Words and pictures make merry ...

Cari Shelkoff, 23, right, and sister Jules, 20, wrap gifts for last-minute shoppers at Statseboro Mall on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve. The paper was going to press extra early (noon-ish) so employees could spend holiday time with their families. So I'm searching for a photograph to anchor our front page on Christmas Day.

At first, I was loath to enter Statesboro Mall to photograph last minute shoppers. Personally, I think we've published plenty of pics featuring Santa Claus and shoppers this season. However, after fruitlessly cruising in hopes stumbling across something more unique, I yielded to the looming deadline and entered the mall.

I was rewarded with a fortuitous gift of circumstance. I stopped at a gift wrapping booth where three women worked at a feverish pace. I started making pictures, hoping to capture a bit of the frenzy. As I shot, though, I listened.

And I learned that the booth was run by two sisters in their early 20s (with some help from Mom). This was the ninth year in a row that they've served the needs of holiday shoppers.

Without breaking their stride, the stories flew forth. Before I knew it, I had stopped shooting and was writing in my notebook. The seasonal entrepreneurial effort had helped put the two girls through college. It had helped pay for their cars and gas. It had helped fund trips, including a recent one to Israel.

The business was clearly lucrative, but there was more. The girls clearly loved what they were doing.

Sure, they smiled as they took money for their services. Clearly there was commerce involved. But they weren't just wrapping gifts. They were engaging their customers. Swapping stories and experiences. Giving advice. Even giving directions.

When they directed their stories to me, I scribbled and they continued working.

Their favorite regular questions?

"Do you wrap gifts here?" (Yes, they really get that one frequently.)

And "What should I get for my wife?"

Sometimes, they wish some folks would take their advice on that one, too, as they shared a story about a man who came in on a rainy Christmas Eve and was stumped about what to buy for his wife. He ended up buying an umbrella, a rain coat, and rain boots. The sisters held their tongues as they wrapped them for the poor fellow. Not to mention the guy who bought his wife cleaning supplies for Christmas. "She loves to clean," he said. They, again, held their tongues at the time but laughed as they shared the story.

They told me about some of the most unusual/challenging gifts they wrapped, including a bicycle and a basketball goal.

They said they were touched when a woman recovering from a brain tumor brought her gifts in to be wrapped because she couldn't kneel on the floor anymore. They were impressed by her spirit to share despite her difficulties.

They shared their secret to successful gift wrapping: patience and tape. Lots of tape.

It was obvious that their people skills were integral to their success, as well.

The entrepreneurial and holiday spirit do indeed mix well together.

What I ended up with was an okay picture but a great story, so I hustled back to the office, processed my photographs, and wrote a short story in about fifteen minutes. Just in the knick of time before the paper was sent to the press.

I'm not a writer by trade, especially on deadline. But I managed to crank out enough text that the story had to be jumped from the front page onto an inside page. Whew!

The lesson is that words and images always work together to tell the stories of our community.

Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. This is mine, to you, today.

Merry Christmas, all!

Shots that make you go Hmmmmm ...

Mercer's Sharnea Boykin, left, gets the worse of a collision with Georgia Southern
guard Jamie Navarro during the second half of Tuesday's game at Hanner Fieldhouse.

Okay. I love shooting sports, and I'm fairly competent at it. Now, I'm not Bill Frakes–Walter Iooss–John Beiver good. That's crazy good. Those guys just never seem to miss anything, while I still have plenty of times where I never seem to be in the right place at the right time. Especially this year – my gear seems to draw referees like flies. I just can't begin to tell you how many great moments I've captured that are hidden behind black and white stripes. But every once in a while, I can still pull off a doozy.

And I almost didn't get this one because I was contemplating leaving early with the Lady Eagles comfortably ahead by 20+ points in the second half. I did leave, though, after I checked my images while Jamie Navarro shot her free throws. I blew the smoke off the barrel of my lens and got the hell out of Dodge.

This is the beauty of still photography, too. Video would have captured a nasty collision in real time. Sometimes, slow motion can convey something we miss in real time, but it is also fleeting and linear. Only still images can communicate the merging of elements that create something unusual, surprising, and memorable.

Anticipation plays an incredibly important role in photography. It's what separates the best from everyone else. Some things, however, you just can't anticipate, and you look forward to the surprises. You never get tired of that.

Ask anyone who's been doing this for a long time what the best part of the job still is, and they'll probably tell you – it's those shots that make you go hmmmmm.

GSU win trumps all

My wife called it.

With the Georgia Southern football team seemingly out of the playoff hunt with four losses, there were lots of story lines that might have produced a front page picture.

Homecoming. The annual Blue-Out, where most folks dress out in team colors and some paint their bodies from head to toe. Being the last home game of the season, the senior football players were honored. Not to mention the nippy fall weather that had folks huddling together in their coats and blankets.

