I had the opportunity to photograph this amazing Edmonton gospel group for Avenue Magazine. They are a gospel group dedicated to preserving the style of vocalizing and musicianship that Alberta's Black pioneers brought with them from the southern United States nearly a century ago.

It’s a pleasure to photograph portraits of such a dynamic group of people. Taking photographs of people with character is just a matter of pointing the camera in the right direction and letting them be themselves.

Quenten Brown (on piano), Hugh French, Junetta Jamerson and Sierra Jamerson are part of the Black Pioneers Heritage Singers.

I took the photos in colour originally, but for me the first photo worked much better as a Black & White photograph. When photographs are in B&W, you are not distracted by colours that might unintentionally grab your focus. Also, a B&W photograph lets your eyes dwell on the transitions of greys and brings out texture and character lines.

The Technical Stuff: The key (main) light in both photographs was from a Nikon SB800 shot through a white umbrella and held high and near the subjects. The secondary light was a Nikon SB900 with a Rayflash ring light set back behind the group and used to separate them from the dark background.

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Filed under  //   editorial   lighting   portrait  

This is my final post to the NPAC blog. January 8, 2009.

I got the call from The Canadian Press at 10:30am this morning. There were reports that the RCMP had made an arrest in north western Alberta near the BC border in connection to the EnCana bombings. It was near Hythe, Alberta which is in between Dawson Creek, BC and Grande Prairie, Alberta — six hours from where I was.

Made some quick calls to other photographers I knew to see if I could find some more information. Found out that the next flight out was at 1:30. So, I called CP to get the OK to book a flight. Luckily they agreed, because I wasn’t looking forward to the drive. I was on the road at the time so I booked the flight on my iPhone. Packed a pair of socks, underwear and a toque and out the door with my gear.

All my gear fits nicely in my Think Tank Airport International rolling case which fits the requirements for carry on. I don’t want to risk losing my gear by checking in luggage. My kit includes 2 Nikon bodies, 50 f1.4, 70-200 f2.8, 17-55 f2.8, 300 f2.8, a 1.4x teleconverter, 2 flashes, power inverter and my laptop.

The news reports that Wiebo Ludwig is the one arrested. But no charges have been laid. He is an Alberta activist that was convicted of bombing oil and gas wells in the ’90s. But this time around he was earlier in the year apparently helping the RCMP find the EnCana bomber.

Find out that the flight is delayed by an hour. Damn. I’m worried about the light. I know I need to get some scene setting shots before it gets too dark. Check in to find any more news. Make a quick call to my wife, sounds like we won’t be going skating tomorrow.

We land in Grande Prairie at 3:30pm. The plane was full of media: Global TV, CTV, The Edmonton Journal, a huge CBC crew, and a film team from the National Film Board. I grab a rental car and follow Edmonton Journal photographer Shaughn Butts and head out to Trickle Creek Farm which belongs to Ludwig.

A grain elevator in Hythe, Alberta.

After 70 clicks on the road, we’re the first to the scene. But the RCMP has blocked if off so that we can’t even see his farm. There’s news that a huge search team is on the farm and they plan on working all through the night. So, I shoot the obvious and early shot of the RCMP blocking the road. I have nothing else. I file the photos I have because CP needs to get these out right away for their online clients.

The grace of the photo gods shine down upon me. Wiebo Ludwig’s family shows up. Awesome, I have relevant subject matter and people in my photos now.

Wiebo Ludwig’s wife Maime walks out of her truck and talks to media near her home.

Wiebo’s wife Maime shows up with three of their sons. Richard Boonstra, the head of the other big family here shows up and talks to media. None of them try to elude us. In fact, they seem to want to talk. I take my shots and then head back to my car to file. The photos seem to be taking an eternity to send over my laptop which is tethered to my iPhone. I curse. And then curse some more. I open the photos again and resize them making them smaller. And then send again.

The sun is fading fast. The pace slows to a crawl and there really isn’t much left to shoot. Most of the media has left but I take a chance and stick around. There are two big buses here and apparently there will be a shift change of RCMP who are searching the farm. I imagine a shot of an army of RCMP coming down the road and getting on the busses.

I wait. And wait some more.

Screw it. It’s pitch black now. So I head back into Grande Prairie and meet up with the Journal crew. We eat. And then we go bowling. Take care everyone. It’s been fun and an honour to blog these past few days for NPAC.

Edmonton Journal Photographer Shaughn Butts apparently bowling the wrong way.

I'll be posting to my site http://www.jimmyshoots.com about my Edmonton photography and editorial assignments soon.

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Filed under  //   assignment   editorial  

This is my third day post for the News Photographers Association of Canada.

So, one of the things that I do during my usual week is to post to my own blog. This would be this week’s entry. (Yes, my NPAC blog for today is my other blog posting.)

For photographers, one of the greatest compliments you can give is the phrase, “I wish I took that photo.” (Of course this might also be a tell about our egos.) And this is how many of my colleagues and I felt when we saw this photo by Shaughn Butts taken on the night of October 1, 2006.

This is his account of a man known on Edmonton streets as Preacher.

