January 28th, 2010, 3:47 pm by dwebb
As photojournalists our job most of the time is thinking on our feet. We get a photo request from the reporter asking us to go out on a story assignment and make an image that will help illustrate the story. Some stories are easier to illustrate than others, but last night I had a challenge. I was asked to shoot a middle class couple watching President Obama’s State of the Union address. Now, over the years I’ve shot assignments similar to this, but this one was a bit more of a challenge. The couple was sitting about 8-10 feet away from their big screen TV, and there was just too much “empty space” between them and the television to make that image work (see the first photo below). Nothing in the photo screamed State of the Union and President Obama. My guess is when you first look at the photo your eye is drawn to the snowman and Christmas tree, not the couple or TV, so my challenge was to mesh the two together. How? I ask myself. Now all this takes place in just a matter of minutes, and I hate taking up my subjects’ time when they’re wanting to do something very important to them, in this case watching the State of the Union.
Luckily for me, around their television they had an entertainment center with glass doors. I thought I could use the doors as a reflector somewhat like a mirror. I just had to get more light on them — and here’s where experience comes in handy. I carry my flash and wireless remote with me almost all the time, so I was able to turn the flash on them while the camera lens faced the television and President Obama making the State of the Union address. I first tried one side, but I was getting too light from the Christmas tree in the reflection, so I went to the other side and from there I was able to see the couple and President Obama in the viewfinder. After shooting a couple of images I ask Angela to remove two pieces of porcelain that were on a shelf inside the cabinet because they were white and blocked a clear shot of her and her husband Mike on the couch. Once removed, I had a clean shot of the two of them and the President’s speech and I continued to shoot. I shot for about five minutes or so working on getting the correct exposure. Once that was done, I shot for a few more minutes making sure that both subjects (President Obama and Mike & Angela) were together in the same frame, and I think I was pretty successful in doing so. (See the second photo) The last blog I wrote was talking about just a simple building mug. It’s assignments like this one that keep me on my toes and my technical skills intact and I like that. I love a good challenge.
 JAN,27,2010-Chandler elementary school teachers Mike and Angela Breen watch President Obama's State of the Union address in their Gilbert home.
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 JAN,27,2010-Chandler elementary school teachers Mike and Angela Breen are reflected in their entertainment center as they watch President Obama’s State of the Union address in their Gilbert home.
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January 7th, 2010, 2:42 pm by dwebb
The photo above may be a boring building mug to most of you, but to me it means I still have a job and I’m working the job that I love. Allow me to explain. In early November our paper, The East Valley Tribune received news from our owners (Freedom Communications) that they were closing our doors and that Dec. 30 would be the last paper printed on our presses. It was gloom and doom around here for weeks, then in the middle of that month we heard that the paper had found a buyer. Things were looking up, but nothing was definite. In late December there was hiccup in the sale and we all thought Uh Oh!, but those things were cleared up too. So here on the 7th of January I assigned myself (I pass it almost everyday anyway) a building mug of a auto dealership that had to close its doors — and that’s when it hit me. Those locked doors could have been the doors I enter almost daily, so I was happy to be shooting a building, as boring as it may sound. What can I say, I love my job and I hope to have it for a long time, and to be in the elite class of photographers that call themselves photojournalists. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Uncategorized • chandler • photo • webb | 1 Comment »
December 3rd, 2009, 3:09 pm by Tim Hacker
With the Chandler Fashion Center opening at midnight on Thanksgiving, shoppers staked out their spots starting at 4:30pm that afternoon.
I arrived at the mall around 10:30 to witness the start to the holiday shopping season. With the lines outside you would have thought they were giving away stuff. The mall was offering a limited number of $50 gift cards after purchases were made in the mall. The doors ready to open, a DJ was playing loud techno music to get the crowd running.
I watched for nearly 10 minutes the flood of shoppers entering through the food court entrance. The corridors of the mall were packed within no time at all.
I have covered other Black Friday store openings and this was the most intense I have ever witnessed.
Posted in: Uncategorized • black friday • chandler • hacker • shoppers • shopping | Post a Comment »
October 22nd, 2009, 12:45 pm by dwebb
Last week my blog was on how I drove 500 miles in search of fall colors and how I failed. If’s there’s one thing to know about me is that I don’t like to fail. So I took a day off work and headed up north again in search of some color. This time my buddies and I headed towards Flagstaff, Harts Prairie and Snow Bowl, and I’m proud to say we captured some really nice images, the sun did try to play tricks on us but we worked with what was given and we were triumphant. One tip I can give you when shooting fall colors, shoot at a low ISO (film speed) and expose for your highlights. Below is an example where I was exposing for the highlights of the tree, and not the shadows from the surrounding trees. If your camera is telling you to shoot something at say, 1/250 of a second @ F/5.6 shoot it at F/8 or F/11 or bump up your shutter speed and open up your aperture. Your camera is reading everything it sees, the highlights, shadows, & midtones so it’s giving you an overall average of what it’s seeing/reading, so sometimes you have to fool your camera by under or over exposing the subject matter. More than likely you’re shooting digital so you’re not wasting film like we did in the old days, so shoot A LOT and bracket your exposures that way you get the image you’re hoping for. And by playing around with your exposures, you learn how your camera works better for given situations which will save you time later. And remember have fun, keep those shutters clicking and follow your passion.
