Pictures I like
Looking through our archives at the pictures The Oklahoman staff photographers have turned in over the past 7 days, I realized that a few of my favorites were a good representation of the assignments we see in an average week. Sports, everything from high school to professional, features, news and a more in-depth feature.
Oklahoma City's Thabo Sefolosha (right) and Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant go after a loose ball during the NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma County jail inmate Jesus Lucero rides in an elevator as he cleans along with a group of jail trusties on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry
Michael Meyers, of Norman, waves a flag during a rally on the north side of the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma CIty on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman
Jovia Franklin (21) of El Reno makes a catch over the defense of Kale Thaxton (20) of Duncan during the high school football game between Duncan and El Reno in El Reno, Okla., Friday, November 6, 2009. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Cheri White Owl gives a hug to "Dan" at Horse Feathers Equine Rescue Facility in Guthrie, OK, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Thunder media day
Oklahoma City Thunder player Kevin Durant poses for Oklahoman staff photographer Chris Landsberger during media day for the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City on Monday, Sept. 28, 2009. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman
If either of you have looked in the paper and seen a nicely lit portrait of Sam Bradford, Dez Bryant or Russell Westbrook, chances are we didn’t take the picture the night before. We probably took the picture during the team’s media day. Professional and collegiate-level teams hold media days to try and meet a portion of media’s requests for access to players and coaches all at one time in one place. Basically, it’s a chance for still photographers, reporters, and video photographers to take pictures, ask questions and tape interviews so that later in the season we can concentrate on coverage of the teams. We usually archive the pictures so that when the sports department needs a nice portrait to augment a feature story, we can use a picture from media day instead of sports action photo from a game.
Chris Landsberger and I set up our station between the Associated Press and the official NBA photographers. We brought a backdrop, three lights, stands for the lights and background, pocket wizards, a pile of cords, battery packs for the lights and a partially filled basketball. The photographs that Chris took will be used throughout the season on NewsOK.com and in The Oklahoman.
Nick Collison talks with Thunder employees while staff photographer Chris Landsberger photographs another member of the team during media day for the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City on Monday, Sept. 28, 2009. By John Clanton, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
OU women to the Final Four
The OU bench takes the floor as Purdue's Jodi Howell leaves the court after OU's win in the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals between Oklahoma and Purdue at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
The Sooners are through to the Final Four. The OU women’s basketball team earned a trip to St. Louis by beating Purdue, 74-68, last night in the Ford Center. Here are some of the photos Bryan Terry and Steve Sisney took of the victory. To see a gallery of more photos from the game, click here.
OU's Ashley Paris looks to the basket between Purdue's Lakisha Freeman, left, and Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton during the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals between Oklahoma and Purdue at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Courtney Paris blocks a shot by Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton in the first half as the University of Oklahoma (OU) plays Purdue in the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
OU's Courtney Paris blocks the shot of Purdue's Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton during the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals between Oklahoma and Purdue at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Courtney Paris reacts after her basket in the first half as the University of Oklahoma (OU) plays Purdue in the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
The OU team celebrates after their win in the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals between Oklahoma and Purdue at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, March 31, 2009. OU won 74-68. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Sooner head coach Sherri Coale holds up the net after her team's 74-68 win over Purdue in the NCAA women's college basketball regional tournament finals at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. on Tuesday, March 31, 2009. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
To see a gallery of more pictures from the game, click here.
-Nate Billings
OU Men’s Road Comes To An End
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin walks to a post game interview after the 72-60 loss to North Carolina in the Elite Eight game of NCAA Men's Basketball Regional between the University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma at the FedEx Forum on Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Well, with the help of Blake Griffin the University of Oklahoma men’s basketball team had a great run to the NCAA Elite 8. I missed out on covering them in Kansas City, but was able to pick up with them in regional action played in Memphis. The Sooners had an impressive win over Syracuse, but just did not have the fire power to keep up with a North Carolina team with weapons that could score at will.
Below are a few of my favorite photos from the week in Memphis.
To see a gallery of photos from the loss to North Carolina, click here.
To see the win over Syracuse, click here.
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) looses the ball under the defensive pressuer of North Carolina's Ed Davis (32) and Wayne Ellington (22) during the first half in the Elite Eight game of NCAA Men's Basketball Regional between the University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma at the FedEx Forum on Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) drives past the defense of North Carolina's Deon Thompson (21) during the first half in the Elite Eight game of NCAA Men's Basketball Regional between the University of North Carolina and the University of Oklahoma at the FedEx Forum on Sunday, March 29, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma's Austin Johnson (20) reacts during a time out against Syracuse during the second half of the NCAA Men's Basketball Regional at the FedEx Forum on Friday, March 27, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Oklahoma's Blake Griffin (23) trips over Syracuse's Rautins (1) during the second half of the NCAA Men's Basketball Regional at the FedEx Forum on Friday, March 27, 2009, in Memphis, Tenn. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
-Chris Landsberger
OU men in Kansas City
Bryan Terry has been covering the OU men’s basketball team during the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament in Kansas City. Here’s some photos from the team’s win over Michigan to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. Both of our regular readers should note the new caption box feature on our photos here.
