25. June 2008 by Max.

Who would have thought that it would be levees breaking that would save St. Louis from the devastating flooding that is happening elsewhere?

I ate lunch on the steps of the Arch today. The water is creeping up further. The city has put a fence up blocking people from going too close to the water. It is amazing to see how high the water can get. There is a road under the river.

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

23. June 2008 by Max.

I have had the fortune and misfortune of covering two floods separated by only a few months. I was out in Foley, Annada and Winfield, MO this past weekend covering the flood. These towns are all on hwy 79 which winds north along the Mississippi. I was fortunate enough to get out to the levee where prisoners were helping the national guard sandbag. I heard on national news this morning  that water broke through the levee yesterday.

While I was there, I got in a boat with a local man who was helping move sandbags. He told me that where we were was normally dry land and there was about 25ft of water under us. The river was a good 3/4 mile from the levee. Now it is one in the same.

He also told me that the national guard didn’t show up until the cameras showed up. They actually slowed down the process because the regular sand baggers had to get the guard in their line and more sand bags didn’t come in until the cameras came.

We hear these stories about people pulling together to save these small towns but from my experience, hardly anyone helps that doesn’t live there.

I’m still trying to determine what the life lesson is from this.
Here were some of the photos I took while out there.

The first few photos are from Annada, MO. The town was desolate. The second grouping of photos is from Foley, MO. Prisoners were working with the National Guard to add sandbags on top of the earthen levee. Yesterday the water overtook that levee.

My friend, Chris Birk, wrote a piece that sets the scene in the smaller towns for the St. louis Beacon.

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

2. May 2008 by Max.

Opening on Friday, May 9th at 5pm is the collaborative photo show “Something In My Eye,” in the May Gallery at Webster University. I will have work in the show and would appreciate all readers to come out and enjoy the photos. I look forward to seeing you there. 

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

8. February 2008 by Max.

What do you do when national news breaks in your back yard?

You cover it. That seems like a simple decision for most photojournalists. But when you are working at a student newspaper that requires a connection, it takes a little more thought.

Last night as I walked into our newsroom I got a text message about two police officers being shot in Kirkwood. I turned on the news and realized that this was a big deal. Early reports were saying that six were dead inside the city hall. As I sat wondering if I should cover it, I thought back on my early journalism classes. One of the categories that determines the newsworthiness of an event is proximity. Being that the shooting was under five miles from my university, I thought this fit.

I called around to get hold of a reporter and then we rushed to the scene. Most of my photos were scene setters or CSA (cops standing around) but it was definitely a different experience from quiet Webster Groves.

Here are some of the photos that I took that night:

After about six hours of late night work and then only a few hours of sleep, it was time to go back out to the court house for additional coverage. That is when I got a photo of the brother of the shooter:

Tonight it is back to the city hall again for a vigil. This is a huge story that is rocking the community and the nation. I am glad that I had the news judgement to go cover it.

-Max Gersh-
http://www.gershphotopost.com

Posted in Photo | 2 Comments »

31. January 2008 by Max.

While Gersh Photo Post is not in its final form, I have taken down the under construction sign. After learning a bit more about Adobe Illustrator I decided to make a graphic for my home page. I have also added a PDF of a photo essay I did last year on the St. Louis Soulard Mardi Gras parade. Go visit http://www.gershphotopost.com and check out the updates. I would love to here feedback on the new look. 

-Max Gersh- 

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

23. January 2008 by Max.

I just started my internship at the Alton Telegraph in Alton Ill. It is just outside of northern Saint Louis. For my first internship with a publication it is nice because I am getting daily experience that I haven’t had. So far I have shot a few basketball games. I have shot in dark gyms before but I am always shocked at how dark high school gyms are. I am a fan of shooting from the floor and getting close to the action. However at these gyms, the lighting is so inconsistent that you NEED additional lighting. Some referees don’t like the idea of shooting with an on camera flash right in the face of the players. I shot without additional lighting for the first game and for the second game, I copied a photographer I was shadowing. He told me a good standard in these gyms was to shoot from the stands 1/500 sec @f/2.8 ISO 800 and a 550EX speedlight at full power. It worked mostly. I got occasional hot spots. The main downside of using a full power strobe is the refresh rate. I have a small battery pack plugged in and I still had to wait a few seconds in between shots. That means no motor drive. Also, if you fired too early, you don’t have your flash a split second later when you really need it. Of course, my best shot of the night fell into that category. After a bit of Photoshop work, here is what I came up with.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II 200mm ISO 1000 1/500 sec @ f/2.8 - Screened out it Photoshop three times

