Oklahoma Wildfires
High winds and dry conditions led to wildfires that swept across parts of Oklahoma on Thursday, April 9, 2009. Here are some of the photos of the wildfires from the staff of The Oklahoman.
To see a gallery of more photos, click here.
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 Addition, near SE 15 and Westminster. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Rescue workers treat a firefighter who was injured during a grass fire in Wellston, Okla., April 09, 2009. Photo by Steve Gooch, The Oklahoman
Flames leap out of a broken gas line in Midwest City, Okla., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Firefighters direct water to fires on both sides of Westbury Street in the Oakwood East addition in Midwest City, Okla., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Jim Beckel
Paul Norwood helps a firefighter with a fire at a neighbor’s home in the Oakwood East neighborhood in Midwest City, Okla., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
John Brewer holds a wet towel to his face after battling wildfires in his housing addition in Midwest City, Okla., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
This burned home was in the path of wildfires which destroyed 12 structures in Lindsay, Okla., on Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
A firefighter runs past a house as it burns in the Oakwood East neighborhood in Midwest City, Okla., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman
Spencer firefighters rest after extinguishing flames at this house in the Oakwood East Addition in Midwest City, Okla., Thursday, April 9, 2009. Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
To see a gallery with more photos, click here.
-Nate Billings
Congrats to Jim Beckel and Steve Gooch
Every month the Associated Press has a photo contest. All photos from Oklahoma members that are moved on the AP wire service are eligible to be the “Photo of the Month” for Oklahoma. For those of you not familiar with the news business, the AP is how we are able to get pictures and stories for the paper and NewsOK.com from national and international stories that we cannot cover ourselves. The Oklahoman is one of the members.
I am happy to report that in the contest for December, Jim Beckel finished first and Steve Gooch won third. Beckel won for one of the photos he shot of children with Santa Claus. He wrote about the experience of taking those pictures in a previous entry.
Here’s the winning photos:
Danny Nichols breaks into tears at the thought of sitting on Santa’s lap during a visit to Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Dec. 12, 2008. BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Trey Bowman, 7, of Houston, plays in an obstacle course in the Mobile Science Museum in Oklahoma City, December 30, 2008. Science Matters, a mobile museum with hands-on exhibits and activities for children, will debut Tuesday at Science Museum Oklahoma. The museum will travel to schools in rural Oklahoma, providing discovery learning opportunities in areas of the state where museums don’t exist. BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN
I will try to put up the pictures from our winning entries in future contests. If an Oklahoman photographer does not win, we will quietly pretend the contest doesn’t exist.
-Nate Billings
When the ice forms…
One of the few things I can say for sure about working as a newspaper photojournalist is that when the folks on TV tell everybody to stay inside, that’s our cue to go outside. Jim Beckel, David McDaniel, Paul Hellstern, John Clanton and Steve Gooch grabbed their Class II reflective safety vests and headed out to cover the ice that had metro roads in terrible shape on Monday. I think they all made it through the day without falling or being involved in auto accidents. I hope most of you out there were as lucky. Check out some of the photos from the icy day below.
To see the full photo gallery of the winter weather, click here.
Teacher Ann Hawkins helps soften a student’s fall as he slips on the ice outside Chisholm Elementary School during winter weather in Edmond, Okla., on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
Two motorists try to escape their car which overturned on the icy Turner Turnpike near the Wellston exit outside of Wellston, Okla., Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Nikole Edwards scrapes ice from her car windows after she and other employees at Farmer’s Insurance at NW 23 and Villa were released early because of deteriorating weather conditions Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Walking cautiously on an ice-covered Broadway Extension, an unidentified women tries to keep her balance after the car she was in was involved in a minor accident near Hefner Road in Oklahoma City, January 26, 2009. BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN
A view of an accident in the 2700 block of west Britton Road due to the icy weather, Monday, January 26, 2009. BY DAVID MCDANIEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
A truck from the City of Edmond drops sand on 33rd street east of Boulevard during winter weather in Edmond, Okla., on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009. BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
Check out the rest of the pictures here.
