Skiing

I grew up skiing in the "mountains" of Central New York. Alright, I guess mountain is a bit of an stretch. But within a few hours drive is Whiteface in Lake Placid, NY - Two winter Olympics have been held there. So, while I'm no champion, I can hold my own.

One of the big ski mountains nearby opened a new chair lift this year which gives skiers access to some back country trails. Very exciting if you are a good skier. I'm talking double and triple black diamonds. (Okay, I admit, I didn't know those existed.)

This was the spread for our Northwest Weekend cover story. A freelancer shot theses pictures and I did the edit. Sorta fun. Although, just by looking at the pictures it seems that growing up skiing on ice is drastically different than skiing on the snow in the Northwest. It looks so fluffy.

portraits

I was never really good at shooting powerful, well-lit portraits. But I appreciate the art of it all the same.

This was shot and ran in the paper last Sunday, while I was on vacation. So, while I had nothing to do with it---I liked it all the same and thought I would post it.

dog show

Last summer, our features picture editor left the company and unfortunately we still haven't hired yet. Which means, we have been short-handed on the editing side for months. So, we have all been pitching in to edit feature stories.

This story fall into my lap at the last minute - literally. Ideally, it would have been great to sit down with the photographer, look through all the pictures and edit together. Realistically, this doesn't happen very frequently at the paper because of photographer's schedule and the sheer volume of work the picture editors have nowadays.

The photographer had put in a solid collection of about 6-8 pictures. I talked to the designer, I read the story and then I called the photographer and we had a good conversation about the direction of the story we wanted to tell. So, I gave the pictures to the designer---and this is how the page turned out. I wish we were able to get more space inside - and I wish the 3 small pictures inside that go with another story weren't there but I think the package turned out nice.

Most people think that because I am the "sports" picture editor, I don't like other sections - like local or features - but actually, just the opposite is true. I really like editing for those sections. For one, it provides a nice break from sports. And it also provides a whole new set of challenges for me. And I love a good challenge.

in the spotlight....

This is a story about one of the top freshman basketball players in the country- Tony Wroten. It started out being about how such a talented young player handles the pressures of being the leader of the team and being such a hot player in the national spotlight.

As the story progressed, the amount of access we were promised diminished. So, with the limited access we ended up getting, our photographer kicked butt during an assignment and nailed about 7 super nice, different pictures that really added to the story and made the package so much stronger. It was a shame we couldn't use them all in the paper.

I love the main portrait. It has so much depth and feeling to it. I was worried that designers would see the "additional" space on the left of the picture and think it was Christmas morning. But luckily, there was nothing to worry about. The picture ran very nicely.

cutouts

Whenever I get a call from a designer asking me to come back to sports because they want to show me something, I instantly take a deep breath. I wish I didn't and sometimes there is no reason for it. But I take it. I get that same feeling when I hear the word cutout. I see the value of cutouts and I do think sometimes, there are circumstances, where they work. But I also think that it is a fine, narrow road.

So, sports had asked me if we could do cutouts for the top of the page to illustrate different basketball stories we had. One on Dick Vitale's return and one on Bob Knight resigning.

Deep breath.

We talked about it. We talked about the pictures. We talked about the idea. We talked about the scale.

Deep breath.

A few hours later, I check the pages and see something we hadn't talked about. Vitale's shoulder and Knight's shoulder are totally overlapping and are into each other (not what you see here.)

I am all about trying new things and seeing how things work. I understand when designers are laying pages out, things change. What they might have "envisioned" doesn't turn out right in the reality of the situation. That's understandable. But what is hard for me, is that I feel when we talk about doing cutouts and other things to pictures, I am invoking a trust in designers. To do what we talked about and to still try and maintain the integrity of the picture.

When things change and page layouts turn out differently- I like to talk about and to be included in the discussion. Doesn't have to be a deep, intense discussion. Simple and to the point. Just so we can be sure that all elements of the equation are content with the situation - and all sides are being voiced. I think that is fair and reasonable.

After another conversation with sports, we decided to have shoulders not overlap and the gray line appeared.

And I took another deep breath.

it was a super, bowl...

This was such a fun super bowl. lots of last minute drama---i love that.

There were pretty decent pictures out of the event too. You'd think with all those photographers there would HAVE to be a lot of amazing pictures, but that isn't always the case.

"The catch" was certainly the most memorable play during the game. But we loved the emotion of Eli and thought that it really summed up the intensity and emotion and spirit of the game. We decided to run the picture of "the catch" inside, big. Along with a picture of one of the five Brady sacks.

Unfortunately, we didn't have more space inside for the game, but I thought our pages looked clean, crisp and gave a good account of what happened.

grumpy old men..

So, every year we do the whole Super Bowl coach comparison. Well, I guess we do it for other key match-ups during the season as well. But sometimes, it gets hard for it to look different and fresh and spicy.

The theme was that the coaches in this year’s game were both grumpy. My challenge was trying to find all similar pictures that show the coaches looking, yup, you got it, ----grumpy.

It was tough I tell you. Belichick only has a few emotions, and one sour expression. Coughlin was just as difficult, because he wasn’t well photographed through-out the year.

decisions, decisions...

We do not always agree with decisions that are made. I’m sure sports doesn’t always agree with my picture selections and I don’t always agree with their story selections.

This is one of those days.

The Sonics, (yes I’m leaving out the super part), were going for a record 14 losses in a row. Tonight’s game was going to decide that, and our sports photographer was there, ready to photograph the action.

Well, some of our sports reporters caught wind of a potential trade the Mariners had going for Erik Bedard, a Baltimore pitcher. The trade victim? An up and coming Mariner prospect named Adam Jones, who so far had spent the majority of his time in the minors.

