trout food, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Shot this on my front porch last nite after cutting the lawn. Lit by
the porch light and shot with my Nikon point-and-shoot on macro mode.

-Don Himsel
photo editor

Color vs. B&W, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Sometimes as journalists we are faced with an image looking better in
color or black and white. While most images take favor to color, there
is something mysterious of the power of concentrating on just tonal
range. Ansel Adams and Fred Archer in 1941 created a system of
controlling your black and white exposure through placing your shadows
and developing for your highlights called the Zone System. The result
was a constant method for photographers to have full control of black
and white images for years to come. Although now with the digital age,
that system has become more of a theory of sorts, as control with the
digital darkroom is easier for a wider latitude of people to
experience quality images. However, the principles still remain the
same. This image shot today is an example of two different feelings
from the same image. Which one do you like better? Why?

Me? I have my answer but you'll have to e-mail me to find out :) cperrine@nashuatelegraph.com

Corey Perrine
The Telegraph
Staff Photographer

Color vs. B&W, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Sometimes as journalists we are faced with an image looking better in
color or black and white. While most images take favor to color, there
is something mysterious of the power of concentrating on just tonal
range. Ansel Adams and Fred Archer in 1941 created a system of
controlling your black and white exposure through placing your shadows
and developing for your highlights called the Zone System. The result
was a constant method for photographers to have full control of black
and white images for years to come. Although now with the digital age,
that system has become more of a theory of sorts, as control with the
digital darkroom is easier for a wider latitude of people to
experience quality images. However, the principles still remain the
same. This image shot today is an example of two different feelings
from the same image. Which one do you like better? Why?

Me? I have my answer but you'll have to e-mail me to find out :) cperrine@nashuatelegraph.com

Corey Perrine
The Telegraph
Staff Photographer

Refracted., originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

This past weekend I took a little trip down to Connecticut to visit a friend
of mine from college. We were sitting around talking when her cat jumped up
on the chair next to me. It was then I saw the refraction of the cat's eye
in the kitchen table. Here's the image.

--
Grant Morris
Staff Photographer
The Telegraph

Wilson Farm, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I went to the farm today. Pet a bull and a cow. How cool.
Corey Perrine
Staff Photographer, The Telegraph

Some pig, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Took a nice walk around Ben Brewster's farm in Amherst today. Along
with meeting Ben I got an exuberant greeting from Willy, his dog. I
caught a glimpse of something in the back of Ben's Jeep and figured that
the plywood ramp he was propping up there was for another but perhaps
aged hound that was going to amble out and join us. Nope. And as much
lettuce as I gave her she wouldn't come out to play. Good girl, Daisy.

Don Himsel
photo editor
The Telegraph
http://blogs.nashuatelegraph.com/on_assignment
(603) 594-6590

Bear necessities, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

It was nearly sun down as I recall, and I had been stalking it for days.
The beast kept reappearing in backyards, destroying bird feeders, and
thrilling homeowners who were used to seeing the usual songbirds out
their picture windows. And then it appeared - not at the feeders, but
right outside her kitchen door, in the screened porch!

On and off for most of the week I had been chasing scanner calls for
reports of a black bear making appearances all around the town of
Lunenburg, Mass. It was 1996, and I was the chief photographer at the
Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper in neighboring Fitchburg. Scanners were
our way of knowing what was going on in the world around us.

After a few days of "wild goose chases," listening to homeowners'
stories about the four-legged creature, I had still not seen the bear,
but I knew what it looked like and I know how they behave. I had
photographed bears while working in Minnesota years ago. They roamed the
dumps and shorelines of the lakes in northern part of the state, in
search of leftovers, or a dead fish.

I was sitting in the newspaper office around supper time when a scanner
call came across of a black bear near busy Route 13 in Lunenburg.
Traffic was keeping it from crossing the highway, and police were
dispatched to stop traffic. I drove as fast as I could, but it had
already crossed on it's own by the time I arrived.

Rather than follow the cruisers as they patrolled the wooded
neighborhood, I stopped at a home where it had appeared before. Bears
hunt for food in patterns, and often return for seconds at a productive
dining spot. The homeowners had bird feeders lining their backyard, and
this bear had already destroyed one of them. I got out of my car in
front of the house and waited. It was getting dark and I was supposed to
be home eating dinner with my family. But my adrenaline was pumping and
I had an inclination something was going to happen for me.

