Fishing & Photography. You Hooked?

It dawned on me recently that what I love about taking pictures and making video is the same as what I love about fishing: The element of surprise. The discovery of a new experience of something often beautiful. The feeling of "Wow, I did that!" The sense of satisfaction that all the elements come together at the right moment. When you hook a fish it might be luck. Then again, it might be that you predicted with some amount of intelligence and a lot of strategy that landing the fish was inevitable!

This is not something new. And certainly, other photographers have made this fish-photo analogy. But I find myself pursuing the ever-elusive so often that I can honestly say there's something of an addiction going on here.

Fishing and photography. It's you against the elements. The roaring river, the slippery rocks, the biting cold. Do you have the right lure, the right fly? Is it at the right depth? The right time of day? The right time of year? Have you remained out of sight or did you startle the fish?

The same is true about filming, producing, and getting your subject framed just right. Have you put your subjects at ease for an interview or portrait session? Is the lighting just right? Do you have the right microphones for the conditions that exist? Is everything in place--including you, the news gatherer? Moreover, do you have to set up hours before, laying cable, and is the generator functioning? Stand in a blizzard? No problem. Properly clothed? Of course. Endure the intense heat and humidity and blazing sunlight? Totally!

As a news photographer for broadcast television, the logistics are so much more important to success that often setting up the camera on the tripod and striking the lights are an afterthought. Similarly, on a still photo shoot, you or your editor may have spent months on the phone with your subject, or some authority granting you permission to do a shoot, helping you to ultimately gain access, clear the rights issues, etc., that when the day of the shoot finally arrives it's almost like an out-of-body experience. Is this really happening? You've spent hundreds of hours imagining how it will look; now it's time for the magic, the surprise, the moment of truth, or just plain luck that it goes your way.

And by getting the image or covering the story, you find yourself in some of the strangest situations. You might get too close to the action--more than your mother would have recommended! I remember thinking this when I was a newspaper photographer in Buffalo, New York. The city's armory was on fire. About 50 fire engines responded. The munitions stored in the National Guard's trucks were exploding through the roof. Firey embers were shooting into the sky. I was across the street in the backyard of a private home, half a block away, taking photos of the explosions, but hiding under a picnic table. It wasn't enough protection. My jacket was smoldering from the glowing-orange pieces of wood landing on me. Great pictures, but getting them required some tactical navigation.

I've staked out and stalked politicians, criminals, athletes, even priests and rabbis. I've followed doctors, clowns, stockbrokers, pole vaulters, game wardens. I've found high angles in catwalks above arenas, trading floors, and hanging out of helicopters. From minus 25 degrees in Siberia's oil fields to 125 degrees capturing molten gold bars being poured in west Africa. I haven't covered wars, but I've covered protests with bricks and spit flying over head.

Nobody ever said photojournalism--both in stills and moving images--was going to be without risks. I guess that's where I'm going with this fishing metaphor. If you have done both, you'll quickly recall where you were, and the level of fear, when you risked life and limb to get the fish--to get the picture.


I fish a lot less these days. That's because I have a son who loves to fish even more than me. So, what has happened is I've combined two loves. Well, actually, three. Fishing, photography and watching my son fish through my lens.

We've made it a point to go fishing often. Last year, we went to Montana and experienced the Madison, the Yellowstone, and the Rock Creek. But we've gone on so many fishing trips over a dozen years--deep sea, river, lake, surf casting--that if I found all the pictures and put them in one place I bet it would be make a nice collection.


It's all about the element of surprise. Revelations beneath the surface. And for those of us passionate enough, a reason for breathing.

All photographs copyright by Ken Kerbs.

Party Gras. American Style!

In my years as a photojournalist, I've covered my share of parades as both a still photographer and as broadcast news cameraman. A World Series victory. St. Patrick's Day. Macy's Thanksgiving Day. Desert Storm Victory. A freed Nelson Mandela. Greenwich Village Halloween. Small-town America 4th of July parades. The Opening of Parliament. A May Day parade in Cornwall, England. Graduation Day in Oslo, Norway. Even a parade of the 'War of the Worlds' in Grover's Mill, New Jersey, complete with martians.

