Front Page - October 27, 2015

I attended the open house of a local learning centre late in the week. I was hoping for a photo worthy of going on the front page but wasn't getting anything outstanding while on site. I did use the other photos elsewhere in this issue, but when this scene presented itself I knew it was a winner and got the shot I needed.

Front Page - October 20, 2015

This contributed photo was interesting. I knew the location where it was shot (in a high school parking lot) but the angle of the photo makes it appear as if it was possibly shot on a timber cut block high above the valley. That visual trick was what put this photo on the front page.

Front Page - October 13, 2015

There had been reports of at least one bear cub wandering around town for weeks. I did not expect one to actually walk by our office in the middle of the day. By the time I grabbed my camera the cub had ran across the street and was racing down the sidewalk. I managed a single shot and it was good enough for the front page after seeing the traffic it generated when I posted it on social media. Had I not done that this photo may not have ended up on the front page.

Front Page - October 06, 2015

This photo was contributed and came into the office at a good time as I had not put much thought into what I was going to do with the front page up to that point. The photo helped with bright yellow in the background to tie together all the stories on the same page about local non-profit organizations.

Front Page - September 29, 2015

The Chamber of Commerce hosted a casual open house during the week and I attended. I went in part to snap photos and partly because I wanted to become a member after several years' absence. The venue was not really much to take photos of as the attendance was low and everyone was spread out. It was a great event, just the same and I took a couple photos of two executive members near the free food. This one just worked out to be a good fit for the front page.

Front Page - September 22, 2015

The start of a new season for youth bowling was mid-week. I had been invited to attend to snap some photos to help promote the change in seasons and I thought it would make for some fun pictures. Although it had been a few years since I had been in this building, I knew where to go to get the best shots and that's where I went. I snapped a number of photos of little kids flinging bowling balls down the alley and liked this one enough to put it on the front page.

Front Page - September 15, 2015

I was tipped off that a volunteer service award was being presented at the Town Council meeting I had planned to cover, so I was ready. I snapped a number of casual photos during the presentation as well as a few 'grin and grip' shots afterwards. I chose this photo because of the fact that it was not staged and was obviously very natural. It also helped with the giant headline about the presentation that ran next to it.

Front Page - September 08, 2015

This was one of those "being at the right place at the right time" sort of front page photos. I went to this motorsports event early to check it out for vantage points. While wandering around I got invited into the announcers booth that basically overlooked the mud drag pits. I couldn't get a bad photo from there if I tried. I knew I wanted to run a wide photo across the front page so I snapped shots over several runs in the first heat of entries. I was trying to capture a crowd shot as well and this photo ended up being exactly what I was looking for.

Front Page - September 01, 2015

This front page turned out a lot better than I had hoped. The photo was sent to me early in the week by a proud father. I requested a story saying it would get front page coverage. When laying out the page I thought running the photo across the complete top of it had more impact than the usual lay out. In fact, the headline below it was just tucked under the fold which made the local youth swimmer seem to burst out of the page. I tweaked the blue slightly in the photo and nothing else.

Front Page - August 25, 2015

A neighbour just a few doors down from our residence posted a pair of homemade signs on our street suggesting drivers slow down. I looked at them for days as I drove to and from work. One morning, as I was thinking I should stop and get a photo of one, my wife asked if I wanted to get a photo. That did it. That's all it took to get this photo on the front page.

Front Page - August 18, 2015

This turned out to become a very interesting and unusual front page. I don't ever recall running a half page ad on Page 1. I've had smaller ads there but I'm pretty sure there has never been a half pager on the front page in the eleven plus years I've owned the News Leader - possibly never in the 18+ year history of this publication. It turned out rather nice as far as I'm concerned. As for the photo, the weekend before this issue came out my wife and I went for a short day trip to the next valley over from where we live. On the way we stopped at a few locations to check water levels. The low waterfall caught my attention and I knew it would be a front page photo because of the drought situation currently being experienced in the region.

