Growing up I’d hear stories about how some men would stick spikes and tridents into themselves and hang metal hooks off the skin of their backs as they sang and danced fervently, invoking the powers of supernatural beings in their trance-like state. I’d also hear about how some women, similarly decorated, would carry earthen milk pots on their heads as they march off to present their worldly offerings to the gods.

But it wasn’t until recently that I saw it all for myself.

What I witnessed on that morning of the Hindu festival of Thaipusam came close enough to what ran through my mind’s eye as a child, albeit slightly less melodramatic. But standing there with the devotees on their major thanksgiving festival and gradually realizing the significance of the festival for them, transformed what I had once imagined as the stuff of nightmares into a beautiful and visually stunning exhibition of faith, love and sacrifice.

“I BELIEVE IN GODS”

The sun hadn’t yet come up when I made my way to the temple located in Little India. But it was already teeming with devotees preparing to take part in the Thaipusam procession. It would be a 4.5km march to another temple where they would offer whatever they had brought along literally on their backs to Lord Muruga, one of the sons of Hindu god Shiva.

But you don’t need to be Hindu to join in the procession it seemed. Apparently all you need is what first-time participant Melvin Ho,  a 49-year-old man of Chinese origin, had - “Faith.” Melvin said. “I believe in gods.”

I stood and chatted with Melvin until he was directed by a Hindu friend to pray a little before the friend proceeded to pierce a slender mini trident through the skin of his forehead.

And then more prayers before the friend went on to insert over a dozen metal hooks into the skin of Melvin’s back from which rows of lime would hang. Melvin’s friend, with sweat trickling down his furrowed brow and his hands sporadically giving way to little intense quivers with each piercing, looked more pained than Melvin did.

And there was still there was more to come. Something else was happening and I had no clue but I could feel the air almost crackling with something like excitement. People were crowding in tighter around the man of the hour and I was caught in the midst of it.

I don’t know if my pictures can do justice to the reality on the ground because everything suddenly built up into a whirlwind of motion: Melvin took sips of milk. People around us started praying out loud. Two men took turns shouting mantras into Melvin’s ears as though forcing the charms into his very being. That state of frenzy continued for as long as it took for a metre-long metal skewer to go through both sides of his cheeks. 

And for thos electrifying two minutes I was on tip toes, camara glued to my face leaning precariously into the shoulder of the man driving the rod into Melvin’s face. My hands were trembling.

Melvin, on the other hand, took it all like a pro. I wanted to drop my camera and applaud - especially after he turned to look at me and smiled. 

Or tried to. Having a symbolic trident through his face had effectively fixed everything in place.

By Daniel Muñoz

“You guys are with me, Osama Bin Laden. Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen.” I laughed at hearing this as a feeling of false “security” swept over me.

I was with a TV crew going on patrol of Bogota’s red light district with this wannabe Osama, whose real name is Fernando Aguirre, a 50-year-old poor man who claims to be the son of the real Bin Laden.

As we made the rounds from one brothel to another it became clear that Aguirre has gained the respect of the bouncers of these dens of prostitution here in Latin America’s third most populated capital city.

His only instructions were to stay close to him and not take photographs showing the faces of Colombia’s famously beautiful hookers, who cater to the lust of not only Colombians but also tourists from around the world.

The security guards chuckled and gave Aguirre tips. They and some uniformed police officers, who allow him to carry a fake wooden rifle, chatted with him about security in the area. This Bogota neighborhood is notorious for muggings and gangs of taxi drivers who take people for what is known as the “millionaire’s tour,” which involves being kidnapped for an hour or so and taken at gunpoint from one cash machine to another to empty out your bank account.

Aguirre patrols the neighborhood four or five times every night, until about 5am. Food venders give him something to eat when he needs it and they pour him small cups of coffee to keep him awake. At the end of each night he goes back to where he lives, a secret lair which he refuses to take us to, much like that of his outlaw “father,” wherever he might be.

After living my whole life in Colombia, a country long under the thumb of violent characters, I feel better knowing that this “terrorist” is looking out for us.

