Smoke and Mirrors

It's not often that us photogs "make it" into a shot or two. I always take note when I see a photographer in a shot on network television or something. I say a little cheer to myself for the guy who "made it" in hopes that it will one day be me. Just last night one of our reporters made it into a KTXS shot on accident and Scott, KTXS's Chief Photographer, made an appearance in a live shot of mine once in a flamboyant lime green T that proudly sported their logo... Whoops =/

Mirrors are a tricky way for us to find ourselves in the spotlight occasionally and this Biggest Loser shoot has found me dodging mirrors in a gym full of them! I'd rather not watch myself work out but it seems to be a popular part of getting fit.... Gyms are packed with mirrors. I thought I'd give a little behind the lens look at my battle with the mirrors on this week's Biggest Loser shoot.

Some shots made the air, some didn't...Take a look!

The Biggest Loser series

Kyna and I are deep in production of KRBC's "Abilene's Biggest Loser" series and it's been a truly moving experience. We began the series with a piece that introduced each of our contestants which allowed us to talk with these inspiring people about the years that have led to where they are now and what they are looking forward to in the future. Kyna and I have been fighting tears behind the camera in some of these. I thank these contestants for the honesty that they share with us and all of our viewers about years of hurt and anguish. Each of them have incredible stories and seeing them in the gym everyday and working hard for their respective goals has been quite an inspiring experience. We can already tell the impact that it's having on these individuals and their families. What is seen in the ten o'clock news is such a small glimpse into the battle they are waging.

In case you missed out on the first two, the links are below...

STAY TUNED! More to come soon!

Marilyn Hart's story...
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=127872
Ashley Wetsel's story...
http://bigcountryhomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=128432

The Weather Channel

What a rough week it was last week! 60 mile per hour winds and wildfires sparking across all of the big country. Shooting in the wind was pretty miserable... I even saw one of the KTXS photogs decked out in some goggles and a bandana covering his face! He looking really goofy but made everyone around him jealous with his protective wind gear! The fires had me running all about the big country! Through Thursday and Friday I made it to Lueders, Clyde, Eula, Cisco, Albany and Anson twice... Mostly in our extremely conspicuous live van that maxes out at about 75 MPH. It had it out for me. Bruises are still healing from where the live van door continually swung around hit me while I was getting my gear...

However... This weekend I realized that it's sometimes worth it. I had the chance to ride along with the Texas Forest Service on Friday. They took me as deep as they could into the thousands of acres of fires that plagued Albany and Eastland. I shot as much as I could in the little time I had and rushed back to get it on the news that night. On Saturday, I was checking out the forecast on the weather channel and as they began talking about Texas conditions, up pops MY video! I was the only news photographer whose video of the Texas wildfires was available to the weather channel apparently. I know that my video gets picked up occasionally for national news but I've certainly never seen it happen before. It was thrilling. I saw it again on Sunday! Same video on the weather channel.

Exciting stuff for a newby in the news photoging business.


Oh and here's a random picture of us girls in KTAB's newsroom