House fire in town

I heard this on the scanner and it was just a few blocks from my house, so I hopped on my bike and raced to the scene.  I thought there might be nothing to see in front so I went to the ally for a different angle.

A middle aged police officer who was on the scene and watching the alley told me that flames were probably about to burst through the roof.  Based on his advice I went back around to the front and waited until the house burst into flames.

I took my pictures and then I went back and thanked the police officer for his advice.  The police officer had witnessed enough house fires to know what to expect and now I have a better idea of what to expect as well.

Two police officers watch as Central Mason firefighters put out a fire on the 800
block of Cota street in downtown Shelton on Saturday.
(this one was on the front page of a newspaper)

Central Mason fire fighter Roberts approaches the house fire on the 800
block of Cota street in downtown Shelton on Saturday.

Two Central Mason fire fighters on the scene on the 800
block of Cota street in downtown Shelton on Saturday.

Personal Body of Work

Every Christmas I escape from my house for an hour or so to photograph the lights in town.
I used to just light paint by moving my camera around, but this year I also experimented with zooming.

No pixels were moved here this was done with perfect timing of panning and zooming
and using the rear flash feature to make the lumber jack pop 1.3 sec;   f/16;   ISO 1250

No pixels were moved here, lens zoomed in on the word  "Journal" and then it
was zoomed out during this long exposure to make the streaks

This is a photo  illustration . Pixels were moved when I edited this picture and this picture is a triple exposure.
The clock on the left was from the first exposure and the Christmas tree beneath the clock
was the second exposure, the payday loan sign was the third exposure.
The clock in the door was cut and pasted from another photo

No pixels were moved here, I just zoomed out after
 letting the camera point at  Santa for a bit

No pixels were moved here
This clock reflection is in a mud puddle.  I focused on the clock in the puddle for a bit and
 then I zoomed out and made big circles with my camera to light paint with the actual clock face on the tower above

It's still the season

December has been a good month overall.  Yes I dropped my flash and had to buy a new one and get the old one repaired, but I got enough jobs to cover the expenses and I have a nice new flash to play with.

I took photos at a family art night at a local elementary school, the theme of the month is Christmas.  We'll see what January brings.  January is typically a slow month for freelancers.

Shalynn Hash, 5, looks at a book during the book fair at the Bordeaux
Elementary School library in Shelton, Washington on December 11 2014

Santa, Santa and Santa

Baby's first Christmas (see caption above below on front page of paper)

1/80 sec;   f/2.5;   ISO 800,  external flash was fired with a small softbox over it.
 Nikon D90 and 50mm 1.8 lens

Jordan Rolland 11, warms up before she marches with the fourth and fifth grade band  at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014 ~ Shawna Whelan

L-R Kaiden Lauzon, 1 and Izzabella Louzon age 2 wear Christmas hats while watching the parade

 at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown 

Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan

Jacque Hamilton sings while Michael Pratt plays the guitar in front of a large crowd after the parade

 at the Belfair Christmas  parade sponsored  by the the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown 

Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan (I caught the blue light here)

Santas arrival sparks excitement among the children at the Belfair Christmas parade sponsored by the
the NM Music Booster Club and others in downtown Belfair on Sunday Dec. 7 2014  ~ Shawna Whelan

It seems that I have become a Santa photographer this week, not an official one with strobes and umbrellas,  but one who stands to the side and tries to get candid shots.  Every week I get to do something different and I get to face new challenges, that's what I really like about photojournalism.

I shoot with my 50mm 1.8 prime as much as I can so I can get a shallow depth of field and speed.  But it's tricky to use a 50mm lens on a DX camera.  I miss shots due to cropping and I am always at the risk of stepping on people's toes as I back up to try not to cut off the top of someone's head. Also such a narrow angle is not good at all when working in crowded situations.  

I'm still using two camera bodies, but now I have equipped one with an 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 lens and the other with a 50mm 1.8 lens.  It's redundant as far as focal length goes but the redundancy is worth it due to the speed and clarity of my 50mm lens.  I need the wide angle of the 18mm -55mm lens for overview shots.

 As a photojournalist I need to be able to tell the story with pictures and I can't tell the entire story with a 50mm portrait lens, I've got to be able to zoom out and get the wide shots too.  I'm pretty sure that other photojournalist would laugh at my lens combo, but for now it's working for me.  I don't miss shots due to changing lenses this way, but I still sometimes miss shots due to changing cameras.

