I had an assignment to get an "A-1 shot" (a photo interesting enough to belong on the front page) for an Ian Demsky story on the folks who answer the 911 calls at Law Enforcement Support Agency. The crux of what they do is face a bank of computer screens and talk on a headset, so this would be a challenge because it amounts to yet another "person at a computer" shot.

Several call-takers were work at any one time at LESA, so I looked them over for good angles, backgrounds, lighting et cetera. It would be nice to show both a call-taker's face and at least part of a computer screen, so shooting straight at them (through a gap between two monitors) wasn't very good:

From one side could show other call-takers in the background:

But the other side was better. There was better light, the headset is more prominent, and a screen shows up:

Then, realizing that the screen isn't readable anyway, I shot tighter (forcing the screen behind to blur out more). It is a bit more intense, which is an appropriate way to convey their job:

But it still wasn't quite an A-1 worthy shot. So I tried even closer and got artsy. I wanted to show a screen through the guy's glasses. But I was never able to find any part of screen that looked intelligible, and even at f5.6 it also wasn't sharp enough:

I found my favorite picture in a different place in the room. It just happened that the overhead lighting was dimmer there, allowing the glow of the computer screen to be more prominent. And the shape of his eyeglasses revealed his eyeball well. This picture suggests more intensity than any of the others:

The photo ran on A-1.

Curtis' Andrea Geubelle wins the triple jump State Championship with an unofficial meet record jump at Mount Tahoma High School. For more photos of the track meet. Click here.

While driving to an assignment for the biz page to shoot a recent job fair I thought, "what with the high unemployment lately, a long line of people waiting to get in would make a good shot."

And that's what I found:

Then luck brought me a better shot. Suddenly, right in front of me, a spiffy gent was tying his shoe. This shot still has the long line, but with a bit of whimsy:

I also found a more complete, story-telling shot. It has the pleasure of layers-- something near, something in the middle ground, and something far. Another plus to this third shot: a frisson of tension with an outstretched hand about to touch the brochure:

Yet the heart of the job fair is inside the auditorium where job seekers meet prospective employers.

I soon found myself at the end of a table. On the left were job seekers and on the right, reps for Comcast. Shooting down the "corridor" between them could be interesting. Potentially lots of gestures and expressions, and with some compositional order (pictures that are too busy or disorganized are hard to read):

Then I decided to "get low" and shoot at the level of the young woman filling out a form:

Then the young man from the left also bent down. I kept shooting as the shot got better:

It was only a few frames later that luck again arrived, at the top of my frame appeared that classic symbol of good business: a handshake.

I recognized that this was my favorite shot, and the handshake lasted long enough for me to shoot several frames while double checking that at least one of the folks filling out the form was in focus.

I was sure that it was "in the can", as they used to say in Hollywood, and I had only been there for 18 minutes! (That's according to the metadata from my camera.)

Business assignments rarely yield several good shots. We managed to fit two of them in the paper.

Rudy Neilson, 4, wears one of her favorite outfits as she walks through Old Tacoma Cemetery with students from Holy Rosary School including her older sister Abigail Neilson, 8. The students were placing flags on military veterans' graves in honor of Memorial Day, May 22, 2009.

Students from Lowell Elementary School and Scout Troop 209, Rolin Stone, Daelin Cavanaugh, and Zach Linder, from left, take a break from placing flags on veterans' graves to play war while visiting Old Tacoma Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day at in Tacoma, May 22, 2009. The 8-year-olds walked the cemetery in search of head stones looking for veterans graves. Many graves played tribute to WWII service. After finding a rare WWI veteran's grave the boys pretended to act out a battle and used clumps of dirt as hand grenades.(Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

Curtis's Rahmel Dockery wraps himself around the bar to clear 7 feet at the 3A/4A West Central District III & 3A Southwest District meet. For more photos of the district track meet. Click here.

Curtis' Andrea Guebelle kicks up a cloud of sand while winning the long jump competition at the 3A/4A West Central District III/3A Southwest District 4 at Mount Tahoma High school. For more photos of the track and field meet. Click here.

