Behind the picture: technical description (Feb. 28/14)

Sergei Chuzavkov photo/AP
A technical breakdown of this photograph reveals the camera data of this photograph is blocked.

On searching this photograph's information, I soon realized there was none. After exhausting every possibility, it was the Firefox plug-in Exif Viewer that finally gave me the bad news: Unable to extract some or all of the EXIF data, which may have been removed from the image file.

With the growing mainstream strength and reliance of the World Wide Web as global information conduit, the amount of photographs posted online is growing larger and larger in number by the day. In fact, according to the Business Insider, 350 million new photos are uploaded to Facebook each day. The latest Internet numbers from pingdom report Instagram reached 5 billion photos uploaded since it went live. 

With this amazing expansion comes various problems, and one of these problems, is how to present news online, especially photographs. Here, a decision was made to not provide the camera information, however, there is an attached Exif that provides some facts about the photograph. While media organizations set out their rules of conduct, there is some disagreement regarding transparency. 

For instance, it's hard for the public to determine how a photo was manipulated, if at all, when they can't even view the camera data. 

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture (Feb. 23/14)

Sergei Chuzavkov photo/AP

Protesters clash with police in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday Jan. 23, 2014 as an ultimatum issued by the opposition to the president was set to expire with no sign of a compromise on Thursday. They demanded that President Yanukovych dismiss the government, call early elections and scrap harsh anti-protest legislation that triggered the violence (Source: Flickr).

There are many photographs appearing online from the Ukraine since protests began there in January 2014. The Ukraine is no stranger to protest as the Orange Revolution (2004-2005) and current Maiden Revolution prove. In searching for a photograph to present here on photo gazetteer, this one by Sergei Chuzavkov from AP stood out amongst the rest. 

Amid the rubble and garbage two protesters sling molotov cocktails at what appears to be some sort of train. The earth is scorched and blackened as the train burns, bright flames licking the edge of its carcass as it sits in ruins. The protesters are surrounded by carnage, thick black smoke and fire. The man who faces the camera appears to stick out his tongue as he slings the petrol bomb toward whatever target he has in mind. Who or what they are targeting is not in the camera's frame. 

As the events continue to unfold in the Ukraine, it's important the world does not forget the photojournalist, who makes sacrifices to ensure the truth escapes. The photojournalist is not able to write a story from the other side of the globe about events on the opposite side. They must travel there, stand close to the fire, and expose themselves to whatever forces are on hand. It is the photo not the word that is the best recorder because it's a mirror of not only the time, place, or event, but also, our very souls.

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture: technical description (Feb. 21/14)

John Stanmeyer photo
The technical breakdown of this photograph helps illuminate why it won a major award.

Quiet, contemplative is how this World Press Photo of the Year feels to me. It's interesting Time Magazine noted how the picture contrasts with the volatile events that occurred in 2013. The photo almost seems removed from those events, as if Stanmeyer found another time in which to take his photograph. 

Of course the rich blue sky caused by the brilliant moon is what really makes this picture so great. It's a good reminder that photography is often about being in the right place at the right time to get that perfect shot. While it's difficult to know what the photographer was thinking when taking this photo, there are some facts available to help paint a picture of how the shot materialized.

First, the film speed for this photograph is set at 10,000, which is really fast. In this instance, the fast ISO is a good choice for two reasons. One: Stanmeyer's using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, which has great ability to reduce noise when shooting at high speeds. Two: it was probably dark enough that any graininess was somewhat concealed.

Stanmeyer shot at a really slow shutter speed, which allows for as much light as possible into the shot. It's possible Stanmeyer even overexposed this shot to try and get the deep rich blues that are present in the sky portion of the photograph. And of course he used a 35 millimetre lens so he could open the aperture to a wide open 1.4, which provides the photograph great depth of view and gets all the moon's light into the frame. 

It's also worth noting the 35 mm lens is considered most similar to how we see, so the lens captures images in the same way we view the world. It also forces the photographer to get close to their subject and interact with the people or animals in their shot, which often helps to produce a better photograph.

The technical aspects of the photo are as follows:

Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Date-Time: Not given
Shutter Speed: 1/41 sec
Exposure: Manual
f-stop: 1.4
ISO: 10,000
Lens: 35 mm

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture (Feb. 16/14)

John Stanmeyer photo
African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phone in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighbouring Somalia -- a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia. Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East (Source: World Press Photo).

