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I am a man of limited Photoshop skills and I wear that as a badge of honor.  I say this because a newspaper photojournalist doesn’t need to be messing with his images at all beyond just basic toning and retouching dust spots and doing things to facilitate reproduction.  Anything more than that gets perilously close to image manipulation and image manipulation can cause you to lose your job and your reputation.

The exception to the rule is when a photo illustration becomes necessary.  Illustrations are by design a compilation of images and are labeled in the paper as an illustration.  My rule is that, if I am doing an illustration, it must be blatantly obvious that it is a created image and cannot in any way seem to imitate reality.  We are in the business of reporting the news, not creating it.

Austin High will be throwing three reliable hurlers against state playoff competitors. From left are Justin Camp, Trey Richard and Ben Bullard. Photo Illustration by Gary Cosby Jr. 4/22/09 Click the photo for a larger version

Last week I was assigned to shoot a photo about Austin High School’s three top pitchers.  After racking my brain, which obviously didn’t take too long, I decided to go with an illustration.  My colleague, Jeronimo Nisa, had already done a photo of another high school pitching staff earlier in the year where he had something like seven kids to work in so, my options were pretty limited.  I had a very bright, sunny day and was going to be shooting  at practice and I simply could not come up with anything that would work given what had already been done by Jero and the weather conditions.  Sometimes, you just pray for one of those really cloudy skies that you can work as a backdrop.

What I elected to do was do an illustration that combines seven images.  I began by simply shooting a baseball up close with the ball turned three different ways.  I then shot a portrait of each kid, making sure to have my light hitting their faces from the same direction as the sunlight was hitting the baseball.  I shot the portraits with a Lumedyne head fired through an umbrella.  The final image was of one of the kids pitching  but I intentionally shot it out of focus.  I then brought all those images together in Photoshop to make the final.

I am not going to do a tutorial on using the Layers palette here.  You can find much more information on the Internet that is far better than anything I can instruct you in.  Check out the Photoshop Insider link in my blogroll and you will find more Photoshop information than you are likely to need in any two lifetimes.  What I will say is that you need to pay attention to small details.  When I cut and pasted my faces onto the baseballs, I had to lighten the opacity of the layer containing the faces then hype up the contrast and really darken the blacks to get an image that blended relatively well with the baseball.  You also have to feather the edges of the face layer, I used the eraser at about 30%, and you have to warp the image a little bit so it kind of bends with the curvature of the ball.  I think I used the distort command for that.  Anyway, the point is, pay attention to those little things so your image doesn’t look like a kindergartner did it with his set of crayolas.

This an image of the ball prepared with the face.

I created a white background layer and then pasted the pitcher into that layer and then placed the balls on top of the image of the pitcher.  I always create a new file to the image size I want and paste the other layers on top of it.  This gives the most flexibility if you have to adjust the opacity of your bottom layer.  The last thing I do before compressing the image is to ease the edges of each baseball a tiny bit with the erase tool.  It just helps the balls blend into the background layer without looking to weird.  If you don’t ease the edges a bit, it looks like you have pasted layers on top of one another.  I am sure you Photoshop experts are rolling your eyes right about now.  Sorry.  Like I said, I have get-by Photoshop skills and that is just fine for about 99.9% of my work.  I’ll try and leave the tricky stuff up to the experts.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

James Devaney searches through the rubble of his daugther's home following a devastating tornado that claimed the lives of Devaney's daughter, son-in-law and gradnson in the rural Lawrence County community of Aldridge Grove.

Last February I shot what has become the most widely published photo of my career.  The image was on the front page on the New York Times and USA Today among many, many other major US daily newspapers.  The image received wide play on the internet as well and was featured in MSNBC’s photo gallery and on several newspaper web sites across the country.  The photo was also the opening double truck in News Photographer, the publication of the National Press Photographers Association.  I shot the picture of a man sifting through the rubble of his daughter’s home after a tornado ripped through Lawrence County.  The tornado killed the woman, her husband and her son.  It was a sad moment among many sad moments produced by that storm system which killed 57 across the Midwest and southeast.

