Wyoming Tribune Eagle

School children donate hair to Locks of Love to honor teacher with cancer

January 28, 2011

Avery Bott, age 9, reacts as a hair dresser cuts a large lock of her hair off during a student assembly on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011, at Sunrise Elementary. Three students from the school donated their hair to the charity in honor of second grade teacher Heather Blakely-Voyles who has taken a leave of absence from teaching as she battles cancer.

Sunrise Elementary teacher Heather Blakely-Voyles talks with students as they donate part of her hair to Locks of Love during a student assembly on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011, at the school. Three students donated hair in honor of Blakely-Voyles, who has taken a leave of absence from the school as she battles cancer.

Wyoming first lady Carol Mead reads to school children

January 28, 2011

Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead reads "Little Wyoming" to a group of youngsters from the St. Mary's School on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011, in the Wyoming State Capitol rotunda. Mead read to the group as part of the Rasing Readers in Wyoming program, a program that has distributed more than 200,000 books to young readers in Wyoming's 23 counties.

Sienna Jung, age 5, sings along with a group of 19 children from the St. Mary's School after a book reading by Wyoming First Lady Carol Mead on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011, in the Wyoming State Capitol rotunda. The first lady read "Little Wyoming" to the youngsters.

The winner

January 28, 2011

My only assignment this evening was to get a standalone shot of the action from a Cheyenne South-Rawlins wrestling match. I walked into the gym to find the lights out with a single light hanging about 10 feet over the mat. My first thought was “sweet, dramatic light.” This eventually ended up being “oh (fudge), I can’t shoot action in this light.” Wrestlers (like hockey players) don’t look up very often, making my job pretty hard since that’s where the main light was. I ended up staying for the entirety of the match ups, but this was the best shot I produced:

South wrestler Elijah Salas reacts as the referee names him the winner of a match against Rawlins Colby Murphy in the 103 weight class on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, at South High School. Rawlins won 48 to 35. — South wrestler Elijah Salas reacts as the referee names him the winner of a match against Rawlins wrestler Colby Murphy in the 103 weight class on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011, at South High School. Rawlins won 48 to 35.

Cheyenne Central wrestler Bryce Meredith

January 26, 2011

I got the opportunity to shoot my first prep athlete of the week sportrait on Tuesday evening. Every week, the paper names an athlete from a local high school, which gives the photo staff a nice opportunity to go all-out on a sportrait. Given that it was my first one, I played it pretty safe and didn’t do anything too experimental out of the gate. It’s a pretty basic three-light setup with two back lights at 45 degree angles from the subject. The key light was shot through a gridded softbox from a 45 degree angle to the right next to the camera. The subject was a pretty nice guy who helped me unload the lights from my truck before the shoot and was extremely patient while I look about 20 minutes to set everything up.

Central freshman wrestler Bryce Meredith poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011, in the Central High School wrestling room. Meredith is the Tribune-Eagle prep athlete of the week.

A day at the Wyoming Legislature

January 25, 2011

On Tuesdays and Fridays, my main assignment of the day is to cover the Wyoming Legislature. Those are the two days when I work the day shift during the week, meaning that I go over to the capitol typically before lunch. Clad in a suit and tie, I roam the hallways and galleries of both the House and Senate chambers looking for something interesting to photograph. The light is terrible in the hallways, but I managed to make a couple features from overhead positions outside of the chambers today. I’ve never covered state government before so I’m enjoying the opportunity to run around the capitol and make features.