Really Small Town Photojournalism: Pool protest continued, access denied and bikini baristas

From left: Joy DeRoche Ordonez, Emma Gordham, and Rishel Weatherly wave signs in support of the pool staying open while Chuck Dusharme drives past in his car with the words "save pool" painted on its side at the Timberland Library in Shelton, Washington on Tuesday March 3, 2015

There was a high bank behind the protesters that I stood on to get overview shots. I was lucky that this car drove past while I was on the bank. I was taking pictures of the protesters waving to passing cars and I did not see this special car until after I had taken two pictures of it.

Yes, I decided to photograph another pool protest. This protest was smaller and the light was really sweet. I had time to catch the overall mood of the protesters and to capture them from different camera angles. I did not use my flash at all, the lighting was just perfect. One thing that I like about photographing this group of people is that I can get their names later by asking for them on Facebook.

It's nice to be able to just take pictures and concentrate on the story and the artistry instead of frantically running around with a pen and a note book begging for people's names and hoping that I've spelled them correctly.

Sometimes the business of getting every ones name interferes with my photography. There have been times that I've taken a good shot but could not get the names of the people in it because they left or I could not find them and that made the shot unprintable. There are other shots that I never bothered to take because I knew I could not get the names to go with them and there are other times that I make sure to get more than three people in the shot so I don't have to ask for names. With this group I can just concentrate on the photography and nothing else because I know I can get all of their names later on Facebook.

Kristi Holzgrove and Jax Holzgrove,5, stand together as the sun sets and display a handmade banner in support of the pool staying open in front of the Timberland Library in Shelton, Washington on Tuesday March 3rd 2015. Two weeks earlier the Shelton School Board voted to close the High School and Community Pool.

The sweet light was leaving but I took advantage of the last of it by shooting some silhouettes. I'm not often out covering stories in the sweet light, so I tend not to shoot very many silhouettes. I think this silhouette captured the mood of the somewhat deflated protesters who were disappointed with the small turn out.

For the next shot down I decided to be a bit sneaky and shoot from the hip . Normally I reserve shooting from the hip for street photography. The newspaper wants all shots to be candid and they really like pictures of children. A lot of children are right at my hip level, so I have to bend down to take eye level pictures of them . Children are often very aware of me with my camera, especially when I crouch way down to take their picture, so it can be hard to get candid shots of children. Children don't notice me quite as much when I shoot from the hip. I predict that I will be doing a lot of hip shooting on future assignments.

I really like the intense look in this little boys eyes, the way he is holding the sign with his right hand clasped over his heart and the shadows in the background.

Judah Holzgrove, 8, holds up a sign for drivers of passing cars in front of the Timberland Library
in Shelton, Washington on Tuesday March 3, 2015

In other local news a Bikini barista stand has arrived in Shelton and the city commissioners are not pleased. I stopped by the stand and took a photo of one of the baristas. I also covered a city commissioners meeting were citizens were complaining about the bikini barista.

I'm still happy with my Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. I still want a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens but I can't justify the expense unless I get some wedding gigs.