To say that the big guys at our paper were thrilled to have a local photo receive such prominent play nationally would be kind of an understatement.  For me it was a great honor but it was also tempered by the knowledge that so many people had to die for one of my photos to be on the front of the New York Times.  I still feel the sadness of that morning even as I am writing this.  It just wrenches my heart to think of those lives swept away so abruptly.

Over the course of the last few months, our publisher has come to me on a number of occasions asking about the Pulitzer Prize.  I didn’t know anyone had even submitted the photo and I still dont’ know.  I haven’t asked.  Mr. Shelton has made such a big deal about it that I went to the Pulitzer site to see who actually did win.  A very excellent photographer named Patrick Ferrell won for his series of photos from Hurricane Ike.  I am not surprised that I didn’t win and I am not disappointed either.  Awards, including the Pulitzer, are what they are, a great honor and recognition from your peers.

Those awards are not the best awards you will get in your career.  The best awards come when someone I have never met before tells me, “Oh, I know your work.  I can always tell when it is one of your photos.”  It doesn’t matter how many awards you win in your career, and I have won my fair share, there is not a greater honor or award than that.

What you have to remember about awards is that they are extremely subjective.  You could enter the same photo in three different contests and have very different results because the judges in each would have a different point of view.  It is great when judges agree with you and give you the blue ribbon but you can’t get to puffed up about it.  Nor can you get down if you don’t win a contest.  If your work is solid you will eventually win plenty of awards.

The reason that having folks in your community recognize and comment on your work is a big deal is because they see it all the time.  If they, who have been looking at my photos in The Decatur Daily for fifteen years now, comment favorably on my work then I know that I am truly doing my job and doing it well.  You see, the judges who view our paper every day are the ones who are paying for the product.  They ultimately vote with their pocket books.  If people see my photos and like them they keep on buying the paper.  If the photography doesn’t move them, they will move on.  There is just too much media out there for folks to chose from.

I would certainly like to win a Pulitzer Prize someday. My chances are not exactly the same as someone working on the big national and international news stories all the time.  Of course, the chances of that actually happening are pretty slim.  Still, you go to work everyday same as the big guys and you give your best effort and you never know.  Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every now and then!  But, win or lose, never forget that the most important awards you will ever get don’t come from Mr. Pulitzer.  They come from your readers.

If you would like to read the original post from last year’s tornado, click here.

Photo copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Heavy thunderstorms passed through northern Alabama with high winds, hail and heavy rain Friday afternoon. Menacing clouds sail over the Chick-Fil-A Restaurant on Highway 72 in Athens as the first wave of stroms approach Friday afternoon. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 04/10/09

What an active spring we are having in north Alabama.  In the last two weeks we had a hail storm, and I mean one that dropped baseball size hail in some areas, which was followed by a wind storm of epic proportions caused by something called a gravity wave and Sunday we had a small tornado roll across Lawrence, Morgan and Marshall counties killing two people.

Spring is usually an active weather time in Alabama but this year has really been kicking it.  The atmosphere has been in just the right configuration to generate severe storms.  We have actually had several years with very calm spring weather prior to 2008 so the last couple of years indicate one of those pendulum swings in local weather.

From the photographer’s point of view it simply means that you have to be ready for anything, anytime.  Our coverage area has three very distinct storm tracks.  One runs through Limestone County, one runs through Lawrence and Morgan County basically cutting between Hartselle and Decatur and the third is on the very southern edge of Morgan County and the northern part of Cullman County.  Actually, Limestone County has about three pretty well defined storm tracks all to itself.  It seems that Lawrence County also has a couple now that I am thinking about it.  One runs right over Moulton and the other spills across the northern portion of the county and leads into the southern track across Limestone County.  That is the one that usually troubles Huntsville.

For those of you, and this is most of you, who don’t live around here, I know that doesn’t mean anything to you.  I think, however, if you look at your own weather regions you will find that you too have storm tracks especially for the tornadic type storms.  Certain areas of the world are prone to tornadoes while other areas have never had one.  I believe I have read the the two most active tornado belts are in the United States and Australia so some of you guys know what I mean.

I love to cover storms.  For that matter I love to watch storms.  My dad and I used to sit out on the front porch of our home and watch big storms roll in from Mississippi.  Later, when we were both volunteer firemen, we used to do storm spotting together and worked to clean up the mess mother nature generated when she was angry.  Living in this part of the world, active storms are just something you deal with.  You have to be really careful chasing storms here though.  Out in the Midwest where you see those tornado specials filmed on National Geographic tv you can see for miles and miles.  You won’t find National Geographic filming tornadoes in Alabama.  The geography is different and the storms that generate the twisters behave differently.

