A special shout-out to the great kids at Willowside Middle School and language arts teacher Julia Castro in Santa Rosa, who welcomed me with great questions and equal courtesy during their career day today. If you want to be a photojournalist, now's the time to start! Thanks again. ..... [...]
In my 23 years covering the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, I've never seen this much emotion from a board decision. Read the captions... -Kent Porter
A country Christmas...
Sometimes the light bends in the most unusual ways. Thursday was one of those days. My wife says it's spiritual light. My son thinks it's a big eyeball with eyelashes. Director of PD Photography Chad Surmick thinks it looks like The Eye of Sauron on the tower of Barad-Dûr in [...]
The Press Democrat has covered the toy give away by Piner Students at Monroe Elementary School for years. As that is the case, photographing children when they receive their presents donated by the Piner ASB is truly inspirational. -Kent Porter
Four people were burned while working on a septic system when it exploded at Redwood Alliance Conference Center in Camp Meeker Dec. 8, 2010. Fire agencies from Monte Rio, Camp Meeker, Occidental and Cal Fire helped to stabilize the group with burns that ranged from third to first degree. [...]
It snowed on the Windsor Town Green Monday night. I was told the snow was actually "flaked" water. Still trying to figure out the flaked water thing. Anyway, through January 7th 2011, "snow" will fall at 5:30 and 7:30 every evening in the middle of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree [...]
It was a dog day afternoon on Saturday as I was assigned to photograph pets having their pictures taken with Santa Claus in Sonoma. During a lull in the action, a living Christmas tree appeared. -Kent Porter
Nothing like shooting football in a small town under the lights. The Middletown Mustangs played the Healdsburg Greyhounds in a NCS semi-final tilt in Middletown Friday night. -Kent Porter
Tragedy strikes and a community mourns. -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