Stillies - Photojournalism

It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by. During 2006 I finished my photojournalism studies at San Jose State University, completed two PJ internships (one for the school, one at The Santa Cruz Sentinel), begun a new job as a photojournalist for The Pinnacle, became House Photographer for JJ's Blues (literally a year ago to the day was my first night working there) and also photographed many weddings, engagements, and other events.

Here are The Stillies, moments that made me stand metaphorically still after the fact, from things I've photographed for newspapers this year.

Favorite Use of Angle to Convey Movement, from the Wharf to Wharf Race:

Favorite Enviornmental Portrait, Keith Barefoot, Fire Dancer at a party:

Favorite Photo Showing Action, author mule packer James Brumfield:

Favorite Personality Coming Alive in a Photo (tie)

Dorothy Oster, 83, who dives every day

and Mitch Johnson opens up his newstand business


Soon I will be posting the Stillies for my wedding work this year.

The Pinnacle's Year in Photos 2006

The Pinnacle published this week many photos that summarized the year in review, nine in our hard copy and 15 online (many of them from the same pool as the hard copy) chosen by our city editor and publisher.

Two of the photos chosen were mine, which is cool as I've only been there for five months. (The first month I started there I was finishing an internship at The Santa Cruz Sentinel, a daily, simultaneously and worked six to seven days a week).

The cow really was this color in real life:


Heather Perreira, 10, exhibited her red calf, Mini-Pearl, for the first time at the San Benito County Fair in September.

This photo if it hadn't run would be in our Year in Sports Photos 2006 which will run next week. It is one of my favorite photos that I've taken for any newspaper:


The Balers boys water polo team tossed head coach Tom Agan into the pool to celebrate their first-ever playoff with against Lynbrook High School.

The rest of the photos and story can be found here.

Engagement Shoots: Location, Location, Location

I encourage all of my couples to do engagement shoots and they are in all of my standard packages. They give a couple the chance to see how I work before the wedding, and they get a little more used to having a camera on them. For many couples the engagement session is a kind of a warm-up of what it will be like, as most people have not had been the focus of attention all day as they will be on their wedding day.

Often I get a great question from my brides whose engagement session who want to know if I had any favorite spots for her session. I know many picturesque places and have told them so, but then I gave her my advice to all couples.

Whenever possible, I like my bride and groom to pick out their location. Sometimes they know great places I have never been. I encourage them to pick out a place that means something to them: where they met, where the proposal happened, a place they go as a couple that has special memories. When you look back at these photos, and some couples also choose one or more for their wedding album, the memories you had of the place before and the new ones of the engagement day shoot will go through your head. Past couples have greatly enjoyed the results.

Jill and Aaron moved to California from Texas, so they wanted their shots to have California imagery in them to share with the folks back home. We went to the Golden Gate Bridge and The Palace of Fine Arts, both in San Francisco.


Chauntel and Gerardo were both often brought to Pescadero Creek Park as children. It's quite possible that they passed each other there years before meeting. As adults they continued to go there together.


Many couples are able to envision such special places and I can see (or hear in the case of phone consults) them light up with the memories coming into their mind.

Photos of the Week (Ending 12/29/06)

We had a lot of interesting photos in The Pinnacle this week including a special year in photos section which I'll blog about in another entry.

This week like last week I had two favorites. The first one involved the trip to Leal Vineyard's tasting room in Westfield Valley Fair Mall. I like this shot because the men tasting the wine look very serious and involved in their tasting (I found out after photographing them that it was their first wine tasting ever). Also, it really shows that it's in a mall with the doors leading your eyes in to the tasters and out to the passersby.


My other favorite is of one of our paper's carriers. For an assignment on who is delivering our paper I had to find carriers and with no set route I had to drive around for quite a while hoping to find carriers. Quite a few times I'd spot carriers, but for the wrong paper. Even though I knew where the paper hit, when I first saw this I found myself looking at the paper mid-air trying to trace whether it would hit the porch behind the plants (it did). In our paper the photo was run quite large, so the man's facial features and age really stand out.

