horton, brian [guide to photo journalism]

AP Ass ociated Press

Second Edition

BRIAN HaRTaN

ApAssocialed Press

Guide lOPholoiournalism

Second Edltion

Briao Horloo

McGraw·HillNew York San Francisco Washington, D.C. Auckland Bogota

Caracas lisbon london Madrid Mexico City MilanMontreal New Delhi San Juan Singapore

Sydney Tokyo Toronto

This book is dedicated to Fred Wright, JackSchwadel, Tom diLustro, Billlngraham and thethousands 01 other photographers and photoeditors who have inspired us, There is so muchwe can learn includiQij ,epQ,~ey lesson: contentis what counts.

Post-war portrait.Michael Nash, Warsaw, 1946

2

Willie Mays makes spring training catch,Uncredited, Phoenix, 1956

Associated Press Guide To PhotO¡ournalism

ContentsForeword 5

About tbe Autbor 1

From lb. Aulhor 8

1. INTROOUCTlON 11

2. THE lOOK: Composition, Style, Cropping •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 28

3. NEWS: Sensitivity, Thinking, Instinct and Curiosity ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 54

4. FEATURES ANO PORTRAITS: Seeing the World Around Us •••••••••••••••••••••••• 18

5. SPORTS: Peak Action and Telling Reaction ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 102

6.lESSONS: Experience is the Best Teacher •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 128

1.lIGHTlNG: Using Light toYour Advantage •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 184

8. ElECTRONIC PHOTOGRAPHY: Pictures Without Film ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 202

Contributors 221

Associated Press Guide To Photojournalism 3

McGraw-Hül ~Ao;.,;,;."o(1lIt~Hl/I~C<:>

©Copyright 2001 The Associated PressSecond Edition.AH rights reserved.Printed in the United States 01 America.Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no par! 01 this publication may be reproduced ordistributed inany lorm orbyany means orstored ina database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission 01 thepublisher.

ISBN: 0-07-136387-4

McGraw-HiII books are available atspecial quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, orforuse incorporate training programs. For more information, please write to the Director 01 Special Sales, McGraw-HiII, 2 Penn Plaza,New York, NY 10121. Orcontact your local bookstore.

Book design byLoren FisherLayout byElf Multimedia, www.ElfMultimedia.com

56789DBAN/BAND9876

Olher Tilles in The Associaled Press SeriesAssociated Press Broadcast News Handbook

4 ISSIClal8d 'ress Gulde Jo .h0t8lournallsm

ForewordI

nformation seekers demanding to "see" what others write about has madethe role of pictures vital in the world's information flow of the 21st century. Driven by this need, the use of pictures as information is changing

- more pictures are dramatically used, there is greater reliance on visualdevices to tell stories and provide insight.

This new, intense use of the visual boils down to photography. And that iswhat this book, the Associated Press Cuide to Photojournalism, is all about.

The author, Brian Horton, has a unique background for this volume. He iseducated in journalism; he has worked as a photographer and has coveredvirtually every kind of story news people encounter; he has been a pictureeditor. In rhe latter capacity he has planned the work of photography andreviewed the work of photographers. He is young enough to recognize thegood in the new, and old enough to save the best of the pasto

This book is not a manual. Much has been written elsewhere about thetechnology of photography, how to operate a camera, how to judge exposure, how to crop pictures and plan a printed page or a dot-com screen.

This book is about the essence of photography, about the editor and photographer's minds at work seeking the most elusive of all journalistic ends, afine picture that tells those who see it something about thcir world.

To put it another way, this book is about contento 1 assure you, as a journalist who has coped with the challenges of technology and content, thatcontent is more difficult.

The precious skill - "seeing the story" and therefore providing meaningfulcontent - is developed in a variety of ways. It requires education, experience, desire, knowledge, insight and that rarest factor of all, talent. Andusing all those factors in one instant to provide a picture that tells us morethen we knew before.

It takes a lifetime to learn to do that. No one ever masters ir cornpletelybecause there is always a bit of serendipity in every new situation the picturejournalist faces. What this book does is take you into the minds of photographers who have dealt with a broad spectrum of assignmems. The best of

AsslIclated.ras Cuide TD PbDlDlDumallsm 5

them will tell you that the old adage is true: Chance favors the preparedmind.

To help the picture journalist meet the challenge of preparation, theAssociated Press Cuide to Photojournalism creates an opportunity few otherbooks on photography offer. Horton, through his interviews, gives thereader the benefit of the years of experience, the hours and days of preparation, the grasp of insight and other skills fine photographers bring to eachassignment.

y ou will walk with photographers in Vietnam; chase a tornado withanother cameraman; learn about the tedium of hours and days of waiting forthe great picture that then comes in a cat's wink of time; you will movethrough the human debris of an air crash.

Horton also offers the picture journalist a look at digital photography,both the good and the not so good aspects of film-less photos, and the challenge this technology brings to content and to credibility.

In short, the careful reader of the Associated Press Cuide to Photojournalismwill have the opportunity to share the telescoped experience and talents ofothers who have done the job well and are willing to share their knowledge.

Hal BuellAP Photo Editor lretiredJ

6 Assacla18d Press Gulde To Photoloumalism

AboUI Ibe AUlborBrian Horton, Associated Press senior photo editor for sports, is a 29-year

veteran of the news cooperative.His coverage resume, as a photographer and photo editor, includes the

World Series, the Super Bowl, horse racing's Triple Crown, the Winter andSummer Olympics since 1984, World Cup soccer, the Indianapolis 500, themajor golf tournaments, the Final Four, the NBA Finals and many otherlarge sports events.

He also has covered news events ranging from the Persian Gulf War inSaudi Arabia and Kuwait to coal mine disasters, presidential campaigns andpolitical conventions.

Horton grew up in Indiana and attended Indiana University before joiningthe AP in Chicago in 1971 as a photo editor. He later had assignments as astaff photographer in Philadelphia and Cincinnati, was Ohio NewsPhotoEditor based in Columbus and transferred to New York in 1982 as PhotoEnterprise Editor. Horton was named LaserPhoto Network Director in1987 and was named Senior Photo Editor for Sports in 1992.

In addition to his photo editing duties, Horton has lectured here andabroad on topics including color photo usage and reproduction, informational graphics and photojournalism.

In 1986, Horton was honored by the National Press Photographers Assoeiation for his manual on improving color usage and also for the workshopshe conducted on the topie. Horton is the author of an AP book, Tbe Pieture, the predecessor to this edition, published in 1989, which was extensively used as a text for college and young professional photographers. With hiswife, Marilyn Dillon, he was the picture editor for another AP book,Moments in Sports, a compilation of noted sports photos from the AP'sarchive.

In 2000, Horton was named winner of the Gramling Achievement Award,given for his significant contributions to the news report and the overallsuccess of the AP.

Horton and his wife live in suburban New Jersey.

Assaciated Press Gulde To Photo¡oumallsm 1

From Ibe AUlborThis book has been an education for me.With a phone pressed to my ear as 1 made notes, I've listened to hours of

wonderful, horrible, inspirational and thoughtful moments related by thephotographers, photo editors, educators and journalists who are the contributors to this book.

The stories they have told, the insights they have offered, the lessons theyhave shared have made me proud to be pan of the fraternity of photojournalists.

It has been an honor to be allowed inside their thought processes. To hearhow they handled various situations. To hear about their triumphs and theirfailures. To marvel at how open they would all be to helping other photojournalists get a step ahead in this business we are pan of.

More than ten years ago, 1 wrote the first edition of this book. At thetime, 1 expressed the hope that the book would provide the basic buildingblocks for a photojournalist. 1 didn't promise suggestions on which lens touse, or what shutter speed to set a camera, but 1 did promise the book wouldprovide a peek behind the scenes. The thought process of photography, as itwere.

Since that first book carne out, 1 have gotten dozens of letters from students, young professionals, teachers and even a few more-seasoned professionals, and met photographers on assignments, who have read the book.They have been kind in their praise and compliments and one even told mehe had inspirational quotes from the book on the wall of his darkroom.

But it was the contributors to that book and to this new edition whodeserve the praise. They had lived it and were willing to share.

A book like this doesn't come together in a vacuum. Obviously, the people quoted gave so much of their time. But, even more, there were peoplebehind the scenes who gave so willingly, too.

My wife, Marilyn Dillon, offered suggestions and encouragement duringthe formative stages which made the book a lot better than it would havebeen. Her input is stamped throughout. For that, a simple thanks isn'tenough.

8 Assoclal8d Pms Gulde lo Photoloumallsm

Chuck ZoelIer of the AP's photo library pulIed my bacon out of the firemore than once. Suggestions on content and help in tracking down an errantimage or two were among the things he did.

The AP's Sports Photo Desk crew (Paul Kazdan, Melissa Einberg, TracyGitnick and Dan DerelIa) covered for me while 1 had my head in the bookand never let a thing drop through the cracks. For their vigilance, mythanks.

Finally, I'd like to thank Hal BuelI, my mentor, an inspiration, and asource for aH things journalistic for so many years. He's the person whopushed American newspapers into the digital age, the person who is thewalking history lesson of photojournalism in the latter stages of the 20thcentury. And, a dear friend who never says no when you need someone totalk with, For alI of that, thanks.

And, to aH of my AP colIeagues, and the photojournalists I've met andworked with from newspapers and magazines over the years, a thank youfor alIowing me to share a bench with you on the front row of history.

BrianNononlong Beaeh Island. NJ.2000

Assoclated Press Gulde loPhalO¡Ournallsm 9

IntroductionI

t can be a picture of a trio of men fighting the elements as hurricane-whippedwaves wash ahorne into the ocean. The

fury of the storm captured in a picture by aphotographer who isn't afraid to get wetdoing his jobo

It can be a picture of a tiny youngsterplayfully trying to push back his hulkingopponent, a Sumo wrestler. Not an earthshaking moment of history, but a fun pieture that makes you smile.

It can be a picture of hundreds of flashbulbs going off at once as fans try to capture slugger Mark McGwire hitting arecord home runo Thinking on the part ofthe phorojournalist of a different way totell a story.

It can be a picture, an instant recording,

Opposite page: David Longstreath, Calcutta, 1997

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of a heavily armed government agent reaching for young Cuban immigrant ElianGonzalez. The photo would elicit emotional responses from people on both sides ofthe political issue and fuel heated discussions about the government intervention,too.

It can be a picture, a portrait really, of ayoung boy with a small bunch of flowersin his hand on his way to pay his respectsto Mother Teresa. His eyes lock on to theviewer of the photo.

It can be a picture of a lone bagpiperleaving his footsteps in the dew as hestrides into the mists after an emotionalmemorial service for a popular golfer whohas died tragically. The viewer can't he1pbut feel the sadness of the momento

11

Introduction

Alan Diaz, Miami, 2000 (top); Amy Sancetta, Leominster, Mass. , 1998(above left); Paul Sakuma, San Jose, Calif., 1993 (right)

12 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photolournalism

Associaled Press Guide lo Pholoiournalism

Introduction

Pat Sull ivan, Houston, 1999 (Ieft);DaveMartin, Key West, Fla., 1998(below right); Ed Reinke, SI. l.ouis,1998 (bottom)

13

Introduction

It takes aspecialkind of passion for photojournalism to be sucocessful. Passion thatelevates one photoqrapher aboye another.

It can be a pictu re, a portrai t of sorts, ofthe inventor of the pink flamingo surrounded by his wares. A slice of Americana.

It 's all photojournalism,Telling a story with a picture, reporting

with a camera, recording a moment intime, the fleeting instantwhen an image sums up astory. Henri Cartier-Bresson called it the "decisivemoment."

Happiness, sadness,accomplishment, failure,relief, fear, death -- themosaic of Out lives capturedon film and on electronicdisks.

I'hotojournalism isn' t justa spot news picture made in a war in anexotic location far away. Datelines don'tchange the quality of a picture. It's also thelocal ciry council meeting, or state legislature, where members are arguing about atax increase or a new law.

It 's not just a national magazine coverpicture showing the key play from theSuper Bowl. It' s also the local high schoolteam, anywhere in America, playing for thetowri's glory.

It 's not just an essay on rafting down theMekong River in Asia. It 's also peoplekeeping cool under a water spray on a hotday in your town.

Photographers covering the president ofthe United States or the mayor of a smalltown have the same mission -- to make anaccurate reporting of the subject 's activities.

Photographers covering the Oklahoma

14

City bom bing, which struck at the heart ofAmerica in the worst domestic terrorismcase in its history, or a smoky house firethat displaces a family, have the same mission - to convey the enormity of the eventin human terrns.

Phorograp hers covering the last out ofthe World Series or the lastseconds of a high schoolbasketball game have thesame mtsston -- to capturethe essence of the winner'shappiness, and the lonelymoments and despair of thelosers.

Moments that are part ofour history - big and small.

In each case, venues maybe different , but the mis

sion is the same - to inform , to report , tocarry the scene to the readers, whether theyare thousands of miles away or just downthe street. To show them something theymight not have had a chance to see thernselves. To grab a moment of history andpreserve it for the futu re.

Most agree it takes a special kind of passion for photojournalism to be successful.Passion that elevares one photographeraboye another,

"Technical ability aside, the difference iscommitrnent," says Western Kentucky University photojournalism program directorMike Morse. "Sorne people look at whatever they do as a job and they want to begood craftsmen , Then there are people whodo it as a passion. They really care about it,and it shows in their photographs."

J. Bruce Baumann, the managing editor

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Introduction

APphotographerMark Humphrey looked tormore than a news eonferenee lo illuslrate the eontinuing story 01a state legislative budgelimpasse in Nashville. His photo 01two legislators meeting privately in ahallwayis a goOO illuslration 01 how dealsaremade in state polities.

photographers who pioneered th e photographic styles used today by countlessnewspaper and magazine photographers.And lessons to be learned by making pietures yourself.

Several years ago, a newspaper group ranan ad showin g a photographer in combatgear. Th e capti on: "Be prepared for a few

cold dinners."Th ar's cert ainlytrue for a photojourn alist covering a war, butalso true for aphotographercovering thelocal scene.

Long days areth e rule, withth e stress of a

____~~"""' ~~_"""... hun dred deci-sions a part ofthe everyda ylife. Will 1 be inthe right place?Will 1 make the

picture 1 want? Will 1 select th e right lensand exposure to tell th e story? When themoment comes, will everything I'velearned give me th e tools to make th e pieture that will tell the story of the event I'rncovering?

Associated Press photographer AmySancett a explains: "You have to love thisjob because the schedules, the emotiona lups and dow ns, the pressures would sornetimes be too much if you didn 't love it. It' sa creative field. If you go to a game andmake a good picture or shoot a nice por-

of The Courier and Press in Evansville, Ind.,says it is important for the photojournalistto think first as a journalist, second as aphotographer.

Baumann believes photographers need toreach out more for excellence these days."It seems to me that the real guts of journalism, the reason 1 got in th is business, isto make a difference," he says,"to present thelives of people,their joys, theirfears, their happiness and sadness. To tell theworld what isgoing on aroundthern."

Baumann saysphotographersshould be "looking for newideas, newthemes, breaking new ground,looking for things that are happening."

From Matthew Brady's coverage of th eCivil War to the social report ing of LewisHine and Jacob Riis at the turn of the century, from the documentary photographyof Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange inthe 1930s to th e Life magazine phot ojournalists W. Eugene Srnith and Alfred Eisenstaedt and today 's avant-garde images ofDavid LaChapelle and Nick Knight, thereis a fine heritage of photography to look atand study.

There are lessons to be learned from

AssocialedPress Gulde lo Pholoiournallsm 15

Introduction

AKenyan woman weeps during a memorial service tor victims 01the 1998 terrorist bombing of the U.S. embassy inNairobi. PhotographerJean-Marc Bouju, on assignmenttor the AP, used a wideangle lens and filled the frame.

trait, you go home feeling great, but if youmiss something, you go home feelingawful."

]. Pat Carter likens it to the tightropewalker in the circus. "Everyone is waitingfor you to fall, but when you make itacross, they yell, 'Bravo. Encore,' and theyapplaud." Every photographer lives forthat applause, those "bravosl," the Oklahoma City-based AP photographer says.

The burden of the news you cover can bea heavy load.

"With that camera," Caner says, "you arethe eyes of your readers and your viewersand you have to take thern there . Sometimes 1 am uncomfortable but 1 have a jobto do. If you don't feel uncomfortable at

16

times, if you don 't share in th e emotion,you are not going to have th e heart andsoul to do the job anyway.

"You cari't be the tough guy all the time .You can't be the guy who doesn 't cry," hesays.

Laura Rauch, an AP photographer basedin Las Vegas, was called on to help coverthe Columbine High School shootings nearDenver. Then she returned there a yearlater to assist in coverage of the firstanmversary.

Both times, there was an emotional toll.Rauch's family was from the area, so

there was sorne family history, sorne familiarity, to figure in the equation. But thi swas bigger than that, "1 dori't think you

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Introduction

A15-year-old highschoolstudentleans on her mother during acandlelight vigil in Littleton, Colo.,marking the one-year anniversary 01the 1999shooting deaths atCoiumbine HighSchool. "Many,many photographers, inciuding me, were overcome with the sadness 01 it all," says APphotographer Laura Rauch.

had to have family from that area for it tohu rt ," she says. "1 don 't care who yo u are.That one is going to hurt, because it is sucha tragedy."

Covering theinitial story andth en the followup exposedRauch to scenesof tremendousgrief and sadness. "H ighschool kids," shesays, "who hadlost their friendsin what is supposed to be th emost carefreetim e of theirlives. Many,many photographers, includingme, were overcome with the sadness of it all.

"1 would have to take a moment and crya little. 1 would let it go for a minute, andthen I'd suck it up and start shootingagain," she says.

Ed Reinke, an AP photographer, recalls abus crash that killed more than two dozenteen-agers on th eir way home from anamusement park . After days of coveringth e emotional scenes at cemeteries, churches and funeral homes, "1 had come to th eend of my line on what 1 could take."

Reinke's answer after the story wounddown was to "take a few days off and holdmy own kids and think about how fortunate 1 arn."

AssoclatedPress Gulde To Photolournallsm

Years later, Reinke would be in Japancovering an O lympics, when he got wordhis wife and two sons had been injured in a

head-on crash so violent that it totaled th efamily caro He was moved to tears as hethought of being on the other side of th eworld, on an assignment considered to be abright point in his career, when his familyneeded him.

The cost of that kind of commitment tothe job can't be measured.

Once, after going five weeks withoutfresh water while covering the conflict inSarajevo, Paris AP staffer Jerome Delaycalled home to find out that the familywashing machine was broken. It took hima moment , he says, to realize that to hisfamily this was a serious situation, "Eventhough it might not be important to you at

11

Introduction

Alamily grieves over the body 01 their slain son in a makeshift margue in Dili, EastTimar. He diedin a 1999 gun battle in the light for independence there. AP photographer DavidLongslrealhspenl the day with the lamily asthey identilied the body, then took it home lar burial. For theassignmenl, hesaid hehad tobe "sensitive to their needs, but slill do the job."

the time," he says, "it is imp ortant to them,and you have to respect that and showyour concern."

David Longstreath, also an AP staffer,calls it a balancing act -- the professional

respo nsibilities and the personal turmoil.Longstreath covered the O klaho ma City

feder al building bombing while based inthat city. He was at the scene minutes afterthe explasian crushed the building. H e wasexpased to a harrific scene.

"One af the things that 1 learned after theOklahama City bombing," he says, "is thatevery situation is gaing to impact you andyau have to just recagnize that yau are ahuman. You may put yaur feelings on holdwhile yau finish the job, but at sorne pointyau have to allaw yaurself to feel, as well."

18

And, that means keeping in touch withyour feelings and the feelings of the peopleyou are photograp hing.

"Once you pull those cameras out," hesays, "you 're involved. You have to bear

the weight ofthe commentsand stares. Youtry to do it witha degree of sensitivity." The balance, he says, isto "be sensitiveto their needs,but still do thejob ."

MichelDuCi lle of theWashington Postsays any photographer'sapproach shouldbe about "treating subjects wit hdignity and 10 5

mg your preconceived notions. Be a strong anticipato r ofhuman nature and be in the right place atthe right time."

Delay says you need to not only knowwhen and where to make pictu res, but justas import ant , you need to be sensitive towhen you should pull away .

"There are times when 1 say to myself,'Leave these people alone ,' but there is norule ," Delay says. H e draws frequentassignments to tumultuous situations in theBalkans and other hot spots where peopleoften are on the edge emotionally .

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Inlroduction

The effects of flash flooding after a storm in 1999 were captured byAP photographer Laura Rauchinher photo 01 an 85-year-old man in the yard 01 his LasVegas home. Rauchthinks the role 01lhephotojournalist is important, "but it is never more important thanthe people you photograph, ever."

"You just know when it is right to go,"he says. "You feel it , As you get older, themore experience you have, th e fewerwrong calls you make . You can see whenyou are being intrusive. It 's a little likedancing withwolves."

AP photographer EliseAmendola sayssornen mes youhave to drawfrom your ernotional reservoirwhen you aredealing with asensitive situation. "1 think an. .important tim eto draw uponthe emotionalreservoir is durmg a one-on-onewith someonewho has lost aloved one in anaccident, illnessor war," shesays.

"It 's a frequent assignment," says Amendola, describing a recent assignment whereshe photographed a woman who had losther daughter in a teen car wreck. "It helpedme to empathi ze with her. And 1 meanwith genuine patience, eye contact and realconversatio n. Too often, we're in a rush.But in th ese instances, it's a must to takethe time to establish rapport and a trust.This is when the ability to empathize puts

Assoclated Press Guide To Photolournallsm

heart into your photog raphy." Amendolasays if you' re rushed or unint erested, "itjust doesn't work. And th at shows in your. "pictures,"When 1 started out ," Rauch says, "1

thought th e role of th e photojournalist wasthe most imp ortant thing in the wo rld."The years have tempered those feelings abit for her. "It is important," she says, "butit is never more imp ortant than th e peopleyou photograph , ever."

Thought, planning and a good chunk ofluck cut down the chances for failure, butphotographers have to be prep ared,whether on the biggest assignment of theircareer, or the pet of th e week at th e animal

19

IntroductionLongstreath describes that "flow" man

agement another way. At a news scene, hesays, "you throw yo ur ant enna out, yo ulook, and yo u size it up. Pretty soo n yo usee yo ur opening, and you're in ."

"If yo u arenot preparedwhen oppo rtunity kn ocks," saysJ. Scott Applewhite of theAP's Washing-i.------., ton bureau,"you' ll only be

,o.---"~~ left complainingabout the noise."

