If the thermometer in Seattle hits 90 degrees, it can only mean one thing:

Basketball season?

Actually, today's 90 degree mini-heatwave is really unusual for May in the Pacific Northwest, but that didn't stop over 10,000 fans from packing KeyArena to watch the WNBA's Seattle Storm from opening their season against the Chicago Sky.

(Seriously, who chooses these names? When I think of Chicago, I think of wind, lakes, beer and brats, but I guess you really couldn't name a women's basketball team "The Chicago Beer". But really, it's as appropriate as "Sky", right? Am I wrong here?)

My strategy (wow, is THAT a stretch) was to try to visually acknowledge all of the changes that the Storm has undergone since last season. That would include new owners, an new coach, and some new high-profile players.

The new owners were easy to spot. Unlike Clay Bennett, who hid from fans all season with the Sonics (I GUARANTEE you that Bennett will have a throne installed for himself at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City), the four new majority owners were seated together courtside. They are (l-r) Ginny Gilder, Lisa Brummel, Anne Levinson and Dawn Trudeau:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 70mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

Popular local songstress Brandi Carlile was on hand to sing the national anthem:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 70mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

The players were introduced on a stage at midcourt and emerged from beneath the stage amid fog. I was shooting for a first edition deadline and we'd agreed that we'd use a pregame photo so I could make a 7:15pm deadline. As tipoff was scheduled for 7pm, I didn't have a lot of time to get choosy about pictures.

Keeping in mind the new players added to the roster, I wasn't concerned about getting longtime Storm stars Lauren Jackson or Sue Bird onto the sports cover. In order, my preference was Sheryl Swoopes (former MVP and one of the biggest names in women's basketball), Yolanda Griffith (another former MVP) or Swin Cash (former All-Star).

Obviously, if another player made the best photo, I would have considered that. But Swoopes is newsworthy, and her introduction was made the sports cover in the early editions:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 75mm, ISO 1600, 1/250 sec.,f2.8)

I went up to the workroom and hustled out a photo back to the paper before heading down to shoot the game. The Storm looked slow and sloppy in the first half. I wondered if this heavily veteran team was also getting a little long in the tooth as they were getting out-jumped, out-ran and out-hustled. Griffith had her shot blocked by Chicago's Sylvia Fowles:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 70mm, ISO 1600, 1/640 sec.,f2.8)

New head coach Brian Alger prodded his team as they struggled through the opening two quarters:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 95mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

We needed a large photo for the cover and at least two photos for the inside pages, so I went wide for part of the third quarter. The Storm started hitting on all cylinders and rallied. Seattle's Swin Cash scored over Chicago's Brooke Wyckoff:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 24-70mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 24mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

Cash scored and was fouled a couple of plays later and ended up up on her back on the floor celebrating. I got lucky and had the right lens (24-70mm) to make a frame that also included fans cheering. At 46mm, I wasn't too loose not to be able to see her face well, and also not too tight to have not been able to include the fans:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 24-70mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 46mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

I was trying hard to make a good action photo of Sheryl Swoopes, but just couldn't make it happen. I settled for a shot of her clapping as the Storm took the lead:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 153mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

After Seattle locked up the victory for the team's first win with the new owners, the entire team went over to where the ownership group was cheering and they hugged and celebrated. Owner Ginny Gilder was all smiles along with fellow owner Lisa Brummel (at right).

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 16mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

The entire group gathered at midcourt for a team cheer, owners included. I made a few quick attempts at a "Hail Mary", but they were very average, as these shots tend to be. Plus, I'm not exactly tall enough to get a good high angle.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 16mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

I then spotted owner Dawn Trudeau simply beaming in the "eye of the Storm" as fellow owner Anne Levinson can be seen to her left:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm, f2.8 zoom lens @ 16mm, ISO 1600, 1/500 sec.,f2.8)

It was obvious to everyone that the effort these women have put forth to keep the team in Seattle has resulted in a great gift to the city. I hope they will be able to enjoy their team for a long time.

First edition sports cover:

Later editions sports cover:

When is an out not an out?

