Pictures I Like-Summer version
Zachary English, 8, stands in the bed of a 1945 Ford fire truck during the LibertyFest car show on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond, Okla., Saturday, June 26, 2010. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
There have been some nice pictures hitting Merlin in the last week. I wanted to get a few published here, just in case either of you had missed them. Bryan Terry is putting on a clinic on proper use of a 50mm @ 1.4 (above). Our interns Miranda Grubbs and Mitchell Alcala are turning in some good work, and Jim Beckel got a classic summer-time feature. As always you can look at galleries of our pictures here.
Drag Queen Roxie Hart performs in platform heels during the Oklahoma City Pride Parade on Sunday, June 27, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Adrian Peterson high fives campers after a scrimmage at the Adrian Peterson Football Camp on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Okla. Friday, June 25, 2010. Photo by Miranda Grubbs, The Oklahoman
Robert Channler of Car Cab Wrecker Service wades through the river after checking the vehicals VIN number. Cars were found in the Oklahoma River on Thursday June 17th, 2010. Photo by Mitchell Alcala, The Oklahoman
Nicole Blakley, left, and Blake Masterson of Oklahoma City watch the sunset at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, June 23, 2010. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Jerrod Williams, Jr., 2, is lifted into the air by his mother as a water-filled bucket is dumped onto him at at a spray park in Douglass Park, NE 10 and Carverdale on the first day of summer, June 21, 2010. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Pride Parade
Ana Gonzalez (right) and a friend join hundreds of other participants as they watch a performance during a street show before the Oklahoma City Pride Parade on Sunday, June 27, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Staff Photographers at The Oklahoman made new photo galleries over the last few days. I photographed the OKC Pride Parade on Sunday night, but take a look at images from the Vietnam Wall, the funeral for Hannah Diggs Atkins, and Camp Funny Bone, by visiting the photo galleries page.
-John Clanton
Another round of unpublished
There’s only so much room in the newspaper. It stands to reason that not all of the photographs that we turn in are going to get in. We publish pictures in our photo galleries, but just in case either of you had forgotten to click on the galleries lately, here’s a few nice pictures that you didn’t see in the newspaper.
Rowdy gets a kiss from one of the RedHawks' staff during the Oklahoma City RedHawks game against New Orleans on Tuesday, June 15, 2010, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
A participant enters the arena during the grand entry at the Red Earth Festival at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Sunday, June 20, 2010. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
The Air Force Thunderbirds perform during the Star Spangled Salute Air Show at Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City, OK, Saturday, June 19, 2010. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman
Alex Hay, 15, of Edmond, Okla., practices during a modern dance class at the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at the Quartz Mountain Arts Institute and Conference Center in Lone Wolf, Okla. Saturday, June 19, 2010. Photo by Miranda Grubbs, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Photographing a funeral
Chelsie Jirtle, 5, holds a flag given to her by soldiers as the casket for her father, U.S. Army SPC Charles Scott Jirtle, is removed, Wednesday, June 16, 2010 in Lawton, Oklahoma. Hundreds of mourners came to First Baptist East Church in Lawton to attend the funeral. Jirtle, 29, of Lawton, was killed June 7, 2010 in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Last week, Staff Photographer Jim Beckel covered a funeral for Charles Scott Jirtle. He contributes these thoughts about the event:
As a father, this image of a young girl clutching an American flag behind her father’s casket was one of the most difficult photographs I’ve ever taken. When I was younger, it was easier for me to remain detached from my subjects at this type of assignment. The passing years have brought not only wisdom, but the understanding that as a person, the emotions of my subjects often affect my emotions, and as a journalist my job is more complicated than simply observing and documenting. I still do the same job, but now I sometimes have to focus my lens through the tears.
Photo-geek
I’ve been a photo-geek at my home lately, and it all started with this picture.
A sliver of wood lies on the ground while artist Charles Wright, of Norman, works on a project during the Festival of the Arts in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Wednesday, April 21, 2010. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman
To be perfectly honest, I should say ‘more of a photo-geek.’ A few months back, DOP Doug Hoke said he want to see some more unusual and artistic pictures from the Festival of the Arts in downtown Oklahoma City. I used an old photography trick to get a detail picture (above) of a sliver of wood. I’ve probably been looking at too many nature pictures in National Geographic, but ever since that Festival of the Arts assignment, I’ve been taking my camera out to the backyard, flipping the 50mm around the wrong way, and photographing flowers, leaves and any bug that doesn’t move too fast. Here’s a few images I’ve come up with. This is what a photo-geek does after work, but before re-runs of Star Trek The Next Generation.
