Foss guard LuQuam Thompson looks for a pass over the head of Edmonds-Woodway guard James Conti in the first quarter at the Tacoma Dome, Friday, Feb. 29. Chris Hunt for the Tribune.

Some of the crew PLU works on some multimedia and still photos deep inside the Tacoma Dome Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. They are Chris Hunt, left, Bryanna Plog, Sean Roach. Day 3 and going strong!

Mount Tahoma's Shauneice Samms drives in to Lake Stevens' Brittany Tri in the first few minutes of the first game of the day in the state 4A basketball tournament at the Tacoma Dome, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008.
JOE BARRENTINE/The News Tribune

When shooting an event such as a political rally one usually wants to show many things: the candidate, some signage or other iconography, the size of the audience, the mood of the audience, and any other people who might be newsworthy. A photog can shoot these elements individually, but not all of the photos can fit into the newspaper, so attempting to put it all together in a single shot is sometimes desirable.

Here's what I got out of a recent McCain rally: fans cheer US Senator John McCain as he addresses a rally at The Westin in Seattle February 8 , 2008. Former Secretary of State Ralph Monroe is visible at left of McCain, and at right are Congressman Dave Reichert and former US Senator Slade Gorton (far right).

In the Feb 9 paper we used a couple of shots, so this all-in-one shot wasn't needed.

Even little princesses like to let their hair down or lift their tule up in the case of Julia Byrne, 3, who plays hide-and-seek with Children's Museum of Tacoma staff member Veronica Wiebe. "I tried to talk her into a sea life party or an Australia party but she wanted a princess party," said Julia's mom Liz who scurried around making last-minute preparations. The Gig Harbor mom said the theme made it difficult to buy party favors for the male guests. "I got them a (toy) car, a snake and an Army guy." No lip gloss. Photo taken Thursday, February 7, 2008. (Drew Perine/The News Tribune)

High above the floor of the Tacoma Home Show Andy Briggs (left) and Charlie Beaulieu shave sand with shovels as part of team of sculptors making a 30-foot likeness of the Eiffel Tower.

U.S. Senator John Kerry greets Harvey Brooks of Tacoma who said he had supported Kerry when Brooks was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2004, but had never shaken Kerry's hand. This occurred during the question period after Kerry spoke on behalf of the Barak Obama campaign for the Democratic Nomination at the headquarters of Tacoma City Association of Colored Women's Clubs Friday afternoon, February 1, 2008. Kerry, who was to be in California that evening, spoke briefly, starting out with "To show you how strongly I feel about Barak Obama, I flew six hours to speak for five minutes. Most of my colleagues would fly five minutes to speak for six hours."

The energetic young dog Indica pauses from sled-pulling to protect her master, four year old Michael Christian in this snowy field of Buckley. On the dog's behalf, I'll admit that I WAS thrusting a big camera toward his face, wielding it like a weapon, or so the dog might have thought.