| Sign in: |
| Members log in here with your user name and password to access the your admin page and other special features. |
|
|
|
|
|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Photographed my first riot today....
Robert Boag, Student/Intern
|
David Seelig, Photographer
 |
Hailey | ID | USA | Posted: 12:17 AM on 04.11.10 |
| ->> My father took me as a 10 year old to the Pentagon demonstration in 1967 against the war in Vietnam. I got my first taste of tear gas then. It served me well as a photographer. |
|
Robert Boag, Student/Intern
|
Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 12:20 AM on 04.11.10 |
| ->> yeah it was definitely a good lesson to learn. Mostly to be prepared and ready for anything all the time haha. |
|
Jody Gomez, Photographer
|
Murrieta | CA | USA | Posted: 12:37 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> Robert, I would say that I felt a bit disconnected from the images. I think you should shoot much tighter and bring more emotion into the shots.
Jody |
|
Robert Boag, Student/Intern
|
Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 12:41 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> Hey Jody,
thanks for the feedback. I tried to get onto the other side of the action and twice I was stopped by the police and once i was pushed back by rioters throwing bottles. Next time, hopefully there wont be one, I will definitely come more prepared so I can more safely get in closer.
Thanks
Robert |
|
Robby Gallagher, Photographer, Student/Intern
|
Brookings | SD | USA | Posted: 1:33 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> I really like #9. Personally, I feel like you have two things going on in the photo. You see the fire in the back ground and you have the police line gathering. Or at least lined up as well. I think it is pretty cool.
I think you did a good job. |
|
Yamil Sued, Photographer, Photo Editor
|
Peoria | AZ | USA | Posted: 3:22 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> I agree with Jody!!
I shot my first Riot in Puerto Rico in 1981, I shot the whole thing with a 200mm Fixed Focal Lens!!
Tight, Tight, Tight!!
But... #9 is very good!! |
|
Ben Liu, Photographer
|
Lubbock | TX | USA | Posted: 5:46 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> I agree with Jody and Yamil.
Number nine is a good photo, but i still feel a little disconnected from it.
I like the emotion on #2, but shooting tighter might have made that moment more interesting.
Shooting tightly was perhaps the most important lesson that I learned.
My primary lens is an 80-200 and I always try to frame my shots as tight as I can. |
|
Chuck Liddy, Photographer
|
Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 10:01 AM on 04.11.10 |
| ->> Robert, like the others have said. The photos are much too loose and have the look of you being a casual "bystander". Situations like this often call for extreme measures to get in the fray. If you can't get close you need very long glass. |
|
Andrew Malana, Photographer
|
San Diego/Tokyo | CA | USA | Posted: 10:35 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> While this thread is talking mostly about how best to cover this event, just keep in the back of your mind the consequences of life and death if you are in the middle of the riot...I lost a friend and colleague here in Tokyo during the recent Bangkok riots. Though he was a videographer, Hiro and I would work together covering events here in Japan.
This may be OT but covering news, be it video or stills, some of put our lives on the line to get the story. Whether 1 frame at a time or 30 frames a second, we are a group like no other.
I hope too we here at SS can pause a moment to remember our brothers and sisters who cover live events, both sport and spot, conflicts, wars and entertainment..Say a prayer for my friend Hiro Muramoto. One day you will meet him. He IS a true gentleman and friend.
Robert I hope you get the feedback you wanted, be safe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6391OO20100410 |
|
Eric Canha, Photographer
|
Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 10:49 AM on 04.11.10 |
| ->> Robert, for me, as someone looking at these with ZERO knowledge of the university or why the students gathered, the lack of captions really keeps me from connecting with the photos. Personally I like #7, "All dressed up and nowhere to go". |
|
Jim Colburn, Photo Editor, Photographer
|
McAllen | TX | USA | Posted: 11:06 AM on 04.11.10 |
->> Ah, tear gas.
There was a demonstration many years ago in DC that involved tear gas. As I approached (with the wind at my back) I saw a figure appear out of the mist with his hands over both his eyes.
I took a few shots only to realize that it was a photographer and a friend of mine so I ran over to him, told him who I was and lead him away. Not a word from him.
I escorted him a block or so up Pennsylvania Avenue and sat him down on some steps. He finally took his hands away, looked up at me with these really redden eyes and croaked, "Can I have some prints of that?" |
|
Steve Ueckert, Photographer
|
Houston | TX | | Posted: 12:13 PM on 04.11.10 |
->> "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." ...Robert Capa
I think you would benefit some just from tighter crops, but getting physically closer with a short lens would help better convey the emotion.
You had some good light for a while and some images make use of that.