Back then I was shooting with a Nikon F4 film camera and an 80-200mm
f/2.8 zoom lens. I had two rolls of Fuji 800 in my pocket and one in the
camera. The scanner was quiet and I didn't think anybody was home. I
stood in the street awhile and then slowly walked toward the back yard
to check the feeders. I had about 45 minutes of usable light left.

Just as I rounded the back corner of the home, I thought I saw something
in the woods across the yard. Sure enough, it was the bear. But this
time it didn't seem interested in the feeders. It was heading toward the
house! I didn't have a cell phone back then, so I ran to the street and
flagged down a cruiser in front of a neighbor's home. Soon there were
neighbors and police standing in the side yard watching the bear.

It was sitting in the middle of the back yard as if waiting to be
served. What no one understood was what it smelled. There was a
clothesline running from the second floor porch window, to a tree. On
it, right above me, were several bags filled with suet balls. I watched
in amazement as the bear climber up on an upside-down row boat next to
the garage. It hopped onto the garage roof, walked across, and entered
an open screen window to the porch. After shooting up the first two
rolls, I reloaded my last one as the bear stayed hidden in the porch.

It was almost dark now, and I walked to the front door of the home to
see if anyone was there. To my surprise, an older woman answered the
door and I told her about the visitor she had inside. She had no idea
and quickly shut the front door. Oops! It locked behind her. Now the
bear was inside all by itself and she was in the yard with me. Quickly
returning to the back of the house, we watched as the bear looked out
her porch window. I motioned to the police to come to my side of the
house. My heart was racing as I photographed the bear reeling in the
clothesline. Onlookers clapped as the bear popped the suet balls into
its mouth, and disappeared back inside the porch. I was out of film and
it was dark.

I raced back to the paper and souped my film, while telling my story to
the newsroom staff that evening. We ran it with a story on the front of
our paper. I also sent a photo to the Associated Press, and the picture
ran in many newspapers across the country, as well as Newsweek. The bear
was famous now!

Unfortunately in this populated area, bears are not welcome. Just a week
later the beast appeared in downtown Fitchburg and made a scene. SWAT
teams surrounded it in front of a girls homeless shelter and fed it a
dozen jelly donuts before it got sick and was tranquilized.
Massachusetts wildlife officials transported it to the western part of
the state to find a new home.

-Bob Hammerstrom

arrangement, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Taken today at Ikebana for an upcoming story/audio slideshow on japanese
flower arranging.

Don Himsel
photo editor

Precious moments, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I stopped by St. John Neumann Church in Merrimack this morning in search
of a voter photo for Wednesday's local front in The Telegraph. If that
sounds exciting to you, please stop reading, put down whatever you are
doing, and proceed to the nearest photojournalism school. There is news
running in your blood!

I've been working full-time as a newspaper photographer for 22 years,
and have seen plenty of voting booths in my time. Believe me, they
haven't changed. At least not on the outside. The ballots are different
and the machines that count them improve with time. But the voting
process remains much the same.

To a veteran photojournalist, being sent to the polls is kind of like an
ice cream scooper dishing up one more cone for the summer crowd. You can
practically do it with your eyes closed! Picture this. A resident walks
into a polling place and picks up a piece of paper, hides inside a booth
to fill it out, then drops it in a box on their way out. Now if I was
working in Iraq, I would be toting body armor along with my Canon
cameras. People would be rejoicing as they left, happy to be alive and
free to vote. That's not the case here in the United States. People are
calm here, possibly thinking about where they are going to stop for
their next cup of java. It's a routine for us. We take too many things
for granted here in the U.S.A.

So what is there to look forward to as I enter the polls in search of a
fresh picture, never seen before, to grace the pages of our newspaper?
For me it's all about the people there, and their personalities. Facial
expressions and body language can tell a story much faster than words.

