about it, if the camera exposed the table as darker black, the hand and the background would be in even deeper shadow.

So what's the lesson here? Point & shoot cameras have their limitations. And pay attention to where your camera will be making its exposure reading if you are shooting in any of the automatic modes. You might need to move and make a different image. Even with a digital SLR. The DSLR light meter should be more sophisticated than this point & shoot, but the challenge is the same. You might want to go to manual settings, decide where in your image you want to make the exposure and check each image until you get into the ballpark. And consider using fill-flash if you can. Using flash outdoors can be helpful.

There was more to this little photo session. I made a few frames using the few manual settings that the camera allows. We'll discuss it next.

As always, Happy Shooting,

Robin

Go Swimming Tigers!!

This week was the annual city high schools swim championships held at the D.A. Turner YMCA. It's the only swim meet that we cover for the season. Swimming gets overshadowed by other inter-scholastic sports in Columbus, Ga. In fact, the championship meet is the only in-town meet of the season. And it is usually dominated by Columbus High and Northside High. Hardaway High and Shaw High also have teams.

But this year the Carver High Tigers fielded a team of three boys and five girls. Not seasoned swimmers - but serious competitors. Serious about finishing their races and supporting each other and improving their personal best times.

Marvin Forbes described it as "exhilarating!" The team got a late start on the season, swimming in only four meets. "Everybody does a terrific job on the team."

Shanice Baker, a junior, struggled through her 50-yard freestyle heat. Her feet touched bottom once, but she finished - all smiles. She didn't know her time, and said that she didn't care. (1:35.95)

Announcements came over the school intercom to recruit students for the new team. "I never in a million years thought I'd be on the swim team," Tony Daley said. "I just went out there .. and I started swimming. It's kind of cool to be known as the first Carver swim team."

Carver is known for its football and basketball programs, having produced several NFL players over the years. But Tony says that now that the gridiron guys realize how hard these new swimmers work, there is respect. Other students call him "fish boy" as he walks the hallways -- as a compliment. "They're saying I'm fast."

Asked what he would do if Jarvis Jones got in the water? "I'd whoop Jarvis Jones in the pool right now," Tony said laughing. (Jones, a defensive linebacker for the Tigers, is headed to USC to play for the Trojans.)

Congratulations to Tony, Marvin, Shanice, Jaleesa Perry, Emilio Holloway, Rachel Quitugua and Charnele Jones. You've won big.

To new challenges, Robin

Wrestling Fun

Saturday evening was the citywide high school wrestling championship tournament at Columbus High. I arrived a bit early - the elimination rounds had just finished and there was a break before the finals. So of course, the kids where out on the gym floor stretching, lounging, talking, taking a moment alone and wrestling around the mats. After I took a break of my own, I thought to look for a picture or two.

Dashurra Riggs, 18 and a student at Columbus Technical College, wrestled the 103-pound weight class as a 2008 senior at Kendrick. She was at the tournament to watch her former teammates compete, and during the break she wrestled around with Kendrick High freshman Loren Spencer. She's quite the scrappy little gal.

GianCarlo Parrado, 12, bless his heart, thought he'd take on Columbus High heavyweight Ian Walker. Ian wrestles the 285-pound heavyweight division. I'd bet GianCarlo weighs less than 100 pounds soaking wet! They had fun. And Ian went on to pin John Herndon of Hardaway to win the individual title and secure first place for the Blue Devils.

Congratulations to all the wrestlers for their spirited efforts -
Robin

Where Were You on Inauguration Day?

I was at Fort Middle School for a great program that celebrated the inauguration of our first African-American president. Two student choruses sang, the student band played in the school lobby, an interpretive dance was presented, and two guest speakers - Muscogee County Superior Court chief judge John Allen and Georgia State Senator Ed Harbison - gave eloquent history lessons with encouraging words for the kids.

I then watched the inauguration ceremonies with Mrs. Johnson's 8th grade social studies class. At the end we took a group shot. Actually, a young student, Jared Bryant, who assisted me with the video camera took the picture. Thank you, Jared. After all, when someone asks me "where were you for President Barack Obama's inauguration?," my answer is - "with Mrs. Johnson's 8th grade social studies class in Columbus, Georgia."

Stay warm,

Robin

Photo Tip #10

MOVE IN CLOSER

The famous and amazing war photographer Robert Capa, who covered five different wars, once said, "If your photographs aren't good enough, you're not close enough." Capa was killed in 1954 covering the First Indochina War for Life magazine, having stepped on a land mine while the regiment he was covering was under heavy fire. He died with his camera in his hand. Above is one of his most famous photos, "Falling Soldier," the 1936 image of a Spanish Republican militiaman at the moment he was shot dead.