At this point my dream lens is the 17-55mm f/2.8 DX.  If I had that lens it might be all I would use since I'm not shooting sports, but I think I would still bring along a second camera body with my 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 VR lens just in case.  The only time I'm using the bigger zoom for photojournalism is when I photograph the police arresting someone from a block away.  Usually the movement is not too fast for that big slow lens, but shooting sports with that lens can be a real challenge.

The Christmas parades require lots of shooting in the dark where again a fast lens is preferred, but the narrow angle of a 50mm lens on a DX body is not at all ideal.  I'll upgrade my lenses and not even think about getting an FX camera.

Mason General Candy Cane Carnival

I photographed a charity event sponsored by Mason General Hospital.  I was not the Santa photographer but I took a couple of Santa pictures from the side anyway.  I broke my Nikon SB600 external flash and I had to buy a new flash, this was my first job with my new flash, it is a Yangnuo YN-568EX.

  It is a slight upgrade as it has high speed sync, a built in bounce card and a faster recharge time.  It cost a lot less than a comparable Nikon flash and so far it seems well built.  I also paid Nikon $118 to repair my SB600.  I had the SB fixed because it is smaller and lighter and that makes it better for hiking.

     Jimmy Rosaria, 5 of Shelton puts his toy fire hat on Santa’s head and then gives Santa* a hug at the Candy Cane Carnival Sponsored by Mason General Hospital and Co-Sponsored by South Sound Radiology held at the Alderbrook Resort and Spa in Union on Saturday Nov. 22 2014 ~Shawna Whelan

      Pheonix Oleachea, 8 and Siciley Whiting, 5 both from Shelton sit on Santa’s Lap  at the Candy Cane Carnival Sponsored by Mason General Hospital and Co-Sponsored by South Sound Radiology held at the Alderbrook Resort and Spa in Union on Saturday Nov. 22 2014 ~Shawna Whelan

Hunter Harris, 3 smiles while Destiny Dolezal’s, 5 face is painted by Shannon Paine of Shelton Health and Rehab at the Candy Cane Carnival Sponsored by Mason General Hospital and Co-Sponsored by South Sound Radiology held at the Alderbrook Resort and Spa in Union on Saturday Nov. 22 2014 ~Shawna Whelan

Vetrans Day BBQ and Stuff the Bus

This week I covered a Veterans appreciation BBQ out in Hoodsport
 and a food drive event at the Saint's Pantry food bank. I also happened
 upon some salmon swimming in the road and two of those pictures
 were published.  This was my most productive week yet for the paper. 
 My pictures are on three different pages of this week's edition.

James A. Young age 89 from Port Orchard,takes the microphone and talks about his
 experiences  serving  as Veteran during World War II. At the Veterans Appreciation BBQ
sponsored  by the Hoodsport  Lions Club  and held at  the Hoodsport fire and rescue station on
 Sat Nov. 8th ~Shawna Whelan

  
Carl Parker claps after Gordon MacLeod’s bagpipe performance to honor Navy veterans Saturday at the Veterans Appreciation Barbecue in Hoodsport. The Hoodsport Lions Club sponsored the event.

Food bank Volunteer Dennis Combs unloads donated items from a  Shelton School
District bus at the Stuff the  Bus event sponsored by the Saints Pantry Food bank in downtown
 Shelton on Sat. Nov 8th ~ Shawna Whelan

Why did the salmon cross the road?

The Skokomish River near Shelton Washington is flooding again.  These pictures are popular, so I've watermarked them heavily.  I've already sold some rights to a few of these and I hope to sell more.

   Pumpkins float in the flood waters of the Skokomish River next to the 
Skokomish Valley road  near Shelton Washington on Tuesday Nov. 4^th

       Fall chum salmon rest while waiting to cross the Skokomish Valley road onear Shelton

Washington on n Tuesday Nov 4th

Nearly a dozen Chum salmon use a residential drive way gate as a place to rest before

 trying to cross the Skokomish Valley Road near Shelton Washington Nov 4th 2014

  A Chum salmon rests on the fog line after crossing  the Skokomish Valley Road 

near Shelton Washington on Tuesday Nov. 4^th

Halloween 2014

I went to Sand Hill Elementary School in Belfair to photograph their PTA sponsored trick-or-treating event on Halloween night.  I had a major equipment malfunction and I was very sick, but I managed to take a few pictures that made me happy.