No shortage of possibilities for a front page photograph.

While alumni were out in full force, the visual presence of Homecoming wasn't so apparent, and I mentioned that to my wife before we both went about our busy work days. And, being the loyal Georgia Southern fan she is, she quipped "When the Eagles beat App State, then you'll have a front page picture!"

I smiled. Georgia Southern has struggled to return to the heights of their glory since their last Football Championship Series (FCS, formerly Division 1-AA) Championship in 2001, their sixth title overall. Since that time, they have watched Appalachian State become a perennial powerhouse and championship contender, winning three straight titles of their own from 2005-2007. Today, the Mountaineers were the number one ranked team in the country and the Eagles were supposed to be a minor speed bump on the way to another championship run.

So I went about finding a way to tell the stories of the day surrounding the game as App State raced to a 14-0 lead.

But the Eagles refused to act like a speed bump. With the Mountaineers threatening to take a 21-0 lead in the second quarter, they came up with an interception in the end zone. Then they scored with only seconds to go before the half. Then they came out after the break, marched down the field, and scored again. 14-all.

The rest of the second half was a slugfest in which the defenses dominated. Regulation ended with the game still tied up at 14. The Eagles scored a touchdown on their first possession in overtime. Then they forced a fumble by the Mountaineers quarterback and recovered it. Game over. Stadium erupts in celebration. Got my front page picture.

Good call, my love!

Georgia Southern fullback Robert Brown (5), center right, celebrates a four-yard touchdown in overtime against number-one ranked (FCS) Appalachian State at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga.  Saturday.

Knowing when to say when ...

ECI running back Darion Moody, center, leaves Poral defenders
flailing on a 64-yard touchdown run on 4-and-2 when the
Bulldogs were trying to run out the clock just before halftime Friday.

There's a certain amount of guilt that goes along with being a one-man photo department at a small newspaper.

You can never adequately cover your community. The news is 24/7. It never stops. You end up having to make choices and sometimes compromise your journalistic ideals. Sometimes you're the one putting in the 14 hour work days, and sometimes it's your co-workers, and you feel guilty when it's not you. And you're constantly juggling that sense of professionalism and commitment with family and activities outside of work. It's a hard, if not impossible, balance to achieve.

Today, I spent most of the day with my sick 3-year-old. I didn't get in to the office until most folks were just kicking off for the day. I knew I was okay, because the only thing I had to shoot was Friday night high school football. Still, most of my co-workers had already been working at least half-a-day, and several would be working past 11:00 p.m., either web-casting the game, writing game stories, or putting together the newspaper for the next day. So, when I decided to bug out of the ball game at halftime, there was a twinge of guilt.

Some folks don't understand shooting sports. "Can't you get one good shot and then leave, since it's likely only one shot will be published in the paper?" they say. But it's not about getting a shot. It's about getting the shot. About telling the story of that game. Or at least a small group of photos that capture its essence.

I hate to leave a game early because of that. You just can't count out some kind of crazy turn of events that results in a monumental comeback. It's rare, but I've seen it happen, and I feel it would be professionally remiss to skip out on a game early just because I have a couple of good action shots. My worst nightmare is to leave a game early, have something unlikely happen, and not be there to capture the real story.

Tonight was not one of those times. The score was 42-0 at halftime. So, with both my wife and I facing long work days on Saturday – on our wedding anniversary, no less – and a feverish toddler, I left at halftime tonight.

So, with sincere apologies to Portal High School, my co-workers, and Statesboro Herald readers ...

WHEN!

Portal's Deontre Williams is slow to get up off the field after having his punt blocked by ECI's Wezley Ealey in the second quarter Friday.

Facing loss

Sometimes, photographs are the best way to tell a story. But they have limitations.

One of my assignments last week was to photograph Connie Sacks, whose husband, a former soldier and contract medic with a government agency, was killed during a Taliban ambush in Afghanistan in July. She was clearly still in shock and emotionally raw. Despite that, she shared her story with the Herald. She shared the story of his life, his heroic actions after being mortally wounded, as well as their love story – one for the ages.

How do you show that, with a photograph, during a short interview in her living room? You can't. Photography is best used to create emotional connections. So I knew I had to craft an image that was emotional.

When I first entered the living room, I noticed how the soft window light created a distinctive mood in the room. I knew I could use that to my story-telling advantage. I listened as writer Holli Deal Bragg asked questions and listened to the responses. Connie alternatively beamed with joy and choked with tears as she recalled her life together with husband Max. He was all around her. In the home they renovated together. In the yard they got married in. In the furniture he restored. In the seashells they collected. All the while, she clutched his military dog tags that she wore around her neck.

