Wednesday, May 31, 2006

And Now, for My Next Project

I don't care for having to go to work early, especially on hot days. I'm such a cold weather baby, I feel miserable when the temperature's over 90 degrees. So, here it is in downtown Baltimore, with that typical August heat... and it isn't even June. My eyes squint as though I'm trying to use my eyelids in an effort to cut back the heat while driving to the city police headquarters. The reporter wants to write a story on how the police must recruit outside the continental U.S. to hire bilingual officers. "I'm heading to San Juan Sunday," he says. My ears perk up.

"Don't you need a photographer?" I smiled, reminding him that he can't take pictures worth a lick and that he needs to have a professional shooter there so he can concentrate on writing. He plans on being there 5 days - Sunday through Thursday - and I gleemed with anticipation, after my attempt to travel to Puerto Rico went bust in April. For that project, I had written a proposal to ride aboard Pride of Baltimore II, and compromised my original suggestion that I head to France and ride across the Atlantic, as she returned for the first time after a near-tragic freak storm disabled her last September.

I had just returned from a trip to Vancouver, and I'm already itching to leave home again? Oh, yeah, I love visiting other places. After leaving the headquarters, I stopped by a luncheonette to grab a bite to eat before heading for work. As I walked around the buffet islands, I looked up at a man leaning in to get a bottled water. It was my boss, Dudley!

We sat and I mentioned the story to him, suggesting that I might be able to shoot some video as well as still images. After eating lunch, I returned to my truck and drove back to the office, sat at a work station and edited my images. Dudley then stepped into the room and looked at me. Taking my headphones off, my listening changed from Drone Zone to my boss:

"Gus just sent me some information and I forwarded it to your Harris messages. Would you follow up on that please?" Dudley asked. In the message, Gus said that he'd be leaving Baltimore for San Juan, Puerto Rico this Sunday, spending 5 days, returning Thursday. So there it was. I had to make reservations to hit the island of San Juan for the first time in my life. I have my little Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 to shoot video, while I wait for the shipment of that cool HVX200 (the camera in the photos). I'm ready to go, and I can't wait. Maybe I might grab the underwater housing and shoot some ocean photos? Why not?

Monday, May 29, 2006

My First Day Back at Work

It's been a couple weeks, and I had to get back to it again. Back to photography, back to work. My first job: covering the annual Memorial Day observance in Timonium, a number of miles just north of Baltimore. You can shoot an event such as this, filled with dignitaries and speeches and music, in a literal way, or you can try stepping outside the box.

Keep your eyes peeled not only with what's happening during the event, but around and outside the ropes. A few of us noticed a woman with a stroller, walking with her young son up the hill beyond the ceremonies, where the rifle team stood, waiting to give the 21-gun salute for those Marylanders who had been killed during the war that the U.S. declared in the Middle East, since last year's event. This Memorial Day, the "Loved and Lost" totalled 18 people.

I went beyond the crowd gathered for the ceremonies, walking along the base of the hill, waiting for the family to walk in front of the rifle team, making a poignant image of the youngster in the stroller, sitting in front of the men at the ridge of the hill. The baby's older brother peeked at his sister, who peacefully teethed, unaware of the significance of the day.

The mother's name was Kathleen, who had visited her brother, killed while at work in one of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11/01, and her father, a World War II veteran who died just months after her brother did.

Images can capture an event, or a moment. A scene, or an emotion. Anyone can take pictures, but anyone can also learn to capture history. And journalists have a choice to work in a respectful manner, or take a gung-ho approach, never taking their eyes off the hunt for the award-winner. Journalists can capture those award-winning droplets in time with respect for their profession and for those they must document, or disrespect their subjects, which is a slap in their faces and in the face of the journalism profession.

Many people think that pros with cameras simply break windows, climb walls, trample flowers and stalk just to shove a camera into the face of their subjects. I can't answer for those who do; I can answer for those I have seen in my career, however. Most journalists don't even want to be there to document a gut-wrenching story, especially when survivors are there, filled with pain. That's been my most difficult job. But we must have an unblinking eye to capture moments in time. The good, the bad, and the ugly are all parts of everyday life, from a nearby city neighborhood, to an outlying county, a neighboring state, a country halfway around the world. One of you may have had a terrific day, but the day you smile remembering a moment in your life is a day shared with someone who wishes they could do anything to give that same day back, because the date will forever be marked with hardship and sorrow.

