You play to win.
But some say defeat is a far better teacher.
The pictures I took below explore both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, as they were played out on our local fields and courts over the past year.
All images copyrighted by The Evening Sun – Brett Berwager
I usually take that road. The one that weaves its way through the rolling countryside of South Central Pa., in West Manheim Township.
There’s a lot to see on that little two-lane road. From farmers in their fields to fisherman perched by a little lake. And one day last week, that scene was no different.
I was out on my usual voyage, looking for whatever it was I might find. Driving along that familiar winding road, I came up over a little hill and swung around that same small turn.
Immediately though, I noticed something unexpected to my left. I slowed slightly, and up the road about 100 feet, I pulled off and parked.
As I got out of my car and grabbed my camera gear, the young man wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt past its prime was walking toward me with a leaf rake in his hand. I noticed a small sticker on the back of his little SUV parked beside me.
After shaking hands, we began to talk for a few minutes, and I asked permission to follow him back up there, to the flowers and the weathered wooden crosses sitting around a four-letter name.
As we began walking side-by-side, he started to tell how this was the place where one of his best friends, 18-year-old Josh C. Hertz, had died in a car crash one warm summer night, only 10 months earlier.
Josh’s friend came on this cloudy April day to clean those annoying spring weeds overgrowing the football and flowers placed amongst the wooden crosses now breaking the horizon line.
He talked about how he met the former South Western football lineman for the first time in the Shurfine parking lot a few years earlier. It was a place where their friends went to just hang out and talk.
And Josh?
“He was a great friend. He would of done anything for you.”
That’s what Brandon Engles said, standing there in his dirty brown work boots beside the little overgrown bank, now a little cleaner at one sacred spot.
“I drive by here every day on my way home from work,” he said.
But Brandon didn’t have to go to work on this particular day. So instead, he came to a humble shrine along a quiet country road to say hello again.
And to remember, a friend.
All images copyrighted by The Evening Sun – Brett Berwager
I felt a presence behind me during a recent assignment, a soft voice saying “click, click…”
One windy afternoon I was strolling around New Oxford when I noticed that the Scott’s Family Bookstore in the square was closing, giving away the remaining inventory for free. The little shop in the square that housed hundreds of books from all categories was shutting it’s doors permanently, and moving the business to used book websites, according to owner John Scott.
Out of the large crowd that showed up in the square that day, there wasn’t anyone that I spoke with that didn’t have a reason to love the little nook of a bookstore. From just stopping in to chat with John, or spend a little while browsing the dusty shelves for unknown treasures.
It’s a shame that small town bookstores are rarities these days. It seems like every time I turn around local business owners are shutting their doors due to rising costs and competition from the internet and major retailers. John Scott said his business wasn’t hurting, he’s got books stacked to the ceilings at home waiting to be sold online, which is great news. And it really is amazing the new opportunities the internet can provide for some small businesses.
But one does have to admit there is a certain loss of community connectivity, a place to congregate and discuss everything from Kurt Vonnegut to local politics. The kind of activity tiny stores and cafes provide.
I suppose even in the future, when every major or miniature transaction is done online, that we’ll still find ways to get together, discuss our favorite science-fiction epic we just finished reading on our Nook or iPad, drink a cup of coffee and get in that face-to-face time.
Images Copyright – Shane Dunlap – The Evening Sun
They’re an image of America, a standard, a beacon of light that transcends time and place, and in a sense, the essence of America.
The bald eagle.
We all know the amazing creature. From its white head and yellow beak down to its black body and white tail feathers. We learn as wide-eyed kids in grade school the mystique it carries.
Maybe that’s where I first learned of the bald eagle, at Manheim Elementary School, right along Route 216, a stone’s throw away from splashing into Lake Marburg. Back then I’m sure we had to learn about the eagle from photos in a textbook.
But the times are a-changin’.
Now, if you’re not careful, that same stone may hit one soaring high above the waters of Lake Marburg. In fact, maybe a few.
The bald eagle population has grown progressively throughout the United States and the trend is apparent at Codorus State Park as well.
I’ve always wanted to take photos of these eagles at the park and two weeks ago, our paths finally crossed.
Our reporter, Craig Paskoski, stopped by my desk to ask if I could take some pictures of the bald eagles at the lake for a story he was doing on the death of one eagle and a frisky new male that was seen with the widowed female.
“Sure,” I said with a hidden smile. Finally, I thought to myself.
After talking with a few landowners and being granted permission to get somewhat near the nesting area, I began my approach.
There was a picture-perfect deep blue sky above with a gentle breeze around me – a very warm and mild day by March standards. As I walked along the gravel farm lane, I heard something in the trees to my right.
I turned and looked. There, from the barren treetops, two bald eagles took flight.
One eagle decided to turn and fly directly above me, posing perhaps or maybe just saying hey. I pulled my awkwardly heavy 300 millimeter camera lens upward just in time.
As I set up shop along the edge of the tree line and waited to take more photos, I couldn’t help but be moved by what I had seen.
Just watching those eagles fly and listening to them soar above me, it made me stop and think about America, and how the two are so similar.
They’re both, the symbol of freedom.
All images copyrighted by The Evening Sun – Brett Berwager
Come on, let’s be honest — it’s not really all that hard, right?
You point the camera at something interesting, and press down the little button. As a matter of fact, if you’ve got one of those fancy photo desk cameras at The Evening Sun, I think you can just hold it down and take like 50 pictures in a couple of seconds.
Getting a good one’s got to be a piece of cake that way.
I’ve seen newspaper photographers do it, just like that.
But I didn’t even need one of those big heavy things earlier this week, when I was out covering an overturned milk tanker south of York Springs. Nope. Just a regular old point-and-shoot the managing editor keeps half-charged buried at the bottom of a desk drawer.
