When I headed out of Rogers Arena, I noticed a plume of smoke about two blocks away. I figured I should at least check things out. I dumped what I didn't need in my car, ran up to West Georgia Street and into complete anarchy. By this time, rioters and looters were all becoming increasingly hostile towards the media – including verbal and physical attacks – as we recorded their activities. At one point, a man in the crowd tried to protect his looting girlfriend's identity by covering my camera lens and then forcefully asking me to stop taking photos. I wriggled free, and continued to take photos, when – whack! He punched my camera, causing a cut above my eye. I got the message and moved on around to the other side of the crowd and regrouped with a few other photographers for safety.
JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Year in Review
2011 in focus: Best B.C. photos of the year
john lehmann
From Friday's Globe and Mail
Published
Last updated
British Columbia is a place of striking images, and that has never been more true than in 2011. The Vancouver Canucks Cup run and the resulting riots, the ever-beautiful salmon streams: All caught the attention of Globe visual journalist John Lehmann’s lens this year, resulting in the stunning photographs reproduced below. Mr. Lehmann usually talks through images, but this week he discusses the stories behind the lens
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It may look as if I used an expensive professional underwater camera housing to capture this image – but it actually was a $16 fish tank and three bags of kitty litter. This cheap trick of putting the camera inside the tank is a great way to show one view of two completely different worlds, dramatically increasing the picture’s visual interest. The fish tank keeps the camera dry, obviously, but also allows it to be placed farther back from the waterline, allowing a great depth of field. The kitty litter has a two-fold purpose: to keep the tank from floating downstream, and to secure the camera in place.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
It may look as if I used an expensive professional underwater camera housing to capture this image – but it actually was a $16 fish tank and three bags of kitty litter. This cheap trick of putting the camera inside the tank is a great way to show one view of two completely different worlds, dramatically increasing the picture’s visual interest. The fish tank keeps the camera dry, obviously, but also allows it to be placed farther back from the waterline, allowing a great depth of field. The kitty litter has a two-fold purpose: to keep the tank from floating downstream, and to secure the camera in place.
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When I headed out of Rogers Arena, I noticed a plume of smoke about two blocks away. I figured I should at least check things out. I dumped what I didn't need in my car, ran up to West Georgia Street and into complete anarchy. By this time, rioters and looters were all becoming increasingly hostile towards the media – including verbal and physical attacks – as we recorded their activities. At one point, a man in the crowd tried to protect his looting girlfriend's identity by covering my camera lens and then forcefully asking me to stop taking photos. I wriggled free, and continued to take photos, when – whack! He punched my camera, causing a cut above my eye. I got the message and moved on around to the other side of the crowd and regrouped with a few other photographers for safety.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
When I headed out of Rogers Arena, I noticed a plume of smoke about two blocks away. I figured I should at least check things out. I dumped what I didn't need in my car, ran up to West Georgia Street and into complete anarchy.
By this time, rioters and looters were all becoming increasingly hostile towards the media – including verbal and physical attacks – as we recorded their activities. At one point, a man in the crowd tried to protect his looting girlfriend's identity by covering my camera lens and then forcefully asking me to stop taking photos. I wriggled free, and continued to take photos, when – whack! He punched my camera, causing a cut above my eye. I got the message and moved on around to the other side of the crowd and regrouped with a few other photographers for safety.
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More faces from the riot.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Another face from the Stanley Cup riot in Vancouver.
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Officials at the Stanley Cup riot. — JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Riot police stand in front of burning police car in Vancouver June 15, 2011 after what the police said were criminals and anarchists disguised as Canucks fans were responsible for the Stanley Cup riot.
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Patience is something I've never had much of, but – along with a camera and a very long lens – patience is key when shooting wildlife. Never has this hit home for me more so than on a trip to Bella Coola this fall to photograph grizzly bears fattening up on the last of the salmon run. I set off with a guide and a few others on a trail running alongside a river in Tweedsmiur Park. Two kilometres in, hauling 35 pounds of camera gear, I still had a bounce in my step as we looked high and low for a grizzly bears, while I daydreamed of all the National Geographic images I was about to shoot. The bounce was gone by kilometre six. With rain starting to fall and night setting in, we turned around and headed back. I had given up any hope of shooting a grizzly bear. Walking back at a fairly good clip, oblivious to the group which had followed behind, I was a mere kilometre from the car when I heard a muted shout: “Stop!” I spun around as the group and guide were frantically waving and pointing across the river from me to where a bear and her spring cub were foraging in the underbrush – too far away and too dark to photograph, according to my light meter. Frustrated, I set my camera down and watched as the two made their way along the river.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Patience is something I've never had much of, but – along with a camera and a very long lens – patience is key when shooting wildlife. Never has this hit home for me more so than on a trip to Bella Coola this fall to photograph grizzly bears fattening up on the last of the salmon run.
