If the photos don’t show, you can see them here.
Tonight is the Utah News Photographers Association (UNPA) awards banquet, where the best work in the state will be honored. These are the ten singles from my entry in the Photographer of the Year category. To be candid, it’s obvious that I should have spent more time editing.
About three weeks ago I took this photo of a nine-year-old FLDS boy at the YFZ ranch who had just been reunited with his family after spending two months in state custody. (You can read about that here.)
Yesterday we were out at the ranch and I saw him again. I didn’t photograph him this time, because if I bug him too much he says I’ll turn into a cockroach. But as we were leaving he picked up my camera and we turned the tables on each other, as he took this photograph of me:
(The Photo Gallery may or may not be working. I’m fixing it now. If you can’t wait, go here: http://tribblogs.com/fly/2008/06/yfz-grand-jury/.)
Spent the day in front of the Schleicher County Courthouse in Eldorado, Texas, where a grand jury was considering evidence from the raid on the YFZ ranch for possible criminal charges against members of the FLDS church. Several FLDS women were called in to testify. And before I go on, I must give some credit to the eye of Stephanie Sinclair. She noticed the silhouettes first and I followed her inspiration for a beautiful, symbolic image of the day’s events.
In the gallery below, photos from throughout the day, all shot with the 600mm lens. We were kept back at least 150 feet from the building, which was surrounded by yellow police tape. Worse than that tape was me leaving my monopod in the hotel room and having to handhold the 600 all day long.
Late in the afternoon, Teresa Jeffs got antsy and climbed up a tree on the courthouse grounds. The photo below (with handy red circle) shows you how high she went:
My July 2007 post, The Fire, took second place for best blog entry by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Utah Headliners Chapter. No third place was awarded. You can read the post by clicking on the photo above.
Also took another award for my photo of Forrest running through the cheerleader banner: second place in Sports Photo.
My March 2007 post, Monika, was awarded first place for best blog entry by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Utah Headliners Chapter. You can read the post by clicking on the photo above.
I won a couple of other things, too. I’ll post those shortly. The complete list of SPJ winners is here. A lot of Tribune names on that list. Congrats, friends.
Spotted this guy in Sugar House, coming off the freeway on my way home. They say to always have your camera ready just in case you see something. I was halfway there. As I raised the camera to my eye for a quick shot (from the moving vehicle), I realized that my autofocus point was set way off to the left. That’s why he’s standing way over there.
The train guy told me that it was a rare treat to be able to ride while staring out into the windowless wide open. He was right. I could have photographed the patterns of the passing world forever.
Since this is the first gallery, a little bit of instruction. Click on a thumbnail to blow it up, then click on the photo to see the next one.
Earlier, in the engine, I asked the train guys what was the craziest thing they’d ever seen along the rails. They said there wasn’t much of the crazy stuff that could be printed. They told a couple of stories, which I promised not to repeat (I know, sorry). And then one of the guys told about someone doing something really crazy and stupid. Funny thing is, I did that same thing all through the summer of ‘88.
I smiled, but kept quiet.