And be safe out there.
-Nate Billings
Obama Inauguration in Oklahoma
Now that everybody has had a chance to see the national photos from the inauguration in Washington D.C., check out the photos from our photographers who covered the Oklahomans watching the inauguration here. Here’s some of the work from Jaconna Aguirre, Paul Hellstern, Chris Landsberger, Jim Beckel and Steve Gooch.
To see a gallery of more photos, click here.
Civil rights pioneer Clara Luper reacts to the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Luper was watching TV with Councilman Ronald “Skip” Kelly, her daughter Marilyn Hildreth and 9-year-old Alexia Grant at the Freedom Center at NE 26th and Martin Luther King Blvd. in Oklahoma City, January 20, 2009. BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN
American flags are poked into the blinds in Marie Grubbs’ classroom. Students and teachers at Boley Public Schools in the historically black community of Boley in Okfuskee County celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
Philip Dunlap watches the inauguration of President Barack Obama while Phillip Gates cuts his hair at Gates Barber Shop at NE 26th and Martin Luther King Boulevard in Oklahoma City. January 20, 2009. BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN.
Gaylord Hall hosted a watch party for the inauguration of President Barack Obama Tues. Jan. 20, 2009 on the OU campus. BY JACONNA AGUIRRE, THE OKLAHOMAN.
UCO President Roger Webb speaks during an inauguration watch party for UCO officials and students at the Nigh University Center Constitution Hall on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla., Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Northwest Classen junior Yasmine Fields reacts on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009, in Oklahoma City to the conclusion of President Barack Obama’s inauguration in Washington D.C. PHOTO BY CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
To see all the photos, click here.
-Nate Billings
Hey, take my picture! cont’d…
Steve Gooch contributes this “Hey, take my picture” entry. He writes, “Here’s a shot from the movie set ‘Pearl’ being filmed in Guthrie. The crew wanted me to take photos of the people who are behind the camera.” Enjoy.
-Nate Billings
Best of The Week 9/15/08-9/21/08
Here are the selections for this week from The Oklahoman Photo Staff. I am finally getting on track and making this happen at the first of the week instead of the end. Practice, practice and more practice to develop the habit. Thanks for looking. 
-Chris Landsberger
Best of the Week 9/8/08-9/14/08
Here are my selections for this week. We have a lot of variety this week, you can see the how each day brings the unexpected for each one of us on staff. Take a look and let us know your thoughts and enjoy.
Seen through a ripped screen still clinging to a front window, Megan Bridges looks through the remains of her grandparents’ home in rural Harrah Wednesday morning, Sept. 10, 2008. The 3,200 square foot home at 19620 SE 38 was destroyed by fire Tuesday afternoon. No one was injured in the fire. BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN
-Chris Landsberger
The Oklahoman Photos of the Week
As we continue to grow this blog, I wanted to do something that provided you a more in depth look at photos that The Oklahoman photo staff produces each week. Each member of the staff works hard each day to produce the best visual and story telling report on a wide range of topics that can go from one extreme to another in a matter of minutes. To acknowledge and show the talents of the photo staff that I work with, I am going to do my best each week to update the blog with my personal picks to be called Photos of the Week. These will be photos that I enjoyed viewing the most at week’s end. Some of the photos will have made it into print and other unfortunately did not, so this allows those unseen photos their moment in the spotlight as well. I hope this allows you to see even more of the great photography that is produced by the staff, and the hard work we all put in each day. So here goes, for the first week here are my selections are……….
-Chris Landsberger
Hey, take my picture! Part 2
Well, I think John Clanton may have started something with his “Hey, take my picture!” entry. Fellow staff photographer Steve Gooch asked me to post this photo for him. These girls were at a youth football practice at Millwood school and asked to have their picture taken.
-Nate Billings