And I was still all over the front page.
I always enjoy watching the crowd at Delone basketball games because I never know what the theme of the night will be. Tim Tebow even made an appearance once but I was too far away on the opposite side of the court and the pics didn’t do him justice.
This little interaction reminded me of one of those old-school miniature flip books where if you turn the pages fast enough, the images dance. Here Camryn Felix, 8, has fun with Delone Squire mascot Mike Franz:
This is the final part in a three part series about how to improve your pictures. Part 3 will focus on one of the most important aspects of any photograph, the way it looks.
In the last part I discussed a few basics on digital terminology. Photography has always been a gadget driven pursuit. It is helpful to understand how the tool operates but focusing too much on cameras and flashy technology can be distracting from the priority, which is making pictures.
But photography as a spoken language? That’s a fairly ridiculous notion when considered literally.
But it’s true. All visuals are a way of communicating. A way that transcends spoken language. Because we recognize and respond to symbols faster then anything else.
As far as photography is concerned, this is done through composition and framing. And like most language, it takes time to learn to speak it.
Composition:
Photo composition has the same meaning as when it’s applied to a painting or design. It is the way elements are arranged and work together.
One of the simplest concepts is known as the Rule of Thirds. Basically, if a two-dimensional image is divided into equal thirds, the focal point of the picture should lay somewhere on those divided lines.
Otherwise known as off-center.
Truly more of a guideline then a rule. It’s definitely meant to be broken.
Also, paying close attention to the relationship between foreground and background can help.
Having a subject contrasted against a plain background helps the subject pop out. The human eye connects quickly with contrasts between light and dark, and contrasts between colors.
In the example above, the bug pops from the background of the image because it’s darker then the background, creating a contrast, and also because it’s a contrasting color.
Framing:
With your own pictures perhaps trying to make it more interesting is only a matter of exploring your surroundings and finding a fresh angle. Or maybe moving the camera up or down a few feet. Studying the frame and what to include or exclude is one of the biggest challenges with image-making.
Practice viewing a scene through the LCD screen or viewfinder and pay attention to the outside edges of the frame. Pay attention to how close a subject is to the outside edges – the closer, the more tension there is, and the closer to the center, the less tension. It’s always important to pay attention to the edges of the frame before the central parts of the image.
Experiment with the amount of breathing room between the edge and your subject. Is more or less room better for your picture?
It’s also important to note in two-dimensional images objects in the background intersecting with elements in the foreground can sometimes create unwanted tangents. Especially so with human subjects and the area around their heads. Generally the face or head of a subject should live within it’s own realm and not be intersecting with too many other elements.
In this famous painting, The Night Watch, you will notice how every face is visible. And successful photographs are the same.
Another fun and creative way to practice framing is placing a frame within a frame.
Just about any object can be used as a framing device
The idea about frames within frames is the beginning of layering elements in a picture. A fun challenge, especially with moving subjects.
Everything talked about here are basic compositional and framing techniques. The best way to get creative with pictures is by experimenting on your own. It’s a process of developing a sense for pictures and how they work. That sense can be matured by looking at photography and practicing it on a regular basis. And of course to have fun with it and get creative.
So folks, that wraps up my three part series on photography basics. I plan to resume sharing work on a regular basis and perhaps continue discussions about photography, photojournalism and visual media in the near future. Enjoy the warm weather and get out and make pictures.
Was sitting in the office on a recent quiet Friday night when those loud annoying tones began screaming on the Adams County scanner. A reported structure fire in Adams County, so Evening Sun Reporter Jackie Palochko and I headed out into the dreary night to investigate. What we found was a small barn fire near the little town of Hampton, PA. After shooting some pictures at the front of the barn, I decided to look for a different perspective and ended up on the other side, behind the smoke filled barn. What I discovered was some pretty interesting light, fire light.
All images copyrighted by The Evening Sun – Brett Berwager
Here’s an image from a longer story I did back in school about an Elvis impersonator. The singing was actually only one of his gigs; he also did Houdini-type escapes, such as jumping into a swimming pool bound in chains from head to toe and freeing himself in a matter of seconds. He had also worked with the legendary daredevil, Evel Knievel (who was from my home state of Montana, thank you very much. Knievel was from Butte, and if you’ve ever been to Butte, you will find that its residents aren’t scared of much and neither do they suffer fools gladly).
Anyway, imagine my surprise when I pull out my audio recorder for our interview and find out that this fire-eating, motorcycle-jumping performer is…shy. I couldn’t believe it. But apparently that is the case with a lot of entertainers; the public self is not necessarily the private self.
After I unwittingly tortured him some more with my interview questions, Elvis gave a great show, packed up his glittery suits, and drove off into the night to make his next gig the follow morning.
I headed home with a slew of pictures and what turned out to be the second revelation of the night: completely unusable audio. I had interviewed my subject near the boiler room, an area which had seemed like the only quiet place at the club at the time but upon playback, was full of crashing and gurgling machine sounds, drowning out any human voice.
No Houdini escapes were available on this one, but thankfully, it was for school and not the real world. Live and learn!
Image Copyright The Evening Sun – Clare Becker
Brett Berwager is a staff photographer at The Evening Sun. A south central Pennsylvania native, he often can be found outdoors photographing people in the community. He can also be found at bberwager@eveningsun.com. 
Clare Becker is a staff photographer at The Evening Sun. Originally from Montana, she holds a graduate degree from University of Missouri's School of Journalism. She can be reached at cbecker@eveningsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @clarebckr 
Shane Dunlap is a staff photographer at The Evening Sun. Prior to living in Hanover, Shane has worked as a news photographer between North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Contact him at sdunlap@eveningsun.com or follow him on Twitter @shanedunlap.
