In the labor of light

I guess his pictures aren’t as bad as we say. In fact, it turns out he’s pretty talented.

Assistant photo editor to the Kentucky Kernel, photographer and friend, Elliott Hess, is putting out great work almost daily on his newly established blog. If you’re looking for a place to be inspired (or grossed out on his most recent post), this guy is always looking to outshoot you.

When he first said he wanted to shoot for National Geographic it seemed cute at best. His portfolio had pictures of his cousin and his dog. Now when he says he wants to be the next James Nachtwey, I fear he’ll single handedly put vii out of business.

I admire him more than he knows. I love his work, and him. He’s going to be one of my favorite photographers one day. I hope I continue to get chances to work with him beyond our opportunities here in Lexington.

So without any more delay, come see what all of the fuss is about. But don’t spend too long, he’s probably out practicing right now. You don’t want to get behind.

Elliott Hess Photography:Labor of light

A preface to the beginning and an end

Blogger note: You may be noticing a pattern of my college history and my “flux” through this year and photography in my past few blogs. I know, I know. You’re tired of it, and probably want my blog to go back to what it was before (which now that I think of it I can’t remember what that is). But follow me through this one and I’ll get you a fully established and exciting blog. But this is necessary first:

OK, go. I think I had this all wrong.

Pause.

Start: freshman year, college. I dove into the first place I found myself comfortable: Kernel. I found myself comfortable taking photos and thought I had something figured out. Wrong.

I wasn’t doing journalism. Randomly pointing my lens, I wasn’t a documentary photographer. I was more like a child with a disposable. Aimlessly shooting my eye, and our viewers, to pretty pictures. Much of my first year was spent learning photography. Photojournalism is deeper than pretty pictures.

Second semester, freshman year, college. I fell into being assistant photo editor along with another photographer. Looking back I can see I was in no way prepared for that job. I remember being nervous to edit photos in front of my peers. Who was I, a photographer for only a few months, to say what work of theirs would run, and what wasn’t enough?

After a semester, I had developed my skills at editing photos through the help of older Kernelites like Keith Smiley and Hilly Schiffer. And of course, Dave LaBelle was always around.

Pause.

Are you seeing what I am seeing? Not yet? OK, go again.

Up to speed: Second semester, end of freshman year, college. I apply to become the next year’s photo editor, and fell into the position. Terribly excited I remember getting the phone call and pulling over to the side of the road. It was a huge accomplishment for me.

Summer following freshman year, college. Academic intern at the Lexington Herald-Leader. I still was taking pictures that seemed pretty, but I was more likely to apply my Journalism 101 ethical code to my analysis of my situations. My lack of understanding of my responsibility at hand hurt me at the Herald-Leader. It came across as apathy. My stomach turns to think about how apathetic I probably was.

Fast forward: sophomore year, photo editor, college. I shot pictures. A lot. Then fell into doing the job I had been so excited to do. Be a picture editor. To edit. My sophomore year I tried to manage my team of college photographers as a professional staff. I think that probably got the best of me. Some of my friends recall how unhealthy and miserable I seemed by this time last year. Only sleeping 3-5 hours a night (every night) and working 45 hours a week, photo editor is a hard job, and still is for those who are in that position.

Second semester of sophomore year, college. The burden weighed in. It was too much. I couldn’t take it anymore, and just wanted to have my life back. I cracked. Which is easy to do if you’re not prepared for what comes at you. I was weak. But it’s OK, I still learned. I maintained a position as an editor, but was no longer running the show.

Through sophomore year I produced a few portfolio making stories. They will eventually get worked out of my portfolio as I shoot more.

But there lies the problem.

Through all of these editing positions I have felt more comfortable doing what I have mostly done since being at this school, which should be more clear to you now than before. I have been a photo editor through college, even before I should have been. So back to my question, “Am I a better photo editor than a photographer?” Yes. But I have made myself that way.

Scene change.

I’m out of the Kernel now. Moved to the Kentuckian. I thought they were two separate entities at first. I even presented it that way to our photo staff when I started here. All in all, that may have been the best way to start. To make it evident that they are not one in the same. They have different motives, paces and consequences.

But starting next semester we’ll all be working harder. Together.

Pause.

Curtain close. It’s the intermission.

He had a job to do

Blogger note: This was supposed to come to you with pictures. Elliott gave me a card with them once, and I got in a pinch and had to format over his card to use it. Then he hasn’t had time to send me anything, so I’ll just bite my lip and admit this could have been better. But this is Elliott’s take on the LSU game. I like his perspective, so I think it’s useful without the pictures. 

My name is Elliott. I take pictures that no one looks at or thinks are good.

I enjoy shooting football games but for the longest time I have not figured out the secret to shooting them or the best approach. This game I decided to concentrate on what was in front of me and that’s it. Not what was across the field or in front of Brad. I tried to stay in the same spot the majority of the game. Turns out it was the spot that presented me with the winning touch down photo.

This game I realized that Ed and Brad were there too and I didn’t need to get every single play of the game. I shot tight and I shot wide and if I didn’t get I knew Brad or Ed had the frame.

Overall this is my best game. Not because of my pictures, because I learned the most out of this game. (We split up a game plan and) I had a job to do and I was going to do it, come hell or high water.

Ed, Brad and I decided before the game that in case UK won the game what we were going to do. Ed had the coach, Brad had Andre’ Woodson and I had Wesley Woodyard. And that’s what I did. After the LSU’s failed touchdown attempt, I ran the field with the best of them. Starting on the opposite side of the field that I needed to be on, so I had to punch a few, screaming at the top of there lungs, fans and crying little kids in the face to get to where I needed to be and fast.

