Found moments and found light...

I regularly receive photo assignments that, on the surface, appear to offer little opportunity to make a good photo. I have come to actually enjoy these assignments. It is these assignments where I find that I actually have the greatest latitude to "play". I can try different lighting, angles and even turning the camera toward an unlikely subject.

Here are a couple of assignments that illustrate what I am talking about. The first one was an assignment that I got to cover a press conference at a local elementary school where a group of adults were annoucing that they were doing something good for a group of kids. I am sure that the folks who put this event together were hoping I'd be photographing them talking about how cool what they were going to do was, and thanking each other.

When I get these assignments, along with ribbon-cuttings and ground-breakings, I tend to look into the crowd for my photo. Everyone knows that there are big muckity-mucks at these things, it is the people who are actually effected by whatever is happening that I am intersted in.

So I watched the kids. Most of them were leaning on their hands and yawning. And that may have been my photo except that I happened across a young girl who was watching what was going on and talking with her girlfriend. Then as I watched her through my lens she opened her mouth and made the expression you see here. Honestly I am not sure if it was a yawn or if she was feining interest. Either way, it made for an interested photo out of a rather dry assignment. Score one for my being patient.


This photo was a case of found light. I was assigned to photograph an Orthodox Priest who had located some historical papers in the basement of either the church or the rectory. I don't remember which it was.

We often get assigned to photograph people with small "things". I prefer to come up with unique ways to do this instead of just shooting a photo of the person holding up the "thing". I was prepared to be in a situation where I had to use strobes and umbrellas to light my subject.

When I arrived in the late afternoon I noticed that there was some great window light coming into the room where the priest's desk was situated. I wanted to get some environment in the photo so I stepped back and used the door frame to frame my subject while taking advantage of the window light.

Then to get the documents I photographed them separately because it would allow me to get closer to them making the text on them more visible.

I have learned that my photos tend to be stronger if I am flexible and willing to work with the conditions that I find instead of rolling my eyes and dreading this type of assignment.

Til next time...