This photograph is one of 18,000 frames I took at the Canadian Cheer National Championships in Niagara Falls. That’s an absurd amount of pictures, but with dozens of performances to capture, it seems fittingly excessive for a story documenting the very extreme sport of competitive cheer.

Reporter Jana G. Pruden and videographer Timothy Moore and I spent three days in April documenting the sparkle, bounce and shouts of 8,000 cheer athletes from all over Canada. Here, the jubilant team members of the Montreal-based Coyotes Savage Pack celebrate their divisional win. A shiny, shrieking, hair-flying sport like no other.

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Marcus Gee and I visited downtown Oshawa a number of times in 2023 to document the people and places that have been affected by a triple crisis of drug addiction, mental illness and homelessness. This photograph was for a story in January about the warmth and support that Nicole Teelucksingh, the convenience store owner on the right, offers to those who are struggling in the neighbourhood. We caught serene moments like this one between Daniel Renaud and Amber Kellas, who spend a lot of time at Convenience Plus.

Later in the evening, just down the street, two people were taken to hospital after separate opioid overdoses within the same block.

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Cambria Harris, of Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba, is the daughter of Morgan Harris, one of the victims of an alleged serial killer. It’s suspected her mother’s remains, along with those of another woman, are in the Prairie Green landfill near Winnipeg. When this photo was taken in January at the Brady Road Landfill protest site, Ms. Harris had already spoken at Parliament asking for police to search the landfill for the women’s remains.

As the landfill search became a provincial election campaign topic, Ms. Harris continued to advocate with other family members and Indigenous leaders for police and government to search the landfills. Her determination is clear in her gaze.

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Every day in the late afternoon at the Dajabon border with Ouanaminthe, Haiti, caged immigration buses and repurposed school buses arrive crammed to the windows with deportees. Children and families, many collected by soldiers in the middle of the night without belongings or shoes and sometimes held for days at detention centres, are sent back across the border. Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, shares the island with the Dominican Republic, the largest economy in the Caribbean. The extreme disparity has led to an increase of would-be migrants.

This photo from March is of Gesnal Duval, who was on one of the school buses. He said he had been arrested with his wife and three children the night before along with every Haitian on his block. Reporter Adrian Morrow only spoke to him for a minute before he was ushered across the border back to Haiti, carrying only his daughter.

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On the border with Haiti in Dajabon, Dominican Republic, sits an enormous market where Haitians are allowed to cross without a passport to work or sell goods for the day. Nearby, the Dominican government has been erecting a wall to keep out Haitian migrants.

Reporter Adrian Morrow and I watched this seemingly endless lineup of thousands of people at the border. At 8 a.m., the gates open and Haitians lugging their wares shuffle across the bridge. They spend the day working at the market, selling mostly secondhand items from the U.S., transporting goods for Dominican vendors or buying food, before returning to Haiti as the sun sets.

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For a deep dive into fair trade chocolate, reporter Adrian Morrow and I visited cocoa farms in the Dominican Republic. In this photo, a worker is pulling a 70-kilogram bag of cocoa beans from piles that nearly fill a fair trade co-op’s cavernous processing centre.

The dried and roasted beans will be distributed to companies who use them to make cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and chocolate. The fair trade label indicates cocoa farmers have followed labour and environmental standards and generally have been paid more.

In late October, three weeks into Israel’s war on Hamas, the country stepped up operations in Jenin in the West Bank, killing many Palestinians and arresting hundreds. I have covered conflict in Jenin as far back as 2002. This time, I attended the funeral after an Israeli raid killed two Islamic Jihad militants. As the body was being carried out of the mosque, one man placed his hand on the dead man’s head as if saying goodbye.

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An estimated 60,000 people live at Al Roj and Al Hol prison camps in northeast Syria, with women and children making up the majority of those detained on suspicion of having ties to the Islamic State. I photographed this young girl standing with her family at a market in the Al Hol camp.

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In this image from Vietnam, two people attempt to fish a river at low tide in the town of Tran De near the Mekong River, which has been dammed to prevent inland salination from rising seas. With so much garbage and so little water, they look like they are fishing in mud.

