Love Those Country Roads

Took a trip on LA highway 154 and here is some of what I saw.

Yesterday I had to shoot the visit of Max from Disney's The Wizards of Waverly Place to the World of Wheels car show at Shreveport Convention Center. I was amazed at the number of people there to meet him. One girl solved the problem of having nobody to take a photo of herself with Max by whipping out her cell phone and doing it herself.

Daddy's #1!

My daughter and I sing a song titled "Daddy's Number 1!", which makes this my new favorite image from a season of games at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Bulldog Powers – ACTIVATE!

I first thought my flash card was going bad then I wondered if aliens were involved on this hit on a Texas A&M player.

A few plays later it happened again, only in a different area of the photograph. I turned around the 300mm lens and found my answer. I was using one of our pool lenses that has been dropped, leaving a big chip in the bottom of the front element that has not been replaced.

Under normal conditions the lens works fine, only a vague notice of fuzz in the bottom area of the image that would never be detected, especially with our reproduction.

Tonight was different though, I was shooting the third quarter of the Independence Bowl under the stadium lights without a lens shade................ it is broken also.

The glare of the lights changed the path and caused some pretty cool "glare".
So much for the alien conspiracy theory.

Rest in Peace Chief Adams

A few days ago I was assigned to cover the Memorial Service for Battalion Chief Tommy Lee Adams at Summer Grove Baptist Church.

I couldn't tell you how many funerals and memorial services I have covered over my 19 years in Shreveport and at various other newspapers across the country. This time it was different, this time it was for someone whom I call a friend.

I met Tommy a decade or so ago while working on a story about the local Life Air Rescue. We flew multiple times over a period of about a week or so while I photographed the project. He was always friendly and outgoing.

Over the years since the project I have run into him at assignment, events or activites around town. I don't think I every saw him without a smile on his face, laughing, or giving me a pat on the back asking me how I was doing.

He was a great person and it has been a privilege and an honor to know him.

My deepest condolences go out to his family.

Decisions, Decisions

This image represents one of the most difficult tasks we have as photojournalists...editing. I photographed this gentleman as he described to a reporter what he saw when he witnessed a 17-year-old girl gunned down in front of her high school before the start of classes one morning. He was visibly shaken and described the incident as "an attempted execution".

So should we go with image (1) where he is wiping tears away from his face? The action is literal and there would be no issues with reproduction which may be the issue with image (2). The second image is the most striking of the four, but with the age of our press, we have to be concerned about whether or not readers will even be able to see the tears. Image (3) kind of combines more than one emotion...you can see him welling up with tears, but he almost has a look of disgust on his face. And finally, image (4) is more of an overall including more information about the scene with a police vehicle and school bus in the background.

The verdict...image (2).

Innocence

There's just something pure and innocent about a kid with a finger in his nose...completely oblivious to the world (and camera) around him and without a care in the world. Must be nice.

Merry Christmas from the Photo Department!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Midnight Drive with the Cops Reporter

Today, as I was about to go home for the night, a call came over the scanner about a fire at Canaan Towers apartments in Shreveport's Allendale neighborhood. Me and night cops reporter Kelsey McKinney headed out. The situation turned out to be minor, so during the 5-minute drive back to the paper I decided to play around with the ISO settings on my new D700. I cranked it up to 6400 and started randomly shooting away.

Mardi Gras Already?

This coming Mardi Gras will be my fifth in Louisiana, but I still sometimes have problems getting used to it being a huge holiday. The season begins with Twelfth Night soon after Christmas, which means we are already beginning to take Mardi Gras shots here at the paper. My first came today, when the captains from the krewes of Gemini and Harambee came to the photo studio.