Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

I’ve just about rounded out my first month at the Rockford Register Star in Rockford, Ill. This month has flown by. I love that I’m busy shooting again.

The first day on the job was a little sluggish. Paperwork. And lots of it. That is until a vehicle rolled over on a snow-covered bypass. I rushed out there and got photos of the firefighters using the jaws of life to free the man stuck inside.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2010 Blackhawk firefighters work to free a man trapped in a gray Chevrolet Malibu Monday night on US Bypass 20 at near Simpson Road. Fire Chief Harry Tallacksen said the driver's injuries weren't critical.

And yes, that is snow still falling. I had to brush off my car after my brief time there shooting.

While that was a little bit of excitement on my first day, this time of year can be slow. Assignments have been thin. That has left plenty of time to explore the town and search for stand-alone art. I drove into a state park and found ice fisherman. For the first time in my life, I stepped out onto a frozen over lake and treaded softly.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2010 Nick Lashock of Machesney Park fishes through the snow and ice Thursday, Dec. 27, 2010, on Pierce Lake at Rock Cut State Park in Loves Park. Lashock caught 8 crappie and tossed them all back.

As the new year approached, they wanted art to go with a story about how law enforcement would be stepping up their patrols. I met up with a sheriff’s deputy to get photos of him shooting radar.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2010 Senior Deputy John Parry shoots a radar gun Thursday, Dec. 30, 2010, on South Main Street near the US 20 Bypass in Rockford.

Early in January, my editor called me while I was driving into work to divert me to the scene of a morning house fire. The flames were out long before I got there. However, the arson dog made for a decent frame.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2011 State Fire Marshal Kenny Arnold walks out of a burnt Wren Circle home Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011, with his dog, Ellie, who is trained to smell for accelerants. Rockford District Fire Chief Steve Bishop (not pictured) said the home was not currently being lived in and was undergoing renovations.

The next evening, I responded to a shooting at a shop in the city. Again, there was no “action” to get so a little bit of patience yielded a decent frame of police leaving the scene.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2011 Police officers leave The Happy Shop Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, after responding to a shooting on the 1500 block of Broadway in Rockford.

Working with the police and firefighters becomes routine for photojournalists. However, one of them helped me live out a dream while on assignment. I was photographing the firefighters training on a ladder truck at the fire station. Before I could finish thinking it, they invited me to go up the ladder. They didn’t have to ask me twice.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2011 Firefighter Marcus Owens trains on an extended ladder truck Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, at fire station 2 in Rockford.

It’s not every day that you get to spend a portion of your day at a liquor store. But I did when I was getting shots for a story on a “lucky” place to buy lottery tickets. This proved to be a challenge. A lot of people don’t want to be photographed while buying lottery tickets. This took a lot of patience and a little bit of sweet talking.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2011 Barbara Kirchner (left) checks Angie Jackson's lottery tickets Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011, at Central Park Tap in Rockford. Jackson has been buying lottery tickets there twice a week for about 15 years, playing the same numbers every time. She won $150 on her Mega Millions ticket. "You can't win if you don't play," Jackson said.

Along the same lines, I had to get shots at an off-track-betting facility in town. I’m from Louisville, KY and everyone talks about gambling at “the track” (Churchill Downs). Apparently outside of Kentucky, many people like to keep their betting vices private.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2011 Clarence Holmes watches horse races Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, at the off track betting facility at Don Carter Lanes in Rockford.

Many newspapers have pool lenses (no swimming pun intended) for the photographers, meaning a variety of lenses any shooter can take for the day when they need it. I decided to try out a lens I had never even seen in real life during a recent swim meet. Canon’s 200mm L f/1.8 lens. This lens isn’t even made anymore. The closest current lens is a 200 f/2. The aquatics center I was shooting in was incredibly dark. My camera was set to 1600 ISO and f/1.8 at 1/250th sec. That lens rocks.

MAX GERSH | ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR ©2011 Max Saichek of Jefferson High School competes in the 100 yard butterfly event Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, at the Jefferson High School boys swim invitational in Rockford.