Is this a big deal? Sure, no question. Trading for a good pitcher, especially a much needed one in the Mariners rotation, is a key pickup.

However, looking at this page---and not knowing for sure if it was a done deal----I think you centerpiece the Sonics, with live staff pictures. And strip the newsy story on top of the centerpiece package. The baseball centerpiece is an old file picture. To me, this doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Ironically, 9 days later, the trade still isn’t official.

vacation

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
- persian proverb

I wish I could stay on vacation forever......

the coyote

Seattle is filled with parks. Seriously, I think it must have the most parks of any big city. And the parks are huge. Tons of hiking trails, beach walks, meadows, wildlife. They are seriously spectacular. I have been investigating the areas parks on my daily walks with Bad Dog.

So, one of the parks we visit regularly is called Discovery Park. It actually used to be Fort Lawton back in the day and there are still some government housing that is within the park. But mostly it is just beautiful landscape on a bluff overlooking the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

The navy is apparently up in arms about a coyote that is in the park. The coyote appears healthy and hasn't been a threat to human life. There are families that still live in the housing on the property and people are concerned.

Ironically, one of our photographers had taken some pictures in the park earlier in the week for another story. The photographer happened to see this coyote in question and photographed him. Well, when this story broke on Saturday, knowing there was going to be a huge debate about the coyote and we had a super picture of the animal. It was only natural to make it the centerpiece.

At this point and as far as I know, the coyote is still alive and kicking. And the navy has backed off trying to kill it.

fun day

I love fun quirky pictures that make you smile. These are two from Mariner's fun day at Safeco Field. I love that the photographer captured some nice pictures that capture the spirit.

victory & ruins

Recently, our paper ran a 4 part series titled Victory & Ruins. It was mostly about the 2001 UW Football team. They had a great season and ended up winning the Rose Bow that yearl. But at what cost? We highlighted the downfalls and cover-ups the team, the university and the community did in order for the team to have that success. It is pretty insightful reading.



A lot of people questioned why we did this story 7 years later. Since some of the information had been reported previously. However, a q&a with our executive editor I think answers most of those questions.

We have a strong focus on investigative reporting here at the paper. And that's great. I think we highlight important issues that our community is concerned about. Personally, I would have liked the stories to be a bit shorter and more focused on the exact point---which to me is more about at what cost do people care about winning sporting events. And I think that is an important question to ask in today's society.

NFC Championship

This is what our page looked like after the NFC/AFC championship games.

Pretty darn exciting, huh?

everyone is a picture editor

Newspapers are filled with talented people. We have writers that report stories on a daily basis. We have designers that create the most striking pages. We have copy editors that catch the most tedious of errors. We have headline writers, with clever short words that instantly draw you into the story. We have photographers that do an amazing job of capturing life's moments through story telling images. We have big-time editors that make important decisions. And then we have the rest of us editors--that manage and trim the fat.

With all these specialized people that do excellent work in their expertise, why does everyone believe they are a picture editor?

It's one thing to have a discussion about concerns and conflict and controversial images. It's another thing to think that you can do the job better than the person actually hired to do that job.

The Saturday before Martin Luther King Day, there is a big parade. Our photographer does a great job capturing the event and nails a wonderful picture for our Local centerpiece. Done.

During Christmas week we had a horrible murder take place just outside of Seattle. A daughter and her boyfriend killed her parents, her brother, her sister-in law and their two kids. Just an awful story. A memorial service in the small town took place on this Saturday. At first, we weren't going to be able to photograph much of the service, but once the photographer arrived, the family changed their minds and gave us access to the service. There were framed pictures of each victim---and the photographer being on top of the matter with some smart shooting---shot a mug shot of each of the framed pictures. In addition, she also sent in a few pictures from the service.

So, one of the more compelling images was a nephew speaking about the victims during the service. I thought this picture would be good as a secondary on the cover, jumping to an inside picture. Well, the local editor that day wanted a picture from the side of the framed pictures of the parents that were killed small on the cover. Up until this point we hadn't obtained copies of any pictures of the parents. This is a good valid reason for running a picture, however, the picture in question, in my opinion wasn't compelling and not a strong picture. My suggestion was to run the nephew speaking on the cover, and jump to the picture shot inside....or if it was that important to see these victims, we could mug them on cover---and then jump to the better picture.

The local editor was having none of this. And finally said to me. "Well, I'm in charge of the section and this is what I want!" So, I respond "Well, I am the photo editor of the section, and I think we need to collaborate about it." So, she proceeds to tell me she is going to call my boss.

So, luckily, I have a cool boss that doesn't mind being called on weekends. He was able to access the pictures from home and see exactly what was going on and what was being discussed. And even better, he agreed with my decision.

I don't think word editors realize that this is the same as me printing out the reporter story, doing a bunch of red ink editing on it, and tossing it on the editor's desk.

It's unfortunate that there is this "ownership" amongst editors of their sections, and I'm not just talking about this one instance or at this specific paper. I've seen it elsewhere. I just don't understand why people can't trust and respect the decisions of people that are specifically hired for a certain job. It's okay to disagree. It's okay to talk about each other's opinions. Seeing other people's points of view makes us better at what we do. Not respecting each other's opinions makes us worse.

monday, monday

So, this is from the paper of the AFC championship game. Our sports section. I think it would've worked a little better had the top player's reaction been a little bit stronger. I like the way they are similar though....it's a little different, and that can be good.



This was the front page of the paper. The Seahawks had lost the day before and arrived at team headquarters to clean out the lockers and such. I thought this was a nice picture made that depicted the scene.



Just a random local cover. Hey, when I get to break-up the sports gig once in a while, it's all good. This was from a british TV crew doing a documentary on the life of Ted Bundy and was filming in one of his old hangouts. I dig the moodiness of it.