Machian Photo

While trying to find a way to pick my wife from the Corporate Cycling Challenge, I came across nature at it's cruelest.  I quietly crept up and made this frame.

I went back to reshoot something when the light was better.  It didn't turn out as well as I had thought, but when I looked the other way I saw a gorgeous sunset and a helicopter circling. I wish the helicopter was a bit bigger.

The flood of 2019 has been long and arduous to document. I think it is worth mentioning that it is much more worse to live through. In May I went to Hansons Lake near Bellevue, Nebraska. It is a lakeside community right next to the Platte River that flooded badly in March. We returned in May because the recent rains have caused the Platte to rise again. Residents and volunteers were trying to shore up existing levees and build new ones.  This is one of the few times while covering the flood that I felt concerned for my safety. I could see the river inches from the top of the levee and oozing through lower parts I was standing on. I made sure to have my escape route in my head in case the levee gave way to the river. At the lake, I kept hearing splashing and I noticed that the fish kept jumping out of the water.  It seemed to in different places and random times, but I felt compelled to try and capture one with my camera.  We were fortunate that it did not give w...

I've talked a lot about timing when it comes to photography, now I am going to talk about how to do in situations when you show up late.   I always preach is, if you show just "on time," you are late.   For the purposes of this blog, I will refer to being late by the conventional standards. I have been late to various assignments in my life, some were my fault, others were not,  but I won’t go in-depth to the causes. I was one of the first journalists on the scene when a dorm caught fire at  UNO . Breaking news situations are definitely one where being on-time is a key to a great photo, but oftentimes hard to accomplish. According to police, this gentleman was shot while trying to rob a business Most photographers will agree that the sooner you arrive at breaking news, the greater potential for photos. I once knew a photographer who did not want to go to a fire 30 minutes after it happened, she didn’t think it was going to make ...

Timing of light is something is not often thought about with many amateur photographers.  Most pros would prefer not to shoot photos between 10am-6pm in the summer.  During that time light is often coming straight down and gives a very flat feel.   Sometimes you shoot the light you are given and make due.   This photo was taken at 1pm. Outside of those times mentioned, the sun is lower in the horizon and the light comes in more from the side than straight down.  Light from the side can provide some depth the image you are shooting, much like Chiaroscuro The light near sunrise or sunset is warmer in its color tone, while the middle of the day can be blueish.   With the sidelight, you can shoot to shoot with it behind your subject, where it provides a night highlight to your subject, or shoot with the light in front of your subject and use it as a sort of spotlight. This photo was taken at 7pm, facing west, so the sun was giving her an...

Timing is always crucial to photography.  In a lot of news and sports photography, good timing comes down to predicting what your subject will do. People don’t realize how much forethought goes into moments that exist for 1/2000 of a second. I have heard of Sports Illustrated photographers watching game film of football teams to gain an advantage. Baseball has a lot of quick action, so I will use that as an example.  Baseball statisticians can track the exit velocity of batted balls, some of the hardest hit are over 100 MPH.  That gives you just a second or two to capture an infielder going for the ball.  Think about that; a shortstop can see the pitch and the batter swing at the ball and react. If you have your camera trained on the shortstop, you can only react to what the shortstop reacts to (and maybe the sound of the bat).  So you have less time to react to a scorching line drive than someone who has the potential to be paid millions for that s...