(view Daniel’s Osama slideshow here)

This week I worked the 9 to 5 shift just like many others in Singapore and elsewhere. No big deal you might say but peak time taxi fares and traffic jams make getting to the office a real pain. My colleague David Loh who was also on dayshift made a tempting offer, ”buy a helmet and I’ll take you on my Ducati”. This sounded like a plan to me, so of I went to Little India to buy my new helmet. After a little haggling - 50% off the first price - I left with my new silver motor cycle helmet.

The next morning David picked me up and we whizzed past all the jams to the office, faster and more thrillingly than any taxi ride so far. For the whole week we explored routes and I noticed that many homes were decorated with red banners with big golden characters. David and other colleagues told me this was already preparation for Chinese New Year which is in February.

The legend tells how long, long ago in ancient China there was a furious man-eating beast from the mountains (or from under the sea), which looked like a dragon (or  a unicorn). On the first and 15th day of each lunar month the monster, called Nian, came out to hunt people. On the days of its coming the people, in terror, locked their doors before sunset.

In one village lived a wise old man who rallied the people together to face the Nian with loud noises and fireworks. On a moonless freezing cold night the monster appeared and the moment it opened its jaws the people made frightening noises, beating drums and lighting fireworks. Wherever the monster went it was driven back by the din, time and time again until it fell down exhausted and was killed by the villagers.

 Savage as the monster was, the Nian was defeated by the concerted efforts of  a small village. From that time on the people maintained the tradition by beating drums and gongs and lighting fireworks on the coldest day of winter to drive away imaginary monsters and to celebrate their victory over them. Today, Nian refers to the New Year’s Day or Spring Festival. You can hear people often say Guo Nian, meaning ’survive the Nian’. As Nian also means “the year” Chinese often greet each other with Xin (means “new “) Nian (”year”) Hao (”good”) - Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar and year 4706 begins on February 7, 2008 - it is the year of the rat. Babies born before Chinese New Year are born in the year of the pig.

The next day on a visit to a shopping mall the shops were covered in red. Red banners with golden letters, red rats in all shapes and sizes, red lamps, red envelopes and all kind of lucky symbols …. Red and gold wherever you looked.

 One of the shop owners nicely explained to my wife and I that in ancient times most people were illiterate which was why animals that influenced people’s lives were chosen to symbolize the terrestrial branches: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig (or boar). Another legend tells how one day Buddha summoned all of the animals and honoured those who came by naming a year for them. When the cat and the rat heard they have to appear, the cat said to rat: ‘We should arrive early, but I usually get up late.’ Because they were neighbours and good friends the rat then promised to wake up his friend so they can go together. However, the next morning when the rat got up, it was much too excited and forgot his promise. The rat went directly towards the gathering place. On the way, it came across the tiger, ox, horse, and realized that the other animals are running much faster. As the rat did not want to fall behind it jumped on the ox and promised to sing for him if he carried him. They arrived first and the ox was happy thinking that he would be the first sign of the years. But the rat had already slipped in front and so the rat became the first lucky animal of the Chinese zodiac. Meanwhile his neighbour the cat was far too late and when it finally arrived the selection process was over. That’s why other animals appear behind the rat (in above mentioned order) and why the cats hate rats so much that every time they meet, the cat will chase and kill the rat.

Then Buddha named a year after each one and announced that people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality. Richard Nixon, George Bush, Marlon Brando, Al Gore, Shakespeare, George Washington, Jimmy Carter, Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, Lady Bird Johnson, Mozart and William Shakespeare were all born in the year of the rat (1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032, and 2044).

Though in some people’s eyes the rat is not adorable and there are many derogatory references to rats, it heads the Chinese zodiac. Since the presence of a rat in a Chinese farmer’s home has historically been seen as an indicator of big harvests, the sign is known as a “wealth animal”.

Browsing the internet I found lots websites describing the character of rats:

The rat is recognized as an animal with spirit, wit, alertness, delicacy, flexibility and vitality. Being the first sign of the Chinese zodiac, rat people are endowed with great leadership skills and are the most highly organized. They can be charming, passionate, charismatic, practical, hardworking and strong-willed people who are keen and unapologetic promoters of their own agendas, which often include money and power. Behind the smile rats can be terribly obstinate and controlling, insisting on having things their way no matter what the cost. These people tend to have immense control of their emotions, which they may use as a tool to manipulate and exploit others - both emotionally and mentally. Quick-tempered and aggressive, rats will not think twice about revenge on those that hurt them in any way. Rats need to learn to relax sometimes, as they can be quite obsessed with detail, intolerant and strict, demanding order and perfection.

