The most recent Thunder game
Oklahoma City Thunder fans watch Miami's LeBron James toss chalk into the air before their NBA basketball game at the OKC Arena in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
I was tempted to spend time finding the perfect pun for the title of this post. It might have involving the name of Miami’s NBA basketball team and Oklahoma’s forecast over the next week. I thought about it, but I couldn’t bring myself to go through with it. Sarah Phipps and I shot nearly 40 GB of images during Sunday afternoon’s game. Sarah used two remote cameras and hand-held two cameras.
Take a look at all the images we turned in by clicking here or read all about the Thunder’s loss to the Heat by clicking here.
-John Clanton
Remember the 10
Fans hold a sign during a ceremony at halftime honoring the ten men who died in the OSU plane crash. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Ten years ago today, 10 men with the Oklahoma State basketball program died in a plane crash while returning from a game against Colorado. OSU honored those who died with a ceremony retiring the No. 10 during halftime of last night’s basketball game against Texas. Here of some photos Sarah Phipps took at the game.
To see a gallery of more photos from last night’s ceremony and game, click here.
For videos and stories from The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com about the tenth anniversary of the crash, click here.
Former OSU head coach Eddie Sutton bows his head during a moment of silence before the basketball game between Oklahoma State and Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
A view of the memorial to the victims of the OSU plane crash, after the basketball game between Oklahoma State and Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
The No. 10 is retired during a halftime ceremony at the basketball game between Oklahoma State and Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Karlene Durfey pauses at the section of the OSU memorial for her brother, Kendall Carlton Durfey, before the basketball game between Oklahoma State and Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
"Remember the 10" t-shirts sit on the seats of Gallagher-Iba Arena before the basketball game between Oklahoma State and Texas, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, Stillwater, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Click here for more photos. And see more of our coverage of the tenth anniversary of the OSU plane crash here.
-Nate Billings
Star Wars Day at Lloyd Noble
R2-D2 sits by the court as the teams warm up before the men's college basketball game between the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. This R2-D2 was built and controlled by Chris Campbell of DeWitt, Ark., with the 501st Legion, a group of Star Wars costume enthusiasts. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
It was an exciting afternoon at Lloyd Noble Center last Saturday. First, the OU men’s basketball team won a conference game, defeating Colorado 67-60. And almost better than a win from the Sooners, it was Star Wars Day at the game. I must admit, as a lifelong lover of the Star Wars films (and to be clear, I’m just talking about the original three. I don’t have enough space to get into my complex feeling about the prequels), I thought this was a very cool idea for a promotion.
Members of the 501st Legion, a national group of costumed Star Wars fans, walked around the concourse posing for photos and entertained fans on the court during time-outs and at the half. The costumes from the 501st were really remarkable and looked as if the characters stepped right off the big screen. Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca, was at the game too, signing autographs for fans after the win.
The only member of the Rebellion in attendance was an R2-D2 built and controlled by Chris Campbell of DeWitt, Ark. Campbell told me he had worked over the last two-and-a-half years to build his remote controlled R2-D2. It was impressive.
To see some pictures from the actual basketball game, click here.
OU mascots Boomer and Sooner stand with Darth Vader before the men's college basketball game between the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Cole Svob, 5, of Pond Creek, Okla., gets an autograph from a Tusken Raider before the men's college basketball game between the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Charlie Briggs, 11, left, of Norman, Okla., poses for a photo with a stormtrooper as his father, James Briggs, middle, takes a picture before the men's college basketball game between the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
-Nate Billings
Pictures I Like-Previously Unseen Version
A horse named Lone Wolf stands up and leaves Saddle Bronc rider Jon Tyson holding onto the fence during the International Finals Rodeo at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
I’ve probably averaged one or two rodeo events a year for the last 14 years. Even so, I saw a couple of things on Sunday during the last day of the IFR that I’d never seen before; a horse stood straight up in the chute (above) and left a cowboy hanging on the fence and the ‘Equine Ambulance’ made an appearance, although in the end it wasn’t needed.
I’ve written before about pictures that aren’t used in the newspaper. Sometimes our favorite pictures get left out because there’s no room, but occasionally we turn in pictures that we know have little chance of being used. Toward the end of the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, there was a long line of car and motorcycle clubs. When the motorcycle riders spun their tires everyone thought it was great, until the smoke and the smell of burning rubber floated into the crowd. This picture (below) is not really indicative of the overall feeling or the spirit of the parade as a whole, so I knew it wouldn’t get used in the paper, but I like it anyway.
You can always see our photo galleries by clicking here, or take a closer look at the images from the parade yesterday by clicking here.