Or, as famedGreen Bay Pack

~~~ ers footballcoach Vince

""""~ Lombardi usedto tell his players, "Luck, that'swhere preparation meetsoppo rt unity,»

Great phot og-raphers come

from a variety of backgrounds. As children, many began making pictures with asimple box camera, developing th e film incrude darkrooms set up in the family'sbathroom. They watched th e contact print sdevelop in little trays balanced on the edgeof the sink, while family members waitedimpatiently to use the facilities.

For Kansas City AP staffer Cliff Schiappa, it was a different inconvenience for hisfamily members. Schiappa got a job making

person's game. An yone can stick a camerain the face of the obvious, but a truly goodph ot ojournalist willlook at the situationand the light that is there, and the light yo uare carry ing in your bag, and the camerasand lenses yo u have, and make the best possible picture out of what you have."

"That is what separates a good photographer from a mediocre one, " Reinke says,"the ability to go with the flow, but also tohave a genera l idea of how the flow goes."

Faced with a dramatic rescue during flooding after Hurricane Hortense hitPuerto Rico in1996,APphotographer John McConnico sized up the scene and selected the right lens to capture thedrama from the edge 01 the swollen stream.

shelter, to bring back the picture that reallytells the story to the reader.

Reinke says it is the art of being able togo with the flow, with sorne control. Heexplains, "1 think it becomes a thinking

20 Assoclaled Press Gulde Jo Ph loloumallsm

quarterback Bart Starr.AP's Bob Daugherty got his start on the

high school newspaper and yearbook inMarion, Ind. But , at the tender age of 15,he moved to a full-time spot on the local

Introductionpictures for the local weekly before he gothis driver's license. So, his mom and dadwo uld dri ve him to his assignmems andwait patiently in the car while he made hisprctures,

AP photographer HarryCa bluck beganhis photo careerin high schoolwhen he racedto auto accidents, alerted bythe dispatcher athis famil y 's towing business, inhopes of makinga picture. T henhe'd try for asale to the localnewspaper or,perhaps, aninsurance company. O n weekend nights, he'd

troop up and During a 1992 debate between presidenlial candidates, pholographer Marcy Nighswander, thendown the side- wilh lhe AP, chose a position away Iromíhe olher photographers.The result was this photo, partlines of high 01the AP's Pulilzer Prize wlnning entry on lhe '92 campaign.

school football games, making flash expo- newspaper's staff. Before long, he wassures powered by a homemade car battery working at the state's largest paper.setup. To learn about photography, Daugherty

Sports Illu strated photographer John had studied the Indi anapolis newspapers.Biever also got his start covering foo rball One of the photographers was an expert ingames, but at a slightly higher level, At the shooting in available-light situations, twoage of 14, he was working the sidelines others "could do wonders with a singlewith his dad, Green Bay Packers team pho- light ." Later, he would work beside manytographer Vernon Biever, and even got a of th e photographers he had studied sodoubletruck spread in Look magazine that carefully when starting out .first season with a photo of famed Packers Others, like Reinke, took up the profes-

Assoclated Press Gulde lo PhotoJoumallsm 21

Introduction

Photographer Mark Duncan drove a fuel-oñ deliverytruck torhis tamily'sbusiness and worked part time making picturesbefore joining the Dayton Daily News. Now with theAP and based inCleveland, Duncan'sdaily assignments include coverage like this 1999 WNBAgame.

sion after getting a camera as a high schoolgraduation gift, asking friends for help inth e basics of loading the camera and adjusting the aperture and shutter speeds. H ecredits his college photoj ournalism professor, Dr. WillCo unts of Indiana U niversity,for his direct,honest approachto photography.

He says of hisvisual style:"The singleth ing that influenced me was'Self Portrait:USA,' a bookby David Douglas Duncan."Reinke says th atbook, a collection of Duncan'sphoto graphsfrom the tumultu ous 1968 polit ical conventionsin Chicago andMiami, openedhis eyes to a wayof making pietures that he still aspires to today.

AP photographer Mark Duncan went tocollege and drove an oil delivery truck forhis family's business, making pictures in hisspare time before moving into his first fulltime staff job in th e photo department of

22

the Dayton Daily NeW5."Go to college and get a degree in photo

journalism," he tells prospective photographers, "and have the opportunity to have

internships."Duncan studiedcomputer SCl

ence in college."1 am gratefu lfor my computer backgroundbecause ofwhere the industry is going, butmore journalismwo uld have balanced that , Thejournalism partis imp ortant.My job is notjust to take pietu res, but toimpart information."

Sorne photographers, likeLongstreath,learned th e fine

_ .......... points of theircraft in th e military, starnngwit h basic document ation tasks

and advancing to elite camera groups andadvanced studies. From a high schoolphoto course, to a job as a "lab rat" for theFBI, he went on to the Navy and more formal training, before leaving the service andmoving into daily photojournalisrn.

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photolournallsm

Introduction

AP's DavidLongstreath got his lirst taste 01 photography in high school, then onto advancedphoto assignments in the military belore joining the AP. His assignments have taken him all overthe world, including Vietnamand that country's 2000 celebration marking the end 01itscivil war.

The military gave him great training anda chance to work with sorne excellent photographers, but , "after assignments in thirty-three countries, 1 had personally witnessed too many pier-side goodbyes,"Longstreath said.

Des MoinesRegisterdirectorof photographyJohn Gaps IIIgot into photographyafterbeing the subjectduring his daysas a prep football playeroGapstells th e story:"A ph otographer showed mesorne pictu resth at he hadmade of meplaying footballin high schoo!.Later, 1 went tohis darkraomand 1 thoughtthat was pretty neat. And th en one afternoon in college, 1 had a choice of going tofootball practice or finishing a project duein my photo graphy class."

"1 gave up football for photography,'Gaps says, laughing, "and the coach wasreal suppo rtive." Gaps explains he wasn' tNFL material on th e football field. He did,however, get to th e Super Bowl severaltimes in his career. With his cameras. And,Gaps now has numerous regional andnational awards, and top assignments, to

Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photolournallsm

his credit for his photography.Rusty Kennedy, an AP photographer,

says wo rking everyday with th e veteranphotographers at his first job, an internshipon the photo staff of the former Philadelphia Bulletin, was really his education. "1

was really lucky to have learned fromthem . Each had an area of expertise. Onewas good at fashion, one was good at studio, and so on. 1 could watch and learn somuch, then try it myself."

Kennedy says you can only get so muchfrorn a book or watching, though. "Ph otography is really such a hands-on th ing thatyou have to do it yourself," he says.

Longstreath believes you learn fromeverything you see, and you try to keep onlearn ing. "You learn by looking at pictures,

23

Introduction

Rushing currents and thedanger ofhitting cars and trucks submerged on theflooded streets ofBound Breok, N.J., made it difficult lorAP staffer Dan Hulshizer lo maneuver ina small boat ashe pholographed a fireman checkingout a building fire atter Hurricane Floyd in1999.

by asking how did they do that? You storeir away for another day." He, too, feels youlearn a lot by simply making pictures,"What wo rked once may work again witha new twist ."

And, you need to be critical of your

work. "The minute you are satisfied withth e way things look," Longstreath says,"that's th e time to quit oYou should be constant ly striving to improve yourself andyour craft."

"T here is no such thing as good enough,"Longstreath says.

AP photo editor Horst Faas says it is anever-ending reach for bett er communica-

24

tion. "You' re as good as you are today," hesays. "Then you have to do it again tornorrow."

The common thread th at keeps thesephotographers in the business is the joy ofseeing negatives on th eir film for th e first

time - and aftersubsequentasslgnments -- orthe print comingup in th e developing tray. O r,to screen th eslides they 'veshot and see theimpact that theyhad hoped foroAnd, now, inth e digital age,to call up a diskfrom a difficultshoot and see

- th e pictures on acomputerscreen.

Daughert ysays he th oughtphotographywas for himwhen "1 saw my

first print come up under th e yellow safelight in th at tray of Dekt ol. Then, when 1saw th e first ron of the newspaper," hesays, he was hooked for sure. He can'tremember that first picture, but laughs andsays, "1'm sure it was th e best picture 1 evermade."

After you've worked as a photographer,where do you go? That's changing as pho-

Assoclaled Press Gulde To PholoJoumallsm

Rather than settle íora picture 01Microsoft tounder BiII Gates ata news conlerence rostrum, APphotographerGaryStewart paid attention even after thelights were turned down tora video presentation in 1995. The result was a picture that isstill used years later.

tographers become more and more a partof the fabric of the newsroom.

Ten years ago, Baumann wasn't opt imistic about the upward mobility for photographers. "There is, for no practical purpose in this country, any place for a photographer to gobeyond being anassistant managing edito r forphotography orgraphics," hesaid at the time.

But now, hesays, that isn't astrue. Baumannhimself, and several other peoplefrom the photoranks, are leadmg newsroomsacross the coun-try.

O hio University School ofVisual Cornmunication directo rLarry Nighswander says forphotographers to continue that move intothe upper ranks of the decision makers atpapers they need to be able to communicate better with their colleagues.

"There is a need," N ighswander says, "íorphotographers and pictu re editors to develop a language. The ability to articulare thelanguage of photography. They need to beable to talk to, and about, their photographs to editors and, in sorne cases, to

Assoclated Press Gulde Jo PhotoJoumalism

Introduction

readers and to writers."Efforts to push the envelope of composi

tion and creativity may be diminished ifyou aren't able to explain your actions. "Itmay be lost," he says, Oto someone whodoesn't see the way you see. But if you are

able to articulate what it is you are doingand why you are doing it, then you have abetter chance of educating others inroappreciating the content and the composition ."

That kind of communication leads tomore respect in the newsroom and thatleads to moving up the ladder, several editors sayo

"Always make your arguments in the

25

Introduetion

same terms as if you were making an argument for a story," says newspaper graphicsconsultant Bob Lynn, who revitalized TheVirginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., while director of photography there.

"If you use the same words they woulduse to argue for a story, then the word editors can understand what you are trying tosay. But," Lynn warns, laughing, "if youuse terms like 'visual impact,' you are deadin the water."

People like Baumann and others whohave had success, are the ones who couldcommunicate well. "They just didn't saywe need to run this picture big," Nighswander says. "They related words and picturesin a way that was alI about storytelIing.They wanted to make sure words and pietures were working together welI so thereader was getting a better package of information."

"Once that was established," Nighswander says, "a smart editor or a smart publisher saw the value of having someone whocould elevate both sides of the business."

Lynn also thinks smart picture editorscan take advantage of their broader knowledge of the newsroom. A picture editor,Lynn says, routinely works with every section of the paper and also with the production elements. N o one else in the newsroom, he says, crosses that spectrum socompletely. "As a picture editor, you haveto be the best journalist in the newsroom."

Hal BuelI, the retired head of the AP'sphoto operation, says newsroom leadersshould be judged on their abilities as journalists, not whether they are good writersor good photo people.

26

And BuelI thinks that only recently havephoto people been in a position where theywould be considered.

A person, BuelI says, "should be put incharge of a newsroom because he or she is agood journalist and understands the manypieces of work that go into making thatthing calIed a newspaper. That includesgood writing. It includes good editing. Itincludes good photography. It includesgood headlines and good design."

"The editor in charge of a newsroomneeds to be able to see al! of those pieces.What has happened historicalIy is that photos was not part of that process," BuelIsays. Photographers were thought of asmechanics or technicians. Only in recenttimes has that begun to change with photographers being considered journalists. Ithink that movement of photo people intothe newsroom offers a new dimension tophotography in the newspaper."

But, BuelI warns, those editors shouldnot favor photographs just as editors whohave come through the word ranks shouldnot favor words. "They should be put incharge because they have a sense of whatgood journalism is and that would includephotography."

Photographers have a long heritage ofcommunicating with an image. Most feelpassionately about it and take great pride inwhat they do.

Set aside discussions of digital cameras, orthe new frontier of the multimedia photographer, or anything that is about themechanical aspect of making pictures ratherthan the aspect of communicating with apicture.

ISSOClatld PrISS lIulde lo Pbot8loumallsm

Sancetta says: "1 know 1 feel better whenI've done a good job, made a good picture.If 1 can go out and make a good picture,something 1can be proud of, it makes mywhole week."

InlroductionThis book is written under the assump

tion that you already know how to operateyour camera, make the proper exposure,make the simplest of prints or handle digital images on a screen.

Asturdytripod, the good fortune ofaclear night and a good idea of what he wanted were the key ingredients for photoqrapher Alistair Grant's iIIustration of CometHale-Bopp as it streaked over England's Stonehenge in 1997. The travelsof thecomet as it passed the BronzeAge monumentswere recordedon 800 ASA color negative film at l /30th ofa second at f4.

That kind of thrill never really goesaway. The most jaded professionals, afterparticularly tough assignments, still want tosee the pictures as soon as possible to see iftheir ideas worked.

Reporting with a camera. Capturing theinstant for others. The "decisive mornent."Photojournalism.

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJoumallsm

It will atternpt to take you beyond that .Ir includes picking the right angle, the rightmedium, lighting the situation if needed,and a discussion of the philosophies of photographers and how they cover a broadrange of assignments.

Ir will introduce you to the basics ofgood news photography.

21

lhe look:Composilion, Slvle, Cropping

Three forces - composition, style andcropping -- control the look of yourphotographs.

Composition is the collection of elementsin the picture, and how those elementscompete for the reader's attention. As theeye tracks across the pictures, the positionof those elements, the composition, makesthe eye move on or stop and study theimage.

By approaching your photography sothat the composition - the look of the pieture -- is consistent, you will develop a"style" that identifies those pictures asyours. Cropping is inc1uding, or exc1uding,elements as the picture is made, or later inthe photo lab or on the computer screen,

or at the editor's desk.All three disciplines -- composition, style,

cropping -- are tough to teach, according toseveral professional photographers and pieture editors. Developing an individual styleis a challenge.

Sorne are successful.Larry Nighswander was a picture editor

at National Geographic magazine beforemoving to Ohio University to head theuniversity's School for Visual Communication. At the Geographic, he worked with acollection of great photographers who hadstyles of their own but didn't let thesestyles stand in the way of communicating.

In fact, they probably elevated the communication.

Opposite page: Taking a step back to emphasize the solitude, using the available light 01 an ornate New York hotel room,photographer Wyatt Counts made a portrail 01 sax player Clarence Clemens thallets the reader almost hear the music.

Issocllltlld 'rus Gulde 'e PbItD!Oumallsm 2S

N ewspaper graphics consultant BobLynn, who led the emergence of strongphot o operations at the Charleston, W.Va.,and Norfolk, Va., newspapers, says youmight be surprised by just how visual1ysophisticated your readers are.

"1 think the level of sophisticatio n with alot of readers out there is very high," hesays. For instance, "the younger ones havebeen raised on visuals of al1 kinds sincethey were babies. 1 give readers a heck of alot more credit than a lot of the editorsdo."

In fact, according ro Lynn, that might bethe problem. "My take is that the real1yconservative people are the edito rs in the

lhe look: Composition. Stvle. Cropping

AP photographerEric Gay combined the right angle with the right lens to drawthe reader's eye into his photograph 01alone woman near crosses erected on a hill overlooking Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo. Fifteen people died in aschool shooting rampage there in 1999. Gay's photo shows that taking a stepback fromthe scenecan sometimes makethe picture more powerful than a tight closeup.

"There are a number of phot ographers,"Nighswa nder says, "like Alex Webb , BillAllard, Sam Abell and David Harvey, whohave sophisticated ways of seeing thingsthat utilize layers within a fram e." Thatlayering, according to N ighswander, "givesa photograph depth and, in sorne cases, hidden compositional elements that make thereader look at the phot ograph and thinkabout ir for just a little while longer ."

And, that is good , he says, because "thelonger we can captivate someone and makethem think about what they are seeing, thebetter chance we have of them understanding what it is we are try ing to say with thephotograph."

30 Assoclated Press Gulde Jo Photojoumallsm

lhe look: Composilion. SlVlll.Cropping

stop and look."And for the second, and just as impor

tant, pan of th at guidance, Draper agreeswith the othe rs and says you have to makesure the image doesn't just look good. It

",'!"""! has to communicate. "A lot ofphotographers,"Draper says, "aretrying to be reallycreative becausethey are try ing toimpress otherphotographers,"and not thinkingabout the readers.

AP photographer Cliff Schiappasays, "Our pri meresponsibility is tocomrnunicate."

And, he adds, "if your style causes static inth e signal, in the communication , then youare not a success."

Lynn says the best way for young photographers to learn is to make as many pietures as th ey can and keep reviewing theirwo rk. "A young person should just shootfrom the heart and th e gut and shoo t thepictures th at they like."

He feels young photographers have tofind their place by making those picturesand not allowing themselves to be moldedby others, "If you want to be great," Lyn nsays, "you need to make your own pietures."

But if you follow th at trail , he advisesthat you should be prepared to move on topursue the dream. "If you' re at a paper that

AP photographer Rober! Bukaty used a slow shutter speed to isolateNita, the dog, and logive Ihesensation 01 speed in this 1999 photo lromthe back 01 a pickup truck.

"way.But that doesn't mean being arty for art 's

sake. Lynn remembers sorne photographershe worked with who were very artistic, buthadn't become journalists yet. Lynn's lesson to them? "If it doesn't communicateanything, it might be great on someone'swall, but ir has to tell a story."

Early on in his career, AP photographerEric Draper picked up sorne good adviceregardin g photographic style from a colleague. Draper says the message was simplebut to the point, "If an image is pleasing tothe eye, it will draw people in, make thern

newsroom who don't get out and kn owwhat is going on."

At the Tbe Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk,Lynn and Alex Burrows, the photo depanment leaders, got stronger, better picturesinto the paperoThey were pietures thatwouldn't ronm sorne papersand wouldn'thave ron in theN orfolk paperbefore theirarrival. "N otthat they werelewd or anything," Lynnsays, "but the ywere definitelydifferent anddefinitely not your same old cliches."

"Sorne of it is that you have to have th ecourage to cornmunicate," Lynn says. "Youhave to shoot it in a new and different

Assoclaled Press Gulde To PholoJournallsm 31

lhe look: Composilion, SlVle, Cropping

AP photographer Jerome Delay made this portrait 01a sheik, one 01 the labled Blue Men of lhedesert, while working on a 1997 essay on the group's return to northern Mali aftsr five years inrefugee camps innearby Maurilania.

doesn't appreciate it, then you have tomove on to a paper that does appreciate it."

AP photo editor Horst Faas, a two-timePulitzer Prize-winner, got his education inphotography in a different way than mostoAfter World War Il, Faas and two othermen were hiredby a photoagency to putback together itspicture collection which hadbeen trashedduring the war.

Siftingthrough thosethousands ofphotographs wasan incredibleexperience forFaas. "By looking at a lot ofvery good pietures," Faas says,"you learnedwhat was good.y ou would look at them and somethingwould stick in your mind. The telling qualities of the photos we handled was the bestjournalism instruction 1 could ever have."

Simply put, Faas "got excited by whatyou can do with photography."

Washington Post deputy picture editorMichel DuCille says a couple of photographers, Carol Guzy and Eugene Richards,come to mind when he thinks of peoplewho are successful in having a look to theirwork, but are communicating at a higherleve!.

32

Guzy's style, DuCille says, is gearedmore to when she makes the picture. "1know her style is to capture the moment,"he says, "but as far as the way she composesthe picture, it is different every time ."

Richards, according to DuCille, was one

of the first photographers to feel comfortable tilting the camera to better composethe elements. DuCille says the result is"dimensional composition, pictures that saymore than one thing in one photo, tellmore than one story in a single photo."

AP photographer Laura Rauch thinksphotographers must make sure their styledoesn't become stagnant or simply a habitthat can get in the way of communicating.

"You can be a slave to your style ," shesays. "You have to keep growing, keep getting better." To grow, she says, "your style

Assoclated Press Gulde lo PhotoJournallsm

lhe look: Composilion, SlVle, Cropping

J. ScottApplewhite, an APphotographer in Washington, spotted thisangleas photographers were moved to acamera platlorm and thenhungback from the pack waiting torthe rightmoment as President Clin'ton moved towarda podium in 199B.

has to evolve and change and get better. It, . "can t govern you or govern your pictures,

N ighswander says photographers sometimes spend too much time trying to usebits and pieces of other photographers'styles and dori't develop a c1ear style oftheir own.

"U nfort unately," he says, "wehave a tendency to mimic eachother. Per iodically, we wouldadopt a photographer as being avisionary and it was not always awell thought out sty le, but a sloppy style that didn 't come out of awell thought out cornposition."

The result, Nighswander says, is"the message can get obscured andth at is problematic."

Instead of losing th e reader,N ighswander says photographersand photo editors should be tryingto raise the reader's visual sophistication by using more inventivecompositio n, or a more abstractcontent, "in an effort to make th ereaders look at the pictu re andappreciate a sophistication in the composition that rnight not be evident to the average person. "

Newhouse News Service photo chiefToren Beasley likes to take a collection ofphotos and study the m without knowingwho shot thern. That gets him away frompreconceived noti ons based on a photographer's reputation . "1 see how they feel,' hesays, "see what they do, see how th ey commu nicate because what is important is thephotograph,' not th e photo grapher whomade the photo.

Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photolournallsm

Beasley agrees wit h N ighswander thatphotographers have a tende ncy to mimic apopular style and th inks , "there is toomuch hero worship in photography thatleads to copycatt ing and not to the development of the craft, not the movement of the

craft where it can go."Porter Binks of Sports Illustrated says as

photographers starting out , "we've got ourhands full just mastering the techniques ofthe camera and the film and tra ining oureyes to see and our ears to hear. We hardlyhave time in a lot of our positions to thinkabout style, If somet hing develops over aperiod of years, that 's fine."

Binks thinks the look of a photographer' s pictures, created by using certain lensesor certain angles, may be "bette r defined asa habit that turns into a style."

33

The look: Composilion.SlVle. Cropping

The use01a slowshutterspeed lo blur the movements 01 pedestriansand the spiral 01a staircase insidea pavil ion in Hanover, Germany, drawthe reader's eye intoIhis picture by photoqrapher Jens Meyer.

That sty le, according to DuC ille, shouldcome after a photographer has spent quite abit of time making pictures and learningth e craft . "I'm a little old-fashioned,"DuC ille says, "in that 1 think you've got towork many ,many , manyyears before youcan even beginto say you'vegot a style."

DuCille isn't abig fan of peoplewho mindlesslypursue a sty le,

Style , DuCillesays, "is often allabout th e photog rapher andnot about journalism and notabout th e subject. So, most ofthe time whenpeople say the yare developingX-kind of sty le,l'm suspiciousbecause 1 th inkit is aboutthem."

T hat "takes itfrom being journalism to beingart ," according to DuCille. "1 am a journalist; 1 just happen to use a camera. 1 just happen to use my camera to tell a story rath erthan writing." And, th at 's not arto

Beasley feels strongly that photographers

34

are art ists and that 's not abad th ing."1 am talking about understanding how

elements work," Beasely says, "shape, andline and texture, and color, and how thingsmove forwa rd and move back and how

they can be used.. ,m impartmgmeanmg to aphotograph, not. . . .ju st m gammgattention."

"All of thoseth ings are froman art backgrou nd," saysBeasley, whocarne to photographyafterstudying art o"That knowledge is what aphotojournalistneeds to begood ."

Unfortunately, Beasley says,"you don 't see alot of it."

Don't runth at artist thingpast Ha l Buell,th e retired former head of theAP's photo ser

vice, or you'll have an argument on yourhands.

Buell sees it as something that is prettysimple.

"[ournalists are not art ists," Buell says.

Assoclated PressGulde To PhotoJournallsm

lhe look: Composition.Stvle,CroPPing

As a helicopter carrying PLO leader Yasser Aralat lands during his lirst visit to the West Bank aftera 1995 pullout by Israeli íorces, photographer Jerome Delay 01 the AP made this picture 01crowdsprotecting themselveslrom thedust thrown up by the rotors.Although Aralat'sarrival was the key,Delay was alert to what was going on around him and took advantage 01 the moment to makli anice sidebar picture to the visit.

"They shouldn 't be artists because artistshave a point of view, or at least th eyshould. ] ournalists are reporters andreporters report what happened."

Buen says Ed White, one of his editorswhen he was first reporting and writi ngfrom Asia, summed it up best: "Ten themwhat happ ened." Buen amends that to thewo rds of thephotographer."Ten thernwhat happened , or inour case, showthern whathappened."

Faas says th ekey is not toget boggeddown in acompariso n ofphoto graphyand art, but torealize "that itis the visualapprec iation ofthings that is. "lmportant .

Faas hasnever considered photography to be arto "It is not less,"he says. "It is just a different form of

. "expreSSlOn.And when it comes to the integrity of

the photograph, Faas is in strong agreementwith many, including Buen, but says it adifferent way. "What an art ist can do, aphotographer should not be permitted todo, and that's to fiddle around wit h

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photoloumallsm

things ."Sorne say a feeling for composition is

either there, or it 's noto"Co rnposition is Ielt," AP photo editor

Bob Daugherty says. "A good picture is feltfrom the heart. The heart skips a beat atthe right mornent."

Composition can be a loaded topic, too.

Draper explains that one recent widelyadopted compositional technique was tocut off limbs of subjects in pictures,

While sorne pictures look good with thatsty le of composition , photograph ers beganto overuse the technique. The result? "Theyare losing the goal of communicating withthe average person who is going to see thephoto in a newspaper or magazine and

35

cropping the work of the photographers onhis staff. "1 think a crop is an opinion," hesays, "and that opinion should be expressedlike a sentence. You should express it withcareo"

He thinks the photographer made a decision to crop the scene in the camera whenthe picture was first made, had anotherchance to adjust that when the picture wasscanned and that the picture editor shouldtake that into account when the photofinally reaches his desk.

Burrows says he tr ies, "hopefully to getthe photo in the paper as close to the pho-

The look: Composition, Stvle, Cropping

AP photographerEneDraper used a low angle and a wide angle lens to emphasize the hands inthis pieture 01 Texas governor George W. Bush inEnglewood, Colo., during his 2000 eampaign larpresident. Draper traveled extensively with Bushduring the eampaign and used numerous visual deviees to break up the routine 01the pietures during the year-Iongmarathon 01ratlies, speeehes and sidewalk greetings.

wonder why is that arm floating in the air,'Draper says.

Another technique Drap er thinks isoverused is framing that includes a largeout-of-focus object in the foreground.While photographers would talk about thegreat composition, Draper is afraid readers"just wonder what the blob is."

There are many differing views on cropping, too. Sorne editors say it is an important too!. Others feel it should be avoidedif at all possible.

Burrows, Tbe Virginian-Pilot director ofphotography, is on the side of sparingly

36 Assoclated Press Gulde loPhotolournalism

lhe look: Composilion, Stvle, Cropping

tographer's vision as possible. The more That leads to a selection of photos and ayou can get th e photographer's vision into discussion of crops and both of th ose dis-the paper," he says, "the more it will cussions make the photographer and pie-encourage the ture editor equalphotographer to partners. But,reach out to tell OuCille says, "ifthe story." th ere is a close

"It gives th e call on a picturephotographer (selection orthe responsibili- cropping), th ety," Burrows photographerssays. "They are get veto rightsthe visual jour- over the picturenalist who was editor." OuCilleat the scene." says lt IS a rare

At the Wash- day when th atington Post, pie- policy doesn' tture selection carry through .and cropping are As a side note ,a collaborative OuCille says alleffort between of that talkingthe photogra- can be beneficialphers and the in other ways.photo editors. Often, th e

"When a pho- photographertographer comes was the paper'sback from an only represent a-assignment and tive at the scene.we are at the The reporterlight table," had gathered theOuCille facts by phoneexplains, "1 or from a newsdon 't grab his The face of Tennesseewomen's basketball team coach PatSummin release. Wh ilefilm and say 1 and the NCAA 1090 are all that is needed lo lell the story 01 a news con- talking aboutwant thi s one, ference inthis 2000 photo by APpootoqrapber Mari< Humphrey. the photograph-

and thi s one and this one." Instead, OuCille er's coverage, things will come out that willsays, "a conversation begins with what did enhance or change th e reporter 's imp res-you see, what were you trying to achieve, sions. Ou Cille says, in that case, the picturewhat is the story we are trying to tel1?" editor is the conduit for the newsroom to

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photoloumallsm 31

The look: CompOslUoD, StvIe, Cropplng

get that information. And, everyo ne benefits.

Editors and photographers are talkingabout the effect of television , advertisingand magazines on newspaper photographicsty les. They see a blurring oí the hard edgeth at used to define a photograph.

Kenn y Irb y, th e visual journalism groupleader at the Poynter Institute in Sto Petersbu rg, Fla., sees continuing evidence of thatblurring, particuiarly in magazines, andwants to make sure journalists don't beginto ease their standards because they thinkreaders aren 't eoncerned.

"What 1 am most concerned about is thatthere is a pereeption that viewers havecome to accept the manipulation and don 'tbelieve what they see anyway."

Irby, and others, think newspapers, forth e rnost part, try to hold th e line onmanipulation , but many magazines routineIy alter pictures, or in sorne cases, even ere-

ate pietures from the parts of several pietures.

"If you are talking about the magazineindustry," Irby says, "it is happening everyday. It is ehallenged everyday. Every magazine you look at, from Vibe magazine toTime magazine, has had eovers greatlymanipulated."

It ean be National Geographie movingpyramids to make a better fit for a cover,or Life magazine taking the pole out themiddle of John Paul Filo's famous pictureof the young woman screaming over thebody of the dead student after the KentState shootings, It can be Time magazine'salteration oí the poliee mug shot of O .J.Simpson wh ieh made him appear moremenaeing, or even the cover of an issue ofH arper's Bazaar which Ieatured a portraitof Prineess Caroline of Monaeo.

That last one, the Harper's eover, seemsinnoeent enough but looks can be deceiv-

AP electronic photouraphvethicspolicVThis is the poliey adopted by The Assoeiated Press in 1990:Electronic imaging raises new questionsabout what is ethical in theprocess 01 editing

photographs. The questions may be new but theanswersall come[rom old ualues.Simply put, Tbe Associated Press does not alter photographs. Our pictures must always tell

the trutb.The electronicpicture desk is a highlysophisticated photo editing tool. It takes us out ola

chemical darkroom where the subtlepn nting tecbniques, such asburning and dodging, havelong been accepted asjounalistically sound. Today, these terms are replaced by "imagemanipulation"and "enchancement. " In a time when such broad terms could be misconstrued we need to set limits and restate some basic tenets.

Only the established norms 01standardphotoprinting methods suchas burning, dodging,toning and cropping are acceptable. Retouching is limited to remoual 01normal scratchesand dust spots.

The content ola photograph will NEVER be changed or manipulated in any way.

38 IssoclltldPress GuldeTa PIIall /auml llsm

lbe look: ComposWoD, Stvle, Cropplng

"Wha! I am mostconcerned about isthat there is a percep!ion tha! viewershave come toaccept the manipulation and don'tbelieve what theysee anyway."

- Kenny Irby, Ihe visualjournalism group leader alIhe Poynler Inslilule in SI.Pelersburg, Fla.

AnoclalBd Press Gulde lo PlHltolournallsm 39

lhe look: Composltion. SIVle. Cropplng

Conceptual hasbeen defined aswhimsy and fantasy,and documentary asreportage andobservation.

40 Issoclalld Preu Bulde To Pboteloumallsm

l he look:Composilion. Stvle,Cropping

APphotographer Eric Gay used a wide angle lens to show the patterns of the cracked earth, anda dog helps lo break upthat pattern, in a picture illuslrating the effect of a drought inspring 2000 near China Spring,Texas. Gay shot what waslhere, not setting up apiclure, and waited torthe right moment.

Conceptual has been defined as whimsyand famasy, and documentary as reponageand observation.

Burrows th inks this new style of illustration photography will only slowly begin tocreep into news pages, destined more forthe feature sections. "1 think newspapersare pretty conservative in th eir approach inthe news pages and that is justified."

But he sees that being tested, "A photographer is always reaching to make bett er,more visual pictures," Burrows says,"stretching the envelope, while editors aretrying to slow that move."

Burrows is concerned about this possible

Associated PressGuide lo Photoiournalism

confusion, not waming to '''disturb thereader with gimmicks in the news pages.y ou have more liberty in the featuresdepartment, changes come more easilyth ere than in th e news pages. Featu re sections are more wide open," he says, "andreaders now sense the difference."

Beasley isri't so sure th at whimsy and Iantasy are the best description for conceptual.And, acknowledging that this view mightnot be popular, he's not even sure thereever really was documemary photography.

"1 really th ink that documemary photography never existed," he says. "1 think thateverything you have seen that we have

41

lhe look: Composition. Stv18. Cropplng

labeled as documentary is either photographs without meaning or, if you reallylook at it, since there was a person therewho decided to organize these panicularelements in a panicular way, it is not docurnentary."

He explains, "What I'm talk ing about isnot taking things and inventi ng something,like photo illustration. We are not creatingthings th at don't existo We are talkingabout the interpretation of things that do

. "exist .Beasley says he isn' t advocating setting

up pictures, just acknowledging that byincluding or not including something in theframe, or using sorne othe r techn ique tohighlight or minimize sorne aspect of thepicture, it is not a straight piece of documentanon,

"Go ahead and organize the elernents,"he says. "You can do the things that givepeople the sense of what you are seeing. Itis not that what you are seeing isn't relatedto the reality, it is."

This emphasis on composition and content , coupled with the new ideas and techniques that photojournalists are beingexposed to , is leading to more photographsbecoming visual staternents, with theimprint and input of rhe photographer ineach picture.

That is to be expected, Beasley feels, andit is truthful to what happened. "You wantpeople to live in the picture, " he says. "Ifsomeone is jumping for joy, you want thereader to feel that joy. You want the readerto feel what you Ieel." According toBeasley, the photographer is saying, "I'rnhere and 1 am your eyes to this, and this is

42

what 1see. This is how 1 fee! about it."Again, ir isn't that the photograph isn't

telling the truth, it is just telling the truthof what the photographer wanted to relate.

The sense of "sryle" isn' t new to newsphotography.

AP photographer Rusty Kennedy saysW. Eugene Smith 's sty le is time!ess and hasbeen an example to many photojournalists."1 think in the beginning, most people that1 knew who were serious about photojournalism wanted to emulate people like W.Eugene Srnith and the photo-essay conceptoYou got a seed of an idea and tried to develop ir, and you tri ed to have a set of pictureswith at least one really strong one."

"Many of the th ings he did, like the ruraldoctor, you could have used those ideas onanyone," Kennedy says. "Real dramat icblack and white photography."

"1 think that you have to be careful whenyou are talking about having a style," Indianapolis freelancer Mary Ann Carter says,"because the job of a photojournalist is totell a story and communicate. lf you forgothat goal for the sake of a style, you're notdoing what is important."

Cárter explains that "it's OK to have astyle, like using a blue gel or using anextrernely wide-angle lens, but if your styleprecludes you from being a communicator,maybe it is not such a good style for a photojournalist. Sometimes you have to adaptyour style to the story you are covering,"she says. "Photojournalists have to be ableto shoot a lot of different things - sports,news, and features."

She warns there is a danger to adapting asty le that has no flexibility. "One day you

Issoclatld Pr8ss Gulde lo PbllllJoumallsm

may be shooting'something where a bluegel or a wide-angle lens is fine, but the nextday it might not work at all."

Des Moines Register directo r of photography Jo hn Gaps III feels he adapts his styleto the circumstances of the coverage he's

lhe look: Composillon. Stvle. Cropping

do tha t for myself," Gaps says, using "atighter lens, a wider lens, a different angle."But on a breaking news assignment, "whenth ere is a lot flying and I'm right on deadline," he says, "I try to get what an edito rwould want to see. Then, when I've got

The style01legendary photojournalist W. Eugene Smith inspiresAPphotographer Rusty Kennedy who used Smith's blackand white essay techniqueon this portraít 01a homeless woman inPhiladelphia. Itwas partofa larger group 01pictures hedid in 1974 on that community before homelessness was a national topic. Using available light and working atslow shutterspeeds, Kennedy's picture captures every detail and tells the story 01 the woman's tough existence.

involved in at the momento "By now," hesays, "1 have two different ways of shooting: when you take pictures for yourself,and when you take pictures for someoneelse."

O n a sports assignment , "1 always try to

Associated Press Guide To Photojoumalism

that clear, I say, 'How do 1 see things?'"Gaps' early photography also was influ

enced by the work of W. Eugene Srnith ,and several photographers frorn the regionwhere he attended college. "W. EugeneSmith was everything, but also Rich Clark-

43

The look: Composlllon. SlVle.Cropplng

Using a low angle and strong backlighling,AP photographer John Gaps 111 caplured lheIragility 01a young boy withhis father inSomalia in 1992.The lwo were lraveling toa c1inic tor medicaltrealment lorthe child.

son, j irn Richardson and Brian Lanker inTopeka. 1 got exposed to that group' s photography a lot because my college professorwo uld invite them up for lectures."

Daugherty boils his style down to one

thing - sirnplicity. "1 dori't like to introduce to o many elements into a picture."

At the risk of being called single-mindedin that respect, Daugherty says his photo grap hy mirrors the app roach he tr ies to takein life. "1 don' t like to have too many looseends, in my work , and in my life. A goodpicture is generally a single subject, not alot of loose elernents ."

Ca rte r says she defines her style as a personal approac h to th e people she ph otog raphs. "My style is to respect people and

44

try not to put th em in situations that denigrate them or belittle thern." She says shetakes a simple approach. "1 think yo u havero treat people the way yo u want to betreated." She calls this "a gent le determina-

. "non.Cart er also is

exposing herselfto other ways offorging the visual makeup of herpictures, "Theway I'm tryingto lmprove myeye overall isthat 1 took adrawing c1ass,and 1 study thetechniques ofart ists," she says,"and 1 look atphoto grapherswho are notphotojourn alists.And 1 try tolook at photog-raphers who are

better than 1 am and see what they aredoing and try to spark my mind in th osedirections."

She says that the drawing c1ass has taughther the theory of getti ng into a right-brainmode . Carter explains that your brain operates in two sections, with the right brainhandl ing art istic functions and th e leftbrain handling logical functions. "Photog raphy is a right-brain activity, Ir's creative,"she says, "and the c1ass was based on gettinginto the right-brain mo de. If 1 can do that,


lhe look: Composilion. SlVle. Cropplng

Like Gaps onthe oppositepage, Eric Draper 01the APused lhe techniques 01 a low angleand adramatic sky bul ina Iighlersitualion-a youngsler playing basketball in a ruralNew Mexico lownin 1998. The piclure was part 01 an essay by Draper on the wide open spaces 01 lhe Southwesl.

ir should help my photography."AP photographer Susan Ragan credits

her art studies withgiving her a sense ofcomp osition . "Frorn my art background, 1think about composition and beauty andbalance that maynot be so evident to otherphotographers."Ragan's trainingincludes a FineArts master'sdegree in drawing and painting.She didn't takeup photographyuntil she hadseveral years ofart trammgbehind her.

"Maybe thatmade me sensitive to differentpictures," shesays. "1 think 1have a sense ofcomposition andlight from thattraining." Ragansays, for instance, "1 know when there isRembrandt light on someone from the arttraining I've had."

The use of smash closeups, isolation withlong lenses, strong lighting techniques anddifferent perspectives give pictures a different look. Sorne of these techniques arerooted in painting, others in the styles ofavant-garde photo graphers.

Old sty le, or new, good composition

Assoclaled Press Gulde To Pholojournallsm

means pictures that are interesting to lookato That's the simple definition.

J. Bruce Baumann, of the Evansville,Ind., Courierand Press, sums it up with ano-frills explanation. "If something doesn 't

need to be in a picture, it shouldn't bethere. You accomplish that by where youstand and what lens you use."

Nighswander says that beginning photojournalists should start with the basics ofcomposition. "There is no dou bt in mymind that one of the first things a youngphotographer needs is a command of thesevisual devices."

Th ose "visual devices" are the concepts

45

lhe look: CDmPDsiliDn. Stvle. Cropping

Visual checklistOhio University School 01 Visual Communication director Larry Nighswander hascompiled this checklist lor the photojournalist.Does Ibe photograph have techntcal excellenceilO Sharp locus O Good contrast O Correct color balanceDoes the photograph have composltional creativityilO Dominant loreground, contributing background O ReflectionO Introducing disorder into an ordered situation O PanningO Introducing color into a monochromatic scene O JuxtapositionO Rule of thirds composition O Decisive momentO Framing O Linear perspectiveO Selective focus O SilhouetteDoes the photOgraph have aov editorial relevaoce or merltil1) Is the photo active or passive?2) Is the photograph of something no one has ever seen before or is it a unique orinteresting photo of something everyone has seen?3) Is the photo style and the writing style consistent?4) Does the photo communicate quicker, stronger, better or more eloquently than asimple sentence could describe?5) Does the photo have visual content, orstop short at story elevation?6) Does the photo go beyond the trite and the obvious?7) Does the photo contain essential information to help the reader understand thestory?8) Does the photo have enough impact to move the reader?9) Is the photo clean, interesting, and well-composed enough to stand on its own?10) Does the caption information answer who, what, when, where and why, alongwith other required information (e.g. age and hometown)?11) Are both the photo and the caption information objective and accurate accountsof what happened?12) Is the photo mindless documentation?13) Does the photo communicate eflectively? Photos should either move, excite,entertain, inlorm or help the reader understand a story.

46 Assoelalld Press Gulde To PbOlOlournallsm

lhe look:Composltlon,Slvle,Cropplng

Among the visual devices a photographer can use isperspective. AP photographer MarkTerrill mounted a camera overthearena f100r tocapture ShaquilleQ'Neal peeking through the net while going lar a rebound in lhe2000 NBA Finals.

that make a picture more interesting tolook ato Ideas like the ru le of thirds, linearperspective, framing, the "decisivemornent ," selective focus, controlled depthof fie!d, perspective, and others should bein the photographer's basic "tool kit."

N ighswa nder has identi fied fifteendevices that have an effect on the look of aphotojour nalist's pictures.

If you take an extrernely creative photo,Nighswander says, and dissect it, "it cancontain four or five creative devices. Eachhelps strengthen the power of the phot ograph."

H e says no matter how much experienceyo u have, these visual devices can makeyour pictures bett er. "Every time 1 take apictu re, these things click through mymind. I'm always thinking, which ones can1 use?"

Carte r says an easy way to improve aph otograph's composition is to merel ychange perspectives. That's one of the visual devices.

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photo)oumalism

"You have to move aro und a 10t," shesays. "You have to watch shooting everything from eye level." You can shoot "on aladder, or on your kn ee, or on your belly"to get a different view.

For instance, Carter says sorne of the pietures her children shot when th ey weregrowing up are interesting, just becausethey are shot fro m a different perspective."When you give a kid a camera, th ey aregoin g to shoot everything at their eye leve!.That's your knee level, and ir's an interest-. . "mg view ,

Carter says photographers should varytheir perspectives as much as possible. "Toomany pictures from the same perspectivemakes the reader lose interest," she says. Infact, she says, using any of the visualdevices too often will dull the reader'sresponse.

Burrows believes that knowing how thepicture is going to be used will help thephotographer get th e most mileage out ofth ose creative tools.

41

l he look: Composilion. Stvle. Cropping

These three APphotographers usedifferent compositionaltechniques lo draw lhe reader's eye. John Moore's 1996photo01workers preparing rice inlhe kitchen 01 anAfghanorphanage (top) uses lhe slrong shaft 01 lighl lo bring thereader lo lhe workers and their kettle. Eric Draper uses silhouette and framing techniques in a photo 01a 1998 manohuntin the Ulah back country (above right) and LauraRauch employs a long lens to isolate the acnon al a 1999rodeo (Ieft) .

48 AssoclaledPress Guide To Phololournalism

Framing the scene wilh a wide angle lens and working clase lo his subject, APphoioqrapherDavid Guttenfelder madeIhis piclure 01 Rwandan refugees peering IhroughIhe hale ina raincover on a Uniled Nationslruck in 1996. Guttenlelder afien used Ihe wide angle lens and workedclase lo his subjecls when he was inAlrica, but had lo change his style lo reflecl the different attiludes 01 people inAsia.

The first thi ng-that is important for thephotographer heading out on an assignment, Burrows says, is "to know what youare shooting for - Al, inside, secondaryplay, the featuresection. Youhave to knowthe audienceyou're aimingfor."

He says youshould make different kinds ofpictures for different uses. "Forinstance, if youare shooting anassignment for acolurnn," Burrows says, "yournight be shooting for a smallpicture. So youwould want togo for an impactimage." On theother hand, "ifyou are shooting for the main picture onAl, and they'll use a four-column picture,you can shoot a looser photograph."

However, if the newspaper doesn't generally display pictures that size and that sameassignment is going to be used slightlysmaller, it could change th e composition ofthe picture needed. "If it is a three-columninstead, you have to shoot for a little moreimpact," he explains. "The bigger the general size, the more flexibility on the looseness. A small picture needs more impact."

Associated Press Guide ToPhotoiournalism

lhe look: Composilion. Stvle, Cropping

To give that smaller picture greaterimpact, Burrows recommends that the photographer concentrate on the person's faceand have fewer , simpler elements. He says

that is important on a small picture so thereader's eye won't be confused with theclutter.

On the picture to be played larger, alooser composition works. "You still haveto keep an uncluttered picture," Burrowssays. But he says that the elements of thepicture don't have to have the same boldness, the same impact, that is needed whenthe picture is going to be player smaller.

The best of both worlds, Burrows says,"is to have the real impact in a large pie-

49

lhe look: Composition, Stvle, Cropping

APphotographer Jerome Delay combines a digital camera, a 24 mm lens and a style ofgettingclase to his subjectsand fillinghis frame to produce eye-catching photographs like thisone ofethnic Albanian refugees as they leave their home in Kosovo in 1999. Delay doesn't think hispreference lar the wide angle lens compromises his photography.

ture. That's the maximum imp act."AP photographer Harry Cabluck thinks

there is an easy way for photographers roimprove the impact of pictu res. It's th echoice of the lens they'll use.

Cab luck saysyou can shootthe same scenein a more readable manner byusing a longerlens, even if youhave to take aposition fartherfrom your subject . The subjectwill be crisper,because thedepth of field isnot so great, andthe scene will bemore pleasing rothe eye.

AP photographer JeromeDelay prefers rouse fixed focallength lenses. "I don't like zooms becauseth ey make people lazy. You don't move, allof yo ur pictures look th e same."

"Your perspective is different if you taketwo steps forward or two steps backwa rd.Standing still makes for stagnant pictures,"Delay says.

Unlike Cabluck, Delay likes the look hegets from a wide angle lens. Delay' s lens ofchoice, when the situation doesn 't demandthe use of a long lens, is the 24 mm lens ona digital camera . H e believes that gives him

50

the same look as a 35 mm lens on a filmcamera, "that is closer ro the way the eyesees a scene ."

He doesn't think this preferred use ofone lens compromises his ability to get the

/'

best image. "If it doesn't fit in th e 24, I stepback. If there is a wall, then maybe I don'tmake th e pictu re. If the eye can't see thepicture, th e camera can' t either!"

Another lesson from Cabluck's days atthe Fort Worth Star-Telegram is "ro shoo tvert ically as often as possible and have acamera th at is easy ro hold verti callybecause th e newspaper pages are vert icaland it is easier to do the makeup with a vertical in mind."

Cabluck says photographers sometimes

Associated Press Guide To Photolournalism

lhe look: Composilion, Stvle, Cropping

Often, while chasing a story tha! goes on lor several days, photographers find it hard lo stay alertand look for unique pictures. Not so for AP pholographer Eric Draper who followed Mark McGwireon his chase to break the home run record in 1998. Because he paid attention when McGwirewasn't atbat, hegot this offbeat picture 01 him cooling offin the dugout before taking the field.

forget who theyare shooting for. "Thereader," Cabluck says, "that's who we aredoing it for."

Others say that too much of anything horizontals, verticals, closeups, wide shots

- should be avoided.When assigned to more than one picture

on a given subject, Nighswander stresses,the still photographer "ought to think likea film director, making closeup, mediumand overall views." This variety will resultin a visually appealing picture story.

"[ust as a film director wouldri't shootfrom one perspective and with one focallength lens," Nighswander says, "a still

Associated Press Guide To Photojournalism

photographer needs to compose the storywith different perspectives and focallengthsto give visual variety to the story."

It all goes back to the guidance the photographer had before shooting the assign

rnent, Burrowssays. The morethe photographer knows aboutwhere the pieture IS gomg tobe used, the better. That meansgood directionfrom the pictureeditor or sectioneditor about theeditor's intentions for thephoto's play.

After the photographer hasdecided on anapproach tophotography,and used thevisual devices tocompose a plCture, the deci

sion has to be made whether to use the pieture as a "full-frame" image, exactly as itwas made in the camera, or if the framingneeds to be altered.

This decision sometimes falls on the photographer, other times on an editor.

When it is decided that a picture shouldbe cropped, sorne want the photographerto have and exercise that option. Othersbelieve it is the editor's responsibility to

51

The look:Composilion,Stvle, Cropping

make that decision. Carter isn't one of the reluctant ones.Nighswander says the photographer "Most pictures can be improved by crop-

should think about how the picture should ping," she says. "Sornetimes 1 will crop inlook right from the start . "There are basi- the camera, and it is the most pleasing, butcally three times rune times outyou can crop the of ten it can bepicture: when improved byyo u shoot it, cropping in thewhen you print darkroom. 1or sean it, and think intelligentwhen you send cropping willit to the back improve theshop." readership of the

While they are image."shooting, pho- Burrowstographers thinks that tooshould be trying much cropping

to make a pie- AP photographer Eric Gayused a long lens but framed the piclu re lo on the pictureture that is as include some needed atmosphere while coveri ng lhis 2000 memorial desk can takeflexible as possi- service, which marked the fifthanniversary of the deadly explosion at away from theble. "You can the federal building in Oklahoma City. photographer's

