The 90th Rose Queen for the Tournament of Roses was chosen today, and her name is... Dusty Gibbs... A 17-yr. old Arcadia High senior who plays softball. Here's the video.
And here are the girls talking about their experience...
Pics to come... Tons of media for these events make it a little crazy to navigate, but we manage.
Until next time, keep shooting.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Watery graves.... in the hills
Rose Hills, that is.
Well, after striking out on an accident that happened at 4:30 am, I drove around for a while and got to Rose Hills Memorial Park because I saw a bunch of deer in an accesible area, so I decided to see if I could photo these guys. Well, one had a busted leg but nothing special. On my way out, something told me to go around an area where there is not much traffic and BAM! A virtual flood was going on. Check out my video below.
According to the reporter who went there, Rose Hills officials told him that a sprinkler head "malfunctioned" and three graves had gotten wet. Between you and me, an employee told me that there had been a 4" concrete pipe that broke and they had to fix it now. Now, one one hand, sprinkler malfunction and on the other a broken 4" concrete water pipe. Who do you believe, the PR person or the employee on scene?
Well, bubbling water like there was no tomorrow and the actual video of some 30 graves under water tells you the real story. After a while, the water was turned off and work began on fixing it, but a few hours after turning the water off, in the early afternoon, there was still run off going down the drain. Let's hope the water did not get too far down.
Until next time, keep shooting.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Triple over-time
Well, had to video tape the Friday Night game of the week - La Puente's Bishop Amat (1-4) vs. visiting Santa Fe Spring's St. Paul (4-1)
Game went well, back and forth with these two rivals. St. Paul put the screws to Bishop Amat with 3 seconds left and knocking at the 1-foot line. The best D I've seen in a play this year, to deny BA a score and a win. Well, after three OTs and rain pouring down on me, without any rain gear and some $8K worth of gear hanging on me (Canon XL2 and Canon Mark II w/16-35mm 2.8 and accessories), it came down to a two-point attempt after a TD by St. Paul for the win. Well, with the rain-slicked field, the kid who scored 3 TDs to keep St. Paul in the game slipped near the goal line, and the game ended with a score of 31-30 for the home team BA. Game began at 7:30 pm. Half time festivities included Home Coming. Game ended in pouring rain just before 11 PM. Had game (61 mins) downloaded just after midnight. Edited and by 1:20 am began to do voice over. Got out of there by 2:35 AM. And you can believe that at no time, there was any time to relax. It was all pure concentration to get the job done "quickly." With the voice-over done, the video was up some time after that for all to see and enjoy. Check out the video here:
http://www.sgvtrubine.com/preps
Until next time... keep shooting
Game went well, back and forth with these two rivals. St. Paul put the screws to Bishop Amat with 3 seconds left and knocking at the 1-foot line. The best D I've seen in a play this year, to deny BA a score and a win. Well, after three OTs and rain pouring down on me, without any rain gear and some $8K worth of gear hanging on me (Canon XL2 and Canon Mark II w/16-35mm 2.8 and accessories), it came down to a two-point attempt after a TD by St. Paul for the win. Well, with the rain-slicked field, the kid who scored 3 TDs to keep St. Paul in the game slipped near the goal line, and the game ended with a score of 31-30 for the home team BA. Game began at 7:30 pm. Half time festivities included Home Coming. Game ended in pouring rain just before 11 PM. Had game (61 mins) downloaded just after midnight. Edited and by 1:20 am began to do voice over. Got out of there by 2:35 AM. And you can believe that at no time, there was any time to relax. It was all pure concentration to get the job done "quickly." With the voice-over done, the video was up some time after that for all to see and enjoy. Check out the video here:
http://www.sgvtrubine.com/preps
Until next time... keep shooting
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Not sugar-coated
Hi everyone,
Well, sometimes we get letters & cards congratulating us for the fine work we do. Sometimes, we get letters letting us have it for being insensitive. Today, I found out my editor received a letter of the second kind. In essence, someone complained about the graphic photos published of the decapitated animals I photographed Tuesday (see item below).
(link here: http://rrpj.blogspot.com/2007/10/goats-and-chickens-decapitated-dumped.html )
First a definition, from dictionary.com (source is The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
pho·to·jour·nal·ism (fō'tō-jûr'nə-lĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n. Journalism in which a news story is presented primarily through photographs with supplementary written copy.