But now back to the Chinese New Year, which is observed as a public holiday in countries with a sizable Chinese population. Chinese months are based on the lunar calendar. Each month, and also the Chinese New Year begins on new moon, the darkest day of the month and festivities end when the moon is brightest with a Lantern Festival. In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, a date between January 21 and February 20. This means that the holiday usually falls on the second (very rarely third) new moon after the winter solstice.

I was told that during that period Singapore slows down, shops are closed and many people travel home to visit their families. I understand that New Year celebrations may span over weeks before and after the official holidays and this is the time when businesses in the region operate in ‘holiday mode’ and its generally not the time for making important decisions or business negotiations.

The shop owner told me that Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, a practice known as “new-year visits”. “I wear new cloth” he adds and “I already prepare the red envelopes” or red packets. These red envelopes, in Mandarin “hóng bāo” always contain money. Varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred, the notes have to be new and clean. The amount of money in the Hongbao should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals. Since the number 4 is considered bad luck (the word for four is a homophone for death) money in the red envelopes never adds up to $4 - and as the number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for “wealth”) $8 are commonly found in the red envelopes. Traditionally Hongbao’s with the “lucky money” are passed out from married couples or the elderly to unmarried juniors.

As kind of general preparation people clean their house thoroughly, decorate it with lots of symbolic and lucky words and prepare lots of food. Everyone gets a haircut and everything and everyone looks new and fresh. Well prepared for the night of New Year’s Eve, Chinese families come together for a celebration or reunion-dinner. This custom is also called “surrounding the hearth,” from the custom in earlier times of eating dinner around the family hearth. Children and adults eat together a dinner, which begins only when all family members are around the table. A table setting is placed for those unable to come home to symbolize their presence though far away. As I learned everything related to the Chinese New Year is symbolic or has a special meaning. Several of the dishes served have auspicious meaning and are indispensable to the night’s menu: mustard greens, the “Long Year Vegetable” represents long life, as well as uncut noodles, which represent longevity and long life, though this practice is not limited to the new year; a “Whole Chicken,” (must be a whole!!) symbolizing wealth for the whole family (since “chicken” and “family” sound the same in the Taiwanese dialect ); a type of clam called han is eaten since it sounds like the Chinese word for “fat,” means “becoming well-off”; and fish balls, shrimp balls, and meat balls are eaten to symbolize the three top scores earned during the civil service examination in ancient China. Although fish is on the New Year’s Eve dinner table it cannot be eaten on New Year’s Eve, since the Chinese words for “fish” and “surplus” sound the same and people wouldn’t want to eat the next year’s surplus - I also found sources saying it exact the other way around. In some areas it is customary to have dumplings for this dinner as they symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese gold nugget. And last but not least: Mandarin oranges are the most popular and most abundant fruit during Chinese New Year. This New Years Eve dinner is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West, except the Chinese will have much more food.

Here is a brief guide to good and bad luck.

Good luck: 

- Fu is a lucky word. Fu - is very easy to say and is one of the most popular Chinese characters used during Chinese New Year. Around the Chinese New Year, people often put up a poster with this word on it - upside down! It’s the only time when a Chinese word is posted upside down intentionally.
- Clean the house completely from top to bottom before New Year’s Day for good luck in the coming year
- Opening windows and/or doors bring in the good luck of the New Year.
- Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck and ’scares away’ ghosts and spirits of misfortune
- Eat sweets to make sure you have a “sweet” year.
- Some believe that what happens on the first day of the New Year reflects the rest of the year to come. Asians will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
- Wear a new pair of slippers that is bought before the New Year which means to step on the people who gossip about you.
- The night before the New Year, bath in pomelo leaves and you will be healthy for the rest of the upcoming year. 
 

