Yes, once again it's NASCAR Sunday out here at Infineon Raceway. Most of us remember it as Sears Point. The first year I covered any type of racing for the Press Democrat was 1987. I remember the old Sears Point Raceway with a rickety old wood grandstand and a media [...]
I was being a dad Saturday morning. My son was participating in the Mark West Youth Club Little League opening day ceremonies under partially threatening skies. As is the predictable case with me, camera was in hand to photograph and document his next step in growing up. Out of the [...]
Last week I was on vacation. However, I didn't post. Here are a couple of photos from a Special Olympics basketball tournament held at SRJC on March 19. Joy seems to be the relative term. -Kent Porter
A friend on Facebook the other day asked me what the word "jube" meant. I first heard the word "jube" from former Sacramento shooter Lois Bernstein. Every photog I know uses this slang when referring to "Hey, did you get that great jubilation after the game winning touchdown?" reply, "Yes [...]
There's a window of light near the end of the day that's perfect. Overcast or clear, it's a fleeting moment when both foreground and background don't consume one another. Along with fellow PD photogs Christopher Chung and John Burgess we were assigned to shoot game one of the World Series [...]
We used to be called press. TV stations were called television. Now, it's just The Media. I hate being lumped in to that name. The Press Democrat credentials for the World Series have Media emblazoned all over it. Ugh. During the Giants - Rangers workout Tuesday at AT&T Park in [...]
Of course! Everyone knows that. Some photos never make it to print, not because they lack quality, but have no real bearing on the outcome of the game. I shoot what I see... Administrators at Analy High School in Sebastopol averted disaster after transformers blew on [...]
Thursday night was just another night at the Oakland Coliseum. I've grown to expect weird happenings during Raiders football. The first few years the team resettled in Oakland after a stint in the southland, photog Chris Chung and I were assigned to shoot the games. Each and every home game, [...]
It's horse racing season at the Sonoma County Fair. Horse racing is photographically like bicycle racing (ever see a horse on a bike Mr. Ed?) the competitors go by...quickly. If you mess up the exposure or are back focused in this autofocus world, you'll have to wait another time chomping [...]
The July crud lifted this morning. The tractors are smoothing over the race track here at the fairgrounds. The national anthem played by trumpeteer Pete Estabrook echoed through the grandstands, sending a flight of swallows searching for a quiter place. Lots of men in cowboy hats. The grandstand ushers are [...]
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