Basketball season... cont'd

We're finally into the tournaments. Appleton East pulled off a huge victory over rival Kaukauna, a team that previously whooped them.

Here are a couple selects.

Appleton East High School's Matt Coenen (5) takes control of a loose ball on the floor before Kaukauna High School's Phil Landua (15) in the first half of a sectional semifinal game at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday evening, Feb. 28, 2008.

Appleton East High School's Matt Clarke (30) puts a hand in front of the shot of Kaukauna High School's Alex Welhouse (22) in the first half.

Appleton East High School's Ben Pynnonen (22), left, Matt Coenen (5), center, and John Anderson (12), right, celebrate their win over Kaukauna High School.

Jesse Marheine recoving from industrial accident...

From the story by my article-writing alter-ego Michael D. King: "Four-year-old Ryan Marheine, in barefeet and dinosaur pajamas, gets up off the carpeted living room floor and stands in front of his dad. He knows what’s going to happen next. When Jesse Marheine grabs him by the arm and gently pulls him onto his right knee, Ryan smiles and settles in as his dad’s burn-scarred arms tenderly wrap around his chest. It’s a father-son moment that was impossible for most of the past four months. Jesse Marheine, 34, is on the slow road to recovery from severe burns over 45 percent of his body from an Oct. 25 industrial accident at his job in Neenah."

With all the people out there who literally hate the media... I'm touched that there remain people like the Marheine's (and the Meltzes) who open their lives to others, sharing their stories via our newspaper. I do think others find strength through their stories.

Jesse Marheine of Clintonville, Wis., stretches his left arm during an occupational therapy session with occupational therapist Jamie Hane, geared at improving his flexibility and range of motion, at Shawano Medical Center Rehabilitation Services, in Shawano, Wis., Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 30, 2008.

Jesse does a dexterity exercise during occupational therapy.

Jesse feels the discomfort of stretching skin on his left arm during occupational therapy with therapist Jamie Hane, right. The therapy is geared towards improving his flexibility and range of motion. In the background, Jesse's wife Erin keeps their youngest son, Ryan, 4, occupied.

Jesse places the star on top of the family Christmas tree at home with wife Erin, background, and children (not pictured). The family's tradition of Jesse putting the finishing touches on the tree had to be delayed this holiday season because of his medical condition.

Latest audio slideshow...

Lunar eclipse time lapse...

From Kate McGinty's story in The Post-Crescent: Beginning at about 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008, star seekers saw the Earth’s shadow creep across the moon. Then the moon nearly turned dark, blocked from the sun’s rays that usually illuminate it, and seemed to morph into a dramatic deep red color. “(The reddish color is because) you’re looking at all of the sunrises and sunsets around the Earth being put off into the moon,” said Megan Pickett, associate professor of physics at Lawrence University, who led astronomy students in a viewing. (Music: Kevin MacLeod)

How to shoot the floor... Problem Solving 101

Nobody tells you in college that you're going to have know how to illustrate a business story about a hotel's $2M renovation, largely spent on new carpeting in its ballroom.

"Snow can only be pushed so high"

This is one of the snowiest winters in Appleton, Wis., history. We've passed 70 inches with our last major storm. Usually temperatures rise enough between storms to melt the accumulation away. But that just hasn't happened this year.

So much snow has accumulated alongside the roads and sidewalks, that it's buried fire hydrants and blocked motorists' views at intersections and crossroads.

Late at night after the traffic has died down, the city pushes all of the snow into the middle lane and trucks it out by dump-truck. With as much snow as we've had, just this one mile section of Washington Street took the crew several hours to clear – an extremely small percentage of the major arterial roadways that needed cleared.

City workers remove mass amounts of snow from West Washington Street east of North Superior Street in Appleton, Wis., early Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, 2008.

Basketball season... cont'd

I'm getting a little sick of getting this shot below at every single game...

From left, Xavier High School's Tyler Wyand-Williams (33), Fox Valley Lutheran High School's Kyle Weeks (34), and Xavier's AJ Kersten (11) converge on a loose ball in the second period of a regional semifinal game at Xavier in Appleton, Wis., Thursday evening, Feb. 21, 2008.

... so I decided to shoot wide and make some use of Xavier's really cool overhead lighting scheme...

Snow moon, up close and personal...

I can't remember the last time I looked at the moon with anything but the naked eye. If casually looking up at that big bright disc in wonder is a romantic experience, then taking a look with aid of a telescope or telephoto lens is more aptly described as "breathtaking."

Wednesday evening was our last total lunar eclipse until sometime in 2010. I was charged with our visual coverage of the event. I setup shop on top of our office building downtown with a 600mm lens and a 2x teleconverter (which doubles the power of the lens) all mounted on a tripod. The forecast was calling for subzero overnight lows, so I ran the camera off AC power. Because of the mass amount of snow and moisture on the roof, I opted not to chance my safety with an extension cord. I got my juice from a Black & Decker portable power supply.

The first photo of the night showing our moon before it began passing through earth's cast shadow.

And here is how we presented the photos in the next day's paper:


A time lapse sequence created from my still photographs will be posted soon!

Primary election day...

On voting day, it's easy to shoot the lines of voters or the tops of heads peering out of the ballot booths. For this photo I was able to show the whole room to portray a little bit of direction, movement, and the process at the polls. It ain't a prize winner, but it's a little different than usual.

Election personnel at the District 13 polling location at Fox Valley Lutheran High School direct a rush of 7 p.m. voters to pick up their ballots for the presidential primary election in Appleton, Wis., Tuesday evening, Feb. 19, 2008.

More wrestling...

...with a couple different views than I normally get, though.

