WASHINGTON (AP) — Jacquelyn Martin is a staff photojournalist for The Associated Press based in Washington, D.C., where she has covered the White House for nearly two decades.Here’s what she had to say about this extraordinary photo.Why this photo?I’m coming up on my 20-year anniversary as a staff photojournalist for the AP based in Washington, D.C. In that time, I’ve done plenty of White House photography, but I’ve never been granted this angle before. This moment was shot from the “diplomatic room,” where the president greets foreign dignitaries for formal events at the White House, but I was allowed to be directly behind them which is unusual. It was made as President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were awaiting the arrival of King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a state visit. They’re facing away from the camera, with the main press riser and Washington Monument ahead of them.
How I made this photoYou only have a few seconds to capture these images. I knew that a silhouette could be a powerful way to portray these two figures standing alone, but I also needed images where you could see the king and queen’s faces once they arrived. In the seconds as that car was arriving, I underexposed this split second moment to go for a silhouette and then as soon as the car arrived, I moved the exposure back to normal. I shoot on manual and with RAW files so that I can make these creative decisions on the fly and have a more dynamic exposure to work from.
