Day 4 – Getting the shot

David Early gets acquainted with his photo gear. // Photo by Hannah Chebeleu, Mosaic Staff Photographer

By David Early, Mosaic Staff Photographer

I didn’t get the right shots. Days seem to be passing by really fast, like it’s already Thursday and I already feel adjusted to the workflow, at least somewhat. I’m not sure if i’d call it a reality check, but being told to go out and reshoot someone again was a little frustrating. My photo’s weren’t enough, they fit the subject, but not the idea. In all honesty I’m glad I didn’t get the shot on my first try because that gave me incentive to think about my composition more carefully.

Brian drove me out to Silver Creek Road way out in east side to go find our guy, Sanni, a strong, extremely spiritual guy from Nigeria who on a daily basis pushes the same cart up and down Silver Creek and Yerba Buena road, multiple times a day.

Two days prior me and Sara interviewed him as he trudged up Yerba Buena road. In my head I kept thinking, “What if this guy’s crazy or something and he goes berzerk?” This thought was quickly brushed off my mind as he greeted us both with a handshake and a joyful “Hello!” This made me feel a little more comfortable, seeing as this was my time shooting for a report.

After walking up nearly two miles of sun bleached road we reached the same Starbucks he goes to every day, where he gets two large cups of ice, as I was told by a Barista is what he gets when he comes in.

We managed to talk him into giving us just 10 minutes of his time, with a sandwich and frappuccino incentive of course, which he seemed completely fine with. The moment he sat down I began shooting away, mostly close up’s of his face, trying catch a shot of him without food or a straw in his mouth.

Strangely despite his open and rather forthcoming ways, he looked to his phone, got our numbers, then said, “It has been 10 minutes, time for us to go”, and with a nod he stood up, walked out, and gave us a hug. After a few more pictures I shook his hand, then he went back down the road we walked down to repeat the same procedure he did everyday.

Upon returning and reviewing all the pictures, I knew I had gotten some great profile shots, but something seemed off, I felt like it was just some picture of a person, it didn’t really tell me anything, no story, emotion yes, but no story. This was reiterated by Karl Mondon, which was sort of the “reality check” I was saying.

Karl urged me to go back out and shoot him again, stating that I truly had a lucky subject as he was not only friendly, but I knew where he was almost all of the time, along with having his contact information. Brian and I went out and found him walking up Silver Creek road, which we would drive about half a mile up and wait for him. I got out of the car and stepped to the street, where I set up my shot.

I got the shot I wanted.

Day 2 – Excitement, frustration, confusion, and success

Mosaic staff reporters Sara Ashary and David Early pose for a selfie with Sanni in Starbucks after the interview. // Photo by Sara Ashary, Mosaic Staff Writer

By Sara Ashary, Mosaic Staff Writer

Day 2 of Mosaic? Still pretty awesome! I feel like the connections I made with the rest of staff have become even faster. We are already at the point of having inside jokes. Everyone is working hard like busy bees in whatever season they are busy at. You can feel like the excitement, frustration, confusion, and success in the air from all the staff writers and photographers.

I for one, had a pretty successful day. I went to interview Sanni, a man with a mission who pushed his cart up and down a hill everyday in a posh neighborhood. The very talented photographer, David Early accompanied me and took fantastic shots of the man. Funny enough, Sanni was NOT CAMERA SHY AT ALL! If he did not have such a strong faith to his religion, I would definitely suggest a career in commercial modeling!

I am very glad we got to have dinner with Alumni last night, they answered all our questions about living on campus with fifteen other kids, it was so fun and relaxing. We all followed each other on social media. In fact, I think I gained like fifteen followers on instagram last night….score! After the outing for Cream, I went with Tomas, Hannah, Steezy (Steven), David, and Semira to explore San Jose Downtown. What an adventure that was! We came back to the lounge at the dorm rooms and chilled together until like 3 am.

While I drove with Creo, David, and Matt to South San Jose, I gained even a stronger friendship with them and that really made my day today. I am so stoked to see what else is in store for the Mosaic in complete honesty!!