Jennifer Birdine reacts to smoke and the smell of burning rubber as members of a motorcycle club spin their tires during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Oklahoma City on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Kim Randle, a client at Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled, dances and sings with Elvis impersonator, Mike Black, during the grand opening of the new Impact Oklahoma Recreation Center at the Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Images from the MLK Parade
Dennis Lewis and his son, Dennis, Jr. walk the parade route during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Oklahoma City on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Dennis Lewis was in second grade when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. He met Martin Luther King III once, and even traveled to Memphis to see where the civil rights leader and pastor was assassinated. Lewis started carrying an American flag in the MLK Parade in Oklahoma City in 1982. He’s near the front of the parade every year. “It’s a day of togetherness,” he says as he waits for the 2011 parade to start. “It should be like this everyday.” This year Dennis’ son walked next to him, carrying a portrait of King. “I wanted to show my son and the younger generation behind me, the significance of the day and the sacrifices that was made before us.”
To see more images from this year’s parade, click here.
State Representative Anastasia Pittman carries a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Martin Luther King Jr. parade in downtown on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
The SGI-USA float passes by spectators during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade in Oklahoma City on Monday, Jan. 17, 2011. SGI-USA is a Lay Buddhist Organization. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Best of 2010-The rest of the months
John Pfeiffer, of Pfeiffer Angus Farms, walks across a dried up part of one of his ponds on his ranch near Orlando, Wednesday, December 15, 2010. Photo by David McDaniel, The Oklahoman
I’ve strung this out too long. I think that by Jan. 12, 2011, we should be looking at pictures from this year and not looking backwards. So this is it. A colossal blog post featuring some of our best pictures from the last four months of 2010. Click on all the links to past posts, galleries and slideshows and you’ll be all caught up on 2010.
Roderick Norwood Jr., 2, trick-or-treats, Saturday Oct. 30, 2010, in the Mesta Park Neighborhood in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
We’re always busy in the fall with high school and college football, RedHawks baseball, feature stories and the usual newspaper assignments. We produced slideshows about Route 66 Bowl, Moore High School football Head Coach Scott Myers, and Kody Turner, a high school football player who died after football practice in September. Sarah Phipps worked on a story about Oklahoma City Firefighter Kent Collins, that was published in October, and there’s a nice slideshow about the 2010 Bedlam football game.
OSU's Justin Blackmon (81) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Aaron Williams (4) of Texas in the second quarter during the college football game between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Texas Longhorns (UT) at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas, Saturday, November 13, 2010. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
James Bowman gets a hug from one of his caregivers, Sherry Spangler, at a home he shares with roommates in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, August 25, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Our interns, Miranda Grubbs and Mitch Alcala left us at the end of July. We wrote about their pictures, and we had some other interesting posts toward the end of 2010. Some of our memorable pictures and posts include Welcome to the South Pole, OSU and OU pictures just days before Bedlam, 5 years at The Oklahoman, Happy Halloween, the State Fair, black mud and minnows, the most photographed rainbow of the year, Bryan Terry’s pictures, and Of Light and Shade.
Visitors to the Oklahoma State Fair ride the tram on Wednesday, September 22, 2010. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
School principal JoAnn Simpson-Miller talks with a distraught Jorge Gonzales, 5, as he sits on the floor outside his kindergarten classroom at Sunset Elementary School on the first day of classes in Edmond Thursday, August 19, 2010. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman
A member of the Oklahoma State marching band keeps playing while walking through praying members of the Oklahoma football team during the Bedlam college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
If you haven’t already, click here to see our best news and feature pictures of the year or click here to see our best sports photos of the year. We publish new photo galleries everyday at this site and this page holds an archive of our slideshows going back to Feb. 1, 2008.
I looked through thousands of pictures from 2010 to write about them for Alternate Crop. If we had a Photographer of the Year Award at The Oklahoman, I would nominate for Bryan Terry. His name is the only one that made the final edit during every month of the Best of 2010 series. He routinely brings back compelling pictures from a wide variety of assignments. In 2010 he he got nice images everything from Division 1 college football and NBA basketball to junior rodeos, candlelight vigils and neighborhood picnics. If such an award actually existed, Bryan would likely received a refurbished soccer trophy from 1984 during a banquet that would be held on my back porch.
So, that’s it for 2010. We’ll get back to concentrating on our newest pictures and multimedia projects.
-John Clanton
Inauguration Day
Tim Francis, of FrameMaster Gallery in Edmond, unrolls a portrait of Governor Mary Fallin as he replaces the portrait of former Governor Brad Henry in the House of Representatives Chamber at the Oklahoma State Capitol before the Inauguration of Mary Fallin in Oklahoma City on Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Mary Fallin was sworn in as Oklahoma’s 27th governor, and the first female governor, during a ceremony today outside the State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Staff Photographers Jim Beckel and Chris Landsberger photographed the ceremony outside, while I stayed inside to watch a much quicker ceremony. One with considerably less fanfare and no Toby Keith. Tim Francis, who owns FrameMaster Gallery in Edmond, Oklahoma, was hired to switch out the portrait of Brad Henry that hangs in the House of Representatives Chamber, with a portrait of Oklahoma’s newest Governor, Mary Fallin.