Bad Luck

- Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck because the word “shoes” is a homophone for “rough” in Cantonese, or “evil” in Mandarin.
- Buying a pair of pants is considered bad luck because the word “pants” is a homophone for “bitter” in Cantonese. Although some look at it positive as ‘pants’ in Cantonese is also a homophone for the word for “wealth” 
- Washing your hair could mean washing away one’s own luck, but modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition
- Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day because it will sweep away the good fortune and luck
- Buying books is bad luck because the word for “book” is a homonym to the word “lose”.
Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional funeral colour.

So there you are, a bit complicated but useful to know. I’m off now to Germany, back to spend time with my family and friends, like the Chinese do at New Year but without the monsters.

Another Sundance has come and gone and for the Reuters News Pictures trio of Fred Prouser, Mario Anzuoni and me, (not to mention writers Bob Tourtellotte, Mary Milliken and Reuters TV’s John Russell and  Krystian Orlinski),  it was a week of frozen toes and over-rubbed elbows.

For the photographers it is mostly a blur of portrait sessions, staking out the ‘gifting suites’ (movie stars are attracted to free knick knacks like flies to honey) and shooting anything up to three premieres a day. Happily our logistics marvel Larry Rubenstein had worked his magic and compared to our friends at rival agencies, our operation ran smooth as silk.

Mario Anzuoni

Having everyone stay in the same house was a real advantage because it allowed us to coordinate coverage with our reporters and TV crews.        

Parking is a major problem at Sundance. Park City’s tiny streets are either blocked with traffic or blocked-off for parking, making rental cars hard to use. Larry’s solution was the luxury of three local drivers coordinated by schedule and phone to take us around the festival, which of course made a massive difference. Walking past the pack of freezing photographers at the bus stop while yelling into my phone: “Broken Mudskipper ready for extraction from rendezvous point A”, was a constant source of delight for the Reuters team.

Lucas Jackson

Entertainment Editor Sam Mircovich and senior photographer Fred Prouser had worked for weeks planning an outline coverage schedule. The plan was inevitably tweaked and perfected on the run, depending on which PR company decided to cancel what morning portrait shoot late at night, or when a premiere lacked the promised star power, but we managed to stay on top of things.

Fred Prouser

An average day ran from 3-4 assignments, leaving time in between to transmit and get from point A to point B. Assignments ranged from ‘working the street’ with our  ‘P-word’ colleagues looking for stars loaded with free gear, to 5 minute portrait sessions with cast members or an individual star during which time we would try to shoot as many portrait pictures as possible.  Overall the file was good and  varied and it was really encouraging to see our pictures being displayed online by our major clients.

Mario Anzuoni

With the exception of a few chilly hours waiting for the talent to arrive and my toes almost falling off, it was an enjoyable experience and a pretty relaxed way to meet upcoming filmmakers and actors and get some rare intimate portrait sessions with the established Hollywood glitterati. Talking with Dennis Hopper about his famous Pabst Blue Ribbon line from the film “Blue Velvet” and trading jokes with William H. Macy were some of my more entertaining moments in the portrait sessions.  I was also amused at how badly Josh Hartnett’s entourage teased him about his sunglasses.  Mario too chatted to Dennis Hopper while making pictures of him on the slopes smoking a cigar and Fred got to watch Mischa Barton have a snowball fight. 

Fred Prouser

My second Sundance added a lot of experiences to the list of things I never thought I would ever do and that can’t be bad. From here it’s back to Fashion Week, moving to Brooklyn and wondering if the writers strike will torpedo the upcoming award season.

Onward to Brooklyn!

Who would be a policeman in Pakistan???

This was the question on my mind as I travelled to Quaid E Azam Airport from the Avari Hotel on my last day in Karachi, having listened earlier to an eyewitness report from Reuters photographer Mohsin Rasa of a suicide bombing in Lahore.

At the end of last year following Bhutto’s return I had rushed to Pakistan ahead of the elections planned for January 8, 2008. Following her assassination it was no surprise that the elections were postponed. I was planning to travel to Lahore to follow former Prime Minister Nawas Sharif and while waiting in Islamabad for the new election date to be announced we photographed people mourning the death of Bhutto at makeshift shrines marking the place where she had been killed on December 27, 2007. Men and women, young and old, of every class appeared to have been traumatized by her brutal murder. After spending a week in the capital, I went to the southern harbor city of Pakistan, Karachi to give our Chief Photographer Zahid Hussein a break after all the long days he had put in following Bhutto’s return to Pakistan.

