Okay, a lot less technologically advanced. The Holga is a plastic toy camera with minimal controls. The shutter is a simple wire spring and the film moves from one reel to the next and can’t be rewound without using a dark bag. Exposure and focus are mainly left up to guesswork. I’ve used it for one other story at the YHR, shooting dreamy images of the state fair in 2007, and explain what it brought to that process here.

For this shoot, I decided to shoot 35 mm film. Both because I’d never tried it before and because it’s easier to process. I could just take it to a photo lab. Because the Holga is designed to shoot 120mm film, I had to modify the film holders a bit, using the high-tech method of stuffing packing peanuts around the reel of film and jiggling it to make sure it will stay in place. I adjusted the 120 film reel with some rubber bands.

I did a little bit of research and found out that 1.5 rotations of the film winding knob will give plenty of space between exposures, and (after ruining a test roll), covered the red window on the back (used to wind 120 film) with a couple pieces of cardboard and lots of black tape. Then I just packed a dark bag and several rolls of film and set off to shoot.

One of the limitations of shooting with this was the limitations of exposure. 400 ISO film is great for daylight, but didn’t give me much indoors. I found myself wishing I had toted along my tripod to shoot the face of the reactor, which I could have “built up” an exposure by exposing the film over and over and over without winding the film or moving the camera. I also could have used a flash on some of the smaller spaces I shot inside and that would have helped the contrast of the image.

Lastly, I converted the digital files from the flatbed scan to black and white. I did this for two reasons — it seemed to fit the historic flavor I was trying to convey with the story and also the color bars on the bottom of the film, above and below the sprocket holes were too visually distracting. Converted to black and white, I felt they contributed to the image, but in color, they just dominated the image.

This was a fun way to tackle this story and a simple way to have some photographic fun. If you’re interested in giving it a try here are the resources I used:

I bought my Holga at Freestyle Photographic Supplies, the simplest version of the camera cost about $28.

You can buy film and get it developed at many local shops if you shoot regular color (not slide, not b&w) film.

I had the negatives scanned at ProPhoto supply. I just mailed them in a stiff cardboard mailer and paid over the phone. They scanned them and sent them back in about a week. Their price list is on their website.

There are also tons of Holga galleries out there and work on Flicker as well, so you can always find inspiration!

The Yakima Sunrise Rotary Club

I enjoy speaking to civic groups because it’s always nice to de-mystify the news business for the layperson. Equally important, it’s a chance for me to hear the ideas and opinions of “regular” folks on our photography, picture selection and photo content. It’s a good reminder how we, as professional photojournalists, sometimes lose touch with the visual needs and wants of our readers (i.e. our “customers”).

I had one particularly interesting exchange with a gentlemen representing a local youth golf instruction program. He disliked a photo I shot during one of the program’s instructional sessions.

Kira Alexander, 11, reclines on a golf bag as she waits her turn to hit golf balls at The First Tee golf program at Fisher Park in Yakima, Wash. July 6, 2009. The program teaches youngsters core values and life skills along with golf skills, says Del Rankin, the executive director of the Yakima chapter of The First Tee Program. This is the second year of the program in Yakima and this year there are 248 youngsters enrolled in the 10-week-long program, double the number of youngsters in last year's program. Two hundred are attending the weekly sessions at Yakima-area parks and golf courses with 48 attending sessions in Granger. This is the first year Alexander has played golf.

A little background on this photo. I had about an hour one morning to find a standalone photo for the front page of the next day’s local section. It was a lazy, warm sort of summer day here in Yakima and I was hoping to capture an image which reflected this (though, truth be told, I was ready to take just about any photo as my available time began to dwindle).

Coming upon a group of youngsters and several supervising adults giving golf instruction I got the photo opportunity I had been looking for and I shot the photo of the girl reclining in the sunshine. I thought it captured the weather and mood of the day.

However, the Rotarian who’s one of the program’s principals, thought the photo did the program a disservice and did not accurately portray the mentorship nature of the program.

I explained to him my motivation and visual needs that morning and that we had done a photo and story on his program the previous year.

Students in The First Tee program, left, from center, Joel Ford, 13, Andrew Devine-Wolff, 11, Taylor Newquist, 11, and Dayinera Weber James, 11, listen to instructor Del Rankin, far left, before hitting a basket of balls at Suntides Golf Course on Thursday, July 17, 2008.

Still, the Rotarian wasn’t satisfied with my explanations.

I respect his viewpoint though I don’t agree with it.