always crop tighter in the darkroom or on message. "I'rn in favor of less heavy-handedthe picture desk, but you can't crop loos- editing," he says. "You don't have to puter," Nighswander says. "You cari't add your finger on every picture." Burrows sug-information," once the picture is made. gests that an editor talk to the photograph-

"You really need to think, not only like er before cropping a picture.photographers, but like designers," he says. "The photographer had a special meaningPhotographers should be aware of prob- when he took that photograph," Burrowslems they can help solve by shooting with a says, "and you have to know the photogravariety of compositio ns. Nighswander says pher and how he presents his pictures." Hethere's "nothing worse than having every- compares it to editing a story. "You havething shot from the same perspective and in to communicate with the photographerthe same format (horizontal or vert ical)." about the crop. Learn to ask what the pho-That takes away an editor 's flexibility. tographer wants to say with the picture,"

And he has a message to those photogra- Burrows says, "and if the photographer hasphers who are reluctant to think of thern- a definite opinion about the picture, it is upselves as pictur e editors. "Every time you to the photo editor to judge if the editingshoot, you are exercising your opinio n as will add or take away from the photo-an editor." graph's message."

52 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photoiournalism

The look: Compositlon, Slvle, Cropping

AP's Eric Risberg found a painter doing some last-minute work on a new entertainment complexwall before its formal opening. By notcropping too tightly, Risberg's photo gives you a leel for thefacility whilealso drawing youreye into the picture with the weight01 the silhouetted painter.

Burrows says every photographer has different Ieelings about the editing process."Sorne don 't care, others like to talk aboutth e cropping," he says.

N ighswandertakes a simple,straightforwardapproach. "1think youshould crop outanything th atdoesn't add content or information or mood.That 's imp ortant ," he says. "1know a lot ofeditors can 'tunderstand th eimp ortance ofleaving any kindof open feeling.That's oftenwhat gives moodto th e picture,Somet imes a litde space around th e picture can give you afeeling, even if it may be subt le."

Co nceptual irtiages, illustrations, feet cutoff, dominant foregrounds, subjectivity as aperso nal style. The old rules don't alwaysapply anymore when you're talking aboutstyle, composition and crop ping.

N ighswander is not so sure that gettingrid of the rules is so bad. He's for havingguidelines, not rules, for dealing with con-

Assoclaled Press Gulde To PholoJournallsm

tent and display, because he says every dayis a litt le different at a newspaper.

"1 try to keep an open mind on all th atbecause there are so many variables," he .

says. "If 1 was too struct ured in my thinking, 1 might limit myself when 1 go to putmy page together."

Nighswander issues a challenge to newspapers that are too structured when hesays, "1 want to give my reader a variety ofimages. 1 don't want the reader to be ableto ant icípate what 1 will give thern."

"You can't get yourself to where you aresaying no to too many thi ngs."

53

J

54

G~AC!A

DI0~,

Ihe Associated Press Guide lo Photojournalism

News:SensilivilV, Thinking, Inslinel and CuriosilV

eovering news assignments calls for acase of curiosity. Sensitivity. Sornethinking. And instinct, Make that a

lot of curiosity, sensitivity, thought, persistence and instinct.

David Longstreath says a college professor opened his eyes to one of the mainingredients you need to cover the news.Longstreath saysthe professor asked hisclass, "What makes a good reporter?" Thediscussion went on for sorne time. Talk ofequipment and training dominated the discussion. But, Longstreath says, "the bottomline was curiosity. That has always struckme." Longstreath says you can't go wrongif, as you approach a news scene, "you ask

yourself what is it about this that is inter-. "estmg.Veteran photographers agree there is no

way to be taught news coverage techniques.y ou really have to learn thern by going outand doing it.

"Shooting hard news is like going fishingor hunting. You have to have patience,"Longstreath says, "but you also have tohave street smarts." There are no short cutsto learning the news business. "There areno tricks. You have to work at it. Likeplaying the piano, you keep practicing andpracticing and practicing."

AP photographer Mark Duncan saysyour aim should be to "look beyond the

Opposile page: A long night on stakeout duly came lo a head quickly lorAP photographer Willredo Lee as governmenlagents stormed a Miami house in2000, lhen came running oul with six-year-old Elian Gonzalez. Lee only had a momentlo react, but his photograph shows lhe intensily 01 the momen!.

Associated Pren Guide To Photolournalism 55

News: SenslUVitv, ThlnklnU,lnstlnct and Curlosltv

obvious. Look for something more compelling with more emotion." PhotographerEric Risberg of the AP agrees. He sayssports and news are alike in that "betterpictures aren't always the main moments,but the moments after."

Ed Reinke, an AP photographer, agreeswith that approach. "In news, as in sports,reaction often brings the very best pietures.When the action is important, often thereaction is even more important."

Risberg compares news to sports thisway: "We alllook for the great play," hesays, "but the best picture is sometimesafter the great play happens, the reaction.By learning that in sports, you can carrythat over to news. At news events, weoften get the peak moments, but we shoulduse the sports approach and look for themoment after the peak."

Sports Illustrated photographer JohnBiever, whose early photography work wasat the Milwaukee [ournal where he covereda wide variety of assignments, says he sees alot of similarities between covering a sportsevent and covering a political campaign."There are just similar moments in both,"Biever says. "Either way, you are lookingfor emotion and the peak mornent."

The AP's Elise Amendola says coveringnews is akin to playing in a spirited gameof basketball. At the news event, like thebasketball game, "a lot is happening. Sights,movements and sounds are swirling aroundyou. It's imperative to focus on yourimages as you shoot," she says. "Try to relegate the sounds, movement and your emotional response to the background."

As an aside, Amendola plays basketball

56

regularly. "1 like to play basketball," shesays, "not only to keep in shape physicallybut to work my mind and my visionoThreading a pass through a swarmingdefense that leads a teammate to the hoopis good practice for my timing and for seeing peripherally."

Risberg says the good photojournalistdoesn't wrap up the coverage after theobvious pictures are made. The thinkingphotographer, he says, "will go back a fewhours later, a day later, or a week later,when there are often different and goodpictures to be made."

Part of that is looking for solid topics.J. Broce Baumann of the Evansville, Ind.,

Courier and Press, thinks that contests, andthe books that are produced showing contest winners, are making it too easy forphotographers to follow someone else'slead instead of finding their own issues andsubjects to photograph.

For instance, Baumann says, if a big winner is pictures of poverty, severa! photoessays on the topic show up soon after."Why aren't the 'photojournalists' in thiscountry doing the research and going outand seeing what is the problem?"

AP photographer Cliff Schiappa seesgood and bad in contests.

"1 think that there is good and evil incontests," he says. "Good in that it forcesyou to reflect on the past year and see ifyou have grown. The bad is that peoplecopy what is successful and don't growthemselves. "

J. Scott Applewhite of the AP's Washington photo staff enjoys a different kind ofphoto contesto Each morning, he checks

AssoclalBd Press Gulde lo PhotoJoumallsm

Billowing clouds01anli-personnel gas and police intenl on clearing theslreets 01demonstralórs were just part 01 what APphotographer BethKeiser taced asshe tried to cover lhe WorldTrade Organization talks inSeatlle in 1999.

the newsstand to see how his pictures fra man event the previous day stack up againstthe work of other photographers who wereth ere.

"It is nice to know if you did a goodenough job to have yo ur pictures on pageone aboye the fold," App lewhite says.

When you are on an assignment, Amy

News: Sensilivitv, Thinking,lnSlincl and Curiositv

,-------------~~~~~~~-....""II Sancetta of the AP says keeping onyour toes pays off. "Ir 's so important when you're at an event to bealert, to keep yourself so tapped. "in.

Part of that alert ness is not talking yourself out of trying something. You have to guard againstthat . "Experience is worth a lot ina photojournalism situation," saysLaura Rauch of the AP. "But, ifyou are trying to be more creativesometimes, exper ience might hinder you because you rnight not trysomething."

In the back of your mind, shesays, you are thin kin g, "Oh, I'vedone th at before and it didn'twork." Fight that feeling, she says."Ir might wo rk today because youare better at it , If you've got th etime, sometimes it is better to pushyourself past what experiencealready tells you."

Longstreath, based in Bangkok,often faces assignments thraughoutSoutheast Asia where tensions arehigh and sto ries are often based ona historical perspective.

O ne of those situations is thebackd rap for Longstreath's photo

of Cambodian despot Poi Pot after hisdeath,

"You have to have sorne perspective onhistory to understand how irnportant thiswas," Longstreath says. "This was the lastdespot of the 20th century , I wasri't takingno for an answer, and I wasn't coming backuntil I had it."

Associaled Press Guide To Ph010]OUrnalism 51

News: Sensilivilv, Thlnking,lnslinCI and CuriosilV

APphotoqraphsr David Longslreath knew it was"time lo go lo work," when he was escorted ínto a junglehui lo view Iheremains of former Cambodian ruler Poi Poi in 1998. "We walked inside and Ihere he was: says Ihe Bangkok-based pholographer. He only had a few minutes lo capture the scene before hustling back lo Ihe border lo avoid fighting inIhe area.

Longstreath and his AP colleagues hadbeen seeking an interview with the reclusive dictator for more th an a year. AndLongstreath was planning a trip to the areaalong th e Thailand-Cambodia border,where it was be1ieved Poi Pot was in hiding, when wo rd carne th at he might bedead.

During a speedy five-hour drive that followed, Longstreath and an AP reporter

58

wo rked the cell phone almost continuouslywith sources and government officials, firsttry ing for confirmation, th en trying to

arrange transit across the border."Every fifteen minutes, we would call

thern again," Longstreath says. O ver thecourse of the long drive, "we wo re th emdown to the point where the y finally said'Can you be there by a cert ain tim e?' Whenwe got to the checkpoint where we needed

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism

News: SonsltivitY, Thlnklng,lnstinet and CuriosilV

Photographerslearn newlessons dailvAmv SanCeRa: "Bekind lo lhe peoplelhal you work wilh ,your colleagues orlhe subjecls 01 yourpholos. The subjecls may be opening a par! 01 lheirlile lo you thatlhey've no! sharedwilh oíhers."

to be, a sergeant there hadn't gotten the then being persistent enough to get it, isword." . the key, "I'rn not a gifted photographer,"

After sorne discussions, which grew heat- he says, "but 1 am persistent. I never goed at times, th e sergeant checked with back empt y-handed. T hat has helped mehigher-ups and soon the AP team was on more th an anyits way. other quality."

At the border, Longstreath was put in a Longstreathcar with sorne local journalists for a short says sornetrmesdrive across on a dirt road th rough the jun- it 's tough to paygle. "We drove about 300 yards and th e atte ntion. "WhenKhmer Rouge [PoI Pot's army] picked us other people areup ," Longstreath remembers. "They were talking or jok-waiting for us." ing," he says, "ir' s

As they led Longstreath and a television better to bearcrew down a path, "They were very ner- down and think,vous. They kept telling us, 'Dori't get off And look atthe path,' because it was heavily rnined." th ings, rethink

Lon gstreath and the others carne into a yo ur approachclearing and were led to a hut. "1 walked ¡ and look again."inside," he says, "and there he was. H e was Eric Draper oflaying on a COl. He had his famous fan with th e AP agrees. "Ihim . He was dead. It was like, 'OK, time to see a lot of phogo to wo rk.' This took all of th ree minutes tographers miss-inside th e hut ." ing things

There was automatic-weapons fire and because they areshelling in the area and Longstreath knew being social," he says, "and their headshe had to make his pictures and get back to aren't in th e story. " Draper says th ere's noth e border. • reason not to say helio. "I'lI meet and greet

"We were very nervous because there other photographers," he explains, "but,was clearly a battle going on down the road most of the time I keep my concentratio n,somewhere," he says. Longstreath and the keep wo rking, keep my eyes peeled for aother journalists made a quick sprint for picture."the border. Once he was back across the And use every tool and techn ique inborder, Longstreath had his driver take him your mind -- or your camera bag - to helpa short distance to a gas statio n where he you make better news pictures.set up his satellite phone and laptop and For instance, you no rma lly want to usefiled his pictures. i as fast a shutter speed as possible on news

According to Applewhite, paying atten- assignments in order to "freeze" th e action,tion and spotting something you want, But to show the fury of a fire fed by 80-

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To show the fu ry 01a lire ledby 80-mile-per-hour winds,AP photographer Doug Pizac used a tripod to steadythe cameraand a slow shutter speed to emphasize the wind-whipped flames. Photographers not only have toknow what tools theyhave at their disposal, but also howto useIhemto help tell the slory Ihey are trying lo communicate.

rnile-an-hour winds, Doug Pizac used along exposure to better tell the sto ry, Pizacput his camera on a tripod, and made ahalf-second exposure to capture the intensity. T hen he popped in a strobé to light thefireman.

A case of using th e tools available -- aslow shutter speed, a tripod and a strobe -to make an eye-catching, informative pieture.

y ou have to use th ose tools wisely whilefacing a tight deadline, a seemingly imp ossible coverage situation, or circumstancesthat have you or your skills stretched tothe limito And avoid letting those tools

&0

overwhelm YO U.

Applewhite says he always tries to keepit in perspective. "It's the image, that'swhat counts . You can get bogged downwith computers and lenses and cell phones.But, if you don't have the picture, nothingelse matters."

The bottom line for Apple white? "Whenpeople put their quarte rs in th e newsrackand look at your pictu re, they don 't carewhat it took to get it, lt either sings, or itdoesn't."

Reinke cautio ns that there are boundariesto watch in news that don 't exist in featurephotography. "As for photojournalism, and

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournallsm

News: Sensilivilv, Thinking,lnstincl and CuriosilV

APphotographerRobert Bukaty wanted lo go beyond news conterences and orcheslrated pholoopportunities when a giant ice slorm knocked down lines and power loa wide area 01 Maine in1998. Driving Ihrough the darkened area he lound a house wilh a lanlern shining ina window. Forthe tour days since Ihe stormslruck, Ihe elderlycouple there had been using a battery-poweredradio, the lantern, a kerosene heater and a camp stove lo gel along wilhout electricity.

1 emphasize th e word journalism, we makephotographs from the circumstances we aregiven and we don't try to alter those circumstances."

The simplest situation can be a test oftrust .

Wilmington,Del., News-fournal director ofphotographyJeanne Mell saysher photo staffstrictly follows arule not to setup photos. But,every day, theyhave assignment s where thesubject asksthern, "What doyou want me todo?" The answeris for the personto do what he orshe would bedoing if th e photographer wasn'tstanding there .

But it isn't as simple as that . The subjectalready had it in his or her mind that thephotographer is willing to set up a picture.And, that gets to the heart of the credib ilityof the papero Because if people are aroundwhen a picture is set up, they may thinkthat almost any picture has been set up.

"The public," she says, "just doesn'tunderstand the concept of reality journal-. "ism,

"Sometimes the pictu re isn' t as clean as

Associated PressGuldeTo Photojournalism

you would want ir, but you live with it,"Mell says, because you know at least it is anhonest picture.

Washington Post picture editor MichelDuCille says his staff faces the same kind ofsrtuation.

"1 think that we need to recognize it,"DuCille says, "and do all we can to get peopIe to understand what we do." DuCilletells subjects he doesn't want them to "fakeanything" for the paper's photographers."If anything," he tells thern, "1 want you togo about your duties so 1 can capture theessence of what you are doing."

DuCille thinks we can win that uphillbattle to keep readers' trust. "The bestthing you can do," he says, "is to be totally

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Amisty nighl and the harsh lighting al Ihe perimeter lence ataTennessee prisonare the tableautor a photo01anti-dealh penalty prolesters silently lighting candles while wailing tor a 1999 execution. APpholographer Ed Reinke relied on available light to helptell the story01 lsolation.

honest with your subjects, with your readers, and be to tally honest as a person practicing journalism."

It 's easy to get frustrated when circumstances don't work out as well as you hadhoped, but AP photo editor Bob Daugherty suggests moving along to the next itemon the agenda.

"1 guess you have got to avoid gettingdown on yourself," he says. "1 have a thing1 run through my mind when things aregoing badly: Try not to worry about th atover which 1 have no control." H e saysworrying about a change in plan or a mistake in shooting can hurt you latero "If

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you're fretting about something, you're notgoing to be in th e right frame of mindwhen the moment happens. You 've got toavoid getting down after mistakes." Afteryou've had a ment al or mechanical lapse,Daugherty says, you just have "to comeback and do what you do the best."

Daugherty tells a story to illustrate hispoint aboutbeing calm andmaking the bestpictures youcan. During along-ago presidential campaign, Daugherty nervouslylooked around arally and jumpedevery time therewas an outburstof applause or areaction in thecrowd.

Veteran UPIphotographerFrank Cancellare, also on theassignment,looked over andsaid, "Kid, youcari't shoot the

sound." Daugherty calls it sorne of the bestadvice he ever got. Do what you do best.Make pictures when there is someth ing tomake pictures of.

Hard news often isn't pleasant. Manytimes you're working in an explosiveatmos phere. Someone may have been

Assoclaled Press Gulde lo Pholojournalism

News: Sensilivitv. Thinking,lnslincl and CuriosilV

in jured or ki11ed in an accident, people mayhave lost their liíe's work in a fire, oroppos ing groups may be emotiona11ycharged.

!t 's a heavy pressure, the pressure tomake th e best possible picture, balancedwith sensitiv ity toward the people in yo urpictures, measured against the thin line ofinvolvement by th e photographer.

Des Moines Register director of photography John G aps III says it is important foreditors to trust their staff, and let themknow of th at trust, so the photographersdon 't feel pressure to make something thatrnight not rea11y be there,

"If yo u start not accepting that they didn't come back with sornerhing," Gaps says,"you put pressure on them to do sorneth ingthat perhaps isn't as truthful."

For the photograp her's part of th atunderstanding, Gaps says they have topledge to be truthful in their report ing."You have to be faithful to what is truthfui, " he says. "Always return ing to what istruthful, wh at has happ ened in the scene,wi11 sooner or later result in a factual sti11photograph."

Gaps warns that yo u don't want to lettactics - lighting, lensing, etc . - get in theway. "1 am going to let the scene truthfullyhapp en . I am going to truthfully portray itand th en I wi11 play to my strengths," iswhat each photographer sho uld be saying,according to Gaps.

And if a11 of that doesn't work, the editor sho uld accept that the photographerfailed but failed while trying.

Risberg says he depends on his instinctsas he qu ickly sizes up a news scene and

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photojoumallsm

tries to find a middle ground . "News is themost instin ctive thing for me. It is rea11ycha11enging. You can't rea11y prepare for it .You've got to rely on instinct."

Risberg also advises, "When I'm do ingnews, I t ravellight and don't shoot toomu ch film. I try to think, and not getcaught up in the evento I distance myself."

Draper also subsc ribes to th e travel- lightapproach. "Usua11y when I'm out, " he says,"1 don 't carry a camera bagoInstead, I car ry

Allhough APpholographer J. Scott Applewhite was in posilion to cover lhelanding 01 the presidential helicopter inNewYork in 1999, he was ready to react wilh a wide anglelens when he saw a member 01thelocal policesecurity linebrace himsell against lhe rotor wash.

two camera bodies ready to go, ready tofire at a11 times, with enough disk space soI'm not caught sho rt ."

H e's ready, he says, "just in case I seesornething to grab a sho t of." That way,nothing wi11 get away from him. "1 don'twant to be surprised," he says. "Mornentshappen so quickly and once they are gone,there is no way to get th em back."

"H aving your camera ready gets yo u inth e ballpa rk, " he says, "but yo u also have

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AP photographer Stephan Savoiamovedawayfrom thepack for an alternate angleand a good picture ofpresidential candidate Sen. John McCainduring a2000 campaignstopat a town meeting in Newberry, S.C.

to be rnent ally ready."Many photograph ers subscribe to the

th eory that there 's a spot called X in anynews situation. If yo u can figure out wherethat spot is and manage to be there, you'vegot the key picture,

"1 tend to cover a lot of territo ry withmy eyes," Draper says, "and I ask a lot ofquestions, too, to get to the bott om of thestory." Draper wants to know what thestory is, what is important. If he can quickly figure that out, he' s got a good start onfinding th e 'X.'

Sometimes a photographer has a prettygood idea where that spo t is but aut ho rities

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might have a different idea.Draper was on assignment in Macedonia

ph oto graphin g refugees fro m the war inKosovo as they were being bused to an airport boarding area. As he was being ushered away by airport police, because theythought photographers had made enoughpictures, D raper says, "1 saw this face in thevery last window. It stopped me in mytrac ks."

The police were shouting for Draper andot hers to leave. But Draper hung back,even though they were sho uting andpulling on him, and made his picture, "A llof this stuff was going on behind me whi leI was making the picture," he says. "1 hadto hold on as long as possible to get themoment."

Draper only had an instant in w hich it allcarne rogether. "It happened pretty quicklyand I knew I had something powerful.'

Wh ile covering a demonstration inKansas City, Schiappa wo uld make a fewframes then get chased away by police."The poliee started manhandling the pro testors," he says, "and 1 dove in with the wideangle lens." Schiappa was ordered awayfrom that spot, and eomp lied, but quicklymoved to ano ther.

"If they tell you to get lost," Schiappasays, "go to another spot until yo u get toldto get lost again."

Doug Mills covers the White H ouse, politics, and a lot of major spo rting events forth e AP.

Every day, he pushes himself, no matterwhat the assignment, to t ry for a differentpicture, "You've got to have the spirit thatit will wo rk," he says. "You've got to pu t

Assoclated Press Gulde To P otoloumallsm

News: Sensilivitv, Thinking,lnstinct and Curiositv

APphotographer Eric Draper had to fightthe distraclion 01police ordering photographers to leave when he spotted anAlbanian refugee and his child on a busin Petrovec, Macedonia, in 1999. Draper was able to make only a few Irames.


News: SensilivilV, Thinking,lnSlincl and CuriosilV

Even the details of how it wo uld happenwere kept hazy.

Mills went to the stadium hours early toget a head start

on what heknew would bea crowded situan on .

Organizershad issued photographers tickets for a panicular area, butMills quicklyfigured out thata bett er pictu recould be madefrom across theaisle. A series ofconversan onswith variousushers and security personnel,sorne conte ntious attimes, finallypaid off, andthey said Mills

could use the spot he had scouted.But not wanting to tip his hand to th e

other photographers, he had to hide outfirst. "1 hid aboye the last row of seats,"Mills explained, "on a grate over a bigexhaust fan. 1 couldn't see most of theshow and 1 waited and waited for the rightmoment."

Several times during th ose hours of waiting, Mills questioned himself on whetherhe was doing the right thing. "1 just tried to

To make lhis picture 01Muhammad Ali with the Olympic torch at the1996 Games inAtlanta,AP pholographer Doug Milis lirsl had lo convince securityguards and ushers he should be allowed in a position thathad been declared off limits.

yo urself in the frame of mind to keep try-ing." -

Sometimes that extra work pays off,sornetirnes i t

doesn't."If yo u want

to make animage no oneelse has, yo uhave to be willing to take achance," Millssays. He keeps amental scorecardand he pusheshimself byknowing thattaking a chancehas paid off awho le lot morethan it hasfailed. "This onedidn 't wo rkout, " he'll say,"but I' ve paidmy dues andnext t ime it wi llwork."

There are two good exam ples of it payingoff, bot h by Mills, but each from differentsituations. The only thing that links themis that Milis took a chance in each instanceand it paid off.

• At the O lymp ic Games in Atlanta in1996, Mills was assigned to the O peningCeremonies and his panicular assignmentwas to make a picture of the O lympictorch being lit as pan of the festivities. Thefinal torch carrier had been kept a secreto

66 Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournallsm

News: Sensiüvitv, Thinking, Instlnct and Curiositv

After moving from lhecamera platformlo make a differentpicture 01First Lady HillaryRodham Clinton, Doug Milis 01 theAP saw PresidenlBill Clinton peeking into theroom,

- .,.

was there. 1 lifted my camera and an aide,who was standing nearby, signaled to menot to make a pictu re. 1 figured , what arethey going to do, yell at me?"

Mil!s made sorne pictures and the president soon walked past him and took hisspot at the head table. Milis had his different picture and taking the chance had putone up on his scorecard's win column.

After al!, he says, "if you stick with thepack, you might as wel! be a pott ed plant.You 're going to take a bunch of average

me to get off the carpet, I'm going to stayhere."

Just then, out of the comer of his eye, hespotted a member of the president's security detail in the hal!way. And, a momentlater, he spotted the president peekingaround the comer into the room.

"1 glanced over and there he was," Mil!ssaid, "standing three feet from me and hedidn't saya word or acknowledge that 1

stick to my hunch," he said, "thinking thateven if it didn' t work out perfectly I'm stillgoing to have a different picture."

Mil!s' spot was directly between thearena track and the location where the ceremonial llame would be lit. H e knew whoever carried the torch would have to passhim. H e kept thinking, the cauldron "isaboye my head, not theirs (the other photographers). Whatever happens has to comepast me."

When that moment carne, Mil!smoved into the spot he wanted,but anot her guard told him hewasri't allowed there. Milis pleadedhis case and final!y got the wordhe could stay. Moments later , thegamble paid off and a very fragileMuhammad Ali moved towa rdthat spot with the torch and Mil!swas able to make two or threeframes.

• Sticking to his spot paid off forMil!s in another venue, the WhiteH ouse.

What started as an ordinaryassignment too k on an air of mystery when the meeting was started byHillary Rodham 'Clinto n without the president there. Normal!y, everyone waits onhim to start . Milis immediately wondered ifthere was a crisis brewing or if sorne othernews was going on that had detained him.

It was so out of the ordinary that Mil!sworked his way around to an aisle, normalIy off limits, to make a picture of Mrs.Clinto n speaking, since that could turn outto be a good il!ustration for the story.

Mil!s rhought to himself, "Until they tel!

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News: SensilivilV, Thinking, Inslinel and Curiosilv

Reacting lo his instincls paid offforAP's Bob Daugherty during a 1979 visit by lhen-President Jimmy Carter to Bardstown,Ky. During a parade, Carter got out 01 his car to work the crowd and Daugherty decided against wading inta the crowd.Instead, he held his spot on the photo truck and was rewarded when Carter thrilled the crowd by climbing anta the hood.

pictures with a bunch of average guys."Years earlier, while covering a visit by

then-President Jimmy Carter to Bardstown,Ky., Daugherty fought off the urge to wadeinto the crowd and a few minutes latermade a classic campaign picture from thephoto truck.

Daugherty says it had been abad day onthe road. No good chances to make anypictures. And it looked like it was gettingworse. A few blocks into the parade, Cartergot out of his car, Daugherty says, but "hisback was to uso My first instinct was tojump the truck. Try to get into the crowd

68

and get clase. But 1 stayed the course , 1stayed on the truck."

Carter quickly got back in the car, traveled a short distance, then got back out ofthe caro "He got out and hopped on thehood of the car," Daugherty said, and thephoto truck was in the perfect position tomake a clean picture as the crowd reacted.

"Ir was not until then that 1 realized that1 had made the right decision to stay withthe truck," he says. "Sometimes you haveto give up one chance, and then you get abetter one if you stay with your plan."

Daugherty says actually making the pie-

Associaled Press Guide To Pholojournalism

News: Sensilivitv, Thinking,lnSlincl and Curiositv

Being alert paid off lorAPphotographer Marty Lederhandler when, whileheading lo an assignment in1994, he spotted several sidewalk Santascoming lo Iheaid01a bicyclisl who had been struck by a van on a busyManhattan slreet.

ture was "very simple. 1 chose one cameraand one lens, an 85 mm . It gave me sorneatm osphere, and it gave me th e speed toovercome sorne bad light. " The picture isone of Daugherty's favorites.

Reinke says any job is goin g to go betterif you're prepared. "The people who planbest from the get-go make themost out of the situatio n. 1 can' tthink of a situatio n th at planning. . .IS not gomg to lmprove yourchances."

"Pictures of tornadoes, for exampie, are made by people who havefilm in their camera. That's notime to be trying to load. A fire, aconvention, 1 really can't think ofa single situation," Reinke says,"where planning won' t pay off.Not one. Sometimes you have toalter th ose plans but you're in amuch better position to alter aplan you have already than whenyo u have no plan at aH."

Preparation is an everyday th ing, he says.You never kn ow when you' re going tohave to hit the ground running. He checkshis gear quickly every day. "1 never leavegear in the car or in th e office, so 1 handleit at least four tim es every day, at leastfrom my house to the car, and from the carto th e office, and back again. I' m alwayschecking straps for wear, and the generalcondition of the gear."

Reinke says something as simple as having adequate batteries for an assignment canbe the difference between success and failure. "1 always have a spare ni-cad in mybago 1 always have a set of fresh AA batter-

Associated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism

ies in"my bago 1 figure 1 can't do muchwithout a functioning camera."

Reinke says he often is asked by a lessprepared photograph er if he has any sparebatteries, He is quick to reply, "Yes, 1 do.And th ey are all charged." But he's lessinclined to share. It 's a sore poinr for him

and he has little patience for someone whoisn't prepared, too.

Feeling comfonable with your equipment is also important , Reinke says. A fewyears ago, as digital camera technology waschanging, Reinke was given a new cameraon th e eve of the Super Bowl. Promises ofbetter technical quality for his images, anda more responsive camera, were enough forhim to use it. H e regrets th at decision nowand vows never to make th at mistake again.

"1 will never forgive going to a SuperBowl and having a brand new camera inmy hands that 1 had never to uched,"Reinke says. H e had violated one of his

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News: Sensitivitv. Thinking, Inslincland Curiositv

ow n rules on being prepared, this time bynot feeling comfortab1e with his camera. "1rnight as well have gane out there with aKodak Instamatic, 1 know better than that.At least now 1 do."

That daily preparati on should includereading the newspaper to know what is

AP's David Longstreath golhis equipment ready, inelud·ing setting up his long lens on a tripod, and stayed alertasa two-hourOklahoma City hostage sítuatíonunwound.

going on in the world, and your com rnunity, Not just the sports pages, but the localsection so you' ll know the to pics and peopie if you're sent to the city council meetmg.

Longstreath, after covering several newsevents, carne up with a mental game heplays. It's called "What if?" It's a scenariodeveloprnent exercise he runs thraugh tohelp him make a rder out of chaos at a newsscene. It helps him calculate his options.

"As the years go by, you add experiencesto your data bank. It 's kind of a mentalgame you play where yo u try to anticipatewhat is going to happen."

Longstreath used the exercise while covering a hostage situation in a convenience

10

store. He set the scene in his mind - "Aman is in the store. H e has a hostage." Hethen looked at the options -- "Police couldsto rrn the buildin g. H e cou ld sur render. Hecould come out shooting. H e could comeout with the hostage. H e could kili himselfin the store."

By studying the situation, Longstreathwas gett ing his game plan in hand anddeciding how to cut down on the chancesof missing sornething. H e ran through a listin his mind and then to ld himself to get alon g lens ready. "1 better use this lens. Ifthis thing gets going, the adrenaline will bepumping, so get a trip od." He took thatprecaution so his pict ures would be racksteady despite the excitement.

And, he wanted to have long glass to usewithout being burdened by it if he neededto move quickly. Wit h the lens on a tripod,he could leave it easily and move with thesituation, "If 1 needed to move fast and usea short lens," he said, "1wouldn't want tocarry it (the long lens)."

Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photojournalism

News: SensilivilV. Thinking,lnSlincl and CuriosilV

H e got himself ready, "set up the f-stopand shutter speed to allow for motion andfor depth, put in a fresh roll of film, andwaited."

"Two hours later, the gunman ran outthe door," Longstreath remembers, "and 1pulled closer to the camera , hitting th e but-

ton. When 1 saw him raise th e shotgun, 1had no doubt they were going to take himout ." As Longstreath watched and keptmaking pictures, "the poli ce shot him. Atfour frames a second, 1 got 19 frames ofhim before he hit the ground." The wholeincident had come to an end in a few seconds.

Longstreath's thought and preparationput him in the position to make dramaticpictures of th e brief, but violent scene. The"what if" exercise had paid off. And,because of thi s situation, he has more information for his "data bank."

DuCille thinks you should be openminded in sizing up a scene.

"1 try to clear my mind," DuC ille says,


"andsimply say 1 am open to capturingwhatever happens in Iront of me. Everyjournalist needs to go to a scene, an event , ahappening, and take back th e essence ofwhat was th ere."

"1 th ink there is a difference betweenanticipation and preconceived notion," he

Whenthe gunman burst out the tront door, Longstreathwas ready and made the photos as police sharpshooterstired on the suspect.

says. "You go and ant icipate because youknow th at something is going to happen.You put yourself in a place where youthink it will happen. Anticipation is thekey word."

H owever, DuCille warns, "If you go inwith preconceived notions, you are goingto bring back pictures th at are aH aboutyou and what was in your head."

"That's why stereotypes flour ish," hesays, giving an example . "You show up inthe black community with a camera. Youare looking around for kids spraying in thefountain in the sum mer. You are stuckwith stereotypical images that say 'ghett o'when th ere could be a thousand otherthi ngs that can be said if you had only

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News: SensltivilV. Thinking, Inslincl and CuriosilV

opened your eyes to look and seewhat is going on."

DuCill e says Tom Hardin, whowas the director of photography atDuCille's first newspaper job inLoui sville, summed it up well.H ardin, DuCille says, told him"photography is 90% anti cipati onand 10% pressing the button at theright time."

DuCille says he has always followed that as a guide.

Like the instinct for news, experience is the best teacher.Longstreath says those first timesat an accident scene or othe r new sevents are tough. They' re crying.Their child is on the ground.T here is only one way to learnhow to deal with that , and that is"to be there."

While based in Oklahoma City,Lon gstreath was tested on thattoughness. And, he was tested ontwo fronts. O ne was how hewould cope with the evento Theother was how he would copewith having his efforts overshadowed by the wo rk of another photo grapher.

Within minutes of the explosionof the federal building there, hewas on the scene. "I got thereabout 15 minutes after the blast ."

"The first thing I saw, my first visualmemory of that day, was blood in the gutter," he remembers, "and I thought 'This isgoing to be bad.' '' Longstreath made hisphot os of the victi rns and the collapsed

12

building, then raced to a working telephone to transmito

Later, a local amateur photographer,Charles Po rte r, carne into the office withthe picture of a fireman carrying a baby.That picture would become the icon of the

Associaled Press Guide To Pholojournalism

News: Sensitivitv, Thinking, Instincl and Curiositv

event and Lon gstreath 's efforts,while heroic, would be overshadowed.

T hat can be to ugh to swallow. ButLongstreath was proud of what he haddo ne and did not feel that his efforts hadbeen dim inished.

"1 was at that com er. 1 never saw that

As photograpjlerDavid Longstreath oftheAP approachedthe sceneof the federal building bombingin Oklahoma Cityin1995, theñrst thing hesawwas blood in thegutter and he knew"this is going to bebad." Over the nextseveral minutes hemade pictures01theworst domestic terrorism inU.S. historyandthen broke awayto transmit his imagesto the world.

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photoiournalism

pictu re," he says."It cou ld havehappened before1 got th ere, Itcould have happened after 1 gotthere. If it hadbeen there and 1had been there, 1would havemade it ."

Longstreathsays, "1 had tolet it go at thatpoint," and he

r-----------"'TIT----, kept wo rkingthe story for thenext severalrnonths. "Thething that ranthrough mymind at the endof the day wasthat 1 went upthat street andinto the insanity. 1 steppedover to rsos andlimbs and everything else. 1 didthe best possiblejob 1 could have

with what 1 saw. 1 had to let it go."Longstreath has reconc iled th at one

aspect but he says he 'll never forget whathe saw that day. "Ir's never very far fromthe surface," he says. "Every April it is asad day when 1 remember where 1 was andwhat 1 was doing and the people who died.

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News: SensitivilV. Thinking,lnSlincl and CuriosilV

Aminer relaxes with a cigarette before telling waiting relatives that several miners had been killed inan explosion. For thispicture,AP photographer Rusty Kennedy used a long lens so he wouldn't intrude on the private mornsnt.

Everything changed for me.April Iv, 1995."Another kind of pressure is the need to

be sensitive to your subjects,AP photographer Rusty Kennedy tells of

photographing a coal miner resting for amoment after finding others dead in anexplosion oThe miner, who had gone intothe mine with a rescue team, was gatheringhis th oughts before telling the families ofthe trapped men that the miners had beenkilled. It was a quiet momento Kennedy

14

explains, "1 made the picture with a longlens from sorne distance. 1 didn 't have toint rude on him. 1was able to make ir, buthe was never aware of m e."

"Photographers sometimes get abadname ," Kenned y says, "and we earn it.Sometimes it's a real ugly scene when weintrude."

Even when ir's not a sensitive situationlike a funeral or accident , photographerscan intrude on a subject's personal space. It

Associated Pless Guide lo Photo¡ournalism

News: SensilivilV. Thinking,lnslincl and CuriosilV

can be during the arrival of a celebrity at anopening, ~r a famous personality goinghome from the hospital , or someone ontrial leaving a courthouse.

"Too often , we have th at 24 mm lens onthe camera," Larry Nighswander of theO hio University School of Visual Communication says, "and we've got to get intight, 1 dori't think we do it intentionallyto int rude on people, but 1 know if 1 doth at I'll have a dominant foreground. But,sometimes you have to think, is that worthintruding for?"

N ighswander thinks the number of peopie covering an event can affect how close aphotographer will approach a subject.Sometimes, he says, "if you are going tohave one large turnout, you' re afraid you 'llget blocked, so everyone goes wide and getsin tight ."

From outside th e pack, "all you see is asea of photographers. If we could all backup a few steps and make some room, wecould use alaS mm lens and get a betterpicture." N ighswander doesn't see that happening soon, though. "We're all insecureand we' re all afraid we're going to getbeat ," he says, so the wide-angle lenses stayon th e cameras. -

Daugherty questions what he calls "driveway journalism," staking out a newsmaker's house.

H e's concerned that th e presence of photographers and other news people at a subject 's home is an unfair pressure on th e persori's family. "They aren't accused of anything, but unfortunately, when you showup at a mari's house, an innocent man untilproven guilty, never mind what it might do

AssociatedPress Gulde lo Photojournalism

to th e man, think what it does to his familyin th e community. That 's where 1 have alittle problem. I' rn not shy, but it doesn 'ttake much to put yourself in his place. Itcould be me. y ou are in front of one family' s home creating an atmos phere that doesn 't normally exist there."

Reinke says he's changed over the years.Cove rage of a bus crash, and th e aítermath

Bob Daugherty of theAPcallsthis "driveway journalism,'staking out a person's home or office when they are in thenews with no regard to guilt or innocence. In thispicture byphotographerJuanaAnderson,suspected spy Felix Blochis surrounded by photographers and newspeople ina parknear his Washington home.

of the accident that killed two dozenyoungsters, was tough for him. "When youhave two kids of your own, a story likethat begins to wear on you."

"In th e beginning it was a great deal easier," Reinke said uf his early days in th ebusiness. "When my camera was in front ofmy eye, 1 was going to squeeze the buttonuntil somebody stopped me or 1 hadenough." That's changed for him though."1 think that my tendency now is to not

15

News: SensitivilV.Thinking.lnstinct and CuriosilV

Sitting near a rose she placed on a Long Island beach, a woman moums lhe loss of friends who were crew members on aTWAplane thal crashed in 1996. AP photographer Mark Lennihanused a long lens sohewouldn'l disturb the woman.

invade privacy as rnuch as 1 once rnighthave.

"1 really felt grieved out at the end of it[the bus crash coverage]. A full week ofcerneteries, churches and funeral hames,and so rnuch rnourning. 1 I¡ad come to theend of rny line on what 1 could take," hesays. "The answer is to take a few days offand haId rny own kids and think abouthow fortunate 1 arn. That helps. Still, 1think that grief is one of the rnost difficultthings to pho tograph," Reinke says, "andeach photographer has ro draw their ownpersonal lines on what space they will treadon and where they'Il stop. Should 1 have ornot? You need ro rnake those decisions on

16

your ow n."While covering a rnining disaster in east

ern Kentucky, Reinke talked quietly withthe trapped rniners' farnilies at the scene."Ir was a case of gett ing ro know the farnilies," he said. Reinke had worked to securetheir trust by being open with thern, askingwhen he could rnake pictures, and beinghelpful when they needed a hand withsornething. Later, they invited hirn intotheir hornes, ro the church services and rothe burials.

And, even after he had gained their trust ,Reinke still was respectful of thei r situationand rnade pictures in their hornes and at thefunerals only when the farnilies felt corn-

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photolournalism

News: SensilivilY, Thinlling, Inslincl and CuriosilY

Knowing when tomakea pieture and when not to is as importanl as knowing lhe meehanieal aspeets al lheeran.Whi leeovering the vigil lar lrapped miners in lhe mountains al Kentueky, and the subsequent funerals when reseueattemptspreved lo be futile, AP photographer Ed Reinke talked with the lamilies and built a trust with them.

fortable with him being there.Reinke says the decisions come quickly,

almost autornatically when the scene isunfolding in front of you. "The breakingspot news, like Stanley Foreman 's picturesof th e kids falling from th e fire escape," arehandled by instinct. "H e didn't have any


choice but to make th ose pictu res. Youmake thern because it is happ ening so fast,you don't have tim e to think about it."

The tough decisions, Reinke says, are"the ones you have tu sort out in yourmind. "

TI

Features and Portraits:Seeing the World Around Os

Features.Seeing something th at others dori't see.

Bringing a slice of life to the readers. Making something special out of the ordinary.Something close to the news, but with atwist to 11.

Sometimes it can be a single picture.Something from down the street shown inan int erestin g way. Something that makesyou chuckle.

Other times, a feature can be a packageof ph ot os, A look at a troublesome situation in your town or on the other side ofthe world. It can bring a topic wort h studying or something more whimsical int o yourhome.

And, po rt raits .

A straight headshot, almost passpon stylein presentation. O r a more complex picturesuch as an environmenta l portrait, a pictureshowing something about the person's lifeor wo rk. Both types of ph ot ography bringa different look to a newspaper filled withnews and sports pictu res.

Ed Reinke calls feature phot ography "seeing the world aro und us." Reinke, who isone of those photographers who can go outand bring a good feature home when ot hersstruggle, says, "I 'rn not sure it 's an insightinto life. It 's that I'm willing to watchthings unfold ."

Reinke is patient. "I'rn willing to waitthree or four hours to make a good pictu reof a mundane scene. With planni ng and

Opposite page: Robert Bukaty saw a notice about theannual Milbridge Days in the Maine town and tucked it away. Monthslater he pulled it outand checkedoutlhe1999 cod fish relays, where teams dress in joulweather fishing gear and carry a20-pound fish over a30-yardcourse. What resulted was akeeper 01 a photo tor Bukaty.

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photolournalism 19

Features and Portraits: Seeing the World Around Us

patienc e, you can make a silk purse out of a#

sow's ear ." Or at least a humorous pictureof sorne hogs cooling off in a mud hole togo with the day's weather story.

David Longstreath, from his location in

Among the essays AP pholographer David Longstreath producesfrom hisbase in Bangkok are sorne based on lhelougher side 01 lile,This photo 01 a Cambodianchild, infected withthe HIVvirusand abandoned al birth, is fromanessayLongslrealhdid in 1999 ata facility in Phnom Penh.

Bangkok, often does Ieature packages ontopics that aren 't so pleasant. But, they areimportant stories that need to be toldo

8U

Other times, he works on stories thataren't so ha rsh but are just as informative- a travel piece on Vietnam, or Cam bodia25 years after the end of the Khmer Rougereglme.

Either kind brings to readers a differen tpart of the world.

"The best ones seem to be the ones younever thought would be out there," AmySancetta says. In her role as a national photographer for the Associ ated Press, Sancettasometimes takes a look at th e lighter side.Other times she handles essays on moreserious topics like child labor.

Ir does seem strange at times to her to

make that kind of switch. "In sorne ways itdoes seem a little surreal," she says . "Youare out in a field with a é-year-old pick ingbeans when two days before I was at a yoyo factory. You need to be able ro prettyquickly change gears and lock into yoursubject ."

But, she says, if you keep yo ur aim onthe human aspect, whic h is rea11y what it isa11 abo ut , it wi11 work. "Ir is a11 abo ut peopie," Sancetta says. "You are movin g fro mone situat ion where you show yourhumanity to ano ther situation where youdo."

Longsrreath looks around when he is onnews assignmems. H e t ries to find a picturethat is away from the hard news situationbut that sti11 is a good image that can bet ied to a story. "You give thern the breadand butter," he says. "But at sorne pointyou have to look beyond that ."

H is photo of a young st reet urchin inCalcutta is just that kind of picture. Whilecovering the fun eral of Mother Te resa,

Associated Press Gulde lo Photojournalism

Features and Portraits: Seeing IheWorld AroundUs

The sighls and sounds come al you al 300 mph in India, says photographer David l.onqstreaíh 01the AP. Bul, lar just a mamentwhilecovering lhe funeral 01Molher Teresa inCalcutta,Longslrealh was able lo isolale lhe mourning slreel urchin with his handtul 01 Ilowers.

Longstreathspotted theyoung boy making his way to

the churchwhere the viewing was beingheld.

India is "oneof the most difficult places Ihave everworked,"Longstreathsays. "But aIsoone of the mostvisually stimuIating. The coIors, the smells,the sounds, thepeople. It reallycomes at you at300 miles-perhour."

Thar's whatmakes his picture of theyoung boy sospecial. General-"ly, he says, any-. .time you raiseyour camerayou draw acrowd. But justfor a rnornentthat day,Longstreath was able to isolate the youngster who had caught his eye. The picture isbetter because of its simplicity. The readers'


eyes Iock into the eyes of the youngster."There was a mist that was falling early

in the morning. He was just there. He

81


Afeature picture with a good story pegoJusI what a lot 01 picture editorsare asking foroAP photographer Mark Duncan silhouetleda bridgeengineer against the backdrop 01 Cleveland'sTerminal Tower asshe practiced her cli01bing techniques with colleagues.

...-------....- .....--....------.. tha t catchesyou."

Reinke, whohas a knack forslice-of-life features, says photograph ersshould make feature plcturesthat people canrelate to, soth ey 'll say, "1remember when1 did th at when 1was a kid ."

"Feature pietures realIy elicita response fromthe publicoYouhave to realizeth at most peoplenever get th eirpicture in thenewspaper, andwhen they do, agood percentagewould rathernot," he says."When we can

go out and make pleasant pictures of peopledoing things that are interesting, it 's a plusfor the people we serve."

But Alex Burrows isri't so sure of thelight, stand-alone feature picture's place inth e newspaper. "Newspapers should try toget away from stand-alones and make pietures pair up with stories more," he says.

Editors at his newspaper, Tbe VirginianPilot in N orfolk, "have come to the conclu-

looked lost. Itwas obvious,"Longstreathsays, "he wantedto go pay hisrespects. H e hadthis smalI bouquet of flowers."

Longstreathsays anyone canlook at theyoung man andknow, "while hemay be poorand desperate,he is stilI ahuman being. Itwas his feelingthat thi s person(Mother Teresa)was very Important to him. Youhave to see itthrough hiseyes, too."

It happ enedquickly. "1 don'tremembershooting morethan tw o frames. That was alI 1 needed.There was no reason to work the situatio nany harder. When 1 saw it through theviewfinder, 1 knew it was the moment 1needed."

Those subtle moments are the difficultones to catch, but the ones that realIy payoff, he says. "Ph otographing out-of-controlemotion," like at a fune ral or disaster, "iseasy to do. The subtle emotion is the one

82 Associaled Press Guide To Phololournalism

Features and ponraits: Seeing the World Around Us

sion that this is not what we want to do ,"he says. "We want to have pictures runwith sto ries." Burrows' paper "rarely hasone on the cover," and if ir plays a standalone feature at aJl, "ir's usuaJly inside."

When Lar ry Nighswander was the pieture edito r at The Cincinnati Post, the staffcaJled feature pictu res "the cit izen of thed "ay.

"T hey like to take an average Joe andmake him a star for the day," he says."Something funny, outlandish, a juxtaposit ion , a relationship or a lifestyle that peoplearen't aware of. You're giving a reader achance to be a star for th e day. Those arethe ones that people cut out and put ontheir refrigerator, not the news pictu re butthe quiet featu re. People like to step backand just enjoy their comrnunity ."

But J. Bruce Baumann of the EvansviJle,Ind. , Courierand Press says, "It just can 't bea pre tty picture. They reaJly don't have anyplace in newspapers. That 's not to say thereareri't good feature pictures to run," hesays, "but th ey need to express sorne kindof informatio n that is useful."

"There are so many things th at can bephotographed that are connected with reallife events in the'community," Baumannsays. "Kids jumping over sprinklers or dogswith funny sunglasses create a credibilityproblem. How can someone (the photographer) be take n seriously?"

Reinke's picture of a farmer painting hisbarn in rural Kent ucky showed a typicalcountry scene, a chance to step back andenjoyo The photo was made interesting bythe cho ice of angles and lenses. But, itdidn't just happen.

Associated Press Guide To Phot%urnallsm

H e says he found ir the way he finds 90percent of his featu re pictures. "1 was driving down a road and saw a new barn witha ladder, but there was no one around. 1knew someone was going to paint that

Picture edilors debate the usefulness 01 standalone fealurepictures. APphotographer Ed Reinke. whohas a knack forthe slice-of-life look at the lighterside ofour world, thinksthey have a placeand saw lhis scene whiledriving near hishome in ruralKentucky.

barn, so I went on 15-20 miles and had aniced tea. Then I carne back down the roadand the farm er was painting."

Reinke talked to the farme r about hisnew barn, got the man comfortable withhim being there and "about two hours later1 made the picture just the way I wanted. "n.

Baumann thinks that may not be a goodinvestment of time. "Rarely wiJl a phot ographer just 'find' a picture. That kind ofaimless, directionl ess phot ograph y doesn'thave a place." When you look at salariesand car expenses, Baumann says, "ir' s a

83

Features and Portraits: Seeing Ihe World Around Us

While ata Bath, Maine, shipyard on another story, AP photographer RobertBukaty made thisstriking photo 01 a worker dwarted bya ship's screw. Bukaty made the picture and pegged il tothe ship's launching later inthe week.A good eye lar an interesling angleand the righl choice 01lenses gave the picture drama. The news peg earned lt space innewspapers looking lar a íeaturewith a purpose.

waste of resources to have them go outthere without any dir;ction." He says photographers should find a good topic,research it, then shoot it. "That offers a lotmore opportunity for pictures with content."

Rob KozloH of the Detroit Free Pressagrees with Baumann. "It trivializes whatthe photographers are doing for the paper, 'he says. "That may be a little harsh but Ithink it is true. They are journalists, too,out gathering information for the readers."

"I want everything in the paper to haveimportance. To have a reason to be there,'KozloH says. "I dori't want it just to be afound situation. That is a waste of photog-

84

raphers' resourccs.""It is all in the planning," he says.To help with that planning, the Free Press

picture desk maintains a tickler file ofevents that are coming up, and on slowdays, they can dip into that file to come up

