"Retired Army Sgt. and American Legion Post 491 member Gerald Raske of Wonder Lake is silhouetted by the American flag and fading sunset while waiting to welcome home Navy ensign Kevin Haggerty at McHenry VFW in McHenry, Friday, March 13, 2009."
A lot of what I do on assignment involves waiting. Patience is not necessarily something that I'm good at but I'm rewarded when I wait for moments to evolve and come together.
Friday evening I was covering a homecoming ceremony for a single Navy soldier, Kevin Haggerty, and I was forced to wait around as the parade of sorts had not arrived. It doesn't really bother me but I'm always confused at how the military runs like clockwork but these homecoming ceremonies never run on time. Instead of twiddling my thumbs I decided that I was going to make a frame for myself before the soldier arrived. I knew that I wanted to be able to focus my efforts on one person because that would force me to really work the situation until I made it work instead of getting frustrated and moving on too quickly.
I liked all the pins and patches on Mr. Raske's hat and decided to key in on him. After I took down his name I went to work. Luckily for me he really didn't seem to mind, nor notice, my interest in him at all. Just like the little girls from my assignment the other day he was a very cooperative photo subject.
The scene at the VFW was very busy as the parking lot full of cars, tree branches, power lines, swarms of friends and family of the soldier made for a difficult place to make a "clean" photo of Mr. Raske. After about 20 minutes of working the situation things finally fell into place. The wind picked up and the sun was dropping in the sky, giving it a great warm color. There were flags lined up along the sidewalk and when Mr. Raske got into formation with the rest of the American Legion Post 491 I made the above frame.
The quasi silhouette really makes it a winner in my mind. Anyone can shoot a silhouette but to find the right moment when the backlit light source reaches an unusual balance with the front of the subject takes real patience. It's amazing what happens when I push myself.
-JCE
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