When the ball is not in the catcher's glove on a play at the plate, but is instead rolling in the dirt between the catcher's legs.

That's what happened in the top of the ninth inning of Friday night's game between the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners.

San Diego's Justin Huber comes barreling home as the ball arrives at Seattle catcher Kenji Johjima. The throw beat Huber to the plate but Johjima did not catch the ball cleanly (or, at all, apparently), but Huber was ruled out by the umpires.

I was shooting from a photo well between home plate and third base, so I actually had a better look at the play than the ump, who was blocked by Johjima. Actually, the Padres dugout had the best look, since they were yelling the loudest that the ball was on the ground.

Here's a look:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 1/800 sec., f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 1/800 sec., f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 1/800 sec., f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 1/800 sec., f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 1600, 1/800 sec., f2.8)

Last week I was on my way to Sumner to shoot track when I got sidetracked by spot news.

This week, I actually made it to Sumner without being detoured and had the opportunity to shoot a great high school soccer match between Auburn-Riverside and Shorecrest.

Soccer is fun for me to shoot because I don't have the chance to do it very often. I wanted to sharpen my skills because I'll be shooting a match between Canada and Brazil at the end of this month, and also will likely shoot some soccer at the Olympics in Beijing.

Because I was shooting for the paper and wanted to get the best possible image, I made use of the chance to shoot along the sidelines. When shooting professional soccer, photographers are often limited to shooting from the endlines.

Early in the game, Shorecrest's Josh Rudnick attempted a bicycle kick on a shot on goal:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 2000, 1/500 sec., f2.8)

Shorecrest scored first, on an own-goal by Auburn-Riverside after Mickey Crudo smashed a free-kick into the area in front of the goal. He celebrates with teammates after the goal:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 2000, 1/500 sec., f2.8)

The score at halftime was still 1-0, but Auburn-Riverside's Oscar Diaz scored twice in the second half to give his team a 2-1 lead. Shorecrest goalkeeper Andrew McDonald dove to his right but could not make the save on Diaz's header:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/400 sec., f2.8)

Diaz turned and celebrated in a classic soccer pose:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/400 sec., f2.8)

Shorecrest tied the game late, and after a scoreless overtime, the game went to a shootout.

Even though he'd allowed two goals in the second half, Shorecrest goalkeeper McDonald saved the first shot of the shootout, a rocket to his left by Auburn Riverside's Jermaine Haller:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/500 sec., f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 1/500 sec., f2.8)

Shorecrest converted all of their five penalty kicks and McDonald's save proved to be the difference.

Because of overtime and the shootout, the game didn't end until just before my 10pm deadline and we scooted the photos into the paper just in the nick of time.

And yes, for those of you who look at the exposure data, it was DARK. But it's fun to push the cameras to ISO 3200 and to see what happens. I know the new Nikon D3 is a monster at high ISO's, but with the financial state of the newspapers the way they are, I don't see us switching systems anytime soon.

Sometimes you just wander into a photo.

The subject is there, the light is there, and you really just have to compose and shoot.

In this case, I walking back to my car after a feature assignment when I saw this couple dancing in the hallway of a former elementary school.

Their names are Heather Maas and Steve Crain, and they were practicing Argentine Tango in the hallway of the University Heights Center. Admitted "beginners", they were practicing to the soft strains of music coming from a portable music player.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 zoom lens @ 70mm, ISO 800, 1/250th sec, f2.8)

One of the paradoxes of being a newspaper photographer comes when faced with shooting a spot news event. Often, these are tragic events with a human toll, which pulls at the heart of even the most cynical journalist. The paradox comes with the adrenalin rush that comes with covering spot news.

How can you be excited at an event in which someone has died? You're not excited in the sense we normally think of that word, but the adrenalin courses through you and every sense has to be sharp.

It's so complicated. You're racing against the clock in so many ways -- to get to the scene quickly, to size up what's going on so you can make a coherent report, and finally to get the photos back to the office so they can be posted on the web and also make the deadlines for the newspaper.

You have to have adrenalin and a clear head to news.

