PHOTO RAVE'S -September 2008

PHOTOGRAPHY REVIEW
by Dave Adornato/ Photo Assignment Editor Record & Herald News

Hello Staff. I invite you to participate in my weekly discussion/forum of our photo departments’ work. It is an opportunity for all of us to reflect on our collective work and I encourage you to give/get feedback to each other.

VIGIL IN WEST MILFORD

Mike Karas had to cover this vigil, usually a great opportunity to use light to make dramatic images. This was no exception. What makes this image special is the one to its left. Before traveling to West Milford he just had to do a quick drive-by and make a shot of an overturned vehicle in Hackensack. It’s never just a quick drive-by, especially when you next job is on the opposite side of the neighboring county- Siberia. His quick reaction gave us a good shot that became a local centerpiece.




OFFICER REMEMBERED

Liz Lara put together this package of photos. Her focus on the emotion of the event and the symbolism of the police officer really brings home the significance of the memorial. Personally, I like the use of pictures on the left better, although I think the crop on the police officer is too tight and the presentation could have used more white space. Never-the-less, I know from talking to the page designer, that space was tight. Also, I like how the page designer maximized the use of the imagery from the edit.

TOLL TOO SMALL

Dave Bergeland came back from a public meeting about a toll hike plan. His image of this guy gesturing, brought this story out to the local front. I thought the toll plaza photo ran too large and Dave’s photo was run too small. But both his effort at the assignment as well as making me aware of this image helped to bring it onto a section front.

YANKEE HISTORY

Chris Pedota and Tyson Trish witnessed history at the last game at Yankee stadium. There were a couple of indelible images from this event. Yogi Berra at home plate was one of them. Chris captured this poignant shot of the “old” and “new” guard that stood behind home plate at the Stadium.

The significance of this image, also from Yankee Stadium’s last game, is in the details. Tyson Trish images were fantastic because of the little things. They were a little late to make the paper that night but they were highlighted in our electronic edition on northjersey.com. Rivera, Jeter, Posada and Petite are all clearly in the image, these are the four remaining active players from the dynasty of the 90’s. Also the details like the whole word “Yankees” can be seen on the scoreboard. The famous Yankee Façade is seen in the back ground. Each of the prominent players in the image is holding their hats differently. There is complexity to the image. Maybe I see it just because I’m a Yankee fan.

WALL COMES DOWN

It was a rough week on Wall Street and at the start of the week, Monday, Chris came up with a photo that was a metaphor for the hope and fears the public and The Street were feeling. By the end of the week (Friday) things were looking up on The Street and so were the public’s spirits. Dave made an image that spoke to levity of the day. The two pictures were perfect bookends for the week’s news papers.

HEART & SOUL

Carmine made this image to go with a story about a family struggling with possible deportation of their mother. After being displaced by Hurricane Katrina and relocating to Paramus, the Gonzales family was tracked down by immigration. Karla, mother and wife, is an undocumented citizen. She now wears a monitoring bracelet and is awaiting her fate. The beauty of this image was best conveyed by Photo Director Jon Naso who sent a note asking Carmine rhetorically how he could make a portrait that allowed us to look into the subject’s soul.

THE AIRMAN

Don Smith is a veteran of flying having been a photographer in the U.S. Air Force. Being in his element, he was able to capture this handsome plane. Using the New York skyline for scale gives reader something to compare the plane to. I felt like I was looking at an image from the war years. You don’t need to see the whole plane to understand it’s a classic.


PLAY BALL!

Tariq Zehawi’s photos are fun. They’re simple but they convey sense of another time. I like the fact that you don’t see the eyes/face of the player holding the bat. (That’s kind of unusual for me because I usually think a person eyes tell the story) In this case the players face turned away from the camera gives me a sense that this could be “any man.” The players over his shoulder add to this effect. It’s not about the individual, but the group who are recreating a scene from different era. I would have liked to see the top images run bigger, perhaps on the jump.


NEWS HOUND ZEHAWI

Tariq chases spot news all week long. There many images that I could present as example of his good work this week. This image is especially good because it made this little car accident a page one (L1) story. The photo begs the question, how could anyone have walked away from this car. The officer’s body language, his twisting, adds to the tension of the photo. It’s as if his body is asking the question.


LIGHTING THE WAY

Leslie makes studio work in the field look easy. Making pictures of things to illustrate a story is hard. Whether she placed the weapons or saw them and made a composition with her camera, she did it in a way that made the revolver jumped off the page. Of course the lighting is ultimately what made the photo work. Being lured into the image by their beauty gives the reader time to ask the obvious question. Who would carry this stuff into an airport? –The point of the story.



CONVENTION TENSION

Having one photographer cover a political convention is impossible, but Amy Newman came darn close. She covered all the important stories, both national and local and she did it on deadline night after night after night. This image is spectacular. I called her after she had already worked 12 hours to confer about the next day’s front page photo. All she had to do was make a picture of George Bush, oh yeah, and I asked her to give it a little context; maybe some conventioneers in the photo too. I love the hats. I love the angle. I love Bush’s expression and his relative size to the hats and people in the audience.

RETURN TO GROUND ZERO

Much like the conventions, covering the Ground Zero anniversary observance alone is very difficult especially when not invited into the pool. Add two political candidates running for president of The United States and you could call it impossible. Don’t tell that to Liz Lara who came home with a beautiful page one and inside page designed by Robert Townsend. I was moved by how the pit itself dwarfed this year’s memorial and how it’s now truly a construction site. It no longer resembles in any fashion the horrible place of seven years ago.


SAD FAREWELL

Kevin’s use of light in these images is what set them apart from the rest of the take. This couple framed by the shadows really draws me into the image. The silhouette of the person in the background as the couple walk hand-in-hand adds an ominous quality to images. Funerals are more than caskets and crying and Kevin showed that with these images.