©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
Legendary Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka made an appearance in a Boost mobile ad during yesterday’s Super Bowl, in which his (one-time) New Orleans Saints went marching out with a victory. 25 years after he led the Chicago Bears to a raucous Superbowl win, Da Coach still is the man for many Bears fans. My one portrait of him was not made in a studio with an art director, agents, and assistants scurrying around serving everyone’s needs over a sumptuous buffet, with 3-4 setups ready to go. As with most newspaper portraits, this shoot was no-frills – it lasted about 45 seconds in the corner of his steakhouse right after an interview. I had two direct flashes pointed directly at him from both sides – why would you put a softbox on a gritty character like Ditka? A few frames, and then he had to go. Of the many quickie portraits I’ve made of famous people, this one worked out better than most.
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
After a recent early morning blaze on Chicago’s west side, firefighters wore headlamps to find their way during an investigation of a burned-out building. Their bluish lights moved this way and that in the darkness, so there was a co-mingling of light and shadow that kept my interest. There wasn’t much to shoot so I felt free to photograph more creatively. The strong amber light from the streetlamps were more interesting left warm than color balanced. If you’ve ever lit these situations with direct flash, you’ll know what I mean when I say the results can be just awful-looking if you shoot it straight. I composed, focused and hoped for the silhouette which finally came amidst the mysterious exchanges between the investigators.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
It’s rare to get rooftop access for a fire, especially for one that overlooks a restaurant whose destruction had created such buzz in the city. The Costa’s Restaurant in Greektown was a beloved place for many. You know there were many memories contained within the walls of the restaurant, all punctuated with the flaming cheese exclamation “O-pa!” But a midnight fire in the kitchen put an end to any future joy when it didn’t stop burning for hours (no one was hurt). I arrived in the early morning and shortly after saw this rooftop as a possible vantage point. A security guard for the building pointedly refused access when I asked for it, but when I saw a resident walking her “yip-yip” dog I asked to tag-along upstairs as her visitor. Even with the roof access, I was still shooting this with my arms extended to shoot out over the overhang. We were up on the roof for maybe a minute or so before the security guard came up and said the owner wanted us to leave. By that point, my host and I got what we were looking for.
Welcome to my 100th post! Thank you for reading past that exclamation point, and a hearty thank you to all of the blog readers and Facebook fans who have been encouraging throughout the past six months. Your words and support have really helped me keep this journal alive.
So if you haven’t joined us on the Assignment Chicago Facebook Page, please do. It’s a handy way to keep updated on things and to comment on photos.
If you are already a Fan, can I ask that you suggest this page to your friends? It just takes a moment. You can do so from the Facebook page, in the column at left. Chicagophiles, photophiles, cityphiles – all are welcome!
To commemorate this moment, and to keep it interesting, I’ve compiled a list of unfiltered observations, lessons, tips, secrets, etc. from each of the 100 pictures posted here on this site. It’s for all those who are aspiring photographers, or are interested in the process of photography and photojournalism. They’re also reminders to myself. They’re listed in the same sequence as the images from which they are inspired, which is why it reads like a stream of consciousness. So…for what it’s worth…let’s get going…..
100 Tips for 100 Photos
1) Some of the best moments I’ve seen as a photographer happen on the way to other moments.
2) Don’t let the frustration of bad light keep from transforming a moment with your own.
3) Low angle + underexposed sky + off-camera light = dramatic portrait
4) A good percentage of my best photos were taken holding the camera with an outstretched arm.
5) Color balancing every scene takes the color and interest out of ambient light.
6) Pictures are like paintings. It start with the background canvas.
7) Creative collages – a la David Hockney – can tell the story better.
8) There is such a thing as boring photos taken from a helicopter. I have a ton.
9) Interesting celebrity portraits often depend on the willing interest of the celebrity.
10) Ambient light = content.
11) Even in a rapidly moving event with crowds of people, small details can tell the full story.
12) When the reality of a scene will be obvious to a viewer from any angle, go for surreality.