I look forward to a long career in Rockford. Many more things to come.

I remember having to do a panorama in a high school photography class. Mine was of a tree line across a lake shot with a 50mm lens on my old Pentax ME Super. It looked ok. Most things lined up.

For fun, I tried another one. On the second one, the subject was much closer. When I started to line up the images, I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. Nothing lined up. At the time, I didn’t know why. Now I do.

Two words. Nodal point. Essentially, this is the point where the image inverts in the lens.

When doing a panorama, many people will try to put their camera on a tripod using the threaded mount on the bottom of the camera body. Unfortunately, that is not under the nodal point and will cause distortion between images and not allow perfect alignment. Perfect alignment comes from the camera’s rotational point happening directly below the nodal point of the lens.

For example, I used the mount on the bottom of my camera months ago while doing a panorama inside of a church. Most things lined up but some of the pew backs did not. It is especially noticeable on the back few pews on the left.

The interior of the new St. Anne Catholic Church is seen in this photo illustration showing approximately a 180-degree view. The image was composed from 24 separate photos. (C-T photo illustration Max Gersh) ©2010

What the camera companies would like is for you to buy one of their multi-hundred dollar panoramic tripod heads. But if you’re like me and know what lens you will be using and want to save a ton of money, it is pretty easy to build one on the super cheap.

I started out by getting a piece of 1/8″ aluminum. I had this already but you can find it at any hardware store. A long rail of it is about $10. I did buy a few bolts and nuts to tighten things down (total of less than $1.50). I made sure every piece of hardware was 1/4″-20, the same thread as a standard camera mount.

I centered and drilled a 1/4″ hole at one end of the aluminum plate. Then I mounted my camera to it with one of the bolts I bought.

There are plenty of tests online to find your nodal point. I did pretty much the same thing as everyone else. I set up two objects in a direct line about a meter apart. The camera is straight in line with them as well. As you pan, the items will stay in line if the nodal point is correct. If not, the objects wont appear to be aligned unless you are looking straight on. This website has visuals of how it looks when the slide is correct, too far forward and too far backwards.

**UPDATE** I’ve been asked how I had the plate attached to the tripod to find the nodal point before I had any holes drilled for attachment. I simply used a spring clamp similar to this one. I would slide the plate and clamp it in place and do the panning test. I then would adjust and re-clamp and the do it again and again until I got it just right.

When I found the right point, I made a mark on the plate and drilled a hole there.

I put the tripod screw through that hole and used a hex nut to lock it down. Then, used a bolt and attached the camera.

I was building this for my Canon 1D Mark II with the 24-70 f/2.8 L lens zoomed at 24mm. If you’re trying to make this for the same setup, the center of the two holes on the slide are about 5.5″ apart.

Now, if you have a drill press or other fancy tools, you could actually make this a “slide” so you could adjust it on the fly for other focal lengths. If I wanted to do another focal length, I’d have to do the alignment test again and drill a new hole.

This is the DIY nodal point slide on the floor with the camera hole and tripod hole drilled. I marked which was which and added an arrow to show the direction of the lens to avoid any confusion in the field. ©2010

Here is what my camera looks like on the rig.

My Canon EOS 1D Mark II with 24-70 f/2.8 L lens on a DIY nodal point slide to achieve accurate panoramas. ©2010

Having the urge to do an immediate test, I ran outside of my apartment and took a quick panorama of the building.

A quick test panorama of my apartment building using my DIY nodal slide. This panorama is composed of 14 images. ©2010

Notice how all of the lines in the sidewalk and building line up perfectly. Also notice my lovely shadow.

If you try this on your own, keep in mind that these panoramas are cropped to cut out the dead space. Dead space happens around the edges on all panoramas in the gaps where you don’t photograph. Here is the above panorama of my apartment with the dead space left in.

A quick test panorama of my apartment building with the dead space left in. This panorama is composed of 14 images. ©2010

After determining that my nodal slide was a success, I headed out to Memorial Park in New Castle, IN to make some more scenic panoramas.