Seymour's David Schroeder and Freedom's Taylor Kolb are leglocked in a 140-pound quarterfinal match during the WIAA Division 2 sectional wrestling competition at West De Pere High School in De Pere, Wis., Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008.

Wrightstown's Zach Corlett, top, and Wautoma/Faith Christian Academy's Kyle Thom wrestle in a 140-pound quarterfinal match.

Waupaca coaches Ben Selsing, left, and Brian Loehrke, right, offer encouragement to Dustin Stichman in a grueling 171-pound quarterfinal match against Mosinee's Derek Roosa.

Smart car

This was kinda a fun shoot... I'm kind of convinced that at $13,000 for a new one, if I didn't have a bunch of gear to haul around, I would really consider getting one of these.

Craig Callewaert and his Smart Fortwo Passion, the first Smart car purchased and delivered to Outagamie County, Wis. I liked this frame because it looks like it was perhaps shot under a starry sky, but that's falling snow illuminated by my portable light.

The interior, shot "a la strobe ét dragged shutter."

Basketball season... cont'd

Kimberly High School's Brittany Buss (32) brings the ball up the court at Appleton North High School, Friday evening, Feb. 15, 2008.

Buss denies the inside pass to Appleton North High School's Andrea Wensits (43) in the third period.

Appleton North High School's Christina Lahde (31) and Kimberly High School's Catherine Mayer (11) chase a ball heading out of bounds in the third period.

Snowstorm...

Lots of things photojournalists cover are recurring events... annual, biennial, etc. If we covered it last year, we'll most certainly cover it again this year – that sort of stuff. It's difficult to get original images of those things. Ideally you send a different photographer each year to mix up the vision. That doesn't always happen.

But it's a totally different story when you have an "event" that happens half a dozen times in the course of a few months. Example: snowstorms... snow in Wisconsin in the winter can be like sand at the beach in Florida. It's almost always here. But unlike Florida, we cover our weather rather heavily, and that means every snowstorm, we are out in it.

So when you've been shooting a snowstorm a week for a month, you start running out of ideas. Luckily I was assigned to shoot some scenics instead of shovel/snowblower-cam... frankly, it's a lot easier and you end up staying a lot warmer. The first and last photos here were technically taken indoors!

Looking east from the downtown skywalk, traffic moves along College Avenue after several inches of snow blanketed Appleton, Wis., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008.




Looking forward to the 6-12 inches we're expecting on Sunday! I might build a snowman...

Hockey... gettin' better...

Eh? EH? At least I think so...

Appleton United's Amanda Engstrom (16), second left, is surrounded by teammates, from left, Katie Duehring (17), Mikaela Coburn (9) and Rebecca Kennedy (7) after scoring a goal on the Madison Metro Lynx making it 2-0 in the first period of a girls' hockey regional game at Appleton Family Ice Center in Appleton, Wis., Thursday evening, Feb. 14, 2008.

Appleton United goalkeeper Molly Mandoli (1) eyes a Madison Metro Lynx shot on goal, making a save, in the first period. (Ha! The puck! It's frozen! Boo-ya!)

Waupaca's Tyler Donaldson (18) and Appleton United's Michael Neveu (37) take a tumble in the first period of a boys' regional hockey game.

Basketball season... cont'd

Kaukauna celebrates its first FVA title in 11 years and the only the second in the league's 38 year history.

Appleton East High School's Matt Coenen (5) goes up for a shot on Kaukauna High School's Tanner Deering (4) in the first period of a game in Kaukauna, Wis., Tuesday evening, Feb. 12, 2008.

Appleton East High School's John Anderson (12) zones-out the Kaukauna High School student section in the second half.

Kaukauna High School's Alex Welhouse (22), center, celebrates with his teammates and fans after their victory over Appleton East.

Basketball season... cont'd

Lake Forest College's Laird Walker (54) tries to put up a shot over Lawrence University's Andy Hurley (4) late in the second half of a game in Appleton, Wis., Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008.

Out on the Lake

Where: Lake Winnebago (currently frozen a couple feet deep and littered with shanties)


What: Sturgeon Spearing
What?: It's a fish.
Huh?!: It's a really big ugly fish.

Cousins Matt Drake, left, and Chuck Krause, right, of Fremont pose for the camera of Randy Bartel of Weyauwega, far left, with their 70-inch sturgeon on opening day of sturgeon spearing on Lake Winnebago off the shores of Waverly Beach in Menasha, Wis., Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008.

How: You sit in a shack, drinking beer if you're so inclined, looking down into a hole in the ice. If you see a sturgeon you throw a five-spiked spear at it. Then you pull it out.

Looking down through the hole in the ice, Mark and Tyler Houg of Menasha tease a passing garfish with their sturgeon decoys while hoping for a sturgeon to pass by.

In the above photo, the orange and green things are the decoys. The whitish X is a PVC-like pipe placed on the bottom of the lake... it provides visual contrast to help the hunters see the dark-colored sturgeon in murky water.

Tim Rochon, right, of Kimberly and his 80-inch, 161-pound sturgeon, garnered lots of attention at the Waverly Beach registration station.

Basketball season... cont'd

Hortonville High School's Nate Bellile (12) keeps the ball from going out of bounds in front of Seymour High School's Phil Romback (32) in the second period of a game in Hortonville, Wis., Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008.

Seymour High School's Jamie Koebe (20) gets stuffed by Hortonville High School's Mike Ebben (14) in the first period.

Basketball season... cont'd

New London High School's Jake Hermsen (13) tries to defend Hortonville High School's Mike Ebben (14) as he makes a shot in the second period of a game in Hortonville, Wis., Friday evening, Feb. 1, 2008.

New London High School's Mitchell Schuh (45) and Trevor Hass (41) closely guard Hortonville High School's Charlie Koeppl (20) on his way up to the basket in the third period.