It illustrates climate change in the area well. It’s beautiful when the tide is high and you can’t see the garbage, although that brings the threat of saltwater destroying agricultural crops. When the water pulls out, it looks like a disaster.

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Embedded with the Syrian Democratic Forces in April, I documented this counterterrorism raid in Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It was a rare look into the Kurdish-controlled territory where the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria uses the SDF to attempt to control areas in the aftermath of the war against the Islamic State. On this night the soldiers arrested a suspect, rounding up scared family members lit by the military vehicles’ light.

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Years ago, I photographed protests in the West Bank just like this one in Ramallah on Oct. 27. I was surprised to see Israeli forces were using live ammunition, not rubber bullets, and women were collecting rocks for the young men to throw toward the border guards.

I was wearing heavy, press-labeled safety equipment, and with the threat of live ammunition, these Ramallah protests were more difficult to photograph. I stood away from the boys – they were mostly teenagers – when they threw the rocks, and didn’t photograph the border guards.

Photographing puppies is not the usual Report on Business assignment. But for a story on a company that holds dog-centric events, I found myself, along with the company’s founders, trying to wrangle two puppies for a portrait. Puppies tend to do their own thing and don’t often take direction well. While finishing up portraits with the other puppy, I noticed Oberon, an Olde English BullDogge, just sitting on the floor, staring at himself in a mirror.

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News of an incident of intimate partner violence that left one woman and three children dead and another woman injured in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., had me on the road to meet up with a reporter also heading up that night. These stories can be difficult to photograph as there is little information available.

On my last day there, as I headed out in the early morning, I made one last drive past a home where a memorial had been set up. Lights had been left on throughout the night, as if to offer a beacon of support for the family and neighbours.

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I shot a protest against gender-identity education this fall at Queen’s Park for a story on the parents’ rights movement. The group opposed to gender ideology in schools staked out space by a monument, and counter-protesters eventually began to gather there as well. The two groups engaged in trying to drown out the other side’s voices and block each other’s signs. A transgender flag backlit by the noon sun stands out against the silhouetted figures of the protesters.

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Decades after being transported from their communities in the north to southern hospitals to be treated for tuberculosis, a group of survivors returned to the Mountain Sanatorium in Hamilton. They attended workshops to help them heal from the trauma they suffered as a result of being taken from their traditional lands.

Part of the group’s itinerary included a visit to the former site of the sanatorium, where a large cross they could see from their rooms was still standing. When they exited the bus and saw the cross, emotions poured out and they held each other in support. Photographing intimate moments like this is always difficult because we want to respect people’s privacy while helping tell their story.

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Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow’s election night party was held was in an intimate space. As soon as I began to follow her in, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to make my way through the densely packed crowds. I managed to get near the stage behind a row of people, some of whom let me squeeze in.

The only way to get the photographs I needed to show the jubilation of the night was to hold my camera over my head and look at the screen while shooting, not ideal. While I still wished I could have made it to the upper level to shoot this moment, the lower angle showed the view from her supporters’ perspective.

I have a love/hate relationship with family vacations. I enjoy going away for a few days with my wife and daughter, but it is not something I am super excited about and looking forward to each day in the months before the trip, the way most people do. Truth be told, I’m happier putting my money into buying a new lens rather than using it to book a plane ticket.

I know it is healthy to take a break from the hustle and grind of NYC, but I love my job, and I’m content to stay in NYC shooting pictures all year round. My true love is taking photographs, so whenever we book a family vacation, I make an effort to schedule a model shoot in whatever city we may be in.

Years ago, the process of scheduling a model shoot was surprisingly easy for me, despite people being less connected a decade ago than we are today. In the past, there was a higher demand for a skilled, professional photographer like myself who was willing to offer his services for free to an unknown model. Today, someone who wants to be photographed can easily find a friend to take pictures for them. While there are benefits to working with a professional photographer, the model is likely to produce high-quality images even if they are being photographed by a friend using a smartphone. 

