BehindTheLens

I just returned from a family vacation camping along the White river in northern Arkansas. The weather was cool, the water downright cold. And deep – very deep! Torrential spring rains filled the headwater lakes to within inches of cresting their dams, and our first campsite has a section wiped out from flash flooding back in March.

One other feature of this area is the lack of any form of electronic communications. This means very sketchy cell service, no TV, very limited radio reception and definitely no internet. Usually this would be nirvana for someone trying to get away from the constant barrage of e-mails and text messages. That is until one day….

We arrived back in camp after a family outing to Blanchard Springs caverns. A beautiful place to visit, I might add. Just about the time we were sitting down to enjoy dinner at the picnic table, we heard a rumbling off in the distance. A few minutes later the flash of lightning. We finished eating in a hurry, and quickly began stowing all our gear in the storage compartments of our travel trailer. In record time, I might add. Just in time for the bottom to drop out. Torrents of rain poured on our campsite. We heard something about a severe storm in our area, but did not have a good grasp if it was heading our way or moving to our north. And what about the river, just 50 feet from our campsite?

Everything ended up being OK, but there was a few tense moments that night. In the end we just watched the storm from the safety of our awning and enjoying the light show provided to us by Mother Nature. But if I only had a radar picture on the laptop…..

submitted by Mike Grimm

Submitted by Linda Angelle

As news photographers we see a lot of strange things.  This seems especially true on the holidays.  On the afternoon of July 4, Stephan at the assignment desk got a call from one of the Channel 5 scanner listeners.  He was told that Ft. Worth police were sending officers to a crime scene where human hands had been found in a freezer.  This sounded like a big story and could even be the lead story!  I jumped into my news unit and rushed to the address.  I wasn’t alone.  Police officers and crime scene investigators were in already there in full force.  All the local stations had sent one or even two crews.  Soon the small street was crowded with live vans and news cars as photographers rushed to set up our cameras before the crime scene investigator brought out the gruesome evidence of this hideous crime.

Several neighbors who were well into their holiday celebrations happily offered their views to what might have happened.  As more detectives arrived, crews began to run cables and raise masts for breaking news live shots.  Surely this was going to be network news!  Could it be a serial killer?  What evil lurked in the small upstairs apartment along with those ten frozen fingers? 

Then I noticed three of the officers walking to their cars.  They quickly drove off.  Two officers  guarding the scene were smiling.  I looked at Scott and he was talking on the  his blackberry.  Then he started laughing.  What was going on here?  About a dozen photographer’s were there now and all of our cell phones started ringing.  Scott came over to tell me that I could stop shooting.  Turns out that instead of freezer hands, we had sausage fingers! 

FORT WORTH, TX -

I’m back from vacation and what a way to re-enter. Two suspicious items resembling frozen hands were found today which prompted a call to the police. It happened around 1:30 p.m. at a duplex located in the 1100 block of Grainger. A man was cleaning out a garage apartment in anticipation of moving into his new pad when he noticed a plastic grocery sack in the freezer. Being curious the man opened the sack and got the surprise of a lifetime when he found what he believed to be two mangled up frozen hands. When officers arrived they took a look and agreed that they resembled hands however upon close inspection by a homicide detective they may not be hands after all. It is a distinct possibility that they could be nothing more than sausage or some other kind of meat product stuffed into clear plastic gloves making them look human. The Medical Examiner will make the final determination as to the item’s nature and origin. Until then, our hands are tied on this one.

In this corner, Dean Fearing

In the opposite corner, Stephan Pyles

It was a showdown between the big dog Dallas chef’s for American Airline’s Chef’s Conclave. They are cooking airline food. We’re not talking coach cuisine, how about Five Star dining at 30,000 feet.  Tasty chicken entree’s that anyone with grilling skills can cook…..well, maybe not.

Dean’s chicken: sort of a stew…and he’d kill me for calling it that.

Pyle’s take on chicken. Both looked good. Smelled great. Tasted…..well…..I never got to sample! That is the life of a photographer! 

