Favorites of 2012

Here are my favorite photographs of 2012. It's been a great first full year freelancing, and i'm looking forward to an even better 2013.

Best of 2012 - Images by Chris Bergin

Indianapolis corporate photographer, indianapolis editorial photographer. Indianapolis photographer

Trevor Jackson

I had the chance to tag along with 16 year-old actor and musician Trevor Jackson as he visited his hometown of Indianapolis surprising a local high school with a performance during their Christmas musical program. What a really kind and down to earth family. I hope he goes far.

Trevor Jackson - Images by Chris Bergin

Public Enemy

I had the chance to shoot Public Enemy last night at The Vogue in Indianapolis. A pretty badly lit show but fun none the less. What happened to good hip hop?

Public Enemy - Images by Chris Bergin

Indianapolis concert and editorial photography

Dave + Oprah

As I sit here watching Oprah interview Stephen Spielberg and some of the cast of Lincoln on the OWN  Network I figure it's a good time to post a few images of David Letterman sitting down with Oprah at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I didn't know what to expect of the conversation between the two but it ended up being a really intimate and serious talk focusing on Oprah's childhood and her many struggles to end up where she is now.









Indianapolis editorial photographer

Rick Ross (and friends)

I shot my first rap show last week for the Indianapolis Star featuring rappers Rick Ross, Wale, and Meek Mill (yeah, I didn't know who the latter two were either). I didn't know exactly what to expect having never shot or even been to a rap/ hip hop show before. It was fairly entertaining but there is only so much I can hear about "effing bitches" before I had had enough.

Rick Ross (and friends) - Images by Chris Bergin
Indianapolis photographer Chris Bergin

Shooting Birds

After a long time of trying to attract birds to our new house we have finally succeeded! Here are a few images of a Red Breasted Nuthatch, a vocal bird that is now a regular visitor to our yard.


Birds - Images by Chris Bergin

Waiting for the light

Last night I covered a 1920's Flapper Party at the historic Madame Walker Theatre in downtown Indianapolis for the Indianapolis Star. It was one of those photographic situations that you walk into and think "what the eff am I going to do here" it was dark... really really dark. I brought along a Canon speedlight but I try to avoid using them while covering events if possible. Once the crowd picked up a bit I started looking for pockets of nice light and luckily this woman happened to be there...Score! I now had one picture. 



After a little longer, and several standard party images later I managed to find another picture I was pleased with. 
A tip for aspiring photographers out there. Don't get discouraged if a picture doesn't come right away, patience will pay off as long as you are prepared and keep your eyes open.

Richard Mourdock

I covered Ind. Republican candidate for Senate Richard Mourdock campaigning in Fishers, Indiana a couple of weeks ago for The New York Times. He isn't making things easy on himself in this election.

Richard Mourdock - Images by Chris Bergin

Mike Pence Campaigning

I enjoy politics. Not because of my opinions on the candidates or topics but because of the passion surrounding it. It's the one thing that seems to stir people up more than anything and has such an impact on our world, both local and national. I don't care who the candidate is, I usually enjoy any assignment that comes up dealing with the topic. Here are some images from Indiana candidate for Gov. Mike Pence as he campaigns in Brownsburg, Indiana photographed for The Republic in Columbus, Ind.

Mike Pence Campaign - Images by Chris Bergin

Donnie Walsh

Last week I got an assignment from the New York Times to shoot a portrait of Indiana Pacers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh. Toward the end of the phone call with the editor she added  "oh by the way, the shoot is in his office and you only have a few minutes." Great...Now my mind was racing and thinking what in the world am I going to do. I came early to check the place out and set up a light in the office while Walsh sat at his desk and we chatted. There was not much room in the office but he had a couch so we rolled with that. Here are a couple of images from the shoot. (He doesn't smile much but was very pleasant to work with) Read the article here

Rainy Wedding

I photographed a great wedding last weekend in Muncie, Ind. Despite it raining most of the day we were able to get some beautiful images. Congratulations David + Megan.

David + Megan - Images by Chris Bergin

Indiana POW

I photographed a POW event in downtown Indy for the Indianapolis Star last weekend featuring five Indiana former Prisoner's of War. All five honorees had amazing stories and here is my favorite image from the event. This is former Indiana Governor Ed Whitcomb who was captured and tortured by the Japanese in WWII. He escaped by swimming through shark infested waters to an island where he eventually made contact with the United States Army.


