the stress is still there...assignment #2

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/11/2005 02:32:37 PM · #1

ok, here was my 2nd assignment:

"Please get a photo of Mark Helprin, who's here to talk and sign his new book, "Freddy and Fredericka." Please do not get a photo of him sitting at a table signing his book. Perhaps something as he's speaking or interacting with his fans. For COVER of our new book section on July 17 with review by Metro staffer Will Carter, who plans to attend the event."

alright, i thought, this should be interesting, fun, and hopefully not too difficult. well, it was interesting, fun, but extremely difficult. mr helprin showed up pretty much on the dot, so there wasn't any 'mingling' with the fans before his talk. he gave his talk in a very hard to shoot place - a converted warehouse. and, immediately after leaving the podium, he made a bee-line to the table where he was to sit and sign books...

i learned a lot from this shoot, mainly the huge difference between capturing news/activity and choreographing non-models. sometimes, you have to ask people to do things in order to get the shot you need. well, let me tell you something. if you think pointing your camera at a stranger is tough, try asking a stranger to do something for you while pointing a camera at them! yes, it will be a lot easier next time, but it was a long, agonizing weekend, wondering if i had shot anything that would be cover-worthy...

the good news is, they picked 5 as possibles, and i got a vote of confidence from the section editor and the photo director. i have an idea of what type of shot they were after, and, knowing what i figured out after the fact, i probably could have 'arranged' it. but, all the same, they seem to be happy enough, which is all that matters at this point. we'll start working on 'ecstatic' on the next assignment ;-)

Message edited by author 2006-01-22 00:23:08.

davidx76

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

07/11/2005 02:40:50 PM · #2

My favs -- numbers 30, 31, 41 and 48 (48 is the very best IMO). IMHO I'm not keen on the first few (the diagnal/slanted framing and the pics of the author with his back to you). Others are great!

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

07/11/2005 02:41:00 PM · #3

That's tough. For sure I'd pick the first one. The angle is what makes it interesting and it does show some animation in his interaction with the lady he's talking to.

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

07/11/2005 02:41:18 PM · #4

Nice one Skip, I hate the feeling of having an assignment in tough conditions. Glad the people who matter have given you positive feedback.
I can't choose the best 5... personally I find some of them just a little too tilted in a 'trying hard to be arty because there is nothing inspiring about this scene'... but that's just my taste!

brianlh

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

07/11/2005 02:41:48 PM · #5

I would say 02, 23, 32, 42 (does that count as signing?), and perhaps 12 (though this is just of him)

Sigma 100-300mm F/4.0 EX IF HSM for Nikon

07/11/2005 03:02:04 PM · #6

thank ya'll!

bob, you hit the nail on the head--there wasn't much to work with, so i decided to work the angles ;-)

another thing that added to the challenge was that though mr helprin didn't mind my shooting, he made it clear that he was not a 'natural smiler' especially for photos--which meant i had to really be looking for those unposed candids of him smiling, grinning, or laughing.

the ones the paper asked for are 16, 34, 35, 48, and 50 (but i imagine that if they use 50, it will get rotated a bit...)

well, here's to waiting for next sunday's paper ;-)

MrYu

Nikon D70

07/11/2005 03:16:51 PM · #7

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Message edited by author 2005-07-11 21:25:43.

SJCarter

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/11/2005 03:17:42 PM · #8

My faves were 2, 16, 30, (41 or 42), and 48. I thought 48 was the best. Nice work with an obviously tough scenario... You are right, he looked like he had the personality of a wet dishrag. (j/k) LOL Good job.

07/11/2005 03:24:05 PM · #9

thanks, jimmy!

Originally posted by SJCarter:

You are right, he looked like he had the personality of a wet dishrag. (j/k)

the thing is, he is absolutely hilarious, and while telling stories, completely animated. it's only when he sees the camera pointing at him that he freezes up. i don't know, he must have had some 'fun' experiences early on...

and yura, thanks to you, too. it's looking like it's going to be a pretty interesting trip between where i am and where i want to be

;-)

jenesis

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

07/11/2005 04:01:02 PM · #10

Being a person that hates to be photographed, I can understand how unnerving it can be to have someone creeping around you at all angles. :-) Which, I know from experience at looking at photos taken of me, as I do all I can to stay out of the way of the ever lurking lens, can lead to some very dull dare I say unflattering photos. :-)

So Skip, I think you got some decent shots. And I guess the best way to get natural smiles and gestures is to become invisible, so I suppose you should start fine tuning your super powers of invisibility!! :-D The ones I like best are 12,30,31,34 & 41 although the last two are at the table... I do have to say that 53 makes me giggle. Just the way the lady is standing and the big cheesy grin on his face... just seems wrong. :-P Thanks for the post!!

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

07/17/2005 07:57:22 AM · #11

whoo-hoo, i don't think i'll ever get tired of this!

Message edited by author 2007-02-15 07:06:36.

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

07/17/2005 08:04:55 AM · #12

Thanks Skip... what are your links to assignments 1 and 3? I enjoy reading about your exploits!

KiwiChris

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

07/17/2005 08:08:11 AM · #13

Cool...

The novelty of seeing your own bylines never does wear off.. :-)

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

07/17/2005 08:14:34 AM · #14

thanks, guys!!

Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

Thanks Skip... what are your links to assignments 1 and 3? I enjoy reading about your exploits!

hehe...at the very bottom of my profile, just above the highest-rated-photographs section. i haven't written up #3, yet, and haven't updated #1, but will soon. thanks for all the encouragement!

pcody

Canon PowerShot G6

07/17/2005 10:18:30 AM · #15

congrats again. Isn't it funny that they asked you NOT to get a picture of him at a table signing books and that's the one they went with? So is it best to shoot everything and ignore what they say they want?