This photo by Joe Rosenthal of the Flag being raised on top of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima during WWII has some interesting controversy surrounding it. Some feel this photo is staged because it is not the first flag raised on the Mount that day and it may have been repeated because no photo was taken of the original. The people that survived the war from the second raising became famous due to this photo but not the people who raised the original flag.
From the NAVAL HISTORY & HERITAGE COMMAND website
The first flag, measuring 54x28 inches, was obtained from attack transport USS Missoula (APA-211), and raised on a 20-foot section of pipe at 10:20 a.m. Several hours later, an 8-foot-long battle ensign, obtained from tank landing ship LST-779, was raised, resulting in Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph of the flag raising. This photograph inspired the bronze monument to the Marine Corps by Felix de Welden located near Arlington National Cemetery.
Rick Manning welds a water tank in the Fabrication Shop at Ground Force
Manufacturingthat will eventually be used on heavy duty mining equipment
This is what I consider to be my best photo from Intermediate Photography where I tried to operate as a photojournalist. Due to safety concerns, I was not allowed to apprach closer than about a dozen feet away so I used a 70-200mm lens and zoomed in for this photo. I think it is successful for a number of reasons including, composition, complimentary colors, and the detail in the sparks and smote trails. However, what I like does not necessarily make something a good photojournalism photo so I though I would post it here for comments and feedback so I could learn from what all of you folks think.
The Iwo Jima shot is an interesting case study because of all the ethical debate around it. There were actually three shots that add to the story. One was of the original flag raising, the second was the famous shot you posted and the third was a group shot that Rosenthal shot because he wasn't sure what he got with the shot of the second raising. When he thought that the group shot was what everyone was talking about, he was interviewed by a publication that asked, "Did you stage this photo?" He answered yes. The famous shot that he took was printed on Guam and sent out on "the wire" within 17 and a half hours after he clicked the shutter. It took Rosenthal a while to figure out which photo they were talking about.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for your welding shot Andreas, sparks, dark backgrounds and texture make for some visually appealing photos. I like how tight this shot is and really like the smoke and sparks. Good metering and a tack sharp focus don't hurt either.
If you were to piece this together with an overall and a detail shot, this is the type of medium shot that ties together a "Person at Work" assignment.
You should see if you can get a model release from Rick Manning and offer it to RockStar's marketing department.
How do you go about shooting people welding? Because I know you can't watch without protective eyewear (welding hood). Did you have to wear a hood while you took the photo or did you set the shot up and then use a remote trigger or self timer? Just curious. Nice shot by the way.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Andreas, but I see spots for a few minutes after shooting a welding shot. You're not supposed to look, but that's the only way I can frame it well as they are working. I think the mirror and glass in the lens may absorb some of the harmful effects, but not all of it.
ReplyDeleteWhat Jerome said is correct. The hardest part for me was the exposure. If I exposed for the sparks, the helmet is black. If I expose for the helmet, the photo gets over powered by the sparks. I had to adjust my exposure back and forth several times and noticed the the smoke trails were suddenly clearly visible when I enlarged the image on the back of the camera. Then I adjusted it a bit more to elongate and bring out the smoke trails by decreasing my shutter speed (longer exposure) and compensated for it reducing my ISO. It took somewhere around six or seven photos to get it just right. I hope this makes sense. There was also a huge amount of luck involved!!!
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