People are silhouetted against a blue night sky as they hold their cellphones upward, hoping to obtain a signal back home to friends and family. American photographer John Stanmeyer took the photo, which was chosen as a World Press Photo of the Year, while working for National Geographic.

According to Stanmeyer's biography on the World Press Photo website, he's produced more than 12 stories for the National Geographic and worked for Time Magazine until 2008. The photo was published as part of an extensive December 2013 feature by National Geographic entitled Walk the World, which covers journalist Paul Salopek's global trek. 

Stanmeyer's former employer Time Magazine commented on the photo recently. Here's what they had to say:

Rather than single out a photograph that might have had an impact on public opinion, on governments, on the course of events last year -- the often lonely and dangerous task of the photojournalist as social conscience -- a symbolic image was chosen representing the problems and necessity of communication over a long distance. And the medium represented in this prize-winning photograph -- the cellphone -- is not incidentally the primary tool of user-generated social media (for text, video and photography) that bypass traditional media outlets. In the photograph's depiction of the raising of four illuminated screens to the night sky one can sense not only the ascendance of the cellphone and all that it represents in society, but also the distress of the more traditional press unsure of its own future. 

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture: technical breakdown (Feb. 14/14)

john king photo
The technical breakdown of this photo reveals the use of a 50 millimetre lens due to poor lighting 
conditions created a situation where it was difficult to properly frame a photograph.

Because I was using an older Canon model, I realized I had to pull every trick up my sleeve to get a shot worth publishing. It took about a good half an hour or so to finally reach a somewhat proper setting for the tough low-light environment of the Thompson Rivers University gym.  

To make matter worse, I hadn't shot sports in some time. Lately, most of my photography is done using an iPhone, which I use serendipitously, taking photos of whatever suits my fancy. So I was out of touch with the problems associated with this type of shooting environment. Of course, the female volleyball players didn't make matters any better. The game is played fast, with points won in decisive battles. 

After watching the game for a little while, I stopped paying attention to the score and watched the movements of the players. Volleyball is one of those sports where a photograph is able to capture the complete symmetry and motion of the human body -- it's kind of like tennis or basketball where players are not obscured by pads and bulky uniforms. 

To take this photograph, I used a 50 millimetre lens with a shutter speed fast enough to track the athletes and an aperture opened as wide as possible to let in as much light as possible. I kept the film speed as low as possible to avoid graininess, which has been the ruin of many a sport photo. 

Using the 50 millimetre lens made it tough to frame the kind of shot I was looking for -- a spike ending with a point for TRU. The constraints of the framing size when using this sort of lens forces the photographer to take their photos close up, which often eliminates a lot of options. In this case, sitting in the front row of the stands, I was essentially trying to frame the top half of the player's body. I missed the shot a number of times because of improper focus or simply because the interesting elements (the ball, player, etc.) were not in the frame.

The technical aspects of the photo are as follows:

Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Date-Time: 2/7/2014 – 8:13:44 PM
Shutter Speed: 1/320 sec
Exposure: Manual
f-stop: 1.8
ISO: 400
Lens: EF50mm f/1.8
Metering Mode: Evaluative

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture (Feb. 9/14)

john king photo
A female university volleyball player reaches toward the ball to spike it into the opposing side.

It had been a long time since I attended something akin to a varsity sports game such as volleyball. I played football growing up, even making the high school varsity team first string my rookie year as linebacker. So there I was in a university gym taking photos of women's volleyball for a school assignment. The problem was, as I was later to find out, that I was taking photos of the wrong sport since the professor made it clear in the assignment criteria to not photograph varsity sports. 

While I didn't know that at the time, I was already approaching the assignment with trepidation. Something nags me when I do work for free, even when it's for school. It's hard for journalists to do work without getting paid, but I reconciled this with the fact that I will receive marks for the assignment, which in itself, is a form of payment I suppose.

So going into the event somewhat demoralized created a more difficult situation than need be. I find photography is 99 per cent a mental game. The photographer who's not mentally prepared will not get the shot they want because they're not focused. 

It was one of the final games of the season for the women's Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack volleyball team. They were pitted against a ferocious Manitoba Bisons team. Because the environment was small and intimate, I decided to not bother announcing myself to everyone as some kind of photographer by immediately placing myself ringside; instead, I sat in the bleachers for most of the time trying to snap a few good ones without staying there all evening long. I realized I was going to have problems right away because of the lighting. I prefer to use my old Canon (a model most professionals would say is only something an amateur would use), so it took some time to find the right adjustments where I could capture the movement of the players without too much blurring, which is difficult in a large low-light setting such as a university gym, but still better than the lighting in most high school gyms.

