12. August 2008 by Max.

My friends Lauren Kirkwood and Jonathan Fournier decided they wanted to grow up and get married.

For some odd reason, they asked me to photograph their wedding. I told them, “You know I don’t like shooting weddings, right?”

They acknowledged and still didn’t care. They wanted me to shoot it. How could I say no?

A few weeks before the wedding, I went over to the Kirkwood/Fournier household to get a feel for the event. They were telling me how it would be very non-traditional. It would also be entirely outside.

This meant a few different things.

1. The weather could do anything it wanted to
2. There is no way for me to know what my shooting situation is going to be like
3. I am probably not going to be able to use strobes (other that my speedlight) to illuminate

So on August 8th, my mothers birthday; the start of the 2008 olympics; and the Kirkwood/Fournier wedding, I packed my car with everything:

• Stabilization devices such as a tripod and monopod, along with other stabilization mounts that would be classified as “specialty items”
• A camera
• An extra camera
• MANY extra batteries
• All of my memory cards
• Various other odds and ends

I headed down to the wedding in Farmington, MO. I had my trusty TomTom GPS and the safety net of a Google Maps printout. I drove. I switched roads. I saw state road Y. I passed state road Y. Thank god for automatic re-routing.

I finally got there. There was about an hour and a half before the wedding. Time to take some photos! At that point, we knew the family portraits would have to be done after the ceremony. We decided to take some fun shots of the bride and groom with their maids and men.

I’ll admit it. I had fun. Not only was it a tremendously fun to be there as a friend, I really enjoyed shooting it.  Being immersed in their joy made me so happy. I was working but I was really just playing along with them! It didn’t hurt that we had the most ideal weather conditions imaginable!

As the night wound down, I ran out of memory. Cards that is. I filled every single card I had. All nine gigs. Go figure. I knew they would want them fast so I just uploaded my cards onto their laptop before I left that evening. I figured it also helped save the environment. After all, a few DVDs is practically an entire tree…

Lauren and Jonathan, this is a very public congratulations. I know that you two will enjoy the rest of your lives together, for better and for worse. Although it will probably be 80/20. The odds are on your side.

It also is very heartwarming to know that among all of your photographer friends, many of which enjoy shooting weddings, you chose me and pressured me into doing it! I don’t regret it one bit. I am truly honored.

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4. August 2008 by Max.

No. Don’t worry. I didn’t ride naked. I just made my first multimedia piece.

My friend, Stew Smith and I collaborated on a photo/video/audio project. It was a first for both of us.

We decided last minute to cover this bike ride. It proved to be a challenge because the light fell quickly. We worked with three video cameras: 1 HD camera; 1 standard Mini-DV camera; 1 night shot Mini-DV camera.

The two Mini-DV cameras were attached to my bike. One was mounted low on the front fork and moved with the turn of the wheel. The other was on the front of the frame and moved with the motion of the bike.

We conducted interviews to find out a bit about the event and its participants. We mixed photos and videos to tell the story. It was definitely one of the most interesting events I have ever covered.

• 1.5 hours of footage
• 3 gigs of photos
• 11+ hours of editing

I hope you enjoy our presentation. Let me know what you think.

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11. July 2008 by Max.

No one finds it easy to deal with a tragedy. Not even a journalist.

A recent comment on the Kirkwood shooting photos asked “Had you covered other vigils or memorial services before? Do you ever encounter problems with people not wanting you to be there, since it can be such a personal and emotional experience?”

I have  photographed two vigils now. The first being one in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. My university held a small memorial service in an auditorium. There were few people but many tears. You could feel the emotion in the room.

The second was the candlelight vigil held for the Kirkwood shootings.

I never have encountered problems with people not wanting me there. I think it is because they know we are emotionally shredded as well. As journalists, we hear, see and report on things we don’t want to. I think the public sometimes knows that.

For instance, when the shootings in Kirkwood occurred, the staff of The Journal, Webster University’s student newspaper, was working around the clock for a week to prepare a newspaper.  We were at every press conference, vigil, memorial service, funeral, etc. Not to mention the fact that our long time university president all of the sudden quit and our school had just established a fantastic link with China. ALL IN THE SAME WEEK! It was physically draining. By the time we got home, we were wiped of all energy. We still couldn’t sleep.

I wasn’t able to sleep for a good two weeks. I was forcing myself to build a callous to the situation. I am willing to bet that it is the same for some of my colleagues.

