2014 Atlantic Journalism Awards Finalists
Attachments
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| Date Aired or Published | December 2014 |
| Media outlet where first aired or published: | East Coast Living magazine |
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Short explanation of the story and how it developed: East Coast Living’s mandate is to provide Atlantic Canadian readers with engaging stories that will inspire their own home projects, focusing on architecture, renovation and décor. Our Winter 2014 shows a grand, historic home in North End Halifax. Going with an exterior shot was a bit of a departure for us. But as this was for our winter issue, we wanted to create a warm and cozy scene, and we knew we could do it with the right lighting and the right scene. Editor Janice Hudson took the lead with art directing this shoot and liked the idea of an evening exterior shot of the house, where you could still see its elegant architectural details and there would be lots of warm light spilling out of the windows, particularly the Scottish dormers. To create a dramatic centre of interest for the shot, we decided to stage homeowner Jason Ross on the portico with his Great Danes, as though they were heading out for an evening stroll. The greatest challenge was that photographer Steve Jess had to catch the light at just the right moment—when the sun had descended and there was neither daylight nor complete darkness. He had only a couple of minutes to get this shot. Making matters trickier, the huge dogs were restless on their leashes, thinking they were about to go for a walk. It was difficult for Jason to keep them still so Steve could get a clear shot. Steve had his eight-year-old son hiding in some bushes on the lower right side, holding the off-camera flash and umbrella because it was windy. Steve took about 15 shots of the scene. The end result was a dramatic image with striking contrast between the blue sky and the glowing yellow-orange light pouring out of the large windows. Using only one light source gave the home a dramatic look with shadows casting in the background. And the addition of Jason and his dogs amplified the warmth and intimacy of the photo, capturing a special everyday moment in time. |
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Resources of the newsroom (money and time) available to complete the story: We work within a tight budget to produce this quarterly magazine. The budget for each issue is small: $3,000 for photography and $2,000 for editorial. This magazine is also one of 19 publications that our parent company, Metro Guide Publishing, produces covering a range of sectors in Atlantic Canada. Our staff contribute extensively to all of these other publications but we always dedicate time and resources to East Coast Living to ensure that it gets the attention it deserves to produce a quality magazine. On the production side, we do not have a large contingent of staff producing East Coast Living—the editor, graphic designer and production coordinator are the main people crafting our content. We also rely heavily on the talent of our freelance writers and photographers. Thank you for this opportunity to share our work. |
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