On my second day in Karachi there was news of a suicide bombing in Lahore. Typical, the minute you move the proverbial hits the fan in the place you have just left. As soon as I saw the first pictures I could not help but be shocked by the blood and the piles of bodies - bodies of dead, dying and injured policemen scattered over the street.

But if I was shocked and pumped full of adrenaline just by seeing the pictures, my reaction was nothing compared to that of Mohsin Raza our photographer on the spot.

He told me, “we photographers usually gathered at the gate of the Lower Court every time there was a demonstration by the lawyers protesting against President Musharaf”. But not that day because, “we started at the Higher Court to join lawyers gathering at the Lower Court”. The only ones left at the gates were the police, deployed as usual, quietly waiting to escort the demonstrators during their protest. Resting on their shields, wearing helmets and body armor, they had no idea what was going to hit them in the next few minutes. “As we approached the gates there was the enormous explosion. I was caught totally off guard, disorientated and did not immediately understand what was happening. Strangely enough I was not really scared and after a few minutes got my self together, became rational and was thinking straight again. My first reaction was run to the scene, but, in the back of my mind I could hear the voice of Zahid (his boss) telling me, ‘whenever there is a bomb blast do not run to the scene as nine times out of ten there will be another blast destined to wreak even more death and destruction’.”

Zahid had impressed on his staff the need to stay safe, to avoid obvious targets. If the bombers want to kill a specific person they have to be close to them. The same Zahid told our staffer in Islamabad, Mian Kursheed the same thing just before he went to cover the rally at which Benazir Bhutto died. Zahid, a veteran in this world of conflicts, suicide bombing and political assassinations, still remembers the lessons hammered in by the instructors at the Centurion Hostile Environment Course - stay safe, never approach a bomb scene unless the scene has been cleared, the bombers might planted a second bomb or booby trapped a body, car or motor cycle in order to cause more devastation.

“First I rang Karachi to inform Zahid and our correspondents in the Islamabad head office”, Mohsin said. “I kept a close eye on the opposition and after a while we all agreed to get nearer to the place. What I saw there was hard to believe, but strangely I was thinking clearly enough to function normally. The ground was littered with bodies and bits of dead and injured policemen, protection shields, batons, helmets and blood - lots of it, thick, deep, dark red blood. My attention was drawn to a sound, the sobbing sound of a child. I found a boy of about 12 years old, by a motorcycle, crying over the body of his elder brother. The two had been on the motorbike in traffic waiting for the light to change when the explosion happened”.

“Nearby I discovered a dead horse still in the shafts of a traditional Pakistani carriage known as a “Tonga”. The horse was lying peacefully on the ground, stone dead. It looked as if it was finally getting a rest from a life of hard labour”.

“After a while I moved on to the hospital, by now I was working on remote control with no conscious emotions, barely registering the scenes taking place around me. People arrived seeking news of their loved ones. I remember one big man weeping, heartbroken”.

“Later that evening I covered the first funerals. In the West it is unusual to bury the dead so soon afterwards but in Islam our dead are buried as quickly as possible. There I was photographing people laying flowers on the graves of the dead and mourning their loved ones in misery, deep deep misery. For the first time that day my emotions began to surface, maybe I was just tired but it is impossible not to react to such sadness and grief. 

But it was only when I got home that the full impact hit me. When I greeted my son and daughter and my dear wife I realised for the first time just what I had witnessed that day.  Men who, just like me, had left their homes that morning to go to work as they did every day and who, just like me, had exchange goodbyes with their loved ones, were never coming home again.  This was the harsh reality, the harsh reality many of us photographers live with. We take pictures of misery and are part of that misery. We face similar dangers to those faced by the policemen”.

“It could so easily have been me”. 

Professional photographers obviously take their work very seriously indeed, attacking assignments with energy, enthusiasm and drive. The reward is pride and satisfaction when all the elements come together to create a stunning image. A photographer may feel pleased at possessing the ability to achieve technical perfection and capture sport at the height of action,  or may be driven to bring serious images of war, famine and earthquakes, to a wider public.