Personally, I hate to shoot over-posed, directed portraits. But I knew I would have to do a little coaching in this instance. I posed Connie by the window to take advantage of the light. And I told her how to hold the dog tags, which hung near her waist, so I could photograph them close to her face and still maintain a natural feel. She was nervous to be in front of the lens. In the end, though, I really didn't have to do much. Almost immediately, she gazed at the object and began to reflect. I had my shot before she even had a chance to get uncomfortable and think about what we were doing.

So, yes, this is a posed portrait. Not my favorite thing to do, especially under the circumstances. But it couldn't be more honest or more real. I hope it's a suitable tribute to both Connie and Max.

Sometimes folks ask me what you say to people under those circumstances. In this case, I thanked Connie. Sharing her story was courageous, and it's a service to our readers and our community. Grief will touch us all at some point in our lives, and we can learn from how others cope.

And we remember those we've lost through those who remain.

Hindu deity makes a clutch grab in Georgia Southern win

Who needs Photoshop?

I swear, this is totally real. It's simply the result of being in a particular spot at a particular moment in time. Shoot enough frames, you're bound to come up with some surprises.

Georgia Southern wide receiver Mitch Willford made a clutch reception on fourth down in the fourth quarter against Elon that allowed the Eagles to run out the clock. He celebrated, as did offensive lineman Zach Lonas. Their bodies and arms lined up in way you could never have planned for. It's phenomenon totally unique to still photography.

Anyway, a four-armed receiver ought to haul in anything that comes his way.

Family trumps politics

Mary Matalin expounds on her daughter's occasional opinion of daddy
James Carville, background left, during Wednesday's appearance at
Georgia Southern University's Hanner Fieldhouse. 

Political power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin brought their He Said/She Said act to Georgia Southern Wednesday.

 The two may disagree on politics, but I was able to capture a moment when they whole heartily agreed – where Matalin described how their daughters can be mightily embarrassed by their Dad's antics as a New Orleans Saints fan and proud Louisianan.

Uh, loser!

September 11th in 2010: here, there, and everywhere ...

This is how our local Statesboro and Bulloch County public safety officers honored their own on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Tim Grams of the Statesboro Fire Department, left, rings a bell to honor safety officials who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 during a ceremony at Bulloch Memorial Gardens Saturday.

And this is a link to one of my favorite photo blogs, The Big Picture by the Boston Globe, which features many pictures from many sources about how people remembered 9/11.

The Tribute in Lights illuminates the sky over lower Manhattan on September 11, 2010. (REUTERS/Gary Hershorn)

1980s madness ...

Okay, I feel really old.

 After the Statesboro High School marching band performed their '80s Madness routine at halftime Friday night, Tyler Smith, 17, told me I was one of the few people who recognized he was portraying Slash of Guns-n-Roses.

"People were coming up to me and saying 'Hey Ozzie!'"

Madness, indeed!

Football madness: stories from the sidelines

Portal's Nolan Clark lies prone on the field after cramping up on a 

Southeast Bulloch kickoff return.

As a photojournalist, my main job is to tell the stories I cover through photographic images. Sometimes, additionally, the access afforded photographers gives us a chance to make observations and share stories of the non-visual variety. The sidelines at sporting events can provide some unique experiences and perspectives not always accessible to most fans and even sports writers who tend to stick to the press box.

Our first Friday night football game of the 2010 season featured Southeast Bulloch and Portal high schools. Tons of story lines. Two local, cross-county rivals playing each other. Two new head coaches, to name a couple. From a news standpoint, last Friday was a can't-lose situation. On the field, however, somebody had to lose.

In the end, Southeast Bulloch won in convincing fashion, 37-12, snapping a 19-game losing streak in the process. The story in the following day's paper reflected the significance of that feat, as well it should have. They exercised a demon and set a new tone for the future of their program.

But there was another story line that emerged on the sideline which was discussed amongst us in the local news media and was also reflected in my photographs as I edited them later. It's an issue that most every small school struggles with when competing against larger schools. Sometimes football is a game of attrition as much anything else.

Portal's Jordan Cowart, one of the many two-way players for the Panthers, 

walks slowly off the field after a turnover against Southeast Bulloch.

Portal High School head football coach Cherard Freeman.

When the two teams put their best 11 players on the field against each other, there wasn't a great deal of difference in talent – if any. But when you looked at the sidelines, SEB's advantage was evident. The Yellow Jackets dressed out possibly three times as many players as the Panthers. While SEB has its share of two-way players, Portal players almost never came off the field, with practically the same 11 playing defense, offense, and special teams. That takes its toll, especially on the big guys in the trenches. Add in South Georgia heat in August, and that's a lot to overcome. More than once, there were multiple Portal players cramping up on the field between plays.

So what's the point of this post? There's certainly no slight intended towards Southeast Bulloch. They earned their win and I look forward to covering them. I hope the Portal players aren't embarrassed. I expect them to be very competitive against teams in their own region. They have some players who can "ball" and a coach who really likes to teach the game of football.

