August 30, 2008
Viewfinder
Rolicking visit to the hospital
I walked into a dark auditorium with my laptop, a photo slide show ready and butterflies in my belly. I thought, "I'll do OK." After all, I had the laughing horse photo, my secret weapon. Kids love the laughing horse.
Catching the 'decisive moment'
About a month ago I became an intern at The Sun. I had hoped to find myself immersed in different situations and interacting with different people every day, something I don't get much of as a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art. I have been lucky enough to do all this and more.
Sport, turned on its head
If you thought that kids outgrew small bicycles and skateboards, you probably weren't one of thousands at the AST Dew Tour last weekend near Oriole Park. However, if you attended the sold-out event, you saw men in their late teens and up through their 30s doing tricks on "kid" toys that you never dreamed of. The "athletes" performed tricks with names I can't even begin to spell, but trust me, the names don't do them justice.
O's win evokes charm of '79
Seated in the lower reserve seats along the right field line at Memorial Stadium, I was convinced it was going to happen. Another late-inning rally to win a game - this time for a World Series championship.
From anxious to giddy, in a flash
A number of years ago, I couldn't be persuaded to ride "Superman: Ride of Steel," at Six Flags America. I simply hate that feeling I get in my stomach (with a smile on my face) when riding over the crest of the first hill of a roller coaster. When I was given the chance to take a media ride with pilot Charles Lynch and the Yak Attack Demo Team, I was faced with another chance of placing my life in someone else's hands, and photo editor Chuck Weiss wanted me to shoot video and capture photos. "A Russian plane?" I asked. "Don't they usually crash at air shows?!" Chuck simply flashed that Cheshire-cat grin, which made me think that I shouldn't trust the words about to come out of his mouth: "Russian aircraft are probably the safest ones out there. And these planes are really well-built."
4 years old, brimming with self-confidence
I caught the eye of the Evans family, with all my camera gear hanging off me in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, while trying to get a front-page photo to go with a daily business story. They called over to see who I was and what I was doing. Seeing two adorable little boys and in the middle of an assignment that was going nowhere, I was happy to oblige.
The right place, at the right time
There is a widely unknown fact about Preakness shared among The Sun staff photographers: Not much changes year to year. Infield bacchanal. Hats and fashion finery. Clean corporate village. Money and betting. Horses, jockeys and owners.
Motion caught in stillness
A race horse exercises on a wet track at Pimlico Race Course on Tuesday, May 13, as I covered the first two arrivals for the 133rd running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
It just looks different from high in the sky
Aerial photography is generally considered to be one of those "fun" assignments for most of us at The Sun.
Homecoming, and a mother's tears
My assignment editor called to tell me that I had a new assignment: I needed to head to Towson to photograph members of the Maryland Army National Guard coming home from duty in Iraq. At the moment, I was in Columbia lying on the ground trying to get a gripping photo of a box turtle meeting a group of 6-year-olds.
Pope's Mass: Being there worth the trouble
On April 17, my alarm clock awakened me at 2 a.m. so I could drive to a Washington hotel, where I would catch an early media bus to the new Nationals Park and prepare for coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's Mass later that morning. Groggy, I pulled myself out of bed, downed two cups of coffee already brewed from the automatic coffee maker and headed to D.C., stopping only to pick up fellow photographer Amy Davis.
The moment the cleanup came into sharp focus
I was looking forward to this assignment to cover the annual Project Clean Stream effort, because Herring Run Park is in my neighborhood. I've walked its paths, run and kicked the soccer ball on its fields, and watched games there.
All together now...
In early January I was assigned to cover the Maryland General Assembly, which meant I would spend the next several months taking pictures for what is ... well, let's just say it's considered a difficult assignment among The Sun's staff photographers. Nonetheless, I embraced the new gig optimistically and sought to make interesting pictures under the challenging circumstances - covering politicians meeting in dark committee rooms, lobbyists lobbying and the governor speaking at news conferences.
Not the old ball game
I came to The Sun in 1983 and being a baseball fan who had long suffered with his Minnesota Twins in the '60s and '70s, I thought I was in heaven. World Series champs, who could ask for more?
Art, age and arrogance
There are at least as many definitions of art as there are bristles on a brush. Maryland Institute College of Art student Lee B. Freeman's gold fence project in Mount Vernon Square has prompted not only different viewpoints but a flood of Sun articles involving at least three reporters and five photographers.