For whatever reason, tornadoes tend to come at night here.  It is fairly unusual to have a tornadic storm in daylight hours here and even when you do, the twisters tend to be wrapped in heavy rain belts so they are really difficult to see.  One person I talked to yesterday was telling me that he was watching the storm out his front door and when the tornadic portion of the storm passed over his home literally breaking a large oak tree into two pieces, he could not see a hundred yards because the rainfall was so intense.  Makes chasing a storm a bit dicey.  In fact, the only time I have feared for me life chasing storms was in a similar set of circumstances but it was completely dark and I was in a very small car.  I got hammered in the storm, lightning flashing everywhere and still unable to see anything.  That is a really bad sign.  I made it out but I have gotten smarter, I hope, since then.

This time I was off when the storm hit so all I shot was cleaning up the damage the day after.  The National Weather Service determined an EF1, the smallest tornado, dropped down four times as it crossed three counties.  The storm killed two and severely injured another.  A man died just a few miles from where I live when two trees fell on his mobile home and crushed him to death.  The storm topped the hill behind his house and tossed tress and power lines around and then skipped into Marshall County where it killed the other victim.

When you are out covering the clean up, just make sure you are nice and compassionate.  Don’t value the photos over the people who have already suffered loss or damage or both.  Never forget that compassion is your best friend when you are dealing with people in disaster.  Having just a little bit of empathy for people, talking to them for a few minutes and giving them an opportunity to tell their stories will actually open the door to better pictures too.  One of the weird things about going through a tragic or stressful situation is that many people actually feel better when they can tell their story to someone.  Be a good listener and you will find that you are a much better shooter.

Just a quick safety tip for you.  When you are in an area with downed power lines always, and I mean ALWAYS, treat the power lines as if they are live.  Don’t assume that the power is off just because the lines are down.  Treat them like deadly serpents and you will stay alive.  Always nice to go home at the end of the day.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

We are pretty deep into high school baseball season here in Alabama. Tired of shooting plays at second yet? By now, if you have shot much baseball at all, you are ready to shoot anything that doesn’t involve second base. That is where looking beyond the action comes in. By this I mean shooting through the play, checking for quirky stuff between pitches and just about anything else you can think of.

Getting to the game early can be a nice opportunity to get some off the beaten path stuff.  I shot this Hartselle High game recently and got there about a half hour before game time.  The guys were playing pepper right in front of the fence where I was standing.  Instead of just standing there watching I grabbed my camera and banged off some frames.  They turned out to be my favorite shots from the game.

I got another shot after the first baseman flipped over the rolled up tarp near the fence while chasing a foul ball.  I was too tight to get the actual play but when the second baseman came over and they laughed together about it I had a really nice shot.  Then I had another moment when I looked over into the Hartselle dugout and saw the whole team giving signs to a base runner.  Of course, the signs were meaningless, they were just something that kids in the dugout cook up to do to keep themselves into the game when they are not playing.  Fun stuff.

Then I got a normal shot of a kid getting congratulated after a home run.  No great shakes to be sure but it is not a kid sliding into second base either!  Baseball is a great game to photograph because it gives you lots of opportunities to make pictures.  It is probably the slowest paced game of the four major sports unless you want to count golf which moves at a snail’s pace.  That time between plays gives you the opportunity to look around, move around and actually hunt for photographs.  Baseball season is also the longest season in terms of major league baseball.  Even the youth sports seasons go well into July with the all star games and American Legion ball.

If you haven’t burned out on plays at second yet you probably live up north with my friend Corey Wilson who is just not getting free from a stalking polar bear or you are one of our readers living outside the US and are thinking about the funky game of cricket.  Okay, rabbit trail.  I once picked up a copy of the Times of London and read an account of a cricket match. I knew the words were in English but, honestly, I had no idea of what they were talking about.  Made me glad for the land of baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet!  Maybe someday I will have the chance to visit England and learn what exactly a wicket is.  Until then, I will try to avoid plays at second base.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Don’t want to forget your camera.  Hey, it has happened.  Start by making a list and, just like Santa, check it twice.  I do some woodworking and there is a rule of measuring and cutting that goes something like measure twice and cut once.  Apply this to your preparation.  Make a list and then have someone review that list with you.  Two heads are better than one and four eyes see more than two.