OU's Willie Warren, left, and Taylor Griffin fight with Michigan's Jevohn Sheperd for the ball as C.J. Lee watches during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
OU's Blake Griffin lands on Michigan's Manny Harris during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
OU's Willie Warren shoots the ball over Michigan's DeShawn Sims, left, and Manny Harris during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. Oklahoma won 73-63. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
OU's Blake Griffin dunks the ball over Michigan's Zack Novak during a second-round men's NCAA college basketball tournament game between Oklahoma and Michigan in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 21, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
To see a gallery with more photo from the game, click here.
-Nate Billings
Up late with Big 12 basketball
Texas Tech’s Mike Singletary (32), middle, and Darko Cohadarevic (31) react after a play in front of Bryan Davis (0) of Texas A&M in the second half of the opening round game between Texas Tech and Texas A&M during the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Texas Tech won, 88-83. PHOTO BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
The days with four games in a row at the Big 12 Basketball Championship can take a lot out of you. When the tournament is in our town, we photograph every game. If the tournament were in Kansas City or Dallas, we would only photograph Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, our teams. By the time the fourth game rolls around on the first day, it can be hard to keep focused if neither OU or OSU are playing. Mike Singletary and Texas Tech, however, kept my attention in the second half with an amazing performance and made it worth sticking around last night.
Singletary scored 43 points, including 29 in a row, off the bench to lead Texas Tech to the biggest comeback in Big 12 tournament history. As the game was starting, I was still in the media workroom. I looked up at the score as I was editing photos from the Oklahoma State game against Iowa State. Texas A&M was up 15-2 early. At that point I didn’t feel too excited about rushing back out to the court to photograph a blowout. I’m glad I stuck around. Singletary’s reaction during Tech’s rally, seen above, made the best picture I took all day.
We’ve got two photo galleries from yesterday, divided into the two tournament sessions.
For the first session with Baylor vs. Nebraska and Colorado vs. Texas, click here.
For the second session with OSU vs. Iowa State and Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M, click here.
-Nate Billings
Class A & B basketball finals are in the books
Red Oak celebrates their win over Garber in the Class B State Basketball finals, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
The Class A & B teams played their championship games in the state basketball tournament on Saturday at the Big House. Now it is time for the longest week of the year as we prepare to cover the 2A through 6A championships along with the men’s and women’s Big 12 basketball tournaments. It’s going to be all basketball all the time for much of staff. I’ll try to keep this updated throughout the week with photos and some behind the scenes looks at all the tournaments.
Here’s some photos from the A & B finals by Sarah Phipps and Brenda O’Brian. For gallery of even more photos from the games, click here.
Preston’s Maylisa Johnson kisses the championship trophy following the girls Class A State Basketball finals between Preston and Crowder, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Varnum’s Jordan Hamilton, left, and Devin Satawake celebrate their Class B State Basketball championship win over Cyril, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Garber’s Dylan Postier (5) and Red Oak’s Stuart Sullivan (23) jump for a rebound during the boys Class B State Basketball finals between Red Oak and Garber, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY BRENDA O’BRIAN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Cash Overton (3) reacts to Texhoma’s loss to Preston during the boys Class A State Basketball, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN
Cyril’s Shelbi Stallings and Chelsea Reynolds (20) react to Cyril’s loss after the girls’ Class B State Basketball finals, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY BRENDA O’BRIAN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Preston’s John Paul Yeager kiss the champion trophy following the boys Class A State Basketball finals between Preston and Texhoma, Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City . PHOTO BY BRENDA O’BRIAN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Check out more photos from the games in this photo gallery.
-Nate Billings
Class A & B are through the semis
Hillary Konsure of Crowder celebrates beside Okarche’s Macy Kunneman, left, and Katie Beebe after Crowder’s win in the Class A girls basketball state tournament semifinal game at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
The finals of the Class A & B state basketball tournament are today at State Fair Arena (aka the Big House). Sarah Phipps and Brenda O’Brian, our intern, will be down there all day covering the action and emotion.
Here’s a gallery of photos from Thursday’s first-round games. And to see a gallery from the semifinals on Friday, click here.
Below are some photos from Friday.