I remember taking my first trip to Miami about 20 years ago and contacting a modeling agency in South Beach, asking for new models willing to test. “Test Shoot” is the term used by photographers and agencies when referring to an unpaid shoot with no guarantee of publication. I was invited to visit the agency, where the walls were filled with comp cards from which I could select with whom I wanted to work. We settled on a model named Yami, whom I photographed on a Miami Beach using a Mamiya 67 medium format film camera. The process is different today, and in this article, I will break down how I came to book a model named Mari on a recent family vacation to Paris.

I had become obsessed with Instagram Reels in the weeks preceding my trip. These are short-form vertical videos that cover any subject you can think of, including cooking tips, dancing tutorials, and huskies talking back to their owners. The platform is addictive, and I’ve spent hours watching the random videos that make their way onto my feed. If you watch or re-watch a video on a particular topic, the algorithm will include more videos on that topic as you continue to scroll, and your feed becomes even more addictive as you are fed videos that are less random and more likely to appeal to you.

Several videos discussing ways of using AI caught my attention and I became curious if I could incorporate ChatGPT, which is often used to assist in tasks that involve writing, into my next photo project. As a professional writer, I don’t need assistance in constructing an article or email, but with so much talk about this AI-based tool, I wanted to see how ChatGPT would create a pitch I could send to a model in Paris to take part in a test shoot. 

I regret not having saved the prompt I entered into ChatGPT, but this is the message that the platform created for me to send to potential models:

The pitch did not sound like me, and I was uncomfortable sending it. I’ve never even heard of Paris referred to as the City of Light. But I sent it as written to about 25 models who had used the hashtag #ParisModel in their posts to see how many would respond. Four models responded, including Mari. As explained in my message, the shoot would be a trade of her time and beauty for my time as skill as a photographer. In subsequent messages, I explained that she would receive one edited image from each look that we photographed, and I offered to give her the entire unedited shoot immediately after if she wanted to bring a laptop. I know giving the model access to everything captured on the shoot is not standard procedure for other photographers, but it is something I’ve done many times over the years, and I’ve had no issues doing so. I photograph all of my personal work on the Leica M system, and I knew I would pair a Leica M10 with my 35mm Summilux and 75mm Summarit. I view a test shoot as a collaboration between two (or more) creatives, so I asked Mari how she felt about me doing the shoot in black and white. She said she preferred that we shoot in color, so I brought the standard M10 rather than the M10 Monochrom with me on this vacation. I wanted Mari to feel comfortable about meeting a stranger for this session, so I asked her to suggest where the shoot would take place. I also felt that she, as a native, was better equipped to find a strong location than I was. She suggested a macaroon shop called Laurete that had a nice interior design, and we agreed to meet on a Thursday at 6:30 pm.

When we met at the location, the business was undergoing construction, so we did all of the shooting outside on the street. The day was overcast, and that worked in my favor since the light would be soft and shadowless and I had not brought any artificial lighting with me on this trip.

I looked for backgrounds unlike those I might find in my NYC hometown. I was drawn to the pastel-colored walls, ornate gates, and cobblestone roads on the side street of the macaroon shop. Because Mari is a professional model, she had an arsenal of poses that she could perform on cue. She was also good at following instructions, and I would often ask her to lower a shoulder, turn to the side, or raise her chin. Working with professional models who can pose themselves helps you create images that look different from the shots you take when you pose the model yourself. If you don’t have access to professional models, you will find many will accept a cash payment of USD 100 for a 2-hour test shoot if you have some decent images already in your portfolio to show.

We photographed on a clean white wall to simulate what I would have photographed had we done the shoot in a studio. My composition varied between close-ups and full-length for these images. All of the clean studio-style photos were taken with the 75mm lens.

I used the 35mm lens for any shots that would include background elements. The 35mm focal length is my favorite for environmental portraiture. The 35mm Summilux was designed to be used at f/1.4, and at that setting, there is a 3D quality to the photographs that is beautiful to my eyes and unlike the rendering of any other lens I have owned. An added benefit of shooting wide open is that the background is sharp enough to still be understandable by the viewer, but not so sharp that it takes attention away from the model.