~~~TIITI with an idea thatti. at least has sorne

peg to an eventof communitymterest.

Or, they tryto think ofsomething firmto work oninstead of justcrUlsmg."You 've got togo out and do a

.-,.~ weather pieture," he says, ifthat is the newsof the day. Buton a blisteringhot day insteadof heading for aswimming pool,he says, "Howabout something

on the hottest job in the city? Working onatar crew on the street or in a hotellaundry. It is the kind of picture that has tohave information, has to have a purpose."

Reinke thinks there is a place for featurepictures without always having a news pego"I don't think pictures have to be prizewinners to be good. Making pictures forthat day's edition is what we are paid to do,a nice picture on a slow day."

Associated Press Guide lo Photoiournalism

Features and ponraits: Seeing Ihe World Around Us

Fora 1974 series 01 portraits01 the homeless in Philadelphia, AP's RustyKennedy worked on the essay astime permitted. The result was strikingphotos inciuding this one 01anolder man with his dinner, a bowl01soup.

Jeanne Mel1, the director of photography :ti th e Wilmington, Del.,Neus-journal, agrees with Reinkethat those "slice of life" pictu reshave a place. "1 real1y enjoy th efact that sorne of th e newspaper'sphotographers can come back withsomething you hadn 't planned onto real1y make th e paper zing."

"1 think th e paper would be realIy boring if we didn 't have standalone features," she says. "Featuresare a good way to reflect the community." And , a way to "get pe0

pIe into th e paper who would notnormal1y be pan of it."

Rusty Kennedy also enjoys features, but he especial1y likes longterm projects th at have sornedepth, the kind of feature photography that Burrows and Baumannadvocate.

Kennedy once spent "a couple ofrnonths, maybe ten hours a week,"visiting a group of homeless shelters and photographing th e peoplewho lived in th em. Kennedy saysth e project started almost by accidento "1 was down in that area onanother assignment and saw thepeople sitting outside. They shouted to me to 'take my pictu re' and 1 startedto talk to them. They were interesting peopie. 1 started going down th ere, start edwandering around."

The project, which was shot severa! yearsago, was an eariy glimpse at a growingnational probl em. "They were homeless,"Kennedy says, "before people real1y talked

Associated Press Gulde To Phot%urnalism

about th at."Kennedy brought pictures with him

each time he visited, but "they never werereal1y interested in seeing the pictures.More the attention of me having interest inthern." That project "made ten good pietu res. That was one of th e favorite thingsthat I've done. It had sorne depth. So much

85

fealUres and Portraits: Seeing the World Around Us

86 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photolournalism

Features and Portrails: Seeing Ihe World Around Us

ehaRuinu uearsCovering the lull spectrumolchildhood


One day, she's photographing thestruggle 01 children working to help support their lamilies. Alew days later, sheis making pictures 01 youngsters preparing lor a recital or taking part in anEaster egg hunt.

Amy Sancetta says, "You do need topretty quickly be able to change gearsand lock into your subject."

But she linds that change 01 paceisn't difficult lor her. "Shitting gears isn'tall that hard lor me because it is allabout people. You 're moving Irom onesituation where you show your humanityto another situation where you do."

81

Features and ponraits: Seeing the World Around Us

of what we do is for the mornent."Eric Risberg also preférs the feature pack

age.Risberg uses much of his time preparing

himself for the assignment. "1 appro achthem with lots of research. 1'11 go out,spend a day, try to find out everything 1can about the subject. And 1'11 keep goingback after the initial shoot to fi11 in anygaps." Risberg tries "taking a second, or athird , or a fourth look at things" to roundout his stories,

He used this approach for a package onbik e messengers. "It start ed out where 1 justhung out at the office and saw them dispatched, taking that time to understand theoperation, meet people. Then another day 1actually did the job o1 got on a mountainbike and rode with the messenger and 1 gotto see the little alleys and streets."

"It was a success because 1 was involved,"Risberg says, "and that also is true of thesailing package," a set of photographs on aSan Francisco-area entry in the Arnerica' sCup competition. For that package, Risberg sailed with the crew four times,inc1uding one sail where he wo rked as agrinder on the boato "1 didn 't make any pietures that first day, 1 just took-notes anddid what they do, and came up with ideas."

Risberg went back out again three times,making pictures on those trips. "For thatpackage 1 wanted a un ique view of whatthey were doing, the boat and the men. "

Risberg wanted one picture that capturedthe who le sto ry . "1 thought 1 could do thatby putting a camera on top of the mastlooking down, but 1 couldn't get it towo rk. So, 1 agreed to be at some risk, and 1

88

was hoisted up to th e top in a bosun'schair."

Risberg had one hand on a guide wireand one hand on a camera, bur despite thedanger, he thought ir was more than worthit, "That picture summed it up. It showedyou a different view of the boat, and got

Near the top of Ihe rnast, Eric Risberg of the AP hung on toa safety line with one hand while holding his camera withthe olher lo make this 1986picture ofa racing yachl.

th e point across about all of th e men ittakes lO run a boat like this and the teamwork involved."

Essays may be done on many topics.Essays can even be done on different

Assoclated Press Guide To Photolournalism

Features and Portraits: SeeiDg IheWorld ArOUDd Us

..

aspects of a single subject .

A hospice forAIDS victims inno rthern Thailand wasLongst reath'sfirst picturepackage after hetransferred toBangkok from a'post in O klahoma City,

Longstreath heard about th e hospice andchecked the bureau' s files to see what hadbeen done on it, "They had done this particular hospice before," Longstreath says,"but the pictures were more of the mo nkswho ran the place, not someth ing central toan individual patient the re." It was a troublesome story. "Once they got to the hospice, there was no hope left."

Associaled Press Gulde To Pholoiournalism

He spent th efirst couple ofdays at the hospice gathering. .lmpresslOnswithout makingpictures. Afterthat visit, Longstrea th says, "1 wrote a lotof my thoughts, my impressions. 1 spentthe longest time thin king about this."

,

89

Features and Portraits:Seeing the World Around Us

You can'thelp but smile when you look al this tealurepicturebyPaulSakuma 01 lhe AP. Arriving early tor a 1993 sumo tournament in SanJose, Calií., Sakuma captured the mock battle between the youngsterand a wrestler weighing more than 500 pounds.

aim Ior," she says. "When 1 do go out, 1 tryto have spots th at 1 head for - a park, apool. O nce 1 looked up in th e phone booka place th at makes ice to make a feature to

match th e hotweathe r story."

"You candrive aroundand never findanything," shewarns. "It 's niceto have sornegoals, or you 'l!find yourselfreal!y frustrat-d "e .For her multi

picture featureprojects,Sancetta keeps arunning list ofideas she hasgotte n from avariety of places."Pan of it is justbeing interestedin things,"Sancetta says. "If1 ever think ofanything, 1 writeit down. O r if 1

'-------- ---------- ---------' see something in

a book or magazine that sets offan idea, 1 make anote of it ."

Sancetta has been doing these featurepackages for several years and says thehardest pan is coming up with the idea.

asslgnments areshot over a longperiod of tim e,or have an exot ic dateline.There are th edaily needs tofil!, like Reinke'sbarn painter,and others , Eventhen, a littlethought goes along way.

Sancetta says. , .1t s someu meseasier to have an idea in th e back of yo urhead, even when cru ising for a daily featu re. "1 try to have something out there to

That helped him clarify th e therne of thestory , which he not only photographed butalso wrote. "When 1 went back to photograph it," he says, "1 had not a shopping listbut a clearer ideaof what it waslike, what 1 was

. "seelllg.Longstreath

ended up shooting for tw o

days. "1 remember thinking 1needed to shootmore," he says,"b ut then 1 wentth rough the filmand realized that1 had what 1needed ."

N ot al! feature

90 Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photojournallsm

Features and ponraits: Seeing theWorld Around Us

AP photographerAmy Sancetta surrounded Don Featherstone, the ereator 01 the pink flamingo lawn ornament, with his lavoriteproduct lorawhimsical1998 portrait. Fealherstonecreated the pink American icon asa young designerIresh out 01coliege more than 40 yearsago.

"But I just carne up with another list wit hthirty ne; things," she says. "Sorne willwo rk out . Sorne won't, Sorne I 'll do. SorneI wo n't end up doin g."

One example of Sance tta's work is a lookat the man who invented the pink flamingolawn ornamento

Sancetta read a one-paragraph story, "atiny blurb," about th e company in an inflight magazine while traveling to anotherassignment. Thestory had only asingle picture ofth e owners, butit piqued hermt erest.

"I called themup ," she says,and arranged togo to th e factoryto meet with theowner and hiswife. "I wentout and talkedto th em, sawhow they makethern, and heardhis story." Thestory "just kind ''of grew from th ere."

The key picture in the essay was of theowner surrounded by his products. An offbeat portrait of sorts. Sancetta says she wasable to make that picture by developing agood rapport with him . "The reason I wasable to get Don Feathersto ne to climb intothis enclosed area and be covered by pinkflamin goes was because we had such a greatday togethe r," she says. "We really hit it

Associaled Press Gulde To Pholojoumalism

off. Re was a really wacky guy. He wasgame for it!"

Another picture story of Sancetta 's wason a Vermont summer camp for dogs andtheir owners. She calls the pictures and textshe wr ote, "one of the silliest stories I everdid."

These two examples turned into funlooks at sorne not-very-serious topics, butSancetta got back a stack of clips from each

package. "¡ gotback dozens anddozens of fullpage clips fromaround thecount ry ," shesays. Differentpapers used different combinations of thestory and pie-tures, but "it gotused again andagain and again."

. " 11;:.;..;....::11 "There is aplace for all ofit," she says."Newspapers aredoin g every

thing they can to keep the readership interested," and Sancetta thinks that these lighthearted features help balance the bad newsthat is part of our wo rld every day.

While Sancetta does lots of research,when she can, on many of her topics, shealso likes to go with th e flow as she makesher pictures. "You have to think aboutyour story," she says. "How you are goingto go at it. But you have to be open to

91

Features and Portraits: Seeing,the World AroundUs

what's going on around you. You have toleave yourself open fo; things that you

, . . "can t antIcIpate."Part of shooring a story is being sur

prised yourself," Sancetta says. But she alsosays you'lI have a better chance of winninga subject's trust if you can show th atyou've got sorne knowledge of who th eyare and what they do. "You need to be ableto roll wit h the changes," she says, "butyou should know something about yoursubject , You should find sorne way torelate to your top ic that shows your subjectyou are interes ted in them. That just makesth ern want to share with you more." Andthe payoff is often times like that fiamingoportrait of hers.

Jerome Delay of the AP 's Paris sta ffwarns that yo u have to be open to whatever happens. "Don' t go in with a list of photographs," he says. "You must not controlthe situation but you do need to put your·self in the situation ." Patience, he says, isth e key.

AP photographer Geo rge Widman agreeswith Sancetta that you need to have sorneidea of where you wa nt to end up . H e sayshis feature hunts are "a mix, cru ising andsomething on my mind. It 's á lot harder tofind a feature when you have noth ing onyour mind." Widman says he also tries tothink of a peg .. "What 's the weather?What' s the news? Ir's not always easy tomake a feature that has any relevance."

But his pictu re of a homeless man standing ovcr a steaming grate to keep warm afew days after Christmas was extrernely relevant. "The key is the date," Widman says."Campaigns for the homeless always stop

92

after Christmas .? "H e remembers "it was a really cold day,

and these guys are still there, They didn 'tgo away with th e Ch ristmas wrappings."Widman made a picture of one man and "1talked with him, tried to get him to go to a

Coming on the heels 01Ihe Christmas season, thls portrait01a Philadelphia homeless man keeping warm over asteam grale drewa 10101inlerest. George Widman 01 theAPpholographed Ihe man, Ihen triad lo lalk him into goingtoa shelter on a verycold day,

shelter, bu t he refused." Widman said it wasa tough shoot. "1 used a 180 mm, at a 60thwide open, and 1 was shaking because itwas so cold."

But the picture wo rked and was widelydisplayed. "It was very early morning light ,gold light, and th e business person walkingby in the background put it all to gether for

"me.

Assoclated PressGuide To Photojournalism

Fealuresand Porlrails: Seeing lhe World AroundUs

Elise Amendola 01 theAP's Boston bureauphotographed anannual evento a census 01 homeless peopie in the city duringthe Christmasholidays, bu! it turned outto be a better story

thanusual when lheestranged brother 01aman inher picturescame lorward andsought her help inlocating his homelesssibling.

Sometimes a simple feature assignmentturns into a good news story, too.

An annua l event in Boston involves themayor going around with workers taking acensus of homeless people. AP photographer Elise Amendola had done the assignmentbefore when it pop ped up again on a coldDecember day,

Assoclated PressGuldeToPhotolournallsm

This one turned out a little differently,though.

While making the rounds with themayor, Amendola photograp hed a horneless person in front of a festive ChristmassignoShe put out that one and two others.It seemed like a pretty rou tine assignment.The next morning, a newspaper in the

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Features and Portraits: Seeing ~he World Around Os

Boston suburbs, th e Wor.cester Telegram,ran the picture of the man in front of th eslgn.

Amendola got a call in the office from aTelegram reader. H e told her that th e manin the picture was a long lost brother. "Canyou help me find him?" he asked. Theyarranged to meet the next night, Amendolatook him to where she had made th e pieture but the man wasn't there. After askingothe r men in the area, it didri' t take long tofind him . "We found him within 45 min-

" hutes, s e says.The homeles s man didri't recognize his

brother for a couple of seconds. But, whenhe did, they hugged, and it was an emotional scene.

Amendola stood a few feet away andmade pictures of the reunion. It was "thatkind of moment where you have to stayfocused and calm," she says. "You are anticipato ry , but you must remain dispassionate .You have to do that, or you can' t shoot."

She warns, "You can't get caught up inthe morn ent ."

The reunion sto ry got wide play and thefamily had another a few days later withnational television there. The intimacy ofth at first reunion had been 1091: th ough. Itwas, "so much better when it was one onone. So mu ch mo re real," Amendola says.

Weeks after the Exxon Valdez oil spill inAlaska, John Gaps III was assigned to do afeature on ir.

Gaps wanted to make a picture showingthe effect of the oil on the fish and vegetation under th e surface. H e thought back toa picture he' d seen in college of a diverentering the water. It had been made by

94

MV lirsl camera;'Alex Burrows: He had lo borrow acamera lor college and gol his firstcamera, a Nikon F, alter getting oul 01school. He slill has it, displayed in hisbalhroom al home. The bathroornserves as Burrows' "museum" and hasseveral ilems lrom his career.

larrv NighSwander: "My first camerawas an Argus C3 boughl al a drugslore wilh lip money Irom deliveringIhe Fosloria Times-Review."

Garv Kemper: "1 earned it selling seedpackels. When I had sold enough lowin somelhing, I chose a simpleKodak box camera."

partially submerging a camera, using a fishtank as a shell.

Gaps thought this might work. "1 wentto the pet store and bought an aquarium,and carried the thing for four days. 1 triedit once and it didn't work because therewas too much oil. So, a couple of days later1 was out on an island and it looked like abetter situation. 1 got down in the waterand balanced the aquarium on a rock ."

"1 had to get the camera as far back aspossible from the glass to work," Gapssays, "since the tank's glass worked muchlike a ground glass in a large-format camera .1 was actually shooting the glass." Gapsused a 24 mm lens and made a series ofexposures.

Associated Press Gulde To Photolournalism


Gett ing a.usable density on the film wastough. "It ;'as overcast," he says. "That wasa prerequisite for doing it to get th e exposure in a usable range. 1 tilted the cameradown for an exposure readin g in the water,then up to meter the sky, and 1 split thedifference. It was about a three-stop ran ge."Gaps shot the scene of underwat er life andmen working on the shore at f1 6 to get thedepth of field he needed.

Even with al! of that work,there was some disappointment."It wasn 't exactly what 1 wanted,but 1 didn 't think it was going toget any better," Gaps says.

Reinke says there are no rulesfor feature photography when itcomes to equipment or film. "It'swhatever the situation warrants,"he says. As a general rule, Reinketries to make the picture at th eslowest possible film speed, butsometimes he'll use an ASA1600rating in the fog, "to bring up the contrastand give the picture a certain effect ."

Nighswander says th at when he wasshooting daily, he used long lenses to keepfrom being spott ed. "1 found myself usingtelephotos SOpercenr of th e time," to control th e depth of field for cleaner pictures,and rnost importantly for obtaining candidpictures. "As soon as the photographer isspotted," Nighswander says, "the spontane-. . "ity IS gone.

Sancetta agrees you use what you need,and thinks the simple approach is th e best."1 try to do things as simply as possible.y ou can gizmo yourself right out the windo w."

Associated Press Guide To Photoiournalism

Reiñke explains that "ours is to interpretwhat we see int o a mood or feeling. Youhave to choose whatever lens and film thatallows you to do th at."

"Feature photography is a prime way tostep back and enjoy life, the quietmornents," says N ighswander. "In our rushto report the news, we sometimes overlookwhat th e reader wants, Every edito r in

APphotographer Rusly Kennedy used available light froma nearby window and exposed lar the highlights lo give texlure lo a portraít 01artíst Carolyn Wyeth. Aslow shutterspeed helped accentuate thewispy cigarette smoke.

America needs to evaluare th at."While featu res sometimes catch people

unaware, the portrair is besr made whenthe photographer and th e subject are wo rking together.

Reinke says there's been a big changesince he started nearly thirty years ago. "Inthe early '70s when 1 started at a newspaper , we didn 't want to run pictu res of peopIe looking into the camera." H e explainsthat "that's different now. 1 like to havethem look at me right rhrough the camera,

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Features and Portraits: Seeing Ibe WorldAround Us

96

Portraits can take on a variety 01 looks. Differentphotographers have different styles and usedifferenttechniques. The resulting photographseach drawyour eye in different ways. EliseAmendola used sidelighting tohighlighl thecigar smoke of Boston Celtics executive RedAuerbach (above right). Wyatt Counts sometimes steps back, as in the thisportrait 01youngactress Anna Paquin (above left)while sometimes he uses a wide angle lens and gets inclose with his subjecllike inhis portrait 01thepersonal barber lo the British royal family (Ieft) .

AssociatedPress Gulde To Pholojournalism

Features and Portraits:Seeing Ihe World Around Us

Other times, Counts changes his perspective tobring interest to his portraits as in this photo 01actress Nicole Kidman (Ieh).Again varying hisstyle, Counts used a more straight-on approachina portrait 01Alexander Lieberman with paintings he has done (bottom). Amy Sancetta useda globe as a prop and a high perspective toclean up the background and emphasize thesize 01 a youngster whose essay on hopes anddreams ("1will save the world with my supergoodness") had been included ina book(below).

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Features aud ponraits: Seeing Ihe World Around Us

liked the photo. Counts had a relaxed subject, and soon had his picture, too.