As photojournalists, we have the charge of bringing the general public photographs of news events that we encounter in our daily treks. Personally, I photograph scenes as I see them. Sometimes, we have to photograph things that are not for the faint of heart, for those with queazy stomachs but scenes nonetheless that are newsworthy.
Photographing decapitated animals is not at the top of my list, but as a photojournalist I have to give you, the public, a view of the scene as it is. I become the eyes for everyone who cannot be at the scene of the crime. Yes, sometimes it will be grewsome stuff, but you are the one with the hard decision to make: to look or not to look. Hopefully, from the headline people are able to discern what the story is about and either look or skip it.
Everyone has a right to their opinion and I am no one to criticize what this person has said about my photos because it is his opinion. There will always be people who agree and disagree with what one does. Hopefully, I am bringing you the reader a view that can provoke some thought. I will not sugar coat the world because reality is not always as we hope it to be. Sometimes, the world has to shake us to remind us of the realities that exist around us. I feel that this was such a exceptional, uncommon, extraordinary and abnormal situation that it had to be brought to light. Maybe something in the photos will trigger someone's memory and details of this mistery may come to light.
A final thought: Just from looking at the top photo galleries, I can tell you that people generally like to see photos of hard news like crime scenes, court appearances, fires, accidents and high school sports along with a special feature (Rose Court) once in a while. What does this show about us all, as a society, when in one day photos of a scene where people burnt alive get hits in the thousands and a gallery of an appearance by a world-renowned child advocate gets less than 80 hits in one week?
Your thoughts are welcome.
(PS: Here is the link to the letter) http://www.insidesocal.com/candids/
Until next time, keep shooting.
Well, sometimes we get letters & cards congratulating us for the fine work we do. Sometimes, we get letters letting us have it for being insensitive. Today, I found out my editor received a letter of the second kind. In essence, someone complained about the graphic photos published of the decapitated animals I photographed Tuesday (see item below).
(link here: http://rrpj.blogspot.com/2007/10/goats-and-chickens-decapitated-dumped.html )
First a definition, from dictionary.com (source is The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
pho·to·jour·nal·ism (fō'tō-jûr'nə-lĭz'əm) Pronunciation Key
n. Journalism in which a news story is presented primarily through photographs with supplementary written copy.
As photojournalists, we have the charge of bringing the general public photographs of news events that we encounter in our daily treks. Personally, I photograph scenes as I see them. Sometimes, we have to photograph things that are not for the faint of heart, for those with queazy stomachs but scenes nonetheless that are newsworthy.
Photographing decapitated animals is not at the top of my list, but as a photojournalist I have to give you, the public, a view of the scene as it is. I become the eyes for everyone who cannot be at the scene of the crime. Yes, sometimes it will be grewsome stuff, but you are the one with the hard decision to make: to look or not to look. Hopefully, from the headline people are able to discern what the story is about and either look or skip it.
Everyone has a right to their opinion and I am no one to criticize what this person has said about my photos because it is his opinion. There will always be people who agree and disagree with what one does. Hopefully, I am bringing you the reader a view that can provoke some thought. I will not sugar coat the world because reality is not always as we hope it to be. Sometimes, the world has to shake us to remind us of the realities that exist around us. I feel that this was such a exceptional, uncommon, extraordinary and abnormal situation that it had to be brought to light. Maybe something in the photos will trigger someone's memory and details of this mistery may come to light.
A final thought: Just from looking at the top photo galleries, I can tell you that people generally like to see photos of hard news like crime scenes, court appearances, fires, accidents and high school sports along with a special feature (Rose Court) once in a while. What does this show about us all, as a society, when in one day photos of a scene where people burnt alive get hits in the thousands and a gallery of an appearance by a world-renowned child advocate gets less than 80 hits in one week?
Your thoughts are welcome.
(PS: Here is the link to the letter) http://www.insidesocal.com/candids/
Until next time, keep shooting.
Stripped and dumped
Zoom zoom...
Listening to the scanner, I heard a Car over the side on Glendora Mtn. Rd. north of Glendora in the Angeles National Forest. The photo editor heard it as well and he monitored the scanner. I looked at my trusty CHP website for accidents and there it was, directions and all. Remember in my first post I told you to keep that website handy?