Water beads up on a blade of grass after a rainstorm. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
A flower on a mimosa tree in The Village. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
An ant crawls around inside a Mimosa tree flower on June 15, 2010. Photo by John Clanton
-John Clanton
Flooding in Oklahoma City
Staff photographers headed to different parts of the Oklahoma City metro this morning, trying to photograph areas of the city that were hit hardest by heavy rains and flooding.
Click here to see a gallery of our photos from today’s record rainfall.
A motorist walks away from her stalled vehicle as Oklahoma City firefighters work to rescue other stalled vehicles on Hefner Road between Kelly Avenue and the Broadway Extension in Oklahoma City, Monday, June 14, 2010. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman
Daniel Parker splashes water while sitting on his mailbox in front of his house in the Palo Verde Addition in Edmond, OK, after flood waters inundated a number of homes in the area, Monday, June 14, 2010. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City firefighters rescued stranded motorist Randy Robinson from a bridge near Hefner Road and Sooner in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma June 14 , 2010. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
A local resident walks near flooding water as it spills over the dam south of Hefner between MacArthur and Rockwell in Oklahoma City on Monday, June 14, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
As always, you can see galleries of our pictures here.
-John Clanton
Endeavor Games
Miranda Grubbs photographed the Endeavor Games at the University of Central Oklahoma this weekend.
Cody McCasland, 8, of Colleyville, Texas, celebrates with his mom, Tina, after swimming a race at the Endeavor Games on the UCO campus in Edmond, Okla. Sunday, June 13, 2010. Photo by Miranda Grubbs, The Oklahoman
I mentioned a few posts back that Miranda is one of the Photo department’s summer interns this year. Click here to see more of her pictures from this weekend’s Endeavor Games, as well as images from Staff Photographer Jim Beckel.
Brady Murphy, 23, of Sioux Falls, S.D.., participates in the backstroke during the Endeavor Games on the UCO campus in Edmond, Okla. Sunday, June 13, 2010. Photo by Miranda Grubbs, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Welcome Home
Since 2001, I’ve photographed many deployment ceremonies and even more homecoming ceremonies for US Army and National Guard Soldiers. Last week I photographed a homecoming from a different point of view.
Russell Traut, age 3, plays on the bleachers inside Rinehart Fitness Center, while Billy Nash, (right) a member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 751, waits for soldiers to arrive prior to a homecoming ceremony for soldiers returning from Iraq at Fort Sill on Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Russell Traut and his family welcomed home Russell's father, SSgt. Michael Traut. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Members of The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 751 have been at every deployment and return since Sept. 11, 2001. They arrive early and get seats near the band. They watch the return ceremony with family members and current soldiers. Afterward, veterans like J.C. Humphries and Norm Windsor make their way through the crowd and greet as many soldiers as they can. As you can hear in the slideshow, or read in Ron’s story, the Vietnam Veterans hope they are giving today’s soldiers the welcome home that they never had.
J.C. Humphries, a Vietnam Veteran, welcomes soldiers home during a ceremony for soldiers returning from Iraq at Fort Sill on Tuesday, June 8, 2010. Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 751, have been to every deployment and return since Sept. 11, 2001. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Prom Night
Glenn Wright keeps a necklace with 5 engagement rings on it. When he gets a girlfriend, she gets a ring.
Glenn shows the ring that he gave to a new girlfriend during the Evening of Enchantment Prom at the Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled. (Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman)
There’s a dance every Thursday night at the Oklahoma Foundation for the disabled. Even so, the prom is the most important dance of the year.
-John Clanton
Superstitious
I know it is unfounded and nothing is true to predict any outcome of events, but I have to admit to being a little superstitious. So being that I had the opportunity to cover the start of the NCAA baseball post season regional (which if you did not know is most likely the most superstitious based sports there is around) I always find it interesting to watch for the little thing baseball players do to insure a win. Here is a portrait I captured of the University of Oklahoma’s Garrett Buechele wearing his glove over his hat. Almost at all times Buechele wears his glove this way except when he is covering third base for the Sooners as they move on to the Super Regional this week. Maybe it does work??
Oklahoma's Garrett Buechele wears his glove over his hat before the start of the NCAA regional baseball game between the University of Oklahoman and Oral Roberts University on Friday, June 4, 2010, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