Sancetta's portrait of a scient ist doingresearch on the effect of light on people'smoods is a simple, st raightforward picture,

~~~--~-~---~~~~----, But , by usingthe light available to her ,Sancetta madean eye-catchingplcture.

When she firstarrived at theassignment , th escientis t hadalready enlistedthe aid of a volunteer to modelhis invention a hat with alight built intothe rimo Sancettamade a fewframes of thatsetup, with th e

- - = "'-='-' scientis t "help-To iIIustrate a story on a scientist studying the effecl 01Iight onpeople's ing" the volunmoods,Amy Sancetla 01 lhe AP had lhe man wearthe specially rigged teer with thehelmet. sancená made a simple portrait but, bypaying attention to lhedetails, alsomade an excellenl illustration torthe story. headgear. That

wo uld have beenthe picture to make several years ago. But,Sancetta wanted to more closely t ie the scientist to the helmet witho ut the awkwardset-up look of the two-person po se.

To show the effect of the light bui lt intothe helmet 's rim, Sancett a first had the scientist turn on the battery-p owered light ,then turn off al! of the other lights in th eroom. The result was a wel!-exposed pie-

to talk to me through tire'camera, to talkwith th eir hands toward me."

New York freelance photographer WyattCo unts involves his subjects in making thepicture better. "Rather than for ce a setupon a subject, 1t ry to get th emto g,ve me asmuch input aspossible," hesays. Often,Counts says, itworks bestwhen you endup "assisting"the subject.

For a portraitof artist-authorLaurent deBrunhoff, whocont inues thecharacter Babarthe elephant thatwas created byhis father,C ounts firstthought of getting one of D eBrunhoff'sbooks, or aBabar poster, to use as a prop. But he wasafraid that might be awkward.

So he brought a pen to the photo sessionand talked wi th the artist about what it islike to draw Babar. D e Brunhoff thenquickly sketched a likeness of Babar on hishand, using the thumb as the trunk.

C ount s made a test exposure on Polaroidfilm and gave it to De Brunhoff, who real!y

98 Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism

Features and Portraits: Seeing theWorld Around Us

APphotographer Robert Bukaty wanted to make a portrait Ihat would reflect thebasic elements 01 the Iife 01 young entertainer Slaid Cleaves. He took Cleaves out tolhe misty parking lotaftsr the late show and perched himon the lender 01his wellwom 1974 Dodge Dart.

To quickly establish a working relat ionship with the subject, Sancetta simply asksth em to explain what they do. She says th atgets thern talking and relaxed, while at thesame time giving herself ideas for pictures.

But, Sancetta makes an irnportant point

when she tells of her last step before making the picture, "I trace rny eye around theoutside of the frarne, slowly around thecomer to see if it wo rks, or if I've leftunwanted dead space. If you do that, it willtell you if the picture is not balanced. I' rnreal!y conscious of what space is open andwhat space has something in it. Forinstance, if I have an open space on th e left,I try to balance it with an open space onthe right. You can balance empty space thesarne way you can balance busy space."

tu re of the.scient ist's face, but th e shape ofthe safari-type helmet was lost against thedark background.

Sancetta solved that problem by puttingth e scient ist on a stool in an open doorwaywith all of the hall lights on behind him.The halllights provided """'..,.....",._-_-~~~~~~----__,_-~-___th e separation needed tobring out th e helmetwitho ut losing th e effectof the light built into thebrim of the hato

Sancetta also couldhave provided tha t separat ion by lighting thebackground with a strobeset to put out at least astop less light than th eface was getting from th efluorescent tube. If shehad intended to use th epictu re as a color illustration, she could have alsoput a gel on the strobe tointroduce a color to thebackgro und, perhaps balancing it with th e fluorescent of th e helrnet fixture.

But , since th e picture was intended prirnarily for black and white use, the hallwaylights were a simple solution that workedwell.

"My style is to surround people with th ethings that distinguish th ern from otherpeople," Sancetta says. "When you go int osorneone's environment to shoot a portrait,there is something around the subject thatmakes thern specia1. Everyone has sornething that is a symbol of what they do."

Associated Press Gulde lo PhotoJournallsm 99


looked down on him . There must havebeen 600 keys. It made a nice picture, nodead space. He 's surrounded by the keyboard."

"It's a good example of looking for a different angle for a portrait instead of beingeye to eye with the subject," she says.

For the most part, none of thepictures required anything fancy.Just a kn owledge of how to makelight and composition work to th ephotographer's advantage. And, togive the reader something moreinteresting to look al.

While Sancetta 's picture of th eJI--¡ scient ist is an interesting illustra

tion, sometimes edito rs are just~_"'i1 looking for a good one-column...._~ picture to go with a sto ry.

The simple headshot takes sornecare, th ough, to make sure th e pieture is a good one and can be easilyreproduced.

The first item is to find a neutralbackground, one that wo n't distraer or isn't too dark . A busybackground pulls the reader's eyeaway from the subject. A darkbackground makes it difficult toseparate the subject from the backdrop.

If you're stuck with a busy background, try to bring the subjectsorne distance away from it, anduse a wider aperture on your lens

to th row the background out of focus.If you have no alternative to a dark back

ground, use Pizac's method and try lightingthe background with a strobe, or moving a

on the ground, you can stand on atable."For a portrait of an organist, Sancettachecked with the subject, the n took off hershoes and stood on top of the organ . "I

For a zany 1999 portrail 01 l ampa Bay Devil Rays marketing vice president MikeVeeck,AP photographer EneGay took a high angle andVeeck reclined on Ihe leam's logo on Ihe field. Veeck is lheson01famed baseball wizard Bill Veeck, no stranger tocrazyslunts lo help fillthe slands soIhe offbeat pose wenl well wilhIhe story,

Sometimes you can't move the subject tomake a better picture. If the subject can'tmove, then it 's up to the photographer.Sancetta suggests changing your perspectiveon sorne assignments to give th e reader adifferent view.

That isn't difficult, she says. "You can lay

100 Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photolournalism

features and Portraits:Seeing Ihe World Around Us

nearby lamp into position to give a rim-litquality to-the subject. Fill the subject's facewith a strobe set to put out slightly morelight than your rear illumination. This willprovide the separation you need for goodreproductio n in the newspaper.

H ave the subject sit, if possible. And,have the subject move forward to the edgeof the seat, so their shoulders dori't sag. Or,have them face you with their armscrossed. That is a re!axing pose for manypeople.

Then, photograph them from a slightangle to get the most pleasing "look" to thepicture,

That front light can be managed to minimize the "flash" look. Use a strobebounced off a ceiling, and a reflector cardor your fingers to "kick" light into the subject's eyes and the shadows of his face .

The best lens for simple portraits is inthe 85 mm-lOS mm range. This gives aworkable image size on 35 mm film without the photographer having to be on topof the subject. It also lets you th row thebackgrou nd out of focus by using the widerapertures.

No matte r what kind of a port rait youwant , you should first master the basics ofthe simple headshot. Then, by adding elements, you can make that headshot moresophisticated.

Even Sancetta's picture of the scientistuses the basic rules of the simple headshotto achieve a high leve! of quality.

Counts says that is important. "My basicthought is to start with the simple picture,then start adding elernents," he says.Counts starts tight , then pulls back slowly


watching as the elements are added.y ou add an e!ement to give the reader

sorne identification with the subject. You

NewYork freelance photographer Wyatt Counts does a 10101 celebritiy portraits, oñen ina sterüe hotel room. Counlstries different, sometimes offbeal methods to put sorne interest in his photos, but hemet hismatch incomedian BillMurray who assisledincarefu llytrashing Ihe roomin1996.

haven't really taken away from the simplicity of the basic headshot, only improved onit. y ou put the subject into a setting thatwill provide greater identification for thereader. Now you have elevated the simpleheadshot to an enviro nmental portrait.

If you look close!y, the simple headshotis still in there. A clean view of the subject,conceived like a one-column, but deservingof more space. The photographer has madea versatile picture that fills any need.

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Sports:Peak Aetion and Telling Reaetion

Sports photography. Dreams of theSuper Bowl, the Olympics and theWorld Series. But reality is often a

high school football game, the college teamdown the road , or Little League baseball inthe summer.

All of those events, from the biggest tothe smallest, are.important, though, sincesurveys show a large number of newspaperreaders get the paper for the sports section.

Peak action, or telling reaction, is whatyou strive for. A different picture, if youcan. Not just settling for the obvious.

The picture you want is simple, EdReinke says. "It is the peak, story-tellingaction. It's just that simple. There is peak

action, then there is the story of the game,but the picture that works best is the onethat incorporates both. That's the journalism part of sports photography."

"les not good enough to make a pictureif it doesn't mean anyt hing. There was atime, when I was starting out in the early'70s, when it seemed you could aim yourcamera at second base and just wait for theplay to happen," Reinke says. "Now you'relooking for peak action and the picture thattells the story. Sports is no different thannews in that the best product we can offeris the perfect marr iage of the action andstory."

The key is simply paying attention.

Oppositepage: Peak action is one of the mainstays 01 sports photography and AP pholographer Dusan Vranic has captured thal moment with thispicture from the Euro 2000 soccer championships inthe Nelherlands.

Associated Press Guide lo Photoiournalism 103

By notgoing to his long lens too quickly, freelance photographer Jeff Zelevansky caplured lhescene and told more of lhe slory of lhe reaclion by players and fans lo lhe1999 pertecl gamelhrown by New York Yankees pitcher David Cone, kneeling.

Sports:Peak Aelion and Telling Reaelione

Rusty Kenn edy tells of watching a struggling pitcher in actionrand looking forsomething odd that might give him a pieture in a dull game. Fearing he would miss

something if restric ted to the-narrow viewof the camera, "1 watched wit hout havingthe camera to my face and 1 spotted his hatfalling in front of his eyes when he'd have ahard follow-through. Then 1 trained thecamera on him for a few pitches and caughtit," Kennedy says. He had his different pieture.

He warns that it's easy to fall into a rutcovering baseball, or any sport. "We aresometimes in a formula kind of thing, and

104

don't look for the odd picture. Sometimes newcomers will make a better pieture because they aren't locked into thatformula journalism."

Preparation isimportant,Sports Illustrated photographerJohn Biever

. .says, as lS gettmgto the eventearly so you canget settled andtake a momentto find out whatl S gomg on.Biever is knownfor arriving twoto three hoursbefore an eventoHe says it helpshim to relax andsize things up ."Sorne guyswalk in duringthe nationalanthem," hesays, adding "1'd

be catching up the whole game and it justwouldn't work for me."

AP's Eric Risberg says you have to fightthe pattern of going to a sports event , nomatter what it is, and working Irorn habitoHe says the best appraach "is to not alwaysgo to the same place. Try other spots forvariety. By moving around a bit, it helpsyou keep your enthusiasm and interest upbecause you're looking at it fram differentperspectives."

Associated Press Guide To PhotoJournalism

coverage. If I'm alone, 1 will tend to shootloose enough to not crop something out ofthe frame that 1 want , and still blow it upto a good image."

Lens selection also can be dictated attimes by the event and th e size of the crewyou're wo rking with.

"At a Super BowI or World Series, thetendency is to be as tight as possiblebecause there is no question that th e peakaction is enhanced by tightness in theshooting," Reinke says.

Sports: Peak Aelion andTellinoReaelion

Like Kennedy, Reinke likes to watch thepitchers, hoping for something different.And it has wo rked for him, too. "This wasa simple matter of knowing 1 could committo staying on a pitcher, 1 was goingto make a picture of the pitchergett ing hit by a ball hit backthrough th e middle, and it tooktwo games, but it made a great pieture." Mark th at one up topatlence.

Kennedy credits much of his sucocess at spo rts photography to usingextremely long telephoto lenses(400 mm·gOOmm) to isolate hissubjects. "1 always try to use th elongest lens possible," he says."You have a good expression , andyou throw th e backgro und out offocus, the subject really jumps outat you."

H e says he was using long lensesbefore they became com monplace."1 was willing to take my chances.It was worth the risk to me of losing a few pictures along the way touse the lon gest lens possible. I'veseen a lot of real good pictu resruined by being under-lensed." 1I look Ed Reinke a couple 01 games 01concentraíinq on the pitcher, but

Using th e long glass helps Biever that plan paid off witha good picture 01 reaction lo a line drive.achieve the look he wants in hispictures, too. "What I've always tried todo," Biever says, "is shoot as tight as possible and show as much emot ion in the facesof the athletes." He says that isn 't a noveltechn ique but is a good one he has adaptedfor his use.

Reinke is a litt le more conservative in hischoice of lenses. "1 think it depends on the

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism 105

Sports: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaelion

There were onlya few secondsleñ inthe 2000 SuperBowl matchupbetween theTennesseeHans and the SI. Louis Rams inAtlanta and John Gaps 111, then aphotographer with the AP,knew Tennessee's only chance tor a win would be lo score. So he worked his way into a posilionlo protect the goal lineand gothis equipment in order. He was readythen whenTitans runningback Kevín Dyson thundered loward thegoal líne makíngan unsuccessfullast-second lunge.

"But, when you're alone, you can 'tafford the risks you cañ take when youhave team coverage," he says.

Even when covering a regular season college basketball game where he has anotherphotographer working with him, hisapproach is also different. "That makes mefeellike 1 can use a 180 mm at the basket,because I'm covered by the other persono IfI'rn the only one there, 1 generally won' ttake that chance."

John Gaps III was faced with a hardcho ice like thatin the dosingmoment s of the2000 Super Bowlin At lanta'sGeorgia Dome.With the d ockwinding down,the TennesseeTitans had toscore on thenext play or losethe Super Bowl.Gaps saw therewas a lot goingon with the StoLoui s Cardinalsstart ing to celebrate and the crowd gettingcranked up .

But nothing else was as important toGaps as making sure that goal line was covered.

"There's no time for heroes then," Gapssays. "You should just cover your zone."

"1 had two-thirds of the goalline coveredwith the 80-200 zoo m," he says, "and mywide angle on my second camera in case

10&

they dropped down in front of me."H e recognized that this wasn't a time to

gamble on a long lens. "It didn't matterabout my creative juices," Gaps says. "Thatwas the news."

And Gaps' quick planning paid off. H ispicture of Titans back Kevin Dyson, reaching in vain for the goal line and fallinginche s short as the final whistle blew, wason front pages around the wo rld the nextmormng.

Sports Illustrated picture editor Pon er

Binks believes that his choices haveevolved. When Binks was just beginning toshoot sports , he thought "you had to shooteverything with a 300, then a 400, then a600. After making an untold number ofrnistakes, 1 learn ed there was nothingwrong with having a wide-angle lens hanging around your neck. It has helped me,that 's for sure."

Every sports fan has a favorite picture.

Assoclated Press Gulde lo PhotoJournalism

O ne of theclassics is1-IarryCabluck 's pieture of BostonRed Sox batterCarlton Fisk trying to use bodylanguage to keepa home-run ballfair in the sixthgame of the 1975World Seriesagainst Cincinnati. Baseballhistorians call itone of the greatest baseballgames everplayed, andCabluck's pieture is the sym·bol of thatgame.

Cabluck's. . .posmon was In

eenterfield, justover the fencewith an 800 mmlens. His primary assignmentwas to shootevery pit ch,hoping to get the home runs and key hitsfrom a different persp ective.

Cabluck says the assignment called forconcent ration, sorne skill and a lot of luck.Wh en shooting, Cabluck says he watchedand followed the game, "just like being anoutfielder. Wh at am 1 going to do if th e

Assoclated Press Ruide To Photojournalism

spons: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaetlon

ball is hit to me?" Cabluck was constantlyrefining what he was going to do in any. . .glven suuanon.

Whe n Fisk swung that bat and danceddow n th at line, Cabluck moved with him,firing frames that tell the story of Pisk'sstruggle as he watched the ball are toward

101

spons: Peak Aelion and Telling Beaelion

foul territory. He then shot the jubilationas the ball stayed fair fór the home runo

Despite mornents when Fisk wasobscured by other players, Cabluck concentrated and stayed with him because heknew that Fisk was the story of that game.

base looks differeñt from those perspectives.

Elise Amendola took a chance on a different perspective at a golf tournament , andan unorthodox lens choice, to make a beautiful picture of Davis Love III winning the

APpholographer EliseAmendola had spentthe final day of the 1997 PGA Championship fighling the rain and wind to justkeep her cameras in operalionwhen, as sheneared thefinalgreen wilh leaderDavis Love 11 1, a rainbow appeared. Amendola made lhe decision then lo not conc éntrate on a lighl picture ofLove reacting lo his win, but lo go for lhemore visualapproach with a wide angle viewthal included Ihe arcover lhe green.

That kind of coverage can be extended toa Litt le League or high schoo l baseballgame. Instead of taking the safe positionalong the first base line, try shooting fromone of the foul poles, or from just over thecemerfield fence. Even a play at second

108

PGA Championship.Amendo la, and others working with her,

had battled pouring rain all day. "We werestruggling," she explains. "[ust keepin g thegear dry was a problem."

But, as she walked with Love, the tour-

Associated Press Guide JoPhotojournallsm

Working without a photographer's identifying vest, Dave Martin01the APworked his way into a position away trorn the other photographers andmade thiswondertul picture 01U.S. Ryder Cup teamcaptain Ben Crenshaw celebrating the squad's miracle comeback in the 1999 matchesoutside Boston.

10t of pressure on myself. ' Early on in hiscareer, he says, he was told action photographers were a dime a dozen but a photographer who could capture reaction setshimself aboye th e rest of the field.

Martin says he learns fram his mistakes- everything fram tripping over untiedshoelaces to having his aperture getknocked off kilter in a post-game crowd onthe field, to running short of film becausehe didn 't reload at th e end of a game - andhe's always checking these th ings as hemoves to make his picture. "Every tim e

spons:Peak Aclion and Telling Reaclion

ney leade¡;;up die 18th fairway, the skies access at th e event and Mart in was workingbegan to brighten. "Walking towa rd his without one. That didn't slow Mart inappraach shot, 1 saw a rainbow emerging. down , th ough ; he takes making the pictureIt was beauti ful and 1 was hoping 1 could which shows the joy of victory or thedo something with it." agony of defeat as a personal crusade.

When th ey got to the green, Amendola "1 am very determined," he says. "1 put aknew other members of th e AP I-----,,~~¡;;¡ ---

crew were already th ere and shehad sorne freedom to take an offbeat position. So she took a spot toLove's back and decided to go with •her wide-angle lens, alth ough shenoticed other photographers nearher were using long lenses.

"There was debate in my mindabou t what lens to use," she says,"but 1 said to myself, "I' rn going togo loose and use this rainbow.' ''

Amendola said she wasn't sureshe had a great picture. She hadconcerns about the technical quality and wheth er the picture captured th e moment the way she sawIt.

He r fears were erased when shegot back to the trailer where theAP crew was wo rking and she got a bighug from the other members. "It all carnetogether," she ex"plains. "The winninggolfer, winning a major, the rainbow. It aHcarne together so beautiíully.'

For pure joy, it is hard to beat Dave Martin' s picture of 1999 Ryder Cup team captain Ben Crenshaw celebrating after histeam's drarnatic final-day comeback for th ewin over th e Eurapean squad.

An AP photographer, Martin was working at a disadvant age since organizers hadlimited th e number of photo bibs for prime

Assoclaled Press Gulde To Pholojournalism 109

Sporls: Peak AClion and Telling Reaclion

AP photographer Mark Lennihan stayed with a 1999 argument betweenumpireAlIanza Marquez and New York Mets pitcher Dennis Cook andcaught the moment whenthe two had a meeting01the minds, orat leasttheirnoses and the bilis 01their caps.

now," he says, "1 try to-rernemberevery rnistake I've ever made andtry to overcome it by checking al1of those things."

Manin had positioned himselfalong the rapes at the Ryder Cupfinal hal e. As the celebration started among Crenshaw and his tearnmates, Marti n fou nd himself in ashift ing crowd along the rape. Buthe had a clear idea of where hewanted to be. Man in worked hisway thraugh the crawd and got to

the spot he wanted by not givingup. "1 think of angles," he says,"and I'rn cons tantly planning."

Knowing what he wanted andhaving a plan in mind paid off. Hegot in a good spo t and made upthe rest of the distance by holdi nghis camera out at arrn's lengthbetween sorne celebrants and making the picture.

Martin 's laws: be determined,be ready , have a plan . And, alwaysmake sure your shoes are tiedsecurely .

If the action or reaction lag:;, follow Kennedy's example and lookfor the actions of a player to giveyo u a pictu re. Got an infielderblow ing bubbles? An outfielderdoing stretching exercises duringthe game? A catcher with dirt al1 over hirn,or a group of bench warmers wearing theirhat s at odd angles? Any of these wil1 makea picture when the action doesn't give youone.

T he key to good coverage is to see a vari-

110

ety of pictu res, Over the course of a season,fol1ow Risberg' s suggestion and try to

shoot frorn several different perspectives,always looking for a different pictu re thanyou had from the game befare.

Another way of expanding your sports

Associated Press Guide Jo Photojournalism

spons: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaelion

For an essay on jockey JulieKrone, right,APphotographer SusanRagan spent several hours over a series 01 days with Krone, oítennoteven making a picture.

coverage is¡O look for subjects that willmake inte resting photo essays.

Susan Ragan saw sto ries in the sportspages abo ut ayo ung jockey,Julie Krone, whowas quickly rnaking a name forherself. Ragancontacted thejockey's agent andproposed a story.The result was aninteresting look at

a spo rt that generally doesn 't getmuch coverage.

But it wasri't aseasy as Ragan'spictu res make itlook. Ragan foundthat Krone,despite her fame,was very self-conscious. "Herfather is a photographer and she'svery conscious ofthe camera," •Ragan says. "Ittook mu ch longerwit h her to break through that shell. Therewere days when 1 had nothing, but 1 kep tgoing back and finally she mellowed out."

Good pictu res can happen at any leve! ofspo rts.

Amy Sancetta's picture of a high schoolbasketball player agonizing over a loss inth e state tourney while the winners cele-

brate is a solid storyt eller."1 was going for a good picture of the girl

on the ground, and the others dancedthrough theframe,"

Sancett a says."1 was lucky."

But that luckresulted fromsorne planning.Sancetta hadfollowed thesto ry of th egame, as wellas the action,

...'o"'.....~\:'!Il!M She knew the

player on theground wasnot only thetop scorer , butalso had causeda turnover forher team latein the game.

-=O:::J>'",,"''' The ot herteam had con-

• verte d thatturnover forthe lead andthe championship.

Sancetta knew "it was more important roget a good picture of the key player , than agood pictu re of just any player." That 'swhy she went for the dejection, rather thanmove on to the jubilation . She moved int oa posit ion ro make the picture and th e jubilation rou nded out the image.

Early training, to focus on the details,

Assoclated Press Gulde To Phot%umalism

paid off years later for Sancetta as she fol--lowed St. Louis Cardinals slugger MarkMcGwire on his chase for the home runtitle .

Knowing they had a few games to getinto a groove with McGwire, Sancetta andother AP photog raphers on th e home runchase crew studied the Cards slugger tolearn everything they could about how hehandled the bat, how he reacted, what hishabits were.

And Sancetta tried different shootingpositions, too, to make sure she'd have thepicture she wanted when the big home runfinally carne. Sancetta knew she would haveto sit on a stool amo ng th e fans in the firstrow over th e wall on the third base line,but she had sorne say on which aisle to use.

"1 had my choice of several aisles," shesays, "so well before the games, when 1 firstgot there, 1 sat in those spots try ing to findwhere the third base coach would stand,where 1 might be blocked." O nce she settled on her spot , she went th rough her lenses to see which would give her the framingshe wanted.

"You have to know how McGwireswings the bat for your timing on coritact,"Sancetta explains; "as well as what he doesafter he hits it ." Ken Griffey ] r., anotherslugger who had a hot year that season,"flips his bar down real fast, but McGwirelikes to hold his bat up there and linger,linger,linger."

That know ledge would alert her to pietures that could be made as McGwire tied,then broke the record.

And when the big home runs happened,Sancetta wanted to make as much out of

Associated Press Cuide lo Photojournalism

spons: Peak AClion and Telling Reaclion

the situation as possible. "1 wanted to notjust shoot ir once," she says, "1 wanted tobe able to shoot them tw ice which meantshoot ing two cameras at the same time."Each camera gave her a slightly differentview, one horizontal with the umpire,catcher and fans watching the ball, too. Theother was vert ical and much tighter.

With a remote camera next to her on a

Amy Sancetta's coverage 01 Mark McGwire breaking Ihehome run record tookplanning. She had a planlo makeIheswing and reaction on al leasl two cameras (above), andIhen lo lollow McGwire as he rounded the bases(opposite).

tripod, wh ich she fired with a foot switch,Sancetta hand held the other camera on amon opod.

She watched McGwire' s batt ing habits somuch she not only kn ew how he wouldreact, but even had a pretty good idea whenhe was going to swing. "When McGwirewould make a move like he was going toswing," she explains, "1 would push th ebutton on the camera in my hand and hitth e foot switch."

N ot every swing produced ahorne runand Sancetta sometimes ended up with

113

Sports: Peak Aelion and Telling haelion

nothing to show for her effons. But, she' dreload and be ready the next time.

When the record-setting home ron carneon the final day of the season, Sancetta hadMcGwire on two cameras watching theflight of the ball from the plate. She also

APpholographer Mark Duncan was ready todrop his telephoto lenswhen JacksonvilleJaquars quarterback Mark Brunell hurdied someCleveland Browns defenders al the goalline in a 1999 game.

shot him as he trot ted around the bases andbroke into a big grin. She had th e scenelensed perfectly and caught McGwire celebraríng with a fan's sign promin ent in thebackground.

The idea of planning and preparation is acommon thread.

Cabluck says, "You have to think ahead.In football, for instance, you need to have afeeling for the quart erback and know whathe is thinking. If it 's third down and eight

.yards, you know it' s going to be a passplay. That's just doing your homework,knowing how the game is played."

When Franco Harris of the PittsburghSteelers scored a touchdown on the legendary catch known as the "immaculate

reception," Cabluck was wairíng inthe end zone to make the pictureas Harris carne toward him.

The other team had just scored,and the Steelers were a touchdownbehind and start ing their drive aconsiderable distance from theirgoalline. "You have to think whatis going to happen that is going tobe significant," Cabluck says. "Theonly thing that would happen tochange the game would be a Steeler crossing the goal line to score."

You just cari' t plan and studytoo mucho

Doug Mills watched U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson closely as he

~ covered the U.S. squad's tri als8......,~"""o..L.:l:Jw;.;"""'!Sí.i~=I::.~.:...::=..:..i~ -"'-"'d""""-~;;:;l<:¿.:::o.. before the 1996 Olyrnpies in

Atlanta. Johnson was one of thefavorites in the dashes and Millsknew he'd want a special picture

of him at the Olympics.During the trials, Mills noticed that john

son reacted to his win by throwing hisarms in the air a stride or two past the finish line. When the Olympics rolled around,Mills realized that the timing d ock hadbeen moved. Ir appeared that Johnsonwould be reacting to his win as he passed infront of the signo

Mills thought, "Wow, if this guy wouldbreak the world record, it would be nice to

114 Assoclated Press Guide To PhotoJournallsm

spons: Peak Aclion and Telling Reaclion

Doug Milis 01the AP had seen MichaelJohnson react lo a win in the trials themonth before so he was readywilh ñveremote cameras, in addilion to the ones he was using in his camera position, locapture Johnson atterhis world recordeffort in the 200 meters al the 1996 Olympic Games.

have those two elements," the d ock andJohnson. O ne problem, though. Milisquickly realized that the best angle couldn'tbe seen from his photo position at the endof the straightaw ay.

"1 couldn't make ir from where 1 was byhand ," he said. So, Milis ser up five rematecameras at various spots to maximize hischances of making the key momentoJohnson won the 200 meters, set a world record,and his reaction was everything Milis couldhope for.

Milis hoped one of the cameras wouldpay off. After he shipped the film, he took


his setups down and got into the darkroomabout fifteen minutes after the race. Hiseditor handed him four rolls of film andrelayed the news that there was nothingusable on the take. Milis went back out tothe empty track and sat there for severalminutes, examining the film, trying to figure out what had happened. "1 was devastated," he recalls.

"It didn 't dawn on me that the fifth rollhadn't come out of the processor yet,"Milis said. Thinking that his effons werefor nothing, he finally headed back into thedarkroom to pack up for the trip to the

115

Sports: Peak Aclion and Telling Reaction

Coverage JipsBaseball

o II no one is on base and the batter is right-handed, try locusing on the third baseman

orshortstop. They are most likely to handle any ground balls. A left-handed batter prob

ably will hit it toward the lirst orsecond baseman.

o II a runner is on second or third, be prepared to cover home plate since any hit, or a

long fly ball , will move the runner.

o II a runner is on ñrst, with one out, be prepared to swing lo second base lo gel lhe

double-play attempt. II lhe pilcher is at bat, watch lar the bunt.

o Always make a lew Irames 01 lhe starting pitchers. They will ligure in lhe game slory,

win or lose.

o II a slugger is al bat, drop your coverage 01 the rest 01 lhe game and concentrate on

lhe batter. JI he hils a homer, it's a good picture, and il he slrikes out, il is signilicanl

and he may react lo lhe lost chanceo

o When a batter hils a home run, swing your coverage over lo lhe pilcher lo gel reac

tion. Unlil lhe batter rounds second base, you can'l see his lace anyway. Move back lo

lhe batter as he passes lhird and gels congralulalions lrom lhe lhird base coach and

lhe players al home plale.

Foolballo Cover lhe quarterback lrom behind the line 01 scrimmage lo cut down on lhe number

01 players belween you and your subject. .

o Use long lenses and work Irom larther down lield lo reduce lhe angle and open up

your coverage zone. Ground plays will come al you and you'lI be in a better posilion lo

cover pass plays, loo.

o On lourth down in a kicking siluation, move behind lhe line 01 scrimmage lo cover lhe

blocked kick or kicker's jubilation.

116 Assoclated Press Gulde Jo Photolournalism

spons: Peak Actlon and Telllng Reactlon

o For a goód jubilation picture, position yourself between the driving team's bench and

their scrimmage line when they are in a scoring position. When a team scores, the play

ers usually run back toward their bench celebrating.

o If it is avery cold day, go to the side of the field facing into the sun and try for a backlit

picture of the players breathing. It is a nice feature.

Basketballo Move toward the sides of the court and shoot back in toward the basket with an 85

mm-105 mm lens to isolate the action and neutralize the background.

o Using a 180 mm lens, work the midcourt area. The lighting will be better because you

aren't shooting up into a black backdrop. And, the pictures can be better because you'lI

get more eye level contact and fewer armpits and elbows in your photos.

o Watch the coaches for reaction to give your sports editor something to use as a side

bar. The story will always have coaches' comments.

o If the gym is badly lit, try shooting from some elevation. By shooting with the lights,

instead of into them, your negatives will have much better exposure. Also, rim action

from straight on gives a different perspective.

Golfo Study the course map and find combinations of holes you can cover easily to give you

the most chances to catch the leaders in avariety of situations.

o For insurance, make a few frames of the top golfers teeing off early in the round.

o Don't line up exactly with the hole and golfer. Try for an off-line setup to avoid distract

ing the player.

o Watch your background. If possible, move to a position that provides a neutral back

drop, like a grove of trees. Abright sky as a background will make calculating your

exposure much more difficult.

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism 111

Sports: Peak AClion and Telling Reaclion

AP photographer David Guttenfelder was alert lo pictures even duringlhe national anlhems al a soccer match in Nigeria and lhe attenlion paidoff as young Nigerian boy gol lo be part 01lhe Mexican squad.

hotel. As he came down the hall, another-AP photographer congratulated him on hispicture. Confused, Milis went into thedarkroom to discover that the fifth roll offilm had a terrific picture on it and the callsof congratulanons werealready startingto come in fromaround thecountry.

"1 had gonefrom th e lowestmoment m mycareer," Milissays, "to th ehigh est, 1 was oncloud nin e."

So all theplanning andthought paid off.

Meanwhile, Biever thinks he has anadvantage because he loves spo rts.

"Being a sports fan helps a lot,' he says.For instance, "knowing th at a team is apassing team, 1'11 stay downfield."

Biever spends his spare tim e readingspo rts magazines and catching sports showson television when he isn't at <in event oH eknows photographers who regularly shoo tspo rts but claim not to have an interest,but he thinks it is valuable to have the kindof knowledge th at can only come frompaying close atte nt ion.

But, Biever doesn't have to read manymagazines or watch much TV to get basickn owledge of football, He grew up aroundir. Biever's dad, Vernon , is an award-winnin g foo tball photographer with more th an

118

fifty years as the team photographer for theGreen Bay Packers. In fact, both men havewon Pro Football Hall of Fame top photoawards, the only father-son duo to earnthat distinction ,

The youngerBiever got hisstart trailing hisdad on the sidelines at Packergames andsnared his firstpublished photo,a pan picture ("1must have setthe camerawrong because 1don't think 1knew what apan was.") ofPackers great

Bart Starr in action. Biever was 14 when itran as a doubletruck in Look magazine.

Being a fan, or having a solid kn owledgeof what you are covering. Either way, it isgoing to give you a better than average shotat bringing home a good picture.

Cabluck was a regular at baseball playoffsand World Series for several years. In th eweeks leading up to the championshipgames, Cabluck would try to see as manytelevised games as possible.

Like an opposing team's scouts, Cabluckwould chart the tendencies of the players sohe could anticipare their actions when hecovered them in post-season play.

Add Sancetta's vote to th ose who sayyou have to think like you' re in the game,like you are the runner on first base.

Assoclated Press GuldeTo PhotoJournallsm

"Anticipare what they are going to do, justlike the n7nner is, the pitcher is and thecatcher is."

Binks says yo u learn in a lot of differentways. He learn ed from ot her ph otographers and from sitting next to Ernie, theballboy at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium,"te lling you what is going on. When yo uknow the sport," Binks says, "and especially when yo u have the chance to cover thesame team for a long time, then you beginto use ant icipation and reaction. When youcan ant icipare and react as fast as the playerdoes, th en yo u've got it, You're synchingwith thern."

Reinke believes yo u' re going to have ato ugh time of it if you expect to make goodpictures just by showing up at the stadium.A knowledge of the game and the part icipants is crit ical, he says.

Risberg says he takes advantage of all th ematerial available about the spo rt he is covering at the time. "1 always try to read thebasic newspaper stories, but more thanthat , 1 read the handouts in the press box,the game notes and th e stat istics."

There is a lot there to help the ph oto graph er, Risberg says. "Many times I've goneto the ballpark <Tnd read the press releasesand found a half-dozen ideas of things towatch for. You get sorne great tips just byreadin g the press handout sheet s that, manypeople throw away."

"What 1 try to do," Risberg says, "iscome up with a combi nation of doing myhomework, and mix that wit h instinct andexperience. Sports ph otograph y is something where experience really counts."

Risberg uses a pictu re of Greg LeMond

Assoclated Press Guide To Photojournallsm


SuggeslionsCourtnev O'Neill: "Don't be alraid tolail. Take risks, take chances, go outthere with all 01 your senses on." Shesays to get out there and work atbeing a storyteller. "Not just throughyour eyes, but really getting out thereand getting to know people. Give 01yoursell to the people, to your subject."

Ami Vitale: Don't hesitate when giventhe chance to try something new. "Thebest thing is to not be alraid."

laura 8aucb:"You are going to haveto make those mistakes.That is theonly way you can really learn. Par! 01the journey is to learn lromyour mistakes, and it also makes you a betterphotographer."

J. Pat Carter: "Knowwhen to listen."

Pat Sullivan: Keep reminding yoursell"not to take things lor granted or to goby rote."

in a San Francisco bike race as an example.AlI the other photographers were at thetop of the steep hill, but Risberg kne w

119

Sports: Peak Action and Telling Rejlclion

Pholographers should also be looking around on lhe sidelines and on offdays atpractices torgood pictures. Ed Reinke caughl Steve Youngwarming up during a smoky 1995 Super Bowl halftime show(lop), MOrlYGash madea good featureon lhen-Green Bay Packers coach MikeHolmgren leaving practice on his motorcycle in 1998 (above), and DougPizac captured Utah Jazz star Greg Ostertag chattingonhiscell phoneduring a 1999 team praclice (righl).

120 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photoloumallsm


Awav Irom the lield 01 plav

ErieGay shot SanAntonio NBA player Sleve Kerr getting ieed down after a 1999 workoul (top, left), Erie Risberg paidavisitto the range to make a photo01TiqerWoods getting help in 2000 lrom eoaeh Buteh Harmon (Iop, right) and Paul Sancya wentlo Ihe bulipen lo pholograph reiief piteher John Roekerduring his brief slinl inIhe minor leagues in2000 (above).

Assoclated Press Gulde lo PhotoJournallsm 121

Sports: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaclion

Eric Risberg 01the APused his knowledge 01 bicycle racing to pick aspot where he thoughtriders mighthave problems ina San Franciscorace. Risberg's planning paid off with a good picture as cyclist GregLeMond took a ll.lmble right in Iront 01 him.

everyone talking about it over their morning caffee. So part of the preparation," shesays, "was feeling that excitement and beingup for it."

Binks says he learned about cove ringfootball bywatching formerWashington PostphotographerDick Darcywork th e sidelines at Redskinsgames. D arcy

n ..~...... wo uld move upand down, Bink s

_ A>w'!"":,= says, using an

old zoom lensthat had otherphotographersscratching thei rheads. But whenthey picked upthe paper thenext day , D arcy

L=-=~~::::::¡;:::~:".:!;":I.'i~~~-';:':::iiI had the pictures,"He knew his

stadium, hekne w hisangles," he knew

what to expect in any given situ ation,Binks says. Darcy taught Binks to learnabout the stadium and what different angleswo uld provide, then learn everything yo ucould about th e players so you could ant icipate th eir actions.

Binks says, "If yo u' re wo rking at ballparks you kn ow well, and yo u know yourplayers, you 've got half the battl e wo n. T herest is up to yo ur reaction and your knowl-

from following biking t~t "if there wasgoing to be any good expression it wo uldbe near the bottom where the rider tacklesthe hill. 1posit ioned myself halfway, wherethe rider wo uld shift gears. H e had a problem, and 1 madea picture of himtumbling," Risberg says."Knowing th esport and goingwhere the otherpho tographersaren' t paid off.I've always triedto listen to myinstincts. Somet imes it 's better,but it 's alwaysdifferent."

Says Reinke,"You have to beacutely aware ofwhat is happening in the gameand what is happening aroundyo u. And yo uhave to read thesports pages to know the people. You haveto know what to expect next. That is why 1just can' t fathom someone making a goodbasketball picture, for instance, witho utknowing something about basketball."

"The other part of the preparation,". Sancetta says of her McGwire coverage,"was just being excited about it. This was ahome run race, a national phenomenonthat had everyone glued to the T V and


Sporls: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaelion

interest and training as a child, prepares forher assignments by doing as much researchas possible. "1 read a bunch of stuff because1 wasn't raised to know it," she says.

Ragan is usually nervous as she nearsgame tim e, and tries to distance herselffrom the noise and clamor of the sportsscene. "Mentally 1 try not to th ink of it toomuch because 1 wo rry too mucho But assoon as th e event starts, it goes away. My

Sh~ agrees that studying what you coveris imp ortant , "1 think what makes sornepeople better at sports is they know th espo rts they cover."

Ragan, to make up for a lack of sports

lnstaad 01 setting her cameras down during a change 01 sides al a Philadelphia tennis match,APphotographer Amy Sancetta stayedalert because mercurial piayer John McEnroe was on thecourt. Sure enough, McEnroe made a statement onhis leelings aboullelevision coverage by

• pushing a camera away with his toot, Sancetta had lhe picture.

And, Binks says, :'H e taught me to shootfootball down on my knee because that ishow th e player s see it." Biever agrees withthat perspective,H e also shootsfrom a kneelingposition becausehe feels it bringsmore impact tohis pictures.

Thinkingabout th e waythe game isplayed. T hinking about thepeople who playthe games.Thinking aboutwhere the gameis played. Thatknowledge willhelp your coverage.

Sancetta got agood pictu re at aten nis matchbecause sheknew the personalities of the participants .She was in a position to make a picture oftennis player John McEnroe kick ing.anintruding television camera because sheknew th at with McEnroe, "the good, different pictu res are going to happ en off thecourt because he is so volatile." When otherphotographers dropped their lenses dur inga break, Sancetta stayed on the temperament al star.

edge of t~e. game and your techn ical exper-. "u se.


Sports: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaction

adrenaline kicks in and I.;tart th inkingthrough my eyes or something. There canbe billions of people around, but 1 am int omyself. Wh en peop le talk, I dori't hearthern."

Photographer RobertBukatyofIheAP watchedIhe actionat thesnowboardingvenueal Ihe1998 Olympics inJapan,then took a spot where heIhought he could make thebestaction. It paid off with this greal moment ofa Norwegiancompetitor during a training run lor the halfpipe competilion.

She says she becomes very focused. "Mymind never wanders. 1 anticipare thingswithout thinking about it. It 's instinct, Ith ink."

While rnoto r-driven cameras give photog-

124

raphers the benefit df having lots of framesto pick from , Cabluck believes the best discipline comes from following the practicesof the photographers in th e Speed Graphicdays.

That discipline, Cabluck says, caused you"to anticipate peak of action in sports,because in those days it was 4x5, one shot,and the shutters wo uldn't always freeze theaction. So you had to have th e peak ofaction, because at th e peak there is less

. "monon."It's easier now to go out and machin e

gun from th e hip ," and have several framesto select from , but it takes "less discipline,"says Cabluck, who concedes th at he oftenuses a moto r drive.

Several top sports photographers saythe y try to make th e first exposure of asequence, th e key frames, then they let themoto r run off a few more frames for Iollowup protection . These photographers saythey have found that hitting the moto rearly often leaves them with th e key pieture "between" frames.

Biever thi nks ir is better to think singleframe. "1 am looking for a pictu re before 1shoot ir," he says.

And, when it comes to equipment , Risberg says th at sometimes less is better."One of th e things that has worked wellfor me has been to travel light." He refrainsfrom "taking three or four cameras withevery focal-length lens 1 have to a game."Instead, he works "primarily with tw o cameras _. one with a lon g lens, one with anintermediate zoom."

Binks says he finds working with thezooms is a big help because ir cuts down on

Associated Press Guide To Photolournalism

Sports: Peak Aelion and Telling Reaelion

Mike Conroy 01 theAP knew Mateen Cleaves 01Michigan Statewas the most valuable player inthe final game 01 the 2000 NCAA Final Four championship in Indianapolis sohe stayed with himthrough the celebration and postgame television interviews onthe court. Sticking withhis planpaid off torConroy when Cleaves reactedas he left the courtand was greeted by his mother andproud lather.

the amount of equipment he has to handle."The adve;t of the fast zoom has broughtthe spons photographer up to speed wit hhaving a variety of lenses in one." With thezoom, Binks says, he can cover "pregameheadshots, a feature in th e stands, or a playat home plate."

"1 use a zoompreset" at a focallength , Binkssays. "1 use it asthough 1 had allof th ose lensesin my bagoWhen 1 get tomessing with. . .zoommg lt mand out, I'mdead." And,that 's pan ofkn owing yourequipment andhow it wo rksbest for you.