I set off with a guide and a few others on a trail running alongside a river in Tweedsmiur Park. Two kilometres in, hauling 35 pounds of camera gear, I still had a bounce in my step as we looked high and low for a grizzly bears, while I daydreamed of all the National Geographic images I was about to shoot. The bounce was gone by kilometre six. With rain starting to fall and night setting in, we turned around and headed back. I had given up any hope of shooting a grizzly bear. Walking back at a fairly good clip, oblivious to the group which had followed behind, I was a mere kilometre from the car when I heard a muted shout: “Stop!” I spun around as the group and guide were frantically waving and pointing across the river from me to where a bear and her spring cub were foraging in the underbrush – too far away and too dark to photograph, according to my light meter. Frustrated, I set my camera down and watched as the two made their way along the river.
Suddenly, the bear and her cub jumped into the water and swam across and popped up in the bush not 20 feet away. They ran down trail away from us and up a rock slide – my last chance, I knew. There was just enough light if I used the highest setting on my camera. The mom and her cub continued up the rockslide, stopped, turned around and posed just long enough for me to get a burst of frames off, before they walked out of sight.
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One of the go-to photos for any major sporting event is the classic dressed-up and make-up-smeared fan photo. Fans love having their photos taken and editors love publishing them. As for me, I think they are the biggest clichés. Often when faced with an obvious option, I try to think of a way around it. That's where the inspiration came for this montage of “Super Canucks” fans before the start of game two of the Stanley Cup finals. More often than not, fans are shot in the street outside the arena or in their seats waiting for the game to start. I thought, why not change the routine, and so I set up a makeshift portrait studio outside the arena with a paint drop cloth from the local hardware store, hung it up outside the area, and off I went trying to weed out the best looking super-fans from the thousands headed into the Rogers Arena. Continuity is what makes this alternative fan photo montage work so well. Each photo was shot from the same position and background, with the same lens, exposure and natural light. The technique works well because it isolates the subject, giving more visual punch. Even the simplest assignment can run into big problems, however. After setting up and photographing about 15 fans over 20 minutes, I was kicked out by Rogers Arena management and security for not having permission, even though I was fully accredited for the Stanley Cup playoffs. No matter – I had what I needed.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
One of the go-to photos for any major sporting event is the classic dressed-up and make-up-smeared fan photo. Fans love having their photos taken and editors love publishing them. As for me, I think they are the biggest clichés.
Often when faced with an obvious option, I try to think of a way around it. That's where the inspiration came for this montage of “Super Canucks” fans before the start of game two of the Stanley Cup finals. More often than not, fans are shot in the street outside the arena or in their seats waiting for the game to start. I thought, why not change the routine, and so I set up a makeshift portrait studio outside the arena with a paint drop cloth from the local hardware store, hung it up outside the area, and off I went trying to weed out the best looking super-fans from the thousands headed into the Rogers Arena.
Continuity is what makes this alternative fan photo montage work so well. Each photo was shot from the same position and background, with the same lens, exposure and natural light. The technique works well because it isolates the subject, giving more visual punch. Even the simplest assignment can run into big problems, however. After setting up and photographing about 15 fans over 20 minutes, I was kicked out by Rogers Arena management and security for not having permission, even though I was fully accredited for the Stanley Cup playoffs. No matter – I had what I needed
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As a photojournalist, I often daydream about different elements coming together for the perfect picture, or the one image that will sum up an entire event. By far, this single photo out of the thousands I took over the course of a few days best explains the week-long Pulling Together canoe journey, which began in 2001 to build relationships between police and first nations at-risk youths. The journey, made up of 19 canoes with 13 people in each, is not only physically difficult but also mentally challenging, as the two groups struggle to reach the same goal over the course of eight days. The foreboding early morning clouds and glossy beach left from the receding water at low tide mirrors not only the mood of the group but the journey ahead.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
As a photojournalist, I often daydream about different elements coming together for the perfect picture, or the one image that will sum up an entire event.
By far, this single photo out of the thousands I took over the course of a few days best explains the week-long Pulling Together canoe journey, which began in 2001 to build relationships between police and first nations at-risk youths. The journey, made up of 19 canoes with 13 people in each, is not only physically difficult but also mentally challenging, as the two groups struggle to reach the same goal over the course of eight days. The foreboding early morning clouds and glossy beach left from the receding water at low tide mirrors not only the mood of the group but the journey ahead.
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Perspective and colour are great tools for creating interest in a photo. In the team-building photo at Quest University, the unique angle not only gives us a dramatic view, but also gives a sense of what the subject is facing in her quest to make it over the rope without touching it. Along with light and colour, a very long telephoto lens also substantially changes the view and perspective of an image. — JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Perspective and colour are great tools for creating interest in a photo. In the team-building photo at Quest University, the unique angle not only gives us a dramatic view, but also gives a sense of what the subject is facing in her quest to make it over the rope without touching it. Along with light and colour, a very long telephoto lens also substantially changes the view and perspective of an image.
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Two well-equipped plane spotters photograph a plane landing at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond Sept. 9, 2011, outfitted with digital cameras and a radio scanner so they can tune in the tower frequencies so they know which planes are landing when.— JOHN LEHMANN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL
Two well-equipped plane spotters photograph a plane landing at the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond Sept. 9, 2011, outfitted with digital cameras and a radio scanner so they can tune in the tower frequencies so they know which planes are landing when.