Gov. Mary Fallin enters the ballroom with her husband Wade Christensen during Fallin's inaugural ball at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Monday, January 10, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Maybe it’s because I’m a photographer, but the process of switching out an official portrait in the House of Representatives Chamber seemed intriguing to me. I thought of it months ago when I was on assignment in the House Chamber. Brad Henry’s portrait had been in pretty much the same place for eight years, for awhile next to George W. Bush, and then next to Barack Obama. I was reminded at the Capitol today, though, that the portraits did get moved around once or twice-unofficially. So, Mary Fallin’s portrait is locked into place for at least four years until it is moved to a more remote corner of the House Chamber, next to Brad Henry.
You can watch a slideshow of our images here, or take a look at the photo gallery that includes all the pictures we took from today’s ceremony.
Mary Fallin with husband Wade Christensen by her side is sworn in as governor by Chief Justice Steven Taylor during the 2011 inauguration of Mary Copeland Fallin as the 27th Governor of the State of Oklahoma at the Oklahoma State Capitol on Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Best of 2010-Part 7 of 12
Tyke Kipp of Lordsburg, N.M., takes cover after falling off his horse in the saddle bronc event during the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Okla., Friday, July 16, 2010. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
We’ve made it up to July. At this rate we’ll get through last year’s highlights by next week. One of my favorite fourth of July pictures was taken by Sarah Phipps this month. We also had more flooding, International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee and the 2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships in Edmond. There were a couple of slideshows worth looking at, one about watermelon seed spitting, the other one is about catfish noodling. Remember, you can take a look at all of our photo galleries or you can click on these images to see larger versions.
People leave in a haze of smoke following the LibertyFest fireworks show at the University of Central Oklahoma, Sunday, July 4, 2010, in Edmond, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City Fire Department Chaplain Ted Wilson comforts the mother of drowning victim after he told her the body of her son had been found in the Oklahoma River. Oklahoma City firefighters and nearby residents searched the receding waters of Lightning Creek in south Oklahoma City Tuesday morning, July 7, 2010. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Veteran Paul Jones, of Guthrie, hugs his daughter Allison Robinson, after he looks up names on the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall at Reaves Park in Norman on Sunday, July 4, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
USA's Kari Miller (10) and Nichole Millage celebrates a point during the 2010 Sitting Volleyball World Championships Women's gold medal match between USA and China, Sunday, July 18, 2010, at the University of Central Oklahoma, in Edmond, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Ryan Hammer, the father of Chasity Hammer, pauses in front of the casket during the funeral for Katrina Griffin and her children, Christian Griffin, 8, and Chasity Hammer, 6, at First Baptist Church in Blanchard, Oklahoma, Friday, July 30, 2010. The bodies of Griffin and her two children were found burned in their home near Dibble, Oklahoma, on July 23, 2010. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Best of 2010-Part 6 of 12
The Amazing Boobzilla breathes fire during the Carnival of Cleavage sideshow, Friday, June 11, 2010, in Bricktown in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Two days ago I found an old fortune cookie in my coat pocket. The fortune inside said ‘under-promise and over deliver.’ Clearly, I could have used that advice before I started the ill-fated attempt to get 12 months of pictures written into blog posts late in December. So here we are in January looking at pictures from June of last year, but I’m determined to get through the Best of 2010 series. Most of the pictures in Best of 2010 deserve another look and in some cases, this is the first time they’ve ever been published.
There was a slideshow about Vietnam Veterans in June that you can watch by clicking here. And, of course, there’s the entire Best of 2010 gallery and the Best Sports photo gallery.
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
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
Rylee Cook, 7, swims at Pelican Bay Aquatic Center, Saturday, June, 19, 2010, in Edmond, Okla. Photo by Sarah Phipps, 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
-John Clanton
Happy New Year
Fans cheer during the Flaming Lips New Year's Eve Freakout at the Cox Convention Center, Friday, Dec. 31, 2010, in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Here are a few images from the last few minutes of 2010 and the first couple of days of the new year. A couple of these were published in the newspaper, but not all of them. If you missed the Sports Monday section of this morning’s newspaper there was a layout of some of our favorite sports images from 2010. You can see all 68 of our favorite sports images by clicking here.
Oklahoma City fan Garrett Haviland welcomes in the new year by cheering for the Thunder during their NBA basketball game against Atlanta at the OKC Arena in Oklahoma City on Friday, Dec. 31, 2010. The Thunder beat the Hawks 103-94. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
A puck gets past Oklahoma City's goalie Martin Gerber during the Barons' game against Rockford during their game at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma's Demarco Murray (7) celebrates after a touchdown during the Fiesta Bowl college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the University of Connecticut Huskies in Glendale, Ariz., at the University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
