There are days in the news business that for whatever the reason, stories don’t pan out. This usually happens at about four in the afternoon. Inevitably one of us will be dispatched to get a feature photo, commonly called a slice of life or enterprise photo. Whatever it’s named, the call is close to deadline and provides a certain sense of doom to the photographer sandwiched with the task of coming up with an artsy, unusual situation that the reader doesn’t see every day.
Tuesday April 9th was one of those days because a centerpiece story was moved to the top of the Empire page, leaving a large crevasse in the middle of the page. So I drove around on the northwest side of Santa Rosa, looking for anything unusual. Driving past Pioneer Park I gawped when I witnessed fourteen year-old Austin McClure jump off the top of a bar holding swings and catapulted in to a mid-air somersault. I performed a quick u-turn and made a few pictures.
Turns out McClure is “training to be a stuntman!” he said, and embraces the art of parkour, which is described as a training discipline using movement that was developed from military obstacle course training. It’s popular among kids and anybody more limber than seaweed. It made good photos but the warning here is, don’t try this at home and have a great medical plan.
Austin McClure, 14, of Santa Rosa tries out some parkour moves at Pioneer Park in Santa Rosa, Tuesday April 9. Of his many aspirations, McClure is training to be a stunt man. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
Austin McClure, 14, of Santa Rosa tries out some parkour moves at Pioneer Park in Santa Rosa, Tuesday April 9. Of his many aspirations, McClure is training to be a stunt man. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
Austin McClure, 14, of Santa Rosa tries out some parkour moves at Pioneer Park in Santa Rosa, Tuesday April 9. Of his many aspirations, McClure is training to be a stunt man. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
Austin McClure, 14, of Santa Rosa tries out some parkour moves at Pioneer Park in Santa Rosa, Tuesday April 9. Of his many aspirations, McClure is training to be a stunt man. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
Austin McClure, 14, of Santa Rosa tries out some parkour moves at Pioneer Park in Santa Rosa, Tuesday April 9. Of his many aspirations, McClure is training to be a stunt man. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
-Kent Porter
