Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Twelve
And so, to the final day of my internship at The Herald and Times, and an update that will be remarkable for one reason - I'm not able to tell you what I did today, as I was assisting on a closed shoot. Sorry! So, instead, today's update will consist of what I did very early this morning - which is actually an acceptable thing to blog about, as it was technically day twelve by the time I was taking photos. At any rate, last night kicked off with me, knackered, on my way to do some nightclub photos at around 11.30pm. Unfortunately, the nature of a Thursday evening in summer basically means that myself and the reporter had very little in the way of options for clubs to drop in on. As a result, we had a pleasant chat for a while about various stuff, and I headed back to my car, with a view to heading home for the evening.
Of course, nothing is ever that simple in the mind of James Porteous. Remembering that someone in the office had sent my good friend and work experience colleague, Franck Martin, out on a late-night job, I dropped him a line, and arranged to meet up with him at somewhere I'd already been that week, sans camera ... The job was a photo opportunity with the Transport Minister at the new M74 Completion Project, just over the Kingston Bridge, which already had someone covering the photo side of things. Nevertheless, I hooked up a high-viz and a hard hat, before making like the budding news-gatherer I am, and diving in to the photo opportunities. I shot a couple of set-ups with the minister, and then some general shots of the massive crane as it got ready to haul big bridge sections into place over the M8. With everyone strapped up to the nines in Scotch-Brite jackets, I opted out of the traditional flash-blasting, and hauled up the ISO for some ambient light work. I was actually very happy with what I shot, and filed a few images to go with the article. That said, none of them made it in, but Franck did get a front page splash on yesterday's Evening Times, so I'm chuffed for him.
So, how has my two weeks been? Well, I'll be honest - at times, it wasn't brilliant. There's a lot of boring, crossword-filled waiting around when you're on work experience, I don't like being sent out on jobs when I would be better learning from someone doing them properly, and doing the same task several times in a few days is really not very much fun, especially when it's pretty much un-skilled. However, the place is full of really helpful, passionate photographers, and even just being able to sit and talk crap to them about photography was good fun. When I did go out to shadow people, I felt I learned a lot, and I also felt that I'm much more comfortable with setting up photographs than I was at the start of last week. I've been able to get involved in work that would otherwise be out of my reach, allowing me to So all in, I think it was definitely worth doing, I really enjoyed myself, and I'm glad I did two weeks instead of one.
The final tally for what happened with what I produced, is roughly as follows:
- Images published in both The Herald and Evening Times
- Over thirty-five images published in print
- Four full-page style sections featuring only my images
- Two videos live on the Evening Times website
- One reporter embarrassed in print, by taking a photo of her learning to air-guitar
I'd like to thank all the photographers at The Herald and Times, all the people on the picture desk, all the reporters who I ended up stomping the streets of Glasgow with, and also the people who featured in my photographs these past weeks. It's been a long, hard fortnight (stop laughing, it has!), but I think it has helped my photography, and regardless of whether I've seemed pessimistic at times, it's made me realise that it's something I could definitely enjoy doing for a living. Without a semblance of a doubt.
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Eleven
I feel like a bit of a fraud posting this at the moment, as my day at The Herald isn't actually over - I won't have to go back into the office, but I will have to go and take more photos for them later this evening. I've picked up a wee gig with them doing their feature on clubbing in Glasgow, which involves me heading out into the wilds of Thursday night's best dancing dens, and snapping whatever lies within. Not sure what to expect, but you never know until you go...
That was an aside really - today was mental busy compared to what's been going on. I arrived in at the office, and was turfed back out the door with a fellow work placement minion, and dispatched to Ibrox for a photocall. The best bit of this situation was that there was a staffer going out too, which meant I had someone to follow. Although not the most challenging job for the guy I was out with, it was interesting to see how you work with politicians - the event was a photocall with a Scottish Parliament Minister, who was asked to perform various tasks for the benefit of the waiting press - and what you need to do when presented with a horde of small children that are part of the story.
