Enterprise and Feature Photos

Jane Simmons and her friend Theresa Ochalek enjoy the first fish fry dinner of Lent on Ash Wednesday at St. Malachy Catholic Church in Sterling Heights, MI. They were among the first customers there.

Steve Rutkowski volunteers in the kitchen during the fish fry at St. Malachy Catholic Church in Sterling Heights, MI. The kitchen was busy for the first fish fry of Lent.

Shooting an Enterprise Photo

For my enterprise photos, I chose to photograph the St. Malachy Catholic Church fish fry on Ash Wednesday. The event was very full of life, with vibrantly decorated tables and many families of the parish. There were multiple photo opportunities, ranging from the cooks in the kitchen, the customers eating, the order line, the raffle ticket sale, and the bake sale.

While there was much that I was able to shoot, I had faced some difficulties. Some of these included the fact that when I had tried to shoot the cash register, the people in line posed because they saw that I had a camera. A similar thing happened with the bake sale, where the women working actually pulled me over to take their picture. I did not decline, but I knew that I would not be able to use their photo. I eventually stumbled upon two elder women eating at a table, one with a smile on her face as she listened to what her friend was saying.

The biggest difficulty that I had faced was the time crunch that I was on. The dinner started at 4 o’clock, and I had class an hour later. This meant that I had to work fast in order to make it back to campus on time.

Finally, after wandering around the main area of the building, I was taken into the kitchen where I was able to shoot some pictures of the cooks preparing the fish dinners. It was very crowded and I had to stay out of the way which made it difficult for me to photograph more than just the front of the room.

However, I was able to take a picture of a man transporting the fish he had just fried into a container. I was unable to get information on what the container was for because of how busy they were, but I did get his name.

Something that I took away from this lesson is that it is all about being in the right place at the right time. After aimlessly wandering the building in an attempt to photograph something, I found magic in the busy kitchen and in a beautiful moment between two friends.

A patron stops and admires an exhibit in the Ancient Egypt wing of the Detroit Institute of Arts on Tuesday. The exhibit displayed various caskets that were used to hold mummified remains.

A mother and her son look through a brochure before walking through the Labor of Love exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts museum on Tuesday. The exhibit opened in Dec. 2018 and will remain open until July 7, 2019.

Carol and Ashley Budchok pay close attention to the details on a painting in the Pop Art exhibit of the Detroit Institute of Arts on Tuesday. The exhibit was inspired by American modern culture.

John Street and his wife, Mary Trepanier-Street examine a piece in the From Camelot to Kent State: Pop Art exhibit in the Detroit Institute of Arts on Tuesday. The exhibit showcased a wide variety of playful technology and fine-art.

Mary Trepanier-Street pays close attention to a chart on the wall in the Pop Art exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts on Tuesday. The museum dedicated an area to the playful art for patrons to enjoy.

Mike Fisher admires a piece in the Pop Art exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts on Tuesday. The exhibit opened on Feb. 17 and will remain open until Aug. 25.

Shooting Feature Photos

Feature stories cover events and capture candid photos while telling a story. I had the chance to shoot photos at the DIA to expose the wonders of art and the people who appreciate it to its fullest.

The Detroit Institute of Arts museum held a new exhibit called Ruben and Isabel Toledo: Labor of Love. In this exhibit, the Toledos used inspiration from the art in the museum to transform their ideas into realities…mostly fashion pieces. The new exhibit is spread around the museum next to the particular artifacts that inspired them.

This exhibit pulled in many visitors who admired the pieces very closely. I was able to photograph some of them and I connected with them afterwards, which was a very rewarding experience. 

However, like anything else, I faced some difficulties while I was shooting the exhibit. The lighting in the room was absolutely horrible. It took a lot of adjusting to get my photos to capture the people so that they were visible. It was also difficult because there was a lot of clutter in the background, with the pieces of art scattered around the floor and the subjects who stopped to admire them. 

Another difficulty I came across was the timing. I was pressed for time due to being in class all morning and then having to commute to work two hours later. It was a very fast-paced assignment that I had to be creative with. 

It was also surprisingly difficult to find things in the area that were happening. Many events that I had researched prior to the assignment were all scheduled for the weekend with no way to fit them into my schedule. 

This assignment showed me that there is a lot of time management, skill, and camera control knowledge that comes with shooting a feature. It also took me out of my comfort zone because I had to photograph strangers and ask for their information.