Leading lines lite. It's Story Time.

Chief Warrant Officer Five Tom Travis exits from a UH-60 Black Hawk over St. Mere Eglise at Fort Bragg, N.C. on July 13, 2011. Travis is jumping with the U.S. Army Civil Affairs Operations Command (Airborne) who are hosting the U.K.’s 4th Parachute Regiment in a Joint training mission. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Felix R. Fimbres)

   This is getting closer to what I would consider a good example of leading lines. But still not quite. The static line [the yellow cord] that connects from the helicopter to the paratroopers parachute is bright, yellow, in focus and certainly leading to the subject. But I can't honestly say I planned for it to be there. I just showed up on it's own, a product of the situation. The reason I'm pointing point this out is simply because I want to point out that leading lines are everywhere Sometimes those lines are invisible, but that's a post for another day.

   Today I want to get back into a little bit of story telling. I've spent a lot of time talking about composition and not so much time talking about the story behind those photos.

   You'll notice this is a similar perspective to my previous post (Yes, I'm afraid of heights) and in fact this shot was actually taken on the same day.

   I first want  to say that July 13th was one brutally hot day, everyone had beads of sweat rolling down thier faces. Especially  me, I'm practically a  snowman (the melting kind) I joke that I'm water cooled not air cooled because I sweat a lot during physical activity. Regardless the British had come all the way out from, well England, to conduct airborne operations so it was a great opportunity to get some joint operations photos.

   In fact, I was poised and ready to jump with them on this day. However, during final manifest [roll call] when I was asked to show my Military ID card [a required item for all airborne operations] I looked in my wallet and to my dismay found that I was missing my ID. I had left it in my card reader at home. I lived about 45 minutes away form the drop zone, so it wasn't really possible to go home and back and still be able to jump.

So, as they say in the Airborne community, I was scratched. 

   I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of jumping out of aircraft, and after seeing paratroopers dangling their feet from a Blackhawk prior to a jump, I can't say a helicopter would be my preferred method of insertion. A C-130 or a C-17 doesn't have nearly the view, but the skin of the aircraft acts like blinders on a horse. They help me focus on what's in front of me. Instead of, you know, thinking about my parachute not opening.

   People ask me how I can even jump out in the first place, I reply with, "It's easy, I'm supposed to be looking at the jump master until the very last second or two, by then I've got momentum and people behind me counting on me to follow through. So making those last few steps out of the door is probably the easiest part because I've already committed by then. It's those 4 second waiting for the canopy to open which are the most terrifying. Luckily for me, there isn't a whole lot I can do at that point but count."

   Anyway, back to this shot. So it's hot, I was supposed to be jumping, but I wasn't going to this day. Luckily I always keep my camera in my trunk. So, I called my supervisor to let him know I was just going to be taking pictures instead. He said great and I got to shooting.

   I had met CW5 Travis a few months earlier at Normandy and he liked my work, so when he saw me with my camera's he said, "Awesome you're taking photos today?"

   "Sure am Sir," I replied

   "Make sure you talk with the flight crew so you can go up and take pictures,"

   "Roger that Sir."

   So after a little bit of waiting the Blackhawk came in and I talked with the flight crew. They said I had one option, the crew seat. I said that would be fine. Then one of the Operations non comissioned officers came up to me as I was walking up to the Blackhawk and said,

   "Hey man, I heard you're going up?"

   "Yeah I'm in the gunner's seat"

   "Perfect, when you're strapped in you can lean way out, I've had my A** on the outside of the aircraft taking pictures, it was great!"

   "Okay, yeah, I'll try that," I replied, knowing there was no way my butt was getting anywhere near the outside of that helicopter. 

 
   So after strapping in, I thought I'd feel safe. Not really, the harnesses was tight but it's connected to a safety cable to allow for maximum mobility. The end effect is that I felt like I wasn't strapped in at all.

   I won't go too much over what I covered in Yes, I'm afraid of heights but this shot was about three things. One seeing it a few times before to get a feel for the timing and position of the subject. Two getting the widest angle I could [17mm on the lens, with crop factor a true 27mm] with my arm out as far as possible to give it a unique perspective. And three just being in a unique position to take this shot. I like to tell myself that I can make those most mundane things look amazing, but amazing things are amazing to look at.

   In retrospect this photo reminds me 1. Dummy, you forgot your ID card! 2. Sometimes when a door is closed another is opened. But most importantly 3. Always have your camera handy because you never know when a shot you take might get picked as one of the best DoD photos of the year [The main image isn't mine, it's the fourth one in the slideshow so you'll have to do some scrolling]

Yes, I am afraid of heights

Paratroopers participating in operation Black Warrior conduct airborne operations in temperatures over 100 degrees onto Sicily Drop Zone at Fort Bragg, N.C. on July 13, 2011. Black Warrior is organized by the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command (Airborne) and includes members from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, 82nd Airborne Division, and the British 4th Parachute Regiment. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Felix R. Fimbres)

   Yes, I was a paratrooper for a few years. Yes, I'm still afraid of heights. No, I don't really want to look over the side of that skyscraper, balcony, cliff or anything more than 2 stories tall. But sometimes, you just have to take the shot.