This is why I love my job

When I first started at The Pinnacle my boss told me one of the reasons he took the job of Publisher was to make a difference to the community, and to be able to do something to make it a better place. He, and all the reporters have told me they have received thanks in person and on the phone for their work.

It's starting to happen to me, also, as people have thanked me for the stories I've written, and the photos. People have thanked me for helping the public know their issue or business existed, or for highlighting something specific about them for the public.

One widow's husband died a few days before the issue in which photos I'd taken of him (in a story of him wrapping up his barbership practice after decades of service) came to print. She told me she placed a copy in his casket.

Today the two instructors I interviewed at Techniques Studio (which teaches life skills in addition to martial arts) came in in person to thank me for the story. To quote Daniel Recht, the director, "We really enjoyed the story and it seemed too impersonal to just thank you over the phone."

It really made my day and I had a fun time writing and photographing the story also.

By grappling blindfolded the students learn to trust their other senses:



The students learning about self confidence through storytime and role playing:

Before learning to throw the students practice controlled lifts:


You can read the whole story here.

Leal Vineyards and Me

One of the things that I love most about my job as a photojournalist is that I never know what is going to happen or be assigned to me next. With this being a short week (Monday is usually one of my busiest shooting days, but being Christmas we all had it off), I thought I was wrapping up the week's photos when I received a new assignment from the City Editor to go to Valley Fair and photograph the new temporary location of Leal Vineyard's wine tasting. Leal Vineyards is one of the many local wineries I've found out about through my job.

I'd actually photographed at the vineyards before for a story on the winery being the only local one to place at this year's county fair:



The location was great, it was fun seeing people look in and gravitate towards the wine tasting. I photographed 3 pairs of people from all different angles. I had fun trying to find ways to show that it was, indeed, at a busy mall.

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris and Owie who work at the vineyard. After shooting I was able to chat briefly with Owie (who helps coordinates weddings for Leal) about my wedding photography and show him Molly and Jeremy's album. We have a tenative date for me to come in and discuss becoming part of the preferred vendor's list at the winery as I work locally for the paper.

New Counter, and Plans

Sean Mackin, above, from Yellowcard , is amazing. Not only is he a classically trained violinist (he plays electric violin on stage) in a rock band, but he does literal back flips while performing. (None during the first three songs though, and that's all I got to shoot with my media pass last year.)

At JJ's Blues I can shoot the whole first set and at the beginning when I started working there, I did. Now I can shoot all the pictures I need in three songs, media pass at a concert style, some bands I can do in two depending on how many people are in the band (Johnnie likes several good, different individual ones as well as group ones), how fast their songs are, and how expressive they are. Most bands that come even have solos in the second or third song, which makes getting them at their most expressive that much easier.

The energy shooting at a concert (not to mention the adrenaline from knowing I have only three songs in which to shoot) is amazing, also. I felt something akin to that yesterday after Zach and I finally got my counters on my page to work. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see country and city counters. They're counting, at least most of you, and since the city and country titles differ, perhaps some of you more than once.

Since it started working it's counted many people from CA, someone from Atlanta, someone from Richmond, and even Norway, wow and welcome. By the way the counter sees some people so far just as generic United States (I know for certain at least one in Florida is being shown that way) and some at the wrong city. A friend listed as Walworth, NY is indeed in NY, but has never heard of Walworth and I tried logging in at work to see if it would display Hollister and got counted as Morgan Hill, which is a good half hour or so away by car),

After I volunteered for part of Thanksgiving at City Team ministries, (there are several locations including one in San Jose) Colleen had said she'd like to try it sometime. We decided to make sometime yesterday and helped out with dinner:

Colleen had fun and even suggested we try doing it more often. I'd already decided to try and give more this year, things like helping out really make me realize how much I have compared to others, but I had been thinking money not time. It does make sense though, even with wedddings and events we could both help out maybe once a month or so. It's definitely something to work on.

