And it’s here in Northern California.  So many stories to shoot.  So little time.       -Kent Porter  

Ah, summer. Wait a minute it’s January, right? Okay.  You know those middle summer thunderstorms we get around here sometimes? Those ‘weather events’ offer a brief cooling respite during the dog days of summer.  It feels good, takes the edge off those hot days and a sure sign that fall is right around the corner. But not this year.  Save for a piddly little storm in early October and a brief shower in December and of course last weekends gully… Read More »

Welcome to the new year.  After a week of much needed vacation, I photographed the full moon setting in the western sky this morning.  Have a good day. -Kent Porter

Sometimes I’ll arrive at an assignment and the light will be perfect, sometimes the opposite.  Last week I covered a house fire near Healdsburg.  The light was fading fairly quickly and the front of the home was in shade.  The fire, devastating to the occupants of the home, stayed mostly at the rear of the structure as smoke traveled through the attic, creating what one firefighter called a very rare “smoke explosion” . Fortunately, I was able to work with… Read More »

Color is everywhere.  Even at night. Here’s to red stop lights and high ISO’s -Kent Porter  

Windsor’s stunning come from behind victory yielded some nice photos, Friday Dec. 9., which were published in Saturday’s Press Democrat.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw these two teens celebrating post victory in their own way, kissing.  To be sure, a private moment in a very public setting. -Kent Porter  

After a Friday night of shooting football and finally falling asleep at about 1am Saturday morning, I dragged myself out of a dreamless slumber at 4:30am, slipped north up the 101 and headed to the Geysers to get a clear view of the lunar eclipse.  Surprisingly, as the valley was shivering at 30 degrees, up at Hawkeye Ranch, the sky was clear of haze and the air temperature was a balmy 65 degrees (it’s a thermal belt thing). I love… Read More »

Hang on to your hat.  A wind storm is on the horizon.  If the forecast holds true, this could be a prolonged damaging event, with winds a little stronger that the wind storm we had way back in March, gusts reached as high as 50mph that night. The National Weather Service is calling for local gusts to 70mph above 1,000 feet.  Below that, winds will be anywhere between 20-40mph from the northeast with frequent gusts of 55mph. Here is the… Read More »

Beside Occupy Santa Rosa, I have been shooting other things too, all over the county. I’ll start with Santa Claus arriving at the Petaluma River Turning Basin.  How many times have I covered this event?  Let’s just say the kids I photographed 24 years ago are bringing their children to the event now.  Groan. Always in tune for spot news, I arrived just as the fire department did.  Mobile homes burn pretty fast. -Kent Porter        

My beat it seems, along with writers Martin Espinoza and Kevin McCallum, has pretty much been Occupy Santa Rosa.  Of course, the entire PD staff has reported or photographed the Santa Rosa City Hall encampment at one time or another.  It’s been a team effort.  On the heels of the Aaron Bassler story in Fort Bragg, this summer and fall have quite literally been a blur.  In that time my son grew almost an inch. Blurry.  Really Occupodo. It all… Read More »