Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

I was in New Castle, Indiana working for The Courier-Times for about eight months before I was laid off from my full-time position and cut down to a part time job. I stayed on for two more months while I interviewed with other newspapers around the country.

My last day at The Courier-Times was this past Friday, December 10, 2010.

When I first got to New Castle, I didn’t think I would be sad whenever I left. I really didn’t expect to get laid off and still be sad about leaving. All I can say is that the town grew on me.

I made some wonderful friends and met some incredible people. It was my pleasure to tell the community’s story along side the others in the newsroom.

My final assignment there was a basketball game in the New Castle Chrysler High School Fieldhouse, the worlds largest high school gymnasium. It seats over 10,000 people. The lighting sucks but the atmosphere is awesome.

New Castle's Jordan Hahn puts up a shot against the Muncie South defense Friday night in the Fieldhouse. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

As I left the game at halftime, it began to really sink in. That was it. No more games in The Fieldhouse. No more night time bike rides on county roads surrounded by corn fields. No more warm embrace from the community that welcomed me.

I thought back about the great times I had there. Like the time I scared the crap out of one of the reporters last February as we tested my Subaru’s ability to pound through two foot (or deeper) snow drifts. I guess I tested it and she felt more like she was strapped to the front of a roller coaster. However you want to classify it, we made it to the assignment and it was awesome!

How about that time I was hanging out with one of the editors and an intern and someone called us at 2 A.M. to let us know there was a house on fire. That was some of the most unorthodox journalism I have ever participated in. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt with a picture of Mr. Clean on it. I didn’t have my camera gear with me (give me a break! It was 2 A.M.) so I used a point and shoot and my cellphone which was just about out of juice.

The situations were unique. What made them memorable was that I shared them with some great coworkers.

As I was out with friends after shooting the game, I kept getting texts about how the game had gone into overtime. And then double OT. Our sports editor was telling me how heated the coaches were getting and I just wanted to go back and shoot more. But I was done.

All in all, in my ten months at The Courier-Times, I shot 53,285 photos. Obviously, many of those were not ones that were printed. These also include photos I took for things outside of work.

Also, I drove 23,306 miles while there. This included numerous trips to St. Louis and Louisville. Toss in a few to Cincinnati, Branson and a few other random cities and you can start to see how I racked up so many miles.

I can’t roll back the number of photos taken or miles driven. Those large numbers will forever represent my time in New Castle.

As I close this chapter of my life, I do so with hope. On Monday, I start my new job at the Rockford Register Star in Rockford, Illinois. I have faith that while the newsroom wont be the same, I will quickly be able to call this place home.  I look forward to building friendships with my coworkers and a strong relationship with the community.

I’m not one to hold too much weight in journalism contests. Especially photography. Everything is subjective. But don’t get me wrong. I love to pad my resume as much as the next guy.

At the end of June or beginning of July (it was so long ago I can’t remember), the newsroom at The Courier-Times went into a bit of a frenzy trying to get stories and photos ready for the Hoosier State Press Association contest. Anything from July 2009 through June 2010 could be entered. We filled out our forms and sent in our clips.

And then we waited.

I think it was some time in October that we found out which members of our newsroom won awards. Many of us did. However, they don’t tell you what you won. They don’t even tell you how many award you won. They just tease you and try to get you to come to the awards banquet in December. That’s right. You have to wait until December to find out what you won.

At first, I tried to guess what photo(s) won awards. A week out, I’d forgotten about the whole thing.

Then came December. I was unable to attend the banquet but got updates via text message hearing how well our newspaper was doing.

This year, The Courier-Times won 18 awards and finished second in our division. Good job team!

Much to my surprise, I racked up seven awards of my own.

I got third place in the multiple picture group for my series on the Titan 500 tricycle race.

I won second and third place in best picture story (with audio soundtrack) for my pieces on Memorial Day and St. Anne’s church, respectively.

I won first place and third place in best video story for my trick shot video and cooks contest video, respectively.

