Last weekend I shot the LPGA golf tournament at Pumpkin Ridge. I fallowed Ai Miyazato, mostly, because she was in the best position to win, and she did. Here are a few of my favorite images.
For the longest time I’ve considered myself an “available light” photographer. In the world of photography, this basically refers to photographers who prefer naturalistic and ambient light when shooting (not using flash). Being an available light photographer has really helped me develop my style, but I think it’s time to move forward with my photography and start controlling my images using strobes (flash). I’ve shied away from strobes for 10 years, telling myself it was for stylistic reasons. The reality is that off-camera lighting has always intimidated me. It’s intimidating because I never learned how to properly expose for flash, and modify (control) the light from a flash in an effective way. So I’ve made it my mission to master the art of off-camera flash. I’m going to keep a notebook of all my setups and camera settings when I use off camera flash, so I can better learn from my experiences and mistakes.
For the above portrait of singer Sallie Ford I used two video Kino daylight balanced soft video lights (hot lights). They work fine indoors and they’re easy to use because you can see exactly how the light is falling on your subject. The down side to these kinds of lights is they’re big, they spill light everywhere so it can be hard to control, and they’re not strong enough to use outside.
My first photo assignment after embracing off-camera flash was to shoot a portrait of Portland Community College President Preston Pulliams. I found a spot in open shade on the campus I liked and setup my lights. 1 SB-24 with the beauty dish 1/4 power slightly above and to the left of camera (key light). 1 SB-24 on a stand behind Preston on 1/2 power at camera left (rim/fill light).
I had to place Preston directly in front of the light pole to hide it, and make sure it didn’t poke out from behind his head. This limited my shooting angle and position, but I liked how the geometry of the buildings almost creates an X where he’s standing.
So from now on “available light” will also include all the lights available to me, including those in my portable lighting kit.
2 Nikon SB-24 strobes, 1 Canon 430EXII strobe, 4 pocket wizard remotes, 3 lights stands, 1 extension boom arm, one table-top stand, mono-pod, Beauty Dish, small Chemera soft-box, medium translucent umbrella, 5″ snoot, set of colored gels, medium grid, and a Garry Fong Light Sphere. The best part about this light kit is that it all packs up into a light weight canvas bag that I can take anywhere.
Let’s start by saying thanks to Portland police gang unit Sgt. Tony Passadore, his partner Dan, and gang outreach worker Purnell Brown. I tagged along with Tony and Dan during their shift Tuesday night and I got a real sense of Portland’s gang problem. On the surface North Portland seems to be often tranquil and boring, but if you know what to look for, you’ll see a lot of gang activity. The problem, according to Tony, Dan and Purnell: a lot of impressionable young men who turn to the wrong role models.
During my ride along with Sgt. Tony Passadore we got a call about a shooting at the Safeway on NE Simpson and MLK. I don’t have any photos of the high-speed drive from 122nd and Halsey to the MLK because I was securing my gear and holding on tight. officer Dan Chastain is a phenomenal driver, and although I was scared, it’s important for officers to respond quickly to increase their odds catching a perpetrator.
08/04/2010 – A .45 caliber bullet casing is circled with yellow chalk at the scene of a gang related shooting at the corner of NE Simpson and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
.45 caliber bullet casings where all over the street when we got onto the scene. The idea of a full-blown gunfight playing out during a busy part of the day next to a neighborhood and a Safeway parking lot is scary. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured. With any luck the PPD will have a handle on the gang problem, but I don’t expect things to settle down any time soon.
08/04/2010 – Gang outreach worker Purnell Brown, right, talks with Sgt. Tony Passadore, center, of the Portland Police Department’s gang unit, at the scene of a gang related shooting Tuesday evening at the intersection of NE Simpson and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
After I got a handle on the shooting, and took a few photos to go with the story, I hooked up with gang outreach worker Purnell Brown. You can read all about Purnell and how he interacts with Portland gang members in Thursday’s edition of the Portland Tribune. But basically his job is to keep at-risk youth out of trouble. I rode with Purnell to McCoy park in North Portland and watched him do his thing. Subtle as it was, I could see he was having a real impact on the community.
08/04/2010 – Gang outreach worker Purnell Brown, left, pulls aside a young man, Ron Drey, who has been in and out of foster care most of his life, to check in with him about staying out of trouble. During National Night Out in McCoy Park in north Portland.
Tuesday, July 28, 2010 – The big news of the day was the increase in the reward for information in the disappearance of 7-year-old Kyron Horman to $50,000. Kyron’s mother, Desiree Young, offered a tearful plea for her child’s return, and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Tim Moore updated TV, radio, and print journalists with some statistics about the investigation. All in all it was a very atypical news press conference considering the circumstances. A podium full of microphones, lots of cameras, taper recorders, and notepads at the ready. Except for one little point of contention that had reporters blood boiling. No questions.
It’s a tall order to invite reporters from far and wide out to the sheriff’s training facility on NE 172nd Avenue and Sandy Blvd (50 miles from nowhere) and expect them to not ask any questions, and take it smiling. After Desiree Young gave a heartfelt statement a few reporters chimed in and quickly got shut down. And at that point I saw stunned faces, not smiling ones.
The lack of transparency and cooperation with the media didn’t effect my ability to do my job. I was able to get a somber photograph that shows Desiree’s sadness and desperation 53 days into her son’s disappearance. But it is always frustrating and disconcerting when reporters are asked to report a story while being denied the opportunity to ask questions.
Visit www.portlandtribune.com to read the full story.
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