Some stuff from last year (III) - a couple of portraits

This portrait was trickier than it seems. The sun was behind and to the left, and obviously, the water was several stops brighter than the boys' faces. I needed to capture the water (it was part of the story) and underexpose it to bring up the blue color. Problem was the only place to put the stand with a flash and umbrella was on top on a rock over the water, which was impossible. But then, my boss, who was driving home and knew I was taking a picture by the river, stopped and came down to se how things were going. He ended up on that rock, in a tricky balance, holding the flash and the umbrella. How cool is having your own photo editor working as your lighting assistant?
The National Council of Boy Scouts of America awarded Alex Standridge, left, a Medal of Merit after he pulled fellow scout Julian Lucky, right, to safety during a canoe trip on the Buffalo River in Tennessee last year.


We often receive calls, or they just show up at the newspaper's door, from people who have or caught big things: a 6-foot catfish, a huge cabbage, a monstrous pumpkin... Usually we take a picture in the parking lot, and that's it. One Sunday, I got a call from this man, Paul Hastings, saying that a tomato grown in his back yard was 18' 14" in circumference and weighed 2.5 pounds. I met him in the parking lot, but when I saw his hat and how photogenic he was, decided I wanted to take a portrait in the studio (I think I used 4 lights). Soon enough I had forgotten about the tomato and was concentrating in his face.


Angie Anders with her 2009 World Champion halter horse, Emmie, at Anders' farm in Hartselle.


I asked Daniel, an online editor at the Decatur Daily, to model in this photo illustration for a story about the Alabama and Auburn radio stations as part of our Iron Bowl previews. I've got to say he's a great actor.