Lastly, I won first place in best spot news photo with my picture of officers transferring custody of someone who was involved in an armed robbery of a store.

John Michael Evans places his hands on his head as Henry County Sheriff's deputies and Indiana State Troopers transfer him into the custody of the Randolph County Sheriff's Department. Evans was caught at his residence after allegedly committing armed robbery in Losantville. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

To round out my seventh award, the photo above won the recognition of being the best in my division and was one of six finalists (one for each of the six divisions) for photo of the year. Pretty cool.

Like I said, I don’t hold too much weight in these contest. But that won’t stop me from entering.

With the economy in such poor shape, it’s no surprise that we have been seeing layoffs nationwide in all industries. But few have been as hard hit as newspapers.

I was an intern at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when a round of layoffs swept the newsroom. No one knew what was happening. I walked in the building and was stopped with many others at the security desk. The guards had a list of names of people they weren’t supposed to let back in. Veteran journalists were held at the counter while I was let through.

On my elevator ride to the newsroom, I started to put the pieces together. I told my coworkers what I had seen. Others’ stories confirmed the rumors of a layoff.

It wasn’t long before you could sense the fear in the building. The company high-ups were going around cherry-picking people one by one. In a grim reaper fashion, they were tapped on the shoulder and escorted out. This went on for hours.

My internship was finite so I had no real fear of being terminated. But I was just as nervous as the other photographers that were huddled together in the photo well.

Just like cancer, no one ever thinks they will be the meat hitting the floor after the layoff axe comes sweeping through. Today, I learned that lesson the hard way.

High-ups from Paxton Media Group, the parent company of The Courier-Times, came to the office. My position was one of three that was eliminated. My last day is Oct. 3.

While the door in New Castle, IN may be closing, I am optimistic for the opportunities that may present themselves.

Wish me luck as I once again take those bold footsteps into the unknown.

Like I said in my previous post, I enjoy the challenge that comes with newspaper photojournalism. There is something different to shoot every day and I am obligated to make it visually appealing.

Earlier this week, I was given the task to photograph two high school swimmers that made it to the state finals. The reporter was meeting them at the beginning of their swim practice. I think he was under the impression that I would come and take a standard environmental portrait.

I decided to try something a little different.

When I was thinking about an environmental portrait, I came to the conclusion that their environment was in the pool, not at the pool. I wanted to take an underwater portrait.

I can’t afford an underwater housing for my camera so I had to improvise. One 10-gallon aquarium later, I was ready to go.

I set the camera longways in the aquarium with a 24-70mm lens attached and set at 24mm. The camera was triggered by a Pocket Wizard which in turn fired my 550EX Speedlight flash.

Because I was uncertain how the water would scatter my light, I wanted to do my best to directionalize my flash. I attached a Gary Fong PowerSnoot which turned my flash into a high-powered spotlight.

After a little experimentation, I got a shot I was satisfied with.

New Castle swimmers Aimee Haddix, left, and Hannah Espiritu pose for an underwater photo at Parkview Pool. The two swimmers are competing in today's state final. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Is this perfect? Not by a long shot.

The biggest problem is just what I expected. The lighting. I feel that I probably needed at least one more light. It would also have been preferable to have those lights underwater somehow. That would require making a much more complex rig but might be something I try in the future.

The least of my worries was having my camera go underwater. The aquarium was so buoyant that it was actually a little difficult to keep submerged to the top of the lens. I had the writer that was with me apply a decent bit of pressure to keep it down.

I will consider this first attempt at an underwater portrait a success but I can’t wait to try again and put some new ideas to the test.

So that was one situation this week where I tried something a little different. The other is a little more practical.

The paper is doing a story on the St. Anne Catholic Church. A few years ago, an arsonist burned the church down. It has taken three years to rebuild. I was granted a sneak peak and I wanted to show everyone what the inside looked like.

It would have been easy enough to go up on the balcony and take a wide angle photo and squeeze as much in to the photograph as I could.