I didn’t hear back from the reporter again. But I wished I had. I wished I had some preparation for what I was about to see. Because I think I would of reacted differently to it.

When I got there I parked my car. It was probably the strangest scene I’d ever seen. I was familiar with the building. It was called Wyser Manor and I knew it because it was a shithole. It was a drug den. It was full of assholes and it had been recently renovated. I parked close by and walked to the main door, which faces south. There was a bunch of cops there. Immediately I was spotted by a staff sergeant which is something I always try to avoid. I always try to avoid bars because they will either run to you and say “no comment” or “PR is on their way” or they will point towards the furthest sidewalk that they can see. “The edge of the horizon, go over there.”

  A Guest To the Show
Anyways, I was busted right away by him but he could not of cared less about me. So, I thought this is really weird. There was no tape around the scene so I didn’t know where the scene was. All of a sudden I saw the reporter. She was huddled in the bushes further west down the street.  I thought, “this is weird man.” She was motioning to me and I was watching the cops. I still didn’t know what was going on and why she would be down there. So, I peaked around the corner because I heard someone talking. I saw a cop who was standing in a parking lot beside the building and talking to somebody. He was looking up. I didn’t want to disturb what was going on so I put my cameras down. I peaked around the corner from across the street. And I saw a man sitting there—on the ledge.  I still hadn’t seen the body yet. But I saw this man and I thought, this is crazy. This is supposed to be a homicide and they’re trying to talk this guy down.

I talked to the reporter. And she said, “you got to look further around the corner.” So I came around and there was this corpse hanging out the window. And beside that was this guy. Somehow if I could have been able to take that picture I think that would have been a killer photo. But I didn’t want to influence the scene (by attracting attention to myself). I felt like I was a guest in that whole scenario. And I knew that I couldn’t take pictures there.

So, I went back to my car and I drove to the other side with the Preacher and the body in the line of site. I drove down into that vacant parking lot and got out my 300(mm lens) and I shot from the parking lot. I actually shot it from my car.

I took about 15 images and then he got up and walked inside. It was over that quickly.

In hindsight I wished I had been able to move around and get angles but really I got there at the tail end of that whole thing. So, when he went inside he was tasered. He was tasered at least twice. I could see the blue flashes in the room. I drove back down to the front of the building where I initially started and I got him coming out of the building in cuffs. He was covered in blood and tattoos. That was it. I was there less than 15 minutes, for sure.

It was a big risk for me at that time to get in my car and drive down the alley but it was my only option. If I would of stood there and started clicking away I might of gotten a picture off but who knows what of happened. I would have enraged those cops and I could have influenced the outcome of whatever happened that night. I wouldn’t want to do that. Because the guy up there hadn’t noticed me yet. The cop talking to him hadn’t noticed me yet.

It came out later in court that the guy who was killed had originally broke into Preacher’s apartment. And Preacher defended himself, or so he claimed. He stabbed him something like 37 times (police say he was stabbed 75-100 times). He pulverized him. And then pushed him out the window.

What I remember most of that picture, oddly enough, is when I would ask people about that picture they would say that it’s a nice picture of a guy on a ledge. For most people I had to point out the dead guy.

Do you still think about the photo of Preacher at all? Does it disturb you?
No. Things don’t haunt me like that. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing but they don’t. The only thing that does haunt me is the odor of death. The smell of mort (death). If I think hard enough I can still smell Kosovo. I can still smell the cordite or the gunpowder. I can still smell the blood. I can still smell it. It smells like autumn. But intensified. And that’s the only thing that’s fresh in my mind. And that was ten years ago.

Shaughn has been with the Edmonton Journal for 15 years. He has worked at 8 papers before that and one daily, in Medicine Hat. He graduated from SAIT in 1991.

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Filed under  //   editorial   Edmonton   photographer   spot news  

Here is my second post for the News Photographers Association of Canada.

I’m shooting an NHL game between the Edmonton Oilers and the Phoenix Coyotes tonight for the Canadian Press, but I thought I would share some a bit of insight on starting out as a freelance editorial photographer.

Show Me The Money
(First off, go to the bank and take out all your money. Then go buy a special gift for your loved ones and treat them to a night out because you’ll be going away for a while. Ok, kidding. But you’ll need the support of good friends and loved ones because starting out freelancing will be hell.)

I’ve come to realize that taking photos is only one small facet of my daily routine as a new freelancer. The first thing I did was work out a budget projection for the year taking into account all my expected expenses. I gauged the different pricing schemes other photographers were using and set up my rates based on how I faired against them (this involved talking to different art directors I know and other photographers who were incredibly generous with their information – Thanks Chris Bolin.)

To keep track of the accounting, I’m using software called Billings, by Marketcircle. For Mac users, you will appreciate the intuitive design. It can track all my invoices, paid, unpaid, send estimates, track time based jobs, track expenses et cetera. There’s also an iPhone App coming out.

Show Me The Work
Every photographer should have some sort of online presence and gallery. I learned this the hard way. Build a site now even if you have a stable job and get your presence out there on the web. That way you will have time to build up your Search Engine Optimization (so google can find you).

