So this week started off right where last week left off. I rounded off the work week on Sunday and Monday with back to back breaking news stories. The first, a massive fire on the property of a cattle company in rural Owyhee County and the second, a head on collision between a pickup truck and a semi. You never hope to hear of bad news, however, the sensational situations are often the most exciting to cover.





After returning from a short skiing trip I returned to work Thursday and got to sit in on an interview with Idaho Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sergio Gutierrez, and followed up with a little feature hunting.




I also put together a multimedia project on the Expo Idaho Flea Market which you can see by checking out...
http://www.iptblogs.com/IPTmedia/slideshows/080114_FleaMarket


So that's it. Not a whole lot of detail on this go round but hopefully a few of these photos speak for themselves.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by to check in!

Manic Monday

This past Monday started off as any other Monday afternoon; an easy afternoon assignment followed by a couple of basketball games in the evening. After having finished editing a multimedia project, I made my way into the office arriving shortly after 2 p.m. and upon arrival I was prompted that a cement mixing truck had overturned in a ditch along a nearby highway. So I headed out to the intersection of Midway and Homedale roads to check it out and sure enough, a fully loaded semi had flipped off the road, landing in a muddy field adjacent to the intersection. It was pretty impressive to watch these two enormous tow trucks and roughly 10 guys work to yank the truck from the ditch.



After spending about an hour at the scene I decided I had seen enough and headed back into the office, where I was met by a co-worker who informed me that a cat had wandered into a transformer around 5 p.m., cutting off power to about 1,000 residents and the majority of downtown Nampa. I saddled up and went to check it out and sure enough, all the power was out, including all of the stop lights. I wandered around downtown for about half an hour snapping pictures of police officers directing rush-hour traffic through the busy city streets and the city employees scrambling to set up stop signs.



I rounded out the day with a city council meeting and a Idaho class 1A girls basketball game, so I guess you could say that the day started out much more exciting than it ended.

After spending the past two days skiing it is time to get back to work and today it looks like i'll be heading out to cover even more prep basketball, barring any vehicle rollovers or major power outages of course.

As always, thanks for looking!

Randomness is Bliss

This weekend I was reminded why I love Photojournalism. For me, it's not the undocumented benefits like media parking, free lunches at ball games or front row access at concerts. Nope, nothing nearly that exciting. In all honestly, I get the most enjoyment from all of the random people that I meet at the random places that I go. In one weekend I've had the opportunity to photograph local politicians, high school athletes and just about everybody in between.




For example, on Sunday I traveled to Boise to cover the unveiling of a 1969 Chevrolet pickup which was fully restored for an 18-year-old Leukemia patient named Jesse. It was pulled together by the Make A Wish foundation in association with a handful of local area businesses. It was neat to see so many people come together and give so much for this young man.



I can't think of that many professions which allow you to experience one person's greatest achievement and another's agony, sometimes in the same day. It is truly a unique profession and to be given the tools to participate is a great honor and responsibility, one which I am very thankful for.

As always, thanks for taking time to check in! Until next time...

Welcome to 2008

I know, I know. It has been almost two months since I've posted any new material. Nearly two months, three holidays and one family vacation have come and gone in the time since my previous post and I have to say, I almost find it hard to believe. Here it is, a time of year that I look forward to for so long and in what seems to have been the preverbal blink of an eye it has passed right on by.

In all honesty, I don't have much to report from the month of November, however, the days of December were some of the busiest I have experienced in my time at the Press. I covered countless (and I mean COUNTLESS) Christmas events. There were at least two living nativity scenes - one involving a story on a local man and his pet camel - about three Christmas services, numerous tree lighting ceremonies, and one holiday night light parade, to name only a few. By the second week of December I was screaming BAH-HUMBUG from the rooftops.

This was pretty much the routine until December 26th, which is when I took my personal vacation to spend time with friends and family. About fifteen of my closest family members traveled to Idaho to celebrate the holiday season with my parents, my sister, her husband, their 6-month-old son and myself in the mountains of Central Idaho. A good time was had by all.

The Fam on Christmas Day in Boise

Now I am watching the clock tick away as my return to work draws near. After a week off I am excited to get back into the routine of a typical work week, but it is sort of disappointing to know that the holidays are now over. Who am I kidding, no more Santa Claus, Christmas carols, or random acts of kindness! HOORAY!

Thanks for checking in. I'll try to keep the new material coming.

Play Me a Song Piano Man

I had the opportunity to shoot a Billy Joel concert Monday evening at Taco Bell Arena in Boise. Here a few choice frames from the show.

Joyful Noise

On Sunday, November 18th I shot a Thanksgiving orchestra/choir concert called the Hymns of Thanksgiving. The light was less than desirable and because the performance was being recorded I was forced to pick my moves carefully. I made a few shots I was happy with and bolted to shoot a concert by the group Band of Horses. Pretty interesting going from a choir concert to a emo band but it was sure entertaining.

A Multimedia Kind of Weekend

For those of you who may not know it yet, there is a change in the wind. What is this change you may be asking yourself. Well it's not the coming change in season or the imminent transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Many of you may not even know it is happening, but everyday it progresses, continuing to change the way thousands of people do their jobs. Puzzled?

Well let me tell you what it's not. It's not business as usual.

In the course of about one month I have watched my profession change, right in front of my own eyes. It has been a buzz in the field of photojournalism for the past couple of years, but not until this week have I realized that web based content is changing the way I work.

In an industry that has been driven by the business model of advertising revenue and circulation numbers, it seems that the new industry standard is the mouse click or "hit". I have my qualms with it, but I'm not here to bite the hand that feeds me, rather share a few of my experiences from a pretty exciting spot in my career.

In the past week I have made four different attempts at what some would refer to as multimedia field reporting. On Thursday, November 8th I set out to produce a audio slideshow from the Northwest Linesman College just down the road. For those of you unaware of what students at a linesman college learn (which is totally reasonable) it is basically a trade school where students are trained to scale power poles and perform maintenance and repairs. I gathered the audio and stills that I thought would be necessary to create an interesting slideshow, however, upon returning to the office I discovered the information I had gathered really had no central theme.

As it turns out, it can take quite a bit of foresight to put together a project that keeps people interested throughout the whole show. I've made a few attempts at slideshows in the past, however, I don't think any have truly been anything i've been proud of, so it is my ambition to take that next step to make something I can hang my hat on. Unfortunately the Linesman project is still in the works. Here is a still to give you an idea of what to expect...


As for the three remaining slideshows, two were of high school playoff games which I covered this weekend in Northern Idaho. They are pretty much just event coverage slideshows but feel free to check them out...

Nampa Christian vs. Orofino Friday, November 9th, Moscow, Idaho
http://www.iptblogs.com/IPTmedia/slideshows/071109_NCHS/


Nampa vs. Lakeland, November 10th, Rathdrum, Idaho
http://www.iptblogs.com/IPTmedia/slideshows/071110_Nampa/


The last piece I put together was from an interview with an 86-year-old World War II and Korean War Veteran. Unfortunately he wasn't able to walk, and from the smell of his apartment and sound of his voice he has been a smoker for many years. Check it out...
http://www.iptblogs.com/IPTmedia/slideshows/071111_WWII_Veteran


So I have to say it's been an interesting couple of weeks and assuming things continue in the direction they have been, you will more than likely see more of these multimedia projects up here.

Thanks for stopping to take a look!