Right place at the right time
My assignment was to cover the America East Conference basketball tournament final as the University of Maryland, Baltimore County hosted the University of Hartford, with the winner going to the NCAA tournament. I shoot hundreds of pictures during the game, but the most telling come after the final buzzer.
A break in the clouds, and a perfect moment
I'd like to say that I spent days traipsing through a swamp in January, looking for the best angle and waiting for the right light to portray a pair of nesting great blue herons.
On the street in 'Little Havana'
One day after arriving in Fort Lauderdale to cover the Baltimore Orioles, I was met by Associated Press photographer Rob Carr, who also made the trip from Baltimore to cover spring training at the team's winter home. I warned Carr that I had had a history of covering big stories that broke during spring training.
Aftermath of a tragedy
Driving along Indian Head Highway toward Accoceek on a cold, quiet and gray Sunday morning, it was difficult to fathom the carnage that had taken place just 30 hours before, when eight people were killed while watching a drag race. Indeed, many things about the accident were hard to comprehend, especially the preventable loss of life.
America reflected at a political rally
A couple of weeks before Maryland's primary, I asked to be assigned to the Barack Obama coverage when he came into town. I had been following his movements since his seminal speech at the Democratic convention in 2004, and was impressed by his bold transition to presidential candidate. He had a lot of momentum, garnering support from what seemed like all corners, and I wanted to see if he lived up to the hype.
When tragedy hits home
Covering tragedies is never easy or enjoyable for any journalist - in spite of how it's portrayed in the entertainment world. When a tragedy involves children and strikes close to home, it's even tougher.
Taking the polar bear plunge
Last Saturday I covered the 12th annual Polar Bear Plunge, which benefits the Maryland Special Olympics, at Sandy Point State Park. Now, I grew up in Minnesota, so I am used to people doing crazy things to pass away the winter. I'm just not used to 10,000 crazy people doing the same thing.
Recording a Baltimore legacy
The foreclosure crisis faced by the Senator Theatre last February sparked my idea to photograph former movie theaters in Baltimore. In between other assignments, starting last spring, I scouted various locations around the city. I was startled to discover that buildings I had driven by countless times, but never noticed, were former theaters, standing like forgotten ghosts. Like any collector, I exulted with each new find, and when I made a portrait that satisfied me, I felt as if I had reclaimed something lost. My editors were supportive, although they never envisioned the project would take spurts of time over about nine months.
Seeking a fresh perspective
Last Monday, when picture editor Jerry Jackson approached me at 2:20 p.m. to go shoot a flock of tiny "smart cars," newly arrived from Europe, lined up on the pavement near the Port of Baltimore. I began to rail at him with a few choice epithets about his heritage. Shooting the assignment would add at least an hour or so to my shift.
13,000 screaming teenage fans
Upon arriving for work Tuesday I found out that I was one of four news photographers, three writers and one teenage guest reviewer who would be working on stories about the Hannah Montana mania at the 1st Mariner Arena. My assignment was to be at the arena an hour before it opened to capture the excitement of kids and their parents arriving for the sold-out concert and catch Miley Cyrus in action later during "The Best of Both Worlds" tour's Baltimore stop.
A stain of murder in the city
It was a very, very pretty morning. Five days before Christmas, I met our police beat reporter, Gus G. Sentementes, at the scene of a homicide in Westport.
Coming back for a reshoot produces a new perspective
Several articles had been written about the homeless living in a squatters community beneath the Jones Falls Expressway. On a clear November day, I had taken pictures of the community for an article to run in early December. As it is with many of our assignments, they can be held for several days or even weeks before appearing in the paper.
Capturing a magical moment
When I got a positive answer to my request to photograph the annual holiday lighting of the historic Washington Monument in Mount Vernon and the spectacular display of fireworks that accompanied it, I was both excited and a little apprehensive.
Last-minute break, great shot - and Fate steps in yet again
My goal during the Ravens-Patriots Monday Night Football game was to capture key moments and to shoot the peak action as it happened during the contest.
Historic Annapolis photo almost didn't get taken
It was a historic moment, but the picture on the front page of Wednesday's Sun showing President Bush smiling as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during the Mideast summit at the Naval Academy in Annapolis was probably only minutes from not existing, at least in my camera.
