When we think of high-impact photography, we generally think of full-color images. At The Eagle, we have a talented photo staff, and we try to showcase their work — in color — on the front page of the paper each day, as well as in all our news and features sections.
But photographer Travis Heying recently showed how a black-and-white image can stir our emotions and capture our interest. His portrait of Patsy Schmidt, a volunteer aid worker at Greensburg in the wake of the May 4 tornado, won The Eagle’s in-house photo contest.
Here’s what Travis had to say about his photo:
"The idea for the portrait of Patsy Schmidt basically came from this: I had already spent two weeks shooting pictures of splintered trees in Greensburg and was desperate to do something that looked and felt different.
"We don’t typically run black-and-white photos on our news fronts, but I made the argument that maybe if we did, it might draw increased attention to Page 1. In addition, reporter Tim Potter was writing a story that I thought would serve as a great historic record to what happened in Greensburg on May 4. When I think of historic photos, I think in black and white.
"Patsy Schmidt was the last of three individuals I photographed that day. I shot the photo around 1:30 in the afternoon, a time of day any photographer will tell you is the absolute worst time for making good pictures. The sun creates horrible shadows when it’s overhead. To counter this, I set up a light on Patsy and underexposed the existing light to give the background additional saturation. The batteries on my flash were nearly dead, so I only took 7-10 frames.
"This was a bit of an experiment for us to run black and white on Page 1. Senior Photographer Bo Rader did an excellent job in pre-production with the photo to ensure that it looked great after going to press.
"Based on the reader reaction to the photo, I’d say it worked out nicely."
And based on the in-house voting at The Eagle, it’s a winner, as well.
Good work, Travis.
Arlice