(click the link for HD)

For those of you who haven’t heard of the oddity that is tilt-shifting I can describe it as a lens technology that defocuses in a linear gradient. In other words the lens is sharpest at a centeral line and loses sharpness in both directions away from the line. The tilt-shift lens was originally made to compensate for the warping that occurs when photographing building from up-close. However, some of you may have noticed from the video that, if used correctly, the technique gives the impression that you’re looking at a miniature. This is exactly what makes tilt-shifting so mesmerizing when applied to moving things like people or boats that you know are supposed to look big. Don’t pull that wallet out yet though because a tilt-shift lens will cost you a small fortune (if you’re a poor college student like me, that is).

For more about the artist: Kieth Loutit Photoblog

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:

Smoke over the House

Smoke from my patio is Brea, California.

The fire is so close that I’m tasting smoke and watching ash fall on my patio. Helicopters are flying by and sirens are blaring.

More Smoke

30 minutes later.

Fires have also broken out in Corona and Yorba Linda. KNBC is reporting that 5 homes in Corona have been at least damaged due to the fire. It also looks like like the fire is being pushed by winds towards the east.

The smoke is getting thicker to the east and south.

Panorama

Check out the gallery:

Southern California Wildefires (11/15/2008)

Check out the more up to date gallery (UPDATED):Southern California Wildefires (11/15/2008)

Track the fires here

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

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!