Arts & Communications: Newspaper Photographer
Arts & Communications
Newspaper Photographer: Andrew Shimabuku
by Brian McInnis
Andrew Shimabuku picked up a camera four years ago and started snapping shots of things that struck his fancy on a stay in Japan-with no formal training or fancy equipment. Now, at 24, he's one of the Honolulu Advertiser's primary photographers for various news and sporting events on Oahu - and he's still enrolled as a student at the University of Hawai'i.
The Walk-On Photographer
Ever hear the expression 'walk-on' when it comes to an athlete making a team that they weren't expected to make? That could be the best way to describe how Andrew first came aboard a daily newspaper. "I was just doing casual photographs (at the age of 19 or 20) and when I came to Hawaii and started college here I was looking for a photo club or something," he said. "They didn't have one, so someone recommended going to Ka Leo (UH's daily student newspaper)." He was armed only with a Canon 81, a cheap film camera, and basically walked on and said he wanted to take pictures. "Pretty much! They were looking for a wild art photo so I went out and shot the band playing in the courtyard and it came out the next day. Since then I've been taking photos." From Ka Leo he spring boarded to the Honolulu Advertiser as a part-time photographer, his current position.
Getting An Angle
A huge part of a photographer's success depends on how they position themselves strategically for their shots. Andrew is constantly looking for ways to innovate and come up with a new way to look at something. "I think the last one like that, it was a canoe shot with a team practicing - they usually practice in the Ala Wai Canal; and when it was polluted they had to relocate to Keehi Lagoon. We actually went out there to shoot them practicing, but when I got there they were already done. So they thought I was just going to pose them and just shoot. Then we had an idea of them going out and practicing a little bit longer. Since they were already on land it gave me the idea of going onto the boat and shooting them on the boat. So I was sitting on the bow of the boat and looking towards them, the light was just right and it had a really nice background so I shot it. What ended up happening was the paddlers were dead center and I was at the front of the boat, so you see actually down the line of the boat."
The Magic Eye
Photographers will shoot far more pictures at a news or sporting event than they could ever hope to use. The editors will select the shot or shots they like the best (in the case where Andrew shoots UH football, several of his shots can be selected). But the number of pictures he takes is staggering.
"For events like sports I can shoot anywhere from 300 to up to 600 shots per game," Andrew said. "It could be even more than that. At halftime I go in and edit that on my laptop. I'll go through and manually search through all the photos. I'll keep a record in my head of which shots I like because I can look at the shots as I've shot them on the LCD screen on the back of my camera. So from there I'll just put the caption on it and send it in. For news and features it varies, sometimes in certain news situations you only have so much time to shoot so you end up with not as many photos as you want." He says it takes between 15 and 30 minutes to select the shots he likes, and touch them up on his laptop to make sure the lighting is correct (the image itself is not altered).
Where's The Love?
For the most part, Andrew is his own strongest critic. "I haven't gotten that great super-photo that I really liked so far. It still eludes me." He grins. "I've had other photos where other people have thought they were really great and wonderfully composed, but …" …But, he's still searching. What, then, are his goals as a photographer? He thinks for a moment. "Just to become a better shooter. Some of it is technical and some of it is aesthetic. Just knowing what exposures to shoot at, and getting interesting content."
She 'Em What You Can Do
Andrew says amateur photographers don't need much to get started-the really expensive gear is provided by the newspaper. "You really don't need the top-of-the-line equipment for news and feature-type assignments. You really don't need any specialized equipment. [That's] more for sports, shooting at night, [or] shooting in low-light conditions that you need professional equipment." So can regular, store-bought digital cameras be effective for starters? "Oh yeah, totally," he said. I guess he's right-just look at him.