Photoshop Disaster, NO, cropping disaster, YES!

Steve Russell, Staff Photographer

Photoshop Disaster?  NO 

Bad crop? NO

Brutal crop? YES!

Looking through some of the comments made on this blog I noticed a recent addition to Richard Lauten's October 22nd post on Ethics, Computers and Photojournalism .

Reader Ken used this post to ask about a Toronto Star picture that ended up on a popular photoshop blog, photoshopdisasters. Toronto Star picture on photoshopdisasters

Ken writes, "I guess I have to wonder why such a mundane shot seems to have been manipulated by The Star or if there is another explanation"

 A ragout of the Toronto Star's appearence on photoshopdisasters blog, clearly shows a suspect hand on Hazel's back. 

No photoshoppery here, the picture was just the victim of a really bad crop.

I'm not sure who along the way did the original crop and as photoshopdisasters reports that original picture, seen above, was cropped again to exclude the mystery hand.

The picture in question was taken in 2001 by then photographer and now Photo Editor Ken Faught.  

The original picture actually has Hazel's other son and daughter sitting on her left side with his long arm around her and ends up resting on his bother's back. The four are sitting on a very small couch.

Someone along the way cropped out the other siblings on Hazel's left but that crop left the hand in. 

Adding to the confusion is that Hazel's other son's jacket kind of blends into the couch in the shadow of the McCallions. If you look real hard, squint, you can see it. The picture was taken with a Nikon D1, which has no where near the range that current Nikons would have.

The orginal picture shows all the McCallions on a very small couch with Mayor Hazel sitting on son Peter's lap. Her other son Paul is practically sitting beside Peter. The view of Paul's jacket against the couch is a little clearer.

Hope this clears up the Star's Trip into a suspected Photoshop Disaster!

-srussell@thestar.ca 

a quiet, yet tasty afternoon...

Richard Lautens, Staff Photographer

Wednesday of this week I had a lovely piece of apple schnitz pie.  I realize this is not a deep insight into photojournalism but it was really good pie.

The baker is Elizabeth Allingham and she lives several hours north of the city.  I went to her house to work on a story about fertility (the story will be out sometime in the next few weeks, written by reporter, Megan Ogilivie). 

To backtrack, I had arranged to have Ryerson Journalism student Matt Llewellyn shadow me for the day.  It was quiet but we were sent up north of Shelburne for the fertility story.  As soon as we entered the house, Elizabeth offered the fresh pie.  Being a ‘pie guy’ I accepted immediately.  We sat and chatted in her kitchen overlooking the woods as we all got comfortable with each. 

It was a lovely afternoon and the photos worked out very well and I am looking forward to seeing the story in print.  The Allinghams could not have been more hospitable and made my job so much easier.

What I hadn’t particularly noticed was that student Matt had been shooting photos the whole time.  Within hours of finishing the assignment and driving back, Matt had downloaded, selected and enhanced his photos and had already posted a video slideshow online.

To check out his behind the scenes photos, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-vICCDFaAI&fmt=18

 

 

Student Matt is seen on the left, Elizabeth’s sister Jaime is in the middle, 4 month old Caleb is in the arms of mom and pie maker, Elizabeth.

 

Richard Lautens/Toronto Star

 

 

Oops, I (we) did it again!

Steve Russell, Staff Photographer

Comedian Stephen Wright once quipped, "It's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it." 

At the paper photographers always keep our eyes open for pictures that go by a variety of names depending on the photographer.

These pictures are referred to as weather, enterprise, stand-up, feature or stand alone pictures to name a few.

These pictures can find a home anywhere in the paper but usually make it into the Greater Toronto section to dress up a page with stories that do not lend themselves to good pictures or they might end up in the daily online gallery.

So, last week while I waited at Nathan Phillips Square for Mayoral candidate George Smitherman to appear for a portrait, I stubbled across Richard Thomson hand feeding some sparrows. Ding! The feature bell went off in my head.

Richard Thomson of Toronto feeds birds near the pond in front of Nathan Phillips Square. Thomson has been feeding the birds at the square two to three days per week for the last five years. 

I shot a variety of images before approaching him for his name.

 

Mr. Thomson chuckled and told me he had been in the Star doing the same thing before and pulled a carefully folded news clipping out of his wallet.