Stadium's Bailey Martin battles a Skyview defender for the header. Stadium beat Skyview 1-0 in the 4A soccer playoff game. For more photos from the game. Check the prep photo galleries. Click here.

Puyallup's Connor Framke, left, chest bumped pitcher Adam Cimber after 1-0 win over South Kitsap. For more photos of the Puyallup and South Kitsap baseball game, check out the prep photo galleries. Click here.

Wilson's Aquila Fox gets a celebratory hug from teammate Taylor Gomsrud after Wilson's 2-0 win over Stadium. For more photos of the Wilson & Stadium softball game. Click here.

Tia Tuonoa keeps an eye on her shot put toss in the SPSL 3A Sub-District Track & Field Meet at Sumner High School. For more photos of the event. Check out the high school prep photo galleries. Click here.

We don't use the term much anymore, but it's a "grab shot" when someone has a camera in their hands, sees something unexpected, and quickly shoots without a moment to consider the lens, camera settings, or composition.

I was photographing an "adaptive rowing coach" teaching a soldier with a physical disability how to row a scull when a juvenile bald eagle came near. It hovered and dropped to the water about 30 feet away.

I grabbed a few frames as it splashed and flew away. I didn't even notice the fish at the time.

A classic battle is heating up in the first Grand Tour of the 2009 cycling season, the Giro d'Italia. Will Lance Armstrong fulfill his Giro dream? Will teammate Levi Leipheimer win his first Giro? Will the Italians maintain their overall lead to the end? View galleries from the race here.

Bellarmine Prep's Alex Vogt celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal to tied the game 1-1 with Stadium. For more photos from the Bellarmine & Stadium soccer game. Check the high school photo galleries. Click here.

Michael Slivka of Tacoma enjoys the sunny weather and tosses the ball for his dog Boone, part Akita and German Shepherd, at the Jane Clark Park in Tacoma. Slivka exercises his dog everyday at the park. He said it calms his dog down after the workout.

See a gallery from the game here.

And, check out Don's blog post from the game here.

Jefferson's Chris Miller whiffs at the ball at the goal. For his efforts, Miller is kicked between his legs by Kentridge's Nicolas Tobon in Jefferson 2-0 win over Kentridge for the SPSL North League title. For more photos of Jefferson and Kentridge game. Check out the prep photo galleries. Click here.

Steilacoom High School players have a good reason to dance as the Sentinels defeated Gig Harbor 8-0. For more photos of Steilacoom and Gig Harbor softball. Check out the prep photo galleries. Click here.

I just had the best backpack trip of my life in the Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago. Since we were hauling seven days' of food and fuel, and since I wasn't working, I brought my tiny Canon point-n-shoot instead of my big work camera (a Nikon D2H).

And the photo quality shows it. Sigh...

The most obvious deficit of the little cameras is their lack of dynamic range. That's the range of brightnesses that the camera can capture.

For this shot I had to take great care to get the exact perfect exposure, then still had to spend about 20 minutes in Photoshop making it look good.

I had to put some tones back into the highest hills that were "blown out" because they were in the direct sun. Then I brightened the shadow areas a lot. And, like many consumer cameras, this one has some flare problems, so I had to suppress some of the blue glow that surrounds the sky.

It just would look a lot better if it were shot with the D700 that I covet. Not that I'd want to haul such a big camera.

I was reminded that the Sound to Narrows 12K is just around the corner, so I resurrected the preview from last year. Still a good reference for anyone thinking of running it this year.

Puyallup's Trevor Whitt shoots the ball past Bethel goalie Eric Bair for a goal. Puyallup defeated Bethel 6-0 during a game at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. For more photos of Puyallup and Bethel soccer teams. Check out the prep photo galleries. Click here.

Emerald Ridge High School hurdler Cory Okazaki, #164, clears the hurdle in unison with fellow competitors in the 300 meter hurdles at the Shelton Invitational in Shelton. For more photos of Emerald Ridge and other schools. Check out the prep photo galleries. Click here.

Emerald Ridge High School pitcher Alisha McKnight is a picture of concentration while pitching to a Decatur batter. For more photos from the Jaguars 7-1 win. Check out the prep photo galleries. Click here.