On Friday, I was driving to Sumner, WA to cover a high school track meet when I got an urgent email from the editors. A small plane had crashed into a house near the town of Covington. They didn't know anything else. Where was I, and could I get there quickly?

It just so happened that I was driving on Highway 167 southbound, which put me fairly close. I turned and headed for the general area, figuring more information would come. I turned on the news radio station and caught one of the traffic reporters describing the scene from his airplane. I looked up and found the airplane circling the scene and headed in the direction.

Soon, more info appeared on my Blackberry. The plane was experimental and had taken off from a small airfield before crashing just after takeoff into a nearby residence. The radio told me that the pilot had died, but luckily no one had been hurt in the residence.

At a stoplight, I booted up my laptop and examined a Google map of the area. The address the photo desk had sent was wrong -- they told me the "3400" block of a street when the actual area was the "30400" block. Good thing for radio reporters and laptops.

As I drove, I did a lot of quick thinking. I'd want two bodies, one with a wide-angle, and another with a 70-200mm/f2.8 zoom. The light was still decent so I would add the 1.4x extender to the zoom and also bring a 300mm/f2.8 in case our vantage point was far away.

I also thought about what I would see and what would be storytelling. That sounds so basic, but in the heat of the moment, it's easy to overlook the easiest things. I knew the basic elements were the plane and the wrecked house. If I could get an investigator looking at the crash that would lend an important human element.

We don't, as a general rule, want to show dead bodies, but I did want to find the surviving resident and get a photo of him or her if I could. At a long stoplight I grabbed the equipment from the back of my car and reformatted the compact flash cards. Selected an ISO for both cameras that would allow me to shoot in pretty low light (the radio had said, "down a ravine or hillside", and it was also getting close to sunset).Also got my laptop bag ready to go so I could transmit right from the scene.

It only took me about 15 minutes to find the right place. The road leading to the crash site was blocked off by a sheriff's deputy. He stopped me and I showed him my business card and media parking pass.

"Anyone can print those up", he barked. "Got anything with a photo?".

Really? Okay. He had every right to examine my credentials, but really, there were already two dozen neighbors milling around. Was his logic that someone would actually go to the trouble of printing up fake business cards, haul around thousands of dollars worth of camera gear just to drive an hour and a half into rural King County and walk to the scene of an hour-old plane crash?

I didn't have time to figure it out. I walked down the road to the scene ready to shoot the first thing that made a photo. In my experience, media is often corralled to one part of the scene across the street for safety purposes. Nothing wrong with that. But it's often not the best place to make a photo, so I was ready to literally shoot first and ask questions later.

From the road I could make out the wreckage of the plane with a sheriff's deputy standing nearby. Knowing that accident investigations can be stagnant while the proper authorities arrive (in this case, the sheriff's had secured the scene but were waiting on the medical examiner and also officials from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The scene had all the elements I had preplanned for, so I knelt and shot a couple of quick frames before reaching the assembled media and the public information officer on site.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens w/ EF 1.4x extender @ 185mm, ISO 200, 1/320 sec., f4.0)

It was only then that I introduced myself and got the basics of the story and where we were allowed to shoot from and where we weren't.

Not much was happening, so I got out my laptop and made a little office in the gravel next to the road and transmitted a photo quickly back to the paper for the website. I'd only been at the scene for less than 10 minutes.

Done transmitting, I reassessed the situation. A big tarp was hanging from some trees and blocked some of the scene. I assumed the deceased pilot was somewhere behind the tarp. Meanwhile, the editors asked for a photo that showed more of the house. I told them I would try, but that there were no people around the wreckage. Then, they moved a car out of the carport and I shot that as a backup.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 105mm, ISO 800, 1/160 sec., f8.0)

Finally, some more investigators showed up and I was able to put humans, the plane wreckage and the damaged house all in one frame.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 105mm, ISO 800, 1/400 sec., f6.3)

After a while, they removed the tarp (not sure what it was blocking, but a body was not visible, thankfully), and I was able to get a clearer shot of the damage to the house. Again, though, no human elements.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 85mm, ISO 800, 1/250 sec., f5.6)

Editors needed to make decisions for the print edition as it was now after 7pm. I told them I had a clearer view of the home, but no people. "Want or wait?" I emailed. They replied, "wait".