My hair was tied back in that one (so as not to get in the food), here's one closer to the current length:

Danielle's 2006 Holiday Card

This is the holiday card I sent out this year (I'm still undecided on if I will try dogs again for other holidays throughout this year):


Colleen, who has been a great friend as well as assisting me with some shoots was the first person I gave the card to in person instead of mailing it:


Colleen's roommate, Rebecca's, dog, Merlot, was also one I shot for the card. This was inspired by how Merlot hears the car coming of someone she knows and peeks out over the fence. She also puts her head and paws on the fence to watch people going by while waiting for someone to come home.

Merlot is an active dog, and wasn't too keen on the ornament (or having it face outwards):

Hoping everyone is having a great holiday season,

Danielle

The Dog of Christmas Past

Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating today and Happy Holidays to all. Last year I photographed Riley, owned by my friend, Brad, for Christmas. I put her in an elf hat, a Santa hat and even ribbons.

Even though the ribbons were blue and gold, the colors of both of our alma maters (though my friend attended a different college than I), he thought she looked better without. In fact he was impressed that I was able to get her to stand still for ribbons. Actually the ribbons she seemed to like, the elf hat was the harder sell.

Brad did like the ones of her in a Santa hat, he used this image for his 2005 Christmas card:


This year my schedule didn't match up with Brad and Riley's, but I am hoping to photograph Riley again next year, maybe even with Brad in them. I did promise Brad no more ribbons on Riley, but maybe I can get Brad to join and wear a hat.

Dogs of Christmas (Out Takes)

I had a huge list of holiday cards to send out this year, and since the majority of them were going to professional photographer colleagues I thought I'd be remiss if I didn't shoot something myself for it. (Out of the many beautiful cards I've received the majority of the photographers did shoot one or more things themselves for it).

At first I tried to line up 12 dogs, as I was going to do the 12 Dogs of Christmas. These were going to be 12 different breeds each with a different oranment or Christmasy things. After one of the more challenging sessions a friend asked if I had been trying to get the dogs to act out the 12 Days of Christmas song. That sounded like a cute idea, for about a second, as it was I'm glad my friend didn't suggest that to me first, or else I might have tried with the first few dogs.

I learned that dogs do not often like posing with such items. Many of the dogs, in fact, do not like sitting/standing still at all. I can relate.

As the holiday season grew closer I realized I would be sending out quite a few cards also to people celebrating a holiday other than Christmas. Also I decided to put out postcards instead of the double sided cards I'd origninally envisioned. The total list was over 300 for me this year, I'm so glad I chose not to seal and stuff that many. So I no longer needed as many subjects (nor could I fit them all in one card.)

Tomorrow I will post the final card. In the meantime, here are three additional dogs I photographed. Thanks to everyone who let me into their homes and most of all to the dogs for being great models though they will never know why I was approaching them with strange objects and having them pose with them.




As an aside, each dog was given a safe, non-themed toy afterwards for being a good sport.

Multimedia, a new way to shoot weddings (Zach)

Times are changing, and with the advent of new multimedia tools it's becoming easier and easier to make publishable material. For instance, the program Sound Slides is becoming the staple for the foundation of all multimedia presentations. There are Flash Skins/templates which use other more advanced programs to make it look more professional and sophisticated.

Soon all wedding photographers will offer the service of multimedia to their clients because it is becoming more and more readily available to the general public. Once there is a demand for it, the trend will follow suit.

Only downside of this is when someone is recording their audio, no one may take pictures because it makes a terrible noise on the audio which will ruin any good moment. This may be the only deterrent to wedding photographers in the future.

Multimedia offers a complete package of what happened, utilizing sound to engage the viewer to a more in depth look.

Keep your eye out for the for the next generation shooters!

Wall of Flame up at JJ's Blues

This New Year's Eve will be my one year anniversary as the club photographer for JJ's Blues in San Jose, CA. I photograph the main acts there on Fridays and Saturdays, often after having spent the day and part of the evening photographing a wedding or other special event.

I've heard some wonderful music, and photographed musicians including Chris Cain, Tommy Castro, John Lee Hooker, Jr., Sugar Pie Desanto, Jason Ricci and many other artists of great talent.

One of the musicans, Alvin Draper, a blues legend who had been playing there every Sunday, was recently hospitalized with blood clots. Though he has been moved from ICU, a very good sign, he still has a long way to go in his recovery.