For our final shot, I wanted to get a photograph of Mari enjoying a glass of wine in a classic Paris cafe. Everywhere we went in Paris, we passed by outdoor and open-window cafes, where people enjoyed alcohol or coffee with friends for hours on end. I wanted to represent this aspect of Parisian culture. I’ve seen photographers use locations without patronizing the business, but I feel this is tacky. We found a classic-looking café, and I ordered a glass of wine for Mari to pose with. After we completed those shots, I asked her to order herself lunch from the menu so I could treat her to a nice meal in return for doing such a good job on the shoot. Years ago, I photographed several models in a Brooklyn-based restaurant known as the Fashion Cafe. Because the shoot included some well-known (at the time) music video models, MTV had come to the shoot to document the session. I asked the crew to please patronize the business at lunchtime. They didn’t. Instead, they purchased food outside and brought that into the restaurant. I felt this was tacky, and I’ve always made a point of patronizing any business that has allowed me to photograph there.

Mari chose to not bring a laptop for immediate delivery of the images, so I posted a gallery for her on Photoshelter where she could download unedited images at her leisure. I retouched eight final images, and those were delivered to her about 10 days after I got back to NYC. 

For my next shoot, I won’t bother with using AI to write the prompt, as I don’t think it was better than what I would have written on my own. I would also take more time to prepare proper wardrobe styling with the model before the shoot. The clothing Mari brought was ok, but bland for a fashion shoot. Searching for a stylist to bring more interesting looks would have been a good use of my time. For me, this shoot was more about having the fun of working with a model from Paris than it was about creating final images, so I’m pleased with how the shoot turned out. But with a little more time spent in pre-production, I can produce a stronger shoot on my next family vacation. 

Sunday’s game between the New York Jets and Washington Commanders was painful to watch for many NFL fans, but it was literally painful for one of the photographers on hand to capture the action.

The Jets raced out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter and were attempting to add another touchdown to that lead. New York quarterback Trevor Siemian launched a pass into the endzone that sailed over the head of tight end Tyler Conklin and knocked a press photographer right in the noggin.

Camera man took that hit like a pro ? pic.twitter.com/kyKD5eMnls

— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2023

Perfect pass to the cameraman’s head. pic.twitter.com/3bS0oBPiIC

— Mark B In SD (@MomsOopsBaby) December 24, 2023

The Jets ended up settling for a field goal to extend their lead to 20-0 and we got a look at the photographer, who seemed to be okay thankfully.

There’s gotta be an assumption when you work as an NFL photographer that, sooner or later, you’re gonna get bonked by an errant pass, especially when you’re shooting behind the endzone. Credit to him for sticking with the shot and hopefully he ended up with a very cool shot for his troubles.

The above shot by USA Today’s Robert Deutsch, who seems to have been directly next to the photographer who got hit, isn’t too shabby.

To be fair, we’ve seen photographers and camerapeople get it much worse than that while working on the sidelines, so a Trevor Siemian pass to the head isn’t the worst thing that could happen.

For what it’s worth, the Jets blew their massive lead and the Commanders almost lost the game. One might wonder if this is some karmic vengeance for hitting the photographer, but then again, this is the Jets were talking about. This is just par for the course.

Sports and wildlife photographers rejoice! Nikon has released the highly anticipated NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens, designed specifically for the Z 9 mirrorless camera. This powerful combo promises to revolutionize the way you capture fast action in any environment. But how does it compare to other manufacturers? Let’s find out.

In an in-depth video review by Christopher Frost, we get a closer look at the features and capabilities of the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens. Designed for professionals, this lens offers a variety of options that set it apart:

