Hyperfocal: Robert Giroux

I’ve covered a couple of these already and I don’t see them published much so I thought I’d share this image with you here.   A very solemn “ceremony” I aimed to respectfully cover.   The media have been allowed to cover these operations since April this year and you can read more about that here, if you want.

DOVER, DE - JULY 21: U.S. Marines carry the remains of Brandon T. Lara on July 21, 2009 in Dover, Delaware. Lara, 20, died July 19, 2009 while supporting combat operations in Iraq's Anbar province. The remains of one U.S. Marine in Iraq and four U.S. Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan where flown to Dover for the dignified transfer. (Photo by Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

Two Red Line Metrorail trains that collided with one another between the Fort Totten and Takoma Park stations during the evening rush hour June 22, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo Copyright Robert Giroux / GETTY IMAGES)

They say Washington becomes repetitive, even as some of the faces slowly change over time, the pictures and situations created for the news media tend to repeat over and over.  So deja-vu is a common experience but this time it was a little different.  Last night I was assigned to cover the Metro train collision for Getty Images and remembered that way back in 1996 I had covered a train collision between a MARC commuter train and an AMTRAK train for Knight-Ridder (now McClatchy Info Services) which killed 11 people.

16 February 1996, MARC and Amtrak Collide in Silver Spring, MD near DC (Photo Copyright Robert Giroux)

{Click any image to view  larger slideshow}

The locations of these two crashes are about 3 miles apart, the 1996 occurrence being a bit farther north along the same line.  The pictures bear some similarities and I thought it might interest readers of this blog.

Here are a couple more pictures from last nights tragedy.

Two Red Line Metrorail trains that collided with one another between the Fort Totten and Takoma Park stations during the evening rush hour June 22, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo Copyright Robert Giroux / GETTY IMAGES)

Two Red Line Metrorail trains that collided with one another between the Fort Totten and Takoma Park stations during the evening rush hour June 22, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Photo Copyright Robert Giroux / GETTY IMAGES)

This is something that came to me a few days after getting my Canon 5D MkII’s.  I was lying in bed, about to fall asleep and the idea came to me.  So, I got up and gave it a try and it worked very well – Set the color balance K-Value while in live view mode so you can see the result live and dial-it-in just right!

TIP: Set Color Balance K-Valure in Live View!

It seemed kind of obvious but as it turns out everyone I’ve mentioned it to hadn’t tried or heard of  it and thought it was a good idea.  So I’m posting it here to help my fellow photographers!

So I finally get a chance to drive coast-to-coast and wouldn’t you know it — It’s not going to be a photo trip.  I’m pressed for time, relocating to DC, at least partially, since my wife is flying back a week later to get our house sold and help keep the cash flow as positive as possible while I re-establish myself as a photographer in DC.  Anyhow, being pressed for time didn’t mean I wouldn’t stop anywhere or even take some detours to see a couple things along the way — After all, I may not get to it again!  Unfortunately, as a photo trip it was pretty lame.  We never had great skies or even good light but, you’re at famous landmarks, of course you still take pictures and you complain endlessly about how much better they could have been at the right time of year, the right time of day, if I actually got out of the car, etc…  Cindy took it all pretty well, she’s used to it.  Here are a few pictures that I’m not so ashamed-of to not share with you here but remember:  They could have been so much better!!! 

{click to see larger!}

Badlands National Park, SD. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

Badlands National Park, SD. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

Badlands National Park, SD. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

Mount Rushmore visitors center. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

Mount Rushmore visitors center. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

The site of Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

The site of Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn. (PHOTO COPYRIGHT © 2009 ROBERT GIROUX)

One of the many nice things about this job is the near constant laughter.  Generally speaking, news media people, with the exception of most TV talking heads – who take themselves way too seriously, tend to have an extremely well developed sense of humor and rib each other constantly.  Anyone who knows me can tell you I love to laugh and that’s what made this assignment a fun one for me.  The cast of the new movie  “A Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” are very funny people and they were in exceptional form for this press conference – as can be seen in these pictures.

{Click on any image to view images larger and enter slide show}

Actors (L-R) Owen Wilson, Amy Adams, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais and Hank Azaria answer reporters questions in the Smithsonian Castle at a news conference to discuss their new movie, "A Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" in Washington May 14, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Giroux

Actors (L-R) Owen Wilson, Amy Adams, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais and Hank Azaria answer reporters questions in the Smithsonian Castle at a news conference to discuss their new movie, "A Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" in Washington May 14, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Giroux

Actors (L-R) Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais and Hank Azaria answer reporters questions in the Smithsonian Castle at a news conference to discuss their new movie, "A Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" in Washington May 14, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Giroux

Actors (L-R) Ben Stiller, Robin Williams and Ricky Gervais answer reporters questions in the Smithsonian Castle at a news conference to discuss their new movie, "A Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" in Washington May 14, 2009. REUTERS/Robert Giroux

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

When I received the call from Getty Images to go shoot travel/tourism, aka: “pretty pictures” in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago with the budgetary stipulation that I could go for only 3 days, and had to have it filed by end of Feb I was outwardly confident and happily accepted.  On the inside I was a little bit unsure.  After all, it’s February, in the Pacific North-West, there are no flowers, no leaves, relatively short days, virtually no tourists and a high probability of rain on any given day – could this even be done?

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

{click on any image to view slide show!}

As it turns out there are a couple of advantages and I did get lucky with the weather with Sun every day I was there.  Few tourists means fewer obstructed views, shorter lines getting into certain “attractions”, less traffic (I did a LOT of driving around).  Thanks to weather.com being fairly accurate I even managed to pick the right 3 day slot but still only decided the day before leaving to actually commit to hit the road as forecasts change from day to day.

I’ve been to Vancouver quite a few times for work but only once to see the sights and briefly at that… I had quite a few ideas, but probably not enough.

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

While looking at Google maps, to find directions to the Marriott, I noticed the “photo overlay” feature for the first time.  Yeah, I think it’s been there for a while, but I never played with it.  Turns out this was a hugely valuable research tool to plot my trip and find locations of interest.  Believe it or not, there are lots of good amateurs out there and while I didn’t outright copy anything I found online I’m not ashamed to admit some of the pictures I found there inspired my own versions.

Here are 14 of the 66 pictures that ended up in the final edit.  They are some of my favorites but I think they are also representative of the whole take.  ~ Please comment!

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

(Copyright © Robert Giroux/Getty Images)

The main purpose of this blog will be to talk about and post pictures from recent assignments as well as promote anything else going on in my career.  I may also discuss happenings in the editorial photo industry on occasion if something inspires me to do so.

Hopefully I’ll post often but circumstances will dictate.  Thanks for taking a look.