I was especially happy I wasn't taking photographs (other than for myself), as there was only time to do the setup shots, and nothing more interesting. I watched how the pros were dealing with the crowd, the Minister, and what they were trying to say with their photos, and then just did my own thing really, shooting candids of the set-up images. The most amusing bit was the mental little kids, who were running around like nutters in the pissing rain, so I took some candid stuff of their hopeful attempts to keep dry, before it really started horsing it down, and we legged it away to the car.
Back to the fort, and it wasn't long before I bounced out again with the same staffer, as we headed down to meet a couple of actors - a brother and sister pairing who both have a relation to the part of Hamlet. Due to the time restraints on this job, there was little chance for me to shoot anything, but it was probably one of the most useful shoots of the fortnight, with the photographer giving me a good idea of the different types of photo needed at one job, especially when a tabloid and a broadsheet share the same picture desk and often the same stories, even if they are told differently.
The broadsheet-style material was shot with a simple off-camera lighting setup, and posing the two actors in an interesting way, while the tabloid images were tighter, more straight-forward conventional images, taken outside in natural light - the differences produced two very distinct styles of photograph.
My final job of the day was one that I'd been told about the day before, which I was pretty interested in - shooting one of the work experience minions throwing down some famous air-guitar moves at the Classic Grand. We met up with the organiser of an upcoming competition that was being held at the venue, who then guided the reporter through the moves she had to learn, which I filmed for the paper's website. Once we'd captured the footage needed, I spent a while snapping what she'd learned, which I decided to light like a gig (thanks to a very co-operative lighting engineer). My favourite shot of the day came after that, when I decided we needed some shots of the tutor, upstairs in the main performance space - decided to try out a little off-camera flash, fired from the side to avoid lighting up the background, with the two big floodlights behind helping draw him out. It's an image I've had in my head for a band interview for a while, but have never had the chance to set it up.
So, a pretty good day - so far! I'll be heading out to the clubs soon, and then tomorrow I'm in early to assist a photographer who's shooting something that sounds interesting. Oh, and today, I had fourteen images used across The Herald and Evening Times, as well as a video on the Evening Times website. Not bad for a work experience minion - time to bring it on home!
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Ten
After my epic double-haul of vox popping with a reporter on Monday, I found myself out at Gartnavel with the same work experience minion again today (don't think I use the term minion negatively, I just think it fits very well with the role, and I'd happily describe myself as one). Following a taxi ride out along Great Western Road, we set to business - reporting on a recent decision that will see sales of alcohol in petrol stations banned. To go off on a bit of a tangent here - who the f**k comes up with this nonsense? Do the Government honestly think that people think "Damn, I was all up for drink driving, but I'm fresh out of hooch - tell you what, I'll nip down the garage, top up the tank, and while I'm at it, bang up the old blood-alcohol level a few notches", or are people now regarded to have the same level of self control as children in the pick 'n' mix section at the supermarket, whereby thirsty drivers are opting for a bottle of Merlot instead of a can of Red Bull? It is utterly, utterly pointless. The SNP's ideas on alcohol abuse go under the heading 'robust and radical' - I think 'ridiculous and redundant' would be a better description... much like the feckless idiots in the party itself.
Aside from this - the reporter spent time chatting away to the prey she'd captured in her steely talons of vox pop politeness, before I swooped in and chased them out off BP property to take their photograph on the pavement. Poetry in motion would be going a bit far, but we were pretty quick at getting what we needed. Before long, we'd got everything - including the obligatory GVs, which I'm beginning to see life as a series of - and headed off back to Herald Towers to file, and make base camp for the daily sandwich hunt.
Beyond my Boots Meal Deal - the bastards haven't got any drinks on 2-for-1 at the moment, so it wasn't the bargain I'd hoped for - and a half hearted attempt at a crossword, I was seconds away from being driven out to meet up with a photographer in the West End for a shop feature. Then, from nowhere, one of the bods from the picture desk appeared in the car park, and asked me to do something else: shooting the restaurant at The Arches. On arriving, I was confronted with the emptiest restaurant on the planet, and to be fair, you'd expect that, seeing as it was mid afternoon on a weekday, in the centre of town - not prime-time for dining. A quick call to the picture desk confirmed they still wanted shots, so I did some standard interior images of the place, a few movement-based photos with a very tolerant waiter, and then high-tailed it out of there.