Chattanooga fans Payton Howell and Corey Garza, from left, cheer on the Lady Warriors as they take on Varnum during the semifinals of the Class B girls Oklahoma State Basketball Championships at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Cyril’s Emily Horn and Chelsea Reynolds (20) react to the overtime win against Lomega during the semifinals of the Class B girls Oklahoma State Basketball Championships at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
The Okarche girls huddle up at center court before the semifinals of the Class A girls Oklahoma State Basketball Championships against Crowder at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Big Pasture’s Dillon McGill, left, and Red Oak’s Jordan Booth dive for the ball during the Class B boys basketball state tournament semifinal game between Red Oak and Big Pasture at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Preston’s Willie Huffman (10) reacts after hitting the game-winning shot in the final second of overtime against Ripley during the semifinals of the Class A boys Oklahoma State Basketball Championships at the State Fair Arena on Friday, March 6, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER , THE OKLAHOMAN
Cashion coach Chad Tichenor consoles Alycia Cavazos during the Class A girls basketball state tournament semifinal game between Preston and Cashion at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Red Oak’s Lane Adams scores a basket between Big Pasture’s Briton Groves, left, Tyler Waggoner, Trace King, and Dillon McGill during the Class B boys basketball state tournament semifinal game between Red Oak and Big Pasture at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 6, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Check out more pictures in our galleries from Thursday and Friday.
We’ll have more after the championships
-Nate Billings
Thunder Super Fans
Thunder super fans, from left, Zeb Benbrook, Thunder Man, Derrick Seys, and Angela Love pose for a portrait outside the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Here’s a little something that I wanted to share with you all from last month. Bryan Terry took photos of super fans of the Oklahoma City Thunder for a Jenni Carlson story. Originally, the editors just wanted to get pictures of the NBA fans cheering at the games. Bryan decided it might make more interesting photos to take portraits of the super fans outside of the Ford Center. He even lit them to give a super-hero quality to the shots.
Check out some of the pictures below, along with a couple of photos showing his lighting set up.
You can see a gallery of all of the photos here.
Thunder super fan Zeb Benbrook poses for a portrait outside the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Thunder super fan Derrick Seys poses for a portrait outside the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Thunder super fan Thunder Man, who keeps his real identity a secret, poses for a portrait outside the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
Thunder super fan Angela Love poses for a portrait outside the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009. PHOTO BY BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
A wide shot of Thunder Man showing part of the lighting set up.
Here you can see all three lights used in the photo. Our intern, Brenda O’Brian, who assisted Bryan on the shoot, is on the left in the photo.
To see all the photos, click here.
To read Jenni Carlson’s story, click here.
-Nate Billings
The Big House and strobe lights
In this view from the catwalk, workers assemble the Big House floor at State Fair Arena in preparation for the state high school basketball championships, in Oklahoma City, Monday, March 2, 2009. BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
The Oklahoma State Basketball Tournament begins tomorrow with Class A and B high schools at the Big House. For those of you who do not follow high school basketball, the Big House is the nickname given to State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City for the state basketball championships. Class B through 4A play at the Big House, while the 5A and 6A championships are at other arenas. This year 5A and 6A are at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla.
The yearly ritual for photographers at The Oklahoman is to go down to State Fair Arena and check our strobe lights. Sports photographers often install strobes lights that can be triggered remotely at arenas for basketball games when the available light is too dark to stop the action in photographs or the light is just plain ugly. The Big House is too dark to shoot without some sort of flash.
Oklahoman staff photographer Chris Landsberger cuts cable to connect a strobe light in the catwalk at State Fair Arena in preparation for the state high school basketball championships, in Oklahoma City, Monday, March 2, 2009. BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
We also have lights in the Ford Center, Gallagher-Iba Arena, and the Lloyd Noble Center. Those arenas are just bright enough to photograph with available light, however, we often use our strobes for remote cameras or when we just want the photos to look better. Instead of taking pictures at 1600 ISO or higher, we are able to shoot at 200 ISO with the strobes installed in the ceiling. The lower the ISO, the better the quality. The downside to using the strobe lights is you can only get one shot about every two seconds while the lights recycle. Without the lights, our cameras will shoot between 5 and 8 frames per second.
On Monday, Chris Landsberger with a little help from me went down to State Fair Arena to check our lights and reinstall the the cable that links all four lights together. There are two radio receivers attached to the cable. The radios receive a signal from our cameras and then fire the strobe lights (there’s one in each corner) in sync with our cameras.
A view of the spookiest part of the catwalk at State Fair Arena, the walk from the stands to the ring around the ceiling of the arena, in Oklahoma City, Monday, March 2, 2009. BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
I’m not a big fan of heights, but the State Fair Arena catwalk doesn’t bother me as much as the one at the Ford Center. Perhaps that is because the Ford Center’s catwalk is more than twice as high. However, the catwalk at the State Fair Arena is very dark, dirty, and sways back and forth when you walk on it. Not very reassuring.
Look for our photos from the championships for the next couple of weeks in The Oklahoman, on our photo page NewOK.com, and on this blog.
We’ve also got a gallery of some of the pictures from past state tournaments. You can check that out here.
-Nate Billings