• Built-In 1.4x Teleconverter: Integrated within the lens, the teleconverter transforms the 400mm f/2.8 lens into an impressive 560mm f/4 lens, while maintaining optimal imaging performance and weather-sealing.
• S-Line Optics: This lens incorporates two ED and one Super ED glass elements, along with two fluorite elements, to minimize chromatic aberrations and color fringing. It also features an SR element for accurate color rendering and a compact lens design.
• Anti-Glare Coatings: Nikon’s Meso Amorphous Coat improves anti-reflective performance beyond the Nano Crystal Coat, while the ARNEO and Nano Crystal Coats enhance glare suppression in various lighting conditions.
• Silky Swift VCM Autofocus: With a Voice Coil Motor and an optical ABS encoder from robotics, the autofocus system delivers high-speed, precise, and smooth focusing. It operates quietly, reduces focus breathing, and offers full-time manual override. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 8.2 feet and a maximum magnification of 0.17x (0.23x with teleconverter).
• Vibration Reduction: The lens’s image stabilization system reduces camera shake by approximately 5.5 stops. It combines in-body and optical VR (Virtual Reality) using Synchro VR technology for even better results.
• Professional Durability and Intuitive Handling: Weighing 6.5 pounds, the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens is 20% lighter than its F-mount counterpart. It features a centered gravity for smooth panning and a rotating tripod mount for easy orientation changes. The lens is weather-sealed, made with magnesium alloy construction, and has fluorine-coated front and rear elements. It is compatible with Z-Teleconverter TC 1.4x and TC 2x. The lens also offers an ergonomic control layout with a Memory Set button, customizable L-Fn buttons, a focus limiter switch, and a programmable Control Ring. Additionally, it supports Kensington lock and uses 46mm drop-in filters with the included holder.

Frost’s detailed review provides valuable insights into the performance and capabilities of the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens. Whether you’re a professional sports or wildlife photographer, this lens could be a game-changer for capturing that perfect shot. Check out the video above for Frost’s full analysis and see the lens in action.

Q: What is the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens?

A: The NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens is a powerful lens designed for the Z 9 mirrorless camera that is specifically aimed at sports and wildlife photographers.

Q: What are the key features of the NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens?

A: The lens offers a built-in 1.4x teleconverter, S-Line optics, anti-glare coatings, silky swift VCM autofocus, vibration reduction, professional durability and intuitive handling.

Q: What is the purpose of the built-in teleconverter?

A: The built-in teleconverter transforms the lens from 400mm f/2.8 to an impressive 560mm f/4, while maintaining optimal imaging performance and weather sealing.

Q: What are S-Line optics?

A: S-Line optics is a feature of the lens that incorporates specific glass elements to minimize chromatic aberrations, color fringing, and improve color rendering.

Q: What is the autofocus system like?

A: The autofocus system utilizes a Voice Coil Motor and an optical ABS encoder for high-speed, precise, and smooth focusing. It operates quietly, reduces focus breathing, and offers full-time manual override.

Q: How effective is the image stabilization system?

A: The lens’s image stabilization system reduces camera shake by approximately 5.5 stops. It combines in-body and optical VR using Synchro VR technology for even better results.

Q: What are the durability and handling features of the lens?

A: The lens is lighter, weather-sealed, and made with magnesium alloy construction. It has an ergonomic control layout, support for various accessories, and offers an intuitive handling experience.

Key Terms/Jargon

• Z 9 mirrorless camera: Nikon’s mirrorless camera model.
• Teleconverter: An optical accessory that increases the focal length of a lens.
• S-Line optics: A feature of Nikon lenses that incorporates specific glass elements to improve image quality.
• Chromatic aberrations: Color fringing or distortion that can occur in an image.
• Color rendering: The accuracy and reproduction of colors in an image.
• Anti-reflective performance: The ability to reduce glare and reflections in an image.
• Meso Amorphous Coat: A type of anti-reflective coating by Nikon.
• Image stabilization: Technology that reduces camera shake for sharper images.
• Virtual Reality (VR): In the context of the lens, it refers to Nikon’s optical image stabilization technology.
• Synchro VR technology: Nikon’s technology that combines in-body and optical image stabilization.
• Magnesium alloy construction: The lens is constructed using magnesium alloy for durability.
• Drop-in filters: Filters that can be inserted into the lens without removing the front element.

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Among the selected images for the annual summary of the year’s images in the Times magazine is a photo of Hamas breaching the border by Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, who is accused of being invited to accompany Hamas terrorists on the morning of the Hamas massacre