Jan 2012 Clips

Sorry about missing last week, I am working on a huge blog about wedding stuff that may actually need to be broken down into several blogs. (Couple that with being injured and then sick, I can't be that productive.)


This week we will be looking through the shots that I decided to submit for the NPPA region 2 monthly clip contest.

I thought that this was an unusual moment to see at a swearing in ceremony.  The composition is quite simple. I don't really have much else to say about it.

I went to a baseball clinic because I had no other assignments for the day and needed to come back with a daily shot. Originally I was just going to stop at the batting cages section and be done. However I liked what was going on in the corner of the gym and thought it was much cleaner than trying to shoot through all of the nets at the batting cages. I like the framing and also that it is just an arm on the right. Seeing another person on the right would have been too distracting for the shot. This helps the focus remain on the concentration of the batter who is waiting to hit the ball.

Bad weather usually results in car accidents or damage that can be photographed. Sometimes it can be difficult to make them moody or more interesting, especially after dark.  The top shot (one I ended up injuring myself to get) had a nice back light to the side. I waited to see multiple people walk through the light but this ended up being the best placement. Also, something about the scale is interesting.

As for the bottom, I had given up on my car for the day and walked through the city instead.  Walking gives you a whole new outlook on things, and you are willing to stop for things that you wouldn't normally if you were driving. I liked how bleak the scene was. Also the headlights on the truck are a nice touch.

I discussed these 2 shots in my previous blog and I won't be going into any details about them here.

I like the mood of this shot. The trees in the background are a nice touch, and it helps that the sledders are carrying bright sleds and are wearing some sort of colors.  Additionally, the framing with the tree branches makes this a much more interesting shot than it could have been. It is a nice quick shot. 

This shot is an example of stopping when you come across a strange situation.  I found a boy sledding down a side walk and couldn't pass it up. After trying several angles and lenses, I settled on this one. The wider angle (although putting me in danger of being run over) was able to incorporate a lot of the scene that made the situation unique. You see the kid sliding past houses, which is not a typical setting for someone to go sledding. Laying on the ground also added a nice angle and included the old sled tracks to lead you into the pic. Finally the peak moment of action of the kid falling out of his sled ties the shot together. The framing of the boy in between the trees and the bright colors of his sled and clothes make him pop. Those elements keep the shot clean, in turn leading your eye in more easily.  It would have been really easy to have a noisy messy background in this shot.

Shot one of two magazine covers that were in my clips for the month. This first one is a compilation of images (four I believe), that were assembled in photoshop to illustrate the importance of the Canadian dollar in the North Country region. It was a fun process. We also tried to figure out how to do it all in camera, but this technique worked best.  

I loved the concept of this shot. We wanted to recreate the idea of the kid hiding beneath the covers to read a book, but update it with a more modern concept. This is the one shot where he made a good facial expression. The ipad is on and he was lit with a stopped down, umbrellaed speedlight. We wanted to keep it dark but not too dark for print. Also since everyone asks what the kid is looking at, he was reading Winnie the Pooh. Completely set-up production shots are a lot of fun, and since we have 2 mags at the newspaper, I get the opportunity to do them more often.