An Evening of Photojournalism

I've been told more than a few times that, often, my style of photography tends to be editorial bordering on journalistic. I've been trying to embrace that idea recently and have been making more of an effort to capture events and scenes with that in mind. Last Saturday night I made a foray into a  local religious celebration / street fair event with the idea of documenting it as well as possible while still maintaining my own style of shooting.

Close-up of the fireworks with the growing
crowd along the street in the background.

The event was a religious feast in nearby Gżira. I went out primarily to shoot the fireworks I knew would happen during the evening but I misjudged the timing and had to wait three and a half hours for the fireworks I wanted. During that time, I figured I would make use of my time by shooting other aspects of the event. I not a fan of crowds, noise or commotion so I was definitely not in my element as the numbers swelled along the seafront in anticipation of the party.




The surrounding streets were hung with banners so I decided to venture off of the street I drove daily and see what else was out there. I walked up a side street I had never been on before and about two blocks from the main road, the world changed. Gone was the traffic, the honking and the crowds of tourists. Before me was a life-sized statue on a sedan-chair type platform holding a sword, shield and bearing a Maltese flag and a band playing on the church square with maybe a hundred people watching, both seated and milling about. There was plenty of room to move around and the event felt relaxed. Locals stood on their balconies and engaged passersby whom they knew. The atmosphere was festive. It felt very local yet I didn't feel like an outsider. I moved around with the seeming invisibility that any decent event photographer cultivates by their second event. In the hour and a half or so that I was there, I became very familiar with the various people in the crowd as we all moved around the square waiting for the procession to begin.

The band wait to begin the procession.

The band was quite good as were the singers. The church was open which was nice as they are usually only open for services and are typically difficult to visit otherwise. The humid air was still and hot in the little square but no one seemed to mind. I wandered around and took it all in.

After an hour and a half of loitering around waiting for something to happen, a group of policeman arrived and started clearing the street and the band moved from the piazza to the road. Hoping for some good shots, I boldly moved around like I owned the place. When you're toting a stupid big camera and lens with more gear strapped to your body it's like having a press pass often times as no one even questions what you do or where you go.


I proceeded to not only document my surroundings but, as the group of young men lifted the statue of the saint into the air for the procession, I was right beside them and found myself swept up in the action. A river of people now poured from the buildings and side streets to walk along with the marching band and the sword-wielding, life-sized statue adorned with the Maltese flag as it tottered through the air on a litter carried by the group of boys.

The statue was hoisted and the show was on

I walked and snapped unsure if I was really getting anything worthwhile. At the bottom of the hill, the police stopped traffic along the waterfront and the procession made the wide corner onto the main road. I decide I had the fist of it and turned my attention to the waiting fireworks across the road. The carnival atmosphere continued as the now closed road became gorged with locals and tourists alike out on a hot, summer evening to enjoy the festa.

I shot for a while and then proceeded to grab a table at a sidewalk kiosk for a quick pint of Cisk, the local lager, and a little people-watching. Some other passers-by asked to share my table and all of a sudden it was a party as a young Romanian family and some of their friends sat, smoked and downed Cisk, pulling chairs and tables for other places to accommodate the group. They were very polite to me all the while but I felt increasingly out of place and once I finished my beer, headed off for more photo ops. 

 

 

After what seemed like hours, the first fireworks began. I got into position and tried to capture the crowd. I was looking more for the feeling than the action and luckily, I was capturing both. I checked my settings time and time again to make sure I had everything right. I shot manual to make sure there were no surprises. I appreciate my magnificent little computer in a camera but sometimes you gotta go with your gut.

In the end, I got far more than I had hoped. I went for photos and I got a taste of local culture that I had not previously experienced and had a good time doing it. I hear there's an even larger festa in Qormi this weekend... I wonder where I'll park...

The money shot.

Shooting the Chargé

This afternoon I did a quick portrait shoot with the Chargé d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy here in Malta. He's a pretty busy and important guy so I knew we'd only have fifteen or twenty minutes to shoot. I showed up for the shoot about 30 minutes ahead of time to set up my gear and test everything. About five minutes into my setup time the Chargé, Richard Mills, walked in and looked around. Realizing I was frantically trying to set up he asked if our appointment was at 12:30 or 1:00 and I politely said, 1:00. He lingered a moment and said he' be back.

I had planned a dramatic corporate look for the shot. It was going to be three lights - one on each side and one gridded on the background. As I worked, I quickly understood that I just didn't have enough real estate in the room to do what I planned. I took a deep breath, cued up a Frank Sinatra-based Genius mix on my iPhone, which felt appropriate in the setting, and powered through my light setup even though I wasn't sure how I was going to use it. At about that time, Mr. Mills returned.

I asked him to stand near the wall as I pushed a table out of the way, positioned an SB900 in a Lastolite EZbox 45° to the right and an SB600 with a gridded snoot to the rear left. I had already gelled the strobes to match the 4100K soft fluorescent lights overhead and took a test shot. Mr. Mills told me to just take a few until I felt I had a good one and we'd be done.

The first few minutes of a shoot are always a little rocky. I adjusted my levels and fired another test shot. It was a little hot so I went a stop down and by the third test shot was ready to go. I hit my 'zone' by about minute three and kept chatting and shooting. Although a little rigid at first, he relaxed went from stoic to laughter and back again ending up seeming very natural in front of the camera. Fifteen minutes later we were through. I showed him the photos and he seemed pretty happy with the product. As he walked out he remarked that the jazz really made him feel at ease.


I only shot about twenty frames with about five keepers but they only needed one so I feel that I got what was necessary. An hour or so of editing  and processing and the job was done. 


This event exemplifies what I love most about photography. So much of it is by the seat-of-your-pants. All of the past knowledge and experiences can guide you you but you never know how it will go until it happens... and nine times out of ten it goes off without a hitch. It's that adrenaline rush and the feeling of accomplishment that keeps me doing this. When it stops being fun, I'll stop shooting... lucky for me it's always fun. :) 


Peace.