Cloud Stew

This particular set of photos has gotten a lot of time on the sports cover of the DP for some strange reason. Coincidentally the set happens to be from my first football assignment as a rookie photographer. Shooting football at first was very difficult. First of all the field is enormous and the equipment required for such a field is also enormous. I had to lug around a Nikon D2h, a 70-200mm, and a 300mm behemoth with an attached monopod and lets just say that…you need to stretch before starting an assignment like this. Secondly, I found that everyone gets in your way. No really, everyone! The refs, players, coaches, other photographers, field staff, and even random people on the sidelines all play a part in blissfully blocking your view and chance at a good photograph.

A good way to get around these problems is to stay in certain zones and move around within them by following the line of scrimmage. These zones include just outside the dotted-line area where the players on the sidelines stand, the corners of the field, and behind the endzones. As the line of scrimmage moves you move along with it within a sideline zone. However, if the line is near the middle of the field and is approaching the next sideline zone move to that zone as quickly as possible by walking behind the players on your side. This is important because you must always be in front of the line of scrimmage in order to capture the plays. Simply put position yourself and aim your camera at where the players on the field will be running to next.

When the plays approach the endzones it is a good idea to move to either the corners of the endzone or behind it. The corners will give you good “finish line” shots of the play and the back of the endzone can give you dramatic pictures of player celebrations and the run just before a touchdown.

Here are the images the assignment:

There’s a special oasis at Penn called the Biopond.  It’s hidden behind rows of labs, classrooms, and wholly unnatural things.  Once you enter it you’ll be somewhat confused to find elements of city intermingled with nature.

But then the gradient changes and you become lost in the lush greenery and the overwhelming diversity around you.

You forget the busteling city and the looming deadlines you left behind you and start to enjoy the simple thing.
Like the shape of an unusual tree.

Or the rare site of simple flower.

And then you realize why you’ve never found this place before,

why it’s such a secret;

Because once you find it

you’ll want to keep it a secret

so that it can stay as perfect as it is.

Check out the gallery for more pictures. And shhh…Don’t tell anyone!

This is the first in a series of posts I will write about my assignments as a photographer at The Daily Pennsylvanian.  The Daily Pennsylvanian, also known as the DP, is the local college newspaper run by Penn students and funded purely by ad revenue.  You can check out the newspaper here: The Daily Pennsylvanian

I joined the photography team on September of 2007 shortly after I fell in love with Photography.  At first it was difficult taking photographs that my editors liked.  I was frequently told that I had a ‘pretty’ photograph but not a usable one.  It took a long time for me to learn what ‘take a photo that tells the story’ really meant and how to do it without hesitation.  Hopefully any of you photographers thinking of taking a foray into photojournalism or even sports photography will find these posts useful and insightful.

The assignment was for a meeting of a group at Penn called the Civic Scholars with Penn president Amy Gutmann.  A couple of things made this assignemnt somewaht difficult.  First, I had to make sure that I didn’t disturb the meeting at all.  In fact I was directly told by my editor and one of the Civic Scholar’s faculty leaders to be as quiet as possible.  This was easier said than done.  The Nikon D200 I was using was NOT a quiet camera (most DSLRs aren’t) and one of the lenses I was using to get portraits was enourmous (the 70-200mm 2.8).  Add to this the fact that I was in a room the size of jail cell and you get a great reason to freak out about your first assignment.
Here’s the first photo I ever took for the DP.

First DP Photo

But I gritted my teeth and with the help of Pres. Gutman’s handler (she was very eager to get good press for Gutmann in the DP) I clicked away and with minor irritation on the faculty leader I got my photos.  I took so many that day that I thought I had to have a good one in there somewhere.  It turns out I was right.
This was the one that was eventually published.

First Published DP Photo

And even though the editors liked this photo they still told me that I needed to get closer to my subjects.  One of them even told me to get in the space in the middle of the square table and snap photos from there.  That’s not disruptive at all right?

So what do you take home from this as a rookie photog?

• Be bold.  A timid photographer never gets good shots.
• Don’t be affraid to get close.
• Get plenty of angles and make sure your photos tell the story.  In other words, imagine your photo in the paper next to the article and ask yourself:  Does that make sense there?

Happy shooting!