Wednesday, December 31, 2014

House fire in town


I heard this on the scanner and it was just a few blocks from my house, so I hopped on my bike and raced to the scene.  I thought there might be nothing to see in front so I went to the ally for a different angle.

A middle aged police officer who was on the scene and watching the alley told me that flames were probably about to burst through the roof.  Based on his advice I went back around to the front and waited until the house burst into flames.

I took my pictures and then I went back and thanked the police officer for his advice.  The police officer had witnessed enough house fires to know what to expect and now I have a better idea of what to expect as well.

Two police officers watch as Central Mason firefighters put out a fire on the 800
block of Cota street in downtown Shelton on Saturday.
(this one was on the front page of a newspaper)


Central Mason fire fighter Roberts approaches the house fire on the 800
block of Cota street in downtown Shelton on Saturday.

Two Central Mason fire fighters on the scene on the 800
block of Cota street in downtown Shelton on Saturday.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Personal Body of Work

Every Christmas I escape from my house for an hour or so to photograph the lights in town.
I used to just light paint by moving my camera around, but this year I also experimented with zooming.

No pixels were moved here this was done with perfect timing of panning and zooming
and using the rear flash feature to make the lumber jack pop 1.3 sec;   f/16;   ISO 1250

No pixels were moved here, lens zoomed in on the word  "Journal" and then it
was zoomed out during this long exposure to make the streaks

This is a photo  illustration . Pixels were moved when I edited this picture and this picture is a triple exposure.
The clock on the left was from the first exposure and the Christmas tree beneath the clock
was the second exposure, the payday loan sign was the third exposure.
The clock in the door was cut and pasted from another photo

No pixels were moved here, I just zoomed out after
 letting the camera point at  Santa for a bit

No pixels were moved here
This clock reflection is in a mud puddle.  I focused on the clock in the puddle for a bit and
 then I zoomed out and made big circles with my camera to light paint with the actual clock face on the tower above

Monday, December 22, 2014

It's still the season


December has been a good month overall.  Yes I dropped my flash and had to buy a new one and get the old one repaired, but I got enough jobs to cover the expenses and I have a nice new flash to play with.

I took photos at a family art night at a local elementary school, the theme of the month is Christmas.  We'll see what January brings.  January is typically a slow month for freelancers.

Shalynn Hash, 5, looks at a book during the book fair at the Bordeaux
Elementary School library in Shelton, Washington on December 11 2014



Thursday, December 11, 2014

Santa, Santa and Santa

Baby's first Christmas (see caption above below on front page of paper)



1/80 sec;   f/2.5;   ISO 800,  external flash was fired with a small softbox over it.
 Nikon D90 and 50mm 1.8 lens


Jordan Rolland 11, warms up before she marches with the fourth and fifth grade band  at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014 ~ Shawna Whelan

L-R Kaiden Lauzon, 1 and Izzabella Louzon age 2 wear Christmas hats while watching the parade
 at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown 
Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan

Jacque Hamilton sings while Michael Pratt plays the guitar in front of a large crowd after the parade
 at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown 
Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan (I caught the blue light here)

Santas arrival sparks excitement among the children at the Belfair Christmas parade sponsored by the
the NM Music Booster Club and others
 in downtown Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan



It seems that I have become a Santa photographer this week, not an official one with strobes and umbrellas,  but one who stands to the side and tries to get candid shots.  Every week I get to do something different and I get to face new challenges, that's what I really like about photojournalism.

I shoot with my 50mm 1.8 prime as much as I can so I can get a shallow depth of field and speed.  But it's tricky to use a 50mm lens on a DX camera.  I miss shots due to cropping and I am always at the risk of stepping on people's toes as I back up to try not to cut off the top of someone's head. Also such a narrow angle is not good at all when working in crowded situations.  

I'm still using two camera bodies, but now I have equipped one with an 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens and the other with a 50mm 1.8 lens.  It's redundant as far as focal length goes but the redundancy is worth it due to the speed and clarity of my 50mm lens.  I need the wide angle of the 18mm -55mm lens for overview shots.

 As a photojournalist I need to be able to tell the story with pictures and I can't tell the entire story with a 50mm portrait lens, I've got to be able to zoom out and get the wide shots too.  I'm pretty sure that other photojournalist would laugh at my lens combo, but for now it's working for me.  I don't miss shots due to changing lenses this way, but I still sometimes miss shots due to changing cameras.

At this point my dream lens is the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX.  If I had that lens it might be all I would use since I'm not shooting sports, but I think I would still bring along a second camera body with my 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 VR lens just in case.  The only time I'm using the bigger zoom for photojournalism is when I photograph the police arresting someone from a block away.  Usually the movement is not too fast for that big slow lens, but shooting sports with that lens can be a real challenge.

The Christmas parades require lots of shooting in the dark where again a fast lens is preferred, but the narrow angle of a 50mm lens on a DX body is not at all ideal.  I'll upgrade my lenses and not even think about getting an FX camera.