Photographic Odyssey (Continued)

Coming or going?

Continuing with my photojournalism essay featuring some of my favorite photos taken in my capacity as Communications Coordinator for San Jacinto College. If you want to get a better view of any photo, just click on it (and then click the "back arrow" to return to the post). The first two photos in this post might play tricks with your vision. Can you tell by looking if the students in the photos are walking toward you, or walking away from you? I like these kinds of photos which feature low lighting and a very long depth of field and have extremely "back-lit" subjects because of the crazy special effects that can be achieved. I was able to get these shots "hand-held" without using a tripod only because I used my Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens. The vibration reduction feature allows me to get such slow shutter speed photos in low light settings. Also, the vast focal range (from 18 to 200 mm) allows me to quickly zoom from wide angle to super telephoto range, which bypasses the need for changing lenses.

Que paso?

The next photo also showcases the versatility of the 18-200mm VR lens, which allowed me to capture this pix of the 2 Latino students in very low light and at a slow shutter speed of 1/40. The focus was sharp enough so that the pic did not require any sharpening or any other post processing. I zoomed in from a good distance and they never even knew I took their photo. Kinda cool being an invisible paparazzi.

Wet & Wild

The next photo features cadets from San Jacinto College's firefighters' academy. The scene is a training drill in which the cadets were learning how to control high-pressure fire hoses. The firefighter operating the ladder truck took me way up with him in the basket of the hydraulic ladder to allow me to take aerial photos. Just for grins, he cranked up the powerful spray nozzle that extends from the basket to give the cadets a little surprise shower from "on high." We got a chuckle when we saw them scatter like a bunch of ants.

Warriors

Next, we see two students at a North Campus fun day trying to keep their balance as they do battle in one of those inflatable bouncy thingies that are so popular these days. I intentionally over-exposed the photo and shot with the sun behind the subjects in order to produce a silhouette effect. I think silhouettes offer variety and a change of pace and can produce some interesting and dramatic images, as long as a person does not go overboard with them.

Role Model

The final photo for this blog post features Dr. Robert Vela, San Jacinto College North's Dean of Student Development. I consider Dr. Vela an outstanding educator, an all-around great guy, and an exemplary role model for Hispanics. I include this image in my "favorites" collection because I like the lighting, color and composition. For lighting, I relied on ambient lighting, along with one wireless remote SB600 Speedlight firing through a white translucent umbrella, mounted on a portable lightstand and placed slightly to the left and in front of the subject. The camera is a Nikon D80. The lens is a Tamron 28-75 mm f/2.8, shooting at 50mm, with a shutter speed of 60 and an f/stop of 5.6. I applied some vignette effect in Photo Shop to achieve a slight fading of the background in order to isolate and "spotlight" the subject.