Gersh Photo Post | Max Gersh | Multimedia Photojournalist

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.

For me, film represents everything I love about photography. Don’t get me wrong. Digital sensors have completely revolutionized photography - especially photojournalism.

But where would we be today without digital? Film photography is more that an art form. It is a science. It takes knowledge to be a professional. Today, anyone with a load of cash can buy the latest and greatest gear. There is no need to worry about messing up. If a picture turns out poorly, it can be erased. All you need to do is check your local CraigsList postings to see how many “professionals” there are now.

Generally speaking, it takes an antiquated professional to know what I am talking about when I say “reciprocity failure” or if I mention the Scheimpflug principle. Many folks don’t know the difference between a zoom lens and a telephoto lens. Thought and creativity has vastly left photography for many shooters.

After getting my Hasselblad recently, I decided to go through some of my film from the past. I scanned a few 4×5 positives that I shot a few years ago on a Sinar large format camera.

A Lego man shot super macro to fill a sheet of 4x5 film. ©2010 Max Gersh

I remember the challenge I had to make this photo. On a large format camera, to focus, you extend the bellows between the lens and the film. To achieve this close of a focus, my bellows were over four feet long and the entire camera rig was supported by three tripods. Remember, this image filled a 4×5 inch sheet of film. This is MANY times greater than life size.

Once I acquired focus, the lighting was another challenge. I had to fire off my strobes about 15 times to build up enough light.

Misc. China things shot on a Sinar 4x5 camera representing the Scheimpflug principle. ©2010 Max Gersh

This picture may seem somewhat bland on its face, but it showcases the Scheimpflug principle - a way of focusing on a plane rather than by distance.

This picture also is gearing me up for one of my hopes of 2010 - to visit Shanghai, China for the World Expo. I’d love to be sent there on assignment but I might settle for a personal visit. Shanghai is truly one of the greatest cities I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.

So, in summary, my goals for 2010 are:

1. Visit China again
2. Shoot more film

Two things. I should be able to handle that.

My challenge to the rest of the world - take time taking pictures. Think about what you’re doing. Try something different. Slow down and make nice images. The rest of the world will appreciate it.

If you read my last post, you know that I was testing out a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M.

The results are in.

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Photos shot on a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Not too shabby. This is looking more and more like it might be the next camera added to my collection.

I shot one roll of 120 Kodak TMAX 100. The only problem was that I was running that through a Hasselblad A24 back , designed for 220 film. It seems like the first few frames didn’t wind fully and overlapped. Afterward, it was fine.

I’m excited to get this camera and push it to its limits. Hasselblads are rugged imaging devices. They’ve been to the Moon and I think I can find a way to put this one under just as much stress as space travel. I look forward to posting more images from this camera.

I shoot a ton of pictures on my Canon digital system. I have probably shot over one million frames in the last eight years. As much as I love digital photography, it is hard to beat the look of black and white film.

The texture. The latitude. No instant results. It makes you appreciate the roots of photography as well as where technology has taken the medium.

I haven’t shot 35mm film for a while. I have a cheapo Chinese Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) called a Mudan. It shoots on 120 film. However, letting go of a camera that is not on a strap is never a good thing. Bye bye ground glass.

I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a Hasselblad - the supreme camera for shooting 120 film (medium format). I found a used one that I took out for a test drive yesterday.

It is a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M. On the front, I was shooting through a Carl Zeiss 60mm f/4 Distagon lens. Inscribed on the lens mount, it says “MADE IN GERMANY WEST FOR HASSELBLAD.” This camera and lens is a piece of history that will keep on recording.

I took a road trip down to Potosi, MO to visit the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to run a roll of film through it. I fired off twelve frames of Kodak TMAX 100 and I can’t wait to see the results.

A Hasselblad 500 C/M set up on a tripod overlooking a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Trying to replicate the image I was about to make on a Hasselblad 500 C/M in Potosi, MO at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. ©2009 Max Gersh

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

I’ve always been a supporter of the idea that it is the photographer that makes the image and not the camera that he/she uses. While my close friends constantly hear me praise Canon and bash Nikon (jokingly, of course), a good photographer can make a dynamite image with a disposable film camera.

That being said, I had an opportunity to shoot with a fantastic camera - the Pentax K-7. This is Pentax’s ultra-rugged flagship camera. Considering that I learned photography on a Pentax ME Super, this was a very welcome homecoming to Pentax for me.

While I didn’t get to test the dust, weather or cold resistance of this camera, I did get to shoot a handful of portraits with it. I paired it with a Pentax 50-135 f/2.8 DA* lens and a Pentax AF-540FGZ flash used in wireless mode off camera. For a few shots, I even used the kit 18-55 WR lens. I had no trouble picking up the entire system on the fly and sincerely enjoyed the results.

The 14.6 megapixel files aren’t given any justice on this blog, but take my word for it that they are stunning.

Gavin Culbertson and Yuefeng Deng - Shot on the Pentax K-7 with the 50-135 DA* lens. © 2009 Max Gersh

Gavin Culbertson and Yuefeng Deng - Shot on the Pentax K-7 with the18-55 WR lens. © 2009 Max Gersh