But with this conversation I was reminded how some readers and viewers don’t always agree with the photos we choose and don’t understand why we do what we do. And I’m not saying our visual decisions should be guided solely by what one reader says. However, we should at least  respect our readers’ and viewers’ opinions and remember for whom we’re working.

–Gordon King

Stock photography may satisfy the bean counters and photo managers with ever-tighter budgets but a cheap photo may ultimately cost the publication much more than the price of the photo.

“The quality of licensed imagery is virtually indistinguishable now from the quality of images they might commission,” said Jonathan Klein, the chief executive of Getty Images, a stock photo agency.

Sure, a stock image may be good (enough) but is it truthful? How will the reader or viewer know if a photo in a news publication was an image set up and orchestrated by the photographer or a real, unrehearsed photo captured at the right time by the photographer that reflects the situation?

Or does it even matter to the reader whether the photo is real or fake?

I believe it does matter. It matters a lot. I believe in the authenticity of news images. Photos should capture reality as much as possible to accurately inform the reader or viewer. I’m talking about photojournalism here, pictures which, or at least appear to, show a real event or person.

And while there’s no guarantee that commissioned photography is indeed accurate and truthful, I believe a photo editor working directly with the photojournalist is much more likely ferret out any false images.

So a stock photo may be cheap but it may end up costing a publication much more – that publication’s credibility. To me credibility is worth much more than any savings gained by purchasing a cheap stock image.

–Gordon King

So it’s easy to become discouraged as newspapers lose their position in American society.

I came across this video a couple of weeks ago. It offers a different way for us to approach our job as photojournalists.

Celebrate What’s Right With The World

Lazarus! – The Resurrected | MySpace Video
The video gets a little syrupy at times but don’t lose the message in that sweetness.

And if you’ve lost your job or you’ve just finished a five-assignment day and have an overbearing editor looking over  your shoulder this video is not going to make things right. But it does, at least, offer another perspective on how to approach  life and work differently and how, perhaps to make it better.

–Gordon King

Winter’s photos – and the images of other photographers and videographers – tell a  story of unimaginable tragedy and suffering. The videos I’ve seen provide a good overview of the tragedy, telling the story from a variety of angles. But it’s the still images which I find most compelling, especially Winter’s photos.  I’m able to linger over each photograph (something not easily done with video) absorbing the intimacy of each image.

There are times when moving pictures (video) can tell a story better than still images but in this case, individual, still images tell the story in a way that video can never accomplish.

–Gordon King

But we the H-R and the New York Times do have common ground when it comes to issues of photography, technology and the changing role of photojournalism.

Michelle McNally, an assistant managing editor and former Director of Photography at the Times, answered readers’ questions last week. It’s a fascinating read and I’d recommend that anyone interested in photojournalism read the Q and A article.

–Gordon King

I always have mixed emotions when covering tragic events. I love to make photos that convey the emotion of the situation to our readers and viewers, great story telling photos. At the same time, I don’t want to intrude on a person’s grief and make a bad situation worse with my presence. In these situations, I simply do my best to respect the subjects while making the best photos possible. This may mean standing as far away as possible while take photos.

Or it may mean taking only one or two frames to minimize camera noise rather than motoring off 10 or 20 frames.

Or, it may mean not taking any photos at all.

That respect extends to the photo editing process. I try to pick those photos which tell the best story while taking into account the feelings of the subject and what possible damage I could do to them by publishing a particular photo.

Regardless, I always feel badly for the subject and hope they will eventually learn to cope with the tragedy and its attendant sadness.

A couple of days ago reporter Melissa Sanchez was invited by the family of an apparent drowning victim to visit and talk. I met Melissa and the family on the bank of the Yakima River where the family and friends had gathered to conduct their own search for a young man who had disappeared in the river several days before when his raft capsized. Local search and rescue personnel hadn’t yet found Jesse MorÃ¥n Castro and the family was frustrated with the official search and so launched their own.

And they wanted to talk about their son and their frustrations. Though the conversation with Melissa was all in Spanish (and my Spanish is poor) the language didn’t matter. The sadness was in the mother’s voice and in the father’s eyes and quiet demeanor.

To get the family used to my presence I first made photos from a distance with a 70-200 mm lens.

Jose Manuel Moran and his wife Adela Moran Castro talk about their missing son.

I shot only a few frames and began to walk around the area looking for more opportunities.

A scene setter:

Family and friends gathered on the bank of the Yakima River near Parker on May 13, 2009 as they continued to search for Jesse Moran Castro, who has been missing since Sunday, May 10 when his raft capsized in the river.

