OKC Boathouse District at dusk

Chesapeake Finish Line Tower at dusk on the Oklahoma River, Friday, November 11, 2011. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman

Doug Hoke made some beautiful photos of Oklahoma City’s growing Boathouse District last Friday evening before a society assignment he had there.

Check out more of his photos from the Boathouse District in this gallery.

Devon Boathouse at dusk on the Oklahoma River, Friday, November 11, 2011. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman

-Nate Billings


Unpublished Fashion Show

Marjorie Maupin (foreground) takes pictures as she and other guests watch models walk down the runway during a fashion show called Insight, a celebration of Culture and Style at National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

I had fun photographing a fashion show a few weeks ago. I’ve had fashion show assignments before, but never one that was this organized. As usual, I left my strobes in the trunk of the car and tried to take advantage of the interesting, and sometimes difficult, available light in the room. There’s not going to be room for these pictures in the newspaper, so I’ll show a few here.

The show, which was held at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, featured modern styles inspired by traditional Afghan and Rwandan attire. Students from Oklahoma State University designed and created some of the clothing featured in the show. All proceeds from the event benefit The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women and their program called Peace Through Business.

You can see more pictures by Staff Photographers at The Oklahoman by following this link, or take a look at what’s in the Mood section of NewsOK.com.

A guest gets a close look at clothing desgned by and OSU student during a fashion show called Insight, a celebration of Culture and Style at National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

A model walks down the runway during a fashion show called Insight, a celebration of Culture and Style at National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. The show featured modern styles inspired by traditional Afghan and Rwandan attire. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

A model walks down the runway during a fashion show called Insight, a celebration of Culture and Style at National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

Kimberly McCullough carries a dress designed by an OSU student to a potential customer during a fashion show called Insight, a celebration of Culture and Style at National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, July 19, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton


Pictures I Like-Early summer version

Bill Zitzow, of Oklahoma City, holds an historic 15 star flag during the Flag Day Celebration ceremony at Midwest City Elks Lodge #1890 in Midwest City, Okla., on Sunday, June 12, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

Some interesting pictures have been turned in by staff photographers at The Oklahoman over the last week or so. With only one exception, this collection of pictures was never published in the paper. There are galleries with more images from the Flag Day Celebration, the endeavor games, the Ozarka Oklahoma City Nationals Drag Boat Races, Mugglefest, the Mission Academy Graduation, and pictures from the last day of the NCAA Div. 1 Men’s Golf Championship at Karsten Creek.

The main dish at the Crawfish Festival in Yukon, June 4 2011. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman

Richard Browne, Endeavor Games athlete from Jackson, Mississippi practices the high jump in Edmond, Oklahoma , Friday, June 10, 2011. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman

Team Oklahoma's Taggart Lockhart of Talihina, left, collides with Daniel Green of Team Texas during the Faith 7 Basketball Bowl at the Noble Complex on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla., Saturday, June 11, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

The 2011 graduation class gathers in prayer with Oklahoma Outreach Foundation Board of Director Karen Mather during the Mission Academy graduation at the OPUBCO Auditorium on, Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton


Watching the Clouds Go By

The other night I had a few minutes of down time before the start of a high school soccer game that I was shooting at Deer Creek. As I waited for the game to start, my mind began to wonder just like a kid that plays the outfield in t-ball, and I began to notice the very interesting cloud formations that were floating by overhead. In order to not let them go to waste, I grabbed my camera and went to work. Here are a few of the clouds formations I captured. You can see a few more photo in the photo gallery.

Cloud formations in the sky on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, in Edmond, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman


Cloud formations in the sky on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, in Edmond, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman


Cloud formations in the sky on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, in Edmond, Okla. This photo was shot under exposed to capture the gold light in the clouds from the sunset. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman


Cloud formations in the sky on Tuesday, April 12, 2011, in Edmond, Okla. This photo was shot under exposed to capture the gold light in the clouds from the sunset. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman


Pictures I Like-International version

An eldery Japanese man observes the area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the port town of Kesennuma, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, on Monday, April 11, 2011. Exactly a month ago today a massive earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan's northeastern coastal region. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)

I’ve written several times about Merlin, the archive system that stores our pictures, but we also use Merlin to store images from the Associated Press. Over the weekend, there were pictures from news events submitted by photographers in places like Brazil, Japan, India, Spain, Australia and Japan. Here’s a couple of images taken in the last few days. You can always see local images by following this link to The Oklahoman’s photo galleries.

