Had a few minutes to burn before the next assignment last Friday (Feb. 17) and ran across this scene out in Two Rock Valley of kids doing what they do best, having fun.
From left, Louis Lozano, 10, Gizele Mata, 7, Jazmine Perez, 10, Juan Mata, 9, and Jizzela Mata, 7, pass the day off from school on a trampoline, Friday Feb. 17, 2012 at the Mata home in the Two Rock Valley. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2012
-Kent Porter
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