After doing a lot of research the factors in determining which way to go for a website were costs, the design and SEO. Of course, being a new freelancer I had to look at very economical price points. But I also had to make sure that the design showcased my work at the price point of my day rates. Yes, packaging can effect how much value people see in your work. But content is always supreme. Good design should be transparent and not take away from your great photographs.

It came down to using either Photoshelter or Livebooks. I think that Photoshelter is a great service and extremely functional for a photographer. They have a great archiving and online sales aspect. But I needed that extra touch that suited my branding needs so I went with Livebooks on their cheaper template monthly plan. I’ll integrate Photoshelter with my Livebooks site later when I have more cash flow. It’s about $30-$40 per month for each service. BTW, they have a great deal for students. Something like $99/year.

Stay Connected
My camera, my laptop, my iPhone. I’m ready to go anywhere and shoot any assignment. I can respond to text messages (which more of my clients are using), email and twitter account. Yes, my twitter account helps me to stay connected when there’s breaking news. This helped me stay on top of where I needed to go during the WCB hostage taking here in Edmonton. And by tethering my laptop with my iPhone I was transmitting photos throughout the day. And I play a little Civilization on my iPhone during the long down times.

Be Nice
My advice to those of you starting out is to buy a drink for the next veteran photographer you meet. They’ve done a lot for our industry and will likely share some wise words with you. For all you veterans, buy dinner for the next rare intern photographer you meet. They are in this because they have the same passion and respect for our industry. BTW, I’m sorry Brett Gundlock for calling you half-a-photographer when we first met. I don’t remember this, and I’m sure I meant something other than what seems to be eternally scarred into your memory. And yes you totally beat me that day with the shot of the game winning touchdown with only 15 seconds left in the game. But not as bad as the other photographer who left the game early to file.

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I’ve been asked to blog about my week on the News Photographers Association of Canada about a week in my life. Here is the first post.

2010 is the year of great photography. Content. Content. Content.
Oh, BTW, so was 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006 ... And every previous year since the first exposure in 1814. I don’t think anyone has really ever disputed this. But I know that I ran out and spent thousands of dollars on a video kit and training because I wanted to believe that video would save my beloved newspapers. Well, it didn’t. Video is another facet that will help online readership but photography is still going strong.

Back to my first love. The art of slow cooking photography.

I’m a newbie freelancer. Sort of. I’ve been shooting for freelance clients about nine years now. But for most of those years I worked for an established photography company in town until I was recently down-sized. So it’s a fresh slate for me and I’m going to take this opportunity to really think about the process — both before and during my shoots. Back to the slow cooking of ideas and letting them marinate. I really think that this will help my growth as a photographer and hopefully attract new clients (our photos are never complete until viewed). So I’ve gone out and bought a note pad in case those rare great ideas pop up.

When I see the work being done by professionals like Reuters’ photogs Andy Clark and Christinne Muschi, Kevin Van Paassen at the Globe, or Darryl Dyck out in BC, and the great photographers here in Edmonton I realised that something was missing in my work. These other photographers make the work seem so easy but there is so much thought behind their work. Which is why their images are so unique and memorable. Of course some of it is shit. But hey, we all have a bad day. :)

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach looks out his window of his office at the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton, Alberta on November 25, 2009. Jimmy Jeong For The Globe and Mail

I find that since going independent, I’m actually taking more chances now with my photography. But to do so takes a lot more preparation to make sure I still get the shot required by the client. For the photo of the Premier of Alberta, I was to shoot a portrait during the half-hour scheduled for the interview. Which of course means I would get about 5 minutes. Instead, I called ahead to his press secretary and spent the day at the legislature to hopefully be able to photograph him during breaks throughout the day. I spent a lot of time at the press secretary’s office. But, during different periods in the day I got to meet the premier and his staff and they got comfortable with me. And I think this helped me get a shot I was really happy with.

EDMONTON, AB - DECEMBER 28:  Dustin Penner #27 of the Edmonton Oilers sails over Curtis Glencross #20 of the Calgary Flames in the second period during an NHL game on December 28, 2009 at Rexall Arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jimmy Jeong/NHLI via Getty Images)

Slow Cooking But Quickly Served Before it Gets Cold
I’ve spent the day getting back to clients (always answer all your emails as quickly and politely as possible). But I’m also preparing for the hockey games this week which I’ll be shooting for CP. (I’m the second shooter here in town but the other photographer is on vacation.) Shooting for the wires means that a lot of the thought process has to go in to the preparation before the shoots. Today I’ll go make sure to download rosters into photo mechanic (code replacements) and read the stories to see if there are any players to watch.

I used the preseason NHL games to get my timing back but also to work on color correction settings in Photoshop. The arena here is probably one of the darkest and dingiest in the league. During the games I’ll chimp constantly so that I can mark my edits in camera and then only open those locked photos. I’ll then put them through a set of 6 pre-programmed actions in Photoshop, edit captions in Photomechanic and away they go. Recently, I’ve been playing around with trying to upload photos as soon as I get the shot. This means having my laptop with me.

Tomorrow I’ll talk more about the business side of freelancing.

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