The recent hailstorms in Bozeman, Montana have made me think about, well, storms. I was reminded of some recent weather I experienced while on the shores of Lake Michigan as a squall rolled in from the West.
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I love college commencement. It’s a wonderful way to end the year with a photo-rich environment. The happy graduates and proud parents always make for entertaining photos. As the News Photographer for Montana State University I get to know many students throughout their educational careers. It’s rewarding for me to see these students achieve their goals and move on to the next chapter in their lives. Events like commencement are a terrific exercise in visual storytelling. Add some music and now it’s a multi-media piece. I try to work the event in different ways each year to make sure I keep the images fresh. In doing so, I learn different ways to tell the story and sometimes even learn something new about the event. Follow this link for a slideshow of the 2010 commencement. view slideshow May 1, 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the incident in which United States pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union in the U-2 aircraft spurring an internation incident. Powers was later exchanged for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel on the Glienecke Bridge (shown here) in Berlin. The Glienecke Bridge spans the Havel River in the city of Potsdam just southwest of Berlin. In 1952 the East German state closed the bridge, allowing only vehicles from the four occupying powers to cross, making it one of the few links between East and West Germany. In a 1986 article in the New York Times, author James M. Markham dubbed it the “Bridge of Spies.” From 1962 to 1986 three prisoner exchanges were made on the bridge. The most notable of these was the first exchange in 1962, when U.S. pilot Gary Powers was exchanged under the cover of darkness for Soviet colonel Rudolf Abel. Powers had spent nearly two years in a Soviet prison as punishment when his U2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. Spring in Montana can be a real trickster. Many of our winter activities such as skiing have passed their prime and we’re teased with rays of sunshine and glimmers of warmer weather. Just when I start to unpack the shorts and shortsleeve shirts I wake up to four inches of fresh snow. I decided to reflect upon this winter and remembered a memorable photo shoot with the 320 Ranch in Big Sky, Montana. In February I finished a long day session with photos of their western-style sleigh ride complete with chili, hot cocoa and rip roarin’ spirits. While people found shelter from the cold in the tent near the edge of the ranch I trudged through the snow for a peaceful shot of the scene. There’s just nothing like a sleigh ride in Montana to make a memorable winter.  ©Kelly Gorham 2010
You just can’t live without a good assistant. I’ve been fortunate to work with a few in the past couple years. Leslie, Amy and Jackson have kept me on track. This is Jackson during a recent photo session with a track and field coach. Jackson is monitoring my lighting rig and probably laughing quietly at me after we couldn’t figure out why the flashes weren’t triggering. The culprit was me. I had accidentally switch channels on my Nikon SU-800 transmitter. Yup, even after 20 years I unfortunately make the occassional silly mistake. This was a tricky shoot as we were cross-lighting with the sun which was glowing pretty bright. The exposure ended up being f8 at 1/500 sec with 2 Nikon SB-800 flash units set to full power. Unfortunately I can’t show the finished product yet since that would scoop the magazine for which I was shooting. So we’ll have to do with the star assistant of the day, Jackson. Meet Patrick Casey. Patrick is fast. He recently ran a mile in 3:59.17 making him one of the fastest ever at Montana State University. Almost equally quick was the portrait I did of Patrick for a news article. I caught him just before practice last week and was able to pick a location, set lighting and complete the portrait in less than 5 minutes. This is frequently the norm in news photography and I believe it’s possible due to a lot of pre-planning and having an image in mind. In this case, simple, yet effective lighting also was key. The lighting for this image was simply a Nikon SB-800 flash shot through a diffusion screen, balanced with the existing light in the fieldhouse. A Nikon D300s camera with Sigma 10-20mm lens was used to create the dynamic angle.  Montana State University researcher Jim Wiley studies the use of nanomaterials to develop a new way of fighting influenza and other respiratory infections caused by viruses.Jovanka Voyich-Kane, Ph. D studies the human immune system. MSU photo by Kelly Gorham People often think of the act of dangling off a cliff face, climbing mountains or trekking through jungles and deserts when they consider the extremes photographers often face in their jobs. I’ve had the pleasure (?) of these experiences in my career but more often my extremes come in a different form. In my role as a university photographer I frequently document research in various laboratories. While reaching my arms into a vent hood containing questionable microscopic critters my be extreme to some I have come to enjoy what I refer to as “extreme science.” I get to see people working on the cutting edge of research, research that might produce fuel from fungus, answer questions about the plight of the dinosauers or research that could help doctors find cancer more quickly. These professors, researchers and students are on the edge of science and every time I get the opportunity to photograph them I am excited for what I might learn that day. I just have to be mindful of the occasional comment, “Um, you may not want to stick your head in there.” My current project, The Stones Have Memories: A photographic exploration of Berlin’s Cold War landmarks opened today at the Exit Gallery at Montana State University’s Strand Union Building in Bozeman, Mont. An artist reception will be held Thursday, February 4 from 5-7 p.m. The gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 9am to 4pm. The exhibit opened in November in New York to critical acclaim. The 99 page book is currently for sale at the MSU Bookstore.
As technology advances the bridge between still and motion photography is merging. News photographers throughout the industry are increasingly required to work in both mediums. I really enjoy motion capture as it’s one more way to tell a story visually. Here is a recent project highlighting NCAA ski racing action at Big Sky, MT and Lindley Park in Bozeman during the MSU invitational. All the video was shot with a Nikon D300s as well as some stills. Additional stills were shot by Jackson Harris with a Nikon D700.
I had the opportunity to photograph Dominique from Haiti. Dominique is the sole Montana State University student from Haiti. Dominique said recently about the earthquake that struck Haiti, “I spent three or four days not knowing about my parents, my family,” Etienne said, adding that while her family all have cell phones, they did not work in the days following the quake. “I stayed in my room and was in shock.” My assignment was to photograph her to accompany this news story so I relied on what I call the studio editorial portrait. Normally when we talk about editorial portraits we refer to an image of a person in an environment that relates to them. In this situation I couldn’t think of anything appropriate so I chose a studio shot and relied on engaging lighting and a thoughtful pose. It’s not something I often do in news photography but proved to be helpful in keeping the attention purely on the subject. For the technical folks out there I created this image with a Nikon D300s camera and Nikkor 85mm f1.8 lens. The exposure was f1.8 @ 1/250 second. Lighting was from 2 Nikon SB-800 flashes. The key flash was modified with a DIY softlighter umbrella and second diffusion by a 2′x4′ panel. A gold reflector added warmth to the subject while 2 full CTO gels created the background light.
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