Multimedia Photojournalism
I’m really bad at back-updating…. meaning that I will post an update in the past. I’ve added two wedding posts on June 6 and July 18. You can also find more pictures from these weddings in the Portfolio section. Enjoy!
Don and Debbie Gulayec stand in front of the burnt remains of their hog farm near Derwent, Alta., 200 kms east of Edmonton on August 18, 2009. They awoke around midnight on Tuesday morning to the fire after a concerned neighbour called them. All of their barns and 900 sows were lost in the fire. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
Edmonton Eskimo defenseman Kitwana Jones, right, and Journal Crime Reporter Ben Gelinas sit and play the brand new Madden 10 for XBOX 360 in Gelinas’ living room in Edmonton on August 12, 2009. Kitwana is a fan of video games and says many players enjoy video games in the locker room to wind down. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
This assignment was fun. Our very talented crime reporter Ben Gelinas also runs the video game blog Button Mash for the Journal. For his review of Madden NFL 10 for XBOX 360 he asked Edmonton Eskimo Kitwana Jones to play it with him and he accepted. It made for an interesting review and a fun video.
To shoot this I placed a Canon HV20 beside the TV pointed at Ben and Kitwana. I had my Canon XH-A1 off to the side to get details and wide shots. The room was dark so I had a 300w tungsten hot light going into a shoot through umbrella to the side.
My third “camera” was my laptop. I split the video coming from the XBOX 360 to the TV and to an AV->DV converter box which basically takes composite video and audio in and then gives you a DV video stream through a firewire cable. I had Final Cut Pro set to capture the stream and then synced all three cameras up together in FCP after.
In total there was two hours of game play which resulted in six hours of footage (three cameras times two hours). The XBOX 360 signal was standard def so it was recorded in 720×480 DV video. My HV20 and XHA1 were 1080i HDV. Final Cut Pro is great at mixing DV and HDV footage so that wasn’t a problem and the SD video up-sized to HD looked pretty good in the end.
I would have liked to have captured the XBOX 360 video in HD but that would involve buying a component video splitter and a component video capture device which are super pricey. Most cards are over $1000 but Hauppauge has a new box that can convert HD component to H.264 video. Pretty cool, but then you would have to convert the H.264 video to HDV to mix in with the video cameras and that would be a lot more work = just capture in SD and no one will really care….
A cyclist rides on the sidewalk near 108 St. and Whyte Ave. in Edmonton on August 11, 2009. Edmonton Police Service will be cracking down on cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders on Whyte Ave. sidewalks with large fines. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
Lana Schwarcz who is in Edmonton to perform in the Fringe Festival is used to always riding her bike on the street instead of the sidewalk in her country. Edmonton Police Service will be cracking down on cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders on Whyte Ave. sidewalks with large fines. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
Kevin Keeler, left, and Kevin Davis with Keeler Painting restore the caboose in End-of-Steel Park in Edmonton on August 10, 2009. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
Shoppers enter the new Superstore at 4410 17 St. NW in Edmonton on July 31, 2009 during the grand opening. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
A hornet peeks out from its nest on an Edmonton resident’s front porch on July 30, 2009. Wasp Control Non-Chemical offers a removal service that uses a vacuum instead of pesticides to get rid of hornets and wasps. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal). Watch the VIDEO
I bought a set of Kenko extension tubes last year but have only really used them for portraits so far. Today I finally got to use them for an insect. I used a 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens with a 12mm and 20mm extension tube on it. I used two flashes and shot at f22 so that I would have enough depth of field for the wasp to be in focus. Also note that this is a HUGE crop. I didn’t want to get too close to these little stingers 
Today I went to a press conference with the typical dull-dim-tungsten spot lighting and a black background. Moving to the sides and setting my white balance to Tungsten made the beautiful daylight from the windows soak in and make some pretty photos. I set up a 550ex to the side with a 1/4CTO (a.k.a. Orange) gel on it pointed at the ceiling to give a nice highlight on the left side.
For the second photo I climbed up some stairs and shot with a long lens to bring one of the bright red pillars into the frame. Usually press conferences are just shot straight on with a black background and spot lights. It’s nice when you can move around and bring more light and colour into the photo.
Dr. Neil Brown, Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Clinic at the University of Alberta Hospital speaks at a press conference to announce a new breakthrough test developed by Edmonton-based Innovotech Inc. called bioFILM PA in Edmonton, Alta. on July 28, 2009. The test will now allow doctors to more accurately identify the right antibiotics required to treat serious, chronic infections that are biofilm based. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Melanie, one of the first 14 clinical research patients with Cystic Fibrosis speaks at a press conference with (left to right) Dr. Neil Brown, Director of Adult Cystic Fibrosis Clinic, Dr. Robert Rebbie, Site Chief, Deptartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Alberta Hospital, Dr. Lorne Babiuk, Vice-President (Research) at the University of Alberta and Dr. Peter Hackett, President and CEO of the Alberta Ingenuity Fund behind her to announce a new breakthrough test developed by Edmonton-based Innovotech Inc. called bioFILM PA in Edmonton, Alta. on July 28, 2009. The test will now allow doctors to more accurately identify the right antibiotics required to treat serious, chronic infections that are biofilm based. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
The sun shines through Black-eyed Susans growing in Edmonton Research Park on July 28, 2009. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
RCMP forensics investigate the home where four members of a family were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide on a northern Alberta farm near Smith, Alberta on July 27, 2009. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Bill and Sandy Stirling, neighbours of the home where four members of a family were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide on a northern Alberta farm near Smith, Alberta on July 27, 2009. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Pastor Joe Mrak speaks to the media in Smith, Alta on July 27, 2009. RCMP found four members of a family dead in an apparent murder-suicide on a northern Alberta farm near Smith on Sunday. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Pastor Joe Mrak, far right, looks out on his street in Smith, Alta on July 27, 2009. RCMP found four members of a family dead in an apparent murder-suicide on a northern Alberta farm near Smith on Sunday. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
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