Photo

I had the opportunity to photograph two local boxers the other week at the Eddie Martinez Boxing Club. Virgil and Arlen Janis were gearing up for the Midwest Regional Golden Gloves Championships in Omaha, Neb. 

Track and field is one of my favorite sporting events to photograph. Unlike a lot of other sports, you are given a lot of freedom as a photographer to move around. This gives you the opportunity to play around with different angles.

March Madness is upon us and the biggest NCAA basketball fans among us are starting to emerge. Terry G. and Linda J. Nelson are big fans of the SDSU girls basketball team. I had the opportunity to take a portrait at their home to illustrate their love of all things blue and yellow. 

Sometimes everything lines up out on an assignment. You are in the right place, have the right lens on and are ready to push the button at the exact right time. 

Portraiture is a big part of newspaper photography. Usually when I need to go out and take a portrait, I equip myself with a strong studio light and a fairly large softbox. This setup is pretty versatile and covers most of my on-the-go portrait photography needs. 

I sometimes forget that it is much easier for me to think of strange portrait ideas, than it is for my subjects to do them. Sometimes you find someone who is all about trying to work with the strange request from photographers.

Pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie and even pumpkin lattes are all a part of fall and Halloween. Before the odd squash plant is transformed into many different shapes and sizes for our annual traditions, they must be picked. A few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday morning at the pumpkin patch to photo…

I have always like haunted houses. I think part of it is from when I was a child my parents ran a haunted house and I would lead people through it. So I was happy to photograph the Keystone Haunting the other weekend. I didn’t shoot the mine or haunted forest but stayed at the old schoolhous…

The frightful banana ghosts made their way to our studio last week. The ghosts are made from cut bananas with chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth. We used peanut butter filled chocolate chips for the mouth; they work great and are rather tasty straight out of the bag. 

When the dog show rolled into town last week, I initially photographed it like any other assignment. I photographed some competition and behind-the-scenes images at the Barnett Arena, but I was a bit underwhelmed with the results. When I got back into the office to do my edit, I thought it m…

As a Southern California and Arizona transplant, I never really experienced the beauty of fall colors. Sure, a few trees here and there (that weren't native to the area) would experience changes, but it was usually pretty lackluster. 

Here is a photo from the sale on Tuesday at the Philip Livestock Auction. I always have a fascination of photographing the trucking industry. Mostly because I have sat in line and waited to unload cattle much like these truckers are doing. Tuesday morning there was a large amount of standing…

Typically in sports and extreme sports photography, you want to freeze action with a slow shutter speed and crop in tight. This technique brings the action into focus while minimizing distracting background elements. But ass some of you who read this blog know, I'm a sucker for motion blur. …

Photographing sports at sunset is one of my favorite things to do. The warm, "golden hour" light can brilliantly highlight action on the field. The lower angle of the sun also creates dark shadows, which can be a nuisance when it comes to exposure, but can also be used to further highlight y…

Each year around this time I spend an afternoon taking photos of the fall colors in the Northern Hills. Bright yellows and reds are streaked across Spearfish Canyon in a brilliant display of the changing of seasons. 

By the time I got the Full Throttle Saloon fire last week most of the action was done. Fire fighters were surveying the wreckage watching for any flare ups but mostly everyone was standing around.

Most outdoor sporting events don't happen when the light is nice. They either happen in the middle of the day when the sunlight is too strong, or in the evening under dim florescent lighting. However, I lucked out when photographing this rodeo event last month. 

Not very often do you go on assignment and realize the subject could and would eat you. I had a staring contest with Stinky, named because he has a tendency to pee on people, I lost miserably. Never stare into the eyes of a lion all you see is it wanting to eat you. The purpose of my visit w…

As the only teacher of Big White Elementary northeast of Wall, Lorayna Papousek is not a typical educator.

I've covered my fair share of sports during my time as a photojournalist but Sunday's polo match in Hill City was a first for me.

One of the things I enjoy the most living in Rapid City is how little light pollution there is. It seems like if you drive 15 minutes out of town at night, you'll find yourself immersed in a spectacular show of stars in the sky.

One of my favorite fair assignments is always Mutton Bustin'. The rodeo/fair sport where children use only their feet and hands to hold onto sheep ending in either tears or smiles. If you get a chance make your way over behind the Soule Building at 4:30 p.m. and catch some Mutton Bustin' 

Aerial photography is something we do from time to time at the Journal in order to get the scope of an area or get photos we can't from the ground.  

Sometimes I have the opportunity to spend my day hiking and exploring the Black Hills for an assignment. Last week I got to leap off a cliff and swim around the pool at Hippie Hole for the first time. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon! 

I get asked often what my favorite subject is to photograph. For the longest time I found that question to be difficult to answer. Early in my career I would say spot news, fires, crime and such but I realized it was probably just the adrenaline talking. I would also say interesting people, …

It's always a fun time photographing the action that happens at a rodeo, but oftentimes the best images come from moments outside of the arena. I saw this moment of the young boy riding a trash can from across the arena when I was shooting the Sturgis Regional Rodeo. I rushed over as quickly…

Yesterday I photographed the 28th Bomb Wing Change of Command Ceremony at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Outgoing commander Col. Kevin Kennedy relinquished command to Col. Gentry Boswell in front of a large, American flag. The flag was backlit by several large windows, creating the illusion that …

The one thing that is constant in our job is that you meet quite a few people every day. It may be only a handful others it may range into 20 people. They always break into groups, one you remember, ones you will recognize and the ones who you will never forget. One of those people I recentl…

Sometimes, the every-day grind of photojournalism leads to some less-than-spectacular assignments. Last week, I was sent out to Summerset to take photographs of the old elementary school building. I photograph building mugs pretty often, but some days they turn out to be awarding visually th…