Spanish bullfighter Francisco Pajares performs during a bullfight at the Las Ventas Bullring in Madrid, Sunday, April 10, 2011. Bullfighting is an ancient tradition in Spain and the season runs from March to October. (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez)

A model coordinator asks models to line up before a show during the Wills Life Style India Fashion Week, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, April 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Bangladesh batsman Shahriar Nafees plays a shot in front of Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin during their second one-day international cricket match in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, April 11, 2011. Australia won the first match of the three-game series on Saturday. (AP Photo/Mir Farid)

An anti-government protestor kisses a Yemeni army soldier during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in Taiz,Yemen, Thursday, April 7, 2011. The Yemeni opposition has welcomed an offer by Arab Gulf states to mediate between the president and opposition protesters who have demanded Ail Abdullah Saleh step down after 32 years in power. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)

-John Clanton


The Big Question

This week was a good week that kept me busy shooting, but the bad part of that is most of everything I shot is to be published at a later date. That means those photos are not ready to hit our blog just yet.

After looking back over the week, there was a very fun moment that I was able to witness. On the cold Tuesday March 29th night at the Bricktown Ballpark where the Oklahoma City Redhawks were playing an exhibition game against the Houston Astros. Baseball fan Mitchell Walser had put together a plan to take his girlfriend Heather Carlquist by complete surprise.

It was late in the game and the Redhawks were having fun with the fans by spotlighting couples with the ‘Kiss Cam’ to broadcast them on the outfield monitor. The fun was wrapping up when the camera targeted Mitchell and Heather as the last couple to give each other a kiss. Mitchell calmly gave Heather a kiss, stood her up, led her to the center isle, and to her surprise Mitchell got down a one knee and asked Heather the big question. In Heather’s reaction, all she could do was smile ear to ear and cover her face in her hands as she was presented the ring.

Heather Carlquist reacts as she is surprised with a marriage proposal by boyfriend Mitchell Walser during the exhibition game between the Redhawks and the Houston Astros at the Bricktown Ballpark on Tuesday, March, 29, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

By the way she did say yes! Congrats to Mitchell and Heather.
-Chris Landsberger


Now for something completely different

This image shows Mercury's horizon as the spacecraft Messenger was moving northward along the first orbit during which MDIS was turned on. On March 17, 2011 Messenger became the first spacecraft to orbit the planet Mercury. (AP Photo/NASA)

Scanning through Merlin this afternoon looking for interesting pictures, what caught my eye were images from NASA of the planet Mercury. The picture above was taken by the spacecraft Messenger and is the first image ever made from a spacecraft while in orbit around Mercury.

The photograph below, taken in 2008, shows the eastern part of Mercury, the smallest and closest planet in our solar system. The colors in this picture are different than what would be seen with the naked eye, but show information about the different rock types and subtle color variations on the oddball planet. The bright yellow part is the Caloris impact basin, which is the site of one of the biggest in the solar system. For the first time, Earth has a regular orbiting eye-in-the-sky spying on the solar system’s smallest and strangest planet, Mercury. NASA’s spacecraft called Messenger successfully veered into a pinpoint orbit Thursday night after a 6 1/2-year trip and 4.9 billion miles and tricky maneuvering to fend off the gravitational pull of the sun. It is the fifth planet in our solar system that NASA has orbited, in addition to the Earth and the moon.

