Bluegrass in the Forest, Waves of Perfection

Bluegrass in the forest was a blast.  Went a little bit on all three days to capture the light and the bands the way I wanted to.  Snuck upstairs on Sunday when less people were around to make an issue out of it.

Waves of Perfection did not go as well for me this year.  The venue was changed, the new venue had almost no appeal and the light was dark and inconsistent.  My photos of the event were printed in black and white and that's fine with me.

B18-19 May 25

B-4 May 25 

May Day March, Sports, and a Fire Drill

May 4 A-27

May 4 B-4

May 4 B-6

May 4 Center Spread B-17

Valentines Day at the Senior Center

Jan Balmelli and Al Walp of Shelton do the Boot Scootin' Boogie at the Valentines Eve dance and  fundraiser sponsored by the Mason County Senior activities  Center held at the Pavilion in Sentry park in Shelton, Washington on Friday February 13th, 2015

I decided to go to the senior center to photograph their Valentines Eve dance and fundraiser. 

Bill Hillstead and Betty Berry dance at the Valentines Eve dance

 and  fundraiser sponsored by the Mason County Senior activities Center

held at the Pavilion in Sentry park in Shelton, Washington on 

Friday February 13th, 2015

Shanna Cox and Ted Little stand at the bar during their "romantic Valentines Eve" at the Valentines

 Eve dance  and  fundraiser sponsored by the Mason County Senior activities Center

held at the Pavilion in Sentry park in Shelton, Washington on Friday February 13th, 2015

Robert and Michelle Kurtz on the dance floor at the Valentines Eve dance

 and  fundraiser sponsored by the Mason County Senior activities Center

held at the Pavilion in Sentry park in Shelton, Washington on 

Friday February 13th, 2015

This venue is very dark so I was happy to have my new fast wide angle zoom.  This was the first time I got to use my new lens in this room.  I can say that the lens helped a lot.  It was nice to be able to shoot at 2.8 from 17-50mm!  

 David and Kathleen Hopkins tear up on the dance floor at the Valentines Eve dance  and  fundraiser sponsored by the Mason County Senior activities Center held at the Pavilion in Sentry park in Shelton, Washington on Friday February 13th, 2015

Happy New Year!

Jan 5 A-1 and A-12-13 Center Spread

I had my second camera set up on the beach to get a photograph of the swimmers from behind, while I stood in the water to get a photo of the swimmers from the front.  I had my beach camera set to interval shooting.  My beach camera took on picture per second until the memory card was full.  This is a good technique for covering all the angles at and event that is over in a flash.

B-1

B-3

Varsity page

4-H Fishing Derby

Again I left my long glass in the car and just brought the wide angle.  This job had me walking on docks and having big bulky lenses and multiple cameras could have been hazardous.  If I fall into the water I only want to dunk one camera and not two!  A girl did fall in.

I thought to try for some silhouette shots as I was driving to the job, but that did not work with dark trees in the background.  Fill flash was a must for this job with the sun to everyone's back.

June 9th A-11
I really liked the picture on the bottom right.  I waited until the yellow fishing bobber was in the frame before I shot.

Nora Maylin 8 and Becky Maylin from Port Orchard wait for a nibble 

A line of children fish off the dock in the background while Karl Swalander wrestles for

control  of a trout he just landed.

Ed Swalander helps Karl Swalander age 8, both are from Elma.

Seraphina Short age 6, is shown how to properly display her fish before a family photo is snapped.

From Right Damain Flores age 11 and Jack Seabert-Olsen age 10 take a pause from the

 action to admire trout that they have already caught

This was my favorite shot since is was so candid and I just happened to find it.

Aaron Arnold 10 of Elma proudly carries his prize winning 23.5 inch rainbow trout to the measuring station.

Aaron Arnold 10 of Elma lays down his prize winning catch  to be measured.  The monster trout registered at  23.5 inches.

