Renee Haley hugs a life-sized statue of her deceased son, Austin Haley, as she holds her 6-month-old daughter, Mikayla Haley, after the statue was unveiled at the Haley family's home in Noble, Okla., Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. At left is Jack Haley, Renee Haley's husband and father of Austin Haley, Mikayla Haley and the couple's two other children. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

Five-year-old Austin Haley was killed by a Noble police officer’s stray bullet in August of 2007.  A statue created by a local artist was unveiled at the Haley family’s home in Noble on what would have been Austin’s tenth birthday, Oct. 24, 2011. Nate Billings photographed the ceremony and made a touching picture of the statue and Austin’s mother.

You can read the most recent story about Austin and watch a video about the statue by clicking here.

Also, if you haven’t lately, take a look at our photo gallery page, including the galleries from OU’s loss to Texas Tech and OSU’s win over Missouri in Columbia.

-John Clanton…

Saturday was a high-scoring day for the OU and OSU football teams. Staff photographers Chris Landsberger, Nate Billings and Bryan Terry traveled to Texas to photograph the Red River Rivalry. The final score was 55-17 in favor of OU. They captured 6 of 7 Oklahoma touchdowns.

Meanwhile, staff photographer Steve Sisney and I traveled to Stillwater to photograph the Oklahoma State v. Kansas game. OSU won, 70-28. We captured 9 out of 11 touchdowns.

For more pictures from OU v. Texas, click here.

And for OSU v. Kansas photos, click here.

Oklahoma's Tom Wort (21) celebrates after a touchdown by Oklahoma's Demontre Hurst (6) during the Red River Rivalry college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the University of Texas Longhorns (UT) at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011.

Oklahoma State's Jeremy Smith (31) celebrates a touchdown during the first half of the college football game between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Kansas Jayhawks (KU) at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

- Sarah Phipps

 …

Oklahoma's Tom Wort (21) reacts after hitting Florida's Clint Trickett (9) during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Florida State (FSU) at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

I learned more than I thought possible about  blimps and zeppelins during an assignment earlier this week with Staff Writer Matt Dinger. We got a close look at the Farmers Airship as it visited Oklahoma City as part of history’s longest zeppelin tour. You can read Matt’s story by clicking here.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen some of the other photo galleries we’ve publish in the last week, follow some of these links. Bryan Terry turned in some nice pictures from the OU Sooners’ game against Florida State. We’ve been out to the Oklahoma State Fair a few times and if you still haven’t seen pictures from Oklahoma State’s game against Tulsa then click here.

A crew member walks toward The Farmers Airship after it landed at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City on Monday, September 19, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

OSU's Justin Blackmon (81) is stopped after a catch by Alan Dock (11) and Marco Nelson (20) of TU in the first quarter during a college football game between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane (TU) at H.A. Chapman Stadium in Tulsa, Okla., Sunday morning, Sept. 18, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

Nita Haynie, a client at the Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled, laughs as she is wheeled under a limbo stick by Joy Woods during a Luau for clients and their parents or care-givers at the Oklahoma Oklahoma Foundation for the Disabled in Oklahoma City on Wednesday, September 21, 2011. Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman

The Coalgate band marches during band day at the 2011 Oklahoma State Fair at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, OK, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011. By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton

 …

OSU's Kye Staley (9), middle, leaps on the back of Joseph Randle (1) in front of Tracy Moore (87) as they celebrate a touchdown run by Randle in the second quarter during a college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) Ragin' Cajuns at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

Staff Photographers at The Oklahoman covered the start of the 2011-2012 college football season on Saturday. The Oklahoma Sooners beat the University of Tulsa in Norman, while in Stillwater, the Cowboys beat the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Here are a couple of pictures that the staff turned in from the games.

You can follow these links to see pictures from the OSU game or the OU game, or read more about the games by clicking here.

Sooner fans celebrate after a touchdown by Oklahoma's Dominique Whaley (8) during the college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tulsa University Hurricanes (TU) at the Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman

Fans pass a fan through the crowd after a score during the first half of the college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tulsa University Hurricanes (TU) at the Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman

OSU's Markelle Martin (10) defends a pass intended for Andrew Joseph (18) of ULL in the third quarter during a college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) Ragin' Cajuns at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

Oklahoma's Landry Jones (12) and Ryan Broyles (85) celebrate after a touchdown during the college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tulsa University Hurricanes (TU) at the Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Oklahoma won 47-14. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

Oklahoma State's Joseph Randle (1) and Tracy Moore (87)celebrate a touchdown during a college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL) Ragin' Cajuns at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton

 …

Honor guard carries the flag draped coffin during the funeral for 2nd Lt Jered Ewy, 33, of Edmond, at Henderson Hills Baptist Church, Thursday, August 11, 2011. Photo by David McDaniel, The Oklahoman

In the last 12 days, the War in Afghanistan has affected families close to home, we’ve had swings in the weather between extreme heat and severe storms, OU and OSU started up the football season, students went back to school and grass fires started around the Oklahoma City Metro area.

Here’s a couple of pictures that stood out over the last two weeks. You can see all of our photo galleries by clicking here.

Music teacher Amy Thomas greets students arriving by bus as a thunderstorm moves through on the first day of school at Rose Union Elementary in the Deer Creek School District in Oklahoma City Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011. Photo by Paul B. Southerland, The Oklahoman

Norman firefighters work to put out a fire that totally involved numerous apartments at 1111 Oaktree Avenue on Friday, August 5, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman

Scott Sanchez prays over Manuel Garcia, a homeless man, after providing him with water from the City Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Oklahoman

Two women walk to further inspect a large fire in Edmond on Saturday, August 6, 2011. Photo by Zach Gray, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton…

Brandon Willliams (23) is tackled by Aaron Colvin (14) during the University of Oklahoma Sooner's (OU) spring football game at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday, April 16, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman

Staff Photographers from The Oklahoman covered spring football games today at OU’s Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman and at OSU’s Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. You can click these links to see more images of the Sooners and the Cowboys, or to read more about the games.

OSU's Justin Blackmon (81) misses a touchdown catch as Colby Ellis (49) defends during the Orange/White spring football game for the Oklahoma State University Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, April 16, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

-John Clanton

 …

Oklahoma State's Reger Dowell (5) tries to get past Nebraska's Jorge Brian Diaz during the college basketball Big 12 Championship tournament game between Oklahoma State and Nebraska in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and the other teams in the Big 12 Conference are in Kansas City this week to compete in the Big 12 tournament. Staff Photographer Bryan Terry has been covering the games, transmitting pictures and making online galleries. Take a look at more pictures from the tournament games by clicking here.

OU's Cade Davis reacts next to Baylor's Quincy Acy during the college basketball Big 12 Championship tournament game between the University of Oklahoma and Baylor in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, March 9, 2011. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman

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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…

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 …

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…