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

19. November 2007 by Max.

Here are the first basketball shots from the season. These were all shot on November 16 during the first day of the Sodexho Classic tournament.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II 70mm ISO 1600 1/200 sec @ f/2.8

Canon EOS 1D Mark II ISO 1600 1/200 sec @ f/3.2

Canon EOS 1D Mark II ISO 1600 1/200 sec @ f/3.2

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

18. November 2007 by Max.

Webster U. started in on its basketball season this weekend by opening up with the Sodexho Classic tournament between Dennison, Transylvania, Hanover and Webster. The tournament started on Friday night and ended Saturday afternoon. This was my first chance to shoot basketball since last season. I ended last year by putting up my first backboard remote. I learned a lot during that experience. I learned that I should have given myself a little longer than 1.5 hrs to set up the remote by myself. Also, the Canon EOS D30 is not the best remote body. Actually, it is a very poor remote body. It wasn’t designed to to remain on for hours on end and be ready to fire at any moment. Also, its high ISO performance isn’t great above 800. I did get a “useable” image for newsprint.

Canon EOS D30 15mm ISO 800 1/125 sec @ f/2.8

Now you can definitely see some of the flaws in this image. The most obvious thing is the focus. It sharply focused on the rim of the basket rather than the player. Also, if you look at the ball and the thicker part of the rim, you can see reflections in the glass. I needed a dark mask around the camera to help eliminate those reflections.

This semester seems more promising. I have staff that can help me get everything set up quicker. Also, I know many of the mistakes I made last time so I can avoid them this time. One of those mistakes is using the D30 in a dark gym. I will be using a 5D, 20D, or a 1Ds to ensure the camera fires when I tell it to.

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

9. November 2007 by Max.

Congratulations to Webster University’s volleyball and women’s soccer team. Both teams won the SLIAC conference tournament. I rushed around all day to cover both games.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II 200mm ISO 100 1/2000 sec @ f/2.8
Webster goalie Jessica Kozeny punches the ball away from the goal Nov. 3 at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II 155mm ISO 100 1/4000 sec @ f/2.8
Members of the Webster University women’s soccer team rush to hug goalie Jessica Kozeny Nov. 3 after she blocked three of Maryville’s penalty kicks to secure the SLIAC conference title.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II 125mm ISO 1600 1/400 sec @ f/2.8
Sophomore Ashley Scanio bumps the ball back over the net Nov. 3 during the SLIAC championship game in the Grant Gymnasium.

Canon EOS 1D Mark II 15mm ISO 1600 1/400 sec @f/2.8
Head volleyball coach Merry Graf jumps out of her chair Nov. 3 as the Gorloks defeat Principia College 33-31 in the third game. Graf was awarded the honor of SLIAC Coach of the Year.

Posted in Photo | No Comments »

5. November 2007 by Max.

Thanks for visiting the Gersh Photo Post (GPP). On this blog, I hope to share with you recent work, helpful tips and techniques and anything else that seems relevent.

My most recent project had me shooting from 2,000 feet. I took on the task of mounting a camera to a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. With a Bogen Superclamp attached to a small tripod head, I put a Canon 5D out of the wing strut and triggered it with pocket wizzards.

There was a lot of gaff tape to hold everything in place. It is easy for bolts to rattle loose with 130 mph winds blasting them but with the tape in place, there is no worry. I also had three steel saftey cables designed to hold theater lighting attached as an extra precaution.

Canon EOS 5D 15mm ISO 200 1/400 sec @ f/10

This is when we were coming back for a landing and crossing over the Mississippi. That morning, it was about 25 degrees. The cold air over the warmer water made a swamp-like fog rising off the river.

I am happy to try to tackle any questions you have. Again, welcome to the GPP Blog and visit back soon.

Posted in Photo | No Comments »