An interesting challenge is how to tell the story without including the subject in the photographs. It’s interesting because, by avoiding the obvious and familiar, sometimes a greater sense of the occasion, and the emotions involved,  can be conveyed.

For example, take the current visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the United States.  Clearly the Pope was the centre of attention, and there are very good photographs of him that were taken and published in newspapers and on websites around the world. Photographs of him bring pleasure and comfort to millions.

 The fact that he is in the States is of interest too, and it is important to take photographs that locate him there. On the other hand we are familiar with photographs that show the Pope in person, and what strikes me when looking at the Reuters coverage of the current visit is just how much the passion, reverence and joy felt by so many, can be conveyed in photographs that don’t show him in at all.

Jason Reed’s photograph of the red carpet being unrolled at Andrews Air Force Base sets the scene for the arrival of a VIP

But it’s the facial expressions that truly convey the emotion felt - simply put, pure joy.

Erin Siegal’s photograph of a nun waiting for the Pope to arrive at a rally in New York conveys the joy perfectly

Max Rossi captures the uninhibited emotions of a nun at the same event

This girl can’t contain her emotions any longer as the Pope arrives at the New York rally, captured by Max Rossi.

But it isn’t just faces that convey emotion - there other scenes that are just as graphic. However, I was trying to choose photographs that do not actually show the Pope, but as this is a photograph of a photograph,  I don’t really think it’s cheating!

Brian Snyder’s photograph of a woman holding up a greeting  at the New York rally conveys an emotion in a very simple way.

For the photographer there are numerous rich images to observe and capture, that serve to convey the emotion in a very elegant manner.

Max Rossi’s photograph shows a bishop waiting for the arrival of the Pope at the Saint Joseph seminary in New York

Brian Snyder’ photograph, shot at the same event,  gives an idea of the length of time people were prepared to wait to see the Pope

This photograph by Larry Downing speaks for itself, although I have left the original caption to give all the facts any picture editor could need -

“Sister Chantal Peyton of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Newark, Delaware, (L), uses a pair of binoculars next to Sister Julie Horseman of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in Washington D.C., in the stadium before Pope Benedict XVI conducts Mass in Washington Nationals Park during his visit to the United States, April 17, 2008″

Of course, a Papal visit attracts people with a variety of views, and the photograph below conveys emotion too, albeit different from any of the other pictures here.

Larry Downing’s photograph shows demonstrators waving signs in front of the White House as the Pope leaves after attending a welcome ceremony

…and finally, here a photograph of the Pope (even though you can’t see him), which is aesthetically pleasing - but the heavy security reminds us that a visit by the Pope arouses emotions in some people who might want to take their feeling further than waving banners.

Carlos Barria’s photograph shows the Pope, in the Popemobile,  passing St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on April 19

The State visit to Britain by French President, Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni drew widespread attention not the least from the massed ranks of photographers and televison crews keen to record the couple’s every step.  No cliche was left unturned as members of the press vied with one another to describe their partnership.

But… a state visit by a French President would always draw interest, and with the added glamour angle you had a winning formulae.  The drab world of formal visits was to be given a makeover - I for one hoped so. In my view, the visit was not so much a breath of fresh air blowing away the cobwebs, but a mix of contrasting elements standing together. With this visit we hoped to  see contrasts of age, style and appearance. In addition the sense of anticipation was heightened because the people involved represented the historic differences between the English and the French. Would they come together in a new entente cordiale? Would the charge be led by the French President? Not on your life, it was led by his wife, the amabassador extraordinaire.

Did Carla Bruni-Sarkozy disapoint? Here are the photographs, judge for yourselves.

(Apologies for the cliches and metaphors - all of them mixed)

France’s first lady Carla Bruni is off to a good start as she rides in a carriage with Britain’s Prince Philip on route to Windsor Castle. Photograph by: Darren Staples

Bruni rides in a carriage on route to Windsor Castle.    Photograph by: Darren Staples

Usually there are are so many obstacles that either get in the way or need to be included in a photograph, that simple clean shots can often be missed. Here is a good example of a simple but solid picture of Bruni with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.   Photograph by:Kieran Doherty

This photograph shows the many contrasting elements of the visit, as  Bruni  speaks with Prince Philip during the welcoming ceremony at Windsor Castle.  Photograph by : Philippe Wojazer

It’s wasn’t all about Bruni of course, and we needed a pciture of her husband too. However, his expression tells us more about her (or, at least, his feelings for her) than about the situation.  She is applauding him after his address to members of both Houses of Parliament at Westminster.  Photograph by: Stephen Hird

Another example of the expression on the faces of others telling us something about Bruni herself, as she and Nicolas Sarkozy meet war veterans after laying a wreath at the statue of General de Gaulle in London. Photograph by: Darren Staples

The mood of the moment captured perfectly as Sarkozy and Bruni share a laugh as he delivers a speech at a meeting with the French community in London. Photograph by: Philippe Wojazer        

Here is another example of a simple, clean and effective photograph as Bruni visits the Royal Naval College in Greenwich.    Photograph by: Kieran Doherty

Bruni could hardly put a foot wrong, all she had to do was turn up to impress, as she proved when she arrived for a state banquet at the Guildhall.   Photograph by: Stephen Hird

The term ‘multimedia’ is used quite liberally these days, and means different things to different people. In reality it is an opportunity to be grasped, and will probably be what we choose to make it.

To mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq conflict Reuters has produced a multimedia piece. It pulls together the combined expertise of stills photographers, video camera operators , graphic artists, text journalists, and the multimedia producers. The various professionals are given freedom within their own discipline, and the different formats are brought together in a unified medium. The still image has not been devalued, but its role has been transformed. If this piece is an example of the multimedia project of the future, the still image is there too, as powerful as ever.