One I did while out there was of my car. It has many things that have to line up. I figured that would be another good test to make sure everything lined up.

A panorama of my Subaru Forester in Memorial park. This was shot on my DIY nodal slide and consists of 18 images. ©2010

All of the lines matched up perfectly. It lined up so perfectly that you can’t really tell how close I was to the car while shooting. I couldn’t fit the entire car in a single frame with a 24mm lens. Just keep in mind that it took 18 images to compose the entire scene.

I then turned to the large pond. I walked down into a muddy area where it appeared the water had receded. To put this to the true test, I did a 360 degree panorama. Composed from 55 separate images, the full resolution of this image is unreal.

A 360 degree view in Memorial Park made from 55 separate images. Shot on my DIY nodal slide. ©2010

With the same set of images, I decided to see if I could form it into what is commonly known as a “wee planet” through a process called stereographic projection. Here is how it turned out.

A stereographic projection (wee planet) at Memorial Park. Shot on my DIY nodal slide and consists of 55 separate images. ©2010

I’d say $1.50 well spent and good use of some scrap metal.

Let me start off by saying this is a techy and camera-specific post for shooters.

Chris Lee is an excellent sports photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Apparently, he is also excellent at reading the owner’s manual to his Canon 1D.

Many professional photographers shoot their camera in a full manual mode to ensure they have the most control of the exposure. This works great until the subject you’re tracking runs into a shadow and your settings are now three stops off.

For years, I’ve just quickly spun my camera’s dials to compensate. But usually by then, the action is over or the exposure isn’t right on.

That was until I read about the “Chris Lee button.” What a wonderful discovery.

To get to the point, on the back of the Canon 1D series cameras (original & MarkII), there is a button third from the right at the top. Most shooters use the button with the asterisk ( * ) as the focus button. It is the one to the left of that. It is labeled WB, +/-, and an X-shaped box. That button can be programmed to switch camera modes while pressed.

For example, I could be shooting in manual when my subject runs into a shadow. I am already pressing the ( * ) button so I move my thumb left less than an inch onto the WB, +/-, X button. That switches my camera instantly into AV (aperture priority) mode and adjusts the shutter speed to match my preset f-stop setting.

With the press of one button, your camera will continue following focus and get an accurate exposure in AV mode. As soon as you release the button, it goes back to the manual settings you last had.

AMAZING.

So, how do you do it?

You must have a computer with the Canon Utilities program installed and the camera connected via Firewire. In that program, you can activate the personal functions of the camera.

1. Enable personal function #6. This is the only step you have to do on the computer.
2. Go to the personal functions menu on the camera and turn on #6.
3. Set your desired exposure settings for when you hit the WB, +/-, X button. For me, that’s AV mode and f/2.8. The ISO wont change from manual your exposure.
4. Press and hold the +/- (exposure compensation) button on the top of the camera next to the backlight button.
5. Simultaneously press the WB, +/-, X button.
6. Press the WB, +/-, X button to select.

This didn’t entirely make sense for me. That is because you have to make sure some other settings are in order.

If you have custom function #11 set to 2, then you have to press and hold the magnify/AF point select button and the WB, +/-, X button simultaneously.

You will also need custom function #18 set to 0.

When you do this properly, you will see a small square appear in the top right hand corner of the top LCD screen. You’re exposure settings have been saved to that button.

While this setting was discussed on SportsShooter a few years ago, I am just now coming across it. I find that many shooters don’t know their cameras have this setting.

Chris Lee revisited the topic recently when he got his 1D Mark IV. Apparently it is now a stand-alone custom function.

Thanks for sharing this Chris. It is a great tool to have a thumbs length away.

My paper has started a project called 20 under 40. Citizens under 40 years old were nominated for profile pieces that would appear in our paper.

Each one needs a storytelling portrait.

It has presented a unique opportunity to really think on my feet for a good environmental portrait for so many different professions. We are only half way through the project and I haven’t shot every single one that has been published. Here are a few of my favorites thus far.