There it was, 2006, Richard Thomson feeding a sparrow at Nathan Phillips Square.

Lovely shot of him taken by former Toronto Star Year-long intern and now a staff photographer at the National Post Aaron Lynett.

Aaron Lynett's 2006 picture of Richard Thomson feeding a sparrow at Nathan Phillips Square. 

Well, I thought, that was three years ago and maybe if we needed the picture it could be used.

When I got back to the paper and filed my pictures I looked up Mr. Thomson in the paper's archive.

Well it seems that he was shot another time as well.

Earlier this summer by then Toronto Star year-long intern Pawel Dwulit, now a Canadian Press Stringer in Ottawa.

Pawel Dwulit's picture of Richard Thomson! 

Mr. Thomson has been feeding the birds at Nathan Phillips Square a few times a week for six years now, I'm sure I will not be the last Toronto Star photographer to shoot him!

Vince!

Carlos Osorio - Staff Photographer

Whenever Vince Carter comes to Toronto you know you are in for a treat. It usually involves him feeding of all the boos in the crowd and having a good game and therefore giving the photogs good photos. 

As soon Vince touched the ball the boos rained down from all over the arena. At one point I saw him chirping back and forth  with a guy in the crowd. I really think he likes playing here under that kind of atmosphere.

Carter and Bosh before the game. 

 

Carter shooting while being watched by Bosh.

At one point a ball went out of bounds and almost hit 2-year-old Maia Simmons. Vince went over to check that she was ok.

After the game Vince signed some autographs for the fans. When finished he started to take of his jersey and I heard people screaming for it but Vince just took it off and walked towards the locker room. I heard him say 

"They say i suck but they want my jersey, which one is it?"

Taking a break

 

Rick Madonik, Staff Photographer

 

One thing that has become a casualty of my chosen profession, is travel photography. Its sad, but true. I'm currently on vacation and the chances of me finding gear to take pictures is shamefully low.

 

The truth is, I now welcome the break from taking pictures day in, day out. When on vacation, I rarely pull out a camera to shoot a slice-of-life scene, or landscape, or anything – this despite the fact I continue to “see” photographs everywhere I look.

 

I think the last straw for me was 2002 when I spent four weeks making my way through a tightly scheduled sojourn of Laos and Cambodia. The pictures I took on that trip continue to be some of my favorites, but it was a lot of work. That trip also introduced me to shooting and editing video. First off, that’s a considerable amount of gear to be lugging about when you’re trying to “get away” from the daily routine. Its hard to explore a culture, or a temple, when your day pack is an assortment of batteries and lenses. On that trip I made a deliberate attempt to only shoot stills when the light was most favorable – the early morning and late afternoon/evening. Otherwise, I was shooting video. In all I took 16 hours of video and 40 rolls of film. (Yes, film. After a few years of digital I went back to a single camera, no motor drive and patience of waiting for light or ambiance to dictate a photo.) In the end, my month away felt more like work and less like vacation. During the day, when I explored caves and waterfalls and temples and waterways, I would shoot video and make notes of worthwhile places to return later in the day to shoot some still images.

 

I was constantly late for dinner, often holding up fellow travellers and generally consumed by a mission to document my trip. Two year’s later, when I spent a month exploring Vietnam, I again had visions of employing both forms of media. In the end, I managed to shoot ½ roll of black and white film (and never developed it) and made 12 hours of tape. The tape has never been edited, and a final version remains to be discovered.

 

The point I’m trying to make, I suppose, is despite the fact I still get a “rush” from my work, I find its really important – emotionally - to stand back and view life instead of document it. It’s a bit of a conundrum for me, because I continue to feel a strong photograph emotes an equally strong response. And that can be said about any type, or genre, of photography.

 

I also find its socially unacceptable to too many people to take such a break. “I’d love to see your pictures” is often heard after a trip – and I do tend to travel a lot. There’s always disappointment when I tell people there aren’t any. Unlike other disciplines of employment, people generally expect photographers to photograph while on vacation. (Don’t get me wrong, most photographers I know, do so.) Funny, isn’t it. No one really  expects a dentist, or contractor, or accountant, to extend their work life into their vacation time, but for photographers it seems to be different.

 

With that, I’ll leave you with probably the only photo I will have bothered to capture during my stay in India. If there's more, I'd be surprised.