So, I thought I was prepared to cover Mardi Gras.

I was until my correspondent, Karen Brown, told me she wanted to hop aboard a float. Turned away by several New Orleans' police officers and turned down by a half-dozen float drivers on tractors, we finally found one to jump aboard. Karen had no problem climbing the ladder and being pulled up by the necklace-throwing army of men. My logistics were a bit of an issue: the float wasn't about to come to a halt for me. I handed over my knapsack to producer Reed Watson who stayed on the street and trailed us from behind. Then, I placed my PDW-510 Sony XDCam on the floor of the float (complete with battery brick, light and microphones weighing in at approximately 20 lbs.) while Karen reached down to grab hold of the handle. OK, full disclosure: it was probably only moving at five miles an hour! Yet, I had to climb up the ladder fast. It was awkward and seemed a little risky. (In the back of my mind I thought one of the officers who was adamant that we could not go on a float would see me and come from behind to yank me off!)

I made it and got my bearings. What a relief! And what a great view! Karen was right. We found a great spot for coverage of the parade. The music was blaring. The spectators screaming below as the men on this float tossed beaded necklaces like there was no tomorrow. It was, after all, Spring Break!

One of the funniest moments came when Karen was interviewing a float elder, an 80-year-old, whose face was covered with a shiny yellow fabric. Speaking through it muffled the sound, so Karen had to lift the mask and stick the mic underneath close to his mouth.

The other issue was the music. We were less than five feet from a mounted speaker. There was no way to get them to turn it off the, so we just moved away from it. Surprisingly, the sound came out better than I thought it would. Anytime there's a lot of ambient noise during an interview, I always dial back the levels and move the mic in super-close--almost touching the subject's mouth.

And then there was the lighting. There were hundreds of small incandescent (think Tungsten) bulbs all over the place. Street lamps were bright on passing but gave a blue/green cast. On my camera I stayed in Tungsten mode, 2800 Kelvin, with a Frezzi atop, but covered it with a layer of Roscoe Tough Spun so it would act as fill especially under the eyes and not be that obvious. And in low light, I upped my gain sensitivity to 9db--making the 720 x 480 SD image appear more grainy than I usually prefer.

Staying steady on a moving float shooting an interview was challenging. I leaned my body against the railing and sometimes found myself using my left arm over my head to cling to the ceiling above. In a moving situation you do what you must to find stability. At some point the float stopped, but we just kept shooting, grabbing any b-roll images off the float of the people cheering below, and finishing up our interview. Then, when it started rolling again, we shot Karen's standup bridge-to-camera.

So that was my introduction to Mardi Gras. A float-hopping, Fat Tuesday in and around Canal and Bourbon Streets. What a spectacle! Dodging necklaces being thrown our way, the incredible mass of people, the silly costumes and lack thereof, and the stench!

One near accident. While buying some orange juice at a fast-food place at 4:30 a.m., I was in the middle of two guys lunging at each other in a fist fight. It started when a very drunk and exhausted college-aged punk spilled his iced-tea on a very husky sober guy! Pushed aside and losing my balance, I high-tailed it out of there while police on horseback were racing to break it up and make an arrest.

My camera and I made it out alive. My lesson in a nutshell: Be prepared 'cause at Mardi Gras anything goes!

Homage to Al Paglione

I had a fun assignment the day before New Year's Eve to shoot some footage of the preparation in Times Square and of the testing of the famous New Year's crystal ball. One thing stopped me in my tracks. It was like a huge flash bulb going off triggering a memory from more than 30 years ago. I realized for the first time in a very long time that I see what I see and the way I see it in part because of a few special people who "raised" me when I was not quite 20 years old, eager to learn everything I could about photojournalism. My dream growing up was to be a newspaper photographer as I spent most of my teens reading the bylines under the amazing photos published in The Bergen Record of Hackensack, New Jersey. While I was a college intern at the paper, I would often ride along with some of the photographers. It was like sitting in the dugout at Shea Stadium with my heroes.

