In the camera Lens

Times Union photographers share insight on what it took to produce some of their best work from 2018.

Times Union photographers share insight on what it took to produce some of their best work from 2018.

John Carl D’annibale

It’s just not something you see every day.

In fact, it took some time before I could realize what was actually going on.

Tim Pink of Saratoga Dog Walkers was posing 29 of his charges for a group photo at Congress Spring in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs.

There’s still something unbelievable about it.

I’ve had my own dogs for a good portion of my life and remember how difficult it was to get just one pet at a time to sit still for a photograph, but 29 at once!

Such patience, man and beast alike.

More remarkable still was how Pink went to each animal

one at a time and personally thanked them once the shoot was finished. Every day, our team of seasoned photographers goes out into the community to illustrate the day’s news. Sometimes we revisit a familiar topic, sometimes we face a new challenge. The only constant is the appetite for compelling work to fill the paper and website. Here’s a few moments that left a lasting impression on us.

Paul Buckowski

One of my favorite photos this year was taken at the Troy Turkey Trot.

I had already photographed the 10K race, where I had to stay close to the finish line to capture the first male and female runners across the line. Since I did not need to shoot the 5K race winners, I was free to roam and see what interesting views I could find.

I just fell in love with this scene when I saw it. I really try to make photographs that have multiple things going on – it helps tell more of a story. I tried some images with multiple runners coming through the frame, but that became too cluttered and so this was the frame I choose — the sole runner with her feet off the ground and the spectators cheering her on. I think my favorite character in the shot is the man on the left with the white beard looking out the window.

Skip Dickstein

During my entire career I have attempted to give the readers of the Times Union images that capture a moment in time as well as having good storytelling content.

You will see images of spot news, features and thoroughbred racing from Saratoga Race Course.

The image that I most enjoyed making — and also one of the most time consuming — was the image of the shadow of the horse walking the shed row in the morning in the barn area of Saratoga. It took a few minutes to compose the image, and what felt like forever to make the image. I waited until just the correct moment to release the shutter and the end product is the image you see here. Different, fun and my favorite image for 2018.

Lori Van Buren

I first heard about the limousine accident from a high school classmate on Facebook the day it happened. Her stepson works at the country store where it occurred. At the time of her post they thought there were about 11 victims. Her stepson saw and heard things he will never forget. I thought 11 people dying was tragic. When I found out it was 20, so many thoughts and questions ran through my mind. “How could this happen? Did the brakes fail? How fast were they going? So many families will be affected.”

It’s not often I get called in to work on my day off. On Sunday, the day after it happened, I was asked to go to the site of the accident in Schoharie. As I was taking photos of the scene and debris left behind, family members of the victims arrived. They climbed down the ditch and started to sift through the debris. I don’t know what they were looking for. Perhaps they didn’t know either. The one man squatted on the ground and started to get emotional. That’s when I took this photograph.

I covered this story for several days. I went to the site numerous times. I covered the New York state troopers headquarters for the first press conference, the first vigil in Amsterdam, a wake and a funeral. I also waited outside the Cobleskill Town Court for several hours to get a photo of Nauman Hussain, operator of Prestige Limousine. I chose this image for my photo of the year because it was emotionally powerful and I was the only photographer there when it happened. My heart goes out to the families, friends and communities affected by this tragedy.

It’s rare that I see something totally unexpected on my camera, but that’s what happened with this photo.

I went to Empire State Plaza hoping to find some ducklings. The plaza reflecting pool has become a favored weaning ground for some Capital Region waterfowl - the staff at the Office of General Services even puts out ramps to help the small and adorable ones follow their parents out of the pool. A lone duckling, barely visible, appeared to be lost at sea in the black ink of Nelson Rockefeller’s centerpiece. Too far to make meaningful art with the equipment I brought, I waited for a better picture to present itself. The small bird called for its parents, who rallied the rookie mariner to safety and, ultimately, a better picture.

I made some cute pics on the duck ramp. They were OK, but I needed to get more. The feathered threesome traversed the dark waters toward the yellow ref lection of George Sugarman’s “Trio.” It is there that something unexplainable took place ....

I’ve seen viewing monitors get confused when faced with complex patterns, such as a tightly striped shirt. In this case, the little preview window on the back of the camera appeared to be in a full-blown freak-out with tightly packed concentric circles dicing up the pond. Certain this effect would disappear when viewed on my laptop, I was astounded to see that what I’d captured was genuine. The result was something beyond a cute animal shot.

What I unknowingly captured was the reflection of Plaza buildings. The strong vertical lines were refracted on the surface to form a canvas of concentric circles.