At the top of your list, right after cameras, should be batteries and chargers.  If you want your day to be ruined just show up at a big job with no batts or dead batts and see how well you do and see how embarrassing it is to be begging extras off someone else.  Not good.  Batteries!  Then you can step back and ask yourself a few questions.  Will there be electrical power?  Will there be somewhere to hook up your laptop to transmit?  Do you need remotes?  Do you need any specialty gear?  Where are you going to get any gear you don’t have on hand?  How much cash should you take?  Do you need room reservations, airline tickets or other accommodations?  Do you still have your hair or have you pulled it out yet?

Did you pack batteries and chargers?  Have you gotten any press credentials or clearances you need?  If you are hanging remotes, do you need special permission from a facility administrator?  Do you have a sherpa to carry all the gear you are going to need?  How will you secure the gear on location?  How long are you going to be on location and how much clothing do you need?  Do you need to pack food and water or gasoline?  (Ever covered a hurricane?)

Now, enough questions.  Here is a list.  Oh yeah, did you pack batteries and chargers?

1) Cameras and lenses
2) Laptop and a variety of cables for ethernet/phone/air card
3) Oh yeah, batteries and chargers
4) Clothes/shoes/toiletries
5) Food/water/fuel if the location will be out of power
6) Rain gear for yourself and your equipment
7) Plastic bags like Ziploc or Glad in several sizes – especially if you are going to a disaster
Money/tickets/passes
9) Tripods/monopods/Magic Arms/Clamps
10) Remotes and accessories
11) A Hat or two (it is nasty to stand in the sun with an uncovered head in high summer!)
12) Sunglasses/sun protection like sunblock
13) Bug spray/bite treatment/basic meds like aspirin
14) Any regular meds you take

That is a pretty basic check list and it varies depending on where you are going and what you are doing.  Obviously if your big job is an indoor event you can strike some items but you might want to add some as well.  Keep a basic emergency kit in your car all the time that includes essentials like a basic medical kit.  Never hurts to have some bottled water with you any time.  And I keep hats and jackets in my car with gloves until pretty much high summer.  Baseball season in Alabama tends to be rather cool at times and once in a while it is down right cold with a strong wind.

There are three things you absolutely must have.  Your camera gear, your laptop and your batteries.  If you are in a civilized place you can usually buy anything else you need so don’t get into a panic.  If you are shooting with long glass, don’t forget the monopod.  Have you ever tried hand holding a 300 or a 400 for any length of time?  Not nice.  It will nearly kill you.  Appropriate shoes are also very important.  There are just so many things you could do.  Just remember the big three and then anything after that is just gravy.  The one thing you want to avoid is over packing.  Have an idea of what you need and take that.  Hauling around a long lens for extended times is tough.  It is even tougher if it turns out you didn’t need it anyway.

Oh yeah, did you pack the batteries?

The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.

Boeing's Delta IV lifts clears the launch pad as a trail of flame pours out of the engines dwarfing the 400 foot tall lightning arrestor towers.

When you work for a small newspaper you are not likely to cover too many really big events.  It is just not the nature of the game.  We do community news and for the most part that means shooting the day in and day out community news, sports and features.  Most of those jobs don’t require extraordinary planning and preparation and can be carried out without any extra equipment.  But once in a while something comes along that is a really big assignment and a lot is riding on your performance.  When those days come along you will want to be on your game with all your i’s dotted and t’s crossed.

Decatur, Alabama is in a pretty interesting spot in terms of its geography.  Huntsville is just a few miles away and Huntsville is home to a significant part of America’s space program with the Marshal Space Flight Center located there.  Birmingham, our largest city, is an hour and a half south, Nashville is two hours north and Atlanta is three and a half hours east.  So we are close enough to major metros to have big city assignments every now and then.  We also have some significant business and industrial interests in our immediate area.  Boeing built a rocket factory here a few years ago and then combined with Lockheed to create United Launch Alliance.  There are a number of very high tech science and tech companies in Huntsville and Madison County so we have a lot of not so small town stuff within a reasonably close proximity to us.