13) If someone doesn’t ask why you’re taking photos, you generally don’t need to give them a because.
14) To give people a sense of being there, it’s best to be knee deep in it.
15) Photographs can lie. It’s too true.
16) The decisive moment can’t always be tack sharp. But don’t expect an editor to agree.
17) Sometimes all you get is a few minutes. And you might know that going in.
18) Access, access, access…and mission. An essential part of what makes for a great photograph.
19) It’s hard to get to a news event in a big city before emergency personnel do. Good thing.
20) Don’t avoid low-percentage shooting situations. They yield the question “How’d you get that?”
21) The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle is true with photos – it’s uncertain whether your camera altered the equation.
22) Don’t stop once you get a cool looking photo. Sometimes your cup will runneth over.
23) Some of the most interesting portraits are when you can’t see anyone’s face.
24) Always keep ear plugs in your photo bag. Keep an additional new set for the friend you will make with them.
25) An underwater housing has many interesting above-water applications.
26) Carry a compass. I would have saved Door County the cost of several rescue personnel had one been in my bag.
27) I hate to admit but the early bird often gets the worm. I’m typically a night owl.
28) Avoid complacency like the plague.
29) Whether it be manipulated electrons of a flash, or sunlit particles of the sun, God powers the batteries.
30) The secret of getting photos others don’t is knowing the exact place and time when it all comes together.
31) A bicycle amplifies one’s seeing by reducing the inertia you have to keep going.
32) Helicopter vibrations demand a very high shutter speed, although it may not seem like it at the time.
33) Keep a camera in the front seat, ready to go.
34) Chances are if you’re curious about something, your pictures will have the power to make others curious.
35) “Backlit” is seen as a shortcoming in camera manuals, but that’s just boring conventional thought.
36) Staying with a situation to make a better photo often involves swallowing one’s pride and impatience.
37) Don’t hesitate to pull off to the side of the road for a photo. Just don’t get hit, ok?
38) When a celebrity gives you a lot of time, you don’t have much of an excuse.
39) You’ll probably look foolish at some point while taking pictures. If that bothers you, it’s not the career for you.
40) Let your subjects not leave you unchanged.
41) Being a professional photographer means knowing when and what audibles to call at the 5 yard line in overtime.
42) If you are tense during a photo shoot, your subjects will become tense. Mostly, you’re a thermostat.
43) In any group, a few faces will captivate. It’s not level of attractiveness. Take time to find those people in a crowd.
44) Blur, color, light, repeat.
45) I think it’s human nature to shrug off things you don’t understand. That’s a blown opportunity for pictures.
46) Being a photographer will help you meet famous people, but you risk being seen as the annoying person in the room.
47) I miss police ride-a-longs. They yield some of the most compelling images.
48) Sometimes it’s not the size of something but the diversity within it that makes for a compelling image.
49) Be nice to cops. Firefighters are always the heroes, but cops have to deal with far worse stuff.
50) Arriving early to events can help give you the necessary big perspective to adapt quickly to changes.
51) Yes, morning light before 8ish and afternoon light after 3ish are warm and beautiful. But high noon is also virtuous.
52) If you can be paid to make pictures, you are increasingly fortunate.
53) Don’t get caught up with the mechanics of your tools and the dynamics of an event. You’ll miss the heart of a shoot.
54) Kids’ pictures are a legacy to leave for a family.
55) Shoot jpg and RAW at the same time. RAW can save you technically and artistically, even if it’s only 1% of time.
56) In this age of wide exposure latitude in RAW, I shoot shutter priority more often, since camera shake is a killer.
57) The Communication Arts Photography Annual is a great tool for visual inspiration.
58) The best war photographers I admire are also able to capture the exquisite nature of peace.
59) I’ve had pictures that seize my imagination and not let go until I try to adapt their vision to my own reality.
60) Shoot as much for as long as you need. Sometimes it’s your 1st photo. Sometimes it’s your 2587th.
61) When you’re shooting a group in a short time, shoot a ton. You might get one where someone is not staring at you.