So again, it was a day of learning from myself really. I have now specifically asked to be put out with the photographers more, as I'm getting a bit cheesed off at being left to my own devices on jobs, as I'm on this placement to learn, as I said, from people who know what they're doing. Two days left, and it's time for a final push at getting some good images, and some advice about how they could be better...
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Nine
During last week, I talked about the concept of a 'Death Knock' - when you go out to a recently bereaved family, and pick up collect photos of their loved one, and maybe get a picture of the rest of the family. It might come across as cold, callous, or whatever you like, but it's an important part of news photography. Every time you see an image of someone who has died, in a paper, magazine, or on TV that looks like it's an old school photo, off Facebook, or from someone's holidays, it's probably been a collect shot. Today, I ended up following a photographer to a family who hadn't suffered a bereavement, but did have a family member who had been seriously injured - as such, we picked up a couple of collect photographs, and the photographer took a shot of the family. It was all very cordial, but I can only imagine it's a hell of a lot harder when you're talking to people who are grief-stricken due to a relative dying ... not what you'd call a great part of the job. I didn't have my camera with me, and for once, I didn't really want to either.
Moving on from that, and in the miserable rainy weather that enveloped Glasgow, we swung by the big yellow crane that's across the Clyde, helping finish a motorway that was started years ago, but never followed through. Glasgow seems to have a weird fixation about this crane - don't get me wrong, it is bloody huge, but it's still just a crane. I was a bit pissed off by the rain, and the fact my camera was still in the office, so maybe that's what was bugging me, but I'm in no rush to go back and catch up with what I missed.
The final task of the day was a little more interesting. I was tasked to go out and shoot a breakdancer on Buchanan Street, and it was something that you could very easily spend a long time doing - people who are so good at showing off are great fun to take photos of. I did some candid stuff, and a couple of setups (which I was happy with), and plonked them back into the office before calling it a day.
I don't mind going out on these little jobs on my own, but I keep feeling like I want someone with experience to be there to show me how they would do it - I don't doubt that I can take good photos of these things with practice, but in my experience, the best way to practice is to do whatever you're trying to improve with people who are better than you. Getting a sound photographic arse-kicking from an experienced press photographer is what I want (sounds a bit sadist, reading that back), as it's what'll make me take better pictures in the long run.
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Eight
What happened to days six and seven, I hear you cry? Well, frankly, The Herald and Times aren't paying me enough (i.e. anything) to come in at the weekend, so my camera lay abandoned in my flat, whilst I spent Saturday at a spectacular barbeque, and Sunday recovering, watching the F1.
Onto working week two, and the phrase straight to business is certainly not what I'd use to describe this Monday morning. Two and a bit hours after rocking up to the office (I wish I could do cryptic crosswords, the quick ones don't last long enough), I did get out onto the mean streets of Glasgow for more vox pop fun with a fellow work placement minion, to knock together two days worth of style soundbites and accompanying photographs for the Evening Times. I've found myself becoming incredibly harsh - these were my third and fourth days' worth of vox pops respectively, and it was slim pickings under the summer skies. Last time, I was done in 20 minutes, so was hoping to double up to a swift 40 today for all 12 photos, but in the end, we were prowling the streets for fashionista prey for about 2 hours... if anything, it's taught me you really need to root around in the barrel when it comes to this type of thing.
Back to the office, photos filed again, and it was hometime, but not before one more job on the way there - anyone who knows me will appreciate the convenience of being able to shoot Uisge Beatha, and then file the images without going back to the paper... All in, a total dog of a day. I learnt absolutely nothing, other than the fact that if anyone says vox pop again to me I'll probably self harm my way out of it, but you take the rough with the smooth, tomorrow's a new day, and if I can think of another cliche, I'll be sure to tell you.
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Five
So, to the final day of my first week in the trenches of Glaswegian editorial photography, and straight back out of the office as soon as I walked in the door.
This weekend sees Glasgow's River Festival take place on the Clyde, with a large number of craft moored for the public to see, as well as more exciting things, such as jet skis, motorboat racing, and of course, pirates. That's right, fucking pirates. For the first job of the day, myself and a photographer nipped down to meet the scurvy sea dogs at their vessel, which was moored outside the BBC building on the South Side, and started looking at my old friend, the setup shot. I must admit, if I'm comparing jobs to the others I've been out on that necessitated a set-up photo, this was something of a target-rich environment.