Front Page - August 11, 2015

I wasn't sure what to expect at a multi-speaker lecture at the local museum late in the week. I was prepared for a small turn out and a cozy setting with casual conversation. It turned out that I was partly right but was completely wrong on several counts. The event attracted standing room only participation and was not only informative, it was entertaining. The educational aspect was easy to understand and I found myself getting lost between being a reporter and a spectator several times. I snapped a handful of photos of each individual speaker (all of which I used inside this issue) but found this group shot to be interesting enough for the front page.

Front Page - August 04, 2015

The main front page story inspired the photo I took late in the week. It was not meant to be anything more than to bring it to the attention of others that while there are water restrictions in place, the municipality is setting an example with the water fountain downtown that uses recycled water. It seemed to fit well with the rest of the news on the page as well so I left it.

Front Page - July 28, 2015

Once again, a friend with a camera who happened upon an interesting scene sent me an incredible photo. This time around it was of a transport truck accident about 30-kilometres from our community. As there have been a series of logging truck single vehicle accidents in the region in recent months, this photo just seemed to follow in that theme and I put it on the front page.

Front Page - July 21, 2015

This week's front page photo was a bit of a cheat for me. The grasshopper invasion this year has been one of the worse in recent years so when I had a story on the situation I needed a photo. Three weeks earlier I happened to snap this photo of a collection of the critters on the steps to the front deck of our home. It had enough grasshoppers in the frame (I counted close to 50) that it fit perfectly with the article that filled the bottom half of the page.

Front Page - July 14, 2015

A set of unusual circumstances surround this week's front page photo. I didn't really have anything selected as I was waiting on a comment from the Ministry of Environment that I was hoping would fill the top half of the page. While it was far smaller in content than I had hoped, I did think it was important enough to keep on the front page but then I needed a photo. I was tempted to go scouting the local river for dead fish myself but found a couple of good photos online taken in the previous week and 'borrowed' this one giving full photo credit to the original photographer.

Front Page - July 07, 2015

In what was an extremely busy weekend with numerous photo opportunities, I had no shortage of choices for this front page. One event I attended for the first time in many years was the Youth Ambassador Coronation. I was up in the mezzanine with a friend and his family taking photos with my wife's camera. Hers has a tremendous zoom and brilliant flash that completely beats mine in every way so once I determined I didn't need to be sitting in front of the stage, I snapped away from my distant vantage point. The photo that ended up on the front page was one such shot taken from a distance of well over one-hundred feet away with full zoom. I think it was the right choice.

Front Page - June 30, 2015

I received a series of photos at the end of the week from someone I've known for a few years from a 'previous life.' This person wanted to remain anonymous and considering the circumstances related to this logging truck accident I provided that protection. What impressed me most from the e-mail (story and photos) was the sheer amount of photos to choose from of the same incident. The best shot of the bunch - in my opinion - went on the front page with two more on the inside of this issue.

Front Page - June 23, 2015

The annual 'Grad Issue' is exactly six months away from our annual 'Christmas Issue.' With the amount of work they both take to put together I am grateful there is a gap between them. However, each year they appear to get easier and easier to complete. This Grad Issue was one of the easiest ones because of the cooperative students and teaching staff. As it normally the tradition for this issue, I put a group shot on the front page. The group shot is usually planned for a professional photographer and each Grad receives a copy. I started piggybacking on this photo-op years ago and always work with the photographer so both of us can get the shots we require. As stated above, this year's issue was a pretty easy one to put together as a result.

Front Page - June 16, 2015

An early morning building fire in the downtown core was the talk of town later that Saturday morning. As I was heading into the office to finish the paper I snapped a few 'after' photos to use on social media and asked firefighters on scene for some details. What I wasn't expecting was an anonymous offer of photos taken during the fire. I picked the best shot and it bumped what was previously sitting on the front page to deeper inside this issue. As much as I try not to lean on accidents and fires for front page photos, sometimes I can't ignore them and the timing of this incident worked well with my timelines.