But it’s sometimes hard to accept that the most popular pictures are sometimes the most trivial, often epitomized by animal pictures that rely on novelty value.  However, we understand why the cute picture is popular because we ourselves enjoy looking at them.  It’s frightening,  give a photographer with a good eye half a chance to photograph an animal and he/she will produce a thing of beauty…

These photographs need no explanation, and are shown with their original captions.

Oui the frog sits on a miniature motorcycle in the eastern beach town of Pattaya January 10, 2008. Oui’s owner says Oui loves playing with human toys and posing for photographs.  By Sukree Sukplang

A toy poodle walks down the runway with a model during a dog fashion show at the New Year Dog Party held in Tokyo January 12, 2008. By Michael Caronna

Protestors mark the sixth anniversary of the first transfers of detainees to Guantanamo Bay with a demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Edinburgh, Scotland January 11, 2008.   By David Moir

A chicken looks out its cage at Ha Vy poultry wholesale market, 25 km (15 miles) south of Hanoi December 27, 2007. Bird flu killed a four-year-old boy from an ethnic minority group in northern Vietnam, the country’s first human case in nearly five months, a health official said on Thursday.  By Kham

A female grey seal pup is pictured on the German island of Helgoland January 11, 2008. A record number of 55 Atlantic grey seal babies have been born on Helgoland’s sandy shores this winter after last year’s just 32 births and 27 the year before, a responsible for environmental protection on the island says. Helgoland is located 70 km (44 miles) from the German coast line in the North Sea.   By Christian Charisius

Only Joking…

A fellow photographer of mine once said that Taiwan is different from any other country. For one, there is never enough space at any event to shoot it comfortably so if you expect to get a good spot, you have to come down at least two hours before the event.

Pichi Chuang

In a general news story you can expect more than 11 news television stations sending 20 plus cameramen with assistants. As for local newspapers, foreign newspapers and wire services, the number of photographers can chalk up to 30 odd.
 
All in all, expecting 40-50 fellow photographers and cameraman jostling for the same image with you is pretty much the norm in Taiwan for a common and very local story. 

 
You can only imagine what happens when it is a big news story.
 
To make matters worse, during elections, political parties always provide a media vehicle to give photographers and cameramen a photo opportunity as politicians ride on a similar vehicle and wave to their supporters.

Nicky Loh
 
Unlike the politicians, we do not usually have the luxury of having seatbelts fastened to us while the vehicle moves and have to watch out for low lying branches and power cables that could take our heads off or knock us off the vehicle.
 
We can only depend on our sturdy stance on the moving vehicle and pray that the subject is in the frame when we hit the shutter amidst the shakey ride.

Pichi Chuang
 
During the coverage of the Taiwan legislative elections, a Hong Kong TV correspondent fell from a press bus in Kaohsiung.
 
Ricky Li, a cameraman working for Asia Television, hit his head on the ground as he failed to jump aboard the moving press bus. Li was rushed to the Kaohsiung Veterrans General Hospital to undergo surgery for two hours to remove blood clots from his brain. 
 
He remains in a coma.

 
Even Reuters photographer Pichi Chuang was not spared the pain when a cameraman dropped his beta cam on her when the media bus braked hard.
 
The feeling of knowing that a colleague was so injured seriously disturbs me and made me realise that if this kind of freak accident could happen to him, it could happen to any of us, anytime.

Nicky Loh
 
So the next time we are passionately pursuing a news event and running after our subjects, we should also take a step back and make sure our safety is not compromised in any case.
 
As the Taiwan presidential looms closer, more of these media bus events will take place, and these pictures usually do make it to print because they are the news pictures. Though, we should ask ourselves, is this photo really worth risking our lives for and can we do it differently?
 
 

Australian Midnight Open.

The Australian Open tennis tournament director is under pressure to resign for it.
Australia’s top seeded player is furious about it.
Three quarters of ticket holders decided not to wait around for it. 

The Australian Open is always a long two weeks but you know you’re in for an extra late finish when the first photographer to get the ‘night off’ leaves at 11.30pm. The seed was planted during the afternoon when world number one Roger Federer, in a display of failing form, took well over 4 hours to subdue his third round opponent. As a result the evening session didn’t kick off until almost 10pm. The night wore on and as the ranks in the court side photographer’s pit thinned Darren Whiteside and I carried the Reuters flag for the second match on the sched which started close to midnight. Crowd favourite Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus up against local bad boy Lleyton Hewitt. And what do you know? It was a five setter 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3…..