The point is that sometimes pictures can tell a part of the story that might not make it into the gameday story. And sometimes I like to pass on what I see and hear while working the sidelines.

More to come ...

Portal quarterback Hunter Oglesby led all rushers with 137 yards against
Southeast Bulloch.

High temps not conducive to creativity

Jennifer Burnett,18, of Dahlonega gets a ride from

childhood pal Tracy Bardugon, 18, as the two move

in to campus housing at Georgia Southern University.

I've been trying to teach my two-year-old to share. This week, he shared a virus with me.

The result has been a triple-digit temperature, matching the triple-digit temperatures outdoors in South Georgia this past week.

I took one day off, trying to recover – to no avail. With community events piling up, I returned to work in time to cover Friday's "Operation Move-in" at Georgia Southern University. The official opening of campus housing to new students is something we cover every year, so I usually try to think up a new angle each time. The blazing heat seemed like a pretty logical one, this time.

Now, I can be pretty stubborn. I'm always trying to push myself by attempting to make pictures I've never made before, no matter how mundane the subject. I'll work some events long and hard, almost beyond reason, just to come up with an image that's not hackneyed or cliche. I'm not always successful. Not successful nearly as often as I would like. But I always make the effort. It's just not in my nature to mail in any assignment.

Friday was chock full of story-telling opportunities: Two life-long friends become roommates for their first year of college. After a commuting, long-distance relationship, a high school grad finally joins her boyfriend as a Georgia Southern student. Four people tote an entire shoe collection for a rising freshman moving into campus housing.

Catherine Lee, 18, of Atlanta affectionately punches boyfriend

Michael McFarland, 21, Friday during Operation Move-In at

Georgia Southern. 

But my body and mind just weren't up to the task. My muscles ached. I was constantly wiping sweat from my eyes. Yet, my vision seemed to get no better after I wiped them. My brain was hazy – no sense of timing or composition. I was mindlessly making frames, hoping one might tell an interesting story. Rather than sticking with any particular subject for any length of time, I quickly bowed out and moved on.

Dyree Scott, left, and brother Ben help Savannah pal 

Jamari Mixon move into Eagle Village by toting his 

shoe collection.

After shooting several different scenarios, I wasn't particularly happy with any of my images – a lot of them had that "almost-but-not-quite-good" quality – and realized I hadn't really communicated what was so apparent - the heat. Those fleeting moments, where someone paused and wiped their brow or took a sip from a water bottle, were completely escaping me. I was still resolved to try and make some type of image to communicate these oppressive dog days conditions.

However, in this case, dog days did not translate into dogged determination. I was just dog tired.

The tipping point came when one of the event volunteers saw me. "You look really hot. Are you okay?" And she offered me water and and a towel.

And then it happened again, as I made my way. "Man, you look hot. Are you okay?"

And again. And again ...

Even in my dazed and confused state, I got the message. Time to bag it, Scotty B. You've become a reptile (and not a cute one like that gecko on TV), unable to regulate your body temperature in these conditions. Find a rock to crawl under – quickly.

So I trudged back to my car and left for the office to turn in the pictures I did manage to make.

Lesson learned? Well, I tried to tough things out, but toughness doesn't always translate into creativity. Sometimes, you gotta know when to say "when."

Can I go to sleep, now?

The importance of photo captions and the anatomy of a correction

Statesboro High School honor graduate Anissa Fetzer 

I screwed up.

Plain and simple. It was an honest mistake, but an avoidable one.

We just finished up graduation season. A couple of Saturdays ago, I had to cover all three Bulloch County public high school graduations in one day. It means shooting an insane amount of pictures and dashing around to get proper identifications for any pics that might get published.

Those IDs are mandatory. It's a non-negotiable professional standard for any photojournalist because proper captioning is elemental. Good captions are part of what set a real pro apart from the rest.

And I dropped the ball. Sometimes IDs are difficult to acquire, but the effort should always be made – if you're a pro. In most cases, that means approaching your subjects and asking them for their information. It's not always possible. While I was covering the first graduation ceremony, I noticed an ecstatic graduate, sobbing uncontrollably, shedding unmistakable tears of joy when she returned to her seat. I focused in with my telephoto zoom and was able to make several frames of a moment that I hoped would move our readers as much as I was moved. I was sure I had my lead picture for the next day's front page.

The problem? She was seated right smack dab in the middle of the seating area with a steady stream of graduates exiting the stage between me and her. Sometimes, I will approach – as stealthily as possible – a graduate at or near the end of a row to make sure I get the proper information. This was going to be a tough ID, though, because access was nearly impossible.

Darren Brinson, center, waves to family and friends.

