GOING LIGHT(er)

Gear for upcoming Las Vegas conference assignment.

I'm just returning from an assignment and preparing for another in a few days. Three trips in three weeks, all requiring travel. The only thing I don't look forward to on these assignments is the journey itself, more specifically, moving lots equipment through airports, etc.

Let's face it, I'm getting older and carrying, or wheeling, several cases and bags is just not appealing. And when I arrive, am I using all the equipment I've lugged across the country?
So back to these three assignments.

I'll skip to the last one first which is why I'm writing about this. Due to travel restrictions during this assignment I will be limited to 50 pounds, including both photographic equipment and personal gear. So with that in mind, I decided to experiment and see how light I could go on the first two jobs, yet still be comfortable that I could fully cover the assignments.

On the trip I just completed, a still photo only job, I brought two bodies, three lenses and a flash. The trip was only three days, with two of those being travel, so I only needed minimal personal gear. I put a D700, 14-24mm, 70-200mm and a SB900 flash in ThinkTank pouches and then packed them in my carry on bag along with one change of clothes. The other body, a D3s with a 24-70mm, along with laptop, hard drive and cables, were carried in my briefcase. Pretty minimal for sure. The job was a success, however, I could have used my 10.5mm lens. Thought about packing it, but when trying to lighten the load, you have to make the cut somewhere, right? And that is the problem. There has to be compromise and while the 10.5mm would have been nice, it really wasn't necessary.

COVERAGE 360

IMAGE 1: The six selected images seen in Lightroom 4.

As I looked back through images from the FLIP assignment, I realized that I never really discussed the real reason I was sent to San Diego in the first place. The assignment was to cover the 50th anniversary ceremony. It included FLIP going to sea and flipping, which I previously wrote about.
So I thought I would give a few insights into how I covered the actual ceremony. The first thing I noted was that the ceremony was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. so the sun was going to be high in the sky. Not the best light, but it does give you the option to photograph from almost any direction without worrying about shooting directly into the sun. I also took time before the ceremony started to walk around and check out what angles I was going to shoot from and what, if anything, would be distracting in the background.

IMAGE 2: Wide shot with banner, presenter and model after audio speaker was moved.

While I would never alter an image to remove something distracting from the background, I will physically move something prior. In this case there was a speaker placed in front of the FLIP banner that was affixed to the brow. I previsualized IMAGE 2 above except that the speaker was right next to the platform. I explained the photograph I envisioned to the audio specialist and asked if he could move it to the left. I did not insist or interrupt him while he was busy setting up, but rather waited until he was almost complete. Don't try and move someones equipment without talking to them first. You can see the new location of the speaker in the lower right frame of IMAGE 1.

PRODUCING

In my previous post I talked about pushing myself creatively and specifically pushing myself to create an image while covering the 50th anniversary of FLIP that hadn't been seen before.

That was lofty goal and in the end, I probably did not come away with that photo. That's not a bad thing because I did push myself and produced solid content that is still generating traffic. As of this post the video above has received 8,900 19, 400 (updated 7/26/12) views on the USNavyResearch YouTube page and a b-roll version of the same video has over 3,600 views on the usnavy YouTube page.

Something else I've talked about on this blog is previsualization, the idea of actually seeing your images before they are made, and in the same sense just knowing that you are pushing yourself creatively helps you before you even begin the assignment.

That thought process keeps you from just going through the paces, it helps you get there early and stay late. It means you might carry additional lenses or extra gear, because if given the chance, it means you have opportunities to create something different. It also means that you remember that you are not on vacation, but are working.

BEING PUSHED CREATIVELY

FLIP photograph from the ONR archives.

I'm preparing to leave for another assignment. Nothing very different about that except this is an opportunity I have been hoping for since I began working for the Office of Naval Research (ONR).

The research vessel FLIP, or Floating Instrument Platform, will be celebrating its 50th year of operation June 29th and I will be covering the ceremony, but more importantly, I will get a chance to photograph FLIP doing its thing at sea the next day. Now it probably won't be the most interesting thing I've photographed in the past eight years, or even the most technically challenging, however, I have always thought that FLIP was really cool.

I came close on two previous occasions to photograph this one-of-a-kind 355-foot research vessel, owned by ONR and administered and operated by the Marine Physical Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, but both times plans changed or missions were scrubbed.

PHOTOS LEFT UNPUBLISHED

Typically you cover an assignment, edit and caption photos, then when all is done, transmit your photos for publication. For me that typically means between three to five photos with the expectation that one to three will be published.
Sometimes these assignments are multiple day events so you have to think how your coverage will vary each day in order to keep things fresh. And then sometimes these assignments not only span multiple days, but they are assignments you have covered over multiple years.
This years Fleet Week in New York was just such an assignment, one that I've photographed probably 18 times, both in uniform and out, and for the last eight years for the Office of Naval Research.
On the first day as exhibitors are setting up and the participating ships begin to arrive I try to make a photo that sets the scene. Not only behind the scenes coverage for ONR, but also a standard Navy shot showing the parade of ships. Last year I was successful on both counts, so this year I spent lots of time and clicks covering the set up of our exhibit. This mostly consisted of Sailors moving boxes, forklifts unloading crates and like. It was dark and not very exciting, so I pulled out the flash and played with rear curtain sync, slow shutter speeds, etc., and did manage to get one frame that was marginal at best. It was published.