Driving Around NOLA With Chris Granger

While we were in NOLA we got the chance to ride along with photographers from the Times Picayune Newspaper. Whitley and I rode around with Chris Granger and while on this little journey he was telling us about how not all the time ( and I'm paraphrasing here so don't take this as a direct quote :) ) is it that the best equipment will get the best pictures and equal the big prizes in photography. He told us about a particular photographer who used lots of little point and shoots and tucked them inside his jacket in Iraq. This let him get into places and past check points because he didn't look like the press. That was really interesting to me because I've never really heard anything like that. So I looked it up, of course.

I found a couple of photographers who shoot with point and shoot cameras but I think the main guy Chris was trying to explain to us was Alex Majoli. In 2004 Majoli won Magazine Photographer of the Year for his work for News Week. He did stories on China, The Congo and Iraq. Here's a sample of his work:

http://www.pocko.com/press/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/picture-20.png

While explaining this we also got on the subject of cell phone cameras and more specifically the iPhone camera and how it takes some pretty good pictures. Whitley and I don't have iPhones so we don't have as much practice as Chris does. Here's a couple of shots I took while on a stop:

  Overall, I know I had fun riding around and talking with a photographer who isn't also my teacher. Thanks Chris for the opportunity! And of course thank you to Becky and Colleen for taking us all on this amazing trip! :) I feel like I've grown as a photographer since the end of last quarter and that feels great!