One of my earliest assignments was to capture the beauty and excitement of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. Intuitively, one would think “color”, but my charge was to convey the delicate and abundant blossoms beauty in black and white, and shades of grey. I got “the call” and prior to the initial meeting spoke with Robert about the creative direction. Within a few days I was attending organizational meetings, establishing timelines and technical needs. On this occasion, the only team members were Robert, myself, my assistant, and we would have a driver in D.C.
I was in my go-go-go-go-go phase and this was wonderfully exciting to me. My assistant and I flew to DC and settled into our hotel where we met with Robert to plan the next day in detail. There were certainly parameters and direction but I was given the leeway to play creatively as well. In these days, that required a lot of trust, because we shot in film. There wasn’t the ability to view images and make adjustments real time. Planning meetings were held in the morning and end of day recaps to review our successes and challenges.
It was early spring and the weather was cool, breezy, and overcast — which makes for great lighting. In addition to the cherry blossoms, over the course of this multi-day shoot, I would also be photographing a day in the life of D.C. This meant conveying a range of sensations...strength and power through the city’s monuments, the freeing and grounding sensations of nature through it’s parks and open green areas, the steadfast and historical aspects through landmarks and materials (cobblestones and brick).
Thankfully, we had a wonderful and patient driver to run us from location to location while we met the morning light, and chased the setting sun. His being briefed of our target locations and objectives in advance made it easier for us to get to more places, quickly, and with less stress.
Pulling a sense of emotion and connection from flora and fauna is, well, second nature for me. But to make a monument feel alive, you have to maneuver between light and composition. For example, I photographed the Jefferson monument at night using long exposures to get things to glow.
Again, because it was film, I really didn’t know how everything would turn out. But when I saw the final brochure, my black and whites framed and paired with mood evoking colors, and imbedded in the magical pages, I was wonderstruck. I was tickled pink (yes, the color of cherry blossoms) to have been a part of this timeless piece which I understand is still being used today.
As if that wasn’t a big enough payoff: I learned that some of my photos were blown up onto large glass panels and became part of the lobby for the world to see, touch and feel for years... decades to come. My work has become part of the landscape that I went there to capture.
~Gina Sabatella