Just think of 9/11, for instance. Much of the country marks it based on the terrorist attacks. But it's also the birthday of the child of proud parents. Or the start of a refreshing change, a day of sober living or freeing one's self from some sort of bondage, be it jail, an abusive spouse, or the move to a new home.

On this Memorial Day, most who lost a loved one in the war wanted to talk to the media. One family even sought me out, wanting to share thoughts about their lost loved one, Robert of Silver Spring, who was killed while serving in Al Taqaddum in March. I only hope that my skills can yield images and footage that people can always return to view. Because once a moment is over, you can't bring it back.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Some Technical Notes About Pan and Tilt...

I am excited to find some information that may just help me with a project!

I read a website about a suggestion for a camera panoramic platform: "One or two servo motors could rotate a digital camera through set angles to take pictures for a panorama. Two servos would allow the panorama to span in 2 dimensions. Of course, there is the problem of instructing the camera to take a picture. Some digital cameras have an interface for this; a remote trigger. This could be a product." And I'm also seeing some spotty information about pan and tilt units.

I've been searching for months to find a pan and tilt robotic tripod head that I can mount a regular sized camera like a Nikon D2H/D100/D200 and program the smooth operation from start to finish for time lapse photography. The camera itself already performs interval capture @ one frame per second to one frame per minute or perhaps even longer. What I have purchased is a Celestron dual axis motor drive (part DA-G5, number 93523), which contains 2 6-volt motors powered by battery, a hand controller (that uses a regular phone connector RJ-11) and battery pack. The motors can only run in 3 different speeds, but with the time lapse photography, I want to control user-variable speeds: the motors can be programmed to start really slow, ramp up to a faster speed, and ramp down until they stop, and they should be independent movements and speeds. I also hope to do this by computer laptop (I run Macintosh OS X, which I believe, should run motors.

But, I am no engineer. And I don't understand computer codes and whatnot. If there's some software that I have those chart curves to help map out the movements...

The motors will be installed into a gutted security pan and tilt head. The gears and hardware from the gutted unit can be fitted with the 2 gearmotors of the Celestron kit I purchased. If this can be done... I recently visited a kind man in Canada who has a programmable pan and tilt head, and the gear and software cost him over $10,000. His results are beautifully clean and smooth. I don't need precise clean and smooth movements, because I can work that out in post-production. After finding information about the Phidgets products, I think there can be a cost-effective solution that I want to share with those independent film producers who have looked for similar results.

First Post, Then, a Break....

Hey, all.... My first post and I am excited to find some information that may just help me with a project!

I read here in this website about a suggestion for a camera panoramic platform: "One or two servo motors could rotate a digital camera through set angles to take pictures for a panorama. Two servos would allow the panorama to span in 2 dimensions. Of course, there is the problem of instructing the camera to take a picture. Some digital cameras have an interface for this; a remote trigger. This could be a product." And I'm also seeing some spotty information about pan and tilt units.

I've been searching for months to find a pan and tilt robotic tripod head that I can mount a regular sized camera like a Nikon D2H/D100/D200 and program the smooth operation from start to finish for time lapse photography. The camera itself already performs interval capture @ one frame per second to one frame per minute or perhaps even longer. What I have purchased is a Celestron dual axis motor drive (part DA-G5, number 93523), which contains 2 6-volt motors powered by battery, a hand controller (that uses a regular phone connector RJ-11) and battery pack. The motors can only run in 3 different speeds, but with the time lapse photography, I want to control user-variable speeds: the motors can be programmed to start really slow, ramp up to a faster speed, and ramp down until they stop, and they should be independent movements and speeds. I also hope to do this by computer laptop (I run Macintosh OS X, which I believe, should run motors.

But, I am no engineer. And I don't understand computer codes and whatnot. If there's some software that I have those chart curves to help map out the movements...

The motors will be installed into a gutted security pan and tilt head. The gears and hardware from the gutted unit can be fitted with the 2 gearmotors of the Celestron kit I purchased. If this can be done... I recently visited a kind man in Canada who has a programmable pan and tilt head, and the gear and software cost him over $10,000. His results are beautifully clean and smooth. I don't need precise clean and smooth movements, because I can work that out in post-production. After finding information about the Phidgets products, I think there can be a cost-effective solution that I want to share with those independent film producers who have looked for similar results.

I'm off for several days, so I think I'll resume posting after Memorial Day. Have a great holiday, but remember what it's about.