Every time I have an assignment in Decorah I always stop at Goeken Park in Fayette County. It offers a great view down onto the hamlet of Eldorado. On this day I stopped on my way to Decorah for a couple photo in the early morning light and again to make this picture in the evening light after I left Decorah. This trip I discovered Decorah’s Community Prairie. I may have to add this destination as another place to stop when I go up there to see how it changes with the seasons.-Cliff
An unexpected find from a picnic:
Gerald Morgan of River Junction and Ken Kabela of Iowa City raise the flag, kicking off the Old Settler's 100th Anniversary Picnic in River Junction on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008.
- Jonathan D. Woods
A couple weeks ago I ventured to my hometown of Minneapolis to document the Republican National Convention.
Little did I know, I would spend the majority of my time at home bailing journalists out of jail, being a taxi-driver, and learning the ins and outs of the legal system as it had been adapted for large amounts of detainees.
Several highly-esteemed colleagues ended up in cuffs on day one of the convention. 50 hours later we were still waiting for the last journalist detained at a protest to be released with possible pending felony charges.
Police book detainees after they ended a protest in a parking lot naer E. 9th St. and Temperance St. in Saint Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (© 2008 Jonathan D. Woods)
Never in my life would I expect to see journalists arrested and charged with crimes for covering a protest gone south. Their gear was confiscated and held for seven days - meaning journalists from places as far away from Florida would have to stay in St. Paul or return in person a week later in order to claim things like wallets, cell phones, cameras - and CAR KEYS.
Police arrest University of Kentucky photojournalism adviser Jim Winn after he photographed a protest that ended in a parking lot at E. 9th St. and Temperance St. in Saint Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (© 2008 Jonathan D. Woods)
Many have asked how I managed to not get arrested or even detained. After several conversations with colleagues and friends, I’ve boiled it down a combination of luck and some small-talk.
His face bloodied after being hit closed-fisted by police, Chicago-area Photojournalist Nathan Weber was arrested after photographing a protest that ended in a parking lot at E. 9th St. and Temperance St. in Saint Paul, Minn. on Monday, Sept. 1, 2008. (© 2008 Jonathan D. Woods)
Thankfully, most of the charges were dropped. Unfortunately, Chicago-area photojournalist Nathan Weber wasn’t so lucky. After one trip to St. Paul to reclaim his gear, he made an initial appearance in Ramsey County Court Tuesday, Sept. 30, where he was presented with a plea-bargain for the charge of gross misdeameanor, probable cause to incite a riot. He insisted on a not-guilty plea. Weber and his defense attorney, provided by the ACLU, are prepared to go the distance to get the case thrown out.
-Jonathan D. Woods
I must admit I prefer the still image to the moving one. Shooting video is never as fun as stills for me. Occasionally a sequence of stills tells the story better than a single one. These are three sequential frames shot at eight frames a second. It always amazes me how much action falls between the frames even when you are shooting at that high a frame rate. Here’s a gallery of more images Liz Martin and I shot during the game against Northwestern.-Cliff
For half an hour before the Xavier/City High game, I sat in my car willing the rain to stop. No luck. Fortunately, photographers practically live out of our cars, and we’re prepared for just about anything (I still have two pairs of hip waders in my trunk, just in case), so I pulled out my rain gear and got myself and my camera ready for the game. For myself, I’ve come to swear by Gore-Tex, after learning the hard way at a few rainy games a couple years ago. Water can do some serious damage to the electronics of the camera, so we use rain covers — which, unfortunately, make it very difficult to shoot. Even changing the ISO is a hassle. And, you can’t use a flash with the cover, so you just shoot a TON and hope the dim stadium lights are enough for a few good shots without motion blur. In heavy rain the camera’s autofocus can have trouble finding the subject, especially a subject that’s moving quickly. On top of the rain, I was having trouble seeing the plays last night — I kept getting tricked by the quarterback’s fakes. Two hours in a steady rain soaked through my rain coat, and I left miserable and doubting I had made any images worth publishing. A quick edit in my car during halftime reassured me, and I headed off to dry out and file. The rain can make photos more dramatic, especially when the field is soaked enough to be more like a mud pit, which helps when the photos aren’t incredibly strong.. the player below appears to be struggling against the driving rain while his opponent has trouble keeping his grip. Fortunately for the rest of the staff, today’s games were much drier than last night (and I’m leaving this open for one of them to blog about shooting the Iowa/State game…)
-liz
This is not a photo that will win any awards, but, in the 30 minutes it took me to photograph and process it for print in today’s paper, I was reminded of my own experience with 9/11. I was a senior in high school in 2001, and remember hearing from another student before class started about the first tower being hit. Once class started, we all turned on the classroom TVs with their fuzzy reception and watched as history was made before our eyes. Now, it gets a few paragraphs boiled down to bare facts in a high school history textbook, with a brief history of the Middle East and terrorism. Oddly enough, this does tie in with the job I have today: after school I went to my internship at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and remember being astounded at the photos I saw coming across the wire from New York. I was amazed at how powerful even a single image was, and how photos from Ground Zero let us all witness and experience the events of that day, even if to a very small degree.
-liz
While I’m catching up, here are a few photos from the Meskwaki Powwow in Tama last month. Looking over these photos now, it seems that what caught my eye most was the involvement of the younger generation of Meskwaki.
-liz
Dancers line up before the start of the 94th Annual Meskwaki Indian Powwow at the Meskwaki Casino arena in Tama on Thursday, August 7, 2008. The powwow was relocated to the casino due to this year’s flooding, which affected the usual powwow site on the Meskwaki Settlement, and continues through Sunday.
Drake Keahna, 10, of the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama, makes a face as his mother Tia Keahna adjusts his headdress before a ceremonial dance at the 94th Annual Meskwaki Indian Powwow at the Meskwaki Casino arena in Tama on Thursday, August 7, 2008.
Derris Keahna, Jr., 18, of the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama, performs the Shield Dance during the 94th Annual Meskwaki Indian Powwow at the Meskwaki Casino arena in Tama on Thursday, August 7, 2008.
Stephanie Snow holds her son Tenoch Snow, 22 months, both of the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama during the 94th Annual Meskwaki Indian Powwow at the Meskwaki Casino arena in Tama on Thursday, August 7, 2008.
Denny Keahna, 14, of the Meskwaki Settlement near Tama, performs the Buffalo Head dance at the 94th Annual Meskwaki Indian Powwow at the Meskwaki Casino arena in Tama on Thursday, August 7, 2008.
I forgot to post these photos from the Country Cruisers car show in Manchester back in August.. After I had my photos for the next day’s paper, I let myself get distracted by the chrome and candy colors of the classic cars. Looking for details like these keeps my eyes fresh and can help me approach a subject in a different or unexpected way.
-liz
The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art has rescheduled the presentation on sports photography I was supposed to give along with fellow Gazette photographers Jim Slosiarek and Brian Ray. This was originally going to be held back in June but the flood had other ideas. It will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2008 from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM at the museum. -Cliff
I shot a ‘zero game’ in Central City last weekend, my first football game of the season. I’m not sure if the photo below was my fault or my camera’s, but after this frame, it came into focus. The first couple games are sort of ‘practice’ for me anyway, after a summer of not shooting sports and getting back into the mindset. And then, there’s my tendency to keep shooting when I know it’s too tight.. but you never know, I’ve had a few plays where I pulled it off, if my framing was right.
-liz
