Hmmm, this post is giving me a photo inferiority complex. Anyway...
The point is, photojournalism often has its own unique challenges. I also have some of these photos that I've always been proud of and have only run once in The Express. So every Friday I'm going to run some of these photos with a bit of an explanation behind the photo.
This one was taken at the first Busker Festival in August 2004. I remember it vividly because Cathy had left two days before to go and teach in Rankin Inlet for a year. I was lonely and threw myself into work that weekend to try and keep busy. Of all the photos I took that weekend - and there was a lot - this is my favourite.
There are just several elements I like. I love the fact that it looks like she is falling from the sky. And that she and the crowd are reflected in the mirrored glass. And the looks on their faces. I had to boss my way in front of a large crowd to get that angle, but if you're going to do photojournalism, you better get used to the surly looks people give you.
To be honest, I never liked how the photo ran in The Express. Because I had so many good pics from the busker festival, the decision was made to run some of the photos as cut outs...meaning that the girl's reflection in the glass, one of the most important features of the photo, was lost. It was just an image of her falling and the guy getting ready to catch her, with no context. I argued against the lay out, but lost. You can't win them all.
But here is the original.
Copyright Craig Welsh and The Express. Photo taken with a Sony DSC-F717.
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1 comment:
Craig, I love that photo. Here's a suggestion though, and believe me I've heard it enough from pro photographers, take the original image, run it through photoshop, straghten out the mat so that it's not at an angle, run a couple of colour corrections on it. You'd be surprised how subtle changes like that will make the photo that much better. I think the Express made a mistake in not running this photo!
And thanks for the compliment, but really there are no such things as better photographers, we all try to tell a story just in different ways and through different eyes (just like equipment does not make a better photographer). There are idiots who go around trying to duplicate Ansel Adams' shots. No one can duplicate anyone elses photographs, they are as unique as fingerprints. Arguably I would say that after looking at 20 of my photos you'd be able to recognize my style immediately!
Oh and how refreshing to wake up on a Saturday and not be hung over. Amazing. Saturday does exist. I had thought it was something like the Snuffleupagus.
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