Monthly Archives: January 2009

Photo of the Day — Girls Basketball

An aspect of my my job I like particularly more than the rest is shooting high school sports. I am still refining my style and working on shooting more aggressively to anticipate the action — probably always will be — but I enjoy pretty much everything about being at a game.
Issaquah's Alexa Smith gets in the face of Eastlake's Ellie Martinez Jan. 24 in a KingCo 4A Crest Division matchup. Issaquah held Eastlake to nine points in the first half and won 48-35, to keep the top spot in the division.

Issaquah's Alexa Smith gets in the face of Eastlake's Ellie Martinez Jan. 24 in a KingCo 4A Crest Division matchup. Issaquah held Eastlake to nine points in the first half and won 48-35, to keep the top spot in the division.

Working for papers that cover Issaquah the Sammamish Plateau  is great because most of the teams are at least decent, if not the best around. The Issaquah and Skyline football teams, of course, gave me a treat in the fall with the historic run-up to the state 4A championship battle.

This winter, the Eastlake and Issaquah girls basketball teams are the ones to watch. They are the top two teams in the Class 4A KingCo Crest Division and will both probably make the playoffs. So, anytime they meet, it’s fun to see who will outlast and out-muscle the other’s feisty approach on the court.

Photo of the Day — Beads of Water

It’s the little things.

The great — and sometimes tiresome — thing about being a photographer is that you always have your gear with you. That is, if you have developed good habits. My camera-toting habit formed near the end of college, while working for the Bellingham Herald, under the supervision of a well-known photo editor — Russ Kendall.

He encouraged me to take my camera everywhere. After all, being a good photojournalist is more a lifestyle than a job. The first full day I carried my camera everywhere, a fire broke out in downtown Bellingham. I was the first one on the scene and the paper ran my photos online for the breaking news.  That advice — and subsequent affirming experience — led me to capture many a nice moment or obscure aspect of life.

Beads of water accumulate on a blade of grass during a rainy Juneau day.

Beads of water accumulate on a blade of grass during a rainy Juneau day.

This was one of those images I wasn’t really looking for, but because I had my gear with me as I rode my bike home from work on that rainy Juneau day, I captured water droplets accumulating on a thin blade of grass.

As my wife says often: “80 percent of life is just showing up.” Eighty percent of being a photographer is just having your camera with you, prepared for unexpected opportunities.

— C

Photo of the Day — Cuddly black bear

I spotted this young cinnamon black bear as he tried to snatch some freshly killed salmon near a creek near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in Juneau, Alaska in 2007. A mother black bear was fishing and feeding with her two cubs and she proceeded to chase him up a tree, where he waited until she went back to her business.
A two-year-old cinnamon black bear lies in wait after being chased up a tree by a sow. The mother bear was fishing with her two one-year-old cubs when this one interfered near the Steep Creek Trail in Juneau.

A two-year-old cinnamon black bear lies in wait after being chased up a tree by a sow. The mother bear was fishing with her two one-year-old cubs when this one interfered near the Steep Creek Trail in Juneau.

As a tour guide there for the summer, I had the opportunity to observe the salmon run — and the subsequent bear feeding time — on an almost daily basis.

— Chris

Photo of the Day — lunchtime ping pong

Nothing like a good old game of ping pong at lunch time. After shooting photos of Veritas film school students on a movie set, I got Chinese food for lunch. In the back were three ping pong tables.

Nothing like a good old game of ping pong at lunch time. After shooting photos of Veritas film school students on a movie set, I got Chinese food for lunch. In the back were three ping pong tables. This man looked like he plays here every day. He had this intense look every time he hit the ball. He didn't give me his name.

This man looked like he plays here every day. He had this intense look every time he hit the ball. He didn’t give me his name.

Photo of the Day — Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

This photo was taken on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica in November 2007. It was a Sunday morning, and many of the locals were out working with their oxen. I was on an assignment for the Tico Times, an English weekly paper, with my coworker and a Dutch hotel owner.
We spent the weekend in Montezuma, a tiny beach town on the Pacific, to cover a film festival. Manuel, the reporter, and I connected with the hotel owner and she took us to the Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve, of which she was the controlling organization’s vice-president.
A man rides in his oxcart, on a Sunday morning near the town of Lepanto, on the Nicoya Peninsula.

A man rides in his oxcart, on a Nov. 7 near the town of Lepanto, on the Nicoya Peninsula.

So here we are, a Guatemalan-American (Manuel), a Dutch woman, and a gringo straight from Seattle (Chris), traversing the pothole-laden dirt back roads of pristine Costa Rica in a shiny, new range rover. We, of course, pull over to take pictures.
And we thought the guy with the oxcart was the photo op.