First Grade teacher Rick Robbers dresses as a beekeeper and gives out information on the

 lifespan of bees to a crowd of trick-or-treaters at  Sand Hill Elementary School in Belfair

 during a trick-or-treat sponsored by the PTA on Halloween night.

Fifth grade teacher Molly Johnson hands candy to Rachel Youngman age ten at Belfair's

 Sand Hill Elementary School  trick-or-treat event sponsored by the PTA on Halloween night.

Out of Town, but in the Paper

I was out of town most of this week, but the Kitsap Sun published a photo online that I submitted to them for a fall  photo contest. 

Election Season

 I've been keeping busy photographing political sign wavers and meetings of the Shelton School District Board of Education.

Wen. October 8th a man holds up signs during rush hour
at First and Railroad in Downtown Shelton

Wen. October 8th two women hold signs in the rain during rush hour
at First and Railroad in Downtown Shelton

The Board of Education Melts Down and I Captured it on Video

School Board President and Chairperson  Brenda Hirschi faces a mixed crowd at the
Shelton School Board meeting on October 9th

The meeting begins to get rowdy, Jim Carnahan says he is 
offended, Brenda Hirschi tries to maintain order

 at the Shelton Washington school board meeting on October 9th

A friend tipped me that that school board meeting this week might be an interesting one, so I went to it.  My friend was right.

The meeting was loud and unruly and it ultimately led to the resignation of school board vice president Jim Carnahan.  When the meeting started to get loud I stopped taking stills and I shot a shaky video instead.  The video had thousands of views and the next week the vice president of the school board resigned.  Are the two related?  I don't know, but I must remember that images and video have power.

 A local radio station picked up and shared a link to my video, they also took one of my still pictures and put it on their website.  I sent them an invoice when I saw that they had used my photo, they did not respond to my invoice, but they took my photo down and gave me credit for my video.  

My photo on the local radio station website  It's such a bad photo that I hesitate to even post it here 
 (It is a screen grab of my video that grabbed and  posted to Facebook) 

The next week the local newspaper listed a link to my video in a print article and on their website. 
My video and pictures generated a lot of interest, but I was unable to make any money.

The board room at Choice High school was filled to capacity for the 
Shelton School Board meeting on October 9th 

I have two D90 cameras now.  I equipped one with a 18-200 mm 3.5-5.6 zoom lens and the other with a 50mm 1.8 prime lens.   I only used my zoom lens when I needed a wide angle.  My faster prime lens was best in this low light situation.  I mostly used aperture priority for my 50mm lens and shutter priority for my zoom lens.

Here is the video I took.  It's poor quality but it's getting hundreds of views.  If I had kept shooting stills instead of switching to video I could have taken some really dramatic photos.   If I had a tripod with me I could have done video with one camera and stills with the other camera.  This video was done with my 50mm prime lens.





The next school board meeting I went to was much more subdued and the entire audience consisted of just myself and a newspaper reporter, but the lighting was beautiful so I still had fun. I chose to render my photos in black and white to take advantage of the shadows created by the window blinds.

Interim superintendent Dr. Art Jarvis at the Shelton school board meeting on  Tuesday Oct. 14th

Empty chairs at the Shelton school board meeting on  

Tuesday Oct. 14th

Dr. Micheal Boring of McPherson & Jacobson LLC came to speak
 about the process of hiring a new superintendent at the Shelton school board meeting on
Tuesday Oct. 14th.  The board decided 3-2 to wait until later to begin the process

Board members Jim Carnahan and Sandy Tarzwell at the Shelton
school board meeting on  Tuesday Oct. 14th

Lastly I'm going to post a picture of a bicycle I found in the city limits,
 it's part of my multi year long personal project.  Potential future employers,
please feel free to ignore this picture. :)

The contrast between the brightly colored bike and
 the monotone alley caught my eye

Oysterfest 2014

This is the last Oysterfest is to be held at the fairgrounds, next year Oysterfest will be on an abandoned runway at the Port of Shelton.  I put a lot of hours into photographing Oysterfest and editing photos and writing photo descriptions.