Yet another post reminiscing about some old photos.
The pictures below were shot during various press conferences which were also recorded on video. But the moments captured in these pictures are not noticeable in the videos.
The power of photography is that it can capture and isolate one moment forever. Video flashes by at 30 frames per second and your brain barely notices any of those frames. Your brain doesn’t actually see video or motion but rather it sees in a series of still images and remembers only key frames.
This press conference had name tags placed in the seats. While waiting for people to take their seats, US actor Tommy Lee Jones briefly held up his name tag.
Press Conference Photography
In any interview or press conference, I’m not trying to make the person look good or bad. I’m trying to make them look interesting. My goal is to produce an interesting photograph that has the person as the subject.
Photo options are usually very limited in a press conference. You have no control of lighting or pose and sometimes not even camera position. You’re left with just waiting for the right moment and maybe doing some creative cropping.
Press conference photography isn’t just for press conferences. The same skills are needed any time you have to photograph someone talking: a politician speaking at a campaign rally, a CEO talking at an annual general meeting, a keynote speaker at a business conference, etc. You have to look for interesting moments rather than just doing pictures of someone talking.
The photos on this blog post were chosen because they show an interesting moment, a fun moment or a silly moment. The images show unique moments that were captured in photos but missed by video.
US actor Brad Pitt noticed that every time he gestured with his hands, photographers clicked a photo of him. So whether he was speaking or another person was talking, Pitt would suddenly make either an odd gesture or a half-gesture to see if he could trick the photographers. After a few minutes of not gesturing, he quickly put his finger near his nose for just a moment.
After I clicked a photo of his nose gesture, he flashed this gesture and had a good laugh.
US actor Willem Dafoe
was asked how he felt about his face being the source of many online memes. The linked video didn’t really capture anything interesting. But photographers who stayed on Dafoe after he finished speaking captured several fun expressions.
If you pay attention to how people speak and gesture, you can often anticipate interesting moments. Dafoe had a good laugh talking about his face and had made funny faces earlier in the interview.
US actress Stefani Germanotta was
talking about her makeup in the film
A Star Is Born. This moment happens about 9:08 in the linked video. Her wonderful expression is barely noticeable in the video because it lasted less than a second. Photographers need only a fraction of a second.
British director Steve McQueen
was talking about New York City, the setting for his film
Shame. This moment happens about 25:00 in the linked video and it’s so quick you don’t see it.
Also notice that the background in the video is horribly distracting. But in a photo shot with a 300mm f2.8 from the side of the room, the background distractions are gone. Photographers hate foreground and background distractions.
US actress Chloe Grace Moretz
was reacting to a director, sitting next to her, who accidentally insulted another actress. The director was asked if another actress, who was a producer of the movie, considered doing the lead role herself. It starts about 30:05 in the linked video.
The director replied that the other actress could’ve done the lead role “back in her day …. back in her time ….”
As the director fumbled through his answer, Chloe Moretz quickly went through a series of shocked facial expressions, none of which were captured on video.
TV cameras have to show the person talking but photographers focus on what they anticipate will be interesting.
US actor-producer George Clooney was joking about how
he could cry on command. Clooney splashed water on his face and pretended to cry.
The sequence starts about 25:50 in the linked video. But the moment has no impact in video because it’s so quick. Only a photograph could have captured the moment.
In the same press conference with Clooney, US actress Sandra Bullock was asked about a scene in the movie where her character flashed her butt through a bus window. Bullock then
joked about her butt. The sequence starts about 36:06 in the linked video.
Photographers took pictures as she gestured during her comments which caused her to make the “camera clicking” gesture. Watch how short the moment lasted. Her gesture and expression are barely noticeable in the video.
Welsh actor Christian Bale
was talking about what it was like to drive a race car during the production of the movie
Ford v. Ferrari. The sequence starts about 42:20 in the linked video and the exact moment of this photo is 42:34. But again, the moment has no impact in video.
British actor Ricky Gervais was talking about his movie, The Invention of Lying. This moment lasted a fraction of a second and made for an unusual photo of Gervais as he explained that getting away with a lie is all about the face.
You can’t tell from this photo but US actress-singer Selena Gomez was brushing hair from her face. The photo was tightly cropped to hide the hand in her hair and to remove a water glass right in front of her.
You can see the moment at 31:38 in the video when she brushes the hair from her face the second time. But in the video, you don’t notice her facial expression or body language that makes the brief moment interesting.
This photo of Keith Richards was shot before the start of a press conference just as
he was sitting down. The moment happens at 2:06 in the linked video but you may not even notice it.
Richards wore his sunglasses throughout the entire interview. The half-second when his glasses slid down his nose was the only time his eyes were visible during the press conference.
Good pictures can sometimes be made before an event starts or after it has ended. Don’t limit yourself to the actual event duration.
The interview was over and US actor Nicholas Cage was leaving the room. He had to walk past a large movie poster of his face. A tight crop was used to cut off the text on the poster.
US actor Viggo Mortensen is known for being a fan of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. For some unknown reason, he brought two Canadien jerseys: one for himself and one for his co-star. This photo was shot after the conference when Mortensen was walking out the door.
This was shot before the press conference started. Actors Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix (rear) sat and waited while people were taking their seats.
Since most press conferences are front-lit, shooting from the side means the person will be side-lit with respect to the camera. This can sometimes make pictures look more interesting.
After the press conference was over, Irish actor Colin Farrell put on his hat and walked off the stage. This photo was taken when he was in the corner of the room where the lighting was really weird.