One, Al Paglione, made a great impression on me. He passed away in April, 2010 while I was away on assignment and I didn't hear about his death until several weeks later.

Al had a way with people--always happy, smiling, and complimentary. He put his subjects at ease. He loved being a photographer. And he had an extraordinary passion for finding great angles, using light as his palate, and capturing great moments. In the late 70's and early 80's newspapers were experimenting in color. He was child-like with his enthusiasm to master color photojournalism. Once, when I was assisting him on a shoot I mistakenly plugged his radio remote strobe trigger into the wall outlet. It exploded in my hands. He ribbed me about that for some time, but you could tell he loved teaching, talking tech, and discussing story ideas. He was the master of the photo essay.

So the other day while capturing some of the activities in and around Times Square (including the police installing barricades, men in cherry pickers fixing a Jumbotron's LED screen, and a Mickey Mouse Santa posing with tourists in front of the Disney store), I saw something and immediately thought of Al.

High above a riser a technician on a ladder was installing some lights. Nothing earth-shattering about that. But, when I shifted to my left a few feet, my line-of-sight placed him in silhouette between the Times Square tower (the one where the ball drops) and another building in the distance. Just that slight move made your eye go directly to that area of the frame first where the man was working. Had Al been driving by, I know he would have spotted it, too. He would have stopped, grabbed his 180mm, and fired off some images. He would have "worked it" if there was something else he could find that would have added meaning--or humor--to the shot.

With my tripod, I leveled the camera, shifted the lens using the 2X converter in super telephoto, and framed the technician very tight in the viewfinder, under-exposing a stop so the sky wouldn't blow out the image. Then I began zooming out to reveal a busy Times Square, slowly opening up he iris to compensate for the dark landscape. What worked was that the figure of the technician stood out and told the story I was assigned to tell.

Al would have liked that.

I last saw him about 18 years ago and I wish I stayed in touch. I'm sorry I missed saying goodbye to him. But I realized the other day, that Al is with me more than I'm conscious of whenever I have a video camera on my shoulder or my still camera up to my eye.

Thank you, Al Paglione.



















You can read about what a special person Al Paglione was and about his accomplishments here: http://www.northjersey.com/obituaries/042910_paglione.html

They're Gaga over Gaga!

Two inches away (in the macro setting) from the eyes of Lady Gaga shows the amazing
details the artists put into to these figures. I swore she was about to sneeze!

Situation: Unveiling the wax figure of Lady Gaga at Madame Tussauds in New York has its challenges for a news cameraman. The assignment itself is pure promotion. To be sure, an event staged to create an image, launch a brand, and help a company and pop star icon make some noise and, well, news, is key to keep in mind when covering one of these. But still, it'll probably find its way onto someone's evening news broadcast. Did I say, "News?" All the entertainment TV shows were well-represented. I guess that's the point! I might as well join in the fun, too. I was lucky to have a front row position, so fighting the other 30-plus still and TV cameramen wasn't my concern (though I did at one point turn around with a 22 pound, Sony PDW510 XD broadcast camera mounted on my shoulder and nearly knock over a photographer standing right behind me on his step ladder). C'est la vie! Today I hear Gaga's in Paris so I don't expect much drama like the kind this drama queen usually draws. We're being spared the dead meat outfits. Whew! To think this was a global launch where all eight Tussauds were unveiling other Lady Gagas is a testament to her power. Put that out of mind, I tell myself, and stop thinking unnecessary thoughts--editorializing and opining don't belong here. Just get the shots!

Often these staged events have a life of their own and things happen when you least expect them to. The last time I covered an unveiling in wax it was Taylor Swift's turn. Close to one-hundred photographers waited nearly an hour for the real-life Swift to move in and stand next to her wax twin, say ten words, and move on out. It was so hot under the lights I was secretly hoping for a meltdown. Now that would make for some great footage! You just have to be ready at all times and react as if you're on a "real" news assignment--say, in the streets during a protest march or in Times Square during a bomb scare--different kinds of "staged" events. Today, I was feeling particularly lucky after filming some of Lady Gaga's followers known as "Little Monsters." With wigs in soda can curlers, glass mirror masks, and lovely cigarette sunglasses (as in sunglasses made with glued-on cigarette butts), how could you miss? These wild visuals always speak louder than words!

