This morning, I cruised the Internet with little in mind. Stumbling through the sportsshooter.com message board I found a powerful, touching story by Stephanie Simon in the Los Angeles Times (also owned by The Sun parent Tribune Co.) about Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. It is an organization of photographers who donate their time and services to photograph maternity and infant bereavement portraits.

The story is told through Sandy Puc', a Denver-based portrait photographer who started the program. Often the child is dead or will soon die; the images will be solid, tangible remembrance of the life too short.

The story is from November 2007, but the power is lasting. This is a really well-done story, another example of the depth and capacity of photographs -- and newspapers themselves.

Photo by Sandy Puc'/Now I lay Me Down to Sleep

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

photo by Patrick Smith
(Nikon D300, Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 55mm, 13 seconds @ f/4, ISO 400)

Regular reader and Towson University student Patrick Smith has a nice eclipse image on his Flickr site. There he talks about his chilly adventure to make some photographs for the Towerlight.

The hand-held 13 second exposure created an arresting abstract quite different from from the nearly identical Seattle photographs. Some people like it, some don't. To me it represents a fresh view that works -- maybe not for the newspaper, but works within itself.  

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The lunar eclipse the other night sounded intriguing enough. Enough to think about trying to make a photograph or two. However, as I stood outside on my deck -- in the crisp cold -- with the dogs in the yard, thoughts of sleep and more sleep crept into my chilled brain. After going inside I forgot all about it and settled in for slumber.

A few days later, slowly perusing some blogs and Flickr pages, a Seattle Post-Intelligencer blog noted the striking similarities between photos in the Post-Intelligencer and their competitor the Seattle Times.

Wow. (Insert double take of incredulity) Is that not amazing?

It is not uncommon for photographers from competing papers or services to have similar photos; usually they involve a sporting event or press conference. But the same airplane in front of an eclipsed moon? 

Wish I placed a bet on that because the odds had to be ginormous. Would have paid off big -- if I could have found someone to take the wager.  

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Contest times is pretty much over. Now I focus on the new year, a time of introspection for the mind and examination of the work. Yesterday I spoke to a wonderful group of high school students from the readership area in a program Sun reporters John-John Williams and Laura McCandlish have put together with some of our fellow staffers. It was a complete hoot, and I loved it.

And now I slip into a quick photographic funk for no reason other than pure envy. This is after a week of feeling good about myself and the work I am doing. It seems, apparently, I am going in the right direction. But after the presentation I reviewed my contest entries. I also looked at some of the other blogs and pages by people I know or have worked with: Rob Finch's Pictures, Chris Detrick's My Life at f/22, Scott Strazzante's The Season. Also Alison V. Smith's Superficial Snapshots and Todd Heisler's amazing page.

There's no comparison. These brothers and sister of the lens love photography as I do, but they seem to be in a place, an enlightened space, that I cannot seem to find, no matter how hard I try. Their pictures are them and they are their pictures. They seem to have the balance I am looking for and make it work with family and the photography.

In Chicago we had such a strong group of people who "talked photo" and shared their thoughts and ideas freely, making each other better, intellectualizing the discussions on the work and how it fit in the world at large. Here at The Sun we get it at times, but not in the same way. I really miss it.

Somehow, after riding so high all week about photography, it seems my wheels are stuck and the wings have heavy ice. Are my photographs any better? Have I grown? Can I still attain the next level?

In any case, I am having my role change at The Sun. For the next six months I will be part of the team working on the new pagination system that will encompass words, design, editing and photography. It is the foundation that brings them all together so the printed page can be made and shipped from Sun Park to the masses. Throughout this time I will continue to blog but in a more general sense and not so much about my work but that of others.

Also, I created a flickr Photo Edge group where Photo Edge readers can share their photographs and comments. Soon it will be linked with the blog itself. Look for some new and exciting features in the next week or two. Keep reading, send in your questions and let me know what you think.

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

The other day, video editor John Makely pointed out an interesting set of photos and videos at the Vanity Fair site. Offered are a variety of videos from the photo sessions. Often they focus more on the subjects, zooming in and out changing focus, but some interesting insights can be made, such as in the Padma Lakshmi video. In it, you can see photographer Alexi Lubomirski's session with the chef.

The key is a hot fresnel light (most often used for stage and film and found its way into photography) bounced out of a large corner reflector. A flash unit provides fill. The combinations provides a smooth, silky, even light that makes the subjects skin almost glow in the resulting photographs.

There are also videos with photographers Norman Jean Roy and Annie Leibovitz.

Posted by Christopher Assaf at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)