This leads to some interesting assignments from time to time that take you out of the every day reportage and into what I call big boy journalism territory.  When Boeing launched its first rocket built in Decatur back in 2003, I had one of those big boy opportunities.  I found out a few weeks in advance that I would be going to Florida to cover the launch and I was really fired up.  I spent the next two weeks doing online reasearch about shooting night rocket launches.  I found out that with a new rocket type, no one actually knew what to expect but I was able to garner some basic exposure information, learn how far the normal shooting area was from the launch site and get a basic idea of what to expect.

Read more and see a slide show after the jump.  Read the rest of this entry »

I had the opportunity to photograph a dramatic production by Calvary Assembly in Decatur of The Whip, Hammer and Cross earlier this week.  It is an amazing production done by members of the church depicting the life of Christ, particularly the week of His passion.  I got saved when I was seven but I was ready to go to the altar again when that play was done!  Wow!

I shot the entire event using the Nikon D2Hs and an 80-200mm f2.8 lens and, of course, it was all available light and they did a tremendous job lighting the play.  There were basically two white balances and I could easily switch between the normal incandescent mode and dial in a K reading of about 4400 for the other mode.  I shot on a night designated for Spanish speakers so the church was not as full as normal and I had almost full mobility in the balcony which sweeps around an arc from one side of the stage to the other.  I could move freely to get the best angles and it worked out very well.

Resurrection Sunday may be the greatest day on the calendar, maybe even the greatest day in history.  I know for sure that Jesus has changed my life.  My dad had a music group comprised of teens from several churches and they were called The Conversion Experience Singers.  I was just a little boy, seven years old in fact.  They were singing in a country church on Sand Mountain over around Scottsboro in northern Alabama.  I always helped out setting up, really I didn’t do much except feel like I was helping, but I was always right there on the front row.  That night was a little different.

The group sang the songs that I knew by heart and as they came down to the very last song I knew something was going on.  I could feel God calling my name.  The group sang, “Pass It On” for the invitation and I was down front tugging on my dad’s jacket telling him I wanted to get saved.  I have known this wonderful Jesus ever since.  I used to think that I would be a minister someday when I hung up the cameras or that I would hang up the cameras to become a minister.  It took me a long time to realize that God didn’t want me to separate my “secular” career from my “ministry.”  Now I know that the way that I minister to people involves a camera and the compassion that naturally flows through my lens is really just an expression of who God made me to be that day back in 1970 on Sand Mountain.

One of the greatest expressions of the love of God is written this way in scripture, “… and Jesus, moved with compassion…”  I love that phrase because that is what love and life are really all about.  In many ways it is what photojournalism is all about.  I am an imperfect man who God touched and now he just wants me to show his love to other imperfect people.  Let me leave you now with a blessing and an invitation.  May the Lord bless you and keep you and may He cause His face to shine upon you.  That is the blessing.  The invitation is for anyone who wants to know a bit more about this Jesus.  Just drop me a line in email and we will talk.  Blessings to you all on this most excellent day.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect  those of my employer.

Time to announce the winners of the first ever photo contest on Alittlenewsphoto.com.  We did not have the number of entries I hoped for so that leaves us plenty of room to grow in the future.  Even with the small number of entries, I awarded first, second and third anywhere I could.  The only reason there are only two in some categories is because there were only two photos entered.  I am a big believer in awarding what is there and not withholding awards because of what I wish were there.  Congratulations to all the winners.  I am sure that large cash prizes are already in the mail to you.  If you believe that, the large cash prizes will be followed by real estate offers for ocean front property in Arizona!  I hope you enjoy the winners and start plotting what you will enter in the second quarter.  And, by the way, a la corey, aka Corey Ralston, dude, I mean really.  That is one difficult portrait to ignore.  But did that really run in your newspaper?  Not that running in a publication was a requirement or anything but I know you work for a daily newspaper so fess up!

It would be good if you guys want to leave comments for the winners and you should also go and check out their flickr photostreams and their personal web sites and blogs.  Enjoy the show.

