I have been shooting pictures for the Telegraph for 35 years. Wow. Guess that makes me kinda old. Where was I? Lost my train of thought....Oh, yeah, I remember.
In all those years, one of the most dreaded, hated things to shoot has been the ground breaking.We don't do check presentations. For a while we had a ban on ground breakings.
Anyway, you don't want to come back with a line of guys in expensive suits and ill-fitting hard hats throwing dirt. Gotta do something creative, something different. How many different ways can you shoot guys throwing dirt? I keep trying to come up with something original.
Last week I had to shoot the good folks at the Houston Medical Center in Warner Robins breaking ground for new construction. Worried for days about how I was going to do this. I do have a reputation to hold up. My ego on the line here.
he top photo was the first one I shot. It was different, the shovels waiting for the event to begin. I had shot a similar one last summer at Fort Valley State. It is the second photo. The newer one I really liked. It ran inside the main paper with a short story.
You try to be imaginative with your pictures, but if you get too far out, the editors don't want them. The shovels turning dirt will always work. Sometimes you get really lucky, and have a photo like the bottom one. The CEO and hospital administrator were propped on shovels waiting for the rest of the crowd, making an American Gothic. Too good to pass up, and our Houston Peach editor Misty Cline immediately saw the humor.
So, how many ways can you shoot a groundbreaking? I don't know yet.
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