T hat simplistic approachpays off whenyo u have toreact quickly,Risberg says. "Too many times, 1 see peoplemakin g it very difficult for themselves bytrying to take everything, Keeping it simplehas allowed me to have great mobility insituations where you have to move quicklyto capture a breaking mornent ."

Reinke warns not to travel too light ,th ough ,

"You go to a basketball game," Reinkesays, "and you are thinking a 300 and an


80-200·zoom. You're thinking you want toshoot this end of the court and th e otherend of the court . 1 see people come to a basketball game and they only have th ose twolenses on tw o cameras." Reinke thinks th eyare going to be scram bling if the unexpected happens.

Minutes befare a postseason basketballgame, the nation 's top player th at yearpassed in Iront of Reinke on crutches andsat dow n on the team's bench with hiscoach.

"1 reached into my bag, pulled out thewide angle lens, set it right down on th efloor beside him, ' Reinke explains. "Ir isone of the few moments you can get thatkind of access, that kind of intimacy.

125

spons: Peak Aclion and Telling Reaclion

Gelling in Ihe door

Working in advance with the organizers 01lhe1994Olympics in Lillehammer got accesslorAPphotographerDietherEndlicher tomake lhis view 01theOlympic lorchbeing broughl ínto opening ceremonies by a ski jumper.

lort thatwhatever youare doing will not havean impact on lheevenl."

From the organizer'sstandpoint, Kempersays, "The lear is a disruption. You need toassure them that nothing that you are doingis going lo interfere but

:;;O¡:;,.,.. ......,¡.......I.a.I.......~_ rather to enhance theirevenl. Then, I think,youare going to be alot more successlul."

Thal is lrue evenwhile covering high

school sports, Kemper says.Photographers will earn more access by

putting in some time belore the big game, notgetting there as the whistle blows and expectingto go where they wanl. "Photographers shouldgo lo praclices, get to know lhe coach, lhe players and, il possible, the officials," Kemper says."Consistently showup and do things lhroughoulthe season and by the end 01 the season youcan do a 101 01 lhings thatthey (the organizers)would have not trusled earlier."

That trustwill result in access to better shooting posilions. "Once they get lo know you andknow your prolessionalism, doors will open," hesays. "You'll make better technical pictures, andbetter pictures 01 people. You might get intoplaces - the dressing room, lor instance - lhatyou might nothave belore."

Better pictures Irom some different spots- agood payback lor an early investment01time.

Access is lhe name01 the game in coverage 01news, sportsand leature stories.Being close lo what isgoing on, or in a goodvantage spot, ismoretimes than not goingto pay off in better píetures.

Bul the importance01that access isheightened in theworld 01sports, itseems, because moreevents al all levels arebeing closely rnan-aged with controls brought on by broadcaslrights, increased crowd control and ath letes' privacy and securily concerns.

That doesn't mean photographers have tomiss out on a good position, though.

According to Gary Kemper, who has servedas the photo chiel tor the 1996 Atlanta and 2000Sydney Olympic Games aftera careerwilh several news agencies, there is a way lor photographers to work tor more access and have theirideas and suggestions heard by organizers.

The secret, he says, is to do your homeworkand get there early.

Thal's good advice lorcovering sports but willalso work tor any kind 01 organized event Iromlhe countycouncil meeting lo a national politicalconvention.

"The biggesl element inalllhis is getting inearly," he says. "Getting in early, getting toknowthe peoplewho are involved in the event andassuring themthat the can have a level 01 corn-

126

spons: Peak Aclion and Telling Reaction

DanHulshizer 01 the AP wasn't sure what he had unlil he gola look allheimages after shootíng goalie Brian Boucher 01 lhe Philadelphia Flyers making a rather unormcdox stop on a shot in a 2000 Stanley Cupplayoffs match •• lhepuck sluck in Boucher's mask.

That's th e kind of prepared you want tobe," according to Reinke who watched asother photo graphers scrambled to make th epicture from Iather back wit h their longerglass.

And, once you've got the picture, dori' tforget to givethe editorenough capt ioninformation towork wit h.

"In at least thefirst general editof a deadlineshoot," Binkssays, "1 rely onwhat the photograp her hasgiven me on thecaptio n bag."

At a foot bal!game, Binkssays, they mightnot realize it"but the photographer does th efirst edit by givmg me a star ona key play, or a •key interception , and givesme the downand th e time andthe quarter.That' s one of the great failings of sportsphotographers in particular, and most photographers in general. They don't providethe kind of caption information that makesthe edito r's job easier."

Assoclated Press Gulde lo PhotoJournalism

(

Binks says "A good editor wil! find thegood picture on th e film, but then yo uhave to tel! th e layout person what the pieture means, why you picked it ." You maytel! th e layout person it's a good picture,but that team may have lost.

The layoutperson IS general!y looking forthe most significant picture,Binks says"there is a realmisunderstanding about that ."The photo grapher should be asking, "Do 1 haveth e momenthere? 1 find it ismuch easier topush th e onesth at tell thegame sto ry; theystand on their..........J "own.

But, th e edito rhas to know it' sthe right seIection . Binks saysof shootingsports: "You'vegot to be areporter. When

you are a reporter and a photographer, youcaptu re th e key moments and you markth ose on th e bags."

121

128 IIssociated Pless Gulde loPhotoloumallsm

lessoosHorsl Faas: "Concenlrale on a few good momenls"

J. Pal Carler: "You've gol lo keep galhering knowledge"

Alan Diaz: "The minule il opened, I shol 'em"

David Gunenlelder: The people are really lhe slory

David longslrealh: You're in lhe business lo make piclures, nol excuses

Charles Rex Arbogasl: Doing your homework pays off

David Gunenlelder: Working. in a human slorm

David Martin: "You have lo gel wel lo gel lhe besl piclures"

David PhilliP. Pal Sullivan: "11can gel repelilive shooling flowers .. ,"

RemOleS:Asecond way lo see

Assoclated Press Guide ToPhotoiournalism 129

130 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photolournallsm

Horsl Faas"Concentrate on alew good moments"The career of Horst Faas, a senior phot oedito r in the AP's London bureau, hastaken him to the Congo, to Vietnam, toDacca, and many other sto ps alon g theroad.

And each place, each experience alon gthat road, was filed away to be used another time when faced with a to ugh or perplexing situation.

But the very basis for his actions yearslater, which got him safely in and out ofthe world's hot spots, were forged in hisyouth .

Coming of age in Germany during andafter World War I1, Faas learn ed importantlessons. O ne was how to be careful. "1 wastrained aH through my youth to watch my

Assoclated Press Guide Yo Photojournallsm

step," Faas says. "Growing up in six yearsof war and the time after the war, you hadto watch everything,Physically, it was important to do the right thing.This way of life form ed adiscipline."

Those lessons paid offyears later when he wasworking among hostilecrowds in the Congo or amob taking outvengeance on enemies in Dacca.

Faas' education in phot ography alsoproved to be an exercise in discipline.

H e grew up withour photography for themost part, except for the pictures in the

131

lessons: "Concentrate on afew good moments"

weekly newsmagazines, which he foundexciting. But his dream was to be a writer.That led ro him reading Herningway,Faulkner and Greene.

Whe n it was time for Faas ro find work,he was hired ro help restore a Munichagency's photo library, wh ich had beenransacked in the closing days of the war.Studying those prints as he filed th ern awaygave him an appreciatio n for content andcomposition and, just as important, whatwould sello

But the content was what caught his eye."1 got excited by what you can do with

132

photography," Faas says.From the library, he progressed ro a job

in the agency' s darkroom mixing chemicals. Then, drying prints. Then, after atime , he began processing film.

Next on the agenda was making prints.The printrnaking carried a lesson. You hadto learn to work quickly , but just as impartant, you had ro learn ro make prints without wasting paper. "You were quickly outof it again, if you make mistakes and wastepaper," Faas recalls.

That's how it worked in th ose days. Youprogressed as you learned th e stages of your

Associated Press Guide lo Photoiournalism

lessons: "Concentrale on afew good momenls"

craft. More of that discipline.Finally, Faas was issued a camera and

sent out to make pictures. That carne withan added responsibility. You not only hadto make pictures, but you were expected tosell thern to local newspapers and magazines, to o.

Ano ther learning experience."Taking pictures is one thing," Faas says.

"Selling is ano ther. Everyone was a criticoy ou had to produce something that theyliked and bought and appreciated."

Faas th inks this progression -- library ,darkroom, ph otography, sales, editing gave him a bett er understanding of no tonly what was a good photo, but also agood grounding in the whole process.

"The editing began with the camera,"Faas says. There were only twelve fram eson a roll and someone back at the officewas keeping an eye on how much film hesho t, so he learned to shoot only when hewas sure he had something.

"Unless yo u could see the picture beingpublished," Faas said, "and you knew thatby looking at fifteen papers each day, youdidn't take the picture." No motor drivesequences for those photographers. "Youtried to concentrare on a few goodmoment s."

That was a lesson Faas has carriedthroughout his career. Except in rare cases,he prefers to use single-shot cameras.

Faas' first inte rnational assignment ofnot e with the AP was an uprising in theCongo. Again, lessons were learned. "1 cultivated local sources and tried to make localIriends," he says. And he learned sorne ofthe local language. "Thar always paid off."


Taking pictures in the Congo often was atest of courage. "Pictu re-taking was easy ifyou had the guts to raise your camera whenthey said no. But getting the feel for it andgetting there," he says, "was only possiblethrough good local contacts."

Lessons learned decades ago that carrythrough to today.

Piclures like Ihis one 01young members 01 a Katangayouth group in 1961were easy lo make il youcullivatedgood local contacts, according toHorst Faas.

"What applies still today," Faas says, "isyou should not be noticed by extraordinarybehavior or clothing or language."

Faas is convinced that th e access newspeople had in Vietnam, his next war, wasearned. It was earned, he says, "by walkingthree miles with the troops. That earnedrespect and because of that respect, we werewelcomed back by certa in units and theyhelped us get places."

And, Faas believes, the unwritten code ofconduct journalists followed there alsoearned th ern the respect that helped thernto do their jobo

"First of all," Faas says, "when you areprivileged to be in a place where extraordi-

133

lessons: "Concemrate on afew good moments"

pictures madeby Faas and ot hers were accepted "as the uglyreality of Vietnam."

His coverage

;;;;;:~;'::::;;';;"';';"'1 of the war wonhim the 1965

··~~U Pulitzer Pri zefor news ph oto graphy.

Looking backat his years inVietnam, Faasdoesn 't feel nostalgia. What heremembers arethe colleagueswho were killedor wo unded trying to bring the

Afatherholds his child's body as South Vietnamese soldiers lookonfrom an armored personnelcarrier añer thechild was killedduring fighling inavitlage near the Cambodian border in1964,The photograph was partof war coverage thatwon Horst Faas 01the APhis first Pulitzer Prizs,

nary things are happ ening, you do not story to the wo rld .poke yo ur lens int o sorneone's face who is "When 1 left, " Faas says, "1 tried to leavedying. You either feel, or yo u dori't feel. it behind me. It wasn' t my country or myThis is not a rule you can write down . war. 1was just privileged to be there toSomeo ne who breaks these rule s is not a report. " Pressed as to how he felt about hissensitive person, not a good photo graph er. years covering the war, Faas rep lies sirnply,You have to have a feeling fos th ese bo rder- "1still dori't look back with nostalgia. 1line situations, In a war situation, this is cari't forget the nasty things and just

obvious." rem ember the good things."Faas, who was wounded by shrapnel From Vietnam, Faas covered events in

while covering a battle, saw the war for other parts of the world, eventually landingwhat it was, brutal and nasty , "W hen some- in Dacca, Bangladesh, in the middle of anthing is brutal and nasty , then yo u sho uld uprising that left hundreds dead or mutil ated,try to show it as harsh and nasty as it is." ]ust as he had in Vietnam, Faas felt anIn Vietnam, Faas says, "torture was an obligation to show the world what waseveryday thing. lf yo u want to do some- happening, but the reality of it sickenedthing about it, yo u sho uld show it." The hiirn.

134 Assoclaled Press Gulde To P ololoumallsm

lessons: "Cooceotrate 00 afew good moments"

Rival factions had been fighting andeventually one side prevailed. To show itspower, the winning faction he!d a rally in asoccer stadium and brought in capturedfoes.

What happened next, a frenzy of violenceand torture, was as horrifying as anythingFaas had seen in his years in Vietnam andAfrica.

"Emotionally, it was awful," Faas says ofth e scene "and to live through it even as aspectator was awful." Sorne journalists hadavoided the scene, others left as the violence escalated. Faas and AP colleagueMiche! Laurent stayed.

"It wouldn't have been right to walkaway from it," Faas says. "I would say thereis a certain obligation to see it through andto present a report that says this is whathappened."

There were times when Faas and Laurentwondered if they should slip away, butthey felt the need to keep making pictures.

"I had to see it through," Faas says. "Icouldn't disappear in the middle of it, Wewere trapped there, fascinated, trappedwatching it."

When the violence ebbed, Faas and Laurent slipped away. Faas used his Indianarmy accreditation to secure trave! to Calcurta, where he filed the first pictures earlythe next morning. Others, rejected by censors, were shipped by courier to London,where they were transrnitted the next day.

Laurent and Faas were awarded the 1972Pulitzer Prize for news photography fortheir coverage. The award made Faas theIirst photographer in the prize's history toWlll two.

Associated Press Guide To Photojournallsm

Members 01the winning facti on bayonet captives fromthelosing side during a rally ina Dacca soccer stadiumafter acivil war in Bangladesh in 1971 .

Through all of these experiences, Faasknew he was th ere to report and make pietures .

"These things happen wit hout you beingable to do anything about it," Faas says."This isn't a spectacle where you can justbug out."

His advice to the photojournalists oftoday, based on the lessons he has learned,is straight to the point. "You aren't there tolecture and pontificate. The only thing th atyou should be concerned about is to present photographs that tell the sto ry so peopie can understand what is happ ening."

135

136 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photojournalism

J. Pal Carler'10u've gOl lO keep galhering knowledge"

When a tornado's funnel cloud begins tofill your frame, and you are using a wideangle lens, you know you're close.

And th at is not to say that O klahomaCity AP photographer J. Pat Carte r is reckless about his approach to covering thesto rms that sweep through his area everyspri ng and fall.

"1 don't go into these thi ngs half-cocked,"he says. "1 have sorne basic knowledge that1 have gained." O ne of those basics is to usea scanner in his truck to keep up withreports from weather spotte rs, the localmedia and emergency services personnel.

Carte r also has a high-tech tool he uses."In my laptop, 1 even have a program

Associated Press Guide To PhotoJournallsm

where 1 can downloadinstant weather imagesusing my cell phone," hesays. "1 try to learn asmuch as 1 can beforegoing to it."

Another tool is muchmore basic -- a good localroad map. By studyingthe map as he approachesthe sto rm, Carter can find possible escaperoutes.

Carter had been covering the deadlysto rms since 1972 but had never gotten apicture of a funnel cloud on the ground. Ashe set out one day in May 1999, that was

131

lessons: ''You've gOl lO keep galhering knowledge"

After riding out the high winds and blowing debris asa tornado passed over them, AP photographer J. Pat Carter madethis photo 01 the twin lunnel clouds moving away lrom him and the family who had taken reluge with him under a bridgeoverpass outside Newcastle, Okla., in 1999.

about to change. "My goal that night wasto get a funnel on the ground," he says.But, he buffered that drive with a healthyrespect for the quick changing conditions."1'd be crazy to say 1 wasri't afraid. If youlose that respect or that fear, you are aIool."

As he listened to reports about thestorrn's enormous size and destructivepower, Carter made his move to come infrom one side of it. "This funnel was on the

138

ground for sixteen miles," he says, "andthey had been talking and talking about it.1 wanted to come in from the side so 1wouldn't be caught in the path of it."

But because of the intensity of the rain ,hail and lightning, Carter opted for a moredirect approach.

"1 decided the only way to get it was todrive to it," he says. Sorne might questionthe wisdom of that .approach, but Carterbelieved he had the situation under contro!'

Associated Press Unide To Photoionrnalism

lessons: "Yoo've gOl lO keep galhering knOwledge"

"You could see the sto rm coming. 1 couldsee the clouds. 1 could see where it was."

Driving along a nearly deserted interstatehighway, Carter spot ted a funnel cloud andbegan to make pictures. First, using a 400mm lenses with a 2x tele-extender, th enswitching to a 1.4x extender, then a 300,th en an 80-200 zoom. Carte r decided ar thatpoin t to stick it out and let the storm catchup to him.

H e moved his truck th ree times as hemade pictures and looked for shelter, Keeping an eye on his road map, he kept anescape route in the back of his mind.

He considered pulling off under oneoverpass, but "a litt le voice told me not tostop th ere." That turned out to be a goodcall as he later learned one person waskilled and several other were injured at thatspot. "Something just wasn 't right aboutit," he says. "1used my experience, myknowledge, my gut feelings like in baseballwhen you have a runner on first base, butyou think you should pay attent ion to thebatter. It was just something that comeswith experience."

At the next underpass, C árter was goingto ride out th e storm because it was start ingto catch up with "him, "It all started happening. The funnel was rou ghly th ree football fields away," he remembers.

As he pulled under the span, he saw awo man struggling to get her two kids outof her van. "1 yelled to her to take cover,"he says, but the wind was blowing so hardshe couldn't get the door open. It too kCarter 's help to finally get th e youngstersfrom th e van.

"The wind was so strong and stuff was

Assoclated Pless GuideToPhotolournalism

hitting us like you wouldn 't believe." hesays. "I'rn yelling at her to take cover andtrying to herd the kids to shelter, By thetime 1 got the kids out of the truck, thefunnel was two Iootball fields away.

"1 pushed her down with one child," heremembers, "and 1 had one of the childrenin my arms. 1 turned my back into thewind and got ready for the ride."

But Carter wasn 't going to let the opportunity for an incredible photo pass him by."The photographer did come out in me atthis point , 1 thought, 'God, in case thi s ismy last image,' and 1 stuck my arm out and1 tried to make sorne frames."

But the wind was blowing so hard, hesays, "1 ended up with the perfect panshot."

At thi s point, th e storm was on top ofthem and Carter remembers it bringing to rrents of debris -- car parts, fence posts,garbage, mud - under th e bridge. Cártersays he is not a religious person , but he didsay sorne prayers at that point. "1 felt religion th at day," he says.

The storm now was surrounding Carterand th e family. "1 looked up and the stuffwas going north to south on one side of usand south to north on the other side. Wewere in the middle of it." Cárter remembers telling the litt le girl in his arms thatth ey would survive. "This is as bad as it isgoing to get,' he remembers telling her."We are going to make ir."

"Things were happening so fast under thebridge," he says. "1 don 't know if 1 wasafraid or noto It may have been two minutes or so, but ir seemed like a lifetirne."

As che tornado passed over them and

139

lessons: "You'vegot to keep gathering knowledge"

He was fighting equipment problemsbecause of the beating his cameras and lenses had taken under the bridge.

"It was an intense time," he says. "1 shotpictures for maybe thirty minutes or anhour ."

"This is the

hardest decision I've hadto make as aprofessional.Death anddestructionon one hand,and,ontheother hand, awife athorne."-J. Pat Carter

140 Assoclaled Press Gulde To PholoJoumallsm

lessons: ''You've gOl lO keep galhering knowledge"

swept across the area damaging anddestroying houses and businesses, as well asa school and a hospital. As he finishedmoving his pictures, Carte r worked withlocal newspapers and freelance photographers who were covering the storrn.

"Usually when you do a sto rrn," he says,"you move your pictures and yo u go backout." But th e endless stream of reports ofdeath and destruction rocked Carte ro "I satth ere and th at 's when it hit me," he says. "Ijust didn't kn ow where ro go. Ir was just sobig.

"It was the most helpless feeling I hadever had."

Knowin g he had good pictures and beingwell aware of the danger of being out in thedark with wires down and debris in thestreets, Carter went home ro shower in th edark and change dothes.


Then, it was back out ro do followupcoverage. When reinforcements frorn otherAP bureaus were delayed by lingeringsto rms in the area, Carte r worked with hislocal crew of freelancers.

That wo rk went on for three days almostaround the d ock.

Carte r finally had his funn el picture. Buthe also had even more respect for th epower of nature and for th e lessons th atcan be learned from covering someth inglike the tornadoes he had just gonethrough.

"Each time you go out, you 've got roweigh what 's happ ening," he says. "Thereare no rules, no textbooks on how ro coverthis stuff. You've got to keep gatheringkn owledge and hope you are makin g theright decisions out th ere."

141

142 Associated Press Gulde To Photolournalism

AlaD Diaz"lbe minute itopened, I sbot 'em"

Elian.The name of a 6-year-old boy from Cuba

has become a name for a range of feelings.Like Waco. Like Ruby Ridge. To sorne, a

symbol of a heavy-handed U.S. governmentaction, The symbol of freedom from theCastro regime. The youngster whose mother died trying to escape with him to a better life in America.

To others, Elian is the child caught iñ politics between two countries and betweenpro- and anti-Castro factions. The child keptfrom his [ather, then later reunited while thecourts wrestled with his ultimate fate.

One picture has become the icon for thatturmoil.


The picture, by Miami freelance photographer Alan Diaz, shows a heavily armedU.S. government agent reaching for ElianGonzalez in the Miamihome of his great-unclewhere he was living.

That photo, shot onassignment for the Associated Press, captured th eattention of the world ina way that few picturesever do. It is the kind ofphoto that very wellcould be an enduring and powerful imagefor years and years to come.

Behind that picture is the story of Diaz, a

143

lessons:'The minute itopened,I shot 'em"

Five months ofwaiting turned into less than eight seconds ofaction tor photographerAlan Diaz whengovernment agentsraideda Miami home in2000 to regain custody of6·year·old Elian Gonzalez. The youngster, who had been living with hisrelatives after he was rescued during an escape from Cuba, was taken to be reunited withhis father. Diaz, the lone journalist to make it inside the house, had spent the five months of Elian's life in the Miami neighborhood examiningdifferentscenarios of how it might end. When it did happen, Diaz's primary plan worked totormand he had the pictures. On the tollowing pages arethe raw camera files from Diaz's digital camerawith the time stamp ofwhen the pictures were made.

52-year-old photographer raised in Cuba,just trying to do his jobo Through th e fivemonths that the story cente red on a simplehome in a Miami neighborhood, Diaz spentcount less hours there, more tim e there th anany other journalist, making photographsof young Elian and the other members ofth e cast of the drama that was being playedout.

And, all the while, Diaz was th inkingabout what might happen. H ow th e dramarnight play out.

When it finally did, early on th e Satur-

144

day morning of th e Easter weekend, Diazwas the only journalist to get into thehouse and witness th e action,

Other journalists tri ed but failed. But,Diaz , through his plann ing and quickaction, was successful, a testimony to thecount less details he had attended to duringth at long stakeout.

Photographers always wo nder if they'llrespond when the bell rings. Diaz did.

Ten days after that fateful Satu rdaymorning, Diaz was interviewed.

T his is his story.

Assoclaled Press Gulde To Phololournallsm

lessons: 'lhe minute 11 opened,l shot 'em"

Did vou think il would comedown like il did;J D1d vouhave agame plan;J

"1 k .new It

was going togo down Iikethis. I had itin my mind.1played it amillion times.I played it outin my mindexactly as Iexecuted it."

houses where they would leave me the keysif th ey'd go out so I could transmito .

I still don't believe it. In today 's wo rldr-- -------, for someone te leave you th eir

keys te their house? No. 1, I havea ponytail. This long-haired guy.Cubans hate that. And, No. 2,you are the media. Cubans arevery, very leery of the media.

For five rnonths, shootingwhat I could. Shooting Eliangoing te school, coming out ofthe house.

How do vou work in Ihal kind ofsilualion;J

It is a long pracess. It was along time. It was not like a usualstory, like spot news or a sterythat runs for a week. I hadmonths to go on this. I did develop a relationship with the familybecause you are sitting out thereevery day for months. The per-son in that house is either goingte love you or they are going tehate you or he is going te cal! th ecops on YO U.

Was iI diUicul1 ID becomepan of Ihal neighborhoodscene;J

I was lucky enough te speak I knew it was going te goSpanish, and understand the cul- down like this. I had it in myture, understand what they were mind. I played it a mil!ion tim es.going through. Right or wrong L- -----' I played it out in my mind exactowasn't my prablem. I understood what ly as I executed it. I knew I would have tothey were going th rough. jump the fence. For that, I made an

We developed a relationship . More like a arrangement with the owner of the next-normal relationship like you would devel- door parking lot , Just next to the fence. Al!op with your next-door neighb or . H onest- I had te do was jump the fence te get in.ly, I know more p~ople on that block than H e gave me a prime spot there.I know on mine. I've made friends in that I knew this was going te go thi s wayneighborhood, the kind of friends you have because of the pride in Lazaro [Lazarafor a lifetime. Go nzalez, Elian's great-uncle] , H e is a hum-

Neig hbors that trusted me, left their van ble CubanoThey are very humble. Theyopen so I cou ld get in out of the sun, left are not educated. They are just humbleme their house keys when they would go people but with a pride so big. I knew fromte work so I could go te the bathroorn, the way he would express himself at timestransmit . that this man would not just hand over the

I had three houses, two on the block and boyoJust knowing the government and aHone a block away because I had te secure this, I said it is going te come down to thisplaces where I could transmito I had three disaster. Many a time he would say, 'If it

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photojoumalism 145

lessons: '1he minute itopened,l shot 'em"

Frame:OSCOOl Time:5:20:00

happens, wil! you come in? Please come in.'Not only to me, but also to TV . 1 would

not have survived th is without TV. Therewas a 24-hour crew there, doing shifts of 12and 12. I developed a relationship withthem. Everything 1 knew, 1 would tel!them. Everything the y knew, they wouldtel! me.

1 was alone. 1 was at a big disadvantage. 1would work my 12-15 hours and then haveto go home and sleep. It was only me andTV . The crew th at would do the night andmorning would cal! me if anything arose,like if the y saw strange movements orsornething like that,

It to ok a lot of wo rk and fri~ndship. 1ate, drank water, thanks to these guys. 1wo uld spend long hauls out there withoutcoming home.When did things reallv begin tohappen"

Its starts on a Wednesday. 1 have a hunchsomething is going down. You could see itgoing on with the negot iations and the wayth e family was acting. Lazara had a lot ofstress on him . H e was like amad bul! in

146

Frame: OSC002 Time: 5:20:50

there. 1 knew he was negotiatin g and thingsweren 't working out . Which was giving methe idea, 'Hey, thi s is going to go down,'because if it doesn't work out, th ey are. .gomg to come m.

I decide not to go home. The neighborsays if you want to , sleep in th e house or inth e van. But 1wouldn 't go in [the house]because to go in would be like going home.Minute 1 take a bed, I'll miss th e wholewo rld. So I took the van, but 1 couldn'tsleep, because it was very noisy out there.

Then Thursday goes by. Ir's the samething. I stay, and it didn't go down .

Then Friday, it was Good Friday. 1 said,"Today's Good Friday, we shouldn 't bewo rking,' but 1 did my littl e prayer outthere in the morning early and 1 just askedhim for courage and strength because 1 really needed it because 1 was tired. 1 askedGod, 'God, give me sorne strength to dothis, because 1 am tired. '

In the aftern oon, 1 get the idea, 'Man ,this is going to go down .' My lenses aredirty. I've got to change my batteries.

So, 1 did al! that, taking it easy there on

Assoclaled Press Gulde To Pholojournallsm

lessons: '1heminute itopened.1 shot 'em"

frame:oseooa Time:5:20:52

the side, sitt ing down . 1 changed the batteries on my strobe, put a new battery in theD-1 , cleaned the lenses. 1 set the Q uantumout with the cable and al! so 1 could hookit up if 1 needed it.

About 1 in the morning, Lazaro comesout and gets to the fence. 1 can tel! this manis under tremendous pressure. He says,'Man, if it happens, please come in.'

Al! of a sudden at 5 o'clock in the morning, I'm standing and looking at the crowd,and 1 hear th is noise in the back. 1 cal! it astampede, but it 's noise, it 's a convulsion,it's a lot of strange noises in the back ofLazaro's home, which wereri't normal. Irwas totally different than every day 1 hadbeen the re. 1 just ran to my bag, which isnext to my seat, grabbed my D-!. 1 turnedon the strobe, turned on the D-1, set theshutter at 125 because 1 knew there wasgoing to be movement . And 1 just jumpedthe fence. As 1 jump the fence, 1 see theNBC guy jumping, but he fal!s down, camera and al!. He's down on the floor. 1 justkept going. 1 ron in the front doo r, whichis open, and family members are shouting,

Associated PressGuldeTo PhotoJournalism

frame: OSe004 Time: 5:20:52

'They're here. They're here!'Al! that stuff we saw on TV, that you see

the guys come up in front of the house, thevans, 1 didn 't see any of th at. 1 beat them. 1knew they were there because of al! thenoise that was going on back there.

So 1 got in. 1 land in the living room,which is very dark , and everybody is inthere. They are very disoriented. A littlecrazy in there.

1 say, 'Where is the kid,' and one of thefamily members points ro the room andpushes me there. 1 knew which room wasElian's because it was the first room in thehouse. You could see him from outside andalso 1 had been in there ro shoot him twicebefore. 1 go ro the room and it is pitchblack in there. 1 couldn' t see a thing. 1 sawthe bed with something that resembled akid sleeping. 1 said, '1 need light, ' and 1 waslucky enough ro just stretch my arm andwas able ro turn on the switch. 1 hit it onthe first try. When it goes on, 1 realizethere is no one in the room.

1 get out and right in front of Marisleysis'[Marisleysis Gonzalez, Elian's cousin] room

141

lessons: 'The mlnUle 11 opened,I shol'em"

Frame: OSe005 Time: 5:20:54

is Lazaro 's room and the door is closed. 1start banging on the door, because he mightbe in there. Bang, bang, bang. An ge1a,Lazaro 's wife, opens the door. She justlooks at me. She never said a word to me.She just looks very dazed .

1 walk in and see Donato [Donato Dalrymple, one of two fishermen who pulledElian from the ocean ] with Elian in hisarms right there standing in the closet . Thedoor is open in the closet and 1 looked atthem. They looked straight at me.

1 take a sho t because 1 knew in my mindthat th ey were going to bust my camera inmy face. This is my thought , Tjiat was atthe best because 1 always th ought that itcould be a bullet first. H onestly. 1 th oughtwhen they open that door and see thatstro be hit 'ern, they might think it is anything and th ey rnight shoot me or something.

1 said, 'Let me take this shot first.' 1grabbed the shot and 1 have Elian in thecloset with Donare .

Donato says something to me and 1answer back to him. The kid says some-

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th ing to me, and 1 tried to comfort him thebest 1 could. 1 just looked at the door andwaited for them.

They kicked the door down. The minuteit opened, 1 shot 'em, And 1 just kept onshooting. Thar's it. 1 sho t and shot andsho t. Thar 's it.

They to ld me to back off two times coming in and one time going out , because 1 didtry to follow them. They never touchedme. Never. He looked me straight in theeyes and 1 felt the look . 1 th ought rightth ere that that was it. The rifle is comingright at my face, but, no, he didn 't do it. 1just tri ed to do what 1could do .

BV Ihen. il musI have soundedIike awar going on in Ihe living room ...

It was a war before they carne in. 1 couldhear shouting. 1 can' t make out the wo rds.It was like an eart hquake in the house. Thehouse would tremble. O uts ide, there was alot of screaming and a lot of stuff going on.y ou can hear all thi s, But 1 was in theroom , and 1 just had to wait for thern tocome In.

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frame: OSC001 Time: 5:20:58

Did vou haveanv second thoughtsabout how itworked out;l

No, not this time. 1 think it is the firsttime in my life 1 didn 't second-guessmyself. Everyt hing but the roo m 1 hadplayed it in my mind . Ir was in a differentroom. That caught me by surprise, but 1think 1 reacted well to it. 1 knew what 1was doing.What were vour plans;l

1 had three plans - A, B and C. Why?Because 1 was in a prime spot . 1 alwaysth ought the feds would come in, before itgoes down and would clear us from thespot knowing hqw good the spot was.

Much before th is became a gang bangwith ten thousand cameras out th ere, whenit was nice and clear, 1 set up th ree ladders.One ladder was at the garage where 1canget the kid in th e back of the home because1 knew where he played.

1 set up a second ladder straight on ro themain entrance, that door, and 1 knew thatwas a main spot because you've got peoplecoming in and out of the house.

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lessons: 'l he minule ilopened,IshOI 'em"

frame: OSC014 Time: 5:21:38

1 would run from the garage door ro th emain door ladder ro get the shots there,because that way 1 always had my spotssecured. Nobody touched my ladders . Ircould have been because of th e time 1 spentout there , but nobody questioned my spots.

Everyone was working at a disadvantagero me because 1 had my spots set up longbefore they arrived. The minute the barriers went up , 1 knew th e cameras wouldcome, and they would take up places. Thelast time the barriers went up, four or fiveweeks ago, 1 set up my three ladders.

1 was alone here so 1 had ro secure a spot .1 couldn't afford ro shoot the garage andhave Lazaro walk out with somebodyimportant in front and not get th at shot. So1 would shoot my things from the side andrun ro th e main, and 1 was dead on thatdoor , the main ent rance.

Plus the arrangement 1 had made withthe owner of the house next door, which 1said 1 would only use in an emergencywhen 1 think th is is going ro go down .

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lessons: '1he minUle ilopened,l shol 'em"

Lazaro 's house and from there I play plan'A.'

Were vOU able lO make manvpiCIUresíl

"1 did seven tramesinside the room. I didseven more outside theroom in the living room,this whole crazinessgoing on."

You menlioned Ihal vou had Ihreeplans. in addilion lO pre-posilioningIhe ladders alvarious SPOIS. Whalwere Ihose plans and how did Ihevwork inlO how ilfinallv plaved OUlíI

•A' was the one that I had right th ere,that I played.

'B' was they took me out . I ;"ould go tothe front ent rance where the kid would betaken out and have the shot that ran on th ecover of Newsweek with the kid in thearms of the lady agent. That photo, I ranthat through my mind a million times, too .

'C' was ifthey kili the media, a federalaction where they would c1ean the street . Iwould go to th e next-door house, which isa doctor who lives there who had offeredme his home. There was a side entrance to

150 Assoclated Press Gulde To Phot%urnalism

get this whole load off my body. 1 pull outmy disk and hand ir lO him and go back tomy spot behind the bushes and called in tolet them know it had gone down.

It looks Iike vour planning paid off.Plan 'A' worked to the doto The only dif

ference was the room. When this wholething goes down, he [Dalrymple] scoops upElian. For sorne reason, he runs intoLazaro's room, and that is where 1 foundthem.

Aner five mOnlbs 01 wailing and IbeinlensilV 01 Ibe earlv morning silUalion. bow do vou walk awav Irom il=-

I'm still coming down. I'm still verytired. Very, very, very tired. When 1 gothrough the scene in the room, ir hit mereal bad . This kid was crying. In a differentway than kids cry . 1 have four kids. 1 knowhow kids ery. This wasn't the cry of a kidwho wasn't feeling well or was just a painin the butt. This was a different cry. It waslousy to be there.

I'd been shooting that kid for rnonths. Ahappy kid. To see the kid in that situationreally hit me. 1 Ielt bad.

Five days later) went baek. No cameras.Just to say helio.

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lessons: '1he minule iI opened,l shol'em"

151

David Guttenlelderlhe people are reallv the storv

David Guttenfelder is an AP photographer based in Tokyo after a long stin t inAfrica.

"When you first move ro a place, it takesyou a long time to learn how the people,how the culture, will react to you as a photographer," he says , "There's a certain sty leyou develop th at is consistent with th e waythe people are."

According to Gutte nfelder, there's a bigdifference in the way you work in eáchplace and sorne of that difference affects hisshooting style and the look of his pictures.

"In Africa," he says, "the kind of sty le 1had was very close, and the way 1approached people was more aggressive.Maybe 1 was closer to th ern," he says,"rnaybe 1 could work longer on a photo

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close to sornebody."Guttenfelder says his sty le there was very

personal, "because that's the way th e peopie are. They are moreaggressive, their spacesare tight, th e people arevery close."

N ot only did his pietu res reflect tha t, butGutte nfelder says henoticed th e same closeness in the pictures takenby other photographerswo rking the same storieshe was on in Africa. "They look like th atbecause you start ro take pictures like they(the people) are, like th eir culture is becauseth at is what they allow you to do."

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lessons: The people are reallv Ihe slorv

That in-your-face style doesn't work inAsia, he says.

"When you move to a place like Asia,"he explained, "that approach doesri't wo rkanymore because th eir culture is different .They reacr to you very differen'fly."

In Japan, Guttenfelder has noted th at thepeople are very private. "People tend not to

make eye contact with strangers," Guttenfelder says, "and if they don' t like beingphotographed, they won't tell you no.They' ll just make it difficult for you bymoving away or cover ing their face."

In Africa, he says, "if they dori't like ii,they will tell you! So there you feel if youhave made th e first frame you can make the

154

second frame."But he knows now that Asia is very, very

different. "What you have to do is completely reth ink the way you make pietu res," Guttenfelder says, "the way youinteract with people, and, as a result , yourpictu res start to look different ."

After a few months in his new assignment , G utte nfelder thin ks he is developinga sty le that will work in his new surroundings. "1 am starting to make pictures thatsay someth ing," he says, "and pictures thatwork. But they are different than 1 made inAfrica."

He thinks eventually he'Il know mo reabout th e culture and feel more comfort-

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able. "1'11 be able to make tne kind of pietures 1 want , and 1'11 be able to get close tothe people," he says.

Guttenfe1der considers himseif something of an expert on refugee situations,having covered those kinds of stories a11over Afri ca and in Albania as we11. "1 havespent more time taking pictures in refugeecamps th an in any other place in th e last sixyears," he says.

But, he found it was completely differentto cover refugees from a volcano in northern Japan. "Taking pictures of the Jap'].neserefugees was fascinating for me becauseth ere were so many" differences betweenthem and other refugees he had covered inthe pasto "Just in the way people react toyou as a photographer and the life that peopie live and what 's imp ortant to thern," hesays.


lessons: The people are reallv Ihe slorv

APphotoqrapher DavidGuttenfelder sees aremarkable differencebetweenhiscoverage01refugees inAfricaand Japaninhischoice01lenses andhow heshoots his pictures. InAlrica, Guttenfelder'sapproach is lo workvery close lo lhesubjecl, oñen with a wideangle lens. InAsia,hefinds you have lo standback a bit and uselonger lenses.

Despite the different sett ing, Gutte nfelder felt he sti11 was able to make imp ortant pictu res by , in one respect, workingthe way he has in the past and which hasbeen very successful for him.

That approach is to concent rate on thepeople, not in this case, the volcano. Guttenfe1der says so many times he has seenph otographers get caught up in the actionof a war, or a natural disaster and forgetthat ir is the people who are rea11y thestory.

155

156 Assoclated Press Guide To Photojoumallsm

David longstreathYou're in Ihe business lO makepiclures, nol excuses

Have you ever sat in an airport watchingthe planes come and go?

AP photographer David Longstreath hasdozens and doze ñs of times. Always withhis camera bag at his side.

That paid off for him at the Phnom Penhairport, when, while waiting for a flighthome to Bangkok after covering a story, hesaw a passenger plane careen into a ricepaddy at the edge of the airfield.

The shock of seeing an airliner crash waslike seeing "a human tornado," Longstreathsays. "The shock of seeing it crash. It was atreme ndous fireball. There was no doubt in

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my mind there would be no survivors.""It took me a minute or so to rush out

the door and throwmyself into the back of afire truck. It was stillburning when 1 gotthere," Longstreath says.

"It takes all of youremotions, like someonekicking you in the stomach," he says. "It justtakes your breath away."

"You cannot believe what sixty-five peopie slaughtered in a rice paddy looks like

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lessons: You're in lhe business lO make piclures,nol excuses

While waiting lara tlight fromthe Phnom Penh airport, DavidLongstreath01the AP was taced with a tremendous challenge - a passenger airliner crashed ontheoutskirts 01theairfield. Longstreath had his cameras and his laptop computerwith him, though, sohe was ready to wark. His coverage included scenes 01 destruction butit also had the happy momentasrescue workers pulled a youngbabyalive lrom theburning wreckage and raced it away to a hospital (above).

unt il you see it , It is truly one of the mostincredible sights 1 have ever wisnessed."

This from a veteran photographer whowas at th e scene of th e O klahoma Citybombing minutes after the federal build ingthere was leveled.

Fighting back his emotions at th e sceneof the Phno m Penh crash, Longstreathbegan to make pictures. "At some point,"he says, "your reflexes kick in and you' vegot to wo rk and yo u've got to makeimages. You've got to make the kind of

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images th at have a degree of sensitivity andsense of urgency and sense of compassion."

These reactions were almost autornaticfor Longstreath . "They are just gut reactions ~t th is poin t," he says. "You don't goabout it like a shopping list of a wide shotand what have you."

In the midst of all of th e carnage,Longstreath heard shouts and turned andlooked. A rescuer was holding a srnall babyin th e airo The child would turn out to bethe only survivor of th e crash. "They start-


lessons: You're in Ihe business lOmake piclures, nol excuses

ed running with 'Gol'" The bikethi s kid," rider tookLongstreath Longstreath tosays, "and 1 put the airport ter-myself in a posi- minal, wheretion where 1 there would becould make pie- phones.tures. When "It was justthey went by one of th oseme, it was obvi- days when, later,ous 1 was only al! of th ose erno-going to be able tions of havingto make a cou- witnessed some-pIe of frames, thing like th is, itand 1 wouldn 't al! comes outbe able to chase when you havethern" because time to thinkthe muddy rice about it ." Later,paddy made it Longstreathdifficult to go says, "is whenfar without you have tim efalling. ro reflect on

Longstreath what yo u'veth ought for a seen, whatmoment about you've beenthe images he involved in. Athad and decided the time, youthe most impor- run on reflex,tant th ing he • --,.; you run just ascould do next would r-~~="'-~"'-="'-----------' fast as you can."

be to get to a phone That dr ive is theto alert the AP desk hal!mark of a world-in Tokyo to the crash class photojo urnalist.and then to transmit In this case, ashis pictures, always with

"1 just grabbed a kid Longstreath, he wason a rnotorbike, ready ro cover theshoved a $20 in his acnon.hand and yel!ed, What if his cam-

Assoclaled Press Gulde To P olOlournallsm 159

lessons: You're in the business lO make piclures, not excuses

Spectalors gather around Ihe wreckage al Ihe crash site 01 apassenger airliner at Ihe Phnom Penh airport, a day aner the1998 crash. Whal slarted as a boring wait fora flight turned inlo days 01 coverage 01 lhe crash lorpholographer DavidLongslreath.

eras had been safely stowed in a shippingcase in th e bel!y of the plane he was tocatch later? What if he hadn't had his laptop with him so he could transmit?

"If you are in the business," Longstre athsays, "you have to become accustomed tothe notion that you are going to be carrying sorne kind of camera, at least th e bareessent ials, with yo u al! of the time. You

160

never know where or when the next storyis going to break."

After all, Longstreath says, what wouldhe have said to his edito rs if he had checkedhis gear and couldn' t cover tha t crash?

"You' re in the business to make pietures, '; he says, "not in the business tomake excuses."

Associated Press Guide To Photo)ournallsm

Charles Rex ArbogastBoiDg vour homework pavs on