Voters were sparse this morning at the church, and it was very quiet
there. A half-dozen men congregated outside, holding signs and shaking
hands. But inside, the election workers didn't have to do much running
to keep up with today's crowd. I photographed Roni McCall dropping off
her ballot in the collection box, and looked for something else
out-of-the-ordinary. The photo of her will work fine, but I have taken
similar pictures before.

As I glanced around the room, I noticed a young girl kneeling underneath
the voting booths. The woman with her was inside. Four-year-old Layla
Terwilliger had found her perch for the next several minutes as the
voting took place. She saw my camera as I slowly walked over and knelt
down next to the booth. I set the camera on the floor. Rather than
interrupt the woman and spoil a precious moment, I began taking
pictures. Layla seemed curious, but not afraid of the man with the big
camera on the floor outside the booth. The frames blazed away for only a
few seconds before the woman exited the booth. I immediately identified
myself and asked for their names. After showing Layla a picture of
herself in the back of the camera, they dropped off the ballot and
headed out the door with smiles on their faces. I showed the picture in
the back of the camera to a pair of election workers nearby, who smiled
and agreed the precious moment was captured.

A few minutes later as I changed my camera settings outside to shoot the
sign holders, a car pulled up near me and the driver got out. "Oh no," I
thought as the woman walked toward me. My blood pressure started to
rise. Was she going to tell me not to use the pictures I had taken of
Layla? Absolutely not. She stopped to tell me I had made a young girl's
day. Layla seemed down before they went in to vote, and now she was
thrilled that a photographer had taken her picture!

So what do I look forward to when going out to routine assignments?
Meeting people, and maybe making their day!

God's Humor, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

No this was not an April Fool's Day joke but maybe this proves God has
a sense of humor after all.
Corey

Mike Adasczik holds up two pieces of a oak tree Tuesday, April 1 at
his home on Newman Drive in Nashua. Mike works for Daley Outdoor
Service in the city and was cutting down an oak tree with his crew
when he discovered what looked like a frowning face."I've never seen
anything like this," Adasczik said. "In all my 10 or more years of
landscaping."

Trust, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

We received an email recently from someone inquiring about this image.
Here's part of the message "...After the emotional impact, I began to
ask questions about it. It came with no attribution. For on example, I
find the lighting to be amazing for a candid news shot. And then there
is the question of how a journalist could have been in the position to
get such a picture. Actually, what I found with Goggle strongly suggests
that it is legitimate."

It is legit. It was taken by Aaron Thompson, a staff photographer with
the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, Tenn. How could he have been in
that position? Without talking to him directly but speaking from
experience I can say by being smart, sensitive and gaining the trust of
the family and friends who attended that funeral.

Let me tell you there are times where it's very uncomfortable to be a
news photographer. Covering the ugly side of life can be difficult.
This is what we do and, good or bad, drama leads to strong journalistic
photos. They stick with you (the reader) more perhaps than anything that
could be written about this sad event. When I spoke recently at the New
England Press Association workshops I was talking about the impact of
photography in newspapers. I asked rhetorically what anyone in the
group could remember being written about 9/11. No response. But when I
put some memorable photographs up on the screen there were nods all
around.

I can think right now the pictures I made at the funeral of John
Ogonowski, who was killed on 9/11, and the photos staff photographer Bob
Hammerstrom has made of similar events. Most recently of Anthony
Kumungu's funeral. He was a soldier, too. Both of us were able to put
ourselves in positions to make particularly dramatic photos by showing
respect and gaining that trust.

Yeah, the light is nice. Sometimes we're blessed with it. Quite often
we're not. Really, conditions are rarely ideal for us. On any given
assignment it's going to be too dark, too wet, hot, cold, late, early,
noisy, full of mosquitoes, boring, slippery, smelly.

Whatever. But I have to say no matter what I run in to it'll never be as
bad as having a flag handed to me that draped my dad's
casket.

-Don Himsel
photo editor

"A hundred eyes", originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Sad news.

Photo from Cambodian.com

Don Himsel
photo editor

I love the rain., originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I work for a newspaper. Here's a picture that is completely different from
everything I shoot on a regular basis. The big thing in a creative field is
knowing the rules so that you can break them. Sometimes it works, other
times the technique doesn't. On my day off today, I took a walkabout in
Downtown Nashua and aimed at breaking the rules that bind me daily.

