Shovels and scissors

Posted by on Jun 13, 2011 | Comments Off

As a general rule we don’t photograph ground-breakings, grand openings, ribbon-cuttings and similar ceremonial events. There is usually little visual value to these events.

We try to get ahead of these events by doing stories and photos ahead of the ceremonies.

Here’s one example.

Glenn Costello measures the length of a trench that's being dug Tuesday, May 15 to make today's groundbreaking for the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Terrace Heights easier. The trench was dug and then refilled with soft dirt so it would be easier shovelling for the ceremony participants. Costello is a superintendent with KDA Construction, which will build the medical school. A 40-foot-long trench was dug to accommodate about 20 groundbreakersGlenn Costello measures the length of a trench that's being dug Tuesday, May 15 to make today's groundbreaking for the Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Terrace Heights easier. The trench was dug and then refilled with soft dirt so it would be easier shoveling for the ceremony participants. Costello is a superintendent with KDA Construction, which will build the medical school. A 40-foot-long trench was dug to accommodate about 20 groundbreakers.(GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Construction was about to begin for a new medical school in town. The school was a big deal and the first concrete (pun intended) sign of the school’s arrival needed to be recognized. So, rather than shooting the groundbreaking, I shot the groundbreaking preparation.

Not a particularly inspiring photo but at least it was a real photo of someone doing real work rather than people posing with golden shovels or big scissors.

Sometimes, however, covering the groundbreaking or ribbon-cutting ceremony is unavoidable because there’s nothing to shoot in advance or because of the importance of the participants in the ceremony. Then I try to shoot the ceremony in a different fashion. Perhaps from a different angle or using different composition. Or shooting before or after the actual ceremony (which always involves a number of VIPs or perceived VIPs lined up with their golden shovels and digging in the dirt. For some of these participants I think it’s the first manual labor they ever did).

Using composition to frame the event:

Ceremonial shovels are lined up, ready for a groundbreaking ceremony as Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire speaks to a crowd on Yakima Avenue Monday, June 18. Gregoire visited Yakima to take part in the groundbreaking which marked the start of redevelopment work along West Yakima Avenue. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

On this occasion I framed the governor of Washington with the handles of all the shovels to be used in the groundbreaking. Again, not a particularly noteworthy photo but it beats a line of people pretending to dig in the dirt.

An example of going early to a ceremony to make a photo.

City of Yakima engineer Robert Desgrosellier, left, and Yakima city spokesman Randy Beehler test the dirt in advance of a groundbreaking held June 17, 2010 for the construction of an underpass under railroad tracks on Lincoln Avenue in Yakima. The Lincoln Avenue project will take more than a year to complete and cost about $15.6 million. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Two golden-shovel related notes – the city of Yakima has a whole bunch of gold-painted shovels kept  in storage until they’re needed for another groundbreaking. And did you know there are websites devoted specifically to golden shovels and groundbreaking ceremony supplies?

Big scissors are another staple of the grand opening ceremony. They are the golden shovels of ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

Big scissors come in a variety of forms. There’s the wooden type.

Dr. Stan Flemming wields an oversized pair of wooden scissors as he prepares to cut a ribbon to dedicate Butler-Haney Hall at the new Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences and College of Osteopathic Medicine in Yakima, Wash. July 23, 2008. Flemming is the president of the university. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

And there’s the more realistic type which actually resemble scissors.

Toppenish Middle School eighth grader Randy Trujillo cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of the JA World Yakima learning center June 9, 2011. The facility, a fully interactive, simulated town, gives students the opportunity to function in adult career and community roles through Junior Achievement's financial literacy programs. Trujillo, who has already spent time the center, said in a speech to the crowd "JA World has taught me there are limits to my finances." (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

I always try to shoot so the ribbon cutter is facing the camera.

Apparently big scissors aren’t foolproof. A backup pair of real scissors may be needed to complete the ribbon-cutting task.

Ceremonial big scissors and real little scissors at the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony of JA World Yakima. (GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic)

Ground breakings and ribbon cuttings should be avoided whenever possible but sometimes it’s just not possible for reasons good and bad. So, I make the best of it and move on to the next assignment. Which hopefully won’t involve oversized scissors or gold-colored shovels.

 

–Gordon King