One of the biggest stories of the year has been the chronicling of Chocolate's progress.
In case you've missed the dozen or so stories and updates on his road to recovery, Chocolate is the Chesapeake Bay retriever with two broken legs that Sonia Ayala rescued from Franklin County. After the Herald ran a story, we continued chronicling his journey through rehabilitation to adoption, as well as the outpouring of generosity to fund his recovery.
As I covered his return from WSU Pullman in July, he surprised everyone with a very unsurprising act:
He had just wrapped a three-hour limo ride, after all, but the evacuation still caught everybody off-guard and elicited a few chuckles. I managed to suppress my inner adolescent and quietly grabbed a quick photo instead of busting out the macro lens while chortling like Beavis and Butthead.
When it came time to produce the photo gallery, I faced the decision on whether or not I should include this frame. It's funny and not graphic, though its inclusion could be interpreted as crass.
Ultimately, however, I decided against adding it.
No, it wasnt a newfound sense of decency, but rather an odd sense of respect for the pup.
When I'm choosing a photo of a person, I try to make sure that the subject's expression is flattering. This means excluding shots with blinking people, weird mid-word expressions or ambiguously gross gestures, as often happens when somebody scratches his or her face.
Or sometimes, its an effect I'm going for, but ultimately decide against using, as happened with this photo of Jim Harbertson, one of the judges for the Tri-Cities Wine Festival.
I still think its funny, but to have included it in the gallery without an explanation could have seemed like I was making fun of him.
And for me, that same context applies to what Chocolate do-did.
Plus, if I had included it in the original gallery, I dont think I wouldve been able to look him in his big brown eyes again.
~~~~~
kyau@tricityherald.com
(509) 585-7205
Click here to subscribe to the RSS Feed.
Similar stories:
Stat Infection
Stat Infection
Falling circulation and advertising sales have shrunk the news hole. While a smaller staff sometimes means we're scrambling for daily content, more frequently, space is at a premium in our print edition.
The photo galleries have gone a long ways in reducing the frustration of having your favorite shot squeezed out of the paper and the juicy page view numbers they generate have probably added some marginal stabilization to the Jenga-like structure that keeps me employed.
It's been easy to get carried away in the virtually unlimited space, and I've been trying to rein in the bloated galleries I've too often posted. Some stories lend themselves to photo overload, however, and this year I've been experimenting with a new way to handle the problem.
Feel-Good Christmas Story No. 2,120
Feel-Good Christmas Story No. 2,120
As I mentioned during last week's Grinchfest , the holidays are also filled with plenty of fun and heartwarming stories, so I figured I'd share some in a vain attempt to prove that my heart is not two sizes too small.
It was hard not to like last Wednesday's pair of feel-good stories. I started out at Deanna Cannon's house where her family and friends were whipping up some baked goods to benefit one needy family .
The kids scamping around made for some fun moments, like when sister Maiia, 7, left, and Lakiin Estrada, 5, performed some quality control tests while their mother Kori Cannon chopped up caramels:
Herald seeks pictures of Christmas lights
Herald seeks pictures of Christmas lights
Have your neighbors turned their yard into a Christmas wonderland? Does your subdivision look as though it's being invaded by the three wise men (times three)?
'Tis the season for good cheer which for some translates into lights -- colored, twinkling or clear -- but always in multiples. Others prefer animated figures while a few go spare and elegant with a single symbol of the season, large enough to be seen for miles.
The Herald will be running a list of decorated homes along with photos of some of the displays Dec. 18. In addition there will be an ongoing photo gallery of decorated homes on the Herald's website, tricityherald.com . Send your top picks. Just jot down the address, include the owners' names if possible, and a few details of what makes it outstanding. Send the information to news@tricityherald.com.
Construction, struction. What's Your Function?
Construction, struction. What's Your Function?
Trying to see familiar situations in fresh ways is a constant challenge, and photographing construction sites epitomizes this daily struggle.
Of all the groaner gigs, this one is tops for me. As cool as big heavy equipment is, backhoes and front-end loaders aren't all that inspiring to me. There can be some interesting light and lines to work with, but usually these assignments pop up on slow days, compounding the creative dread already hanging.
As with baseball and press conferences , though, just because I don't like shooting it doesn't mean I don't try to come away with interesting photos.
NFL publishing commemorative Super Bowl app
NFL publishing commemorative Super Bowl app
The NFL is publishing a commemorative Super Bowl app for tablets.
Print
Email Story
