Are you a photographer, or a shopper? Are you an artist, or a dilettante? Do you really want to make pictures, or are you following the crowd? Are you into photography for the right reasons? I’m going to go down a rabbit hole here – or possibly open a can of worms – whichever analogy…
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Spring is about to spring forth, and with it, color. Photographers across the northern hemisphere will pull their cameras out, charge their batteries, format their storage media, and generally “suit up” for the coming weeks. It’s a time of brown grass turning green, flowers and trees blooming, outdoor gatherings that include Easter and Ada’s excellent…
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I think cameras are better that smartphone cameras. I know, I know. Smartphone cameras are great, and I admit I use my smartphone for work almost every day. But here’s why I think cameras are better than smartphone: the experience. I’ve been using a smartphone for my news and sports work for as long as…
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Photographers can be a little obsessive. They worry and fret about lighting, content, image quality, location, time of day, access, lenses, cameras, and much more. It is hard for us to switch off the inner photographer and just relax and enjoy the moment. Even when we are not the photographer, like when a close friend…
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In the span of my career, a lot has changed. On the day I started work here at your Ada News, then known as The Ada Evening News, I owned three 35mm SLR cameras, the Nikon FM, the Nikon FM2, and the Nikon FE2. I bought them in college, one at a time, along with…
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For most of the history of photojournalism, photographers and their editors have used slang, jargon that doesn’t mean much or sounds made-up to outsiders. We use words like dummy, presser, scoop, wire, embargo, cuts, nutgraf, advertorial, tab, -30-, breakout, stringer, and a couple of favorites at my newspaper for a long time, “three-murder Saturday,” and…
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Updated, September 2025 Life is full of foolish myths, ideas that get planted into our brains by rumor or gossip or misperception, and seem to endure. One of those myths in photography is that sensor size affects depth of field. I hear it all the time in class, in the field, and, of course, on…
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When I was a young teenager, I was influenced by a lot of magazines. I bought and eventually subscribed to Flying, Stereo Review, Popular Photography, Modern Photography, and Omni, and often picked up Scientific American and National Geographic from news stands. My parents knew that subscriptions to these magazines would make great birthday and Christmas gifts…
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Reading through the photography news of the month, I came across several reviews and recommendations for a new camera, the Sony RX1R III. As my readers know, I am all about cameras and lenses, so sure, I thought, I’d love to learn about this new Sony. The RX1 III is a fixed-lens, 60 megapixel, 36x24mm-sized…
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This Saturday at the Oklahoma Press Association’s annual convention, I was honored and kind of surprised to find that I swept – got first, second, and third place – four photography categories. My newspaper also got first place in photography, which is all me. Here are the images. News Photograph Sports Photograph Feature Photograph Photo…
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Summer is travel time. There are several important reasons for this, but at the top of the list are the warm weather, and the fact that kids are out of school. My sister and her husband are taking a long, and long-awaited, tour across the American west. They seem to be having an amazing time…
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As spring approaches, and with the arrival of Daylight Saving Time, I am outdoors more, both as a journalist and as a homeowner. Since I am a photographer both as a profession and for a hobby, I am always taking pictures. Some of these pictures are very straightforward, like tornado damage, flowers blooming, or kids…
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I recently spoke to the Byng School student body as part of Journey of Hope, a program from the Oklahoma City National Memorial, about my experience as a journalist covering the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. At the end of the session, organizers opened…
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As I write this, my community and I are mostly idle, since most activities have been halted by a sharp cold snap, accompanied by freezing rain, sleet, and snow. Despite the outdoors being somewhat inhospitable, life goes on, and we all try to do something inside. Housecleaning is productive. Movie night is fun. Eating hot…
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My readers know that I tend to be a healthy eater. One thing that makes eating healthy easier is that I have very little “sweet tooth.” The result is that I seldom have added-sugar foods in my home, foods like candy and cake, and only eat them sparingly when I encounter them elsewhere. And I…
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