Exhausted Fireman

If you ever encounter breaking news and have the opportunity to be a citizen journalist, photograph the impact on people, including rescue workers, spectators, and victims.

Exhausted firefighter tries to recover from the heat, humidity and smoke after fighting a two-alarm house fire on a summer afternoon, where five tenants escaped without injury (© Michael Maher, The Lowell (Ma.) Sun).

The Photo:
One hot afternoon, I arrived at a fire scene and found firemen climbing onto a house to put out a small fire, but one generating a great deal of smoke. There was nothing overly dramatic about the fire, but I shot several photos of firefighters spraying water hoses at the house and smoke. I continued looking for something with more of a human interest angle, and spotted this fireman, exhausted from climbing the roof with all his gear, and suffering from both the smoke he had inhaled and the sun’s oppressive heat that June day. As he leaned over momentarily exhausted, I shot a couple of photos, before he forced himself to recover quickly and returned to help his fellow firefighters. More than any shots of hoses and smoke, this picture told the true story of how difficult it was for firefighters in heavy gear to put out a very smoky fire on a hot summer afternoon.

3 Tips:

1) Often times it is the firefighters who make the best photos, not the fire.

2) Firefighters often visibly show their exhaustion, and the effects from smoke or heat.

3) Shoot quickly because photo opportunities don't last long in emergency situations like fires.

Ted Kennedy Endorses Paul Tsongas

One photo with great news value is when a high profile politician endorses an up-and-coming candidate.  

Ma. Senator Ted Kennedy endorses Democratic candidate Paul Tsongas for Senator against incumbent Republican Senator Ed Brooke during the 1978 Ma. senatorial campaign (© Michael Maher, The Lowell (Ma.) Sun).

The Photo:
Paul Tsongas was an up-and-coming Democratic politician from Lowell, Ma., challenging longtime incumbent U. S. Republican Senator Ed Brooke from Ma., who was then the only African-American in the Senate. Brooke had been dogged by recent scandals, which also helped improve Tsongas’ prospects. One of the most important boosts for Tsongas’ campaign was an endorsement by Ted Kennedy, the other Ma. Democratic Senator, and a local luminary. I photographed the formal endorsement at a fund-raising dinner, including several photos of Kennedy and Tsongas individually speaking. However, the one photo that best conveyed the relationship between the two men, and Kennedy’s eagerness to help Tsongas win, was Kennedy speaking at the podium and telling a joke about Tsongas, while Tsongas retorted from his seat. Twelve years later, Tsongas was a Democratic candidate for President, until Bill Clinton beat him in the primaries. Sadly, Tsongas later died of cancer, as did Kennedy.

3 Tips:
1) Political endorsements from renowned political leaders are newsworthy moments.
2) Most endorsement photos are merely the endorser speaking from the podium.
3) Look for moments where the endorser and the person being endorsed interact, and capture them both in the picture.

On Safari

Fill flash adds light on the foreground subjects when the background is significantly brighter.

Giraffe towers over the jeep during a ride through the savannahs outside Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (© Michael Maher).

The Photo

Vacationing at Walt Disney World, we elected to go on a jeep ride through the savannahs surrounding the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we could see animals like giraffes, zebras, and ostriches up close.  It was easy to photograph the animals alone, for they came very close to our jeep, but because we were not allowed to venture out of the vehicle, there was no way to photograph the individuals in our party together with the animals.  I tried several shots of us inside the jeep in the foreground with zebras and giraffes in the near background, but the animals were much more brightly lit than our faces, making the people almost too dark to be recognizable.  The solution was to use my flash and to illuminate everyone’s faces so they would have just as much light on them as the animals.  When we passed a group of giraffes (called a “tower”), the jeep stopped and I added the fill flash to take several photos of the majestic animals in the background with our happy and perfectly lit subjects in the foreground.

Three Tips

1) Fill flash provides extra light on the foreground subject to match the background lighting.

2) Set your camera to expose the brighter background and fire the flash to light up the foreground subject. 

3) Use fill flash for most of your outdoor portraits to make your subjects’ faces as perfectly lit as possible.

Phil Esposito's Revenge

Keep your camera trained on any star player returning to face his or her former team.

New York Rangers’ forward and former Boston Bruin star Phil Esposito (L) raises his stick in celebration after scoring his fourth goal of the game past Bruin goalie Jim Pettie to pace the Rangers to a 7-4 win in Boston (© Michael Maher, The Lowell (Ma.) Sun).

The Photo:

Revenge by a player who was traded is a great storyline for fans and the media, but one that doesn’t often play out successfully.  When former Bruin Phil Esposito returned to Boston as a member of the New York Rangers, his current team was having a very successful year, but the Bruins were not.  “Espo’s” return and possible revenge was seemingly all that was discussed in Boston during the days prior to the game, though he had been traded a while before.  I positioned myself at center ice with my 300MM lens so I could easily photograph the entire ice rink and both teams’ goals.  Esposito got his revenge by scoring four goals and leading his Ranger team to victory against his former Bruin club.  Whenever Esposito was on the ice, I kept my camera focused on him, but other players blocked my view of his first three goals.  On this last one, I had a clear view, as both a happy Esposito and the dejected Bruin goalie gave me contrasting reactions as the puck lay in the net.  This was another “victor and vanquished” photo, but it was far more significant because it told the story of a player’s triumph when returning to face his former team.

3 Tips:

1) The return of a traded player is a great storyline and terrific photo opportunity.

2) Concentrate on photographing almost everything the returning player does during the game because you are likely to see emotion if the player does exact some revenge.

3) The best photo is of the returning player looking happy or celebrating, even better if his former teammates look sad or dejected in the same image.