62) Observe your biases while shooting.
63) The world needs more uplifting photos. My industry tends towards grief.
64) Keep an organized archive. Someone you once photographed may become president (or his mistress…).
65) Social skills and salesmanship are more important than talent as a photographer. I know, I know…
66) It’s beneficial to keep a physical list of places you want to return to when the weather or season changes.
67) It’s best to avoid saying “Oh, I’ll come back here to shoot more”, because the unchangeable changes.
68) Negative self-talk in your creative life masquerades as your conscience or “practical thinking”.
69) Save up money to take creative pictures from a helicopter when the sun is low. Just for the creative boost.
70) Making the mundane intensely interesting is a valuable skill that people recognize.
71) Portraits often reflect the photographer more than the subject being photographed.
72) If you ask many questions upfront, you can save yourself a lot of wasted shooting time.
73) Some photographers shoot in manual. I’m usually shooting in automatic mode toggling the exposure compensation.
74) I ran into David Alan Harvey using a crappy old flash in Cuba. Quite a lesson there.
75) Always be ready.
76) Watch how the sun falls in different places at different times of the year . Take a longer, more patient view.
77) I wouldn’t advise photographing kids on the street without getting parental approval. Even if they’re being cute.
78) Individual achievements in photography are determined by talent and drive… politics and timing.
79) Getting inspired by the mood of your surroundings will make time flow as you wait for your moment.
80) It is hard to know when to cut bait. When in doubt, wait.
81) If you’re out photo hunting, iPod earbuds are blindfolds to your ears.
82) If you’re looking for a public restroom, don’t ignore construction site portable toilets. (sorry, it’s just that important)
83) When shooting a crowd of people, imagine yourself a casting scout looking for a mesmerizing face.
84) Photographers who are not self-conscious may get photos others don’t, but they leave a wake of ill will.
85) Photographers that blast away, even in tight situations, miss the subtleties.
86) Readers of newspapers are more visually astute than newspapers realize.
87) Free wifi, an outlet, cheap parking, cellphone signal, restroom, and maybe a cup of Joe. Is that asking too much?
88) Keep in flight. Thank you John White.
89) Understaying your welcome as a photog is generally worse than overstaying, for them and for you…
90) Develop a philosophy about when not to take a picture, so you’re not caught in the moment.
91) Shadows deepen when exposing for highlights, accentuating the graphic nature of an image.
92) Photography is hard on your lower back and shoulders. Some digital cameras are too heavy.
93) Not to sound like a kook, but feeling moments will yield to seeing them.
94) It is easier than people think to photograph strangers.
95) The option of jeans everyday. And I don’t have to pay at the office.
96) I thought I would tire of sharing in the happiness when a child gets a photo in the paper. Still there.
97) Another approach: seize on a detail within a scene, and follow it through until it’s gone.
98) Real, intimate, telling, documentary moments are not that easy to come by.
99) 10 years later, the Chicago skyline is still not old. It changes by the minute in the mornings.
100) Rules in photography are often broken to great achievement.
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
I’m catching the train back to work this next week. Well, only figuratively. I’ve been off for a week on a staycation, and the morning sun beckons. This year I’m going to make more of an effort to find activities in the morning, in addition to the next-beautiful-morning-light-scenic and the day-after fire. If you have any suggestions, I’m all ears…
©Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
So the assigning editor in the morning tells me to check out a mass yoga demonstration at Union Station that would involve commuters. It sounded like it had some photographic potential in terms of “real people doing real things”, but when I got there, the overwhelming public relations nature of the event was plainly evident. The event was to promote a financial services website. Of course, newspapers often cover events that have an overwhelming public relations nature to them. Or as some cynics like to say “Slow news day, huh?” Sometimes the editorial response to a business promoting an event is “buy an ad”. In this case, I stayed awhile trying to focus on people who seemed to be real commuters caught up in the blue shirt frenzy. It didn’t seem like there were many interested to partake, and I felt the pressure of leaving for my next assignment. After deciding to shoot from the second floor, I finally found a moment that would be real enough – a man in a tie struggling to keep up. I come down to get his name only to find out he was a marketing executive helping to organize the event. ARGGH!