Plan B. I moved to the other side of the arena where the teachers were seated and quietly approached. I whispered to a couple of them that I need some help. I pointed out the student I had photographed. Then I showed them the pictures on the LCD on my digital camera. One teacher said she didn't know her, but another said she thought she did and checked her program. She conferred with another teacher and asked a student at the end of the row. She gave me the name and I felt confident I got it right. Still, I intended to seek out the student after the ceremony to double check, but she disappeared into the crowd at the conclusion and I never was able to catch up with her.

That picture did end up running as lead on the front page, and all was well – until the graduate's mother called the paper on Tuesday. Great picture. Wrong name.

What should have been a keepsake front page for a graduate and her family turned out to be an embarrassment for myself and the Statesboro Herald. In the end, most of our readers will forgive the error. The picture still conveys an honest, story-telling emotional moment, but the accompanying information was inaccurate. And if you've been reading this blog at all, you know that I've been beating the accuracy drum when it comes to images. It's a mistake and it underscores the importance of photo captions.

Shouldn't a good picture speak for itself? Well, yes, to the extent that it can speak for itself. Photographs are a powerful means to communicate some things better than any other medium. Emotions, first and foremost. They can confirm reality of an event or situation, also. However, pictures often – if not most of the time – need a little help from words to best understand what they are communicating. Captions add information to help us place photographs in their proper context.

Ronnie Arline, center, conducts as Jarrell Robinson, left, 

auditions for Chelsea S. Waters, right, who's preparing 

to sing the national during Portal High School's 

Commencement at Hanner Fieldhouse. Robinson

wanted Waters to know he was there for her

- in case she needed help.

So what makes a good photo caption? It starts with the inclusion of certain basic information. One of the first things you learn in journalism and news writing is The Five Ws: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. They are basic questions a news story should answer. They are the starting point for a good photo caption, as well.

< The most basic is the "Who." That means the main subjects of any photograph should be identified with their full names, correctly spelled. If there is more than one subject, the caption should identify the position of each person. "Far right," or "upper left," for example. The What, When, and Where also add certain factual information to help establish accuracy and relevancy. The Why is often what separates a really good caption from run-of-the-mill ones.

Photographs, as they are initially captured, don't lie. But they can mislead or misrepresent if the context in which they were taken is not made clear. Good captions can also expand on the understanding of a photograph. A quote, a fact, or a statistic can reinforce what the photograph is meant to convey.

Eye-track studies on readers tell us captions are extremely important. The older studies done on newspaper readers suggested most test subjects read photo captions before they read story text. Newer studies on web-reading habits are even more interesting, suggesting that story briefs and captions get eyes even before the photographs themselves. Because of that, captions become a critical measure of a publication's credibility . Captions count!

The photograph below, from Georgia Southern University's Spring Commencement, is an example how words and pictures can work together to tell a story within a story, and how it's relevant. A picture that ran on Mothers Day, no less.

Catherine Shirley gives daughter Beth Roakes, 24, a big hug at the conclusion of Georgia Southern University's Spring Commencement at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga. on Saturday, May 8, 2010. Roakes, an Information Systems major from Newnan, Ga., tricked out her graduation cap to thank her mother for putting her through college.

Gone fishin' ...

Okay, I'm off my high horse for a while. Back to storytelling.

I haven't done an audio slideshow in a very long time. I'm not very good at cranking out down-and-dirty pieces. They tend to be painstaking, although I really enjoy working in multimedia.

Here it is. Parents and children narrate the family fun during the Bulloch Bass Club 16th Annual Youth Fishing Tournament:







Don't know about you, but it makes me want to dust off my fishing rods and head to the nearest pond.

Luck and life ...

Trixie Lee and daughter Sunni

Sometimes I have to remind myself how lucky I am.

Part of working at a small newspaper is covering events that recur year after year. I'm going into my fourth year at the Statesboro Herald, and often I find myself struggling to find new ways to record annual happenings. One of those is the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. A campaign that lasts several months culminates in teams made up of local businesses and organizations taking turns walking all night long around a makeshift track at the Kiwanis Ogeechee Fairgrounds.

It's mostly a joyful event, celebrating life and resolve with cancer survivors taking the first lap to rousing applause to kick off the evening. There is a somber element to the event, however, with the track being lined by candles memorializing those who have died of cancer. Mostly joyful, though. Families and friends and co-workers laughing, playing, selling and eating food. Survivors hug and make conversation after waving and slapping high-fives with spectators while making their victory lap.

And my pictures from past years have mostly reflected this. This year, I worried about making all the same pictures I've made in the past. However, at the very end of the Survivors Lap, I noticed two women holding hands as they stepped off the track and continued across the field. I followed them and noticed the their t-shirts, especially the younger woman's message: "I wear pink for my mommy." I caught up with them to get their names and they shared their story. The mom had been diagnosed with cancer in 2004, had licked it, but had recently suffered a recurrence. She has undergone treatment and is awaiting final word on remission. She traveled from from out of town to join her daughter, a Georgia Southern student, who was volunteering for Relay with her sorority. We were all choked up a little, and I thanked them for allowing me to share their moment together. "She's my life," mom said of daughter.