All photos are copywritten work and all rights are reserved and held by the individuals who took the photos.  These photos may not be used in any form without the permission of the photographers.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

1st Place Portrait by Rockstarsyndicate

2nd Place Portrait by Eddie L.

3rd Place Portrait by a la corey

1st Place Sports Action by Chris.Phare

2nd Place Sports Action by a la corey

3rd Place Sports Action by Eddie L.

1st Place Sports Feature by Gameday@UWA

2nd Place Sports Feature by dwighthayes17

1st Place Feature by dwighthayes17

2nd Place Feature by a la corey

1st Place Spot News by dwighthayes17

2nd Place Spot News by a la corey

1st Place General News by dwighthayes17

2nd Place General News by Chris.Phare

The Bassmasters Elite Dixie Duel tournament concluded Sunday with Tommy Biffle taking home the $100,000 prize. Second place finisher Casey Ashley gets some affection from his girl friend Traci Thompson after the weigh in. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 04/05/09

Who knew there was so much love at a Bass fishing tournament?  There were public displays of affection all over the place after the fishing was done.  Remember how I told you it is almost always a good idea to get backstage at an event?  No one out front saw any kissing.  You had to get behind the curtain where the competitors and family members were after the event ended to see all the PDA.

You shoot a fishing tournament weigh in and you expect to see fish.  And more fish.  And more fish.  And yes, still more fish.  I was a little surprised by all the kissing and loving going on.  Had I only known that chicks dig the bass boat!  Some country music dude better be writing a song about that one pretty soon.  After all, someone already did one about a lady thinking a good ol’ boy’s tractor was sexy.  And a bass boat goes way faster than a tractor.

I guess I should not be surprised.  My first post on the tournament included an allusion to NASCAR and lots of ladies like NASCAR where cars go fast.  So why not bass fishermen?  Those boats will fly, sometimes literally.

Seriously, a weigh in is a predictable event where you know you are going to see guys holding up big bass.  Since everyone expects to see big fish you have to show them some.  But you should also show them some of the stuff they don’t expect to see.  When I was back stage I found a really cool shot of the founder of BASS talking to one of the young bucks on the tour while he was waiting to weigh in.  Stuff like that helps move your coverage along and being able to shoot a legend in any sport is a good thing.  He f0unded the BASS organization before many of the guys fishing in this tournament were even born.  I guess it is like seeing a legend like Richard Petty hanging out in the garage before a race chatting with a young rookie.

I also found the girl friends of a couple of the fishermen who finished well laying on some love after their guys did well.  And they were happy with good reason.  The 50th place finisher earned $10,000 and the winner got 100 large.  Not bad for a day on the lake.  Of course, these guys know what they are doing out there.  I think just one bag on championship day weighed more than all the fish I have ever caught combined!  Another cool thing I saw but didn’t have the chance to photograph were the wives and children there supporting their husbands/dads.  There was one lady there in particular who was making quite a racket whenever her man made an appearance on stage.  She also had a camera that she was laying down on the shutter release on while her husband did his weigh in.

My point here is that if you go to the weigh in and all you get is guys with fish you haven’t really done your job.  Back in the day, that would be before the Internet, you were only going to have one or two photos in the paper.  Now that we have all arrived in the Internet era there will be a slide show online that will feature far more images than the paper publishes.  And who wants to see only guys holding up fish?  So shoot with an eye to the photo gallery.  And don’t just fill it up with the expected guy holding fish.  Have some fun, look around and find the other stuff that makes the event real and relevant to your readership.  Hey, we can all relate to love even if we don’t relate to fish!

Photo copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

The Bassmasters Elite tournament kicked off Thursday morning at Ingalls Harbor. Peter Ponds works the banks and shallows on the River early Thursday. Photo by Gary Cosby Jr. 04/02/09

Me and fishing are not exactly best buddies.  In fact, I am the poorest excuse for a fisherman you are likely to find.  Thursday morning I was up early and on Wheeler Lake on the Tennessee River photographing the Bassmaster’s Elite tournament and not really knowing what to expect.  The weather was a bit dicey and my total knowledge of shooting a fishing tournament was garnered from the very few times I have seen a fishing show on TV.  Trust me when I tell you I have never seen more than a couple of minutes of any fishing show on TV.  I have covered many tournament weigh ins where the anglers hold up their trophies from the day, but that is it.