--
Grant Morris
Staff Photographer
The Telegraph

Out of hibernation, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Probably the most remarkable thing about this photo is that I had hair.
And it wasn't what my wife politely calls "silver." This is me about
1990, taken at the former Greenville Wild Animal Park. Yeah, I have a
fun job.

Don Himsel
photo editor

dedicated visual journalist moves on, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Managing editor/online Damon Kiesow is also the chairman of the National
Press Photographers Association Northern Short Course for
photojournalists. He's been coordinating the annual multiday workshop
for 7 years. He handed over his duties to Michelle McLoughlin during
this year's event in Rochester, NY. Here he is saying goobye. Nice
work Damon. All of us on the job appreciate it.

Don Himsel
photo editor
 

Forward., originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I just wrote and posted this on my personal blog to inspire anyone who comes
across it and I thought this was something everyone should read. Simply
replace the term journalist and camera with something else.

Set the camera down for a second. Because I know my "audience", this isn't a
ridiculous request. What I'm about to say may sound preachy. You may not
want to hear it but, it needs to be asked. When were you last a human first?

It's terribly easy to get caught up in being a journalist and believing that
can be your sole contribution to the world. I have sad news friends, it's
not good enough. How many people have actually ever made a difference in the
world with a camera? Sure, a single frame has changed the course of the
world for good before (a man by the name of Eddie Adams comes to mind), but
how often does it regularly occur? With technology being the way it is, and
consumers having the same tools we as professionals have, the distinct
advantage we once had is diminishing. Should you quit striving to obtain
that next image that changes the world? Not at all. Do you want to make sure
that in some manner you make a difference in at least one person's life?
There's an easy way to ensure that this has the best possible chance at
happening. BE A HUMAN FIRST! Feel the feelings you encounter everyday. Live
the lives that your subjects live. Love the way man was meant to
love...passionately.

I realize that I'm not the most eloquent person in the world. Heck,
sometimes I even have a hard time getting my point across to people in
everyday conversation. I have realized though that there are two things that
translate perfectly to any language. The first, of course, is music...you
know, the kind without words in it. The next and, until recently, the less
obvious of the two, is emotion. People around the world feel the same
feelings we do. By we I mean Americans. Many would argue that some people,
depending on their geographic location of course, feel pain or joy to a
larger degree than we do.

So where do these feelings come from? Could be the fact that I've been
living alone for the first time in my life. Could be the forced seclusion
due to weather. It could be the fact that I have recently uncovered an
intense desire to make a difference. To work to make a change and working
tirelessly toward such a goal is a tremendous thing and I encourage each of
you to pursue a like goal.

How about some more inspiration.
David Leeson - The Creative Alchemist

--
Grant Morris
Staff Photographer
The Telegraph
603-594-6483

Compositions, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Sometimes good compositions don't tell news stories very well. On Monday
evening, I was sent to illustrate poll set up. Making a picture seemed to be
simple enough in this environment. I was given a charcoal gray wall to shoot
against and a subject matter that lends itself to being graphically
appealing. The voting polls made for a nice frame for a man who has been
setting them up religiously for 20 years. Here's one that didn't make it
into the paper.

--
Grant Morris
Staff Photographer
The Telegraph

It's March, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I've been watching ESPN a lot lately. All I can say is, never let them
question your fanhood.
Corey Perrine
Staff Photographer/The Telegraph

Bug on my Windshield, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

A Volkswagon Beetle passes on Derry Road in Hudson Tuesday, Feb. 26 in
Hudson. Recent snowfall caused slow traffic and slippery roads to add
to one of the biggest snowfall accumulations in recent years to the
Granite State.

I don't think this photo ran in the paper. When I shot it I saw a
yellow beetle approach but missed the shot. Bummed for a nano second,
a second beetle came along behind the first to pick up my spirits.
What were the odds?!
Corey Perrine
Staff Photographer/The Telegraph

I had no reason to post this, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

other than I saw it today, liked it, and shot it. At the Community
House, Milford.