About 15 minutes later, one of the deputies went back over to the scene and I was able to tie everything together.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 100mm, ISO 800, 1/200 sec., f4.5)

I quickly moved this photo back in time for the print edition.

Lastly, I wanted to make a record photo that showed the whole scene, including the bank behind this home from which the plane had come over. The airfield is on top of that bank.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm/f2.8 lens @ 24mm, ISO 800, 1/250 sec., f8.0)

As spot news goes, this wasn't visually spectacular, nor was it the biggest news in the world. But it got my adrenalin running and "news brain" chugging along again, which is good exercise for a journalist. If, heaven forbid, a large earthquake or other disaster were to happen, all those skills would have to be recalled quickly.

Seems even when I'm not shooting sports, I'm either shooting in a sporting venue (like the Dalai Lama at KeyArena or Qwest Field), or I'm shooting a competition of some sort.

Last month (okay, TWO months ago), the competition was a youth poetry slam.

Why two months ago? Well, sometimes it just takes that long to get stuff into the paper. Seriously, feature stories do have longer "shelf life" than news stories, and this falls into that category.

Youth Speaks, a local non-profit, has been holding a competition for young poets vying in slams to be part of a five-member team who will travel to Washington, D.C. later this month for a national contest.

On this night, 12 contestants took to the darkened stage and stepped into the spotlight in front of a panel of judges:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO 2000, 1/6 sec, f2.8)

One by one the young poets read, no -- performed, no -- that's not right either, LIVED their poetry in timed segments. Some were eliminated after each round until only three were left to advance.

Arianne Bergman referenced the old song "Fly Me to the Moon" during her poetry, proving that the youth of today can appreciate the words of the past:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 200mm, ISO 3200, 1/50 sec, f2.8)

Mikeya Jackson-Harper used body language to get her point across as she took her turn beneath the lights:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 80mm, ISO 2000, 1/2.5 sec, f8)

When shooting an event that features person after person standing in the same environment, I always look for small details that can add to the visual impact of the story. It not only adds depth to the storytelling, it breaks up the visual monotony:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 200mm, ISO 2000, 1/60 sec, f2.8)

Ronnie Reynolds captured the attention of the audience with his raw, edgy poetry. His body language alternately suggested rage and defiance along with solitude and insecurity.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 110mm, ISO 2000, 1/100 sec, f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 70mm, ISO 2000, 1/100 sec, f2.8)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 120mm, ISO 2000, 1/100 sec, f2.8)

Despite the competitive nature of the slam, everyone in attendance cheered openly for one another. If a line was forgotten, the listeners rubbed their hands together creating a whooshing noise that served as encouragement for a momentarily lost poet. As Reynolds forgot his place, he joined the crowd in rubbing his hands as he searched for the words he'd lost.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm/f2.8 lens @ 16mm, ISO 1600, 1/40 sec, f2.8)

Reynolds, Bergman and Jackson-Harper all advanced to the next round and will compete on May 18.

Here's a link to the story and more information.

Well, at least the sun was shining the other morning that I was assigned to shoot crew racing.

The races that are held on the Opening Day of boating season (Opening Day? Does that mean the first tilt of your boat to the left is the "first pitch?") are the local highlight of the crew season.

Washington's oarsmen will have more important races (last week's victory over Cal in Berkeley, the upcoming Pac-10's and the IRA Championships after that), but none will be bigger for local race fans.

