Photographer: Mike Yoder

Camera: Nikon D1H digital

Jason Botz, Lawrence, constructed an igloo recently while waiting for his wife to give birth to their third child.

Lens: Wide-angle zoom lens at approximately 28mm

ISO: 200

Shutter: 1/125

Aperture: 9.0

When I think of photographic subjects to document in Kansas, igloos are way down the list. So I can honestly say that I had never given any thought how best to photograph the subject.

Since the size of this structure was significant, at least by Kansas standards, I figured the main photo needed to show the igloo in its entirety. To best demonstrate this, I had Jason, the igloo builder, crouch inside the entrance room. This gave some scale to the structure.

Because the light level inside the igloo was considerably lower than the daylight outside, I had to place a remote-fired strobe light inside the second room of the igloo aimed at Jason. By adjusting my aperture and shutter speeds, and by controlling the output of my strobe, which included draping two pages of my notebook over the flash head to reduce the light output, I found a combination that created a nice balance. The interior light also gave the igloo a feeling of warmth.

I transmitted this photograph to the Associated Press, and I know a couple of other papers used the photo, including Tuesday’s USA Today.

– “Behind the Lens” is an ongoing weekly series that features an image selected by the Journal-World photo staff that previously ran in the newspaper or online.