When you've got several guys who are dressed in pirate garb, and with enough enthusiasm that they're not afraid to have a bit of a laugh and show off, the images that are available are really only limited by time, and your ability as a photographer. I felt quite confident about shooting different things on this job, and the photographers I was with (there was another gent their from an agency, who was extremely accomodating in helping me get the images I wanted, even though I was just work placement bod) were as interested in shooting lots of different stuff as I was. All in, I think it helped I had a positive frame of mind about the whole shoot - I didn't want to get in the way of the two guys who were doing the job, but I was happy that I was at least thinking about setting up some of the same shots that they were using.
Highlight of the whole shoot was getting to climb up the mast, and sit on the high deck for a shot that the staffer accompanying me had already had a go at. I did it a little differently (shot it with two pirates instead of one, and from a higher vantage point), but the photo worked really well. Of course, I still took some utter crap (one idea in particular really didn't work as well as I hoped), but I now at least feel I'm making a bit of progress with all this set-up malarkey.
After we'd finished up there, I headed back in to the office, before being sent out for another GV! I'm not a fan of these things anymore. Buildings are boring. They don't move, they don't dance, they don't play a guitar, and they don't make for interesting photos in my opinion. Still, you get on with it, and I shot a good few different angles. Picture desk seemed pleased enough with what I got, but realistically, Stow College is a blight on the landscape of Glasgow, and taking photographs of it just encourages its existence. Which is bad.
Final task of the day was a still-life bit, again, for some part of the paper that I don't really know - it had something to do with football. Anyway, I was given a pile of A3 paper to act as a backdrop (seriously), and shot an arrangement of props that were designed to help represent the story. I got fed up trying to use the paper to conceal the background, and luckily remembered that there was a huge roll of studio backdrop paper kicking around (the stuff I used for the fashion shoot the day before). Once that was found, it was a lot easier (infinite curve!), and with my little bodged-together lighting studio, featuring two chairs to hold the paper roll, a window as my light source, and a slighty grubby backdrop, I was good to go. Unfortunately, I don't really want to put up the image here, as I have no idea when and if it'll go in the paper. Don't want to piss people off now, do I? Oh, also, I got more vox pops in the Evening Times, and this time, I got credited.
So, week one done and dusted. So far I've got a good grounding in the bread and butter parts of being an editorial photographer, shooting images that spell out what the story is, either by using people or places, as well as other simple stuff, such as fashion cut-out content. I've done my best to get a handle on setting up shots, and feel I'm in a better position than I would have been previously, although I'm still very aware that this is going to be something that will come with practice. I think I just need to mellow out and have more confidence in the situations I find myself in, rather than crapping it when I realise I'm out shooting for a newspaper. I am only on work placement, after all.
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Four
Thursday saw me given my first job (other than a GV or vox pop) on my own.
I was tasked with shooting a young lad who's up for Best Junior at the British Hairdressing Business Awards, at a salon in Glasgow. Now, as I've mentioned through my time with the paper, I've been a bit nervy at this sort of thing, but I gave it a bash. In all honesty, I wasn't happy with what I shot - I got maybe two or three images that I was content with, but the concept of knocking together an image on the spot is still frustratingly out of my grasp. I like shooting things that are happening of their own accord, I'm also happy to set up a shot if it's something I know about, and understand. The staff photographers know how to make their images tell a story in these strange, fabricated situations. I don't, and not being able to do this is really, really fucking me off. But I guess that's a good thing, as I'm determined to get a grasp of it, by the balls preferably.
After my morning of vague frustration, I was punted out onto another GV - this time to shoot an old Tesco store on Argyle Street that's about to become Scotland's biggest TK Maxx. Difference with this one from my GV on my first day was that the shop itself was totally empty, gutted, and didn't even have the sign outside anymore. So, I shot the arse off the place, did what I'd been advised after my previous job and put a lot more emphasis on where the shop is in relation to the area around. It wasn't the most glamorous job, but I think I might be pretty handy on the old GV front now. Weirdly, at the uni paper, we strived never to use images of buildings where possible, but in the real world of the newspaper industry, it seems to be very common. Who knew...
