Photojournalist - Dick Kraus - Behind the Viewfinder

August 5, 1998

THE GRABBER

by Dick Kraus
Staff Photographer
Newsday

Once in awhile I get the opportunity to shoot something that requires more than one photo. In this day and age, everyone is a specialist. When I first started at Newsday, we were assigned according to our shifts, our availability and our location. We could start our day with a perp walk (a felon who was arrested and was being taken to court) and then do a fashion shoot or maybe a high school bartball game and then maybe a town board meeting. We got to do everything and I liked it that way. It gave me a chance to hone my skills in all phases of newspaper photography.

But, now we have specialists. We have some photographers who only shoot sports. We have some photographers who only shoot features. And we have some photographers who only shoot news. I fall into the last category. I complained once, that I missed shooting features and sports and was asked if I would like to switch over to one of the other fields. I said that I didn’t want to give up the opportunity to shoot news. So, that is what I have been doing for the past twenty or so years.

Mostly, our news shots are one picture deals. Oh, we may shoot a lot of photos, but, generally, if it appears in the paper at all, it is one shot. So, the other day, when I was assigned a story for our feature section (because several of their specialists were on vacation) I had the opportunity to shoot for a spread on kids learning to play golf.

The problem was that I really wasn't psyched for this job. It came to me after I had already covered three assignments for the news and business sections. Dull stuff. Mostly talking heads. And my day was almost over when I was given this job and I knew that in order to do it right, I would have to spend some time on it and bitch, bitch, bitch!

So, without an awful lot of endorphins making my brain tell me that I was a happy camper, I headed off to the golf driving range to meet the reporter and a bunch of kids. The reporter gave me a general idea about what her story would contain and I set about showing these kids hitting buckets of balls. I found one cute little 9 year old girl who grimaced every time she dribbled the ball off the tee. So I shot close-ups of her expressions. I shot the obligatory general view of the kids on the range. I showed the instructor helping a kid with his grip and I showed the golf mom with her two sons and a nephew. I had it pretty much wrapped but I realized that I didn’t have a “grabber.” On a shoot that doesn’t offer a whole lot of promise, it helps if you can shoot one “grabber.” One shot that stands out. It “grabs” the viewer's attention. And it makes the photographer look good.

So, I reached into my equipment bag and got out my trusty “grabber” lens. It’s not a piece of equipment that gets a lot of use, because if you use it too much, then your pictures aren't “grabbers” any more. I snapped my 15mm lens onto the bayonet mount of my Nikon and found a kid ready to drive some golf balls. Now if you just stand upright and shoot from eye level, you will get an unusual perspective owing to the extreme wide angle of this lens. But, it won't be a “grabber.”

I stretched myself out on the ground, flat on my belly, with the bucket of golf balls in the foreground and the kid teeing up balls and then swatting them in the background. The lighting was tricky because he was in the shade of an overhang and the bright sunlight out on the range created a drastic contrast situation. So, I set my SB-24 flash for a one and a third of a stop less than the bright sunlit portion of the scene, to fill in the shadow areas. Not too much, but enough to hold some detail. Then I framed the shot and strove to keep the camera straight to avoid tilted horizons and keystoning. Then I fired off a bunch of shots. And then I knew that I was done.

The editor selected a half dozen negatives to be scanned. Five of them were ok. They were relevant and they worked with the story. But, I am happy that I did take the time to use my “grabber” lens and lay on my belly to get this one shot. When that happens, I usually feel a little better about myself and I sleep well at night.

Dick Kraus

August 21, 1998