At that point, I was pleased that I had captured something showing a different aspect of the event than I had previously photographed, but I continued to shoot features to post on our web site. The evening light cast a glow and long shadows across the scene, so I decided to take advantage. I positioned myself on the ground beside the track, shooting up at walkers as they strolled in and out of the gorgeous light. In the foreground, in the bottom of my viewfinder, were the still-unlit candles in bags anchored with sand. I was going strictly for graphic effect. I could hear people chuckling at me as I lay prone on the ground. Didn't bother me. Happens all the time. Probably a hundred peopled sauntered past, and I was just about ready to move on when I saw her. And elderly woman, walking slowly, by herself, reading the names on the bags. I kept shooting. She was practically on top of me when she paused.

Betty Hood remembers her husband at Relay for Life.

I knew she was looking at the names, so I asked her about it. She told me she was looking for her husband, who had died of cancer almost three years ago. She had stopped because she found his memorial – right in front of where I had set up to shoot pictures. I was going for visual interest. I lucked into something much more poignant. She was sad, but also grateful for the Relay and gushed about how great it was. She intended to stay the night with volunteers and walkers, and would later be joined by her sister from Savannah. Choked up again, I thanked her, too, for allowing me to share her moment and her story.

Like I said, sometimes I have to remind myself. I'm much luckier than I usually think I am. I'm lucky that life, sometimes surprisingly, keeps presenting itself to me and my camera in ways that I can share. In ways many people can learn from and reflect on. I'm lucky that I can bear witness to the human spirit.

And I'm lucky to have my own health and a family I can go home to and cherish every moment with.

I guess I'm just lucky.

Where's my clone?

Medical and scientific ethics be damned. I need a clone!

Yeah, everyone wishes they could clone themselves, at times. Too many roles. Too many activities. The past week-and-a-half, I wish there was more of me just to do my job. There's been an unusual amount of local activity and breaking news: the convergence of sports seasons - basketball playoffs and the start of baseball. Numerous awards banquets recognizing deserving citizens. A blanket of snow in South Georgia, a serious residential fire with injuries and a tragic fatal auto accident, all within a few days. All on top of weekly business stories and shooting covers for a series of annual special community newspaper sections. It's been busy for everyone on our tiny news staff.

It's not that there's been too many assignments - it's just been uncanny how events have all been concurrent.  Leaving one assignment early and arriving late to the next one has been the norm. Seems like I've always been at the right place at the wrong time.

Some photographers get a rush working at a breakneck pace and thrive at it. Personally, I prefer a more deliberate approach. Some events, like award ceremonies, require time to find moments that connect with readers and summarize the story visually without resorting to cliches and trite photographs. It's difficult to do that when you only have time to grab a few frames before driving across town for the next assignment.

Success has been hit or miss. I guess that's the nature of the beast, sometimes, when you're a one-man photo department at a small newspaper.

On the bright side, it won't always be like this. Right?

Too good to be true ...

Here's what the blurb said in the Herald's calendar for Friday:

  FIRST FRIDAY will be held Friday in downtown Statesboro beginning at 5:30 p.m. with a Wedding Walk. A Wedding Fair/Bridal Fashion Show will be held at Quality Inn beginning at 6 p.m. Admission is $5/person or a brochure available at the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority’s booth.

Here are the thoughts dancing through through the minds of the Herald's executive editor and its staff photographer: Visions of models wearing wedding gowns and formal wear marching down Main Street to the Quality Inn to kick off the evening. How's that for the front page?

Now, I'm usually a little wary about the newsworthiness of publicity stunts, but this one I had to see - and photograph. Of course, the weather reports called for rain, and this part of the event was unlikely to take place, so I ventured into the Quality Inn to seek information and inquire about an alternative to photographing the Wedding Walk. I was put in touch with one of the event organizers, and she set the record straight.

"Wedding Walk" really referred to the act of moving First Friday patrons from downtown to the Quality Inn for the fair/fashion show via a free shuttle bus, not an extended wedding march down Main Street.

Oh well, I had to settle for a little backstage moment before the fashion show and an eerie, foggy shot on Main Street.

The lesson? Make sure you talk to PR folks or organizers when something seems to good to be true.

It would have been a great publicity stunt. Maybe I should go into PR?

... naw.

Shooting meetings: Bored rooms?

Meetings. Ugh!

Covering them is a staple in journalism. It's gotta be. By covering public meetings, journalists are representing every citizen in their Constitutional right to open and accountable government. Few citizens have time to attend every city council or school board meeting, but they can pick up a newspaper or log on to a web site to find out what happened and make informed choices, especially come election time. Our democracy depends on it. Right? Transparency, I believe, is the buzzword.