That's probably too close for most of us. And most of us will be photographing subjects and events far less dangerous to our health. But the idea - 'move in closer' - is on the money. So often, our images lack impact and emotion because we are too far away. Get in there and fill your frame! And discover how joyful super-close photos can be.

A good bit of patience went into this photo of Madison Norrell, left, and her friend Morgan Dixon, as they stayed cool and I worked up a sweat. But getting in as close as I could, given their nonstop ballet around the pool with me circling the perimeter, is what captured their fabulous expressions. This was shot with a 20mm lens.

Mom and dad hold little Zachary Adams steady at the start of a race for three to five-year olds during the Georgia State Championships Mountain Bike Race this past spring at Flat Rock Park. I couldn't stand directly in front of him, but again, using a wide angle lens, (and knowing that I would crop in from the left), I filled the frame as much as possible with Zach and his parents' hands.

When Mildred Upshaw died earlier this year, her friends who work at the 13th Street Lewis Jones left flowers and a message at her campsite. The homeless woman was well known around downtown and midtown, and one local artist has painted portraits of her. There was no need to focus on the disarray - it's still obvious from the photo that a homeless person lived here. The focus is the message to Mildred - a message that she was not invisible to the community.

I used a 200mm lens to photograph Sgt. Christopher Alcala, 23, of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team Advance Party and his five-month old daughter Angelina when his unit arrived home from Iraq. Then I cropped in even closer. The soldier from Texas had come home for his daughter's birth, then rejoined his unit to complete the 15-month deployment. Now daddy's home.

When you are thinking 'close-up,' consider CLOSE UP!

Grab your camera and enjoy this beautiful weather -
Robin

Photo Tip #9: Motion Blur

Hello ... and long time no see. Or write, and I do apologize. Is it really October? I nearly missed by Dad's birthday this week ... time flies when we don't pay attention. And there isn't enough of it to be wasting it - time that is.

Yesterday around 5:00, after an afternoon of staring at the computer while the beautiful fall sun was shining something amazing, I grabbed the camera for a quick stroll along the Riverwalk. Now, I know that my colleague Shannon Szwarc does wonderful work on the Chattahoochee with sweet shots of kayakers and skateboarders and birds hanging out on the rocks (see his blog at http://riverwalkingcolumbus.blogspot.com/), but I decided to quickly photograph the kayakers anyway - to show how shutter speed can be used to allow for 'motion blur.'

If you have a subject that is motionless, or you tell your subject to remain motionless, you can slow your shutter speed to allow other elements in the frame to be in motion long enough to create a blurry motion around the subject. These guys weren't quite skilled enough to stay motionless as they surfed the white water -- but then -- that's what they were practicing, so I can't complain.

The first shot was taken at 1/30th of a second. You can see the white water has a smooth appearance. The guys were resting. Go slower though, using a tripod, for an even smoother, almost ethereal feel. I didn't have a tripod with me, and I can't hand hold a long lens at 1/20th or slower.

The second shot is at 1/80th of a second. The kayaker is moving too fast to be 'captured,' or stopped, by that slow of a shutter speed. And the water just looks blurry. The shutter speed is too fast for the water have a smooth feel, and too slow to be crisp. It's too slow to 'stop the action.' And I might have some camera shake.

The third shot is at 1/125th of a second. I caught the kayaker as he is momentarily motionless on the wave. You can see that the water is becoming a bit more sharp. Obviously, to stop fast moving water and capture crisp splashes and droplets and waves, we need a fast shutter speed. The faster the better. Start at least with 1/500, but 1/1000 or faster is better.

Which is the shutter speed that Shannon used to shoot this last kayaker. (Something distracted me, and I didn't go back to shoot at 1/1000. My bad.) Notice the water splashing off of his face, and the streams and drops off of the paddle. Stopped, or frozen, movement.

Now remember, as you increase your shutter speed, you must decrease your aperture to keep an accurate exposure. And as you open the aperture, you lose depth of field -- so stay tightly focused on the subject. Or increase your ISO, which will then give you more shutter speed at small apertures, or a smaller aperture for greater depth of field if you so desire. So, this also became a quick review on how ISO, aperture and shutter speed work together.

Shoot some waves!
Robin

Photo Tip #8: Shoot Vertical

As a follow up to yesterday's photo tip about cropping your photos -- think about shooting vertical. Just turn the camera ninety-degrees and get an entirely different view of things. But don't go vertical just to go vertical. If the image looks awkward, out of context, unbalanced or just plain bad - don't shoot it.

But some visuals are simply suited to be composed, and then experienced, vertically. The obvious example is basketball -- it's a vertical sport. But another obvious shot might be someone whose entire body is the picture -- meet John Bush of Phenix City who auditioned for American Idol in his work shorts and boots. I loved this shot!