Technically speaking, I found the spotlights to match the color temperature of my on-camera tungsten lamp so that was one less worry (thank you!). The tight space was my biggest concern. I waited for the gaggle of photographers to thin out before I stepped in for my one-on-on with Ms. Gaga. Then I photographed her from every which angle starting down on the 6-inch shiny black pumps and finishing on her radiant blond mane. The noise level was also close to the edge so interviews with Gaga's "Little Monsters" and the wax museum's director required a little extra monitoring. With a quick test and playback, by squeezing my headsets close to my ears, I made sure the voices were clear above the background chatter. Not an issue.

But more importantly, you never really know what you're really looking at through the lens until you ask. Journalism's five W's and that one H do apply even in these concocted promotional events! "So what's the deal with the hairdo?" I asked Tussauds's director of operations--hoping she'd satisfy my curiosity. "Oh, that's what she wore when she attended an electronics convention in Vegas," she replied. And so it goes.

Shot on location in New York on December 9, 2010.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree?

Situation: This was the broadcast news story I worked on the day before Thanksgiving. We were hearing that more people are down on their luck during this period of high unemployment and are seeking out soup kitchens in higher numbers than ever before. In fact, at the Holy Apostle in New York City, they were averaging over 1300 meals a day, about a 500 meal increase above their average. But, today our task is to find people in a higher income bracket who perhaps had "white-collar" jobs, that would tell the story better. Remember, this is television news. We only have 90 seconds to tell our story. Once we arrive, it's a mad rush as we're on deadline. It's 10 a.m. and the writing and editing has to begin around 12:30, 1 p.m. the latest. At 3:30 a finished product will be made available for broadcast to the national audience of affiliate stations. My producer, Itay Hod, works the crowd looking for appropriate interviews. While he's busy I start filming the inner workings of the kitchen, trying to get as many activities as possible. It's like I'm in the game show, "Beat the Clock," as in how many items can I put in my basket. The buzzer sounds anytime Itay needs me to setup and shoot an interview. Also, our business correspondent, Alexis Christoforous, will arrive at anytime to do her stand-up (piece to camera) so I have to be thinking ahead to where we are going to shoot that, my lighting needs, and any sound issues.

Here's my inner conflict, my dilemma, as I move around the soup kitchen: My eyes scan and zone in on patterns, people, activities, and light but I have to find things that work as strong moving images. This ain't a magazine shoot. We're making movies here! O.K. Remind me again: It's TV News! Right. One of the first things I see is a stack of bread and I think, "Cool. A visual metaphor screaming out to me to be filmed." I gravitate to it and "work it." A man sits down, starts cutting the loaves, and tosses them on top of the pile. I think I have some nice images, something that is a somber truth about hunger in America, something the editor could use in our package. But, as I walk away I think maybe I've captured something that is stronger as a still than as a moving image! Who knows? If the scene is too depressing or doesn't fit somehow into our short video package, I've just wasted five minutes! I better hustle to get some other "bread and butter" (excuse the pun!) shots of food preparation.

I shoot a mound of bread with my video camera as if I'm shooting a still photograph. I'm either wasting my time or I'm betting on it becoming a useful shot used in a sequence of others from the soup kitchen for our news report. Only my editor knows for sure!

I get lucky when one of the cooks begins mixing a huge bowl of cheese. I avoid showing his face and work off the movement and sound of the bowl and his hands. The head cook enters and is opening and closing the oven doors. He reels of a list of different food items being heated up. In video, it's not always the images that are meaningful. Editors love "nat pops," those moments when a natural sound (like a door being slammed or steam shooting from a kettle) or even voices which might add a bright spot in between shots and could make it more entertaining.

I follow a worker down to the basement where he's getting food to be placed in the oven. Again, I'm not sure if I'm wasting time or might find a nice surprise. At the top of the stairs I notice glass block windows. I like the way the light is shimmering off the walls. Again, I see a simple still image and weigh whether it's going to help our story or be useless. I shoot it anyway and follow the worker up the stairs and into the kitchen. You just never know!