The problem was to keep from spoiling the surprise
My assignment to photograph two lucky teachers who had been selected as winners of the $25,000 Milken National Educator awards felt more like being invited to a surprise party than an assignment. Kiara Delle Hargrove, a chemistry teacher at Baltimore's Polytechnic Institute, and Mabrooka Chaudhry, who teaches social studies at Atholton High School in Columbia, supposedly had no way of knowing they were in the running for the awards, which have been called "the Oscars of teaching" by Teacher magazine.
The trick is to keep alert
The Maryland State House is similar to a marble mausoleum: Not much changes over time but the residents. Politics and the creaking advancement of democracy are the session norm. This process involves piles of paper and a lot of pontification, both stuffed with procedural formality. What little evolves does so lazily, trickling along like a withdrawing glacier.
People's faces offer insight into a walled-off world
It started when I was in kindergarten in Japan. I saw lots of children wearing uniforms unlike mine going by one day and asked my mother why they were so different. She told me they were Korean and were going to a different school to learn about their culture.
An angle that was missed
Last week, I was assigned to cover the opening day of the special legislative session in Annapolis called by Gov. Martin O'Malley in order to wrestle with serious state budget concerns. An array of new taxes, tax reforms and slot proposals was on the table.
A champ on and off the ice
I had an opportunity to meet and photograph ice skater Kimmie Meissner recently while she practiced at the University of Delaware preparing to defend her national figure skating title in a new season of competitions. I was scheduled to photograph her and other skaters at Skate America, an international event, in Reading, Pa., and seeing her practice helped me tremendously in preparing.
A sad picture, a sad statistic
The 2500 block of Garrett Ave. is a mix of ramshackle rowhomes, some boarded or for sale, a few better tended. Cars, both beaters and luxury, lined the weary street. Halfway on the block, reporter Julie Bykowicz and I came upon a small memorial for 17-year-old Davon Qualls, the subject of our story.
A shot with no 2nd chance
At 7:30 last Sunday morning, the 10-story Mercy Medical Center parking garage that filled nearly a block at the northwest corner of Calvert and Pleasant Streets in downtown Baltimore vanished behind great billowing clouds of ivory dust to the accompaniment of a jarring series of percussive blasts.
An alien among the grieving
One year ago I was sent to Nickel Mines, Pa., to cover the funerals of five Amish schoolgirls killed when a milk truck driver entered their small schoolhouse and unleashed a rampage of death.
For Md. troops, a charmed life
I recently spent 5 1/2 weeks in Iraq photographing the largest deployment of Maryland National Guard troops since World War II. Six Maryland units were scattered in bases across that country, filling an array of security missions.
A matter of perspective
I was stoked at the thought of capturing video and still images one recent morning as Leif Cogswell unstuck the wooden arms of the 25-foot-diameter southern-facing dial at Baltimore's famed Bromo-Seltzer clock Tower.
Juggling jobs on the water
Sometimes, in the course of our jobs, people will ask rhetorically, " ... you get paid to do this?" Last Saturday was one of those occasions. With two assignments on the Chesapeake Bay, sunny skies, and temperatures in the 80s, it seemed like it was going to be a better than average workday. A sailboat race to cover and a feature story about a schooner cruise to illustrate set the day up nicely.
Into digital world, and back
Last month when I traveled to Hoopers Island on Maryland's Eastern Shore, the idea of change was foremost in my mind. My assignment was to photograph two charming elderly ladies who were the last of the local crab pickers in the village of Fishing Creek.
Wet, wild at Ravens camp
Call it a rite of passage or just an excuse for "boys to be boys," the annual hazing of rookies is an inevitable part of end of Ravens training camp in Westminster. Last Saturday was no different.
Not another 'cute kid' shot
Generally events that involve little kids seem harder to me because I always try to avoid the "cute kid" photo. It seems like gloss to me, all surface and no substance. At first I thought this assignment, titled "Poetry Slam," would be no different.
Popular stories
- Md. GOP applauds pick
- Shortcuts denied to beach-goers
- Family bids boy a simple farewell
- Mike Preston: Not-so-golden oldies
- It all falls apart for Guthrie, O's
Images in the news |