Portraits can be beautiful either horizontal or vertical -- but when shooting horizontally, you must consider every single detail that is in the frame, because it either adds or detracts from your subject. Environmental portraits tell a story. Vertical portraits tell a story as well, with beautiful, tight, images of people. It's cropping in the frame -- ridding the image of all the nonessentials.

When thinking artistically -- think of the vertical frame like a vertical canvas -- and paint away!!

Robin

Photo Tip #7 - Cropping Your Photos

First -- my apologies for missing two weeks of photo tips. We'll catch up this week, and start with tips for CROPPING PHOTOS, and discuss why we crop photos.

Cropping a photo is about composition. Whether you crop a photo to get rid of extraneous material (cut out the visual junk), or you crop a photo because you later see that it turns your good picture into a stunning picture -- we're talking about the composition of the image. Like good writing or good music, the first draft is rarely the last draft. Initially, we want to shoot the best negative (or digital file) that we can - exposure, depth of field, focus, etc. - but seldom is the raw image the final image (unless you're taking snapshots to hang on the refrigerator and not the living room wall). Among other darkroom techniques (old-school or digital), cropping is one of the basic tools used in composition. Your photo can become an entirely new picture. It can draw the observer's eye to the essence of the image.

Let's start with cropping out the junk. First, try to take out as much of the unnecessary and unwanted distractions as you can while you shoot. Crop within your camera as much as possible. Move in closer to your subject. Look closely at what is creeping into the sides (including top and bottom) of your frame. Find a different angle, shoot from higher up, shoot from down low, shoot vertical, seat your subject, whatever it takes to keep odd stuff from creeping in. (As well, you want to clean up the background -- more on clean backgrounds later.) Moving closer or using a longer focal length lens, using your zoom, is a good start.

Often we make shots knowing full well that we'll be cropping the image, because there is no in-camera solution. Perhaps the moment is too quick and immediate, perhaps we just can't get closer, perhaps we're caught with one lens on the camera when another would have been more optimal. Like UGA's Michael Moore standing before the fans after he scored against Oklahoma State in the 2007 home opener. When shooting sports, you often make a best guess on the lens you have up and ready, and hope you can switch to another camera with another lens quickly if necessary. I was along the end zone shooting with a 70-200mm, and was holding it horizontally. I knew immediately that I would crop this image vertically to enhance Moore's body language and the referee's touchdown signal. That's the storytelling piece of this frame. (And I didn't get a good shot of the catch. Oh well).

Although this Tuskegee/Morehouse photo is okay full frame, cropping it emphasizes the running back's face as he plows into Morehouse defenders. The eye is inside the action.

Sometimes the desired crop is subtle, sometimes it's more bold. The pigeons along the A-frame out-building is a tight crop to bring all the lines of the image into play. Anything else in the photo would have taken away from the composition.

Above, cropping out the sky brings us closer to McKenzie Johannes' wingspan. I could have cropped in even more, but it began to look awkward to bring the birds' tail too close to the bottom of the frame, and to crop in any more on her legs. But the longer horizontal composition accentuates the horizontal nature of the image.

Now, our Russell County High School marching band drummer was a happy accident. I was shooting very tight with a 300mm lens, wanting to focus on individual musicians as they moved around the field. This got too tight, but I liked it. It might have been a good shot if we could see his eyes, but then again, we can really feel his concentration just as it is.

Let's look backstage at the 2006 Miss Georgia rehearsal. This image is intentionally cropped in the camera - completely. Full frame. No accident. I saw Miss Cobb County Lauren Halford watching the other contestants as they prepared to go onstage. I stayed on Lauren, and took several photos as the other women moved around her. I chose this one because I liked the shoe adjustment and the colors that surround her. We get a good feel for what's happening.

After making several portraits of Russell County pitcher Kasey Kiker (when he was drafted by the Texas Rangers and came by the office for an interview), I got to looking at this series of frames, and decided to make a deep crop - to some extent because I just wasn't satisfied with the pictures that I had made. I tilted the image a bit, and cropped in tight. Not the best way to plan a photo, but I liked the end result more than the original frame.

Last but not least -- here is a series of crops that were just fun to play with. You can see the many possibilities. In the first photo, we can barely see the cat asleep on the middle boat - yet she (or he) was the subject of my photo. The cat (I have three) is what caught my eye and I just loved it, sunning and sleeping. But she's tough to see in the full frame photo, so I kept playing with the crop. Fortunately, the original file size is large enough to handle so severe of a crop (but it probably would not hold up so well in making a large print).

Anyway, you get the idea. Find the cropping tool in your digital darkroom photo software ... and play around with it. Notice that you can tilt the crop box to straighten out a crooked horizon line, or to totally change the perspective of your image.

As always, have fun!
Robin