People On Sundays-Mike
Professional Bull Rider Mike Lee listens to spiritual music during a church service at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
As church services begin, Mike Lee sits alone near the top of section 117. Below him, on the arena floor, employees tape up advertisements in anticipation of the PBR event in a few hours. Gates squeak gently before slamming shut, bulls fidget in their pins, and lights flicker on around the arena. As spiritual music continues, Mike, a professional bull rider from Decatur, Tx., leans back in his chair, his eyes closed. “I’m not thinking about bull riding,” he says after the service ends, “Thinking is too slow for bull riding.” Mike attends the PBR’s christian outreach, called Riding High, every week in a different arena around the country. Mike says he’s looking for something to give him peace. “You got to have your heart right when you’re on a bull.”
To see more pictures of the PBR event in Oklahoma City, click here.
-John Clanton
Pictures I Like
In cased you missed them when they ran in the newspaper, or in case they never got published, here’s a couple of pictures from The Oklahoman photo staff in the last couple of days.
Zoe Trenary, 8, and her dad BW Trenary dance during the annual Daddy Daughter Dance sponsored by the Norman Parks and Recreation Department at the Embassy Suites Sat. Feb. 6, 2010. Photo by Jaconna Aguirre, The Oklahoman
University of Tennessee defensive back and 2009 Jim Thorpe Award Winner Eric Berry poses for a photo while trying on cowboy hats at Tener's Western Outfitter, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010, in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
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Brent Link, seated, shakes the hand of a person while he and his guide dog, Gipper, wait with Link's son, Stephen, outside a courtroom inside the Cleveland County Courthouse Monday morning, Feb, 8, 2010. Link testified Monday in the murder trial of William Eugene Davis, 52. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
A concrete pier collapsed into an alley south of the Oklahoma City Downtown Library in Oklahoma City on Monday, Feb. 8, 2010. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Odds and ends
Icicles melting after recent winter storms in Oklahoma City. Photo by John Clanton
I used a 100mm macro lens to photograph icicles as they melted outside my house in The Village on Tuesday. I’d been looking for an excuse to use it. Last week I published a post where I implied that this slideshow was a result of staff photographer Sarah Phipps making the most of an assignment. Actually, the frog and turtle race would be better described as an assignment that Sarah brought to the newspaper and NewsOK.com.
An icicle melts as weather in Oklahoma starts to clear up. Photo by John Clanton
-John Clanton
Pictures I like
I’ve been out of the office for five days. I had a three day weekend, then I had to call in sick for two days. When I got back in this afternoon, as usual, I searched through Merlin to see what our photographers had been taking pictures of. The answer, apparently, is alot of basketball games.
OU's Tiny Gallon (24) reacts in front of OSU's Marshall Moses (33) during the second half of the college bedlam basketball game between The University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and Oklahoma State University University Cowboys (OSU) at the Lloyd Noble Center on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Chris Lansdberger, The Oklahoman
Ray Penn (14) shoots during the second half of the Bedlam college basketball game in which The University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) defeated Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) 62-57 in overtime at the Lloyd Noble Center on Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City's Nenad Krstic (12) defends David Lee (42) of New York during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, January 11, 2010. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Leaking Light
Stanley Johnson of Douglass High School on Monday, Dec. 14, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. By Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
If you missed the Sports department’s High School All State Sports 2009 that was published earlier his week, you missed some interesting photographs by Staff Photographer Chris Landsberger. He used a small, plastic camera called a Diana Fplus to photograph high school athletes in the studio at The Oklahoman. Like a Holga, the Diana is made completely of plastic, and is not exactly light proof. The seams of the camera aren’t lightproof, so just a little bit of light gets in darkens the corners of the image.
Julian WIlson of Southmoore High School on Monday, Dec. 14, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. By Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
Other than playing with Holga and Diana cameras for fun, The Oklahoman staff is completely digital. The equipment used to process film was donated to the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond around 1997. Landsberger took the film to be processed at Epperson Photo here in Oklahoma City, and then used a scanner to get the pictures into the computer and store them in the archives.