   In a Blackhawk during an airborne operation there is pretty much only one seat you can be in and that's the gunner seat. The gunner's seat is right on the side of the helicopter. Sure you get a seat belt and you can even lean out and still be attached, it's perfectly safe. Unless you are irrationally afraid of heights like I am. Thoughts of the belts snapping off and plummeting to the earth ran through my head. But sometimes, you just have to suck it up.

   So there I was, a about 1,200 feet off the ground. I had attached my camera strap to my seat belt, I figured it would be safe that way. Yes, I know what you're thinking, "Your camera is safe strapped to the seat belt but you strapped inside the seat belt not safe?" trust me, I don't get it either...

   The major problem with my camera being attached to the seat belt was that it wasn't going very far out the window unless my chest was right alongside it. Bummer.

   So, I breathed. I closed my eyes. I opened my eyes. And then I breathed again.
I put my eye in the viewfinder and tried to get the shot without leaning too far out. That wasn't working. Luckily I had 16-35mm lens (roughly 22mm to 50mm after the Nikon D300's crop factor) so I stuck my hand out an extra foot or so and just aimed roughly in the direction of my subject and took the shot.

   Also, not quite working. It just wasn't what I wanted.

   So I had a choice, lean out and get the shot or just concede defeat.

   I took a deep breath and I leaned out, I'm willing to bet the look on my face was priceless. I extended my arm out some more, I aimed as best as I could judging where the lens was aimed out in relation to the subject and pulled the shutter. Presto.

   Do I recommend taking photos with your eyeball not firmly planted in the view finder? No, of course not. But sometimes you need an extra few feet that your extended arm will get you. Sometimes you just have to pray and spray. I find that sometimes you'll catch those people who don't want their picture taken off guard if you just pull the camera away from your face. They aren't expecting you to take a photo. Then you show them how amazing they look and they are less likely to turn away or hide.

   Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It's a neat little trick. It's pretty much guess and check.

If you're interested in seeming more, here's the link to the USACAPOC(A) flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usacapoc/sets/72157627187676084/

Let's start this blog off with a Bang.

Battery Weed sends off Brig. Gen. Hugh C. Van Roosen with a roaring display of 11 cannon salutes during his change of command ceremony at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, New York, on June 24, 2012. Van Roosen relinquished command of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command to Brig. Gen. Daniel R. Ammerman. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Felix R. Fimbres)

A little bit of luck, a little bit of patience, and a whole lot of being at the right place at the right time. This is probably my personal favorite. Could it have been better? Sure. I could have had a huge bank of lights (I had to do some fill lighting in post, I dislike doing much in post to be honest) I could have had access to a slightly wider angle lens. But I didn't have either. Sometimes you just make do with what you got.

What's funny is that I really did not want to be here. I had just gone to Africa for a quick two week trip, I shouldn't be complaining really because it was a lot of fun, but I just wanted to get home. The General's Aid came up to me and said, "We're going to take you with us to Staten Island for a change of command."

If you know anything about me as a photographer, you'd know, change of command is a dirty word.

   Don't get me wrong, they are important to commanders, and I don't blame them, however, I feel that the best stories come from our junior soldiers.

   And then I show up and three other co-workers are there. In my opinion they could have covered the story just fine without me. Again, I really shouldn't be complaining. However, I'm just letting you into my state of mind at the time.

   So, after chatting up my teammates I case the joint. I look down, I look around, I go up to the top of the Fort. I had an idea of what was going to happen. But I didn't know what exactly I was going to capture. I was picked to get the passing of the flag; for those of you non-military types, passing the flag from one commander to another symbolizes the passing of leadership.

   Okay, no big deal, it's probably my favorite part. But I really wanted those cannons. I knew I could get the shot of the flag being passed around, and get these beautiful cannons going off, I just had to figure out how. I figured I shouldn't even think about going up high, I might not make it back down in time to get the flag being passed, and if I did I'd be scurrying to get my camera settings right and that always leads to mistakes. So I set up on the ground floor.  I took a few test shots and waited.

   I tried a couple burst shots, but I was working with a Canon Rebel T2i, a couple 3 frame bursts was all that I could hope for. Luckily there was more than one cannon fire. Of the 20 or so shots I took, I missed, pretty much all of them but this one. What can i say, I was lucky.