Archive for May, 2011
Andrew + Melissa May 29th, 2011
Yesterday our friends Andrew and Melissa got married!!! Here’s a sneak preview.
The fact we budgeted so much time allowed for us to wander the city, and make fun portraits before the storms rolled in. It was a great day and party. Allison Williams shot with me and my wife, Christine, also made photos, fixed the dress, and assisted like a champ. It’s not every wedding that you get invited to an after party on a yacht. Yes, you read that right.
click on the arrows for full screen^^
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Plan, patience, execute May 27th, 2011
I was recently speaking to a graduate level photojournalism class at Northwestern University taught by Candice Cusiac, who’s a pretty freaking good teacher, FYI. During the critique I kept saying that situations needed to be “worked more,” and “there’s a good picture in there somewhere, it’s just the one you took isn’t good.”
The mistake I see most with young photographers is they don’t spend nearly enough time making an image.
The more time you spend before making the picture, the better the image is, usually. Watching and waiting is the biggest skill set I use. Just like Peyton Manning reads a defense before he snaps a ball a good photographer is reading the subjects, and trying to predict where to be when the moment you hope happens, does happen.
I photograph a dozen or so graduations a year and at the end, just like in the movies, kids throw their mortar boards into the air. (Although it’s been declining rapidly over growing concerns of injury. Ask any photographer who shoots wide in that situation.) You know what’s going to happen, so I spend some time looking for the person who I think will make a photo. It’s a matter of paying attention. The kid below was so excited after getting his diploma, he was looking it over, smelling it, and giggling. He was more likely then anyone else to do something fun/interesting.
I placed my bet. As the last of the line thinned out I staked out my spot, focused, and waited. I knew exactly how close I wanted to be. Plan, patience, execute. It’s a formula and predictable image for sure. We can’t always make the cool, artsy, photo we want to make. But it tells the story of this graduate and hopefully what it felt like to be leaving everything behind, and have everything in front of you.
Learning to be ready for a photo to happen instead of just reacting to what’s happening, a lesson I didn’t learn for a long time and one I’m glad I finally did.
5/25/11 Elmwood Park,IL Justin Sebastian celebrates by tossing his mortar board into the air at the graduation ceremony at Elmwood Park High School in Elmwood Park on May 25, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/25/11 Elmwood Park,IL Lauren Anderson hugs Kate Zucker after the graduation ceremony at Elmwood Park High School in Elmwood Park on May 25, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
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track + field May 22nd, 2011
28 hours, 3740 clicks.
Covering the IHSA Girls Track & Field for seven daily papers and fifty-some weekly papers is like working in a really fun/sweaty photo factory. The Sun-Times had myself and two freelancers, who all kinda knew various parts of Chicagoland covering it like a dysfunctional family. “So, St. Charles North is covered by Aurora? Shit, I gotta go shoot that kid.” Then you sprint across the field, and from 50 yards away the girl jumps, misses and is done for the day. “Balls!”
There’s not much time to shoot for yourself when you have to file 150 photos over two days, but I managed to find one image that is the way I see. I was just in love with all the cool flags and markers the pole vaulters used to designate their positions.
Most of the day I was shooting next to Henny Youngman Rick West of the Daily Herald (gallery here) and my homies from VIP.
5/21/11 Charleston,IL The leg of state champion Taylor Kirby (Sr.), Normal (Community West) in 3A pole vault at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/21/11 Charleston,IL Kenwood's Maiya Smith reacts after being disqualified for a false start in the Class 2A 4x400-Meter Relay at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/21/11 Charleston,IL Palatine High School's Sarah McIntosh reacts after winning the Class 3A 1600-Meter Run at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/21/11 Charleston,IL Rich South's DeAsia Garrett wins the Class 2A 4x400-Meter Relay at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/21/11 Charleston,IL Naperville North's Hope Turner in the Class 3A Pole Vault at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media 5/21/11 Charleston,IL Lake Forest High School's Carolina Carmichael in the Class 3A Pole Vault at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/21/11 Charleston,IL Whitney Young's Elisabeth Forte in the Class 3A Long Jump at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
5/21/11 Charleston,IL Burlington Central's Katie Trupp in theClass 2A High Jump in at the 2011 IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals held at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston on May 21, 2011. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
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