Final job of the day was slightly different, as I had to help out on some product cut-out shots for the fashion pages of one of the papers (frequently, I don't really know who I'm taking these photos for, as the whole Herald/Sunday Herald/Evening Times thing is so joined up these days). This was fairly straight forward, and the natural light in the building was enough that all I needed to do was shoot various bits and bobs on a flat white background, so the magic lasso tool can be broken out to get the job done afterwards. This bottle was a little bit of a bastard, but it was alright in the end after I propped it up and used the paper to make a wee infiniti curve.
I am enjoying this week. I didn't know whether I would or not, but I'm finding it very useful to be able to follow around the pros, and see how they get the job done on such a varying range of subject matter. Hopefully my enthusiasm will continue until next Friday...
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Three
After my sheer joy at not having to go to Paisley on Day 2, the inevitable happened as soon as I arrived on Day 3... we had to go and shoot GV images around Paisley - Paris of the North, it aint. As I left the office, I spotted the photographer who I'd been with the previous day, when we rejoiced at not having to go out along the M8 in the pissing rain. He looked happy that he wasn't the one going out with me, and I didn't really blame him.
The gist of the piece was that all is not well in the town of Paisley, and our task was to illustrate that it's becoming a bit run down and past it. This meant that the order of the day was the abundance of "To Let" signs that were strapped to various shopfronts along the main street in the town. I can't say I particularly enjoyed the job - it was quite depressing to be actively trying to show a place going down the shitter, and the fact that the people in one shop were packing up the remaining clutter from their failed business made it a bit unpleasant. You do tend to have some detatchment when you read about another town's financial outlook drooping, but when you see the people that are actually being affected by it, there is much more of a sense of sorrow.
Away from the mean streets of Paisley, and it was time for yet more of the inevitable vox pops. After having my by-line snatched from me in the first series of images, I was determined to make good with my series of six shots. Vox pops are not what you'd call challenging, and you especially realise this when you're paired with another work placement student, and told to just do it on your own. We nailed down our city street style-fodder in around twenty minutes, and booted it back to the confines of the offices to ditch the images onto the picture desk. I could do vox pop images using nothing but my wit to control the camera now. Maybe.
The final task of the day was to shadow one of the staff photographers out to a shoot in the city centre. Handy really, as the shoot was based for the most part on getting the Bull image for the article (basically, the one kick-ass shot that the picture desk will go for), and with a bit of work on lighting and setup, the staffer got it bang on. If nothing else, it was a lesson in the fact that you can create a good photograph out of very little, but I didn't get a chance to shoot much more than the exterior shots of the business. I think this job really showed that I still have a lot to learn about setups... I wouldn't have had a clue how to make an interesting photograph in this place.
Apologies for the strange delay that's kicked in, but it's been a hectic couple of days and I'm just not up to speed on my blogging. I'll do my best to make sure that next week's efforts are much more up to scratch, but at least my tardiness will mean you have something to read over the weekend. Every cloud, and all that...
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day Two
So, back in the ring for another day at The Herald / Evening Times offices. Today was a somewhat quieter day... I arrived at ten again, but didn't do anything until about 1pm, which wasn't fantastic. I think it's just the luck of the draw really, and will be like that for the upcoming week and a bit. The only job in the morning was a death knock (where a writer and photographer rock up to the family home of a recently deceased person, and ask if their relatives fancy a chat, and to have a photo taken of them), but that's obviously quite sensitive, and not something a work experience tag-along fits well with.
After a spectacular Boots meal deal (£2.99 for a big sandwich, crisps, and two bottles of lucozade - bargain!), I tagged along with one of the staffers who was going to shoot photos for a story at an animal shelter. Essentially, the Cardonald SSPCA shelter has got loads of cats in at the moment - a situation that reminds me of that Match.com advert that's on telly right now - and he needed to get some images of the aforementioned felines. On arrival, we weren't allowed in the cattery, which is certainly a barrier when you need photos of cats, but after a bit of chatter, that was reversed, and we were in business.