 The sun highlights a fall tree, remember, expose for the highlights of the tree, not all the trees in the shadows, they can fool your camera.  The sun sets over Snow Bowl  Snow dust the tree tops up at Snow Bowl in Flagstaff  Sun light sneaks through the clouds onto the valley below Snow Bowl
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October 13th, 2009, 1:21 pm by dwebb
Yesterday a buddy and I took a road trip in search of fall colors, and 12 hours and 520 miles later I’ve got NOTHING to show for it! I guess several things led up to it. I started the morning at Discount Tire after finding a bolt sticking out of my front tire, but the guys there fixed me up great and for free. They’re going to get my business for life. We got a late start and didn’t leave the Valley till 11 a.m. Then we decided to take the long way (scenic route) up to the Alpine/Hannagan Meadows area by going through Safford, then taking State Route 191(Coronado Trail) up through Clifton & Morenci. I’ll tell ya, it’s an extremely beautiful drive but don’t take it if you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. And as you go through Clifton & Morenci you can’t miss the mining that’s going on there. It’s incredible.
As we drove 20 mph along the Coronado Trail we saw some nice fall colors, but they were limited as they were scattered along mountainsides. As we headed north, the sun played games with us, giving us beautiful light at times until we’d pull over to shoot what we were witnessing. Pulling the cameras out was the worst thing we could do: As soon as we did, the clouds would skip in front of the sun, losing the light that danced off the leaves. If we would have had more time we would have been more patient and waited for it to come back out. But we were running out of light & time. We were headed for Forest Road 249 and the Big Lake area just northeast of Alpine, but 6 ½ hours after we left the Valley, we arrived too late. The sun had dipped behind the mountain, and the clouds muted the sun, the fall colors were there, but they were flat. Nothing popped, so were we kinda bummed. We waited for a nice sunset with the clouds over the mountain but that didn’t even happen. Just one of those days, but that’s OK. It was a nice drive, the weather was fantastic, and to top it off, I saw a raccoon in the wild. That made my day. I guess something had to.
 this is the best I could come away with, kinda sad huh?
Posted in: Uncategorized • Arizona • autumn • fall • foliage • leaves • weather | 1 Comment »
October 8th, 2009, 6:34 pm by dwebb
Asking a photojournalist to go look for wild art (see definition below) is like asking a 2-year old to give up an ice cream cone. First you get a blank stare, then it’s followed by tears, and not tears of joy. A photojournalist can NEVER find wild art when asked to look for it, so I learned a long time ago if you see something that could be used as wild art — SHOOT IT! My philosophy on wild art is shoot first, ask questions later.
Here’s a good example of a missed opportunity. Last week as I was driving northbound in Chandler, a white jeep passed me traveling southbound with a huge black & white Great Dane’s head sticking out of the sunroof, it was a very cool visual so I did a U-turn (don’t ask if it was legal & I won’t have to fib) to chase it. Unfortunately I didn’t catch them so I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t.
Anyway I digress. Here’s a good example of wild art. Today as I was heading toward another assignment I saw two maintenance workers hauling a refrigerator with a handcart behind an electric golf cart, so I just had to shoot it. I always keep my camera within arms reach while working because you just never know when you’re going to see a Great Dane sticking its head out of a sunroof, or guys hauling a fridge behind a golf cart. And keeping your camera in your trunk won’t do you any good for fun spur-of-the-moment photos like this one below. So keep your eyes open, your camera close, but most of all have fun and follow your passion. (My definition of wild art in the photo world: an image of something unique not driven by a news story that can help fill a hole in the newspaper.)
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October 4th, 2009, 4:54 pm by Thomas Boggan
One element that can make a photo look interesting is the use of repetition. I found this row of stalls while shooting a horse show in Gilbert that created a nice pattern, especially when the pattern is broken up by a person walking through the frame.
 A rider walks past horse stalls during the first annual Marley Farms Charity Horse Show to benefit animal adoption at the former Diamondbacks player Shea Hillenbrand's facility in Gilbert, Ariz., Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009.
Posted in: Quick Tip • Techniques • horse • Quick Tip • repetition • show • stalls • technique | Post a Comment »
September 30th, 2009, 2:14 pm by Thomas Boggan
What’s better than an Oktoberfest? How about an Oktoberfest with dachshunds running down the stretch? (Full Disclosure: I have a pet dachshund)
 Dachshunds bolt from the starting gate during wiener dog races during the Chandler Oktoberfest 2009 in downtown Chandler, Ariz., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.
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I was covering the send off rally of the Arizona Cardinals as they were leaving to New Orleans to play the Saints. Tons of fans and supporters showed up for rally at the airport. I was watching the cheerleaders dance during the celebration and noticed the Bidwill family waiting behind them for the team to show up.
