Okay, I meant to post these awhile back, but never got to it. I think I photographed one soccer game this year, but I am always amazed the skill it takes to play this game. Soccer has always reminded me of Performance Art, not exactly ballet, but not quite modern [...]
It'll be a frosty Monday morning. With clear skies and some very dry, cold air in place, look for the North Bay to get below 32. This morning at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport the low dipped to 33. Therefore, a frost advisory has been issued for the [...]
Every once in awhile I add to my list of things. By the way, these are all true experiences. 1. Metal tripods and lightning do not mix 2. It's the photographer, not the camera. 3. Never press the shutter on a famous golfer's back swing. Make sure you point to [...]
Beside wind this past week, the weather has been pretty darn idyllic. Why else do we live in Sonoma County? However, writing about nice weather is very difficult. "It's gonna be nice." That's what all the forecasters are saying. With the lack of inclement goings on, I pulled some [...]
High Winds which have been forecast, have made their arrival. Above 1,000 feet anyway. Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) such as Hawkeye in the Geysers area, Hopland north of the grade, High Glade in the Mendocino National Forest in Lake County and Mt Konocti in Lake County all report wind gusts [...]
It's a few day's away, but a good chance of an offshore wind event is being forecast for Tuesday-Wednesday of next week (Oct. 27, 28). What does this mean? Go fly a kite. Go to the beach. Enjoy the weather. In their area forecast discussions, The National Weather Service [...]
I am drawn to weather mayhem like a moth is attracted to a 60 watt light bulb. Give me a storm with bad roads and impossible odds and I will try my best to get an image that illustrates the story of the day. I have to admit though, I [...]
When I talk with students about photography, they always want to know what equipment we PD photogs use. We use Canon cameras I say. Invariably, I mention it's not the equipment that makes an interesting picture, it's the person behind the box that makes it work. When I interned in [...]
Hear that? That will be our meandering summer coming to an abrupt close late Monday night October 12 as remnants from typhoon Melor will get sucked up by the westerlies and shuttled to the Pacific coast which will be combined with a low pressure system out of Alaska. Anything associated [...]
I've sorta become the unofficial bike race shooter here at the PD. Everyone on the photo staff is equally adept at covering bike races, it seems though that these big bicycling events land on my shift. In February I endured four hours of pounding rain from Davis to SR on [...]
How many frames in a photojournalists life? Millions. Literally.
I’ve lost count since I started shooting photos at eight years-old with a Polaroid Land Camera (which I still own). It’s a way of life this photojournalism thing which is endlessly fascinating. The trip along the way, now in my 31st year professionally and the last 25 with the Press Democrat, has been an adventure in life. What it has to offer, ranging from implausible beauty to the utterly cruel things life randomly pitches out have shaped and molded who I am. That means I get to witness history. Pretty cool, eh? This journey has included photographing lots of inanimate objects which can be terribly boring. I’ve also borne the brunt of people unhappy to see a photographer show up to document less than pleasant circumstances. Then there’s the weather, which wreaks havoc on the human race daily. So I document the clouds. My advice for anyone having a bad day is to go outside and take a picture of those clouds once in awhile. It will do wonders for the interior beast. Unless you are using a metal tripod in an electrical storm.
-Kent Porter