A funny sight at the Human Race this past weekend. Employees of Kendall-Jackson dressed up in wine bottles. I've photographed them before, but I seem to remember them being from Korbel. Anyway, a six pack of wine bottle marauders surrounded SRPD officer Greg Wojick on the race route. Several of [...]
There was a moment during Thursday's Cactus League match-up between the Giants and the Mariners when everything was just right. Baseball was being played, fans were camped out on the bleacher grass, beer and peanuts were being consumed, people were enjoying an error filled game. It's the kind of sloppy [...]
We have it pretty lucky in Sonoma County. We do have our road worries, potholes, traffic jams on Highway 101 and some rather long lights at different intersections. Those are nothing compared to the road mayhem here in the Valley of the Sun. Trying to get from stadium to stadium [...]
Pablo Sandoval, aka Kung Fu Panda, the big third baseman for the Giants, absolutely hammered a Cubbies Carlos Zambrano fastball over the right field fence and bullpen for a grand slam at HoHoKam Park in Mesa Today. Interestingly enough, both are from the same hometown, Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. [...]
It figures. My last post mentioned that it was dry down here in Phoenix. No sooner after powering down my laptop, the sky opened up. It was a cold rain. Windy. Nasty. The National Weather Service even posted a severe thunderstorm warning for the greater Phoenix area for cloud to [...]
Observations on the flight to Phoenix. The 737 I am flying on is more than half empty. Most people are sleeping. The only kid on the plane is counting to 10, over and over. During it's trip to the east the plane and crew will make about 28 stops. Among [...]
I'm packing as much baseball in to my Spring Training assignment as I can, so I left early this morning in order to catch an 12p start for the A's. 101 was as empty as I can remember coming in to the city. I hit every green light on 19th [...]
For the first time in a few years, I was sent to Pebble Beach on Thursday Feb. 12, to gather photos for a Sunday story. The last time I shot the event, everything with the economy was peachy. Three years of a bummer economy have taken a toll, even at [...]
Count em. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Eight is great. Eight is enough. I eight the whole thing. On Friday Feb. 5, fellow photographer Crista Jeremiason and I were assigned to document Cloverdale's Robby Rowland and his quest to surpass the Redwood Empire boys basketball all-time scoring [...]
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 [...]
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