Each portrait delivered a new set of challenges. For this portrait of Jerry Ingalls, senior pastor at First Baptist Church, I had to find a location that focused on him but still had a churchy feel. When he told me about how he really likes to interact with his congregation, I thought it would be best to sit him in the pews near some stained glass.

I try to pay a little extra attention to the details with portraits. For example, I didn’t want a big highlight from my strobe (I used my DIY beauty dish on all of these) on the stained glass so I had to angle it just right. Also, I positioned myself so the pew on the right hid an electrical outlet on the wall.

Jerry Ingalls came to New Castle in January of 2010 to lead the First Baptist Church as senior pastor. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

For some of these portraits, I had very little time to work with the subject. For example, I met up with Dr. Damion Harris at his work during his clinic hours. Needless to say, he wanted to be in and out. He mentioned that he could pull up an x-ray on his computer and we went with it. Within five minutes, we were done.

Dr. Damion Harris is an orthopedic surgeon at the Forest Ridge Medical Pavilion. Harris came to the New Castle facility about seven months ago and specializes in shoulders. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Reflections were again a huge issue while photographing Adam Bowman in Myers Furniture and Appliance. The light had to be just right to minimize huge glares. It was also interesting trying to balance the exposure on him and on the surrounding HDTVs in a very dimly lit room.

Adam Bowman is head of electronics at Myers Furniture and Appliance in New Castle. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Weather was the tricky factor for Lindsay Brown’s portrait. It stormed very heavily the morning of the shoot. I wasn’t sure what was going to be happening by the time of we met up. The clouds broke and we had sun. Lots of sun. So much sun that I had to shoot at ISO 50 and f/8 to get my shutter slow enough to sync with my flash  (1/250th sec) which I needed to fill in shadows.

Lindsay Brown has been working at Henry County Hospital for almost five years, currently working in the emergency room as a nurse. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

For Seth Stevens, the biggest challenge I thought I would be facing was the location. When I heard banker, I immediately wanted to shoot by or in the vault. I was almost certain they wouldn’t allow it for security reasons. But it never hurts to ask.

Seth Stevens is the business development officer for Citizen's State Bank in New Castle. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

I still have more portraits to shoot in the coming weeks so I look forward to seeing what kind of fresh ideas I come up with.

Let’s just say I was bored the other night. I decided to shoot a self portrait.

The idea was to capture an image of myself off the ground glass in my Hasselblad 500 C/M. I had done something similar when I was testing the Hasselblad.

Looking down at the ground glass of a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

So, I began to setup.

I sat the Hasselblad on the table and aimed it at my recliner. It was important to have both the focus of the Hasselblad and the capturing camera, my Canon 1D Mark II, sharp. To pre-focus the Hasselblad, I laid a newspaper over the headrest on the recliner. The contrasty text made for a great focus chart.

Next was to position my 1D Mark II.

I knew I would need a unique positioning so I took out my Magic Arm, a multi-jointed camera mount. I carefully positioned it directly over the focusing screen of the Hasselblad.

I was shooting with the Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L lens. This gave me a bit of versatility once I had the Magic Arm locked down.

I wanted the image to be spot lit. I put my Canon 550ex Speedlight on a stand and attached the Gary Fong PowerSnoot. To fire it, I used my Pocket Wizards.

I took a few test shots to fine tune the exposure.

The portrait itself looked okay but I wanted to see more of the Hasselblad. I took out a red LED flashlight and sat it on top of an old cheapo zoom lens to angle it at the lens of the Hasselblad.

Here is what the setup looked like.

The setup for the self-portrait. ©2010 Max Gersh

The flash is to the left and about eight feet up.

I was worried about the Magic Arm tipping over so I placed a somewhat heavy box on the back of its tripod base as a counter-weight.

When all was said and done, the portrait turned out kind of cool.

A self-portrait of Max Gersh seen through the ground glass of a Hasselblad 500 C/M. ©2010 Max Gersh

It was completely overkill and unnecessary.

But like I said, I was bored.