Image quality should always be the best you can do. A shaky image only works if there is a very strong subject, the overall blurred from shake is for me the weakest image presented.
Faces, faces, faces.... |
|
Robert Boag, Student/Intern
|
Harrisonburg | VA | US | Posted: 12:44 PM on 04.11.10 |
->> Thanks a bunch for everyone's feedback. It was definitely a lesson in preparedness for me, obviously you never know when these situations are going to arise but I am definitely now looking into investing in some safety gear and some longer glass. With all of the bottles, gas, and rubber bullets firing I would have gotten pretty torn up had I gotten much closer, even from the distance I was at I got nailed with rocks and large bottles a number of times. As i look at the images today I could definitively have benefited from some longer glass having been stuck where I was or some gear that would have helped me to (more) safely get closer. In plain clothes with a 70-200mm I was definitively under prepared. Thanks for all the feedback. I appreciate it.
Eric I will add some captions today. |
|
Russ Isabella, Photographer
|
Salt Lake City | UT | USA | Posted: 5:27 PM on 04.11.10 |
| ->> Robert: Thanks for posting the link to your photos. Looks like an intense 'event' but I must agree with others in saying I felt far removed from all of it. For me, the main issue was the captions, or lack thereof. Hell, you didn't even spell out the name of your university. It's great you were prepared to shoot the riot, and maybe you couldn't get where you wanted to get to provide more personal, in-the-mix photos, but you certainly can do more with the captions (which I see from your latest post you're planning to do). Seems a great learning experience. |
|
Jason Hirschfeld, Photographer, Photo Editor
|
Norfolk | VA | U.S. | Posted: 5:58 PM on 04.11.10 |
| ->> I can't say what hasn't already been said as far being somewhat disconnected, but Robert, remember dude, captions. Captions, captions, captions. |
|
Nick Adams, Photographer
|
Lynchburg | VA | | Posted: 8:40 PM on 04.11.10 |
->> I carry a gas/face mask in my car just in case. Never know.
You can pick one up at any army surplus for $10-20. |
|
Brian Blanco, Photographer
|
Tampa / Sarasota | FL | USA | Posted: 11:08 PM on 04.11.10 |
->> Thanks for plugging my article Robert, and seriously, don't worry about the quality of your take from this event. Use this event for what it is... a learning experience. You'll be more prepared the next time a similar situation arises and really, that's the most important thing at this stage for you seeing as how you're still a student.
At the end of the day what's important is that you weren't arrested, you didn't get hurt and you gained some valuable experience. |
|
Chuck Liddy, Photographer
|
Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 12:27 AM on 04.12.10 |
| ->> well stated brian. |
|
Robert Scheer, Photographer
|
Indianapolis | IN | USA | Posted: 12:30 AM on 04.12.10 |
->> Nice job Robert. For a first riot, you did pretty well with it. No more to add beyond what others have said re: the images.
If you don't have a gas mask, a couple of things that will help you out in a pinch:
Swimmer's goggles (very portable, very tight seal). Great protection.
Bandana, damp, for the mouth/nose, not for rubbing skin. Limited protection. |
|
Tami Chappell, Photographer, Photo Editor
|
Atlanta | Ga | USA | Posted: 2:20 AM on 04.12.10 |
| ->> Robert..Yes shooting tight is better but remember also that safety is the number one thing. Don't feel that your being a wimp if you don't get in there with a 20mm. Sometimes stepping back and using a long lens is just as nice. Being caught on the wrong side can make a huge difference as well. I was attacked by rioters (as were many other photogs) in Atlanta after the Rodney King riots began in L.A. and seemed to spread to various cities. I was fortunate in having just several bruises and a major headache. During the Elan Gonzalez riots I was caught up in tear gas twice..once because a major wind shift, a cop pulled me out as I couldn't see a thing. I still remember the pain of it. I agree with get a gas mask and hold your gear tight. |
|
Geoff Miller, Photographer
|
Portage | MI | USA | Posted: 2:09 PM on 04.12.10 |
->> I've been teargassed once... I was five years old, and my Mom did it to me! True story.
My family was in the process of moving out of a mobile home right before I started kindergarten. My Mom was going through a drawer and found a bunch of ink pens. She decided to see which ones still worked. My Dad was a newspaper shooter at the time and used to carry a teargas pen for protection on assignment. Somehow that pen ended up in the pen drawer. As my Mom tried to figure out how to make the ball point come out of this "pen", she set it off... and filled our whole home with gas. After spending some time with a wet washcloth over my eyes, my folks decided to leave the windows open and go out for some ice cream while the air cleared. |
|
Return to --> Message Board Main Index
|