BY KATY SPENCE
The highway between Groveland, California, and the entrance to Yosemite National Park doubles back on itself. During the 2013 Rim Fire, a group of local media parked on the bend and watched the fire roar straight up the mountain, over the road ahead of them and across the road behind them. Photojournalist Al Golub, retired and 70 years old at the time, and ABC video/photographer Mark Pepper were among the media trying to decide if it was safer to go back down the mountain or try to push ahead of it.
Pepper said Golub jumped in his truck and drove back down the road looking for fallen trees or fire remnants. Minutes later, he called the folks on the bend to let them know that it was safe. Golub led them out of danger that day, Pepper said.
Over the last half century, Golub has photographed breaking news events and professional football, but what he’s become best known for are his images of wildland fires.
Golub’s first wildland fire was in 1987. As chief photographer of the Modesto Bee, Golub led the internship program at the California daily. “Papa bear,” as he was known, often suggested that the young photographers accompany a fire crew in the field, where they could meet other young people in high-energy, high-action zones. Eventually, the county manager asked Golub why he’d been sending interns to the fire line when he’d never been there himself.
The next thing Golub knew, he was in the office of Stanislaus Hotshots Superintendent Greg Overacker taking the step test to prove he was fit enough for the field.
Golub and his reporter accompanied Overacker’s team to a fire in Markleeville, California, that year. They started at an elevation of 6,700 feet and fought the fire up another 1,800 feet for almost 2 miles, a strenuous climb for even the most experienced wildland firefighter.
“The fact that I didn’t die, the guys decided they liked me,” Golub said.
Golub won an award for this story and began to gain notoriety for his wildland fire photography.
Golub’s photography education began before he ever picked up a camera. Growing up in Hollywood, California, he learned about composition and light as a storytelling device from black and white movies. At 12, a family friend gave him a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye 620 camera and Kodak Hobby developing kit.
“The magic started there,” Golub said. “My love for chemistry and photography was in my DNA. The neighborhood kids’ parents were in the movie industry and loved photography too. The geeky kids like me had lots of willing subjects to photograph who wanted to be stars.”
Due to family pressures, he pursued chemical engineering in college, but left to join the U.S. Air Force in 1962. In spite of his hopes of photographing the troops, he was assigned to be an air traffic controller at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California. After the discovery and removal of a benign tumor in one of his lungs the following year, Golub finally got the chance to take photos and joined the staff of the Valley Bomber, the Castle Air Force Base newspaper.
“The next thing I knew, I was Airman Golub of the Valley Bomber,” he said.
Six months after Golub became the Valley Bomber photographer, the newly assigned director of information, Maj. George Herkert, called Golub into his office. Herkert had taught at the Modern School of Photography in New York City and was a well-known photojournalist. Herkert taught and mentored Golub and encouraged him to join the National Press Photographers Association. Through the organization, Golub met prolific photojournalists who taught him ethics and the rule he still lives by behind the camera.
“Tell the truth with the camera and make sure the pictures you use tell the truth,” Golub said. “I’ve been sworn to that since the beginning.”
Golub started working for the Modesto Bee after an honorable discharge from the Air Force in 1966. During his time at the Bee, he covered news events such as the disappearance of Laci Peterson, a pregnant woman who was later discovered murdered, in 2002, and Muhammad Ali speaking in Modesto in 1971. Golub covered the NFL, taking pictures at Raiders and 49ers home games. He photographed the KKK on a number of occasions, as well as bands such as Fleetwood Mac and Journey. He created images of Robert F. Kennedy, just days before his assassination.
“My job was to make images, tell stories, inform people and show people how horrible it was or how wonderful it was,” Golub said.
Mike Dunbar, director of integrated operations of the Modesto Bee, said Golub was instrumental in helping the Bee transition from film to digital, calling him a “visionary.”
In the course of working for the Bee, Golub was photographing eagles in Glacier National Park when a colleague suggested he join OWAA. He did so in December 1986, sponsored by photographer Gary Zahn. He’s been an active member ever since, though conference always seems to fall right in the middle of fire season, he said.
At 74, Golub is taking fewer risks, but still capturing fires from behind the camera. He also teaches photojournalism classes at Modesto Junior College and is always willing to teach anyone who comes to him for help, said photographer Wesley Shultz. When Schultz was struggling with his own photography, a 15-minute conversation with Golub completely transformed his style. Golub is a living legend in the region, and most established photojournalists know of him, have worked with him or learned from him, Schultz said.
But for Golub, photojournalism isn’t about name recognition. What draws him back to photography is the story.
“What makes a good photojournalist is one that knows enough about the subject to emotionally have their own opinion, to be able to see what they’re looking at and understand it and know when to put the shutter down,” Golub said. “Is your brain telling you, ‘This tells the story?’”
[box size=”large”]SEE AL GOLUB’S WORK: Photographer Al Golub started shooting wildfires and the crews who battle them in 1987. Check out his fire images, as well as the many other subjects he’s documented throughout his career, at http://algolub.photoshelter.com/.[/box]
–Katy Spence is a journalism graduate student at the University of Montana and former OWAA intern.