Yachts started lining the log boom outside of Montlake Cut on Thursday in anticipation of the races and the boat parade that follows:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF100-400mm lens @ 400mm, ISO 800, 1/640th sec., f6.3)

Despite the drizzle, fans still lined the Montlake Bridge and the shores along the cut:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 100-400mm lens @ 400mm, ISO 800, 1/250th sec., f5.6)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 100-400mm lens @ 300mm, ISO 800, 1/400th sec., f5.6)

Meanwhile back in Conibear crewhouse, men's varsity eight coxswain Kaitlin Snyder put the finishing touches on her race plan:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN, EF 16-35mm/f2.8 lens @ 26mm, ISO 1000, 1/160sec.,f2.8)

And the guys in her boat stretched out to get ready for their Windermere Cup race against Poland and the US Naval Academy:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN, EF 16-35mm/f2.8 lens @ 16mm, ISO 1000, 1/100sec.,f2.8)

One of the things that makes this race so special is the Montlake Bridge, which is lined with fans watching the shells pass beneath it during the race, so I wanted to make sure to incorporate it into my image for the sports cover. The men's varsity eight is undefeated this year, so I chose to focus on their race:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 16-35mm/f2.8 lens @ 35mm, ISO 800, 1/1008sec.,f2.8)

Moved to a telephoto lens as they passed. One challenge with shooting the wide-angle from close to the bridge is that I wasn't able to shoot the finish line. As the men won by a fair distance, not having photos of the finish didn't end up being a problem:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 100-400mm lens @ 270mm, ISO 800, 1/500th sec., f6.3)

As I looked towards the finish line, a group of young women in swimsuits had jumped into the cut at the conclusion of the last race. I found out they were members of the UW swim team, and that this is somewhat of an annual tradition:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 100-400mm lens @ 400mm, ISO 800, 1/250th sec., f10)

One of the great sights of Opening Day is seeing all the boats make their way back through the cut back to the boathouse after the races. It's a cool sight from the top of the bridge, but I couldn't hustle up there fast enough and settled for a shot from the shore:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 100-400mm lens @ 375mm, ISO 800, 1/250th sec., f14)

An awards ceremony followed the races, but the best part of post-race is when they throw the winning coxswains into the water. It's an easy, cliche' photo, but one that's always fun to shoot:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 70-200mm/f2.8 lens @ 75mm, ISO 800, 1/1000sec.,f4.5)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN, EF 16-35mm/f2.8 lens @ 16mm, ISO 800, 1/1600sec.,f9.0)

Shooting crew is a blast. I wish I could follow them as they compete in the Pac-10 championships and the IRA Nationals.

And the added bonus to hanging around all those fit bodies is it makes me want to go work out!

Dang.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Doesn't it just seem like that one dude caught the ball on the top of his helmet and that one team beat the other team in the Super Bowl?

Heck, I feel like I just finished thawing out from hat playoff game in Green Bay.t

The NFL draft took place last weekend, and I am so sparing you the "big dudes holding up their jerseys with the coach and general manager" photo.

(If you really need to, just close your eyes and picture it....is it still has boring in your imagination as it was was when I shot it?)

The Seahawks broke out the helmets and pads for their first minicamp of the season.

I could picture my assignment now:

"What: Seahawks hold their first minicamp of the season without recently released running back Shaun Alexander. Please get photo of Shaun Alexander not being at minicamp."

Fortunately, my editors trust me a bit more than that.

I did go out and make photos of new running back Julius Jones and transmitted them right away for our home page.

Whereas we used to go to minicamps and spend the day shooting for news stories and file photos, now I spend the first part of most events shooting for the web, and then going back and shooting for the paper.

Minicamp practices are largely uneventful, much like any other practice, so I ran down the list of players I needed to shoot and then started practicing on my football shooting and tracking receivers.

Receiver Logan Payne made a nice catch in front of cornerback Josh Wilson:

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens + EF 1.4x extender = 560mm, ISO 800, 1/640th sec., f4.0)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens + EF 1.4x extender = 560mm, ISO 800, 1/640th sec., f4.0)

(Canon EOS 1D Mark III, EF 400mm/f2.8 lens + EF 1.4x extender = 560mm, ISO 800, 1/640th sec., f4.0)

It's one of those weekends in sports where lots of sports blend together. For example, there are NFL minicamps being held all over the league, Major League Baseball is in full swing, the NBA playoffs are moving along, and the Kentucky Derby is running for the roses.