Tag Archive for ‘new castle’ at Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh

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Always have your camera

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on September 13, 2010

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Someone once said the camera that takes the best pictures is the one you have with you… or something like that.

I’ve never been one to carry a point-and-shoot camera. If I’m going to have a camera with me, I’d rather it be my beloved SLR. But let’s be real. It’s not always practical to carry around a big camera rig like that. My Canon 1D Mark II with a 24-70 f/2.8 L lens takes great pictures but it also takes a lot of space. If I’m out for dinner, I don’t really want to plop it down on the table during the meal.

As much as I would enjoy something like a Canon G11, I can’t personally justify owning one at $500. It will never be as good as my SLR.

Recently, I got a Droid Incredible cell phone. I decided I’d take more of those random photos that I’ve missed over the past few years. While it is no super camera, it is the best cell phone camera I have ever used. Eight megapixels packed into a sleek package.

Famous Daves BBQ in Louisville, KY. ©2010

A light hanging over the sidewalk in downtown Louisville, KY. ©2010

Besides using the regular camera app, I’ve been using the Retro Camera app that allows for some stylization that mimics a variety of cameras including a pin hole camera, Polaroid and a Holga. That has been yielding some great results.

One afternoon in Louisville, I laid out on my parent’s hammock snapping photo after photo. From my swaying comfort, I got photos of myself, the family dogs and any other random thing that looked interesting.

The phone also is handy for snapping random “artsy” photos around town.

Halftime at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. ©2010

A water tower in New Castle, Indiana. ©2010

At the end of the day, I would rather shoot these photos with one of my SLRs - my Canon 1D Mark II or Hasselblad 500 C/M. But I snapped these at the spur of the moment. Having a decent quality camera in my pocket provided me an opportunity to capture an image that I otherwise wouldn’t have.

Yanah Rolston

Published

Max Gersh

on September 1, 2010

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Kids aren’t always the easiest to work with. Sometimes they act shy and don’t cooperate during a portrait session. Hyperactivity can also be a problem. However, at age 7, Yanah Rolston was one of the best kids I’ve ever worked with.

Yanah is an incredible golfer. She competes at international youth events. She has been golfing for four years and has already sunk two eagles and was just a few feet away from landing a hole-in-one.

Our paper was doing a profile piece on Yanah. I met up with her at a local golf course to snap a few portraits. She was excited to talk to our sports editor, Jeremy Hines, and pose for portraits.

Jeremy put her swing in perspective:

“Pound-for-pound, Yanah Rolston could outdrive the best golfers in the world. And she’s just 7 years old.

Rolston can drive a golf ball 160 yards. She weighs close to 45 pounds. That is an average of 3.6 yards per pound. Tiger Woods weighs 180 pounds. If he could drive 3.6 yards per pound of body weight, he would drive the ball 666 yards.

Tiger’s actual average is 290 yards off the tee.”

Keep your eyes on this kid. She could be leading the LPGA in a few years.

At age 7, Yanah Rolston has been playing golf for four years. Rolston has won 12 U.S. Kids tour events over the last three years. She qualified for the Callaway Junior World Golf Championship at Torrey Pines and finished 26th out of 48 golfers from around the world at Pinehurst, which had 19 participants from foreign countries. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Football season

Published

Max Gersh

on August 31, 2010

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Football season kicked off a few weeks ago and I love it. Without question, football is my favorite mainstream sport to photograph.

The action is intense. The sidelines are electric. A victory can be monumental. A loss can be heartbreaking.

Right now, my longest glass is 200mm. That makes it a little tough to get all of the game action. With patience and years of practice, I’ve been able to snap a good frame or two. Here are a few from the season thus far.

New Castle QB scrambling after missing a snap. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Tri QB draws back to look for open receivers. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Being stuck with a short lens, cropping can be a big help. Too bad my 1D Mark II has so much color noise when cropped in this tight.

Shenandoah receiver makes a catch in the endzone. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

A Shenandoah running back avoids Tri defenders. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

A Hagerstown receiver makes a leaping catch in a game against Knightstown. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Knightstown's running back stiff-arms a Hagerstown defender. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Spot news

Published

Max Gersh

on August 28, 2010

in Photo

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Some of my friends think my job is glamorous. I get access to many things the public doesn’t get to see other than through my pictures. Some of those things aren’t always easy to witness.