Anyway, after almost an hour's drive, I got to the point at Glendora Mountain Road past Glendora Ridge Road. The San Dimas Search & Rescue people were rappelling down a very steep area with lots of brush. After a few minutes, the two pros got to the car, a Mazda Miata that was right-side up but very demolished.
One of the guys down there called up and said the car had no keys in the ignition, most of the wiring inside the car was gone and parts of the engine were missing: Deduction - classic signs of a dumped stolen car. So, yesterday I had dumped decapitated animals and today a dumped stripped car.
Until next time,
Keep shooting
Listening to the scanner, I heard a Car over the side on Glendora Mtn. Rd. north of Glendora in the Angeles National Forest. The photo editor heard it as well and he monitored the scanner. I looked at my trusty CHP website for accidents and there it was, directions and all. Remember in my first post I told you to keep that website handy?
Anyway, after almost an hour's drive, I got to the point at Glendora Mountain Road past Glendora Ridge Road. The San Dimas Search & Rescue people were rappelling down a very steep area with lots of brush. After a few minutes, the two pros got to the car, a Mazda Miata that was right-side up but very demolished.
One of the guys down there called up and said the car had no keys in the ignition, most of the wiring inside the car was gone and parts of the engine were missing: Deduction - classic signs of a dumped stolen car. So, yesterday I had dumped decapitated animals and today a dumped stripped car.
Until next time,
Keep shooting
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Goats and chickens... decapitated & dumped
Well, weird call this morning. Someone reported dead animals dumped at the east end of Hadley St. in Whittier. They said the animals had been there since at least Monday morning. There were animals, goats and chickens to be exact, along with bags of rotting fruit, mostly apples, pineapples and oranges. 
The three goats and multiple chickens had been decapitated. Nothing else wrong with the carcasses, except no heads. Hmmm... You speculate. I am a journalist and I just report what I see. I had seen three bags of carcasses last month up on Turnbull Canyon and those slowly disappeared throughout the week, possibly eaten by Coyotes, but again, I can't speculate.
What I did see at that time were Common ravens going at the bags.
Anyway, this is what I have to shoot and see during my daily outings into our community. Oh, by the way, the smell was terrible. When one of the goats was picked up, there were maggots crawling all over the ground. I could not get the smell out of my nose, it seems it had been penetrated by the awfully pestilent, noxious, pernicious odiferous scene (or whatever happens to the olfactory sensors) for about two hours. Yuk!
Until next time, keep shooting.
Rival friends
Rivals in football - Friends for life
Life-long friends and now football rivals will go head-to-head Friday night in local high school football. Dorian Wells (West Covina's South Hills High School), left in photo, and Bryce Mahmud-McBride (Hacienda Heights' Los Altos High School) played for Bishop Amat High School in La Puente (very history-filled football tradition) last year but both transfered out, reportedly, because of the coaching changes and tunnel vision the staff has in regards to being fair at playing all the kids.
Anyway, these two kids are now having very successful senior years and will battle it out, as friends, Friday night. This photo was done early in the morning, 7 am, at a neutral field in West Covina.
Tech facts: Manual setting: f 2.8 @ 1/800 sec. , ISO 400 rating. 16-35mm lens at about 20 mm (21mm actually).
Lighting = Trusty on-board strobe (flash) with kicker card, low angle to emphasize size & strength, with goal posts in background to set the scene. any questions, write me at raulroa@yahoo.com
Life-long friends and now football rivals will go head-to-head Friday night in local high school football. Dorian Wells (West Covina's South Hills High School), left in photo, and Bryce Mahmud-McBride (Hacienda Heights' Los Altos High School) played for Bishop Amat High School in La Puente (very history-filled football tradition) last year but both transfered out, reportedly, because of the coaching changes and tunnel vision the staff has in regards to being fair at playing all the kids.
Anyway, these two kids are now having very successful senior years and will battle it out, as friends, Friday night. This photo was done early in the morning, 7 am, at a neutral field in West Covina.
Tech facts: Manual setting: f 2.8 @ 1/800 sec. , ISO 400 rating. 16-35mm lens at about 20 mm (21mm actually).
Lighting = Trusty on-board strobe (flash) with kicker card, low angle to emphasize size & strength, with goal posts in background to set the scene. any questions, write me at raulroa@yahoo.com
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