Photographers Blog

We, photographers at Reuters, usually work outside the office.

In truth, we will go anywhere which is likely to guarantee worthy news stories and stunning visual images.

Therefore, the list of our working places is as various as our pictures.

You might find us somewhere like  the middle of a violent demonstration, miles away from a crippled nuclear power plant releasing nuclear radiation, on the deck of an aircraft carrier or on the roof of the Olympic stadium…..

To witness the historical moments and pursue capturing stunning images, we’ve happily thrown away the comfort of working in the luxurious Reuters office.

Therefore, my office, the Reuters news room in Tokyo, has been regarded as the last place where I can do shooting assignments,  and  I used to joke with my colleagues that the only thing I usually do in the office is make expense reports.

But I found out that my joke was totally wrong when I covered the Reuters Rebuilding Japan Summit this week and I discovered the office is a place full of potential colorful images.

This year’s Reuters Japan Investment Summit has been renamed Rebuilding Japan as the next phase of post-quake coverage from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami .

One of Japan’s  most photogenic CEOs Carlos Ghosn was invited as the speaker of  the  Thomson Reuters Newsmaker event , along with more than 20 CEOs, government officials and other senior executives who have insight about how Japan can bounce back from the crisis.

As the event has more news value than before, simple but very outstanding missions were given to Tokyo’s photographers.

“Let’s aim for very striking pictures which will have a life beyond this event.”

“Get them to pose and try for something we are proud to have on the wire.”

To begin with, we had a brainstorming session in advance about how we can turn this text -oriented story into a visually interesting one.

And the solution we sought was setting up a mini studio with our Canon flashlights at the Tokyo news room and let the speakers pose toward our cameras.

As we looked around our daily working place with fresh eyes, we found out that the place is full of many visually interesting subjects -a wall covered with colorful pictures which were taken by Reuters photographers all over the world, clear glass windows with a great view of Tokyo skyscrapers,  various reflections on tables and glass walls, four large TV sets  at the entrance- which can be transformed into good backgrounds.

Because we knew that only a few minutes would be given to us for shooting the very busy speakers, we tested lightings and compositions in advance in order to confirm the feasibility of our plan.

We worked on visual planning until the very last moment, and  our ideas were visualized in the final productions below.

Left: Reuters photographer Kim Kyung-hoon poses for a test in the Reuters office . Photo by Toru Hanai

Right: Lawson Inc. President and Chief Exective Officer Takeshi Niinami. Photo by Toru Hanai

Left: Print-out of draft and shooting plan for Suntec Power Japan President.

Right: Suntech Power Japan President Yutaka Yamamoto posing. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon

Left: Reuters photographer Toru Hanai poses for a test in front of TV sets. Photo by  Kim Kyung-Hoon

Right: Nissan and Renault Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn poses. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon

Left: Reuters photographer Toru Hanai checks the reflection on a table prior to a shoot. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon

Right: Toyota Motor Corp. Executive Vice President Yukitoshi Funo poses. Photo by Toru Hanai

Left: Reuters Photographer Kim Kyung-Hoon shoots Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group President Koichi. Photo by Issei Kato

Right: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group President Koichi Miyata. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon

Our final challenge was to make the dull conference venue into a visual wonderland by playing with flash lights to show the magic of lighting.

Left: Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) Chairman Takahiro Mitani. Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon

Right: Sekisui House Chairman and CEO Isami Wada. Photo by Toru Hanai.

Now, it is clear that our news room can be as photogenic as outside.