From right Panhandle Lake camp staff Jeff Wetcel and Krag Unsoeld relax and chat in the shade while looking out over Panhandle lake.  

Festival Season 2016 has begun - Forest Festival

I've been busy this week.  My first job was a Royal Court Breakfast, this was a new thing for me and I only had about half an hour to get the job done.  I tried to find an interesting angle in my short amount of time.  I eyed an balcony and went for it.  Only one of the pictures printed and it was mixed into a photo essay with two reporters pictures.  Same thing happened last year with the forest festival pictures.

I rode my bike to the job and only brought my wide angle lens for what  would be almost all indoor work.

From Left Paul Bunyan Drake Adams and Timber the axe man
Joeseph Mcgrew load up their plates with a hearty breakfast fit for a lumberjack.

Nikon D7100

17.0-50.0 mm f/2.8

ƒ/3.5

 

20.0 mm

1/250

 

3200

Flash (on, fired)

 

Mr. Mason Area Joseph Weeks age 10 and Miss Mason Area Petite, Madaline Johnson age 9 check out the breakfast buffet line

The Shelton Forest Festival Royal Court and the Miss Mason Area Royalty line the entrance of the Colonial House to Greet the Port Orchard Fathoms O' Fun Royal Court during the Shelton Forest Festival.

Reporters pictures are crossed out to reduce any potential copyright issues for photos that I don't own.
  The reporters took great photos.
  June 9th A-21

Easter again

Two Easter egg hunts in one day kept me busy and got me the front page and a big center spread this week.  I really like the way it was laid out.

My sports work informed me on how to capture folks catching eggs.  My 70-200mm lens, that I did not own at this time last year, helped as well.

Apple Squeeze and Fall Colors

I've had a picture on the front page two weeks in a row

I bought a Nikon D7100 camera to upgrade one of my D90's.  I think this was a good upgrade and economical too, as it's still one model behind the newest technology.  I bought a refurbished unit from Adorama, it looks brand new and the shutter count was only 19.

On my first job with this camera I got to take advantage of it being water resistant. The D90 is not water resistant, so I have to be more careful with it.  I will still be shooting with one D90, as I don't feel like spending to money to upgrade both of my cameras right now.  I think I will be able to adjust to using two different cameras models at a time.

The people related to the people who's house burnt down claim they wrote a letter to the editor complaining about my fire pictures.  I wonder it if will get printed.  The paper says that this coming week they are only printing letters related to the upcoming elections.

Summer time

Fourth of July at the Shelton Farmer's Market

I've started to shoot my paper assignments in .jpg again.  When I shoot in .jpg I can take advantage of Nikon's active D lighting.  Active D lighting pretty much ruins RAW images. I feel a bit lazy shooting in .jpg  because jpg files don't need as much editing as raw files, but the paper does not like my pictures to be edited much anyway.

I'm doing as much of my work as possible with my 70-200mm lens and only breaking out my wide angle lens when I need to get really close to my subjects.

4th of July at the farmer's market.  I took the face painting shot due to the flag and this child's
patriot clothing, it printed.  At any festival the face painting shot is a for sure safe shot.

Old dogs waiting to be in the 4th of July parade

WSU Garden Tour

A vigorously growing pumpkin plant blooms and sets fruit as it climbs up a trellis at the Rob Wilson-Hoss garden.

at The Mason County WSU Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday, July 11 from 10 AM – 4 PM. Gardens are located north of Shelton. ~copyright 2015 Shawna Whelan

) Flowers blossom in the foreground of Rebecca’s Bowden’s decorated house wall.

at The Mason County WSU Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday, July 11 from 10 AM – 4 PM. Gardens are located north of Shelton. ~copyright 2015 Shawna Whelan

Rob Wilson-Hoss tends to his pepper plants while prayer flags hang overhead and behind him.

at The Mason County WSU Master Gardener Garden Tour Saturday, July 11 from 10 AM – 4 PM. Gardens are located north of Shelton. ~copyright 2015 Shawna Whelan