I knew where the moms sit and just assumed that Wesley would be there kissing his mom. I was right. I got there as he was walking up to hug his dad. Then to his mom. A big hug and a kiss. I knew I got the picture, but I looked at my camera anyway. A smile was quick to follow and I walked off back to the press room and took about 100 pictures on the way. One I really liked of a kid with his cell phone didn’t make the paper.

I guess what I learned most with this game is be patient and shoot what’s you happens in front of you. Yes follow the players down the field to a certain extent. David Stephenson called the Kernel today to tell me “good job” on the final catch and that our coverage of the game was better then their own. Hopefully that will be the case from now on.

ROAD TRIP to Washington DC!!!

I’ve been waiting for today since early September.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve probably been more excited about getting to drive for 8 hours straight than why I’m actually leaving. I guess I should explain the latter.

Some of you may remember the Kernel being awarded a Pacemaker for general excellence. We were in St. Louis the night the St. Louis Cardinals won the world series, then won what is the Pulitzer of college journalism for our entire staff. That meant we were one of the top four papers in the country.

This year, we have not been nominated to win a Pacemaker as a staff. But four of us are up for individual awards. Keith Smiley and myself are finalists for photography in two different categories. You can go to this site about the Pacemaker  to see what categories. Sean Rose is a finalist for reporter of the year. And Chris DeLotell and Sean are finalists for story of the year.

For the past two years this has been the most anticipated weekend of my semester, and by far the most enjoyable. Win or lose this weekend, I know I’m going to have fun with my friends plowing into Washington DC at full speed.

So, you know me. I’ll be posting pictures, updates, and a recap on Monday night. So, come back. Check out what’s going on.

If at first you succeed, do it again anyway

Blogger note: These photos are property of the Kentucky Kernel. Any reproduction is a violation of copyright. Please respect my work and the Kernel’s property. If you are interested in purchasing any photos from the Kernel contact Ed Matthews at itakepicturessometimes@gmail.com, or leave a comment with your request.

Kernel photo adviser, Jim Winn, uses a flag for foreground in a photo of a Pershing Rifleman at a memorial for September 11 yesterday.

Sometimes it’s hard to decide what is the best photo in a certain situation.

Even harder though, sometimes you can’t even see a picture that you haven’t seen before. It’s all typical, bland and dry. No matter what corner of the room you move to, they all look equally boring. Well, if standing in the corner doesn’t work, you probably should try hanging from the ceiling or laying in the floor.

Here is a perfect example of a flavorless photo. Yeah, it’s a bit above eye-level and that helps, but basically this isn’t any different than how you would see this if you just walked by. If you look closely, a good photo is being made in the background. Amidst all of those flags on his belly, like a snake in the grass, is Elliott. He’s not wallowing in American pride; his abstruse position is actually showing this in a way most people didn’t.

Three or four of us from the Kernel shot the September 11 memorial held in front of the Administration Building, and we ended up with close to 2,000 pictures of this day-long event. We didn’t have 2,000 pictures taken at eye level, just of a flag pole or member of the color guard. It was more like a step-by-step, from step one to 2,000. Each time we dumped our cards and edited the photos, we critiqued, commented and learned.

Photo by Elliott Hess/Kentucky Kernel
This is what Elliott got from laying in those flags. Would you have thought of it this way? This is a beautiful photo for how clean it is and I love all the red. It’s simple but I can spend time looking at it. Click here to see the slideshow.

You don’t have to have an office nearby to critique and learn quickly though. With a little digital world in your palm, just hit the review button and see how you’re doing. Check your exposures, see if you can squeeze a bit more depth-of-field without losing too much shutter speed to keep it sharp. Look and see if you have a flag pole running through someones head (even though I tried to fix this in my photos, almost all of my photos taken like Jim’s at the top came out horrible).

Jim, Ed, Elliott and I were talking the other day and Jim actually encouraged us to be looking at our screen, or “chimp” as most photogs call it. Many look down on it because it can cause you to miss something, but in a repetitive situation like this, you can learn on-site, which is why Jim was in such support of it. I agree with him. If I waited to get back and look at my photos all the time it may be too late to fix something.

 
Jim sneaked up on Elliott to grab a snapper. What kind of photographer would I be if I didn’t get the snapper of a snapper?

I feel like people often are too timid when it comes to something that deserves respect, such as this memorial. Of all the photos we took yesterday, I feel that we were respectful. Sometimes it helps me to be willing to do things like Elliott was doing when I think about the outcome. When a person sees his picture on the frontpage of the Kernel, it’s going to be admired, not looked down upon. There are times when these situations deserve respect and it definitely takes different and individual judgment for each situation, but just make sure you coldfeet don’t keep you from getting a good picture. As soon as you get your toes wet you’ll jump right in.

I love Britney McIntosh. This cute picture came only after the memorial was completely over and the ROTC was cleaning up the flags and taking the equipment down. Several of us were playing with light and slow shutters, attempting to show the flags blowing in the wind when I caught her spralled out. 

I stole this idea from Keith. I didn’t exactly do it justice but I’m OK with how it turned out.

I never really got the picture I wanted, but I feel I shot well. I did well enough to where we would have been OK on any other day. By any other day I mean a day when we didn’t have so many great photos.

I really want to commend Christina, Jeff, Elliott and Britney for shooting the event, because they all wanted to shoot it. If any other photogs shot it on their own terms, I applaud that. It takes more than assignments to produce good pictures. Sometimes you have to go out on your own. Then go out again. And again. And again. Don’t stop until you have to.