I realized after taking photos for awhile that people were noticing me. There was another photographer present, therefore most people realized that one of us was probably with the local newspaper in town, and that it was probably the guy with the big, fancy long lens walking around the edges of the volleyball court who was getting paid to be there. 

I ignored the glances, as I did speak with the university's sports contact to ensure the school knew I would be there to take photos -- not that it matters much because it's perfectly lawful for anyone to show up and take photos of the sports event, a public event in a public setting. But there are always external issues to consider when taking photos in a public setting, and being transparent and honest about your intentions is usually the best course of action.

When I finally arrived home and started sorting through my photographs, I realized I had not completed the objective of the assignment properly, as I took photographs of a varsity sport when the professor had asked us not to do so. While frustrated at first, I soon realized going to the event was good practice. Journalists get rusty if they aren't doing journalism every day. It felt good to go out and take photographs of people doing things; it's the sort of exercise that helps a photographer remember why they take pictures in the first place.

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture: technical breakdown (Feb. 7/14)

john king photo
Technical breakdown of the photo reveals the photograph was shot at too fast of shutter speed.

Last week, I shared a story about how I negotiated a difficult photograph while covering the crime beat. This post, I will look at the picture in a different way, focusing on the technical aspects of the shot itself.

The photograph was taken on November 7, 2008 at about 2 p.m. The day was overcast, chilly, and there was some parcipitation in the form of snow. The subject of the news story was making one of his first appearances in court, so I had never seen him before, and had little experience shooting hard news with the exception of traffic accidents and fires. 

I remember tinkering with the camera's adjustments beforehand, asking myself how I should photograph the subject. I decided to go for a fast shutter speed, keep the aperture opened nice and wide, and use a telephoto to shoot from the public sidewalk on the other side of the street. 

What resulted was a shutter speed that was too fast, which dampened the shot, underexposing the picture. While the goal was to gain clarity using a faster shutter speed, what resulted was less clarity. I could have narrowed the aperture, but then I wanted good depth of field, and a shot where only the subject was in focus.

The technical aspects of the photo are as follows:

Model: Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
Date-Time: 11/7/2008 – 2:01:09 PM
Shutter Speed: 1/2000 sec
Exposure: Manual
f-stop: 5.0
ISO: 400
Lens: EF75-300mm f/4-5.6 USM
Metering Mode: Evaluative

What is photo gazetteer?

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King

Behind the picture (Feb. 2/14)

john king photo

Torsten Senf is led to awaiting RCMP cruiser when leaving the Meadow Lake courthouse in autumn 2008 after making an appearance in a case where he was later convicted of a sex crime against a minor.

Torsten Senf hid behind a bit of paper when he stepped out from the side door at the Meadow Lake provincial courthouse on a late fall day some five years ago. I was there to photograph the man while editor of a small town community newspaper. Senf was later convicted of sex crime against a minor. I remember waiting for about half an hour on the opposite side of a street that ran alongside the courthouse. It was cold and there was a thin skiff of snow on the sidewalk. An RCMP cruiser sat parked on the other side of the street where a concrete path led to the courthouse door from the sidewalk.

After awhile, the door opened and an RCMP officer stepped out and looked around. After spotting me with my camera, the officer disappeared back into the courthouse. Having positioned myself on the right side of the police cruiser from the opposing sidewalk of the street, I decided to walk further up the sidewalk to position myself on the left side of the cruiser. Another couple minutes went by and then the door opened, and the officer I saw before stepped out and walked to the cruiser. When he reached the vehicle he opened the left-side passenger door then stepped around to the driver's side door where he stood and waited.

He was followed by another RCMP officer who led Senf out of the courthouse. Senf wore bright orange coveralls and handcuffs. He was a middle-aged man who held a piece of paper up to his face as he stepped out. The piece of paper hid the left side of his face, the side I would have photographed if I had stayed where I was initially. But having moved, I snapped off a few photos of his exposed right flank and went back to the newspaper office.

The story behind the photograph is just as important as the photograph itself, as this story shows how I was able to get the shot. This is a blog that will look at the stories behind the photographs shaping our world, everything from the small and mundane, to the big and spectacular. Feel free to comment on photos and share your own.

This blog is managed by designer and journalism student John King