Laura Ellen Hopper

Laura Ellen Hopper a long time KPIG dj and program director passed away Monday May 28, 2007 after a short battle with cancer. She was 57 years old. Her name may be unknown to some but to others who tuned into the nonconformist 107 oink 5 weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. she was well known and liked. I didn't know much about her personal life but I loved her show and listened when I could. She introduced me to musicians such as James McMurtry, John Prine and John Hiatt. I had the pleasure of meeting Laura Ellen in the KPIG studio in Watsonville, CA last summer when we were doing a story about the radio station making cuts and switching to overnight automatic programming. She was welcoming and warm and kind despite the negative changes that were going on at the station she helped found in 1988.
I was very stunned and sad to hear she passed away. My heart goes out to her horse, two dogs, husband and the extended family of listeners with whom she passionately shared music.

Ptown

I am in Provincetown, Massachusetts for a week. This town is absolutely beautiful in every quaint, New England, coastal town way. Just about every nook and cranny is worthy of a photo or a painting or something artful.
This is the first photo I took of Ptown as we arrived on a ferry. To me it has a painted quality which is a direct result of shooting it through a window splattered with salt water.

High Dive

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is celebrating 100 years of amusement. I was looking forward to this assignment - lots of color and fun and action. I perused photo sites and photo blogs this morning to get even more inspired. I had high hopes of coming home with several great shots. The editor suggested I get photos of a special trampoline and high dive show that was in town for the summer-long party. I spent 30 minutes (a long time in photojournalist terms) shooting the acrobats. The photos had so much potential.
As I was trying to find the best angle I was reminded how difficult it is to get a great shot. There are so many things to think about - What is in the background? Is it clean? If there are things going on in the background do they help tell the story? Do you have enough in the view finder to tell the story? Is the composition interesting? Do you want to use a wide-open aperture to blur out everything behind the athlete or use the smallest opening to get everything in focus? What about the shutter speed? Don't forget to set your camera to stop the motion if that is what you want - or maybe you want to shoot slower to produce trails, showing movement. So many things to think about. In the end you may have made all the right decisions for a well exposed composition but without the moment, you don't have the great shot. This challenge is what keeps me coming back.

Drinking and Driving

This has been a difficult week in Santa Cruz County. There have been not one, not two, but three accidents caused by drunk drivers. Two of the three accidents resulted in the deaths of innocent people just going about their life. What is there to say. I have thought several times about the young woman who had been walking home from her boyfriend's house Monday night when she fell victim to a careless driver who had 3 previous DUI charges. Last night a 19-year-old college student was arrested for felony drunk driving and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated after he veered his truck into the rear of a bicycle travelling on the side of the roadway. That unidentified man was killed. Sad. Just sad.

This is by no means a great photo but it is the only evidence I saw from a nightmare that will haunt families and friends of this week's victims for years to come.

CHP Officer Grant Boles holds a bike an unidentified man was riding when he was hit and killed by a drunk driver on Thurber Lane in
Santa Cruz early Friday morning.

Private Snail Moment

I was sitting in my office at home procrastinating when I looked out the window and saw the late afternoon sun doing some cool things. I grabbed my camera to snap off a few shadow shots then I saw these two snails hunkering down in a little shaded place between fence posts.

Softball Sequence

I shot a varsity softball game yesterday. I came away with this little sequence. I didn't even consider submitting it for the sports page but now, a day later, I wish I had.

Harry

This is Harry. He likes to stroll along the bike/walking path which borders the Monterey Bay on the west side of Santa Cruz. His human mother has on her answering machine not to worry about Harry because he will find his way home. She says she receives about 7 calls a day from people worried Harry is lost. Harry is not lost, he is just making his daily rounds on his favorite walking path.

Couple in White

A couple of friends and I were walking through Golden Gate Park today when I spotted an older couple sharing a rock. They struck me as I walked by. They were dressed mostly in white and they had a sweetness about them that I could not resist photographing. I asked if they would mind if I took their photo. They said that would be fine. So I did. Here they are - a darling couple - strangers in the park.

I (heart) Sports

I had a realization on the job today. I love shooting sports and I miss it. That is how I got started in this business. I combined my love for sports with my passion for photography and started my own sports photography business. Later, I decided to go for something that would provide a consistent paycheck. Hence the newspaper job.
One of our staff photogs has 40 some years seniority over me and his passion is sports so he gets almost all of the assignments relating to sports. Can't argue with that one. But I can spend more of my own time out there shooting what I love most.
This photo will run with a story about the Watsonville High School varsity baseball team doing everything they can to get to the playoffs for the first time since 1991.