A view of the new St. Anne Catholic Church from the balcony. (C-T photo Max Gersh) ©2010

Even in this image shot at 24mm, there is so much of the church that is unseen.

I went out to my car and got my tripod. From the back row of pews, I started panning and tilting, taking incremental photos - 24 total.

I took those 24 separate photos and stitched them into a panorama that covered more than 180 degrees laterally.

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

This photo will be running six columns across the page on today’s paper.

In an effort to maintain journalistic credibility, I do list this image as a photo illustration. Since this isn’t a capture of one moment in time, it has to be that way. Otherwise I risk compromising my ethics by misrepresenting a scene.

Part of my job as a photojournalist is to show you something you might not ordinarily see. That might be changing angles or getting somewhere you can’t. I think both of these images do that.

Let’s hope I don’t run out of fresh ideas. Any suggestions for what to try next?

For those of you that don’t already know, I am a week in to my new job. I am the new Chief Photographer and Photo Editor at The Courier-Times in New Castle, IN.

The Courier-Times

The job comes with perks.

My personal parking spot at The Courier-Times

I love the challenge of making an interesting photo, no matter the situation. That is something I had to do my first day on the job.

The town is building a Mr. Fuel gas station right off the interstate. I guess I should say they will be building one. Right now, it is just an empty field.  I decided it was best to show the location and leave the empty field in the background.

The southwest corner of the Interstate 70 and Ind. 3 will be the home to a new Mr. Fuel station. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

As we were winding down for the day and getting ready to send the paper off to the press, news breaks. A man robbed CVS Pharmacy.

Narcotics officers come down from the roof of Greenstreet Elementary School on Monday night after recieving a robbery report from CVS Pharmacy. A man allegedly threw a bag of narcotics on the school's roof. The bag is being carried away by an officer in the foreground of this photo. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

Here is how it played the next day.

The next morning, I drove to Tri Elementary School to cover a science fair.

Tri Elementary students walk through the gym and look and their classmates science fair projects. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

I then shot a portrait of a kid who is donating almost 50 pairs of his shoes to Haiti.

For something a little different the next day, I photographed a hearse pulling out of a funeral home. The man being cremated was a well know member of the community that road a Harley. So it was only fitting to take him to the grave the same way.

Charlie Williams is led to his grave by a Harley Davidson motorcycle pulling his hearse. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

That night, we kept an eye on the window waiting for the impending snow storm. The next morning, we started getting pounded by snow, accumulating something like ten inches in the next 24 hours.

Driving conditions on Memorial Dr. (Ind. 3) during a snow storm. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

Blowing snow caked onto a street sign near memorial park in New Castle, IN. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

Snow nearly hides a tree from sight in Memorial Park. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

Hay bails and tires sit stacked and snow-covered at the bottom of a popular sled hill in Memorial Park. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

Snow covered roads in New Castle, IN, a few days after a snow storm. This road is directly in front of The Courier-Times office. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

Thank god I bought a Subaru!

This morning I had my first sporting event. Almost all of the games for the weekend were canceled because many of the counties were in a level 3 snow emergency. That means if you travel on the roads and it is not an emergency, you can be ticketed or arrested.

The regional bowling tournament was postponed a day so I shot that briefly this morning. When there isn’t a good vantage point to shoot from in front, it is difficult to make a nice bowling shot. I focused on the coach and team while a teammate was bowling.

Trojans head coach Ronald Ragan (right) watches over his team during the first round of bowling Sunday morning at Rose Bowl for the Indiana High School Bowling Club Regional Tournament. The tournament was scheduled for Saturday but heavy snow in the area left many counties under a snow emergency. (C-T photo Max Gersh)

So what’s next?

Unfortunately, I can’t predict spot news. But I do know my area is set to get another 4-8 inches of snow on Tuesday. I have a feeling more snow photos are in my future.

I love being a photojournalist. I have something different to do every day. It never gets old and it never will.