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9-11-01



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Tribute to the fallen from 9-11 in Forest Park, St. Louis, Mo. on the ten-year anniversary of the terrorist attack. Almost 3,000 flags were on display in this m...
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Tribute to the fallen from 9-11 in Forest Park, St. Louis, Mo. on the ten-year anniversary of the terrorist attack. Almost 3,000 flags were on display in this memorial.
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upload_dateFeb, 2015

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5 Comments |
Anth
 
Anth February 27, 2015
Great shot
karentosie
 
karentosie August 21, 2015
Very thought provoking
arthurxgreen
 
arthurxgreen August 26, 2015
This should've won. I went through a bunch of phototures but this, in my opinion, wins the contest by a longshot. Bravo.
hituwithacoustic
 
hituwithacoustic January 25, 2016
agasp
lindaarcher
 
lindaarcher January 28, 2019
This speaks volumes of past to present loss and loved ones who caught for our freedom. It speaks to your heart. Just amazing!

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Behind The Lens

Location

I made this photo in Forest Park in St. Louis on the tenth anniversary of 9-11. A man had the great idea of planting a flag for every victim of that tragic day. Afterwards, he sold all of the flags for charity.

Time

The photo was taken at dawn. I work for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper in St. Louis. I was not assigned to cover the memorial service on that Sunday, but I knew I had to be there anyway. The night before the event, the tv weatherman said we would have ground fog in the morning. That was just what I needed to hear. I made sure that I was there before the sun came up so that I could find the right location to make this image.

Lighting

I was a little concerned about lens flare, but it turned out not to be a problem. I overexposed by one stop to make sure I kept all the color and detail of the flags.

Equipment

We use Canon cameras at the Post-Dispatch. I was using a Mark IV body at the time with a 28-70mm lens. I hardly ever use a tripod or a flash.

Inspiration

I had driven past this location in the park in the days before the memorial service. I watched as volunteers planted all of the flags and made sure they were lined up perfectly. It was so inspirational, but there were lots of other photographers out taking pictures of the scene. I wanted my photo to be different. I never saw any other images from that day that looked like this. The organizer of the event asked for a copy. Every year on 9-11, I have friends who use this image on there Facebook pages to illustrate the event.

Editing

No, this is pretty much how I saw it and shot it. Since I'm in the newspaper business, we have very strict ethical standards concerning what we can and cannot do to our images. Most of my images in Viewbug are straight photographs with very little done to them except toning and cropping.

In my camera bag

I don't carry a camera bag. Too much weight and it slows me down. I carry two cameras - a Canon 1Dx with a 70-200mm lens and a Canon 5D with a 28-70 lens. That's all I need most of the time. When I'm out photographing eagles and other birds, I use the company's 400/2.8 with a 1.4 telextender. I've got a flash in the car, but I'm not sure I can find it. I haven't used a flash on the job for several years. Covering Ferguson and the riots at night was challenging, but I made it work.

Feedback

I've gotten some of my best shots in the golden hours of dawn and dusk. I listen to the weatherman the night before a shoot. Last year, he announced that the area would be blanketed with a heavy fog in the morning. I made sure I was up and on location at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery before dawn. It really paid off. We're all out there looking to do something different from other photographers. That usually means making a little more effort and finding that location that everyone else ignored or hasn't thought of. I've been doing photojournalism for 45 years and I still love the challenge. It's what keeps me going.

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