-Don Himsel

PT Loser, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

So I purchased a 4x4 truck after getting sick of all the New England
snowfall this winter. I've always wanted a Toyota truck after the end
scene in the movie Back to the Future. Ever since, I had been an in
the closet truck lover. I finally found an excuse to bite the bullet
and find a nice little truck. I looked for weeks and finally found one
in in Salem, Mass. It was last Wednesday I drove it home. So elated
on my find, I was ready to conquer the snow. However, I never had the
slightest inkling how my Michael J. Fox hopes would come to a swift end.

I was driving in Exeter, N.H. on a residential road saw a plow truck
up ahead. I was traveling a cautious 20 mph and thought nothing of the
passing. I could see him and he could see me, so I thought. Then in an
instant he floored it backwards as I was passing his salt and sand
spreader and SMASH!, POW!!, BIFF!!!, ZORT!!!! KABLAMO!!!!! like a
scene from the campy 60's Batman show, my new silver 4x4 hopes were
dashed in seconds. I had no time to even alert him with my horn. It
was a definitely a brace-for-impact moment. The windshield crushed and
the passenger side glass shattered as I was tossed about five feet
sideways. I sat gripping the wheel as the other driver left his
vehicle and asked, "Are you okay?" In my mind I thought, "Just a
broken heart."

In the wake of the aftermath I'm dealing with insurance claims and a
rental car driving a PT Loser, I mean cruiser.

I wonder when the snow will end? I hear Miami is nice this time of
year *sigh*

Corey Perrine
Nashua Telegraph/Staff Photographer

P.S. This photo was taken with my camera phone please excuse the
excessive grain.

Nashua students protest for teachers, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

A photo and video shoot ended quickly for me this morning at Nashua High
School North, as I was asked to leave school property by the principal
after videotaping students protesting outside the school. They were
there early, toting signs in support of the teachers who are negotiating
a new contract with the city. Our newspaper was invited by the students,
and we check out their Facebook forum out before going to see what they
would be up to.

They were very organized and quickly gravitated to my video camera, not
having a clue as to who I was or where I worked. I try not to identify
myself right away in events like this, so that the subjects will go
about their business as if I'm not there. But they quickly started to
wave and say "Hi mom" into the camera, as if on stage.

One of the female students asked me to leave, saying the group would
then go to class. But was that the case? Where they only there to be
videotaped? Many were saying they would be on t.v. I just let them do
their thing. And I explained to the girl that I would stay there as long
as the kids were protesting, unless I was asked to leave by an
administrator.

Well, it wasn't long (actually about two minutes after I arrived) that
the principal and a school police officer asked me to leave the
property. Out of respect, I did. But did the students go to class when
the camera was put away? Some did, and others stayed to continue the
picket.

It's too bad video or t.v. camera become a magnet for people. It's not
just kids. I've seen many adults act in unusual ways once the camera is
pointed at them. As visual journalists, we strive to capture people and
events in a natural way, not encouraging or discouraging the subjects,
or directing them in any way. I usually put the camera down, or point in
another direction, when people smile for the camera, or wave. Who taught
them how to do that anyway?

Check out a video of the protest on nashuatelegraph.com
--Bob Hammerstrom

Flipped, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Somebody flipped their car tonight in Hudson. Fortunately no serious
injuries. However, the real breakthrough was the inadvertent follow-up
with the officer from the other night. He apologized for the other
night and I had a chance to explain why we do what we do as
photojournalists. I basically told him that as grand-scale an event
that 9/11 was, it didn't compare to the other night, obviously. I went
further to say that If we had not the brave men and women who had the
courage to capture such atrocities we would not learn or know so that
we can prevent such things from happening in the future. They are
tools to learn from. I see myself as not only a person who reflects
the visuals of life but a teacher, a poet, a sociologist, a
psychologist, an informant. Without the eyes and ears of a community,
photojournalists, we don't learn, we don't progress, we don't know.
Tonight here is my message to all to slow down in inclement
conditions. Have good tires. GPS systems can tell us upcoming road
contours. Wear a seatbelt. Parents, teach your kids about safe driving
and follow through they understand and apply such.
Corey Perrine/The Telegraph
Staff Photographer

What's in your feeder?, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I have photographed many kinds of birds in my 20-plus years as a
photojournalist, but capturing their songs was a whole new experience
for me.