Indianapolis editorial and corporate photography

iPhone and Instagram

There is currently a lot of debate about whether professional photographers should be using iPhones and Instagram to shoot and post pictures. I for one embrace both. Some say that Instagram can make any crappy picture look great if you just slap a filter on it (in some cases it can). But most times it just takes a bad boring picture of what you are eating for lunch and turns it into a bad boring picture with a funky filter applied. The art to making any good image using an iPhone, Instagram, or a Canon 5D MKIII lies in the composition, the moments, and use of light. That shows through no matter what medium you are using. I have a great time pulling out my small iPhone when I am somewhere I don't want to lug around my gear. I can post images the moment I shoot them but I work hard to make them quality images. Here are a selection of iPhone images shot in the past week, some processed in Instagram, some right out of the camera. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @cbergin

iPhone, no filter applied


iPhone, Instagram filter


iPhone, Instagram filter


iPhone, no filter applied


iPhone, Instagram filter


iPhone, no filter applied

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Lockout

Today I took a stroll downtown and documented the ongoing Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra lockout. A string quartet performed outside the Hilbert Circle Theatre to a good reception by passerby's and lunching downtown workers. The theme for today was Music for the Victims of September 11, 2001. The musicians are involved in a lockout after negotiations failed between the ISO and the musician union and have started performing outside their theatre daily as a form of protest.

Indianapolis Symphony Lock Out - Images by Chris Bergin

Friday Night Football

I shot high school football last night for the Indianapolis Star. It was the first football I have shot in over a year and was really nice to get out there and shoot some action and play around with the nice light as the sun came down. Enjoy.

Friday Night Football - Images by Chris Bergin

Indianapolis Photographer

Weekend Work

It was a busy weekend shooting for the Indianapolis Star that included a Blake Shelton concert, portrait of a local competitor on TLC's Craft Wars (airing Tuesday at 8), and a festival. Not to mention working it around getting our new house ready to move in to. Here is a selection of images from the three assignments.

Weekend Shoots - Images by Chris Bergin

Indianapolis editorial and corporate photographer

Train

Two concerts in two days... this time it was Train at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indy. They put on a great show (from what I got to see of it).

Train - Images by Chris Bergin

Barry Manilow

I photographed Barry Malinow at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the Indianapolis Star, Friday night. The old guy still gets around, even doing a few pelvic thrusts during the three songs I was able to shoot. I think I saw a woman faint. 

Barry Manilow - Images by Chris Bergin

Indianapolis Color Run

Images from the 2012 Color Run in Indianapolis. As a freelance photographer in Indianapolis, I try to stay current on most of the goings on... this one slipped me by and I found out about it 30 minutes before the start. I grabbed my gear and hurried downtown to White River State Park and got there just in time. I had a great time shooting it and really glad I made the effort. 

Color Run - Images by Chris Bergin

Indiana Drought

This is what drought coverage right after a rain storm looks like. I had been seeing some beautiful  images from Indiana over the past few days of dry cracked ground, and when I got a call from Reuters wanting me to cover the ongoing drought, I was excited to get out and make some of those images myself. Turns out it started raining right after I got the call so no cracked ground for me but I was able to make these images out at Morse Reservoir where water levels are at record lows.


Indiana Drought - Images by Chris Bergin

Outlaws MC FBI raid

The FBI conducted the largest federal raid in Indianapolis history this morning targeting the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. Over 300 agents conducted the raids and arrested over 30 people. Here are my images from the Indianapolis club raid. 

Outlaws MC FBI Raid - Images by Chris Bergin

Big Brothers Big Sisters

This past weekend I worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana to refresh their archive of marketing images. They are still using images that were taken over five years ago so it was time for a new look. We went to the Indianapolis Central Library and the Indianapolis Art Center for the shoot. Here are some of the new images.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July. I thought I would use this time to post some images I shot out west last week shooting for Brush Creek Ranch... an amazing luxury ranch just outside Saratoga Wyoming. It was the owner's private family and friends event complete with the Marshall Tucker Band, a rodeo, and plenty of fly fishing, horseback riding, gun slinging, and general carousing.

Michigan City, Ind.

Went up to spend the weekend in Michigan City, Indiana this past weekend. Salmon fishing, soaking up the sun, and swimming with our dogs. Managed to shoot a few images along the way and here they are! This week I'll be shooting at the Brush Creek Ranch in Wyoming so stay tuned for images. Meanwhile give this song a listen by the great Johnny Cash about Michigan City, Ind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H74mXbpwQ9I

Stericycle

Last week I shot an assignment for USA Today and the Indianapolis Star at Stericycle, the largest U.S. company handling recalled products based in Indianapolis. They were very protective about not showing specific products so I was limited to a portrait of the vice president of recalls, Mike Rozembajgier. Here is how it ran in the Indy Star today.

7 days 3709 miles

When a meteorologist yells "Lets get out of here, It's time to go NOW," they mean it. I learned this on a recent storm chasing trip to 

the Great Plains, where on one day a bright-green core of baseball-sized hail was headed directly to us threatening to destroy our truck. 

My goal on the trip with my storm chase team the Severe Weather Alert Team (SWAT) was to photograph tornadoes in the Plains. 

Despite not getting a tornado, photographing severe weather is an amazing experience. Getting up close to these powerful 

performances of nature, watching the beautiful storm structure and rotating clouds come at you and visiting parts of the country few 

venture to are some of what makes it great. 