Spectators fell asleep, ball boys fell asleep, and journalists fell asleep but not us. This match smashed a new late finish record, with Hewitt putting down the winning serve at about 4.37am the following day.  Throw in post match editing, organising gear for the following day and packing up, we got to our hotel around 5.45am and I pulled the covers over my head just as the sun began to rise.

We’d had 17 straight hours on court shooting with hard seats, bad food and bloodshot eyes but we’re smacking our lips for more.
 

For those of us old enough to remember simple cameras (albeit as a childhood toy) with settings such as ‘cloudy’, ‘sunny’ or ‘cloudy bright’, the advice for shooting nice clear photographs was to ensure that the sun was shining from behind the photographer’s left shoulder and facing the subject.
This approach is still used by many amateur photographers (and some professionals too).  Of course, this is a good idea if you want flat, bland images. But rules are there to be broken. Put the light behind your subject, shining straight at you, and watch your images leap into life, sweeping away the notion that the light shouldn’t be directed into your lens. Don’t think flare - think flair!
Following is a selection of recent photographs by Reuters photographers that make a virtue out of backlighting the subject.

PS
If you do intend shooting contre-jour, as it’s called, make sure the front element of your lens is free of dust. 

Spotlights shine straight into Tony Gentile’s lens, creating a little flare, but there is still detail in the ski jumper creating a very dramatic effect. 

The backlighting in Mike Hutchings photograph of Kenyans displaced during election violence creates an almost serene effect, which belies the sinister nature of the situation.

By ensuring the soldier is between himself and the sun Daniel Munoz creates a clear silhouette during an army patrol in Colombia.

Here is another silhouette, of Republican presidential candidate John McCain on the campaign trail,  shot by Jim Young. The siilhouette tells us all we need to know about the situation, and Jim has created an interesting image out of what could have been another boring picture of a politician speaking.

Kai Pfaffenbach has created a a very dramatic image by shooting directly into the rising sun over the Frankfurt skyline.

…and yet another silhouette, created by Nicky Loh in Taiwan, of a voter leaving a booth. Simple but effective.

Here is the caption to Stefan Wermuth’s moody picture - A technician stands in the start house before the third practice of the men’s Alpine skiing World Cup downhill race at the Lauberhorn in Wengen January 10, 2008.

Back on the US presidential campaign trail, and Rick Wilking hasn’t shot a silhouette here, but the light behind Democratic candidate Barack Obama has created interesting rim-lighting.

A British Airways 777 crash landing at London’s Heathrow airport when you have a fully equipped photographer and a text journalist airside is not something you see every day. Unfortunately when it happened yesterday they were trapped onboard another plane carrying British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and assorted colleagues waiting to take-off for the Far East.

Dylan Martinez

Fortunately photographer Dylan Martinez was able to find a window with a distant view of the stricken aircraft and emergency vehicles and despite the dismal optical properties of aircraft windows, able to shoot and file a couple of quick pictures.

Stephen Hird

Those of us in office waiting for more pictures to arrive while watching events unfold on TV may have been slightly covetous of the aerial view we could see from the BBC’s helicopter but Stephen Hird was swiftly on the scene and soon moving clear strong pictures shot from the perimeter fence. He was followed by London bureau colleague Toby Melville. From their pictures of the wrecked plane it was evident that with the exception of a few “minor injuries” the passengers and crew had had a remarkable escape.  

Stephen Hird

Of course before all this happened the primary focus had been Prime Minister Gordon Brown.  

Dylan Martinez

From the back steps of the aircraft taking them to China, Dylan had photographed him and his wife embarquing by way of the front steps, 

Dylan Martinez

so he was there when Richard Branson got on too. The Virgin Atlantic boss getting onto a British Airways flight - now that’s something you don’t see every day!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22706026

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/17/e urope/heathrow.php

http://www.abc.net.au/news/photos/2008/0 1/18/2141308.htm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk  /article3204607.ece

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-0 1/17/content_7442126.htm