Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

I’m working on updating photos on my website. I started by adding a “Sportrait” category since I have shot so many in recent months.

One I added was of New Castle baseball player Caylor Escalante.

We first started in the dugout with the team name, Trojans, behind him. After we finished that shot, he told me that he spent about 50 hours painting that by himself.

Caylor Escalante (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Next, we went out to second base, his position on the field. I laid down in the dirt to get the right angle but the shot turned out pretty cool.

Caylor Escalante (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

To see my new Sportrait gallery, head on over to my main website.

June seemed to be a good month for images. On top of some of the others that I’ve already posted, here are a handful more.

Without question, the newsiest thing to happen to New Castle this month was a roof collapse. Big Bounce Inflatables, a local children’s attraction, had its roof cave in one afternoon with people inside. No one was seriously injured but the building had to be bull dozed down to ensure there were no further collapses. I arrived on the scene about the same time as emergency responders.

City Building Commissioner Les Hall, right, walks around Big Bounce after its roof collapsed Thursday afternoon. There were five people inside at the time of the collapse. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Jim and Bonnie Henson take photographs of Big Bounce as emergency workers barricade the streets after its roof collapsed. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Wastewater Treatment Plant workers place barricade the roads around the Big Bounce Thursday afternoon after the roof collapsed. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

An Indianapolis based civil engineer searches through rubble at the site where Big Bounce Inflatables collapsed Thursday afternoon. He said that it is difficult to distinguish what damage was done during the collapse from what was done by bulldozers. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

As hard as I try to get to spot news quickly, sometimes I just can’t get there fast enough. For example, a motorcycle caught on fire one afternoon. My route was plagued with stop signs and red lights. By the time I got there, the bike was extinguished.

Vaughn Reid Jr. looks down at a motorcycle that had caught on fire Thursday night shortly after the bike had been extinguished. The motorcycle was supposed to be sold later the same evening.(C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

The last thing you think of with a parade is rain. During this year’s Memorial Day parade in Middletown, it hardly let up. Wet streets, diffused skies and umbrellas all can be beneficial to photo composition.

U.S. Marines carry flags down Main Street in Middletown Tuesday evening as part of the parade during the Middletown Lions Club Fair. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

A woman watches the parade from a balcony Tuesday evening as part of the Middletown Lions Club Fair. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

With Memorial Day comes the opening of swimming season. Of course I have to make the obligatory pool feature shot.

Jae Williams, six months, swims with her mother, Marquetta, and father, James Wednesday afternoon in the Aquatic Center at Baker Park. The Williams' moved to New Castle in January and this is Jae's first season in a pool. "We'll be out here every day it doesn't rain," said James Williams. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

I’ve started shooting more sportraits as the school athletic seasons winded down. Here was one of local track star J.T. Griggs.

Blue River Valley's J.T. Griggs leaps a hurdle June 25 at the BRV track. Griggs won three events in the Henry County track meet this year. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

With budget cuts running rampant, it came as little surprise that the New Castle Community School Corporation decided to close Greenstreet Elementary School after this school year. It wasn’t easy for many of the students or teachers on the last day of school.

Fourth grade Greenstreet Elementary School teacher Aaron Benson waits at the door to hugs students as they leave Tuesday after their final classes. Students are being spread between three area schools after budget cuts forced the school corporation to close Greenstreet after this school year. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Some assignments can sound that boring. I’ve been told to go out and photograph a building for a story. Too many times.

Most architectural photographers will either use tilt-shift lenses on a 35mm camera or some sort of larger format of camera that can adjust the lens and film planes accordingly. This is because on a standard lens, the lines on a building appear to converge. This is known in the photographic world as keystoning or tombstoning. Proper usage of a tilt-shift can keep the lines straight.

That being said, I’m not an architectural photographer. I need a nice image that gives clear visual representation of the pictured building. I try to turn a building photograph into a building portrait.

To make an interesting photo of a building, I often rely on fundamental photography skills. Look for unique angles. Find patterns. Wait for nice light.

For me, this often leads me to look up. I have had editors say that the ground should be included in building images to provide a reference point for the viewer. I can see that justification in some circumstances. However, I shot some of my most compelling building photos (if you can truly call any building picture compelling) while looking up.

I had to shoot an under-construction apartment building for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I took one photograph that included the ground and gave a view of most of the building.

The Ford apartments building remains boarded up at the intersection of Pine Street and 14th Street. Max Gersh | Post-Dispatch ©2008

I thought it was kind of boring. However, it showed what the building looked like. This building is filled with patterns so I started to experiment with my angles until I found something I really liked.

When I looked up at the building from the sidewalk, my eyes followed the not-so-yellow brick road. The building’s inherent depth almost gives the illusion that it is laying on its side.

The Ford apartments building remains boarded up at the intersection of Pine Street and 14th Street. Max Gersh | Post-Dispatch ©2008

As much as I enjoyed the above picture, I wanted to find a better way to illustrate this particular building. I tried to work with the available patterns and incorporate the building’s awning which included its address.

The Ford apartments building remains boarded up at the intersection of Pine Street and 14th Street. Max Gersh | Post-Dispatch ©2008

I liked the idea but not the execution. The photo was bland. So again, I moved around, got close and looked up.

The Ford apartments building remains boarded up at the intersection of Pine Street and 14th Street. Max Gersh | Post-Dispatch ©2008

This photo incorporated the best parts of each photo. Angle. Patterns. Awning. Address. This was the published piece.

I recently had to shoot another building. Since this building is only a block away from my office, I was able to wait for opportune lighting.

First I looked for patterns.

An old cigar ad remains on the side of what will be the Maxwell Commons in downtown New Castle after much of the building has received a coat of paint. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Then I looked for a better angle.

Restoration on the building that will be the Maxwell Commons is well underway in downtown New Castle. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Both photographs ran in the paper.

These are by no means Pulitzer winning photos. They are representative of how a photojournalist can rely on artistic knowledge to compose a printable image of the most mundane and static subjects.

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.

For as small of a town as New Castle, Indiana is, we sure do have a lot of skateboarders. There has been a recent push to install a skate park at Baker Park, the park in the center of town.

I went out looking for some skater kids to photograph for our story on the possible skate park. I went to Baker Park where they often congregate. Jackpot.

Alex Chamberlin practices a 360 kickflip in a Baker Park parking lot Wednesday evening. "This is the only place we really don't get in trouble for skating," said Chamberlin. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

After taking a few shots there, they headed north to skate in the city. I followed. They started jumping down a flight of six steps in front of a local consignment shop.

I rarely take out my fisheye lens but for skateboarding, it often adds a nice look so I gave it a whirl. The lighting in the background was just right but I needed a little fill flash to illuminate the skater.

Ethan Jester does a kickflip down a set of steps in front of Fashion Trends Consignment Shop in New Castle Wednesday evening. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

I was happy with the results. Nice light. Nice framing. Nice action. I can’t ask for too much more.