Some still frames from the video. The question for me while I'm working is always, "Will it pay off for the story or be a poor use of time on especially a painful deadline with so much to do?"

But, I know I'm sometimes drawn to images that don't always work into our short, news pieces so it becomes a minefield for me. I work the area where the women are lined up making the lunch plates for the guests. The women in a row make a nice pattern and the light coming in from the kitchen windows helps overwhelm the incandescent overhead bulbs. Lots of angles to pursue here, including a bunch of closeups of spoons and food and hands in action!
















Six women make up the food line and give me plenty of shots to make--all in good light. On right, Rev. Glenn Chalmars, Executive Director of the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen, greets a visitor and displays his warm touch.

Usually after interviews we have to shoot some b-roll which are shots of our subject walking, sitting at a computer, talking on the phone, doing some activity to cover edits and introduce them to the audience (over a line of track). They can be very corny and contrived. It's always an issue with the clock and being creative takes a back seat. During my shoot this morning, and after we interviewed the director of the soup kitchen, I followed the Rev. Chalmars as he met and talked with patrons. He may have been hamming it up for me a bit, but when he saw this man wearing a Detroit jacket, he held on to the man's hand after a long handshake and then studied the jacket in admiration. My brain's shutter was busy clicking away as my video camera was also rolling. A nice still image and a sweet moment on video, too. Sometimes the two do meet.

Ultimately, the piece was centered on a gentleman Itay found who formerly worked in IT, was unemployed for some time, living in a homeless shelter and visiting the soup kitchen out of desperation. At the end of the interview he informs us that he's starting a new job the week after Thanksgiving. I was happy for him, but, excited for us that after a half dozen interviews, we found our guy that gave us our story.

Alexis Christoforous, CBS News Business Correspondent, reporting from the soup kitchen in Chelsea. While concentrating on follow-focusing Alexis while she walked around this table of men eating, I failed to notice the gentleman in the background waving to me during the shoot. There are always surprises!



Unfortunately, as he became to main focus of the piece, that didn't leave too much room to use my favorite images I had fished around for all morning in the kitchen. But, in the end, it's the story stupid! And in TV News, that's really all that counts!!

Ah, yes, a hurricane to cover--finally!

Situation: Moments before our next live shot, CBS News correspondent Karen Brown rests on the balcony of a hotel in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, during hurricane Earl in early September, 2010. While the hurricane only touched the coast, with some minor flooding, it still looked pretty good through the lens.

Time: About 5:20 a.m. Two spot lights highlight the rain to her right and left, pointing towards the ocean, with another one inside the hotel room, illuminating Karen from the front.

What I'm thinking? Honestly, I'm saying to myself, "This is crazy! Just keep the lens dry. But, the sideways rain and sheer amount of water definitely says major storm! Just make it until 9 a.m. without any electrical or sound issues and we'll be o.k.!" And, with the door open to the hotel room, wind gusts hitting close to 60 mph, the carpet in and around my tripod is soaked. I'm constantly trying to keep the cables away from the forming puddles. We did over 40 live shots to stations all over the country in a 5-hour period so there wasn't much time to dry off. Did you say fun? Well, challenging. Moisture is not a cameraman's friend! What you don't see: There's a cable running from the camera and microphone down the balcony leading several hundred feet around the hotel to where the satellite truck is parked. As a back up in case the signal disappears, we've got a computer connected via an ethernet cable that is sending the image from the camera with sound streaming back to New York. Why this was special? You're not going to believe this but I've been sent to cover hurricanes five other times. Each time, and I mean each time, it's been blue skies and bright sun! So, this time at least I'm dealing with a driving rain and blowing sand that actually hurt when we ran outside to shoot Karen Brown's stand-up piece-to-camera. But the crew I was with kept reminding me this was "nothing!" A real hurricane, they said, (based on their experiences first-hand in Katrina and many others) is when there's no power and no running water--resulting in hygienic emergencies! By 2 p.m. that afternoon, wouldn't you know, the sun was shining as Earl was hundreds of miles away.