January Academy

“Let’s go,” said Jim Estrin when news came of a passenger plane crashing into the Hudson River during his news photography class this afternoon.

Four students piled into Estrin’s car and headed down to the river.  

“We’re in the right place, but we’re an hour late,” said Estrin, when they arrived on the pier close to the Circle Line and it became clear that the plane had drifted south.

Still, it was an excellent opportunity to learn spot news photojournalism from one of the best.

1. Get there as quickly as you can. 
2. Ready your camera on the way.
3. Get as close as you can.  Go into buildings to get closer or to get height, and use a telephoto lens.
4. Act like you’re supposed to be there.
5. Wear long underwear.

                       Jim Estrin, right, gives Rima Abdelkader tips             

                        Abdelkader, Estrin, and Igor Kossov                                     

                        Nick Loomis borrowed one of Estrin’s lenses for the shoot

Tomorrow’s session will include visits by several of Estrin’s colleagues at the Times.

“What kind of typewriter did Hemingway use?” Jim Estrin, photographer at the New York Times for the last 20 years, asked his news photography class by way of an introduction this morning.

Nobody knew.  

“That’s because it doesn’t matter,” said Estrin.

Although his three-day photography workshop opened with the technical basics of photography, Estrin said that the less you’re thinking about the camera, the better.

“I’d rather see a mediocre photograph that makes me feel something than a perfect photograph that makes me feel nothing,” he said.

All the technical decisions, all the composition, is ultimately leading up to the moment – the human moment. 

Handy tips & links for mastering the basics (click for photos that demonstrate the tip):

• Rule of Thirds: a method of composition.  Divide the frame mentally into thirds horizontally and vertically.  Place points of interest in the four intersections created by those thirds.
• Layering the foreground and background 
• Do not be afraid of shooting too much
• Move around, change lenses, tight, wide, medium wide
• Composition is ultimately the best way of seeing the subject.  Don’t forget that rules are made to be broken.

And, here’s the Equipment Room-produced video on how to use the Canon Rebels, the school SLR cameras.

Students spent the afternoon shooting and reviewing a portrait assignment.  

                                    photograph by Heather Chin

Photographer James Estrin and reporter Jane Gross of The New York Times were trying not to invoke the “old married couple” schtick.  After years of close collaboration, however, these journalists finish each other’s sentences and interrupt each other frequently, so the comparison is hard to avoid.

Gross and Estrin presented the following stories during the afternoon class:

At Life’s End: Oregon’s Suicide Option (05/31/04)

Alzheimer’s in the Living Room: How One Family Rallies to Cope (10/16/04)

Learning to Savor a Full Life, Love Life Included (04/20/06)

For the Families of the Dying, Coaching as the Hours Wane (05/20/06)

Safe From Persecution, Still Bearing Its Scars (08/05/07)

Gross and Estrin used the pieces they collaborated on to explain how to find the perfect subject and how to get them to participate.

“You’re not asking them to play a one-sided game of strip-poker,” Gross said.  ”You have to be willing to take off some clothes, too.”  Be personal – find similarities between you and the subject.  And open up.

Gross said that she does most of her interviewing by observation.  She tries to disappear into the woodwork as much as possible.

Finally, Gross distributed an example of the outlines she uses to organize her reporting and stories.

Tips:

• Have the entire story in your head from the very beginning.
• Anything in your notes that might appear in the story should be in the outline.

Process:

1. Read through your notes twice, without a pen in hand.
2. Go for a third read, this time with a pen to underline what might make the story.
3. Read through it again and highlight any consistent and/or significant themes.
4. Categorize your notes by themes; big quotes; what will be in nut graf; data/stats – facts, numbers, etc.; people – names, ages, and titles of sources; etc.
5. Figure out your story’s order.

Gross promised that if you use her outline method you will never be left staring at a blank computer screen.

By Rachel Geizhals and Kristen Joy Watts