Sonny Puletasi of Lawton High School on Monday, Dec. 14, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Best of the Year is online.
Paul Norwood watches helplessly as his neighbor's home is destroyed by wildfires in eastern Oklahoma County Thursday, April 9, 2009. These homes are in Oakwood East housing addition, near SE 15 and Westminster. By Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Both of you have probably been wondering where the best of the year site is. I’ve previewed it a couple of times (here and here) and now it’s online! Take a look by clicking this link.
-John Clanton
Record snowfall
Staff Photographers from The Oklahoman headed out into the snowstorms over the weekend to look for pictures. On Christmas eve, Jim Beckel got stuck at the airport, Paul Southerland went to El Reno and was stuck in the snow out there for hours. Here’s a few of the many images that were sent in over the weekend.
A driver receives help after getting stuck on Britton Road in Oklahoma City Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. By Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Julie Nelson shields her daughter Caiden Cauwell, 3, from the weather as she does some last-minute shopping in Norman Thurs. Dec. 24, 2009. By Jaconna Aguirre, The Oklahoman
Rosario Riley shiellds her face from blowing snow as she leaves Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City on Dec. 24, 2009, after her flight to Cleveland was cancelled. By Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Kristin Dong, 8, makes tries out her new inline skates on ice in her yard on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009, in Norman, Okla. By Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
A front-end loader removes snow around an abandonded car on E.K. Gaylord and Robert S. Kerr. Many spent Christmas Day, Dc. 25, 2009, digging out from record snow storm that dumped 14 inches of severe winter storm in the Oklahoma City area. By Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Back at work
My ten-day vacation just came to an end. When I got to work today I searched through our archive system called Merlin to see what the staff had been up to while I was gone. There were plenty of great shots but I narrowed it down to five of my favorites.
Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne poses for a photo in the OPUBCO Studio on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009, in Oklahoma City, Okla Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman
Norman firefighters responded to a fire at 3700 Burlington at 1:28 pm on Friday, Dec. 18, 2009, in Norman, Okla. Embers from the first fire caught the roof of a house at 3617 Glenbrook on fire. The Burlington house was a total loss and damage was estimated at $375,000. The damage to the house on Glenbrook was $100,000. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas (11) and Oklahoma City's Shaun Livingston (14) and Nick Collison (4) fight for a loose ball during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Kevin Durant (35) of Oklahoma City blocks the shot of Detroit's Will Bynum (12) in the fourth quarter of the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Detroit Pistons at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Friday, December 18, 2009. Oklahoma City won, 109-98. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Parking lot during Christmas shopping at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
Pictures I like–Cold horse edition
Steve Gooch took these shots of a horse on a cold morning in Guthrie, Okla., recently.
Jennie Gayle, a 27-year-old mare, stands in a field near Pine and Highway 33 in Guthrie, Okla., December 4, 2009. Temperatures dropped into the teens in the area overnight. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
Jennie Gayle, a 27-year-old mare, stands in a field near Pine and Highway 33 in Guthrie, Okla., December 4, 2009. Temperatures dropped into the teens in the area overnight. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
-Nate Billings
Pictures I Like-Sports
Staff Photographers have been busy lately with sports coverage. There was Bedlam Football, of course, but also Thunder, and high school football, which will wrap up with the state championship games this weekend.
OSU defenders block a field goal attempt during the second half of the Bedlam college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) at the Gaylord Family --Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (35) dunks the ball over Houston's Carl Landry (14) during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
An OU cheerleader flies through the air during the first half of the Bedlam college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) at the Gaylord Family -- Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
OU's Corey Wilson, left, walks on Owen Field as his brother Travis Wilson applauds before the Bedlam college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) at the Gaylord Family -- Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009, in Norman, Okla. This was the first time Wilson had walked on Owen Field at a game since a car wreck in February left him partially paralyzed. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
JHS quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen (9) is dropped for a loss by SM Austin Haywood (88) and LaBron Brown (9) during the high school semifinal playoff football game between Southmoore and Jenks at Putnam City Stadium Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. Photo by Doug Hoke, The Oklahoman
-John Clanton