I find it amazing that you can wake up in the morning, the meteorologist looks over the weather models and pinpoints an area 

to target, then you drive to that area (sometimes 5-6 hrs). Then like it was all planned out perfectly, you sit and watch

 the storm clouds build up just off in the distance.

Shooting storms is a challenge, one minute you feel that you have all the time in the world to watch and photograph the storm

creep up, the clouds becoming more and more dramatic the closer it gets. The next minute it is right on top of you and you have 

to move quickly to reposition yourselves to stay out of large hail and damaging winds, while dealing with an often bad road network.

Overall and despite not getting a tornado to shoot, It was a great adventure and I can't wait to get back out next season. 

Birding Indiana Dunes

I spent Friday morning at the Indiana Dunes State Park with local birder Brendan Grube. Grube gets up at 5 a.m. most mornings during bird migration to count the different species and numbers of birds migrating through the park. As the birds travel north they hit Lake Michigan and often turn around and work their way along the shoreline instead of traveling over the lake.

England

I just got back from a short trip to God's Country aka England to take my wife Eileen for the first time. I was born there and most of my family still lives there so it was great to take a little break,  hang out with them, and get a little sight seeing in along the way. I  mostly spend my time documenting other peoples lives and shooting corporate types. Looking through my images from the trip reminds me it's important to also document my own life and the people around me that I really care about.  

England Blog - Images by Chris Bergin

Sr. (Citizen) Prom

I recently photographed a Sr. (Citizen) Prom organized by the students at Franklin University for the Indianapolis Star.  It was great to see the folks dance into the wee hours of the evening.


Sr. Citizen Prom - Images by Chris Bergin

Religion: Jews and Black Christians reunite

Images I shot for a religion piece in the New York Times. An area near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana was once a vibrant area shared by black Christians and white Jews. In the 1960's the area started to decline and the people moved away. A local anthropology professor has found a way to bring the people back together once again... through the church.

Click HERE to view the article by Samuel Freedman


NYTimes_Religion - Images by Chris Bergin

Indiana Basketball

Here are a few images from a story I photographed for the New York Times that ran Sunday March 24. The story focused on the Anderson Indiana basketball team and the former arena the Wigwam. This was the first season in 50 years that Anderson High School did not play in the 9,000-seat Wigwam due to high maintenance costs and falling attendance. Many local residents are angry that the Wigwam has closed and are reluctantly going to the renovated high school gym to watch the games.

Click Here to read the article by Craig Fehrman


Anderson Basketball - Images by Chris Bergin

NCAA Women's Big Ten Championship

I spent the past few days shooting the NCAA Women's basketball tournament here in Indianapolis. The first couple of days were filled shooting pretty bad and boring basketball but the championship did not disappoint. Purdue won in an exciting double overtime game against Nebraska.


NCAA Women's Big Ten Championship - Images by Chris Bergin

Henryville, Indiana Tornado

As I set out to chase the predicted storms with my storm chase team (SWAT) yesterday we had no idea that we would see such damage from a storm. We got a late start on the day and just missed the storm that produced the Henryville Tornado. We heard about the damage there and we were very close so we took back roads into the town to see if we could help out and to document the damage (we had an EMT and medical kit with us). As we got into the town we could immediately see the impact of the storm. The high school and elementary school were completely destroyed, cars and school busses were flipped over everywhere you looked, homes were destroyed and countless trees and power lines littered the road. It was amazing that more people were not injured or killed in this town. Here are some images about an hour after the storm rolled through.


Henryville, Indiana Tornado - Images by Chris Bergin

ESPN: Behind the Scenes

Here is a look behind the scenes of ESPN during Super Bowl week here in Indianapolis.


ESPN behind the scenes - Images by Chris Bergin

On set with ESPN

Behind the scenes images on the ESPN Superbowl sets in Indianapolis. The people at ESPN are a pleasure to work with, and the cast and crew of SportsNation are a blast.


Blog ESPN - Images by Chris Bergin

Super Bowl Festivities Under Way

I took a brief stroll around downtown Indianapolis Friday night (after looking for a parking place for ages) to check out the start of the Super Bowl festivities and take a quick walk through Super Bowl Village. It really is cool to see your city transformed for such a huge event. I'll be spending a bit of time downtown over the next week working for ESPN on the set of their many shows. Plenty more images to come throughout the week.


Indy Super Bowl 2012 - Images by Chris Bergin

New Website!

I am excited to announce my new wedding photography website www.chrisberginweddings.com It's taken up a lot of my time lately and will continue to do so until I get the corresponding blog up and running. Once that is finished I start on the redoing of my current editorial/corporate site www.chrisberginphoto.com not sure where I'm finding the time but I do know my wife is only going to put up with me sitting in front of a computer for so long so I need to hurry up. In the mean time go check it out and follow along on facebook at www.facebook.com/chrisberginweddings