©2010 Alex Garcia
Siberian Huskies on Northerly Island during a Polar Adventure Days event sponsored through the Chicago Park District. This is my ideal kind of event. Not because of the wonderful dogs, the cool ice sculptures, the science demonstrations, the rescued animals, and the overall nature-centric themes of the event. Those were all wonderful for my small kids over the weekend. But what makes it unbelievably cool is that it’s a Chicago event that’s all free, with FREE PARKING! Oye! Makes me want to go back in February…
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
A staff employee at a Chicago Christian Industrial League shelter, left, says goodbye to a Haitian evacuee before a CTA bus transports about 25 Haitian evacuees to the airport for a flight to New York after an overnight stay at the shelter. The evacuees all had dual citizenship. So many thoughts running through my mind about this. I was happy for everyone who were still alive and made it to the States, where most of them live. I was sad too for all that they had gone through, many of them losing family members under tragic conditions that shocked the senses. I was, honestly, a wee frustrated that we did not send a reporting team to the biggest humanitarian disaster in our hemisphere, given the marshalling of resources by other corporations throughout the city. I am afraid that Haiti will drop off the radar of news pages everywhere, even as there are still bodies in the streets. Coming back to the photo, I am encouraged by the connections perfect strangers can make who are of racial, generational, and geographic differences. Sometimes it takes just a simple and honest click of personalities, as it did here, to remind me that we are not very far apart from each other as human beings.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
When this photo blog (almost 100 posts ago) first got going last year, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of pictures to post, and whether I could keep up the quality of the images on a regular basis. As I have been looking back at the last year, I think it was a mistake not to include this image from a Boys and Girls Club event. It had a community journalism feel to it, and I was wanting to create a different vision or look for the photo blog. But what has emerged over time through the blog is a desire to have images that can connect and uplift with you the readers. In doing so, it helps me to be inspired. Given some of the negative stuff that comprises news, I think most of us news consumers need a steady dose of positivity. The activities of the Boys and Girls Clubs are very inspiring, and the fun expressions of these boys was fun to experience and to photograph.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
One of the benefits of going through the gauntlet of contest deadlines in January is the self-review of one’s past year as a photographer. You look back and get a chance to see what went well, what didn’t, and where you could have done better. The photo above was a favorite from last year, that was largely unseen since it appeared in an online slideshow for a couple seconds. It was taken from within a bus in which a couple dozen Mexican nationals were being deported for illegal immigration. The light coming from the window was the sunrise, giving them a last look of Chicago before they were flown to the border. Everyone’s story was different. Some were painfully uprooted. Others were happy to get a free trip home, determined to return. But the picture was a quiet moment – whether for contemplation, or calculation…
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
From the courthouse in downtown Chicago you get a decent view into many office buildings next door. Since covering courtroom-related news is usually a game of hurry up and wait, there is plenty of time for me to gaze out towards the galaxy of cubicles and wonder about a career path in photojournalism that enables jeans, long hair and beard scruff. I guess that sounds freeing in a Harley-Davidson kind of way, but there has always been a conventional side of me that wonders about what it would be like to wear a tie everyday to work. A good friend of mine who went from plumber to civil engineer loves doing so, feeling himself the educated man he worked to become. I’ve tried ties, but with camera straps from two heavy bodies, credentials, and what some p.r. person may want to hang around my neck to confer legitimacy, I may as well start pulling a plow I’m so strapped in. It also seems that the day I wear a tie with nice slacks and dapper shoes is the day I get assigned to shoot a pig farm. Of course, nowadays, the world is more casual. On most days I’m probably better dressed than some billionaire software engineers I’ve met in Mountain View, CA…
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
This scene at Montrose Harbor along the lakefront was visible to me and several other motorists who watched from their cars the goings on of a large collection of birds. You could say it was like a drive-in theater showing of “Animal Kingdom”…