   Every 8 year old boy would love to ride in a police cruiser with sirens and lights blaring at full blast.  Today Kyle Spriggs lived the dream.  He rode between his sister and mom in the back seat while his police officer pal and potential future partner took him around the training track.  There was lots of media coverage….most of the tv stations and the newspapers were there.  We all had the chance to ride a turn with Kyle and his family because after each trip he was ready ”do it again!” 

He was made an honorary police officer by Dallas Police Chief, David Kunkle and has the plaque to prove it.  He even got to see the police helicopter up close and personal…from the pilots seat! 

Kyle told me he wants to be a police officer when he grows up but not in Dallas because it’s too dangerous.  You see, in March Kyle with his family drove from their home in Oklahoma to Dallas.   Kyle is undergoing  chemotherapy at Childrens hospital.   While they were eating breakfast at Denny’s someone broke into the family car and stole is backpack.  It was full of medications, homework and his video games that helped him pass the time during those long hours he spends in treatment.

Dallas Officers raised money to replace the items Kyle lost but they gave him much more than just video games.  They gave him their friendship and their hearts.   His mother Trish is amazed that something so horrible happened and ended up being so positive. 

As Kyle continues his treatments, he and his family are staying strong with the help of their new friends.  When I took my  turn riding around the training track in a police cruise with Kyle and his family,  seeing him laugh as we took those corners on what felt like two wheels was the best part of my whole day.  Kyle’s mom said he really liked me because I was able to hold on better in the car while shooting than the other photographers.   And that was the second best part of my day.

Kyle and his courage are an inspiration to us all.  It was a pleasure to meet him and a priveledge to be able to share an hour with him during his day as an honorary police officer.   I just hope that I was able give Kyle, his family and his new friends a memory that will help get him through the tough times ahead.  That’s the best part of my job.

We are dependant on computers, probably much more so than foreign oil or Starbuck’s coffee. When that vital instrument of our lives acts up, the consequences can be dire. On those occasions when someone on high decides your system needs an upgrade, time to schedule an extended vacation in hopes that your computer somehow resembles a functional device by the time you return.

Our photographers rely on a laptop for editing our daily stories, as well as e-mail, blogging and other vital tasks. Something on this particular model doesn’t work well. Here in Dallas/Ft. Worth, we don’t use that function, but photographers in other NBC stations do. The fix? Replace the motherboard!

This may have been a 20-minute process, but it has taken days to resolve the resulting computer issues. Nobody is to blame for the problems, it’s just that when you do something as major as replacing the very soul of your system unexpected issues arise. Without the vital tools we need to do our job, the result can be stressful, painful and quite frustrating. If you have been wondering why this column has been stale the past week or so, well I hope you now understand!

Protestors shout their opposition to “big oil” outside the Meyerson center while inside shareholders of the nation’s biggest energy company gather. Media trucks circle the encampmant, cameras focus on the shouting, a select few offer thoughts on the perils brought about by the evildoers - all under the watchful eyes of Dallas police.

Inside the dignitaries gather, many arriving by shiny black limos. Security is tight, with police and metal detectors screening the crowd. Media members sport badges identifying them as such to watchful escorts. While the shareholders take their seats inside the symphony hall. the press gather in a room cordoned off in the back or gather in a lower room awaiting the post meeting press conference.

All of the events are carefully staged to allow for media “access” without media “intrusion.” What this means is that all that you see from the Exxon Mobil shareholders meeting is a sanitized, carefully choreographed presentation designed to appeased the media without creating a feeding frenzy.

The protestors outside were noticeable less than in years past. While some locals joined the crowd, most hail from places ranging from Beaumont to D. C. They claim ExxonMobil is accountable for everything from cancer rates along the Gulf coast to the war in Iraq. I am not challenging their claims, but it is hard to get a serious point across by raising banners and shouting.

Inside the Meyerson, a courtesy audio feed kept the press informed on the actions inside the hall. A nice thought, but actually seeing shareholders’ reactions to the events is substantially more telling than hearing a sanitized audio feed. The press conference by Exxon Mobil chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson wasn’t much better. A moderator carefully chose questioners from the throngs of media present, none of which posed any challenge to Mr. Tillerson. While the chief executive did pause for a few questions from local press, overall nothing came to light that hasn’t been said in the press time and time again.