I have great respect for government beat reporters who sit through endless hours of meetings: culling, sifting, waiting for that little nugget of vital information that needs to be examined by the public at large. It's grunt work, but infinitely vital. Meetings can be a great place to, well, meet people. The players and the folks who will benefit or suffer from public policy. Making contacts and learning about issues can help journalists generate ideas for additional news or feature stories.

A question that comes up in newsrooms, at times, is just how much value there is to having photojournalists cover meetings. What is discussed at these meetings can be extremely important. What they look like while they discuss??? That's highly debatable.

Admittedly, their is some mild documentary historic value. In fifty years, some may be curious about what their leaders looked like, or what the facilities looked like. Not enough to assign a photographer to cover a lot of meetings, however.

I've listened to editors and writers plead "There will be a ton of people at this meeting," or "People are going to be angry at this meeting," and they imagine this will make compelling photographs. The reality is that meetings rarely produce newsworthy photographs, unless you consider pictures of people sitting, standing, or with microphones in front of their face to be newsworthy. Even angry people typically produce a photograph of someone pointing or shaking their fist, with their mouth open - with a microphone in front of their face. Hardly enlightening.

Honestly, if we really want to serve our readers and viewers, it's better to do some research, understand what the issues are and who the players are, and make photographs that succeed in expanding the understanding of the issues and people involved -- outside the meeting rooms. After all, that's where life happens. Of course, that takes planning and making the time to execute such assignments.

But there are legitimate reasons to photograph meetings. Often, it's the only place where citizens can approach and confront their leaders with their concerns. Big crowds are not only a sign of community concern, but of community action. That's newsworthy. Some hot-button issues are bound to create drama, as well. Human drama and emotion played out before our eyes is newsworthy, even in a meeting room.

I've always approached covering meetings the same way I cover sports: often, the most story-telling moments happen away from the obvious action. I look away from the podiums and microphones, and try to key in on the faces and actions of the spectators. I try to pick up on a vibe ... Are people happy? Sad? Angry? Concerned? Often, faces or body language can communicate that. Are there groups of people attending that seem to be connected, and what is their demeanor?

Shooting meetings is hard work, unless, of course, you just don't care. You really have to work it and look hard for sometimes just the smallest story-telling element. Boredom is the enemy. 

I covered a meeting today. The Statesboro City Council was seeking public input because the parking variances for a couple of businesses are set to expire. The choice? Pave your parking lots or lose your business licenses. Individuals representing the local flea market and a local night club made their cases - behind a podium, behind a microphone, with their backs to the audience. Council members, behind their microphones, listened. A lot was at stake, but the tone was cordial.

I found my front page picture after the meeting. There was a large contingent of flea market vendors who attended. They gathered in the downstairs lobby after they had their say, talking, laughing, swapping stories, embracing. They looked like a big family. Aha! I focused in on a large vendor with tattoos who was very animated. When he hugged a fellow vendor, I had my picture. My point-of-view was validated by the first person I spoke to. "It looks like all you vendors are pretty close," I commented. "We're like family, " was the immediate response. That's what was at stake in that meeting room, and I made a visual document to confirm it.

Back in April, there was a school board meeting that was bound to become contentious. The school superintendent had made a decision not to renew the contract of a very popular principal at one of the high schools. Parents and students made passionate pleas -- at the podium. One student brought tears, and I focused on reactions instead of the student himself. The board decided to uphold the decision with no explanation, and people wanted answers. The defining moment came after the meeting was adjourned, and a group of students approached the superintendent. He listened for a few minutes, but had little to say. The faces and gestures told the story, obviously much more quickly than I've just been able to explain it. And that's the beauty of photography.

So meetings can produce compelling, newsworthy photographs - if you pick your spots carefully. But if you really want to bore your photographers -- and your readers -- send them to a lot of meetings. You'll see.

The Mug Shot: Assignments that make photographers want to scream, Part 2

The head shot, or mug shot, as it's referred to by cynical newsroom denizens,  is the most rudimentary kind of photograph published in news periodicals.

Just to be clear to those not schooled in newsroom lingo, "mug shot" refers to any generic head shot, not just police mugs created when someone is arrested. It may also refer to simple photographs of buildings or objects, not just people.

They are ubiquitous and even sometimes necessary - a necessary evil to those who would rather spend their time telling stories with their pictures instead of making mindless snapshots of newsmakers' faces.

Truthfully, although the quality of headshots submitted for publication varies wildly, they are simple for a trained photographer to create. Easy as pie, really.

So why the protest? It has nothing to do with degree of difficulty. Sometimes, the use of mug shots is perfectly appropriate. A simple head shot is frequently all that is necessary to identify someone who makes an interesting quote, but does nothing of particular visual interest. It is customary to publish a head shot of a columnist, as well.

It has more to do with allocation of time, resources, and use of editorial space.

