The Moment It Clicks: Photography Secrets From One of the World's Top Shooters

roof of the Tropicana in Vegas to shoot Linda Donohue, the “Showgirl of the Year.”

    It was tough. Lots of stairs, wind, thunderstorm gathering, puddles of water everywhere. Makes you feel good about using large power packs.

    “Just ‘cause you got it, don’t mean you have to use it.”

    I was so blinkered about using all this gear, thinking strobe, strobe, strobe, that I totally forgot I was there to make a picture. Wasn’t the first time this had happened. I shudder to think about how many pictures I’ve missed while pursuing what I thought was gonna be the one. Sorta like dating, you know?
     
    Anyway, common sense seized me and I looked at the subject, who was fussing with her feathers. A thought crackled through my remaining synapses…that looks fantastic! I put my eye into the camera and went click. We were done.

    Thankfully the picture ran, and Linda was rewarded for climbing a 20-foot steel rung ladder in her dancing shoes, a G-string, and feathers.
     
    Of course, if you think sweet, simple available light and you don’t bring all this crap up there with you, you’ll need it. Welcome to photography!

     
    Keep Looking When the Light’s All Gone
     

    “Sometimes the Best light happens after the light is Gone.”

    You have to resist the urge to pack your stuff up when the sun goes below the horizon, because some of those last, lingering, luminous fingers of light can be some of the most beautiful of the day. You have to be careful when you work, because the light’s real pretty, but there ain’t much of it, so you’re going to have to use a slow shutter speed. I was able to hand-hold this shot, with a one-second exposure, but I don’t recommend this—this is where a tripod is your friend.
     
    This is also the water trick at play again. Without the sheen of water as the waves hit the shore, there would be no separation, and no picture. The lengthy exposure helps here. As the water rushes along the beach, it is in motion, and the highlight spreads.

    By the way, when you are stuck without a tripod, use anything you can get your hands on to stabilize the camera. Bill Allard at National Geographic is famous for using a beer bottle monopod. If there is nothing around, as there wasn’t in this situation, sit down Indian-style and brace your elbows on your knees. Or, being at the beach, smush together a towel on the ground and nestle the camera in it. You sacrifice a bit of the ideal camera angle you might have wanted, but you get a frame.

     

Chapter Four: There’s Always Something to Bounce Light Off Of

     

     
     
     
    Wing It
     

    Sometimes, you just gotta wing it. Got a job to shoot a photo portfolio of the overlarge freshmen NCAA hoopsters for Sports Illustrated . Started conjuring. One kid, Brandan Wright, had a wingspan of 7′4″. Okay, Batman comes to mind. Magazine liked the wings idea, but wanted them white. Cool…just switched screens in my head to X-Men 3 .

    “Magazine liked the wings idea, but wanted them white. Cool…now try finding wings for somebody six-eleven with arms that don’t stop. It ain’t easy.”

    Now try finding wings for somebody six-eleven with arms that don’t stop. It ain’t easy. My studio manager Lynn, who is a magical producer, started making phone calls and after a lot of dry wells, finally found the wing makers to the film and television industry, a small outfit in L.A. (where else?) called…Mother Plucker! I kid you not.
     
    Money is a huge concern in any production, and these wings cost $3,400, last minute drop shipped straight to North Carolina. Steve Fine, DOP [ 1 ] at SI , called. “Can’t you go to a Halloween shop?” he asked. I reminded him of the size of our subject. Got the go ahead.

    [ 1 ] DOP is Director of Photography. He’s the guy that controls my air supply—he assigns the story, has control over the overall direction of the photography, and is the main tap. Everything flows from him.

    (Steve Fine and Jimmy Colton are currently the best one-two punch in picture editing, by the way. Steve has the calculus of sports in his head. He knows that if LSU beats Auburn this Saturday, he has to move three photogs on January 3rd to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl ’cause LSU will go up against Florida State.

    He doesn’t even have to look at a schedule. Jimmy has always been a voice of reason and counsel to young photographers, an open door, and a shelter from the storm. Together, they are formidable and fight the good