Backstory: Three cameras, two ladders – Tesla's Elon Musk at court

NEW YORK (Reuters) – (Backstory is a series of reports showing the work of Reuters journalists and the standards they are subject to)

Hundreds of journalists and photographers opposed steel fences last week to catch Elon Musk, General Manager of Tesla Inc., at the downtown Manhattan federal courthouse.

Three Reuters photographers have used two scales and years of experience to get some of the clearest and unobstructed clichés of his entry and exit from the building, which have been used by media around the world.

Two hours earlier, Brendan McDermid, Shannon Stapleton and freelancer Eduardo Munoz had drawn the two entrances to the courthouse, which was surrounded by barricades to control the expected crowd.

About 30 minutes before the hearing, about the conflict between Musk and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, two brand-new Teslas stopped in front of the courthouse. As soon as Musk came out, a crowd of photographers and reporters invaded him.

McDermid and Stapleton, perched on small ladders, photographed Musk as he climbed the pale granite steps of the courtyard.

About 90 minutes later, when Musk exited the building, Munoz took over at street level.

Anticipating the place where the car would take Musk, Munoz took a picture of himself without being bothered by the crowd of journalists and journalists, then went to the barriers on the other side of the car to capture Musk, with its imposing pillar face of the courtyard reflecting in the shining roof of the Tesla Model S.

His camera, like those of his colleagues, was automatically sending wireless photos to Reuters image publishers who were ready to publish them in seconds to media-hungry customers of this billionaire erratic entrepreneur. .

"The best you can do is get proper exposure and focus and worry about your composition," McDermid said. "More importantly, try not to stumble and fall on your colleagues. Or fall to the ground and be trampled by them. "