AP photographer Charles Rex Arbogastdoes his homework when it comes toaccess. In one case, he spent a couple ofyears wo rking to get the inside track.

Arbogast, wh o covers state politics fromhis base in Trenten, N .]., sta rted wo rkingon getting access to Bill Bradley whileBradley was a senator and was discussingmaking a run for th e presidency. •

That work paid off a few years laterwhen Bradley mounted his campaign.Arbogast was able to make pictures otherphotographers couldn't and had access toBradley that even sorne of his staff didn'thave.

It was all based on the trust built up by


Arb ogast in those early years beforeBradley became a national figure.

Arb ogast began his coverage the yearBradley decided to stepdown from his U.S. Senate seat. "It was important ro be first to do thestory on the retiring senator," Arbogast says. H ewanted lO get his picturesin the state's newspapersbut he also wanted tomake an impression onBradley and "ser the stagefor later coverage of him as he was beingtouted for a possible presidential bid."

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lessons: DolDO vour homework pavs on

Pholographer Charles Rex Arbogas! 01 lheAP had lived in lhe Seattle area befare and was aware 01 the fish-calching rilualal the city's Pike Streel market. So when presidenlial candidale Bill Bradleyvisited lhemarket during a 2000 campaignslop, Arbogasl knew where he needed lo be lo make !he bes! possiblepiclure.

Th en, between the time Bradley retiredfrom the Senate and the time h~ formallydecided to make a bid for the presidency,Arbogast says, "1 would go to events wherehe was at and see him privately and keepputting the bug in his ear that 1 wanted to

be a part of the coverage of his campaign."Sometimes there were setbacks, but

Arbogast kept workin g at ir. "One frustration was over those years new peoplewou ld come on [to Bradley's staff] whoyou needed to convince that you neededaccess to Bradley," Arb ogast says. "As new

162

people carne on board , 1 had to provemyself all over again to people 1 hadn't metthat my time with Bradley was important."

That work and continuing contac t withBradley paid off. When Bradley began running fór the presidency in earnest and theprimary season got going, Arbogast wasassigned by the AP to cover him. Now wasthe time when all of that work wouldprove to be worthwhile.

Arbogast was able to make picturesbehind the scenes or from angles and situations that provided a rare glimpse into the

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photoloumallsm


Lessons:DoiDg vour homework pavs 00

Back in the early days 01 the campaign, before federal agents providedsecurity and transport, candidate BillBradley woulddrive himsell to a localgym for a workout. As the campaigncontinued and Bradley mixed withvoters on a Seattle lerry, or took amoment alone or with his wile, photographer Charles Rex Arbogastwould be there, otten getting accessto quiet moments away from the ordi·nary campaign coverage. Thataccess came only añer years ofgroundwork byArbogast.

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lessons:DoiDg vonr homework pavs 00

inner workings of a camp aign. And,Bradley himse lf was the reason Arbogastgot through a door or into a good spo t.

"Although a handler might keep mefrom going through a door, once 1was inthe door and Bradley knew 1 was there, 1was able to stay," Arbogast says. "They alsokn ew the power of the AP to let me bethere. Bradley was comfortable and itworked out well for the AP."

Even when'the campaign hit rocky times,and Bradley's hopes faded, Arbogast stillwas able to make pictures, But, at the sametime, "when 1 noti ced it to be to uchy in private situat ions, in order not to jeopardizemore important future private moments, 1made a judgment call to leave," he says. "1was asked to leave several t imes, twice by

Bradley, more times by his handlers."But , more times than not, when Arbo

gast really needed to be somewhere tomake a picture, he got his access. Thoseyears of doing his homework paid off.Right to the end of the campaign.

O ne of Arbogast's favorite pictures fro mhis coverage of Bradley is a picture made ofthe former senator driving his well-used carby himself to his campaign headquartersafter his candidacy ended and Secret Serviceprotection was lifted.

Arbogast took Bradley's offer of a liftand the two talked about a wide range ofthings as they made the drive. After all, hemight ron again and Arbogast knowsmoments like that will pay off over thelong hau!.

1114 Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photolournallsm

David GuttenlelderWorking in ahuman slorm

David Guttenfelder's way of coveringevents could apply to any photographeranywhere, though on a slightly differentscale.

"Sornetimes when you are doing a storyand you are looking for a feature picture,"he explains, "you'll stumble across fiveguys doing a culture dance or somethingand you'll think you've struck gold.You'll shoot four rolls of film."

"Another time," he continues, "you'llbe standing in a road with a millionrefugees and you don't know what tophotograph." Guttenfelder says you findthat you keep walking, "first a mile, then

Associated Press Guide To Photolournallsm

two, then three and you haven't taken anyphotos yet. It is overwhelming."

The photographerfound himself in just thatsituation a few years agowhile covering therefugee camps along theRwandan border.

"Every day, we tried togo there, and we couldn't. The road was minedand they stopped usoThen, one day, we carneto the top of this hill and we saw a millionpeople coming toward us."

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lessons: Working in ahuman storm

"For the first hour, 1 didri't shoot verymuch," he says. "1 didn 't know what toshoot. There is so much happening."

Finally, he realized th at he had to abandon his search for the one storycellingphoto and begin to chronicle the incredibleexodus . "You just have to start taki ng pietures. lf you keep walking, looking for theone photo th at can possibly match theemotions you are feeling, th en you mightnot take any ."

"When you get back," he says, "you' ll besurprised to discover that many of the littl emoments and many of th e overall pictu resdo th e joboThey do tell the story."

166

When yo u're in th e middle of a humanstorm, though, it is easy to lose trac k oftime.

"That day," Guttenfelder says, "seernedto go on forever. You could have stood inone place and shot pictures for ninety-sixhours. But, you had to pull away, you hadto decide, you had to focus on what pictu res would tell the story and you had toget those photos."

The assignment lasted three days. Eachday, Gutte nfelder would drive to where therefugees were on the road and begin hiscoverage. "We were going back and fort h.Run out , take pictures, come back and send

Associaled Press Gulde To PhOloiournalism

pictures. Go back again." After returningto the hotel at night, he would transmit hisphotos and then collapse in exhaustion.

The contrast of his hotel accommodations and the misery of the refugees didwear on Guttenfelder. "You are standingthere with a $2,000 lens," he says, "which ismore than that person could earn in 'a lifetime. You have to understand. You have tobelieve that you are there for a reason andthat what you are doing is of use to thosepeople."

y ou don't leave those emotions behindwhen you leave, he says.

"1 go home sometimes ro the United

Associated Press Gulde To Photoiournallsm

lessons: Working in ahuman slorm

States and it gives me a little perspective onwhat other people think are problems."

And, on those trips home, it takes a dayor two ro shift gears. "You ruin a lot ofdinner parties with what you think is anormal conversation, 1 bring up a topic ofconversation and everyone looks at me likeI'm a madman."

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168 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photo!ournallsm

David Marlin"You have lO gel wello gellhe besl piClures"

AP photographer David Martin has apretty simple way to tell if yo u're coveringa storm correctly.

"You have to get wet to get the best pietures," he says.

The Montgomery, Ala., based ph otographer should knów, He's a veteran of countless hurricanes and torn adoes and he's gotten wet plenty of times and brought backgood pictures, too.

Once, when forecasters initially said ahurricane was due to come ashore nearMiami , Martin was there waiting for it . Butthe sto rm change d its path and headednorth along the coast . Mart in took off inpursuit , Eventually, Mart in and the hu rricane met up on the O uter Banks of N orth

Associated Press Guide roPhotojournalism

Carolina . But , that's another story foranother time.

When a hurricane hit Key West a fewyears ago, Martin wasplenty close eno ugh.

But that didn't happenby accident o

Edito rs in N ew Yorkhad sent him to the endof the Florida Keysbecause weather forecasters were predicting that'swhere the sto rrn wouldfirst hit land. Equippedwith th e old sneakers he keeps in the garagejust for storrns like this, Martin headed out.

When he got to Key West , he quickly

169

leSSOAS: "Youhave lO gelwel lO gelIhe beslpiClures"

Key West residenls light wind and rain asthey make their way past housesbeing sweptout lo sea byHurrieane Georgesin 1998. Photographer David Martin has a eouple01rules íor making good stormpietures - pietures with people in themare going lo be better and you have lo get wet lo get the bestpietures. In this image, he seored on both eounts.

began gathering information. "Where does reporter went out two times to the area,it flood? Where do people go to watch the but the water wasn 't very high yet. Final-storrn," he asked the locals. Armed with Iy, on th e third pass through the area, hethe information, he knew where he wanted knew he was in the midd le of it. He wasto be when the storm hit . gettmg wet .

"1 had a pretty good idea of ;here to "We couldn't see the lines in the roadgo," he says. "We knew the storm was anymore, so we knew the water was start -going to hit that side of the island." After a ing to get deep," he explains.quick inspection trip of th e area, Martin Martin made a few pictures but felt hewas sure he was in the right spot. "You just didn 't have a good one yet, because he did-knew those houses were going to go." n' t have any people in the picture. Ru le

Finding the right spot, checking out the two of the Martin storm cade: "A pictureangles, seeing if there is someplace low, or of damage without the human element ishigh, to get a different look -- all of these boring. Very few of th ern wil l be success-things add up to being ready. ful."

As the sto rm came ashore, Martin and a About that tim e, Martin looked up the

118 Associated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism

lessons: ''You have lO gelwello gellhe beslpiClures"

road and "out of th e mist carne these threepeople who were going to ride out thestorm. That all by itself was an image."

Martin stuck with them and, the wetterhe got, i:he better the pictures gor,

"1 walked with th ern as th ey passed thedevastated houses. The wind was blowinglike hell, th e water was calf deep.It was an int ense mornent," Martinrecalls.

Martin kept his camera,equipped with a wide-angle lens,under his coat until he kn ew hecould make a good picture.

Neither chest·deep water during HurricaneDanny inAlabama in 1997 (below), nor blowingsand on a North Carolina beach in 1999 duringHurricane Dennis (right) can keep photographerDavidMartin away from the actio.n.

Associated Press Gulde To PhotoJournallsm

"As they walked past the house beingtossed up on th e shore, th at 's when 1 firedoff six or seven frames." Martin had his pieture just in time. "Then the camera was toowet to do anything else."

With th at, he headed in. He had his pieture, with people. And he was plenty wet.

--111

112 Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJoumallsm

David Phillip,Pal SullivanUllcan gel repelilive shoolingIlowers..."

While news coverage often tests the ernotional reserves of photographers, sportsphotography usually requires th ern to payattention while their subjects are on anernotional high er low.

AP photographer David Phillip saw onefarnily's highs and lows during a season ofgolf. And felt sorne of that ernotio n himself.

Few stories in sports are as tragic as thatof golfer Payne Stewart. After a career thatexploded on the scene in the early 1990s,Stewart's luck tu rned the other way and hewent years without being a serious contender. Then, in 1999, it looked like he had


it all together again.The golfer, easily recognized on the

course wearing his tradernark knickers,won the u.s. O pen Charnpionship at Pinehurst, N .e., in drarnatic fashio n in June.

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lessons: "11 can gel repelilive shooling lIowers"

glory days andhad seen the badluck years, too .

Months wentby, and althoughStewart 's seasonleveled off a bitfrom th e high ofthe Open, hestill was playingwell and wo uldbe included inth e annual TourChampionship,an event III

H ouston thatfeatures th e topmo ney winnersof the season.Phillip wasgOlllg to coverth at tourney,too.

Then, whilecoverin g a trialoutside H ouston, Phillipoverheard otherjournalists talking about aplane that was introuble. "1 was

standing outside the courthouse and heardreports there was a plane off course fiyingacross th e country," he says. There was noword on who was on board and Phillippaid only passing attention to th e story.

A couple of hours later, word came thatStewart, who had been en route from his

Phillip, who has been covering golf forseveral years and counts several majors,includ ing the Masters and O pen, in hiscredits, was happy to see Stewart win.Wh ile growing up in Dalias, where Stewarthad gone to school, Phillip had followedhis career. He had seen him during his

Pholographer David Phillip 01 the AP remembers lhemomenl quite well when Payne Stewart'sputt dropped inon lhe final hole lo give the"emolive Stewart lhe 1999 U,S. Open tille al the fabledPinehurst course in North Carolina, Monlhs laler, Phillip wouldbe covering lhe grieving and emolional followup after Stewart's chartered jet crashed ina South Dakota lield and the Tour Championship tourney that weekwould turn into aperiod01mourn ing,

114 Assoclated Press Guide To Photo¡ournalism

lessons: "11 can gel repetitive shoOlingf1owers"

would miss him and how much he hadbrought to th e game."

Phillip is a golfer himself and looks Iorward to covering the sport. But there wasno joy in the assignment . lt was a sad timefor players, spectato rs and others who hadseen Stewart in action over the years.

The coverage moved into a new day, andPhillip faced th e dilemma often Ielt by photographers. H e had to find a new way to

...._ .. tell the story."O bviously,

it can get repetitive shootingflowers in aparking spot,"he says. ''1'dcheck periodically with tournament officialsto see whatthey hadplann ed. I alsospent a lot oftime out by the

driving range and puning green where theplayers are more likely to talk about things,let their guard down a little." Stewart hadbeen a popular player and the players werevisibly upset, Phillip says.

H e also looked for other ways to tell thestory. People were start ing to wear blackribbons so he sought out the source andmade a picture of them being prepared.Flags were at half-staff, and Phillip checkedto see who was doing that and when hecould photograph that, too.

O n the morning of the first round of theto urney, a mem orial service was held at the

O rlando home to Dalias and then to Houston for the tourney, had been on the planeoH e was killed when it crashed int o a SouthDakota field after running out of fue!.

"I was shocked," Phillip says. "I thoughtback to the O pen instantly. I thought backto his comments after the tourney aboutbeing at peace in his life." Phillip thoughtabout th ose comments, at such a happymoment in Stewart 's life, and the events ofthe day. H efound he was"flashing backto pictures ofStewart and hiswife ernbracing. I thoughtof his children.How tragic tolose yourfather in abizarre circurnstance liketh at."

The sto rynow was shifting to Housto n, to the coursewhere the upcoming tourney would beplayed. Phillip finished up at the trialqu ickly and drove directly to the golfcourse, arriving about sunset. "There was avery som ber feeling around th ere. A lot ofpeople in shoc k. Sorne people had srartedto leave flowers." Phillip looked around,found the beginnings of a makeshift shrineat the reserved parking space which hadbeen assigned to Stewart in antic ipation ofhis arriva l and went to wo rk. "That' s whenI made the first pictu res," he says. "Sorneone had left a note about how much they

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photojournalism 115

lessons: "11 can get repetitive shooting flowers"

116

Players saluted Stewart by wearing his trademark knickers (top), fans, officials andcompetílors all wore biack ribbons of grief (above) andlourney winner TigerWoods saluled Stewart allhe lrophy presentation (Iefi). 11was adifficullweek for players like TomLehman (opposile)who cried openly ala memorial service. Pholographer David Philliphad tobe alerttoall 01lhe possibilities íor photos so they didn't allbegin to look alike.


lessons: "11 can get repetitive shootinglIowers"

course. A heavy misty fog covered the to take the risky position? Who is going to .course. "It was very eerie. When we got out work with a panicular lens or angle? ' Comthere that morning, ir was the thickest fog I munications is the key. Talk it out."had seen in a while. How fitting," Phillip And, when working in a team situation ,says. • ir is irnportant to realize that one person

Phillip was working with colleague Pat probably won't be able to make all of theSullivan. They talked it over, and, he key picture s of the day. But collectivelyexplains, "we too k r-~~---------~-~---¡ you will have a fullopposite angles to repon .make sure we had all "Ir was importantof our bases covered. David and I workedI had gotten out there different angles,"early and looked over Sullivan says. "Hethings. I had marked had the prime spotoff three positions for all of the otherafter talking with offi- pictures. His overallcials. I had the 500 take was much bet-mm, so it made sense ter than mine,for me to go down because he had a bet-the fairway and shoot ter angle during theback into the crow d. service."Pat took a more even But the piper pie-line with the crowd, tu re fra m Sullivan'sso she could get the angle turned out tobagpiper walking on be the key image.ro the green, then "When I saw theback with the foot- footprints in theprint s." dew," she says, "I hoped he would follow

Phillip' s angle-would put the piper in line the same path out. And, he did. Everythingwith the cra wd while Sullivan's was more carne together the way you hoped it would.isolated on the piper. "I would be able to That doesn't happen very often."put him in the context that he was a~ a There is a range of topics to go overmemorial service, with the crawd in the when you are working with another pho-background. We wanted to make sure we tographer, just as when you are workinghad both contexts covered," he says. alone. "What is the key image? What is the

That kind of teamwork is irnportant. "In key angle? What about this when this hapmost situations, you know there is going to pens? N ever assume someone else is thinkbe a must pictu re," Phillip says. "Then you ing the same thing you are thinking,"talk about the other pictures, 'Who is going Phillip says. "In this business everyone has

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photo¡ournallsm m

lessaos: "11 can gel repelilive shOOling f1owers"

David Phillip and colleague Pat Sullivan arrived early for a memorial service for Stewart and checked out the scene andtalked with officials to see what would be happening. With that planning, they took up posifions togive the greatest varietyto their coverage while making sure they had the key moments, including Sullivan's dramatic view 01 a lone bagpiper walking off into the mist aíter playing "Amazing Grace."

a different eye and a different approach."In the case of the piper picture, for Sulli

van it was a matter of taking aposition thatnormally would have been undesirable - apicture of someone's back. "This goes backro not taking things for granted," Sullivansays. "We get in the habit of shooting people's faces. In this case, it doesn't matterwho the piper was. It was the symbol. Tome it was more appropriate for him ro beleaving."

When the day was over, Phillip and Sullivan had a good set of pictures and Philliphad the finish to the photo essay of his

118

memories of Payne Stewart."I was very touched by it all," he says. "Ir

brought ro mind him holding that trophyon the 18th green after winning the Open.I actually thought about his family andhow jhey were doing, how they were handling his death. "

For a moment, as that piper disappearedinto the fog, Phillip thought of the timemonths before on the 18th at Pinehurst. "Itwas like a step back in time. We werewatching that putt rolling and dropping. "in,


RemotesAsecond wav lO see

Remates are all about options.There's the perfect angle, or view, of an

event , But you can't be there while thegame or meet ing is under way. Or there's asecondary angle that might, or might not,pay off. But it i~ worth a look, that's forsure .

Unmanned cameras, fired by radio, byusing a switch on the end of a hard wire, orby computers linked by microwave transmitters, let photographers be in more thanone place at a time .

Hard wire, which is basic electric extension or "zip" cord, is the simplest methodand most foolproof. One end has a socketwhich mates with the camera 's remote firing arrangement. The other has a simple

Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photojoumallsm

hand or foot switch attached to completethe e1ectrical circuir.

Another method is to use a radio remate.One vendar produces a un it called th e

Pocket Wizard. Ir is a sophisticated piece ofequipment that can be used to fire camerasor trip strobe lights rernotely. Ir has a button on the sending unit, or an externalswitch can be used. The receiving unitmounts at the camera or strobes and plugsin the same way the hard wire setup operates.

That's the setup AP photo grapher DavidPhillip uses. "Ir is a relative1y easy setupand it doesn't take a lot of tim e to do it.y ou can keep all of your gear in one bag,"he says. Phillip uses Velero to attach the

179

lessons: Asecond wav lO see

Laura Rauchmounted acamera on a Iighl boomover the ringal the 1999 Holyfield-Lewis heavyweighl bout in Las Vegas(above); Mike Conroy used a remote mounted behind the backboard glasstor thisview 01 a 1999 San Antonio-New YorkNBA Finals game (opposite, top), and DavidPhillip routinely mountsa remole camera tor an extra shot atplays attheplatewhilecovering the Astros inHouston (opposite, bottom).

receiving unit to the camera clamp and afoot switch to fire it.

Phillip first start ed using remates bystringing out hard wire. "When I first started using thern, I would have 500 feet of zipcord spread around a basketball court . Itwas pretty messy cleaning up after thegame with all of the beer and Cake spilledon thern." He was a lot happier when heswitched to using radio remates. "It is soeasy,' he says.

There is one thing to watch, Phillip says,

180

when using the radio remates. Others usingthe same units can inadvertent ly trip yourcamera if they are on the same channel."That got to be very Irustrating," Phillipsays.•

At big events, there often is a sign-upsheet for channels to keep this from happening. Or Phillip and other photographerstake it a step further. "With the newadvances in radio remates, I have had custom channels installed [in his radios], so noone else can fire thern." That is a quick and

Assoclated Press Guide To PhotoJournallsm

lessons: Asecond wav tosee

..

IThat can mean setting up a camera in the

third base photo position at a baseba11 game_~~~~-", "'r.--- - - - - - .,...-- - - "1 while you are in

the first basebox. Or in anoverhead position when youare at first orthird. Sorne photographers evenleave a remoteset up whenthey leave thefield to transmittheir images. lf

they see a play at theplate happening onth eir workroom television, the y hit th eremote switch.

Any way you doir, the remote givesyou another chanceto get the pictureyou want. Phi11ip

;,¿¡iiiei.....~ n gs up a remotelooking at hom e

plate from an alternate position at most ofthe baseba11 games he goes to oPlays at th eplate, he says, are the most unpredictableand yield th e most return in terms ofte11ing th e story. "You never know howthe player is going to slide into the plate orhow the play might go," Phi11ip says. "Theremote gives me a chance to make sure 1have a picture when I'rn covering a gamealone." He says the effort is worth it. "Ithas paid off quite a bit. If 1 set it up tengames in a row, 1'11 get two or three pie-

relatively inexpensive fix for th e problem.The th ird method to fire remote cameras

is a new productjust making itsdebut in"remo tesetups. N ikon andLucent Technologies have teamedup to develop ahardware/ software solution thatfires a digital camera linked by ashort cable to alaptop. It thensends th at image fileover' microwave radiofrequencies to anotherlaptop. The two laptops are not linked byany wires and can bequit e a distance apartand not necessarily insight of each other. Aperson at the receivingend fires the cameraby hitting th e spacebar on the laptop keyboard instead of byusing external switches.

Earlier methods from other vendorsrequ ired someo ne to manua11y transmit theimages. And the sending and receiving stations had to be in line of sight wit h eachother.

Phi11ip is a regular user of remotes. "1thi nk it is a great advantage," he says. "It isworth any time and effort . The advantageyou gain from a second position is we11worth it."

Associaled Press Gulde loPhololournallsm 181


phere to whatcan be a sterilesettmg.

At a StanleyCup finals playoff game in Buffalo, GenePuskar of theAP used aremote cameramounted on acatwalk in thearena ceiling toprovide a different view ofplays around th egoa!. That angle

""",..--~---..-------,paid off evenmore th anexpected whenBren Hull ofthe Dallas Starsscored the winning goal in. . .overnme, glvmgthe 1999 StanleyCup to th eStars, Puskarhad the frame.

The goal wascont roversia!.Sabres playersand coachesclaimed Hull 'sskate was insideth e crease, theprotected areaaround the goaltender, when he

Usinga remote camera mounted ona walkway in the ceiling 01thearena, Gene Puskar's picture 01 Bretl Hull scoring the winning goal inthe 1999Stanley Cup finals title game showed Hull 's skate inthe creasewhich shou ld have negated the goal.

News assignments can be bettercovered by using remotes, too. DougMilis mounted a camera over a doorwayto catcha different picture ofPresicent Bill Clinton leavinganEast Room news conference in1997.

. .commg or gomgfrom a briefing.The picturehelps break upthe standardpodium coverage that is driven by the control exercisedover photographers' movements coven ngthe preside nt .And ir givessorne atrnos-

remote camerain a doorway toshow PresidentBill Clinton

tures from it ,"he says. "Ir canmake a big difference in mycoverage ."

Remotes alsocan provide asupple menta lpicture to th ephotographer'stake from anevent, ofteñ~a

secondary pieture that helpsround out th estory.

In the WhiteHouse, AP photographer DougMills has used a

182 Associated Press Guide To Photojournalism


Mark Terri ll mounted a camera in the back 01 the goal lo capture this dramalicphoto al Chinesegoalie Hong Gao making an unsuccesslul save attempt on the winning overtime shootout kick inthe 1999 women's WorldCup match won by Ihe U.S. squad.

make from any other angle.And, in soccer, the key action is going to

be near the net in most instances. AP photographer Mark Terrill placed a remate at

the back of the net to get China's goalie,Hong Gao , missing the kick in overtimewhich gave the United States the women'sWorld Cup title. The low angle and Gao'sstretching form give the picture its puncho

For Milis, Conroy, Rauch and Terrill, aremate camera gave them pictures fromplaces they couldn't be themselves . In thecases of Puskar and Phillip, remates gavethem the chance to cover two angles atonce.

Either way, the versatility remates affordmakes them worth the effort.

scored . This would have disallowed thegoal. As you might imagine, Hull and theStars were quiet on the subject afterN ational Hockey League officials ruled thegoal good.

But Puskar'spicture showedHull's skateclearly withinthe line andSabres fans had itto study andgrumble aboutover the longsummer afterthey lost thechainpionship.

Remates workwell in basket- .ball, too. A camera was clampedto th é backboard supportbehind the glassby Mike Conroy of the AP during a 1999 NBA Finalsgame in San An tonio. The remate cameragave Conroy a picture from a vantage pointwhere no photographer could actuallywork during a game. And, after a long season of pictures from the floor up, it alsoprovided a different angle.

AP photographer Laura Rauch mounteda remate on a light boom over a boxingring to make a telling picture of boxerLennox Lewis heading back to his comerwith his arms raised in victory as his fightwith Evander Holyfield ended. Ir is a cleanview that would have been difficult to

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photojournalism 183

184 Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism

liuhlinu:Using lightto Your Advantage

L.ighting for photojournalism can be

as complex as a rnultiple-strobeoperatio n or as simple as exposing

your film properly on a sunny day.But th e secret seems to be to use light,

whatever the source, and make it work foryou.

Whe n slugger ,Mark McGwire was racingto break Roger Maris' home run record,AP photographer Ed Reinke used availablelight.

And, he used a flash, actually hunctreds ofth ern, to make a dramatic point with a pieture. They wereri't his flashes, though.They were th e flashes from th e cameras offans making pictures when McGwire carne

to the plateo"That was a picture we had all seen on

television ," Reinke says. "Television hadmade so much of it, In the ballparks fromFlorida to Cincinnati to Sto Louis, we hadseen still photographers make attempts at itand end up with two flashes in the picture,1 th ought about it and th ought about it andth ought about it," he says. "1 went back tomy roo m and watched it on ESPN andth ought, 'Wow, th ere are a lot of flashes.'"

The next night, Reinke thought he had itfigured out . H e decided to give it a try buthe hadn 't gathered the necessary equipment oSo he improvised. He put th e cameraon the concrete apron in front of his photo

Oppositepage: Ed Reinke ot IheAP made one trame, a keeper. 01 hundreds 01 flashes going off wilh SI. Louis Cardinalsslugger Mar!< McGwire al batas hechased the home run record in 1998.

Associated Pless Gulde To PhotoJoumallsm 185

lioblino: U51ng lIgbtto Your Advantage

To iIIuslralea story on lhe emergence01 new high-intensity car lights,AP photographer RobertBukatyshot lhecar in a darkened area with theheadlighls on and used a strobe belowand behind lhecar lo backlightand oulline the scene.

pos ition. "1 pu t the PCMCIA gloves [smallcases for digital camera disks] under thelens of the camera and set it on 2.5 secondsand stopped it down and thought, 'I'mgoing to give th is a tri his first at-bat .' H e'sswinging for 61."

"1 poked the button as the pitch carne,"Reinke says, "and 1 am trying to handholdthe 300 with my other hand. 1 gave it onetry and said to myself, 'That's it, I'm notgoing ro take the chance if he hits thisthing.' If h~ 'tad hit it just then, asit tu rns out 1 wo uld have beengolden . But 1 wasn 't going to takethe chance any more."

The picture was a winner, evenif it wasn' t made al: the most significant mo ment of the night . "1 can'tsay 1 was very prepared to do it,"Reinke says. "But 'l: knew exactlywhat 1 wanted to accomplish. 1was mentally prepared, but 1 wasn 't physically prepared. 1 mad e oneframe and it wo rked."

Rein ke had dozens of flashes inhis pict ure and it turns out he wassuccessful because, for just amoment , he stopped thinking likea photographer and thought moreas a fan. And, a fan more times than notwould react to the pitch rather than anticipate it as a photographer would.

"T iming is so much of that, Most of th epeople that missed it [the flashes] werethinking more like a photographer than aspectator. In fact, the ball is in the catcher 'smitt. Of the 55,000 fans in Busch Stadiurnwho were trying to make a picture of himhitt ing his 61st home run, 1 doubt there

186

were three who had the ball coming off thebat w hich is what we (photographers)strive for. "

Reinke had seen the light, as ir were, andused it to his advantage .

Rusty Kennedy tells of the guidan ce hegot from a veteran photographer at the former Philadelphia Bulletin when just staningout . The veteran to ld Kennedy, "D on't jusrlook at your light meter, look at your light.Look at it, look at how it falls.'

Kennedy says that "because meters are soaccura te now, sometimes photograph ersdori't-look at the light," and they lose a lotof feeling in their pictures when they don 'tlet light work for thern.

When available light isn't sufficient, oractually hinders a good exposure, ph otographers shouldn't be reluctant to use auxiliary light, which they prov ide themselves.That can range from small flash units to

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournalism

liohlino: Using Lighllo Your Advanl8ge

AP pholographer Eric Draper made good use al a slrobecoupled wilh adevice to spread lhelight logive an overall even exposure lo lhis wideangle view 01 presidenlial candidale George W. Bush early in2000.

larger multiple head strobe arrays or photoflood kits.

It doesn' t have 10 be anyt hing complex10 be helpful, Eric Risberg explains, "1 hada chance to wo rk with MarkKauffman, the former Life photographer. 1 worked with him for twomonth s and he taught me aboutlighting, from simple assignments10 how 10 light a building."

Risberg says the most importantth ing Kauffman taught him wasth at, "you dori't need a lot of lighting equipment 10 make good pietures."

U nders tanding your equipmentwill help you stretch its usefulness."Being a photojournalist," Indianopolis freelancer Mary ¡\nnC árter says, "you have 10 be adaptab le andknow what yo ur tools are going 10 do . Astrobe, an umbrella, a softbox or the ability10 push film are just that , tools 10 be usedwhe n th ey are needed."

"You have 10 look at the light that isthere," Carter says, "and figure out what isgoing 10 work in that situation. Whatwo rked today, wo ri't always work tomorrow. What wo rked on chro mes, might notwork in black and white photography."

Carter says, "The best th ing to do is 10

practice with yo ur tools, one foot [rom thesubject, five feet from the subject, Learnwhat the light does, what it doesn 't do."

Do ug Pizac of the AP says those practicesessions can reveal a lot. Approach themwith several objectives in mind so you canget th e most information about your equipmento


For instance, check the falloff of lightfrom your strobe equipm ent so you 'llknow how it willlight scenes with variouslens. Pizac says, for examp le, sorne strobes

will easily cover the field of a 35 mm lensbut cautions th at using a 24 mm lens withthat same strobe will produce falloff, th eedges wil1 get less light than the centralarea.

Adapters are available 10 spread the light,but Pizac says there are sorne instanceswhere th e falloff helps. If you' re workingin a crowded hallway, for instance, like anews assignment outside a court roomwhere peop le are on either side of the subject, but closer 10 the photographer, Pizacsays, "use a 24 mm lens with no attachmenton the strobe. The subject will be properlyil1uminated ," and the "light falloff from thestrobe wil1 be enough to correctly exposethe people on the fringe since they are d oser 10 the light source."

If you' re going to be doing a great deal oflighting, Cárter suggests a couple of items

181

lighting: U51nu liUbllO Your Advanlage

Photographer Wyatl Counts used a softbox to take the harshness out 01a strobe light in th~ thoughtlul l 990 study01 rock guitarist Eric Clapton.

that will help you gain the best qualit yfrom yo ur lighting equipmem.

She finds a flash meter, which measuresboth strobe andambiem light, tobe extremelyhelpful whensetting up lighting units thatdon't have autornauc exposure.,.comrols.

Another toolshe uses is apress camerawith a specialback that takesPolaroid film soyou have"instant" feedback on yourlight ing.

Carter says, "1find it helpfu lbecause it tellsme when 1 havea reflection that1 don't want, orif I'm throwinga shadow that is awkwa rd. It's not fordetermining exposure, that' s what 1 use theflash meter for, but it 's for looking at relationships in the picture."

"It gives you a sneak preview of what isgoing to be on the film. If th ere is a glaringerror, it will show you where ir is," shesays.

Wyatt Counts, a freelance photographer.based in New York, also uses the Polaroid

lBB

method to check his lighting, With thePolaro id, he says, "You get sorne idea ofwhat your light is do ing before you com

rnit it to film."H e also uses

the Polaroids tosrnooth over anyfears his subjectsrnight have. If asubject seemsnervous, Co untswill make aquick exposureon the Polaroidfilm and give itto th em "so theycan see you' reserious about irand makingthem lookgood." That usually relaxesthem.

Counts alsouses a Hawkrern ote system.It' s a radiodevice to fire hisstrobes. It frees

him from having wires running all over theplace, "where people can trip over them,"he say!. And, it allows him to put th estrobes in places whe re it might be difficult

I to run a wire.Just as you have to pay attention to yo ur

lighting, you have to pay attention to yourequipmem, too. Pizac says not to forget tocheck the calibration of yo ur variousmeters, both in the camera and the hand-

Assoclated PressGuldeTo Photolournalism

lighting: Using lightto Your Advantage

tions.For a magazine c!ient , she needed a por-

Mark Duncan oftheAPused fill flash lo negatebothersome shadows under the bill 01the capwom by racing driver Bobby Rahal on a sunnyday at the 1996 Cleveland Grand Prix.

ows.Using a slower speed

film, such as an ASA 100or ASA200 stock, will letyou open up the apenureand cut down on thedepth of field.

Caner explains howfill flash helps whenshooting in the open pitarea at th e IndianapolisMotor Speedway. "Atthe track, I' m trying to

get sorne light up under the baseball capsthat everyo ne wears, and 1 want the background to come up norm al, so 1 make theflash a stop less than th e overall exposure."

She says, "It's a matter of balancing outthe light. If I'm exposing for th e ambientlight at a 250th at rs, 1'11 shoo t the flash atf5.6. And, 1 can shoot the flash on camerabecause the sun wipes out th e negativeaspects of doing that.'

Carte r also uses flash fill in other situa-

held flash meter. He suggests shooting tests, films to use flash fill outdoors with a carn-carefully recording the data, then evaluar- era that synchs at a 60th of a second oring th e film to see whe re th ere might be slower.discrepancies. AIso you should check for Flash fill will give you an immediatesituations th at might fool ~-------.....--__~--, quality boost and maketh e meter, or the photog- yo ur negatives more easi-rapher. ly printab le without hav-

"A meter is only a ing to do extensive dodg-guide," Pizac warns, "a ing in th e underexposedstan ing point . Look at eye sockets, or extensivewhat the meter says and burn ing on overexposedinterpret the reading. Do areas while fighting tonot rely on ir." retain detail in th e shad-

It's imp ortant to learnwhat lightin g can do foryou.

The simplest lightin gexercise, which calls forthe.Jeast amount of

•equipment, is flash fill.That involves using astrob éto fill shadowareas in a sun-lit scene.

A rule of thumb forflash fill is to set yourauto matic strobe, or calculate your strobe to subject distance on amanual unit, to produce one stop less lightthan th e existing light exposure.

For instance, if th e existing light is rn,th e fill flash should produce light at f8.This way, the "fill" light will open U? th eshadows while the "natural" light will stillbe dominate and the scene will retain itsnatu ral appearance.

y ou'Il need a camera that synchs at a250th of a second, or faster, to make easyuse of the flash-fill techn ique. It 's difficultwithout shifting to extremely slow speed

Associaled Press Gulde To Pholojournalism 189

lighting: Uslng llghl lO Your Advanlage

Photoqrapher Doug Pizae of lheAP had a differentkind 01 subjeel in Ihis 1989 portrail 01 a peregrine faleonon the ledge of an L.A. offiee build ing, but Iheehallenge lo expose Ihepielure correetlywas onePizae had faeed before. He used lhesame kind 01solutiqn he would use on a human - fill flash.

trait of the co-speakers of the IndianaH ouse of Representatives with the Capiteldome behind them. The only time theycould do it was in the late afternoon, andthe only place to shoot the picture fromwas a parking garageroof that would leavethe subjects extreme1yback-lit.

"In order to make thepicture work, 1 had tolight them,"'t:arterexplains. "And, to makethe subjects stand out, 1didn't want the background to be overex-posed. 1 had to put' a lotof light on the [ronts ofthe subjects so tha; thebackground would be anormal exposure, or alittle underexposed. Ithad a nice effeet becausethe sun gave a rim lightto the subjects and mylight gave their facesdetail and made theexposure work."

Pizac used fill flash to

improve the quality of a picture he made ofa peregrine falcon on a 26th-flo or windowledge. The picture was made to go with astory on the "urbanization" of the bird.

To separate the falcon from the harsh,cross-lit background, Pizae used anext reme1y wide aperture to cut down onthe depth of fie1d. Then , he set his stro be,using the unit 's variable power option, tofire at extremely low power. The strobe

190

filled in the shadows under the bird's bodyand put sorne "catch" lights in its eyes.

It 's not your everyday assignment, but agood example of how watching the lightingand using fill flash can imp rove your wo rk.

The other basiclighting concept tolearn is the use of"b ounce" lighting tosoften the effect of thestro be.

It gets its nam e fro mexactly what it is, amethod where you"bounce" the stro be'soutput off a surface,usually a ceiling, tospread the light andcut the harsh shadowsproduced by thestrobe, Bouncing thestrobe light gives yourpictures a more natural look , whil e sti ll giving you the qualit y ofa strobe-lit picture.

To bounce thestrobe light , point theflash tube at the

object (the eeiling in most cases) you' ll useas a reflector, being careful to point thestrobe's exposure sensor at the subject if, . . .you re usmg an autornauc urut .

Hold the strobe so three or four of yourfingers act as a small reflector to "kick"sorne of the stro be's out put directly at yoursubject, Or, you can use a caption card orsmall piece of white cardboard, att achedwith tape or a rubber band to the strobe.

Associaled Press Guide lo Pholoiournalism

Bouncing the light Iromher strobe off the ceiling, AP photographer Amy Sancetla was able lo gela more workable exposure inthe light confines 01 a balhroom in lhis imaginative portrail of ayoung girl who had writlen inan essay, "1 am curiousabout what my dad talks to himsell aboul inthe shower."

This will give you the brighter fill you' llwant to lighten the eye sockets on yoursubject and provide a highlight, withouthitting the subject with the full effect of thestrobe light .

Bouncing the strobe light takes sornepractice, but is a pleasing lighting effect.y our pictures won't look lit but will have amore pleasing to nal range without deepshadows .

One warning if you're shoo ting colorimages: Watch th e color of th e surfaceyou're bouncing your light off. The strobewill pick up that color and your subjectwill be "lit" with th e colored light. Try tobounce off neutra l surfaces for this reason.

Getting back to basics is the message of

AssociatedPress Guide To PhotoJournalism

lighting: Using lighttoYonr Advantage

two photographers, Pizac and AP photographer H arry Cabluck.

O ld photography and lighting manualsare a good source of information. Pizacsays one of his favorites is ti tled , "1001Ways To Imp rove Your Photo graphs ." The1945 book, Pizac says, "is a treasure chestof information. The photos themselves mayappear dated, but th e techn iques themselvesare everlasting."

H e says grabone if you eversee it. He gets tolook at onethat's in hisuncle's collection of photobooks.

Pizac doeshave a collectionof old texts fromth e '40s and,50s, case studieson lighting fromthe Paramountand MGM studios, and he saysth ose providegood examplesto follow. "Gofor th ose booksand get back to

the basics," Pizac says, adding th at oldertown libraries often have these books onthe shelves. "You've just got to search themout ."

AP photographer Mark Duncan addsanother source for lighting ideas. "1 get alot of my ideas from lookin g at non-jour-

191

lighting:USing Ught to Your AdVantage

nalistic types of pictures to see how theyuse light, like corporate reports and industri al pictures."

Pizac says an important reason for beingcareful in lighting is that it will make otherparts of your job quicker and easier. "People go out and do a job, and then they

Cabluck learned his basics at the FortWorth Star- Telegram in the days when filmspeeds were so slow you had to supplementany lighting. Cabluck looked to a twostrobe setup to put depth in his pictures."Your subject in the foreground lit withone light, something in the background lit

Photographers have to learn to look athow to use multiplestrobes and how the light is working whenthey are faced with aseíup to shoot a series 01portrails in one localion. This trioofheadshots, by photographerMary Ann Carter, shows somesimple rules to foliow lo achieve high quality. The hairlight on the subjectsatcenter and le« provide separation. But, Ihesubjecl al rightwould showa refleclion il Ihe hairlighl was used so it was cul off for his sitting. And, the lens aperture wasopened a hall-stop lorthe le« subjecltogive uniformdensilies in Ihe exposures. This sel 01piclures shows Ihere is nosingle way thatwillwork in every situation.

spend an hour preparing the finishedimage. If they had shown rnore-care whenshoo ting, the printing or scanning wouldhave been completed in far less time."

"When you make your picture ," Pizacsays, "you should correct the lighting sowhen you come in, you don 't have to foolaround." By working with your lightin g atthe assignment, you can scan your negativeor acquire your digital image withou t having to worry about correcting for colorshifts.

192

by another light, with the subject set off bythe spill from the back light. We called ir a3D shot."

"The secret to the 3D shot is to have thebest light stands you can get," Cablucksays. "If you think you need a six-foot lightstand, get a twelve-footer. Get a light standtwice the length that you think you willneed," so you have the greatest flexibility inplacing you r lights.

"And, put the camera on a tripod, even ifyou don' t th ink you need to. Most news

Assoclaled Press Gulde To Photoiournalism

Using a tripod notonly makes tor asteadier image whenshooting at slowershutterspeeds(which lets the photographer takeadvantage ot naturalIight), it also givesthe photographer aplatform to view hisscene trorn. Thephotographer thenhas a better chanceto look through thecamera and makesure the picture iscomposed the wayhe wants it.

photographers probably don 't use a tripodeno ugh," Cabluck says.

Usi ng a tripod not only makes for asteadier image when shooting at slowershutte r speeds (which lets th e photographertake advant age of natu ral light), it also givesthe phot ographer a platform to view hisscene from. The photo grapher then has abett er chance to look through the cameraand make sure the picture is composed theway he wants it,

Cabluck 's simple light ing formula is to"have the lights greater than 90 degreesapart." Visualize the scene like the "subjectis in the center of an imaginary circle," hesays. "You don 't want to have the cameracentered right between the lights. O ne lightshould be aimed at the subject and one ontI)¡ background with sorne spill over on tothe subject." ,