A makeshift memorial to Jesse and a rafting companion who had drowned and whose body had been found had been set up on the trunk of a car and I figured that memorial could help tell their tragic story. I began to hang around the memorial, hoping for a photo. The wind blew out the candle so Mr. Moran re-lit the candle.

Jose Manuel Moran lights a candle to be placed in the makeshift memorial to his son Jesse Moran Castro, left, and Alberto Ramirez on May 13, 2009 near Parker. Ramirez drowned in the Yakima River May 10 when the raft in which he and Castro were riding capsized in the river. Castro remains missing and family members and friends continued to search the river for Castro. Two others in the raft survived.

No one seemed to mind my being there and making photos and I did my best to be quiet and respectful, taking only a few photos.

The mother and other relatives and friends began to gather around the memorial as other people arrived at the river side. Melissa and myself simply became a part of that gathering, standing quietly.  Soon, one of the survivors of the rafting accident came into the circle.

Ricardo De La Torre hugs Adela Moran on the bank of the Yakima River Wednesday, May 13, 2009 as the search continues for Moran's son Jesse Moran Castro. Castro disappeared in the river Sunday, May 10 when the raft in which was riding capsized. DelaTorre was also in the raft with Castro but made it to shore. A makeshift memorial to Castro and Alberto Ramirez, whose body was found Monday, has been set up on the river bank near Parker in an area which is serving as a staging area for family and friends who continue to search for Castro.

I shot just a few frames with a Canon 5D equipped with a 17-35 mm lens. I knew this was going to be the best photo so I left soon after, not wanting to wear out my welcome.  This was the photo that led A1 the next day. The rest were in a photo gallery on our Web site.

Before leaving I thanked the mother and father for their kindness towards us and wished them the best. Castro’s body has not yet been found. I still feel sorry for the family and hope they will somehow achieve closure in this tragedy.

There’s always one photo or moment or situation that stands out from all the rest in every project I complete. The most memorable part of this project was the day we went to the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla to photograph the kids visiting their father. The most memorable part of the day were the emotions of the youngsters and the father. It had been four years since they’d been able to hug each other and it showed. You’d have never guessed the dad was a three-strikes offender whose conviction for attempted murder landed him in the pen for life without parole.

Bobby Gatlin consoles his 13-year-old son Adrian during a Dec. 19, 2008 visit to Gatlin at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary where he is serving a life sentence. Though the Adrian and his younger brother Jordan have grown since he last saw them over three years ago, their character hasn't changed, says Gatlin. Adrian "has always been the real emotional one out of the entire family and I was glad that hasn't changed."

First, I’ve got to say I feel blessed the Herald-Republic still believes in the value of long-term projects. We don’t devote as much print space to projects as we used to and now much of the content of each project ends up on our Web site (www.yakimaherald.com) rather than in print. While we don’t have unlimited time to do projects the commitment by management is still there, an unusual move in today’s world of newspaper economics where photographers and reporters are being laid off every day.

I have a love-hate relationship with long-term projects. I love developing a relationship with a subject and being able to explore that person or subject in depth. It’s great to have the opportunity to present readers and viewers with a more in-depth, complete view of a subject instead of our usual quick-hit treatment of a subject. Long-term projects challenge me more, both in my photography and picture editing (and challenges are good).

Bobby Gatlin says goodbye to his sons Jordan Avila, left, and Adrian Gatlin at the end of a visit at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla on Dec. 19, 2008. Gatlin, who's serving a life sentence, says he was nervous about seeing his sons because it's "been over four years since I got to hold them."

I love starting them and I’m always glad when I’m done.

On the other hand, I hate it when months and months of hard work to create compelling images seem to disappear into oblivion with no reader or viewer comments. We usually get more reader comments on a single photo of a cute kid or a scenic or wildlife shot that on any project.

Still, we need to present our readers and viewers with those images and let them look into a subject’s life, much as I have been allowed to do when making the photographs.

As he leaves the visiting area of the Washington State Penitentiary, Adrian Gatlin tearfully looks back at his father Bobby Gatlin who is serving a life sentence at penitentiary. Adrian is comforted by mentor Brian Cox, who took Adrian and his younger brother Jordan to visit Bobby in December, 2008.

I’ve just finished up shooting another long-term project, one that I’ve been pursuing since early September, 2008. I’d share the subject with you but I don’t want to give any other media the story idea before the project is published in the Herald-Republic. I’ll share that project with you when it’s done.

–Gordon King