This image released by NASA shows an enhanced photo image of Mercury from its Messenger probe'­s 2008 flyby of the planet. NASA says it was a taste of pictures likely to come after March 17, 2011, when the probe enters Mercury'­s orbit. (AP Photo/NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Arizona State University/Carnegie Institution of Washington)

-John Clanton


Fashion, basketball and other recent assignments

Curbside advertiser Aaven Ross waves to traffic that passes by Liberty Tax Service at Pennsylvania Avenue and Hefner Road on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, Oklahoma City Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

I have gathered up a few photos taken over the last few weeks that I thought you might enjoy. Some of the photos made it to publication in the Oklahoman and others did not, so there is a chance you might have seen a few of these already. Nevertheless, I thought they might be of some enjoyment even though it might be your second time to see them. I will do my best to make a consistent post once or twice a week to offer a closer look at photos you just might like. If you would like to see even more photos check out the Oklahoman Photo Gallery page as well.

Northwest Classen soccer player Ericka Ramirez poses for a photo with her father Luis at the Northwest Classen soccer field on Wednesday, March 23, 2011, in Moore, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Matt Shepard of Catoosa reacts after a first round loss to Tuttle's Isaac Beard in the in Class 4A 145 pound match during the 90th annual Oklahoma High School state wrestling tournament on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Mood Retro Fashion Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Fort Gibson's Nana Wallace, front, celebrates with her teammates after the 52-51 overtime win over Cache during the championship game of the 4A girls state championship tournament at the Big House in the State Fair Park on Saturday, March 12, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Cache's Katelynn Martine (21) reacts after missing two free throws in the final second of the 52-51 overtime loss to Fort Gibson's Jodi Glover (14) and the Lady Tigers during the championship game of the 4A girls state championship tournament at the Big House in the State Fair Park on Saturday, March 12, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Corn Bible's Ellie Troyer (30) reacts after the 42-36 win over Timberlake as Lady Tiger Erin Overton (12) walks off the court during the opening round of the Oklahoma high school Class B girls state basketball tournament between the Corn Bible Academy and Timberlake High School at the Big House in State Fair Park on Thursday, March 3, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Deer Creek Lamont fans show their school pride and cheer on the Lady Eagles during the opening round of the Oklahoma high school Class B girls state basketball tournament between Deer Creek Lamont and Erick at the Big House in State Fair Park on Thursday, March 3, 2011, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

-Chris Landsberger


Pictures I Like-The last 21 Days

Sofie watches her owner, Tim Burch, help install a new sign at the Cock O' the Walk bar, N 36th and Western, Sunday, March 20, 2011, in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

If you’re new to Alternate Crop, or if you haven’t checked in for awhile, this installment of ‘Pictures I Like’ is a good look at the work we’ve been busy with in March. We’ve photographed grass fires in the state, seen a change in the weather and covered the end of high school basketball season. We’ve also gotten nice pictures from the Timed Event Championship, The Big 12 Basketball Tournament and troops returning home from service overseas.

Some of these pictures were used in the newspaper, but for a few of them, this is the first time they’ve been used. Remember that you can click on each of these pictures to see a larger version, or you can see a collection of photo galleries, by clicking here.

Jim Ross Cooper rolls over his steer while competing in Steer Wrestling during the Timed Event Championships at the Lazy E Arena, Friday, March 4, 2011. Photo by David McDaniel, The Oklahoman

Courtney Walker (23), left, and Tamara Lee (20), right, of Edmond Santa Fe kiss the gold ball trophy after the Class 6A girls basketball state championship game between Edmond Santa Fe and Midwest City at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, March 12, 2011. Edmond Santa Fe won, 56-36. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

William Hunter hugs his son, William Hunter, Jr., 4, as Hunter and other members of the 507th Air Refueling Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve, return from duty overseas to Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, March. 9, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

A grass fire burns near a neighborhood close to South County Line Road and SW 29th, Sunday, March 20, 2011, in Mustang, Okla.. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

Oklahoma State's lacrosse team hold up their sticks after getting instructions during a timeout in the Bedlam lacrosse game outside Cheyenne Middle School in Edmond, Okla., on Sunday, March. 6, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

OSU's Jean-Paul Olukemi reacts after the Cowboys' loss to Kansas in the college basketball Big 12 Championship tournament game in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, March 10, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton


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