Alvin has been a great friend to the club and I (always giving out hugs, and asking people how they are and geniunely caring about them), and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Alvin is a huge fan of black and white, so I'll convert this one for him:

Alvin playing at the club with legendary "proove-it-was-really-at-JJ's" exit sign behind him.

This has been an exciting month for me as the back room has been finished. (I keep trying to get people to call it the Blueseum, but so far that isn't catching on.) If you follow the length of the bar all the way down to the left is a little room with a few tables, a large screen showing the action onstage, and walls filled with photos I shot at the club.

The room has lots of red lights up (and now strings of blue Christmas lights), so the photos (which also have lots of red in them as the club uses a lot of red stage lights) look almost black and white. The musicians have nicknamed it the Wall of Flame.




The musicians who come in are used to signing promotional posters for us. Some of them started spontaneously signing their photos also, and now club owner Johnnie Perkins encourages them all to sign.

Last nights musicians Gary G. and Sammy Varela signing:

Tres Pinos Inn - Food Photography

I've been working with The Tres Pinos Inn (it's located in Tres Pinos, CA, but Google Maps puts it in nearby Hollister) to help them put together some 2007 promotional materials for the restaurant and their outside catering business.

The food is both delicious and a feast for the eyes. On Friday the catering service assembled multiple elaborate food displays for a private Christmas party in Hollister. Here are some of my favorite photos from the event:

If you click on this one, you'll notice the fish is sticking his tongue out at you:

Finally, some of the most tempting desserts I've seen in a while, these are hand-dipped:

Congratulations to Mike Howard and his staff for creating a beautiful almost too good to eat buffet.

Photos of the Week (Ending 12/22/06)

Every week I will pick my favorite photo or two from those I've shot for the week's paper. The first one was taken during the basketball game between Anzar High School and Overfelt High School, the former being one of our paper's local teams (though, ironically, Overfelt is in the town in which I live).

This shot captures basketball phenom Scott Benson catching one of his rebounds to score again (and a few seconds later, again). He averages @ 28 points a game, which is amazing for a high school player as the scores at that level are generally not over 65 total.


The second photo has a cute story behind it. Our paper was doing a story on John Z. Hernandez Park, one with worn out equipment and that few parents let their children go to play. I was told to bring back a photo of a child playing on the playground, not an easy task when one is as underused as this one.

It took three days of going there at all hours, finally I found a woman, Rebeca, and her child, Sophia, 5, walking by the park. She spoke only Spanish, and I speak some Spanish from years of it in high school in college. When I asked her in Spanish if she let her child play there her daughter screamed, "I'm going to play now!" and went over to the equipment and down the slide. It turns out her daughter plays there twice a week, usually (and unsurprisingly) alone. This portrait of her as she got to the bottom of the slide makes her look sweet and tough all at once.

The Understudy Photos and Story

San Benito High School put on "The Understudy" a play about a murder and a play within a play. It's great for high school students because there are so many parts, and it encourages them to have fun with overacting. Some of my favorite pre-show shots:



Here's the story I wrote about it for The Pinnacle:

Drama students take on "The Understudy"

It's rare in a murder mystery that the culprit is known from the start of a story. But that is just the premise in "The Understudy," which opened at San Benito High School Nov. 30.

In the play, an actress with high hopes of stardom has a knack for landing the understudy role. She decides to take casting into her own hands by doing away with the lead actress. She soon discovers not all is what it seems in the playhouse.

San Benito High School's drama department will be performing the play for a three day run, led by drama teacher Christina Plank.

The students chose the play after Greg Smith campaigned for it. The school has not put on a play similar to "The Understudy" in more than 15 years. Smith received the role of Howard Weaver in the play.

The play is a comedy that pokes fun at classic mystery writers, including Alfred Hitchcock and Agatha Christie. It is unusual in that the audience learns at the beginning who the murderer is, and then follows the play to learn how the identity of that person is discovered.