It has been my experience (and that of many other photojournalists I have talked to) that the mug shot is far too frequently the default choice as a visual story element assigned by some editors and writers. A chronic problem? Not really, but just enough to annoy the living daylights out of photographers who are more interested in documenting real people living active lives.

In a past job, I once worked for an editor who was obsessed with mug shots. The newsroom management was pushing for more visuals, and this editor insisted on mug shots of people quoted in stories or mentioned in the story lede (that's newsroom lingo for the first paragraph of a story) whenever possible. The editor wanted mug shots of every public official in 3 or 4 counties, including the municipalities within those counties. "Readers want to know what people look like," was the rationale. I never made it to every council and commission meeting, but spent a lot of time shooting head shots of officials sitting behind microphones. It was sheer tedium.

The biggest problem I had with that wasn't the ennui. It's that I wasn't really doing  journalism. Shooting mug shots is a form of documentation and reporting, in a sense. What someone looks like can certainly be considered a "fact." Documentation and reporting can be drudgery - just ask a good investigative writer. But journalism is about documenting facts, sorting through them, and helping people understand how those facts might be important or enlightening. I'm just not convinced that a tiny picture that only shows what someone looks like accomplishes much worthwhile. Color me skeptical.

"Large photos and documentary photos drew more eyes than small photos or staged photos."

-- The Poynter Institute, Eyetracking The News

There's been numerous studies about the reading habits of newspaper readers. One of the most well known facts is that a photograph can significantly increase the readership of an accompanying story. Lesser known, however,  were findings which showed that mug shots do NOT significantly increase readership. And I challenged my editor's notions about mugshots in a meeting about visuals. In front of the executive editor, no less. My challenge was met with skepticism, and I wasn't prepared. I couldn't produce a copy of the report. And, at the time, internet search engines weren't quite so robust, and I couldn't locate the study on the web. Foiled.

So now, a bit belatedly, here it is!

The latest eyetrack studies, focusing on readers' on-line habits this time, confirmed the same findings conducted on printed products years ago: mug shots don't substantially increase readership. A postage stamp-sized mug shot on a test page was viewed by only 10% of participants.

To be fair, this study mostly considers the size of photographs on web pages and concluded that bigger photos hold the eye longer than smaller photos - well, duh! The study also determines that faces drew the eye, which, on the surface, might give some credence to the notion that readers want to know what people look like. It's not rocket science, though - viewers' eyes will be drawn to faces in a picture - regardless of the type of picture. That's human nature.

Mug shots are typically published very small. And this study strongly suggests that small photos don't get much attention, even if they show what someone looks like. And it suggests they aren't likely increase readership of the accompanying story.

Based on this study, however, the only case you can make for using mug shots with every story is if you use them big - and that might produce a fistfight with me.

Another study, a little older but more thorough, strongly suggested that large photos and documentary photos drew more eyes than small photos or staged photos. Mug shots received relatively little attention. More vindication?

Ultimately, this topic is not such a big deal. Fact is, with photo staffs shrinking at newspapers everywhere, editors are much more likely to stick a point-and-shoot camera in a reporter's hand and ask him or her to produce a mug shot for a story. So most staff photojournalists are largely relieved from this duty, albeit for dubious reasons.

Hmmmm. This post might be the result of an ornery mood. Maybe the result of writers block with a blog newbie. Perhaps an exercise in catharsis, in response to long ago unsuccessful attempts to enlighten the visually challenged. These things bubble up on occasion. I hope, oh readers, that you may be entertained, if not enlightened.

One thing for certain, THIS photographer needs a better mug shot of himself -- for the paper, that is, not for police files.

Any volunteers?

One man's trash ...

The Assignment: a business story on how the county and city deal with holiday trash.

The Problem:  The assigned recycling center had been cleaned up. Neat as a pin, as a matter of fact. Tidily stacked recyclables. Not a stray spec. Nothing to photograph, and deadline is an hour away.

The Solution: A frantic trip to the City/County transfer center/landfill ... and there it was! Like a beacon. A weird, sad lawn ornament-of-a-horse decorated for Christmas, sent to oblivion but preserved atop a dumpster by some sanitation worker with a sense of humor (I think). A gift to me, a photojournalist desperate for anything to communicate the content of this story.

Thank you sanitation department, 1) for being so efficient and prompt (almost too much so!), and 2) for saving my skin by leaving an odd-but-fortuitous symbol to share with our readers.

Christmas cheer on the hardwood

Just thought this was fun. Not running in tomorrow's paper, but I think we can find some space for it sometime this week.

Georgia Southern ladies' basketball fan Wes Bonner shows some Christmas spirit as well as a soft touch from three-point range while participating in the Subway Shootout during a timeout at Monday's game against Kennesaw State at Hanner Fieldhouse. Bonner dresses as Santa Claus this time of year for his medical sales job. "The kids like it, so I thought I'd spread a little joy here tonight."