They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This has been true of the photographic coverage of the Shuttle launches where, surrounded by the latest technology, the retrieval of images from remote cameras close to the launch site had been slowed down because photographers were forced to wait for hours after lift-off before retrieving the cameras.

However, attempting to improve its service by speeding up the delivery of important images, the Reuters team in the US has worked over a number of years with camera manufacturer Canon and wireless provider Sprint Mobile Broadband to offer a solution. Images from the four cameras using short telephoto lenses and set up within a few hundred yards of the launch pad were sent via wireless internet at super-fast data speeds using a uniquely designed transmitter from Canon. The images were received and passed on to editing desks from the cameras in near real time, as opposed to the hours taken in the past.

These two photographs show the set-up in place near the launch pad.

This set-up together with software developed by Reuters to receive, edit and transmit photographs has reduced the time it has taken from image retrieval from the launch pad cameras to transmission on the Reuters wire by 95 percent.

The system was used successfully for the past two launches of Atlantis and Endeavour on February 7 and March 11, 2008. Here are two photographs, taken using the system, of the March 11 launch.

It may have been a tough week for Paul MacCartney and Heather Mills,  enduring their divorce hearing at the High Court in London, but it was a tough one too for the photographers assigned to cover the case. 

It was tough for two reasons. First, because McCartney and Mills  drove into the court car park, giving the
photographers only seconds to pick them out as they walked between vehicle and court entrance. The second reason was the pressure on the photographers, faced with almost identical scenarios on each day of the hearing, to shoot a varied file of photographs.

However, although the photographers  had a difficult job they could be forgiven for feeling a touch of sympathy for the reporters assigned to cover the proceedings. The judge hearing the case, behind closed doors, gave strict instructions to McCartney, Mills and the assembled legal teams, not to leak any details of the case to the media. This meant that the reporters had virtually nothing to report on, except the expression and demeanour of  both McCartney and Mills. The only way they could study the expressions was from the photographs.

It therefore fell to the photographers to capture day-to-day differences in expressions and body language outside the court, thus telling the story, as far as it could possibly be told under the circumstances.

The week started well. The photographers knew that there was a chance that they would see nothing at all. But McCartney and Mills drove into a part of the car park that was visible from the pavement, knowing they were in full view of the assembled media.

Stephen Hird’s photograph of Heather Mills arriving on day one (above centre), and Kieran Doherty’s photographs of Paul McCartney leaving the court, certainly gave the reporters something to write about. More importantly, at the end of the first day we had photographs that at the beginning of the day we doubted would be seen at all.

Day two, and the expressions and body language told a different story from the day before. McCartney, Mills and the photographers had quickly found their stride - the photographers knew which entrance to stand at, and McCartney and Mills seemed to understand that their demeanour could influence public opinion, and attempted to appear cool in front of the cameras.

By day three it was clear that photographs of McCartney and Mills were not going to be in short supply, and it was time to look for something more interesting. But first, of course, there was no excuse for not shooting the, by now, routine arrival pictures.

But then the photographers found time to experiment, as the following images show. The equivalent of a cyclist standing on the saddle on one leg and shouting out ‘Look no hands.’

On day four there was nothing left to prove, except to make it all look so easy, with some elegant and solid pictures.

Day five at last,  and the photographs continued to flow as the daily events had become established as a ritual.

At the beginning of the week there was no certaintly that the pair would be seen at all, and by the end we all wondered why we had ever doubted it.

However, before we happily pat each other on the back - the hearing is set to continue…

All photographs by Dylan Martinez and Kieran Doherty, unless otherwise credited.

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…

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.

War photographers will often tell you that its the children that get to them, because children are so resilient and despite living in a violent world, children everywhere demonstrate the same innocent characteristics. That is one of the reasons why I admire this photograph taken in Iraq by Reuters photographer Carlos Barria. But is it just me that sees something special about it? To answer my own question, the photographer must have seen it too, so that makes two of us!

Earlier this year, Carlos was embedded with the US military in Iraq and was three blocks away when a deadly car bomb exploded in a Baghdad market, having passed the location a short time previously. He was shaken but quickly returned to photograph the aftermath, with fires still burning and people shouting and carrying away the wounded. It was in the middle of the mayhem that he saw this quiet image.

Why do I like this picture so much? Because of the expression on the boys face. It is the “1,000 yard stare”, an expression coined to describe battle fatigued soldiers, and epitomised by Don McCullins picture, Portrait of marine during the Battle of Hue, 1968. But to see it on the face of a young boy is shocking. It contrasts with the football he is holding, itself representing childhood innocence. The ball also suggests that whatever the circumstances, anywhere in the world, boys will always find time for a game of soccer. Yet the expression on this boys face marks him out from contemporaries elsewhere because he is clearly traumatized by events. His body language also contrasts to the adults behind him. He is awestruck by the sight of the US troops, the adults are just going about their daily business oblivious to what to them has become routine.

Images of violence end up in print because they so eloquently illustrate the days news. But in any war zone like Iraq there are many violent images and with such frequency that after a while all but the truly remarkable blur together in the memory. This image of a boy may have been neglected by picture editors on the day in favour of the action pictures, but I will remember it because it is just so unusual.

Mind you, everybody else I have shown it to says, “Isnt it just a picture of a boy standing by the side of the road?”.

John Voos is a Reuters photographer and EIC about to take up a new assignment with the UKI pictures reporting operation in London.