As multimedia producers for www.nashuatelegraph.com, we often use
wireless microphones pinned to the lapel of our subject during an
interview. But how do I pin one on a woodpecker flying in and out of the
birdfeeders this week at the Audubon Center in Auburn? My first attempt
at capturing its conversation with the chickadees and a nuthatch
involved clipping the tiny microphone to the wire mesh on a sunflower
seed feeder. But would the birds peck at it, or leave a surprise for me
to clean off later? The birds didn't bother it, but the contraption
wasn't close enough to pick up their voices. That's so strange because I
could hear them clear across the field.

Next I tried setting the video camera without the radio microphone in a
snow bank below the feeders, not only to warm up inside the Audubon
Center, but to let the birds return without me standing as a predator to
them. That didn't work for sound either, as the microphone on the video
camera didn't pick up well.

So, after dusting the snow off the bottom of the camera (don't tell my
boss), I attached a shotgun mic to the video camera from my audio kit.
Now, it's not a 12-gauge, but it certainly can give me a lot of sound.
The long microphone picks up sound coming from a single direction.
That's how I captured the sounds of a large woodpecker hundreds of yards
away in a tree. He was now the bass, and the other birds were the
sopranos. But I still don't know what the screech was coming from a barn
in the neighbor's yard.

If you are interested in counting birds, there is a Great Backyard Bird
Count started today across the country. You can find out more
information at www.birdsource.org/gbbc. There are also more still
photographs of birds in a Mycapture gallery on our website, as well as
the Backyard birds video on the Audio/Video page.

-Bob Hammerstrom

Shooting Ethics, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

This photo created Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. when a man was
shot. Although not fatal or serious, thank goodness, he was
transported to a local area hospital. A friendly police office came up
to me and asked if I could not shoot for his "dignity's sake." I
responded politely with a question, "Am I doing something illegal?"
His response was, "No. But I just don't want you to photograph, It's
your moral decision." To combat against my decision to photograph he
decided to keep his flashlight conveniently directed at my lens as he
walked away. I was ready to make a more visually communicative scene
but have to admit he threw me off my game mentally, I suppose his plan
worked. Although this is not the greatest photo. it is what it is.
However, the greater lesson comes up with what viewers don't realize
about our jobs as photojournalists we face everyday is ethics and the
message we bring.

Ethics. Yes, ethics. To your surprise we do abide by a code of ethics.
It's a strict code of ethics. Basically in a nutshell, we cannot
influence the situation in anyway. We cannot suggest our subjects to
do anything, minus portraits which I avoid on daily assignments, but
that's another discussion. Pretty much we photojournalist document
life as it comes at us, one frame at a time. I actually love the code,
it gives me rules to abide by. I take my job seriously, sometimes too
seriously. I feel I represent the eyes of the community to reflect
what happened that is noteworthy. Good and yes, bad. Why? So we can
live in a better world, so we can be aware of our surroundings, so we
can improve and live and grow for a better tomorrow. Idealistic yes,
I'm very idealistic. However, we must see the good and the bad, the
normal, the weird, the business and the lack thereof to know how to
push to a brighter future. This image to me represents the chaos in
this world because people dispute and can't control themselves. It
means we need to be aware of what a mad person with any weapon or
object can do to attempt to destroy. It represents the frailty of life
and how precious each day is. To me I did not take away dignity I
created this with the hopes that others might keep theirs.

-Corey Perrine

uh oh..., originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Speaking of change. Read about the shake up in Wisconsin.  Will print newspapers end up like our friend here?

 -Don Himsel

You, me and Uncle Maury, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I attended the New England Press Association workshops last week. Dave
Solomon, our managing editor and president of NEPA asked me to put
together a workshop on photography for reporters. I think it was
well-received. I'm always happy to help folks up the quality of their
photography.

Much of my schtick was about rethinking the when and why they go about
making thier pictures as well as the how. I often said that you don't
really need the Big Guns to make photos for many of the assignments.
Yeah I'm looking forward to taking possesion of a new Canon EOS Mark III
but I also look forward to using my Nikon Coolpix while on the job.
It's super portable, has a great macro feature and is just plain fun.