Eddie McPherson, an Atlanta, Ga. resident, wrote the play. He has been involved with teaching and advising drama students for more than 20 years. McPherson has written and published 34 plays over the years.

Hiring a Photojournalist for Your Wedding

I was on a wedding board recently where a bride posted a great question. I decided to answer it here, also.

Tanya inquired what would happen if a bride chose a newspaper photojournalist to photograph their wedding instead of someone who shot weddings exclusively.

My response:

Dear Tanya,

Thank you for an insightful question. Many photojournalists have entered the wedding field, shooting weddings full-or part-time, or making the transition from a photojournalist to a wedding photojournalist. The timing, people skills, and composition techniques can be similar in many ways. I am a photojournalist at The Pinnacle, in Hollister, and I also photograph weddings.

While every photographer is different, a photojournalist would not move people or objects or pose them for a news shot (though if a shot was for a feature story and/or portrait this might be done, with the knowledge and possible advance direction of his or her editor). A wedding photojournalist would take portraits "formals", or move objects if the job required.

Additionally, as a news photographer, unflattering photos may be taken purposefully to tell the whole story. An example would be at a sports event where injuries are not uncommon. I recently shot our local volleyball team's loss at the semi-finals. This was due to a key player twisting her ankle.

As it was a news event, I photographed her on the ground while help arrived (she was lead off the court with help and did not return to the game) and the girls' crying at their loss. Though I shot the whole game, my paper printed only these two photos:

While sporting events are more likely to have injuries than weddings, someone hurting themselves (i.e. while dancing) is not an unheard of event for a wedding. In the former case, it is my job, as it is every photojournalist to keep shooting, in the latter, I, and many of my colleagues, would not shoot that particular moment.

Danielle Stolman

The Stillies

With 2006 coming to an end, I will be posting soon the first ever Stillies - moments that, while taken with the participants in motion, really make me stay still (temporarily ;) ) and reflect on all the emotion and beauty of as I saw it.

As a sneak peek, the first Stillie will go to a moment I captured as a photojournalist, Amanda Dobbs skating at the HP Ice Arena. Amanda has been skating since she was 2 1/2 and skates for hours each day. Off the ice she often rehearses entire skating events in her head to be prepared mentally as well.

These photo win the Stillie for Most Athletic Moments of 2006





Her mom also wrote a letter to the editor of my paper, below, which we published:

Enjoyed daughter's coverage

I wanted to thank everyone at the Pinnacle for the really nice story that you all put together on our daughter, Amanda. We have received numerous calls from friends and others that live in the area with people's excitement about the story that you did.

Danielle was wonderful to work with and did a great job interacting with Amanda and her coach and people were very impressed with the photos. The coverage was exciting for all of the people at the rink and the other places where Amanda trains to see - many very impressed that a figure skater got that much press - as that doesn't always happen at the "up and coming" level of skating … so when it does it is much appreciated!

Anyway, we just wanted to send our thanks to the paper and to John, for his continued work in bringing Amanda's story to people's attention - it makes her feel really good and has given her some nice home-town support as she heads off for the last of her qualifying competitions on Monday in Seattle. Thanks so much for being willing to cover her.


Laura Dobbs
Hollister

Great Wedding Network (New Advertising)

I'm pleased to announce that Not So Still Life Photography recently aquired the number two position in the premier listings of the California Photography section.

They only allow one photo for the listing, so I gave it some thought and picked out one that I thought was fun, spontaneous and romantic:

Some Upcoming Events

Hi everyone.

Thanks for making this a fun and successful 2006. Here are some upcoming events for the next few months.

Upcoming Events:

• Jan 27 La Trisha and John's Wedding
  

La Trisha and John already had a "practice" wedding day. We did their engagement shot at the San Jose Rose Garden for which they had several outfits including one in all white. The day we were there, four weddings were happening around us and several people congratulated them on their nuptials as well.

• Feb 24 Bridal Fair in Hollister, CA
  

This is the second year for the bridal tour. I've met some of the local merchants as a photojournalist, and I'm really looking forward to meeting local vendors and meeting with brides and grooms. Last year's show also had many people looking for vendors for quincenaras.