WEATHER OR NOT

It was after midnight when I drifted off to sleep, last night. The last sound that I heard was that of frozen rain slashing against my bedroom window.

I awoke just before the alarm went off, this morning. It was dark and the first sound that I heard was that of someone scraping ice from their car windshield right outside my first floor apartment. I knew what kind of a day I was in for.

Before I had breakfast, I grabbed a hammer with which to tap away any ice that may have sealed my car doors, and bundled up for the task at hand. Fortunately, I was able to open the car door with a firm tug, so the gentle tapping of the hammer wasn't necessary. I started up the engine and put the front and rear defrosters to work while I went to work with a plastic scraper. Chip...scrape...brush away the ice particles...chip...scrape...brush...for about 20 minutes, until I had enough visibility to be able to drive safely. Then I went in and had breakfast.

At 7:30 AM, I called my desk to get my assignments. Why wasn't I surprised to find out that I was assigned to weather? Hhhmmm. Well, I've been working for Newsday, here on Long Island (NY) for almost 40 years. And for 40 years, we've had winter as regular as clockwork. And, while we have had some exceptionally mild winters, we have also had our fair share of snow and ice. (Sometimes even more than our fair share, if you ask me.) And, every time we have snow or ice, it is treated as a phenomenon by our editors.

So, as I have done for the past 40 years, I grabbed my camera bag which sits by the front door, and placed it on the front seat of my car and headed out to look for the same things that I have looked for for 40 years. Experience teaches you what the editors will look for. People scraping ice/snow off of their cars. People bundled up for the cold. Snowplows. People shoveling walks and driveways. Kids waiting for school busses. Adults waiting for adult busses. Commuters waiting on train platforms. Traffic on the highways. If it's a major snow storm, people stocking up on groceries. And people who work outdoors, like utility workers, etc.

Those photographers who work the later shifts can look for kids building snowmen and sleigh riding. If it has stopped snowing and the sun is out, they can look for those lovely winter wonderland scenic shots. If it is still snowing, they can get the homeward bound commute and all the attendant problems. I've worked the late shift for years before I got this early tour, so I've had my fair share of both. (Sometimes, even more than my fair share, if you ask me.)

I didn't have to look too far to find the first item on my list. A woman from my apartment complex was scraping ice from her car windshield. I asked her if she minded if I took her photo (after identifying myself as a Newsday Photographer, of course.) She agreed. I had made a mental promise to myself that I was NOT going to shoot from inside the car as she scraped the outside. God, I've done that one so many times that even though it often looks good, in my mind it has become banal beyond banality. So, I stuck on a 20 mm lens and plunked it right onto the windshield so that I would pick up the texture of the ice. I told her to do her "thing" while I shot. But, I realized that in order to get any depth of field to show the textured ice in the foreground, and her sharp in the background, I'd have to stop down to at least f.8. Which meant shooting at 1/15th of a second because of the low light level. So, I asked her to freeze. She looked at me kinda funny until she realized that I wasn't asking her to become frozen food. I got off half a dozen frames that I knew that I could live with, and I was on my way.

©Newsday Photo by Dick Kraus

©Newsday Photo by Dick Kraus

The next stop was the Babylon Long Island RR Station. But, there were no crowds there. WCBS News Radio had been saying that a lot of people must have opted to stay home, because traffic on the roads and rails was lighter than anticipated. So, I got a shot of people on the platform trying to stay warm when the wind chill factor made it seem like 11 degrees below zero.

I headed north, towards the Long Island Expressway, but I didn't get very far before I saw one lone figure of a man holding an umbrella, peering out from layers of scarfs and coats, waiting for a bus. Another request to shoot and I didn't have to ask him to freeze. I do believe he already was. I dropped to one knee (ouch, that damned arthritis) to get under the umbrella and show the bus stop sign which gave the photo some relevance, and I was on my way, again. I traveled eastbound on the expressway, but didn't see anything worth shooting. I decided to take a small side trip to a local CompUSA store that was just a couple of miles off the beaten track. I wanted to return a mouse that I had purchased last weekend to replace the mouse from my Mac that had curled up and died. I didn't like this new one so, I jumped out and returned it. (SShhh. Don't tell my bosses.)

©Newsday Photo by Dick Kraus

Naturally, I wasn't the only staff photographer from Newsday out looking for weather, this day. Jake called me on the radio and asked where I was. We weren't too far apart and it was time for some warming coffee and a sticky cinnamon bun. So we agreed to meet at a place near the expressway. Jake treated and we sat in his car, telling war stories and griping as any news puke will do when there is another news puke willing to listen. The sticky bun was delicious and the coffee was just beginning to thaw us out when Jake's radio went off. It was the Day Photo Editor asking Jake to take a look at an incident on the expressway, near the office. Some animal lover called the cops to report a truckload of live poultry on the road in this sub-freezing weather, and the chickens must be cold. So, the cop pulled the truck over and issued a summons. (No, I am not making this up. You can ask Jake.)

Since my shift was getting near to quitting time, and I had a bunch of film to process and scan, I followed Jake as he headed west on the expressway. But, en route, I spied in my rearview mirror, a bunch of NY State Dept. of Transportation snow plows barreling up the pike behind me, throwing snow and bottling up the traffic behind them. Looked good to me. So, I laid the pedal to the metal (do people still say that?) and moved up ahead of them by a few miles so that I would have time to find a safe place to pull over and get my 300 mm lens from the trunk. Just as I got ready, the plows came around a bend. I framed. I focused. I shot. I managed about 8 frames (no, I don't use the motor drive except on single frame) and they were passed me. But, I really liked what I saw in the viewfinder. Sometimes you just know. I felt like it could be tomorrow's page one. Well, except for the fact that the Senate began hearing testimony on the Clinton impeachment thing. And, also, by the time I had finished scanning my stuff, I was able to look at some of the stuff that Jake and a few others had brought in. And, they had great stuff, too. Damn!

©Newsday Photo by Dick Kraus

Oh well. We'll be able to do it all over again, tomorrow. We are supposed to get more of the same kind of weather again, tonight. The paper might use one, maybe two of our shots from today. But, we'll be expected to go out and shoot the same kind of stuff once more. And, tomorrow is Friday. Which means it will be for a Saturday paper. Which is the smallest paper imaginable. There are two pages of local news. I hope they don't start shooting down planes in Iraq, again tomorrow..

Dick Kraus
Newsday Staff Photographer

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