This is the first image in my portfolio.
Shot with:
Nikon D3 with 14-24 mm f/2.8 at 24
Iso 250 f/8 1/400 sec WB daylight
Officer Ray Wheeler, Henrietta, NY, arrests Eric Friedman, Syracuse, NY, as part of a simulation drunk driving accident on St. John Fisher campus Tuesday April 8, 2008. The simulation demonstrated the reality of what happens in the event of an actual alcohol related car accident.
Story behind image:
This was my first shoot for the Democrat and Chronicle as their Spring 2008 intern. The assignment was to go to St. John Fishers college and photograph a drunk driving demonstration that was happening in the middle of the campus. What had happened was that the fire and police departments and ambulance company had set up a car and a mini -van in a paved area of campus. They smashed up the cars to make them look as if they crashed into each other. Inside the vehicles were student actors, two in a mini van acting drunk and three in the car: one girl in the car "died" in the accident, one girl is critically injured, and the other is hurt but is responsive. Surrounding this obscure stage, is a large group of students who is in between classes at the college.
Basically what happens is that a fake phone call goes out to 911, and the police, fire department, and ambulances are dispatched to the scene. Then they explain step by step what is going on as they react to the crash as if it is a real drunk driving accident, down to the jaws of life and leaving the dead victim in the car until everything else is taken care of. While this is going on, the campus photographer, 3 TV news camera men, and I are trying to document the entire situation which lasts a total of maybe 15 minutes.
I saw them recreating the arrest and decided it would be a great opportunity to try and get handcuffs being put on a suspect in a photo while keeping students in the background so that the photo had context. I have 8 or 9 frames of this while the cop and the person being "arrested" were cuffing him up. This is the best one. The others miss a moment in the hands and people. I am pleased that I was able to get this frame while photographing very closely at the cop's and the "criminal's" butt level without getting smashed in the face. You have to remember I am shooting this sequence with a 24 mm lens on a full frame camera!
I managed to get 4 or 5 decent images from this assignment. The news paper ran my B and C choice photos (this one was my A shot. I posted the B and C shots after this). A, B, and C are the photos in the way the photographer prefers them when they submit them to an editor. Depending on how many shots are submitted the number of letters used increases or decreases. I also handled getting D&C style caption information very easily.
C shot: girl being loaded into ambulance
B Shot: Students watching demonstration through smashed car window
Why it is in my portfolio:
One visually interesting reason that this image is in my portfolio is that the hands have a personality of their own. There is the hand of authority on the left side and the handcuffed hands seem as though they are submitting to the hand with more power. Additionally, this element is large and in your face. It is more demanding visually than the rest of the frame, so your eyes focus on this point and want to know more about what is happening.
Another thing I enjoy about this shot is that the composition is not centered. The main focus is off to the left of the frame. The right hand side and the background are not so demanding that you pay more attention to that than the intended focal point of the image.
A third aspect of this image that I appreciate is that the background can tell you a little extra about the image. Not only is there a person being handcuffed on the left, but there are a lot of people watching in the background! This fact adds to the excitement of the moment in the frame.
Overall I am pleased with the content, the toning, the exposure and the experience of the image. I like the warmer skin tones in the hands, as it enhances the life of the hands. Furthermore, this was one of the first times I had tried out the D3 and boy can I say that I love the colors that can come from an image on this camera!
What Could Make This a Better Photo, especially for a Newspaper:
The first thing Max Schulte (an assistant photo editor at the D&C) and I discussed was how we wished the left side hand had some sort of identifying information. Like I know it is a cop and the caption indicates this, but it is not obvious from the shot that it is a cop. We determined if you could see some uniform, maybe the bit of a gun holster or something else that says cop was in the frame, it would be easier to read, and therefore more usable for a newspaper.
I also wish that there was a little bit of car debris, smashed car, or an ambulance stretcher in the background so that there was something that said car accident t o the viewer. However, the angle that I needed to be at to get this frame didn't allow for this to happen. These changes would make this an excellent photo, but I am happy with how it turned out.
Just a little house keeping note for this blog:
If you are reading this let me know! And if you do comment please leave your name with it so I know who is telling me what.
Please participate in a discussion about this image: what you would change, why you like it, etc. I appreciate knowing that you like it or don't like it, but please explain why so that it will help me grow as a visual journalist and photographer. By having a discussion about imagery, we think about how we see and document the world, and in turn, by helping others, we help ourselves understand how we see and what we do.