Alex Majoli is my hero. A photographer with the photo agency Magnum he
has used one-touch cameras in his photojournalism and has made some
fabulous images. As Eamon Hickey wrote about him on Rob Galbraith's
great digital photography resource site "the same camera your snap happy
Uncle Maury takes to Disney World."

I think about Majoli when I'm out shooting and I sense that stuff gets
in the way of what I'm trying to do, tell someone's story. Here's a
photo I took of a dew-covered bloom at Beaver Brook in Hollis awhile
ago. So remember. It's often where you point that camera and when you
push the shutter that makes the photo, not the camera itself.

-Don Himsel

Maybe I should have two, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

I used to be a gear hound early in my career. I carried a satchel full
of lenses and accessories and I was a mediocre photographer. I'd like
to think that over the years my journalism and photography have
improved. I know that now I carry a lot less crap. Two lenses have
taken the place of the 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 105mm, 135mm 180mm and the
300mm I hauled around. Two camera bodies. Strobes. Oh yeah, film.
Bricks and bricks of black and white film.

As time has gone on I've learned to ask myself if buying (and carrying)
a certain piece of camera equipment will make me a better photographer.
Often the answer is no. Lately I've added to asking myself if the
purchase will keep me from filling the oil tank or getting money in the
kids' college funds. So when Damon, our managing editor/online sent me
something about this lens I just had to share. It's made by Canon. A
1200mm f5.6. There are less than 20 of them out there. Sucker costs
$99,000. The photo here is from the Reuters Website. There's other
pics and info out there if you search.

I remember what I paid for my first house. Charming place. Three bedroom
fully dormered cape with a two car attached garage. It would have never
fit on a tripod as well as this lens.

Additionally I thought I'd surf the 'Net quick and see what else may
cost this much. Some of what I found was a couple of years old, but...

stuff that costs about $99,000-

* "Lightwave Electronics Corp. Compact, Air-Cooled, Diode-Pumped
Coherent Laser Radar with Very Low Power Consumption $99,000"
* "Aurora Simulation, Inc. A Configurable Object-Oriented Expert
System to Embody Cultural (Awareness) Models $98,700"
* ''Hazardous Material Decontamination Vehicle" for New York City
$99,000
* "A super-duper Continuum Audio Labs' Caliburn battery-powered
turntable system - which includes the turntable, Cobra tone arm, power
supply and dedicated isolation stand for $99,000! The phono cartridge
(with needle) is extra."
* building lots on Abaco, Bahamas, at Lubbers Quarters, $99,000
* 1982 Lambourghini Countach LP400S Series 3. "Only 82 of these
handcrafted Italian sportscars were ever made." Located in Montana.
$95,000
* The "broad average" for a kidney transplant $75,000 to $100,000
(from the National Foundation for Transplants Website).

So Damon, order me one, ok? Maybe it'll make me a better photographer.

-Don Himsel

Humor in photography, originally uploaded by Nashua Telegraph.

Pun was intended. Had to dig this photo out of my archive to get some
humor going on this blog. Humor photography is something I've always
enjoyed capturing. Animals and people seem to be at the top of my list.
To me there's something about expressions and rare moments frozen with a
still camera, that cannot be copied or repeated over time. This image
was taken with a 35 mm film camera and black & white film inside a rural
farmhouse using available light. Now bears are not extremely rare to see
in northern Minnesota, but a cub this age is usually protected and
hidden away by its mother.

Taken nearly 20 years ago for a small daily paper I worked at in Fergus
Falls, Minn., this tiny black bear cub was rescued from it's den when
loggers in northern Minnesota damaged its den and the mother was killed.
It was one of two cubs brought to Marion Otnes who started up a wildlife
rehabilitation farm.

Although it was fed by a bottle as a tiny cub, the cute little thing
grew up into a juvenile and was later released into the wild. I can
remember going back to the farm to photograph it a few months later, and
it was already more than 20 pounds larger. That tiny squirrel-sized ball
of fur that I laid on the floor to photograph was scaling my leg with
it's twin, digging in with its claws.

-Bob Hammerstrom