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
For several years, I worked in Southern California where snow was pretty much a matter of choice. If you wanted that experience, you could head to the mountains. If not, you could stay at the beach. By most measures, pretty nice (ok Facebook friends, you can stop reminding me:-) ) . But there is a benefit of life interrupted by snow. For one, both its beauty and difficulty bring perfect strangers together on a regular basis by providing an easy way to initiate conversation – e.g. “what a day, huh?”. But the more unexpected and lovely is when you find yourself in a “found time” moment when you are allowed to simply watch a gentle snowfall. With the slow rocking of a train as it moves its way down the rails, the entrancing effect is heightened. I watched a person in the next car over as they engaged in such a moment, wondering if their experience was peaceful as well…
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
My brother was recently in Thailand, where he rode an elephant through its beautiful countryside. I’ve never been to Thailand, but I can say that I rode an elephant at O’Hare Airport - the Elephant Beta. It’s the name of a specialty truck with a cherry picker and hoses that United Airlines uses to de-ice airplanes. For a story, I was allowed to photograph from the heated glass booths atop where operators are protected from being splashed by the propylene glycol. It was actually a lot of fun. Because the goal is to quickly and aggressively remove ice from airplanes, it felt like we were inside a robot playing a version of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em – hosing, splashing, moving left and right, blowing snow. All that was missing was a voice from the corner yelling “body blow! body blow!” It was a workout for me too. I was stuffed in behind the seat of the ramp serviceman, bent over doing squats for twenty minutes while being thrown left and right against the walls of the enclosed cab. But hey, I was smiling the whole time.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
I guess the coffee cup on the billboard is of cold comfort for these commuters. Heh.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
Friends grieve the loss of two loved ones overcome by an early morning fire on Chicago’s west side. The details of the story are sad, awful, beyond which any of us would want to experience. In this case, the man at right tried to save his brother and mother but was overcome by smoke and was prevented from doing so. At the end of the day, there were facial expressions, voices, sounds, and raw emotions that didn’t get conveyed through my 4×6 prism and yet would linger in the mind of any person with any humanity. All I can hope for in witnessing such grief is that there is some beneficial purpose to the pictures that would be made manifest in those who would share in their pain. I lean on this, hope for this, pray for this.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
The first baby from the Chicago area in 2010 is lit from a window at Stroger Hospital. According to the hospital, the child was born at the stroke of midnight. Another child was born at St. Joseph Hospital some ten seconds later. Good people can disagree as to how you actually time these things, since I don’t know if their clocks were precision set by Greenwich Mean Time, or whether Price Waterhouse representatives were observing the proceedings. But let’s not spoil this child’s moment with talks of baby gamesmanship. A new smile has entered the world. A miracle is born. Happy 2010!
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
An end-of-year message came to mind as I watched a man feed seagulls on the lake this week. Fellow Chicago photojournalist John White from the Sun-Times is known to say, “Keep in Flight!” The light will always shine again, as it did that day, after ten days of cold and 18 minutes of sunshine. Without realizing the relevance of her words, my daughter has also been singing a hopeful message that is apropos for this challenging year. After watching the musical “Annie”, she hasn’t stopped singing “..the sun will come out to-mo-rrow…” Have a Great New Year and Keep in Flight!
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
Christmas Eve was a bit busy, so I didn’t have a chance to post this photo from a shoot at Meigs Field, er…Northerly Island. There was a very cool display of ice covering vegetation everywhere you looked, a few images of which you can see in a Trib online photo gallery. In the end I chose this one to post because of the eye-popping red, but also because I keep getting the thought that if trees were able to grow chocolate-covered berries, this scene would make for an interesting picture, but an even better dessert. Some really stunning winter pictures, especially of a tree bent over by ice, can be seen at this Chicago winter classics gallery.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
Merry Christmas! Have a safe and blessed holiday season and New Year! Thank you sincerely for all your messages of support and friendship this year!