The post The fire photographer appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.

[level-non-member]
Members, remember to log in to view this post.
[/level-non-member]
[level-membersupporter]
BY COURTNEY BROCKMAN
On August 21, the moon will completely block the sun from coast-to-coast for the first time since 1918. A 70-mile wide path will stretch from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina. Viewers in that pathway will see the corona, the outermost layer of the sun, which burns 200 to 300 times hotter than the surface at 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit.
Sitting in the middle of the total eclipse pathway is Fremont County, Wyoming, and that’s where Jim Brown, an award-winning nature photographer, will attempt to capture it with his camera. He’ll have from 10:22 a.m. to 1:09 p.m. to make pictures, with totality, when the moon completley covers the sun, lasting about 3 minutes and 25 seconds.
Capturing this spectacle is a photographer’s dream, yet it is also challenging. Brown, who has photographed Wyoming’s skies for 40 years but never shot an eclipse, shares how he is preparing to capture this rare event.
PLAN THE PICTURE YOU WANT.
Ask yourself what you want to get out of the photo and whether you want an image with a foreground or just the eclipse in the sky. Study different locations and the surrounding landscapes.
Arrive at your spot a day or two before the eclipse at the same time it will happen and watch the sun move through the location. The totality of the eclipse will only last a few moments, and you want to be ready.
KNOW YOUR CAMERA.
For crisp photos, don’t shoot through a telescope because it will fuzz the edges.
The time lapse between when the button is pushed and when the shutter actually closes may cause problems when using point-and-shoot cameras. However, point-and-shoot cameras may be used for progressive images of the eclipse, such as the dropping light level on surrounding landscapes, as well as the horizon’s glow during totality.
If you have a wide-angle lens, find a beautiful location to shoot. If you have more expensive pieces of equipment, focus on the eclipse and shooting the corona. To capture the corona, the focal lens length must be at least 300 mm.
Brown plans to shoot with two cameras simultaneously: a 600 mm to capture details of the eclipse and a wide, 35 mm lens for shooting a time-lapse of the trail with a rock formation in the foreground.
PREPARE YOUR SETTINGS.
Brown will shoot with a wide-open f-stop at f-2.8 and an ISO at 800. Other typical combinations for eclipse photography include: ISO 100, f-4; ISO 200, f-5 or 6, or ISO 400 and f-8.
Pretest the ISO and f-stop beforehand because they will remain the same. Use manual focus and aim it at the sun. Take some test shots beforehand. You can secure the focus with a strip of tape over the focus ring to prevent movement.
During totality, the eclipse will become as dark as night. As the moon begins moving over the sun, covers the disk and moves away, you must manually adjust the shutter speed to capture each stage. Brown’s shutter will range from fast to fairly slow as the light changes.
The changes during eclipse totality occur rapidly. Run through the series of exposures during the eclipse with the fixed f-stop to capture the full range of the sun’s atmospheric brightness.
PROTECT YOUR EYES AND CAMERA.
Place a glass piece on the front of your camera lens to shield it from the brightness. Although Brown will use a neutral density filter, he suggests buying a 4×4 square of dark welder’s glass for about $10 from any welder’s shop, instead of purchasing an expensive filter.
The filter must remain on the lens during the partial eclipse to avoid damage. It should fit nicely over the front of the camera lens, but also be easy to remove. If the camera does not have through-the-lens viewing, put a filter over the viewfinder as well to protect your eyes. Make sure to remove the filter during totality.
GET A GOOD TRIPOD.
For clear pictures, a tripod is absolutely necessary so the camera is stable.
FIND A UNIQUE SETTING.
In Wyoming, Brown says the Castle Gardens Petroglyph Site will be a popular spot, as well as Hell’s Half Acre with its interesting rock formations along the highway. But the best places are the deserted areas.
“To sell pictures, you’ve got to have one-of-a-kind,” Brown said.
WATCH THE SHOW.
Don’t forget, once you have found a spot and set up your gear, to sit back and watch the sight. Photos will be great memories of the eclipse, but be sure to enjoy the moment while it lasts.
–Courtney Brockman is an OWAA intern and a senior studying journalism at the University of Montana.
[/level-membersupporter]

The post Shedding light on capturing the eclipse appeared first on Outdoor Writers Association of America.