Sad Day in Seattle

mghaner

.sorry, someone purchased this photo for a print story and said I could not have it posted on forums.

ChrisJ

As a once-and-future Seattlite, I was deeply saddened to hear of this... I always think of the city as so tolerant of others. It only takes one crazy/demented person to break the spell. I used to drive/ride bus/bike past there often.

Ted Szukalski

I once read that in recorded history there was not 1 day without war somewhere. It may not be statistically correct but echoes so true so often.

tomthephotographer

Removed

Angelo

tomthephotographer wrote:

Sorry I can not help but ask. The building shot up what did it have to do with the flags here? was this a hate crime?

I think many people hate that Israel is slaughtering the Lebanese.

tomthephotographer

[Removed

mghaner

Confussed.
tomthephotographer, it has been played as a hate crime in the media but I think that it is more of a confussed person. if you link to my gallery I have some quotes there from the Seattle Police Chief. None of the reasons cited by the shooter make much sense as far as his shooting up a Jewish Center. His quotes indicate more his being upset with the US and the policy of the US then anything to do with Israel. The flags being held by the man in the photo indicate his support of the USA and Israel. I thought that the photo captured a moment in time with folks grieving the loss of fellow Jews while he displayed support of both nations. Some would argue that the support he seems to be so proud of may have been a catalist to what happened in some way????

tomthephotographer wrote:

Sorry I can not help but ask. The building shot up what did it have to do with the flags here? was this a hate crime?

Awais Yaqub

You captured it i loved the shot i feel sorry for them definatly people who died had nothing to do with 3 incidents of world sad to see Pakistani was involved honestly speaking he is criminal in light of Islam
While playing a game "Call of duty" i saw a quote
"War ends when man ends" what a horrible thing to do i hope whole world stick to photography instead of spending trillions on Bomb why not buy a high end DSLR to capture a beauty of world

Awais Yaqub

tomthephotographer wrote:

I can not figure out why everyone hates the jews? Maybe a lack of understanding history? Maybe something else?

I am a high profile Muslim and dont hate jews so everyone dont hate jews
but rocket attacks in past justifies civilian casualities in present ? rockets cannot be fired on precise target dozen of them falls in empty areas yet Laser Guided missels are much expensive and hostile and can be fired on target with greater precision but i haven't seen it happening why no full scale ground offensive against hezbollah ?
peace with this war ? Never infat new chapter of distruction is opened
you have to go back in 1940's to see why there is so much hate

Thanks

marlinspike

tomthephotographer wrote:

I do not. The is the UN's fault. They promissed Israel that if they gave back the land in the strip it would not be re armed and that attacks would not come from there. Yet rocket attacks come everyday. Be glad I am not in charge I would level the entire area. Maybe put mines there.

This would be like Mexico allowing rocket attacks on texas from their country. I can not figure out why everyone hates the jews? Maybe a lack of understanding history? Maybe something else?

I think a good rule of thumb is not to talk about things you don't know about. Even if you read a major US newspaper every day (say the NY Times or Washington Post), you won't really know anything at all about the situation in Israel. Part of it is how filtered our news is; part of it is how ignorant and careless the press is. News concerning the the region of land between Libya through India is particularly poor. It takes reading several newspapers from several parts of the globe daily, in addition to reading political science journals regularly, to have any real understanding.

DavidTO

Let's not get too far afield from the topic at hand...photography.

mghaner

Thoughts
Would anyone want to give some C&C on this pic. This is not my usual type of shot as there was no posing. I think that there are some interesting elements to the photo. I would like to hear what others see and feel about this shot.

Mongrel

mghaner wrote:

Would anyone want to give some C&C on this pic. This is not my usual type of shot as there was no posing. I think that there are some interesting elements to the photo. I would like to hear what others see and feel about this shot.

A few observations...

1. Interesting and newsworthy event, and worth capturing
2. Exposure is great
3. Post-processing looks good also

But...

1. FACES, FACES, FACES, where are the faces?
2. Horizon is not straight.
3. The cut off feet\lower legs hurt the shot.
4. The shot wasn't taken close enough to draw me in. Very 'voyeurish' and comes off looking more like a snapshot than an engaging emotional moment.
5. I don't really care for the composition in all honesty. Not sure what other positions you had available, but a crop might help.

I believe for a shot like this to stand out you really need to 'be in it' so to speak. Get right up there with a wide angle and interact with the subjects. As shot it could be almost anything-an anniversary, a holiday, etc. By getting in close you could capture the emotion on the faces. I know you were probably trying to get the name of the center over the door in the shot, maybe a portrait crop would help that. You could even leave the name out, just capture the people putting out the flowers and then let your caption give the where and what-fors.

Take care,

Mongrel

mghaner

I see it.
I see your points and agree with you. When I took the shot CSI has just pulled out and the PD put all the flowers up by the security gates. All the media crews were on the same side of the street as I was with their Sat Trucks and interview set ups. The sidewalk on the side where the Center is was closed with PD standing just out of camera view to the North and South. I did not feel comfortable going across the street where the folks grieving and the flag guy was. I wish the branches were not in the shot. I did not post process the shot, all processing was done in camera. Maybe I will look at a bit of cropping on it to see what that looks like.

Mongrel wrote:

A few observations...

1. Interesting and newsworthy event, and worth capturing
2. Exposure is great
3. Post-processing looks good also

But...

1. FACES, FACES, FACES, where are the faces?
2. Horizon is not straight.
3. The cut off feet\lower legs hurt the shot.
4. The shot wasn't taken close enough to draw me in. Very 'voyeurish' and comes off looking more like a snapshot than an engaging emotional moment.
5. I don't really care for the composition in all honesty. Not sure what other positions you had available, but a crop might help.

I believe for a shot like this to stand out you really need to 'be in it' so to speak. Get right up there with a wide angle and interact with the subjects. As shot it could be almost anything-an anniversary, a holiday, etc. By getting in close you could capture the emotion on the faces. I know you were probably trying to get the name of the center over the door in the shot, maybe a portrait crop would help that. You could even leave the name out, just capture the people putting out the flowers and then let your caption give the where and what-fors.

Take care,

Mongrel

wxwax

I like the shot, Mike, it shows an important part of how humans cope with tragedy.

To me, the bottom feels cut off. I reckon the flowers are the story, not the name on the building. So I would have concentrated my composition on showing the flowers etc, and sacrificed the name.