At 7a.m. my boat driver Don Gowen had me plowing down the Tennessee River at 65 mph.  Yep, for those of you who have never seen a fishing tournament, they are an eclectic mix of NASCAR on the water followed by golf on the water.  You drive you boat like a maniac to your fishing spot then you quietly, very quietly, maneuver around using the battery operated trolling motor.  Most folks keep the talking to a minimum.  If you have never been in a boat zipping along the river at nearly interstate highway speeds you must know that it feels like your eyes are being shoved through the back of your skull.  I knew I might be in for a ride when I saw some of the boaters pulling on motorcycle style helmets.  Fortunately I had my sunglasses handy and was able to slip them on to save my vision.  Then there is the bouncing.  Whenever you hit the wake from another boat at 65 mph it feels like you might just leave the water and images of every boat crash you have ever seen on ESPN come to mind.  By the way, hitting the water is about like hitting the ground when you are going that fast.  The water is hard.  Anyway, fears aside, Don delivered me to the first location in good order.

We trailed pro angler Peter Ponds, great name for a fishermen, and hung with him for probably 45 minutes.  Poor man didn’t catch a single fish while we were there.  The jinx of the Coz was in full operation.  We then located Dean Rojas nearby.  I can truthfully say I have never seen a man who could cast like that.  My casting is usually limited to a couple of normal casts before slapping one into the water directly in front of me.  Still, Dean was throwing into areas I could not have hit given a thousand tries.  He actually did a sidearm, underhand kind of thing and skipped his lure beneath and between two bushes to withing six or eight inches of the shore and pulled it back out like an artist.  I was truly amazed.  He did this over and over again in rapid fire succession.  It didn’t even look like he was trying.  I  have never seen anything like it.  The sheer number of casts these guys crank out is unbelievable.  But, like Peter Ponds, poor Dean had no shot while I was present and he quickly moved to a new spot, one where I was not!

We next picked on Gerald Swindle who promptly hooked a tree.  Poor Gerald.  He didn’t stay near us as long as Dean did.  He must have caught the vibe from our boat.  Or maybe he was just camera shy but I suspect the former rather than the latter.  My time on the water was running out and we located one more poor, unfortunate soul.  Terry Butcher was fishing in open water where the other guys had been working around small islands and inlets.  Butcher was working a submerged ridge.  I am not that smart but my driver is a fisherman who knows the river really well and he told me that was what was going on.  Butcher was slightly more fortunate than the other guys.  He actually caught something while we were there.  Not a fish, of course, but he did hook an old fishing net that had been caught somewhere under the water.  Took him several minutes to free his line from that mess.  I think Don finally realized that no one was going to catch a fish as long as I was on the water so he graciously hauled me back to Ingalls Harbor.  I am sure everyone’s luck changed the moment I was back on dry ground.

The challenges of shooting the tournament, aside from the fact that no one caught anything, were mostly related to the weather.   Alabama was set to receive strong thunderstorms yesterday that showed up in the late afternoon and early evening.  The morning was a dull, gray overcast with only occasional breaks in the clouds.  The sun finally came out just as I was finishing up with Terry Butcher three hours later.  I used a D2Hs and three lenses.  I carried the 17-35, the 80-200 and the 400 f3.5 manual.  I took the 400 mainly because it is so old that Noah had it on the Ark so I knew it would feel right at home on the water.  Actually, I didn’t know how close we could get and I wanted the insurance it would bring.  On a morning like this, I did try and use the weather to my advantage and create a certain look and feel, especially to the early stuff.  By the way, a long telephoto on the river can cause motion sickness if you are prone to that.  You are looking through a really long lens and the boat you are in is moving in three dimensions and the boat you are photographing is moving in three dimensions and they are not usually the same dimensions.  Looking for prolonged periods of time can get you pretty funky in the head so beware.

Otherwise, being on the river for three hours with some of the best fishermen in the world was pretty cool.  The weather worked to my advantage enough that I didn’t mind too much and was better in most cases than having direct sunlight.  I only hope I get to do it again sometime and that the fishermen can actually pull in a big bass for me to shoot.  Of course, the jinx of the Coz  may prevent that from ever happening.

Photos copyright Gary Cosby Jr., The Decatur Daily.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.