Cabluck adds an imp ortant itern towatc h for. "The mistake most peopl e makeis to put the sub ject light too high." Youraim, Cabluck says, is to "not have the lightso high that the nose shadow splits th e lip."

An easy exposure ratio is used. "If thesub ject is f8, the background light would bea half a stop ho tter so it would show up ."

Cabluck calls the old 3D setup "a simpletwo-light setup that looks like three lights."Simple, but still effective for many jobs.And, by using umbrellas to soften the lighting, the setup can have a mo re modernlook.

As part of the basics, Carte r suggestsstarting your lighting setups from the background and moving forward . "Solve yourbackground," she says, "then light yourforeground, the subject. And keep it simple

Assoclaled Press Gulde To PholoJournalism

lighting: Using lighl lO Your Advantage

and clean. "Pizac seconds that suggestion. "Watch

your background. Keep it clean, or let itwork for youby enhancingthe subject,"he says.

"If I'm in afactory and 1have this largeexpanse,"Carter says, "1have to figurewhether I'mgoing to let itgo black, or if1 want sornedetail, or do 1want It overexposed, or do1 want it thecorrect color?"She says sheru ns throughher options,askin g, "Whatdo 1 want ir todo?"

When sheknows theeffect shewants, and shehas lit it for that effect, she can go to hersubject knowing that the background isgoing to work with the foreground tomake a good picture.

At an assignment at the local phone cornpany, Carter was faced with making a pieture among rows of metal racks with elec-

193

light he wants for many of his pictures, Heexplains, "The softbox recreates windowlight, and it produces sorne of the most

pleasing and natural light possible from anart ificial source ."

Risberg also believes that using a strobeand the soft box close to the subject brings acertain look to his pictures. "1 try to keepthe light , the main light, as close to the sub-

lioblino: Using lighllO Your Advanlage

t ronic equipme nt, "It took a long time tosolve the light ing prob lem," she says. "1didn't have eno ugh light to light a who lerow, and 1 hadto make a dullpicture better byusin g dramaticlighting, so 1ended up turnin g the backgro und lighttoward the 'sl1bject ." Sheexplains that"this put sornerim light onhim, and part sof the background we reoverexposed andother parts had adimension tothem because ofthe backlighting."

"Then,"Carter says, "1lit him from thefront with anum brella. Final-

ly, 1 composed it PhotographerWyatl Counts balanced the lighl from hisslrabewilh window lighl to give uniformso 1 didn't have density to thisenvironmental portrail 01a coupJe in lheir NewYork apartment.to go into thedark area that 1 couldn't light. " A simpletwo light solut ion to a tough prob lem.

There are other techniques and othe rtools.

Risberg prefers to use a "softbox" on hisstrobe to give himself the look of wi ndow

194 Assoclated Press Gulde Jo Photo1ournallsm

ject as 1 can. The closer the light is to thesubject, the softer it gets." Risberg warnsthat "a lot of photographers make the mistake of keep ing their light too great a distance from their subjec t, but in reality thecloser yo u get it , the softer it is when diffused by an umbrella or softbox."

Carter says yo u should get a feel for howthe softbox or umb rella will fit in to yo urtype of assignments. "A softbox falls offfaster than an umbrella," she says, "so ifyou're lighting a subject and yo u don 'twant to light the background, use a softbox. But, if yo u want to light the background, use an umbrella because it is goingto throw the light farther. "

Counts believes th at you can go for verydifferent effects by using yo ur lighting toolsdif~rently.

To strengthen a moodj or sad momentin a portrait, he'll use a strobe directly onthe subject and shoot it so the backgroundgoes dark. And, he'll have the subject lookoff camera.

For a softer effect to reinforce a morepleasant moment in a po rt rait, Counts willuse a strobe with a softbox or um brella.And, he'll have the subject look directlyinto the carnera.

When shooting a po rt rait , Pizac sometimes uses a 4-foot·by-4-foo t screen whichhe places between the subject and tqestrobe. The screen softens the light andspreads it .

For simple portraits in an office, Duncanlikes to supplement th e lighting in a lowkey manner. Duncan says, "1 tend to lightall of thern, put small strobes inside th elamp shades to make it look like the natur-

Associated Press Gulde To Photoloumalism

lighling: USing lighllO Your Advanlage

al light in the room." Using a small strobeto augment lighting gives Duncan the feelof available light and the quality of a studioshoot.

Photographers learn newlessons euerv davlarrv Nighswander: "Perseverance.Not giving up when you lail." Nighswander wanted to learn Iighting so hebought lour apples and worked on histechnique in his apartment. "It took melive days 01 shooting until I got the pieture I wanted. The apples were aboutto give up." The picture is still hangingin his office as a reminder. "11you wantto strive lar excellence, you don't giveup. You try until you get it."

Alex Burrows: "Find the right schooland get the right training. Get a goodeducation. Not only a practical education but expand that with a generalknowledge 01 the warld and people.Then go to a newspaper that will nurture your work. You've got to lind theright outlet lar your work that encourages you to get better."

"If it is something that demands a moredramatic effect, 1 will do that, but 1 general.ly like the natural approach. You light it sothe subject stands out with a softerapproach." With the flash in the lamp trick,"it looks like the regular lamp but withmore power."

195

lighting:USing lighl lO Your Advantage

roo m is preserved, but the quality and separation of the components is enhanced.

Amy Sancetta also likes ro have a naturallook in many of her assignments. Depending on the situation, she'll try to use natural light as a second light, perhaps lightingthe background, along with a stro be.

"If 1 have achoice, and 1 canput someone In

a chair near aE ',:, e, '.'.,. window, I'Il use

it as the mainsource and fill inthe shadow witha stro be. I'lllight the personwith sorne balanced strobelight on the irface from theshadow side rogive detail, butno t overpowerthe windowlight ."

Sancettathinks "naturallight is so pretty.If you can use it

in conjunction with flash, it can give yourpictures a softer look. "

Like Sancetta and Duncan, Ed Reinkelikes to use existing light when he can. "Asmuch as possible, 1 try to work with existing light," he says. "1 think it [workingwith or sirnply augment ing existing light] ismore challenging than going into a studioand completely controlling the light ."

AP photographer Doug Pizaehad towork around possible refleetions in theeomputer's sereen,the need lo syneh hisshutler speed wilh the monitor so as not lo gela blaek baron il, and theneed tobalance the exposure so the sereen eould be read while making lhis pieture 01 a Web siteoffieial inhis eompany's lab. .•

ro shoot only slower film, but if l'm balancing available light, I' ll stick with 400speed filrns."

For example, if the available light in theroom is a 30th of a second at f5.6, but thereare troublesome shadows, Duncan willlight the shadow areas with stro bes at thatf5.6 exposure, then shoot the picture at a30th . This way the natural balance of the

To balance the light for the naturallook,Duncan measures the available light in theroom and raises it in the same proportionusing the small flash units ro supplementthe existing light and fill the deep shadows.

It's a balance oflighting and film speed."If I'rn goin g ro shoot only strobe, I'll try

196 Assoclated PressGulde To Photolournallsm

lighling: USing lighl lO Your Advantage

Adifferent kind 01 balance had to be achieved by photographer WyattCounts when hegelled his strobe tobalance it with the output 01 theIluorescent Iights inan office while making this portrait 01 a textilecompany executive. "file strobe helps pop the subject out 01the background while the gel prevents an annoying color shift.

"If I'm going into a CEO 's office,"Reinke says, "my tendency is to make thatportrait by just augmenting the light that isthere.t'.And he does that by using many ofthe same methods that Duncan andSancetta use.

There are specific instances inwhich Reinke alsowi11 use light tohelp te11 the story.H e explains, "1made a portrait ofaman making alow-budget horror movie, and 1cont ro 11ed theenvironrnentmtt'ch more tightIy and used rea11ylow-Ievellight tomake him lookevil, which fit inwith the story."

Reinke says youneed to controlthe light to makeit work for YO\!."It's up to us tomarry the portraitwith the story,"he says. ''1'11 shuta light off ca mpletely, or move a light, if 1 can make a better picture that way." He adds that hemakes these changes, "just in a feature, notin new s situations. Never in news. So muchthat we do now is feature-oriented, we canreasonably take more control."

Assoclated PressGuldel oPhotoJournallsm

Carter says turning out the room lights,and using a stro be, is the easiest way tomake a good pictu re of som eone workingat a computer terminal. "The stro be has tobe where it won't hit the screen, high andoff to the side, facing toward the subject ."

H er methodinvolves turn ingoff the ambientlight in thero om and takinga light reading,using the camera's built-inmeter, off of thescreen. If thescreen exposureis l / 8th of a second at rs, forinstance, Carte rwi11 put thecamera on a trr

pod , set thestrob e at fS, andmake her exposures. The exposure of the subject and thescreen wi11 bebalanced.

You can alsouse a strobe tofreeze action, or

to add an effect to a picture with movement. Carter had a magazine assignmentabout an exhibit at a children 's museum,the science of spo rt . The itern they wantedto feature was an angular momentumdevice, which involves the child, "twirling

191

lighting: Using lIghllO Your Advanlage

around and throwing out their arms to seeif it slows them down or makes thern go[aster," Carte r recal1s.

Carter had a young volunteer workingwith her. "He was twirling around and 1was trying different things and lots of different shutter speeds," she says. "1was trying to see if 1 could get the idea of thi smovement and stil1 see that it was a kid ."

Carte r tried so many different things, andso many shu¡ter speeds, th at her first volunteer got a little queasy and had to bereplaced. After finding another volunteer,she cont inued the assignment .

When Carte r th ought she had arrived atth e right shutte r speed, she says, "1 lit it ,because the flash would stop his movementso we could see clearly that it was a childon the apparatus. The strobe light was .directly aboye him coming down and thepicture combined the blur of the movement with the sharp image from the flashexposure.

To clean up the background, which wasmainly other displays, Carte r got up on ahigh ladder and used the museum 's blackfloor as a plain backdrop. "There was evena red stripe for an accent," she síD's.

If you are shooting color film and usingstrobes to supplement existing light, insideor outside, you often face a mixture ofcolor temperatures.

A light source's color temperature is ascientific measurement, measured in Kelvin,of the exact color of light produced by thesource. For example, a strobe produces adaylight balance of 5500° Kelvin. A cornmon household or office fluorescent rnightbe 4500° Kelvin, while an incandescent

198

bulb rnight be 3200° Kelvin.O bviously, if you are shooting a picture

in a room that has incandescent light andyou add strobe lightin g, the color balance

USiDg Ihe righl gels

Rosco 3304. a green gel, corrects the strobe to matchthe fluorescent lighting.Rosco 3308 gel converts fluorescent to daylight.Rosco 3401 will balance with theportable lights used by televisionnews crews.

wil1 be off. The incandescent-lit areas wil1be warm - reddish - and the strobe-litareas wil1 be cold - bluish.

When you make a pri nt or the engravergoes to make th e separat ions from thechro me, only one of these shifts can be corrected.

The same problem exists when shootingin a room lit by fluorescent tubes. The fluorescent-lit areas wi1l be green and thestrobe-lit areas wil1 have a daylight balance.

To make everything the same temperatu re, you can gel your strobes, so theymatch the available light . Th is way the person preparing th e final image only needs tomake one correction.

A popular brand is th e Rosco gel. It 'ssoId in sheets at many theatricallightingshops and large camera stores.

Assoclated Pless Gulde To PhOlolollrnali~m

lighling: USing lighl lO YourAdvanlage

AP pholographerRobert Bukaty had to keep an eye on the lighling delails torbolh a honeybeeandan arthrilissufferer. The man stings himselt wilh bees Ihree times a week, and has beendoing lt tor the last 25 years to relieve his arthritis pain.

The lighling source can beassmall asa kerosene lamp (above) usedby AP photographer Eric Draper oras large as mulliple strobes lightingan arenatorthe NCAA FinalFour byRichClarkson (nghl).

Associated Press Guide lo Photojournalism 199

situation where you are working amongTV crews and can 't control their lighting.This gel also wo uld work in an office orhome lit by regular table lamps or ceilingspots .

"The Rosco Jungle Book, a sampler of allof the corrective filters they make, is agood reference to carry in yo ur camera bagbecause it tells you what each fi!ter willdo," Carter says, and will help you solvelighting-balance problems. As a bonus, shesays, the sample pages will cover the headof sorne of the small portable stro bes nowin use, so you can use them right out of th ebook.

y ou also can use gels with stro bes to adda dramatic effect to a picture in a featu re orcommercial situation.

Carte r has used a gel to produce golden

liuhUnu:Using liuht to Your Advantaue

The Rosco 3304, a green gel, corrects thestrobe to match the fluorescent lighting."When I'm in a situation with fluo rescentlights in the background," Carter says, "1put those gels over the flash heads, andthen pu t a 30magenta fi!teron the lens . Thegel makes all ofthe light fluorescent , everythingwill be gree'~

then the magenta fi!ter c1eansup everything.The skin tonesare true and thefluorescentlights in thebackground arewhite."

y ou need that

magenta fi!ter Knowing whenlo use lhe available lighl is as importanl as knowing howlo add lighl. Enric Marti,when you shoot 01lhe Associated Press, used lhe exisling lighl lo capture this Jewish pilgrim praying near Cairo.chromes, but ifyo u are using color negative film or shooting with a digital camera, you can go without it and correct the balance when youmake the print . ·

If you want to filter the lights, not thestrobes, the Rosco 3308 gel converts fluorescent to daylight .

y ou can also balance your strobe withincandescent lights, For example, the Rosco3401 will balance with the portable light sused by television news crews. By putting agel on your strobe, you can shoot fill flashin situ ations where television photograph ers have set up lights, or in a spot news

200 Associated Press GuldeTo Photolournallsm

lighling: Using light to Your Advantage

APphotographerMarkDuncan used a slow shutter speed and a smallaperture to make a starburst pattern with the guide light tora lasersurgery device. Duncan lit the situation from the side sohecould showthe laser starburst off against a dark backdrop.

sunlight on an overcast day. She had tophotograph a subject in a corn field. Thesun wasn't shining, and the client needed alate after noon feeling. "1 put an orange filter over the strobe in a softbox ," Cartersays, "and pu tthe light to theside. It made itlook like a lateafternoon sun."

Others alsouse this technique. "1will usecolor gels tomake a moredramatic sort ofpho tograp hwhen I' m notmak':ng astraight po rt raitof someone,"Duncan says.

On one assignment involving aNASA plasmaexperiment,D uncan used alight red gel on astrobe to give ~

definit ion to thesubject and"juice it up a little bit. T heassignment wasdone in a darke ned room, with a longexposure. That showed up the plasma, anda small strobe then exposed the worker."

Ano ther of D uncan 's assignments was apo rt rait of a laser surgeon. He set up a

Assoclated Press Gulde To Photo)ournalism

strobe to light the subject from the sidewith a soft light , "T he strobe had a gel togive a blue highlight to outline his face andbody, and he is poi nting the laser at th ecamera."

Duncan sho tthe scene with asmall apertureand slow shutterspeed. Thelaser 's guidelight (a smallaiming beam) ismade int o a starburst by theaperture of thelens. "I t gave afeeling of thepower of thedevice, since youcan 't actual] y seeth e laser," hesays.

Duncan warnsthat lightingtricks such ascolor gels shouldbe saved "forfeature materialwhile sticking tostraight documentation fornews and

. sports."Cart er advises there is "no one right way

to light everything. But, 1 guess that is trueof photography. There is no one right wayto shoot everything."

201

ElectronicPhotographv:Pictures Without Film

Fmm film images captured with ascanner, t;; digital still photograph y, to digital video.

After a lon g period with few substant ivechanges in photo technologies, the pasf tenyears have been a rush through technology.And, a redefining of what a photographerdoes, how that photo grapher communicates.

Through all those changes in technologyand techn iques, AP photographer J. ScottApplewhit e says it is imp ortant to keep the


basic concepts of photojournalism in mind."Technology changes," he says, "but ourstandards are rooted in the basic principals.You tell th e story. You don 't lie. Just theway we do it changes."

In 1988, a revolutionary device called anAP Leafax transmitter allowed a photographer to scan his processed film, instead ofmaking a print, The photographer thencould send that image to an attached receiver or transrnit it over a convent ional telephone lineo Even then, the signal produced

203

Electronic Photographv: Piclures WilhoUI film

Electronic picture terminals have moved fromthe bulky mainframe systems 01the late '705 and'80s to lhe proprietary equipmenl of the late '80s and eany'90s to lhe off-the-shelf solutions likethis AP Server based on a standard office platlormunveiled in 1999.

was still a traditional analogone and it stilltook ten minutes to transrruta black andwhite photo, Acolor took thirty minutes.

It was hailedas a giant st~~

forward, allowing the photographer th e freedom to wo rkwithout a traditional printdarkroo m.

At th e sametime, early versions of digitalcameras werebeing used butquality concerns, expense, and cumbersome equipmentlimited th e usefulness.

In th e early 1990s, the Associated Pressinstalled e1ectronic darkrooms in newsroo ms around th e world. Othe( vendorsoffered th eir own versions, and newspapersbegan moving into the world of digital pietu re handling.

Digital cameras had been improved butstill had a long way to go. AP photographer Ed Reinke used one model at a WorldSeries game, but it had the camera tetheredto a ponable hard drive unit . They calledit pon able because you could carry it, butit was hardly something you would want to

204

tote around very muchoTo add to the probl em, the respo nsive

ness of th e camera left something to bedesired, too. Reinke practically had topush the shutter button on the camera as arunner rounded third base, if he wanted toget any possible play at home plateoBut,when he had something, it was on the wireseveral minutes ahead of film shot on thesame play.

The idea was good. It was the execut ionthat was lacking.

] ump forward to th e mid-1990s. Kodak,traditionally linked with film photography,partnered with the AP to int roduce a pro-


Electronic Photographv: Pictures Without Film

fessional digital camera. The camera didhave limitations, again traceable to expenseand quality concerns, but for th e first timephotographers could wo rk with equipmentth at was quite similar to their traditiona!film cameras.

No longer was a hard-drive side packneeded. The new cameras used intern a!storage on small disks, and, in conjunctionwith the faster, lighter !aptop computersjust coming on the market , photographerstruly could make pictures and transmitthem almost instantly from a news scene orspo rts event oQ ua!ity was beginning tolmprove, too.

As th e new millennium dawned, the latest genera tion of digital still carneras carneinto th e marketplace. Much !ess expensive,with quality that's close to what can beachieved on film, the neW' carneras allowednewspapers to fully move into the digitalage. .

"The rate by which news organizations,both print and on-line divisions, have transitio ned from tradition a! wet processing todigital processing has accelerated greatly inthe last two years and will cont inue toaccelerate with the new carneras that arecoming into th e-rnarketplace," says KennyIrby, the visual journalism group leader atthe Poynter Institute.

Those new carneras with their easeofhandling and bette r quality are hitting at atime when newsrooms are ready to makethe change. "In terms of image quality fornewspaper and magazine and web production ," Irby says, "the image quality is solidenough, has enough reso!ution that peop leare comfortab!e wit h it."

Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photojournalism

Photographers learn newlessons everv dav

Hal Buel!: "Learn your tools and learnhow they work. And that includes writing, which is grammar and structureand narrative. So when the timecomes and the opportunity presentsitselí to do the meaninglul story, youcan think about and concentrate moreon the content. The tools can work loryou almost unattended. II you look atthe history 01 journalism, the dynamicbetween technology and journalism isstaggering. Pictures didn't mean anything until the technology came alonglorbooks, which allowed the picturesto be shown in them. You have toknow the technology to get the pictureout there. Don't get to the contentbelore you are ready. Just as the artisthas to know that blue and yellowmakes green, and how somethinglooks on a particular kind 01 canvas,the photographer and writer have toknow their tools, too."

Elise Amendola:"Never be satisfied.Keep looking, keep shooting. Don'tthink that you 've gotten the picture.Keep working it until the end. Youhave to be awake and alert to it."

205

Electronic PhotOgraphv: Piclures WilhoUI Film

Beingable towork in remote areas with all 01lheconveniences 01vi rtually instanl editing and feedbackare acouple 01 lhe reasons DavidLongslreath fully integrales thedigital camera into hiseveryday workincluding thls portrait 01 a Long Neck woman, part 01 a tribe lound nearlheCambodian-Thailand border who bindlheir necks with rings.

That hasn't always been true. But Irbywonders if the concerns carne more fromth e industry itself than from the readers.

"It had never really been an issue th atviewers hadrejected thequality of theimage," he says."It has been theissue of the journalist t ry ing tomaintain th~

high qua litystandards thatthey have set forthemselves."

AP photographer DavidLongst reathknows how thedigita l camerahas made it easier for him tocover events III

sorne of the farthest corners ofth e wo rld . And,he has heard disCUSSlOns on perceived qualityproblems. H e'snot convincedthat any of thoseconcerns canmatch up to the new kind of news coveragethat has been the product of the technology.

"We are no t in the business to make pietures to hang on the wall," Longstreath

206

says. "We are in the business to get picturesin newspapers and magazines and on theWeb. " He says the proof is in the positivecom ments of editors as they receive pie

tures faster thanever before."They have simply looked atthe images andthey werestrong. The factthat they weredigital was n't an. "issue.

Now, jou rnalists are comíortable enoughwith the technology that theycan get back tothinki ng aboutcontent ratherth an quality ortech no logy .

Toren Beasley,the photo chiefof the Newhouse News Service, thinksthere is a dangerof tech no logy,rather than content, being thecenterpoint .

"This is no! about photography," hesays. "It may be about different ways tocapture images and meet deadlines, but ir isnot about ph otography. It is about meetingdeadlines, about the speed of bringing an

Associaled Press Cuide To Phololournallsm

Eleclronic Pholographv: Pictures Wilhout film

fit, an advantageous one for news organizations when you consider ayer time theexpenses that are eliminated in terms offilm, processing, silver recovery. When you

think of all ofthe enviro nmental protectionissues andO SHA rulings,and things likethat, there aremajor benefits."

Instead, itappears the onething that willkeep the cameras from beingfully integratedinto newspapers'newsgatheringoperanons IS

trainmg.Previously,

new photography techniquesand techn ologies

were just extensions of older, accepted routines. A new lens, a new camera with sorneextra capabilities, maybe a new enlarger ordarkroom device.

But the new digital cameras, th e softwareand computers to support them, and theintegrat ion with newsroom systems is anew wo rld.

"There is a reasonable amount of trainingand reorientation that photographers andphoto edito rs need to go through ro understand how to really op érate effectively in adigital environrnent," Irby says. "That is

The responsiveness 01 the newestgeneration 01 digital cameras ailowedAPphotographer Mike Conroy to shoot a sequence01KevinDyson 01lheTennesseeHans diving lar the end zone invain as time ran out inlhe 2000 Super Bowl.

image from one place to another so it canget int o the newspaper."

But, it is not about communicating ,Beasley says, and that is what journalistsshould be concerned about .

Irby thinksth e time may beright to shift discussions fromtechnical con-cerns to ways tocomrnurucatebetter.

"Based on notonly my travelsand wo rk innewsrooms, butalso my recentSuper Bowl

. "expenence, saysIrby; "we havewitnessed thatth ere is a pointwhere photographers and photoeditors are comfortable enough with thetechnology that the y can start focusing onthe storytelling-more."

The cost of the technology used to be th ebig drawback. Not so, any more. Digitalcameras and computers are half what th eycost just a few years ago. •

"The real impediment to the full ut ilization of the digital camera is not expenseanyrnore," Irby says. "Ir has been clearlydemonstrated by many publications aroundthe wo rld that the return on investment onthe digital camera has been a positive bene-

Assoclated PressGuldeTo PhotoJournalism 201

Electronic Photographv: PiClures WilhoUI Film

The emergence 01 digital photography has had an incredible impact on how photographerswork. In1938, AP photographer Bill Allen had to curl up inthe trunk of hiscar to soup film at the scene of a coal mine explosion (above, left), while EliseAmendolawas able to shoot pictures and transmit them from topside ten miles atseausing a laptop linked toa cell phoneon the 1997 voyage 01 Old lronsides (above) . In1936, technical wizard Harold Carlson needed all kinds ofequipment andeven carbatteries forhis setup at the Kentucky Derby (above, right).

208 AssoclatedPress Gulde To PhotoJournallsm

Electronic PhotOgraPhv: Pictures Withom Film

At the 1992 Republican National Convention a photo editor underthecamera planorrn was ableto operate a remotecamera and send pictures almost instantly as theproceedings took place.

something that cert ainly can be learnedwithout a lot of instruction . But it is reallyproblematic when yo u go that route."

Instead, Irby says, th e newspapers thathave mad e a successful switch most easilyhave done it with a salid plan for training.

T hey also have had a timetable that allowedthe technology to be accepted into thenewsroom with-minirnal disruptions.

O ne of the photograph ers who has madethe switchove r to digital photography isAmy Sancett a of the AP . She sounds)ikeshe is sold on ir.

"Shooting with a digital camera makesyou, as a ph otojournalist, cornpletely independent," she says. "You don 't need a darkroom. y ou don 't even need electricity.'

Sancetta thinks the selling point for digital ph otography is the independence it

Associalud Pruss GuiduToPholojoumallsm

gives the photographer to cover an eventand quickly handle those pietures, That'skey in a deadline situation.

-u you have a digital camera," she says,"and a laptop computer and a cell phoneand an AC-DC converter for your car, you

can go anywhereand cover anyth ing and send apicture to anybody withouthaving to knockon the door orbuild a darkroom or go backhome to do it inyour basement."

"It makes youfast and efficientand self-reliant,"she says.

Longstreath isanother whomade the conversion early on .And, three

rnonths after gett ing his camera and a coupie of days of trai ning, Longstreath foundhimself running down the street toward thesmoking remains of the Oklahoma Cityfederal building with his one digital cameraand two disks in hand.

He made his pictures and then got to apho ne to transmit a lot faster than anyonewould have expected if had he been shooting film. "Sorne people may have been hesitant to use the equipment ," Longstreathsays. "But a lot of people said, 'Ir wo rkedthere. Ir will work anyw here.' ''

209

Firsl camera;»

eno SchiapP8: "My father's Kodak RetinaReflex Thrse, a hand-me-down."

"It has completely changed the way wecover news," he says. "Now we can fileright from the site. Ir has allowed us to staylonger, to provide a better mixture ofimages. It gives you the freedom to stay

Electrooic PhotOgraphv: Pictures Without Film

tion needs to be considering."Charles Arbogast is an AP photographer

based in Trenton, N.}. For several monthsin 2000, Arbogast was assigned to the presidential campaign of Bill Bradley. He saw

another aspect of the digital world.r---------------- - - - --, üften Arbogast would cover an

appearance by Bradley, then filethe pictures by cell phone from hislaptop in the photo van while thecandidate's caravan headed to the

Mike Morris: "lt was a Kodak box camera,black, with the little mechanical shutter. Mygrandmother ga~e it to me in junior high school."

Michel Dueille: AYashica GN. DuCille's camera didn't aliow him tooset shutter spesds, onlythe aperture. Had symbols ("zigzag for flash, sunfor outside") to setexposures.

Bob lvoo: Got his first, an Ansco box camera,as he was shipping out for Europe in the Army.His father bought it for him as a birthday present.

with a story where in the past you had togo and hunt down a darkroom. I oftenthink of all of the times we were on ourhands and knees in a toilet trying to soupfilm. Ir has made life easier for me."

Irby agrees with those assessments. "Thetremendous asset," he says, "that the digitalcamera brings in terms of competitivenessand covering late deadlines and breakingnews issues is what every news organiza-

210 Associatod Pross Guido To Photojournalism

Electronic Photographv: PiclureS WilhoUI Film

as her recent assignments in Kosovo andAlbania, she says she is "usnally trying tofind a nice mo ment quickly ." But it is difficult Oto stay and wo rk a situation to its fullpotential, because 1 have to make that deadlineo"

"1think the principies are thesame. People are looking forstrong images and the bottom line is that you have tocome back with a good storyand good images. If 1shootsomething and come backwith weak work, whetherthere are five outlets or 500,1will still have a difficult timeselling it."-Ami Vitale

Associated Press Guide To Photoiournallsm 211

Electronic Photographv: Piclures WilhoUI Film

GUiDg digitalWhen digital cameras first appeared, quality

was marginal but being able to more quicklymove a picture in a deadline situation madethat acceptable. Now, photographersuse digitalcameras in all kinds 01 situations and there isnodownside, only the upside 01 quicker handling and the savings on continuing costs 01lilmandchemicals.There don't have to be any apologies or

excuses anymore. Photographers are quicklyswitching to the newtechnology pushed bybudgetconsideration and operational needsalike. . --

Here isa gallery 01 digital images showing thewide range •• David Longstreath's misty river inVietnam lor a travel piece (right), Eric Draper'spicture 01 actor Roberto Benigni celebrating his1999 Osear (below), Ed Reinke's picture shotin extremely low light 01aFlorida player in thelocker roomafter losing the national collegebasketball title in 2000 (Iower right).

212 Assoclated Press Gulde TO Photo)ournallsm

Eric Draperphotographed the pope in SI. Louis(below), Al Behrman used a digitalcamera tora remoteal the Kentucky Derby (right) and hadhis pícíures ready a half-hour soonerthan onfilm, andAmy Sancetta covered the hard newsand soher features (bottom) of lhe 2000 presidential campaign.


Electronic Photographv: Piclures WilhoUl Film

213

Electronic Photographv: Plctures Without Film

lost in this move to the new technology ofpictures handled on computer screens. Thenew generation of photographers, she says,won't know the joy of seeing a print comeup in the tray in front 'cf them. They alsowon't experience the adrenaline rush of raeing back to the dark room to process filmon deadline.

"1 th ink we are at a turning point," shesays. "When 1 was a young photographer atthe Columbus Dispatch, the older photographers at the'paper would give us a bad timeabout going to O hio State football gameswith our motor-driven 35 mm cameras."There 's th at technology argument on a different scale.

"In a good-natured way, they would giveus a hard time about how many frames wewould shoot, and they would tell us abouthow they would go to a'game with a 4x5camera with four holders, eight pictures.They would cover a whole game with onlyeight shots. They said they always carneback with the right picture. We wouldcome back with eight rolls of film from thegame," she says.

Sancett a isn't sure whether she wouldhave been a bett er photographer had shehad to face those limirations. Añd, the samekind of argument fits in today's transitionto digital photography.

"What it has done is free the photographers to think about pictures rather thanthe technical aspect," says AP photo edito rBob Daugherty. But, he warns, "Sometimesthat freedom is squandered. People go outand bring back a disk with a hundredimages, just because the capability is there."

The darkroom experience, Sancetta says,

214

is good training for young photographers ..because it gives thern a bette r understanding of light and how it works. That is probably what will be missed the most - theknowledge of how light works is key toany kind of photography, film or digital,she says.

"It is too bad they are going to miss outon the print ing because it makes youunderstand light and contrast, all thingsthat are going to help you when you arecomposing in the camera," she says. "But 1dori't know that they'll miss it, becausethey' ve never done it ."

Today's photographers, who have madethe transition from film to digital, couldface an even bigger hurdl e as the next transition may be from still to video.

Rather than a mere change in equipment ,this will be a change in the format the photogr apher works in and the kind of information that is to be gathered.

The concept of a storyteller who willuse still images, video or moving images,and sound is only a few years old, and notparticularly widespread in its application,but it is certainly on the minds of a lot ofpeople in journalism.

Newspapers and broadcast outlets withWeb sites have a need for more contentoDot-coms are springing up every day. Theyall need more contento

And, as mergers bring together mediacompanies that have been based in printand others that have been based in broadcast, along with a mix of the new media ofthe Internet, a different kind of journalistmay be in the offing.

Irby sees it happening in this decade in a

Associated Press Guide lo Photojournallsm

Electronic PhotOgraphv: Pictures Wilhout Film

limited manner. "1 think in the next ten I A ngeles Times and then l a~er for a sho rtyears what we will see is an era where more tim e at Tbe Cincinnati Enquirer, Lynn was

"1 think in the nextten years what wewill see is an erawhere more photographers will bespecialized photographers on stañs."- Kenny Irby

Most agree it willtake a versatilephotographer tojl:lggle thedemands of audio,video and sti llresources,

Assocla.edPressGulde lo Pho,oJournallsm 215

Electronic Photographv: Pictures WilhoUI Film

"Th .ere IS no

question in mymind that thereare a lot morestorytelling toolsavailable todaythan there wereten years ago.What I don't th inkis any more available than tenyears ago is thenumber of peoplewho are excellentstorytellers."

do we think that we are just going toovernight or even in ten years turn outthese thoughtful stories?"

"If you simply hand a mediocre photographer a DAT recorder and a digital videocamera and a digital camera and send them

r-------------, out, we will probably havemediocre video, mediocresound and medioc re stills," hesays. "So we aren't going to beany better off than before."

Daugherty asks if the equipment itself might cause problems. "You 've got more moving parts, more bulk weight,more things to worry about.Getting all of those thingsworking together won't beeasy,' he says.

Irby thinks any setback inquality or content will beshort-lived.

"There is a potential todilut e the quality of storytelling initially when you havea traditional journalist framthe legacy era trying to operatein the brave new wo rld,' hesays. Those traditional journalists may have a difficult tim eL- ---.J

making that transition"But-what we have to understand is that

there are students who are coming along ina multimedia wo rld," Irby says, "who'vegrow n up on computers, who've grown upthinking about video and still more seamlessly than a traditional photojournalist."

These young journalists are using thenew technology to create important, credi-

hardest thing in the wo rld to stop and figure out, 'Where am I going to put themike?' How do you capture real momentswhen you've got to be the one that stop s tofigure where the rnicrophone goes?" heasks.

Beasley doesn't want th etechnology to water down thecommunicat ion. "Technology,until it deve!ops to th e poi ntwhere it is used to impartmeanin g to -a'tJ. image, to bringthe reader to another placeemotiona lly and inte llectually,then it is not about th e craft .Photography is about com munication ," he says. .

Larry N ighswander of O hioUniversity's School of VisualCo mmunication is conce\¡>ned,too. But for a different reason .

"There is no question in myrnind," he says, "that there area lot more storytelling too lsavailable today than there wereten years ago. What I dori'tthink is any more availablethan ten years ago is the number of people who are excellent " -Larry Nighswanderstorytellers."

He looks th rough pu blicatio ns now and th inks th at the leve! of photography is bare!y acceptable . He has seenlittle improvement over th e years. Shouldn't photographers be paying more attentionnow than ever to content rather th an themechanics of makin g th e picture?

"It is easier today to make pictures thanir was with a N ikon F," he says, "so how

216 Assoclated Press Gulde To Photojournallsm

Electronic Photographv: Pictures Wilhout Film

Jennifer Loomisis one who hasbeen successfui at combiningeye-catchingstill images withsound to tell amore completestory. Shethinks that is apowerful combination.

Many people, part icularly younger readers and viewers, don't want te spend th at

Assoclated Press Gulde lo Photolournallsm 211

Electronic Photographv: Pictures Wilhout Film

In the Web worldStill photography, video, audio. AII of

the elements combined for a new way ofstorytelling that calls for a new skill - themultimedia news producer.

Courtney Q'Neill of MSNBC got herstart in college working for a Boston television statian where she picked up hervideo and audio skills. Then, in a stint inthe AP's New York photo operation, shelearned about still images.

Now, she combines all of those skillseach day to put t óqeíher information forthe MSNBC Web site. And, that's a juggling act. Q'Neill inonltsrs breaking newsfrom parent NBC and also watches otherassets, as they are called in the multimedia world, such as the 300 video feedsthat come pouring into the site's Secaucus, N.J. headquarters. She also checkswith news and still photo feeds from themajor agencies and contributing free-lancers. •

When news breaks, she tries to getaudio as quickly as possible, then beginsblending the other elements as theybecome available.

"The first layer to a story is an audioreport from the scene," Q'Neill says.

"Then what we do is to add pictures asthey move (from the agencies), thenincorporate the stills with video as it

218

arrives and produce a complete package," she says. "Adding a more richdimension to the storytelling is what theweb is there for. "

Q'Neill says the site's appetite forimages and sound is enormous. "We usebetween 150 and 200 pictures a day,"she says. And, while everyone is marveling at how much quicker digital photography is moving now than the old filmmethods of before, Q'Neill says the Webdoesn't think that is fast enough. "Assoon as the story moves, we want to bepositioning pictures,' she says.

"The site isan ever-evolving newspaper," Q'Neill says. "Anewspaper on thefly but with depth. We have a lot of interactive elements that draw people in andgive them more information."

"We want to make sure our site is ascurrent as the news,' she says. "It isn'tlike a newspaper where they pick theone or two best pictures of the day. Thathalf-hour, that fifteen minutes, that iswhat we are going for."

To handle all of that, a hybrid hassprung up - juggler, photo editor, videoproducer, audio technician and writer. Abrave new world of storytelling for thejournalist.


Eleclronic Pholographv: Pictures Without Film

"People will fight it.Just like the transition from 4x5 to 21/4, then to 35 mm.Then, going allcolor. But eventualIy the discussionsend. We just haveto move with this."- Rob Kozloff

Assoclated Press Gulde To PhotoJournallsm 219

220 Assoclaled Press Gulde To Phololournallsm

ContributorsT

he fol1owing journalists andeducators are quoted or havephotographs in thi s book:

Amendola, Elise - The Associated Press,Boston

Anderson, Juana - Tbe Washington PostApplewhite , J. Scott - The Associated

Press, Washingto nArb ogast, Charles Rex - The Associated

Press, TrentenBaumann, J. Broce - Tbe Courierand

Press, Evansville, Ind .Beasley, Toren - Newhouse News

Service, WashingtonBecker, Murray - The Associated PressBehrman, Al - The Associated Press,

Cincinna tiBiever, John - Sports Illustrated

magazine, Milwaukee

Assoclated Press Gulde ToPhotoloumallsm

Binks, Poner - Sports Illustratedmagazine, New York

Bouju, Jean-Marc - freelance, NairobiBuel1, H arold G. - The Associated Press,

New YorkBukaty, Roben - The Associated Press,

Portland, MaineBurrows, Alex - Tbe Virginian-Pilot,

NorfolkCabluck, Harry - The Associated Press,

AustinCan er, J. Par - The Associated Press,

Oklahoma CityCarter, Mary Ann - freelance,

IndianapolisClarkson, Rich - Rich Clarkson &

Associates, DenverConroy, Mike - The Associated Press,

Indianapolis

221

Contributors

Counts, Wyatt - free1anee, New YorkDaugherty, Bob - The Assoeiated Press,

WashingtonDe1ay, Jerorne - The Assoeiated Press,

Paris •

Diaz, Alan - T he Assoeiated Press, MiarniDraper, Erie - The Assoeiated Press,

AlbuquerqueDuC ille, Miche1 - Tbe Washington PostDunean, Mark - The Assoeiated Press,

ClevelandEndlieher,"Diether - The Assoeiated

Press, MuniehFaas, Horst - The Assoeiated Press,

LondonFriedrnan, Riek - free1ance, BostonGaps, John III - Tbe Des Moines RegisterGash, Morry - The Assoeiated Press,

MilwaukeeGay , Erie - The Assoebted Press,

San AntonioGrant, Alistair - freelance, LondonGutte nfe1der, David - The Assoeiated

Press, TokyoHulshizer, Dan - T he Assoeiated Press,

TrentonHurnphrey, Mark - The Assoeiated Press,

NashvilleIrby, Kenny - The Poynte r Irtstitute,

Sr. Petersbur gKeiser, Beth - The Assoeiated Press,

New YorkKernper, Gary - Sydn ey O rganizing

Cornrnitt ee for the O lyrnpie GarnesKennedy, Rusty - The Assoeiated Press,

Philade1phiaKozloff, Rob - Tbe Detroit Free-PressLederhandler, Marty - The Assoeiated

Press, New York

222

Lee, Wilfredo - The Assoeiated Press,Miarni

Lennihan, Mark - The Assoeiated Press,New York

Longstreath , David - The AssoeiatedPress, Bangkok

Loornis, Jennifer - free1anee, MSNBC,Seattle

Lynn, Bob - photography/graphiesconsultan t, Charleston, W.Va.

MeConnieo, John - T he Assoeiated Press,New Delhi

Marti, Enrie - The Assoeiated Press,Cairo

Mart ín, David - The Assoeiated Press,Montgornery, Ala.

Mell, Jeanne - Tbe News-joumal,Wilrnington, Del.

Meyer, Jens - freelanee, Hanover,Gerrnany

Mills, Doug - The Assoeiated Press,Washington

Moore, John - The Assoeiated Press,Mexico City

Morse, Miehae1 - Western KentuekyUnive rsity, Bowling Green

Nash, Miehae1 - The Assoeiated PressN ighswander, Larry - O hio University

Schoo l of Visual Co rnrnunication, AthensN ighswander , Marey - Ohio University

Schoo] of Visual Cornrnunieation, At hensO 'Ne ill, Coutney - MSNBC, New YorkPhillip, David - The Assoeiated Press,

HoustonPizae, Do ug - The Assoeiated Press,

Salt Lake CityPuskar, Gene - The Associated Press,

Pittsburgh

Assoclated Press Gulde loPhotoJournallsm

Ragan, Susan - The Associated Press,San Francisco

Rauch, Laura - The Associated Press,Las Vegas

Reirike, Ed - The Associated Press,Louisville

Risberg, Eric - The Associated Press,San Francisco

Sakuma, Paul - The Associated Press,San Francisco

Sancetta, Amy - The Associated Press,Chagrin Falls, O hio

Sancya, Paul - The Associated Press,Detroit

Savoia, Stephan - The Associated Press,Boston

Schiappa, Cliff - The Associated Press,Kansas City

. Stewart , Gary - rancher, Seatt leSullioan, Pat - The Associated Press,

HoustonTerrill, Mark - The Associated Press,

Los AngelesVitale, Ami - freelance, WashingtonVranic, Dusan - The Associated Press,

BrusselsWidman, George - The Associated Press,

Phi ladelphiaZelevansky-jeff - freelance, New York

Assoclated Press Guide To Photojournalism 223

Journalism/Photography

An expert's guide tothe art and eran ofmaking great newsphotos, every time

Noted AP photographer and photo editor Brian Horton takes you beyond

the basics of lenses and exposure times to offer arare, insider 's perspectiveon the art and craft of photojoumalism. While he does provide useful

instruction on technical considerations such as picking the right angle andlighting a situation, his main concern is with the less tangible, wholIy

indispensable elements of content , style, and the creative process.

Using more than 200 photographsfrom the AP archives 10 illustrate

his points, Horton analyzes what

constitutes great news photos ofevery type , inc ludin g portra its,

tablea us, sports shots, battlefieldscenes, and more. He offers unique

insights into composition and style,

along with invaluable advice on

how to deve lop a style of your own. And, in a chapter new to thisedition, he explores the pros and cons of digital photography and the

latest changes in digital processing.

In writing The Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism, Brian

Horton conducted extensive interviews with other award-winningphotojouma lists, whose voices echo throughout the book, sharing

unforgettable war stories and hard-won insights into what it takes

to seek and find memorable news photographs.

"Reporting with a camera.Capturing the instant forothers. The 'decisive moment.'Photojoumalism."

- Brian Horton

Brian Horton is Senior Photo Editor for the Associated Press. An AP veteran of 30 years' ex perience,he has covered the World Series, the Supe r Bowl, the Triple Crown, the Winter and Summer Olyrnpics,World Cup soccer, the Indianapolis 500, the NBA Finals, and other major sports events. He also hascovered news events ranging from the Gulf War to coal mine disasters, presidential campaigns andpolitical conventions.

Also Available in the Associated Press serie s:Associated Press Broadcast News Handbook, Associated Press Reporling Handbook,

and Associated Press Sports Writing Handbook

$19.95 USA I $31 .95 CAN

I SBN 0 -07-136387-4

11197 80071 363877 ''' '1' ,IUJ. JI

7

TheMeGrow HIII ComponlesVisir us al: www.boo ks.mcg raw-hlll.com

Cover Design: Dorothy w act uenneimCavar Photos Imm the Archives 01Associated Press

horton, brian [guide to photo journalism]

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