I've grown up around cats, as my dad's a vet, and as I had a pet mog as a child, so I was quite happy to shoot away with some of the wee beasts on my own, while the photographer with me went off to do some setups with a staff member, which I helped with a little (jangling keys to get a cat to pay attention, for instance). My cat stuff was much more candid (how pretentious does that sound...), as I was just snapping away by myself, but I got a few I was quite happy with. Following on from yesterday, it was interesting to see how the staff photographer was shooting his set-up shots, which did a good job of illustrating the story - although in this case, I felt that the animals in their cages were also pretty engaging subject matter.
Shoot over, we headed back to the office, after abandoning a vox pop shoot on the way to Paisley (rain stopped play, thank god. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be less in the pissing rain). On opening my laptop, I was greeted with the sight of just how fucked my laptop is, as the crack in the display has crept right into the middle of the screen, rendering it about 1/3 useless in the bottom right. Time for a replacement, or perhaps a new screen, if I can find one at a decent price. We'll see if any of my National Champs DH pics make the cut before that decision is made...
So, tomorrow might be a manic day, or another mellow session of crossword based lucozade consumption in the office. Who knows. Oh, one more thing - my six vox pops from yesterday made the Evening Times, but they managed to credit the wrong photographer. I think that's a semi-result at least...
Fourteen days at the coalface – Day One
As I've alluded to on my Flickr pages, a month and a bit ago, I won Best Photographer at the Herald Student Press Awards, netting me a week's work experience as a photographer, and a shiny new Renault Modus (one of those prizes may not actually be true). That one week has since grown into two, and I started today.
For the last few weeks, I've been dossing around, doing photo jobs here and there, but this weekend has been a full-blown photographic arse kicking... just what you need, when you have to start trying to convince your body that 1pm is not an acceptable time to be getting out of bed, and that 9am is going to be the new deal. Negotiations were tough, especially after a couple of days that were particularly miserly on the pillow-time quotient, but I was on time. Hell, I was five minutes early!
No sooner had I swiped "Guest Pass Number 2" over the automated entry to the building, than I was back outside, and in a taxi, bound for a bar in the West End of Glasgow, to get a GV for the Evening Times. At this point, I should comment that if I learn any lingo over the next 14 days, it will go in this blog - GV means General View, and is just a bog standard term for photos of places, as far as I can tell... 3 minutes with a taxi waiting on me, and I was off back to the office to file my images.
Back in the photographers' room, and after a quick edit, it was time to hit the mean streets of Glasgow with a work experience reporter, and a seasoned photographer to make sure I didn't make a hash job of what was to follow. Hunting down the most stylish individuals that Buchanan Street had to offer - slim pickings on a bank holiday morning - I was tasked with shooting the suave individuals in their ensembles, ready for their place in an article where they all had to name their style icons. Simple, full-length body shots, although I wasn't exceptionally happy with images of the first girl I shot... the others were much better.
After that, the job sheet took myself and the experienced photographer across the Clyde, into Govan, where we needed to pick up some Collects (images that papers use that are provided by subjects of stories etc. An example would be when someone dies, and the same photo is used by all of the press. Although obviously they didn't give the papers that image. Because they're dead), and do some shots of the girl in the article. All very quick, all very simple. Other than arriving half an hour to early - allowing some time to wander around the Science Centre and take some photos of Clydeside - everything was fine.
Last job of the day was spent with another photographer, visiting the Southside, and doing some setup shots for use in an article about businesses in the area. This was a little trickier, and is an area of photography that I've never been too confident in - I've never really had to do much in the way of setup shots for news stories, and much prefer to shoot natural images. Anyway, I watched, learned, and acted as a light stand for the photographer I was with, and tried out some images myself. I think my experience of using external flash through mountain bike photography may come in useful, but in a totally different manner (portraiture etc.), as the photographer I was shadowing was using it to great effect.
All in, it was a busy day to start my fortnight with, so it bodes well for what's coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm aiming to get much more comfortable with this setting-up malarkey, as I it's a big chink in my armour at the moment... nothing that several days of watching the pros doing it won't fix though. One other thing: unless I say otherwise, the images on these pages will be entirely un-edited, aside from cropping/rotating, as I'm trying to see how much I can achieve in-camera, rather than using Capture NX as a crutch.