I’ve seen fatal fires, hit-and-runs, homicides, devastating floods…the list goes on and on.

This week I witnessed one of the worst car accident’s I’ve ever seen.

I had just gotten off work. I was at home putting some food into a skillet to cook dinner. That’s when I got the call from my news editor. A call had come over the police scanner indicating there was a wreck with entrapment.

I hustled out the door and headed the short distance to get to the scene. As I got closer, I could see there were a lot of emergency vehicles. I called my news editor back to give him an update. That is when he told me they were sending a lifeline helicopter to the scene.

I pulled off the road when I got nearby. I put on my reflective vest (required by law for media personnel) to make sure I was visible at the scene. I grabbed my camera and rushed into action.

Keep in mind that this is after 10pm on a rural county road. It was VERY dark. I had my camera’s ISO set to 1600. I had my lens open at f/2.8. I took deep breaths and held very still as I made exposures ranging from 1/10 sec to 1/50 sec.

Instinctively, I started taking pictures where ever the action was. First, that was of a kid that the police and medics were talking with.

Justin Ryan Pierce, 19, of Mount Summit, talks on his cell phone late Wednesday night after crashing a 1987 Mercedes Benz in a confield near the intersection of Road 300S and Ind. 103. His passenger, Jimmy Luna, 17, New Castle, was flown from the scene to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Justin Ryan Pierce, 19, of Mount Summit, talks on his cell phone late Wednesday night after crashing a 1987 Mercedes-Benz in a cornfield near the intersection of Road 300S and Ind. 103. His passenger, Jimmy Luna, 17, of New Castle, was flown from the scene to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Then, I noticed the crumbled Mercedes in the cornfield. I moved that way.

A 1987 Mercedes Benz lies mangled in a cornfield late Wednesday night after crashing near the intersection of Road 300S and Ind. 103. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

The vehicle was so badly mangled, police officers could not locate the license plate and instead had to fight a door open ro get the vehicles VIN.

Henry County Sheriff Deputies take down the VIN number off of a 1987 Mercedes-Benz late Wednesday night after it wrecked in a cornfield near the intersection of Road 300S and Ind. 103. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Just by observation, pieces of the puzzle started to come together. It was a single car accident. The kid talking with the emergency responders was the driver. His passenger was still stuck in the car.

I worked the scene as best I could in such poor lighting conditions. I took special care to stay out of the way of all of the police, medics and firefighters on the scene. I respected their space and in turn, they respected mine. I had full access to the scene.

I was there as they pulled the passenger from the vehicle.

Emergency respodners carry Jimmy Luna, 17, New Castle, from a mangled vehicle to a waiting ambulance Wednesday night near the intersection of Road 300S and Ind. 103. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

I was there as they checked the driver for injuries.

Emergency responders check Justin Ryan Pierce, 19, of Mount Summit, for injuries late Wednesday night after he crashed a 1987 Mercedes-Benz into a cornfield near the intersection of Road 300S and Ind. 103. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

I was there as the lifeline helicopter landed and then again as it took off.

While I have become rather calloused to difficult events like this, they still have an effect. They make you think about yourself. Your friends. Family. Coworkers.

It is my job to tell you these stories. Sometimes the photos can make you cringe. Hopefully that means they are conveying a powerful message.

Be safe out there.

Disc dogs

Published

Max Gersh

on July 24, 2010

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I have shot many sports in my relatively young career. But today, I was given the opportunity to photograph something completely new to me. Disc dogs - a competition where dogs catch Frisbees thrown by their owner. There are competitions in distance and accuracy as well as a freestyle event which is somewhat choreographed to music.

I arrived at the event in time to photograph today’s expert freestyle competition. It was awesome and a little challenging to photograph. The dogs are running very fast. At a moments notice, they can jump up and push off of their handler and go upwards of six feet in the air. It is difficult to anticipate what is going to happen and how to have your shot framed.

Just like in any other fast paced sport, your motor drive on your camera can be your best friend. Do your best to frame your shot and then with a little timing and luck, you get an acceptable image or two.

Here are a few from my take.