I covered the Immigration march on Sunday. I documented the march from beginning to end. It's always a challenge to make photos that have content or display emotion of the moment. I photograph everything that looks to be a good picture. Sometimes objects in the frame come together and you [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Every once in awhile, a photojournalist will capture an image that they really like. Images that will make the reader cry, fret, hate or laugh out loud. Pictures that wield an emotional comment have done their job. They have communicated. A myriad of daily assignments confront a newspaper photographer day [...]
When it rains, invariably I'm out in the muck shooting pictures. Weather photography is an adventure. But today, after many days of mulling it around, I just have to say thanks to the driver that thought it would be fun to spray me with water while shooting a picture over [...]
This is not about the finding the perfect Christmas tree. Been there, done that. I've been putting together some photos that will appear the Sunday Dec. 20 paper in the Lifestyle section of the Press Democrat. This means I've been cruising the very back, back roads of Sonoma County to [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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