Journalists have to have that super tough skin. It is our job to show the world what is happening. All too often it is ugly.

Citizens are aware that we are crying inside.

At a vigil, no matter how many lights and cameras are around, people aren’t paying attention to the press. Their focus is devoutly elsewhere.

I am attaching a copy of our newspaper from that week. The staff I worked with was (and still is) incredible. Take some time to read the articles and look at the pictures

The Journal - February 14-20, 2008

Too see more photos related to the Kirkwood shooting, go to my website in the photo essay section. There is a link to “Kirkwood 2008.”

I hope my explanation makes sense. It is hard to understand a journalist’s sense of tragedy without experiencing it. But it is real. There is even an organization deal with it called the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma.

Our studies teach us what to do. Real events build character. I would like to think I am a better journalist because of this.

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9. July 2008 by Max.

I promised updates. Here they are! I have added new photo galleries. There is a Feature, News and Sports gallery. There is a new and improved photo menu interface. I also added captions to the photos to give them context for all viewers.

Take a look at the new photos. Enjoy! More updates to come in the near future.

http://www.gershphotopost.com

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9. July 2008 by Max.

I wanted to wait till launch day but I decided to spoil the surprise. My website will be gaining a few new photo galleries in the near future. I will make an announcement when it launches but you can look forward to a dedicated sports, news and feature gallery!

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7. July 2008 by Max.

My internship at The Alton Telegraph (January-May 2008) was a different experience for me. It was a great learning experience. Working in small towns like Grafton, Ill., I really had to rethink the way I photographed and approached people. This internship also gave me unbelievable opportunities to hunt for stand-alone art for the paper. In fact, I think the only downside to the internship was that I had to drive nearly one hour from my home in St. Louis to Alton and then another hour drive home at the end of the day.

I compiled some of the shots that I took for the Telegraph and put them in a gallery. I did a decent amount of shooting!

Take a look!

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30. June 2008 by Max.

The Mississippi River was said to crest again today. We walked down to the Arch grounds during lunch. The stairs allow us to gauge how much the water has really risen. While it still has a decent way to go, it is gaining on the plaque that marks the water height from the flood of 1993.

It was hard to tell if more tourists were photographing the Arch or the flooded Mississippi. A fence that was there in a photo from a previous posting was either pushed over or the water took it under. There were at least three park rangers down at the police line to keep spectators from getting too close.

I did notice a funny thing. The tourists that were trying to take a photo of their friends and family and the Arch in the same frame couldn’t get low enough. Perhaps if they could have gone down to the base of the steps, they would have been able to frame their ideal shot.

This shot is looking down where the river road is. I don’t think any people will be crossing there for a while.

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25. June 2008 by Max.

Who would have thought that it would be levees breaking that would save St. Louis from the devastating flooding that is happening elsewhere?

I ate lunch on the steps of the Arch today. The water is creeping up further. The city has put a fence up blocking people from going too close to the water. It is amazing to see how high the water can get. There is a road under the river.

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23. June 2008 by Max.

I have had the fortune and misfortune of covering two floods separated by only a few months. I was out in Foley, Annada and Winfield, MO this past weekend covering the flood. These towns are all on hwy 79 which winds north along the Mississippi. I was fortunate enough to get out to the levee where prisoners were helping the national guard sandbag. I heard on national news this morning  that water broke through the levee yesterday.

While I was there, I got in a boat with a local man who was helping move sandbags. He told me that where we were was normally dry land and there was about 25ft of water under us. The river was a good 3/4 mile from the levee. Now it is one in the same.

He also told me that the national guard didn’t show up until the cameras showed up. They actually slowed down the process because the regular sand baggers had to get the guard in their line and more sand bags didn’t come in until the cameras came.

We hear these stories about people pulling together to save these small towns but from my experience, hardly anyone helps that doesn’t live there.

I’m still trying to determine what the life lesson is from this.
Here were some of the photos I took while out there.

The first few photos are from Annada, MO. The town was desolate. The second grouping of photos is from Foley, MO. Prisoners were working with the National Guard to add sandbags on top of the earthen levee. Yesterday the water overtook that levee.

My friend, Chris Birk, wrote a piece that sets the scene in the smaller towns for the St. louis Beacon.

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2. May 2008 by Max.

Opening on Friday, May 9th at 5pm is the collaborative photo show “Something In My Eye,” in the May Gallery at Webster University. I will have work in the show and would appreciate all readers to come out and enjoy the photos. I look forward to seeing you there. 

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