Both sides take advantage of the interest in gas prices to spin their case for their respective causes. While there’s nothing wrong with this, what the public sees is nothing more than opportunists taking advantage of the photo op. The workings of big oil remains a corporate mystery promoted by the execs, villanized by the activists and just another part of everyday life for the media.

Protesters Gather Outside Exxon Mobile Shareholders Meeting 

I went to my niece’s high school graduation this weekend and you probably wouldn’t know it if you looked at the photos.  There were none of me because I was too busy shooting.   I had mother-in-law’s camera (with four rolls of film) and my sister-in-law’s digital camera.  I shoot video for a living but I shoot still photos for fun.  My family knows that if they hand me a camera I’m off!  I want to roam around and get wide shots of all the guests, action shots of teens playing corn hole, the presents, the cake, and best of all the laughter.  I love shooting people having fun.   I want to capture that memory for them.  A bonus is that I get to talk to everyone… meet the folks I don’t know, catch up with the ones I do.  And I get to give my niece an extra graduation gift…..memories of a day that was planned for so long but went by so quickly.  The next day I did make it in a family photo.  My mother-in-law bought a tripod so I could set the camera on timer and join the fun.   

Did you ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day?  In the news business, traffic never moves fast enough, people never return our calls quickly enough and there’s always one more thing you want to shoot but can’t or you will miss your 4 pm live shot. 

But there are exceptions like last week.  All the stations were at DFW airport to cover the AA plane that lost a panel on the way to Paris.  I met Mike Heimbuch and Lindsey Wilcox with a live van.  You know it’s a big deal when it’s a “two photographer” story.  Two heads really our better than one!  We had everything set up so quickly there was time to snap some pics for this blog. 

It made me realize that photographers have become the masters of  multi-taxing.  We shoot, edit, field produce, sometimes report and edit stories.  Then we make the live magic happen.  We have to find a location without electric wires or tall buildings near something visually interesting that relates to the story of the day.  Since we will be there for four hours, a nearby rest room is always a plus.   Fifteen minutes later when the mast is up, we call an engineer to tune us in on one of our transmitters.  We dial up ifb, run a/v and electric cables for the lights and tv monitor and hope the reporter is ready to give us the script.  If spot news happens, we break everything down and rush off to start all over again.  It does make the days go by quickly.   Kudos to those who can handle the fast lane life of live at the speed of news! 

Let’s see, American charges us for airfare, a fuel surcharge, drinks, a “snack,” alcohol and now baggage. Soon the complimentary beverage cart will probably go the same way, or perhaps an extra charge for using up more than 32″ of the overhead bin. Maybe a cleaning fee if you don’t want to fly in a dirty airplane, or charging a toll for the “facilities.”

I understand airlines are hurting for money. They want to attract travelers with low-cost fares, then blindside customers with added fees. One passenger we spoke with at DFW agrees, saying that American should charge us a ticket fee based on how much it actually costs to take that person from one place to another and quit all these annoying add-ons.

Here’s a thought: You have a captive audience in the air. Maybe offer something the passengers might want to pay for – like real food!

One of the challenges we face as photographers is to turn a good newspaper stories into something interesting to watch on the evening news. Often this leads to coming up with creative ways to illustrate concepts without embarrasing, convicting or otherwise implicating innocent bystanders. The result is the parade of headless beer bellies, out-of-focus kids on the playground or, in the case of our story on identity thieves caught, shots of women’s feet and legs.

Just for the record it is against the very nature of a credible photographer to shoot pictures like this, but it is a necessary evil. With a tight timeline to work with, we do not have the luxury to ask everyone’s permission if it is OK to photograph parts of their body. We try hard to make sure the shots are very generic, so nobody is jumping up at the dinner table screaming “Hey! That’s my gut!” Or worse, having your neighbor ask “Isn’t that Bob’s belly?”

Yes I have received a few glares from my subject matter, and an occasional scolding about what a calloused individual I am. For the most part people are quite understanding and often disappointed that their TV debut will be, well, cut…a little!