Portraits, football & golf, Long Beach, Naselle & Surfside, Wa.

When I set up a portrait shoot I always snap one or two test pix after the person is seated, just to be sure my exposure and lighting is correct. Sometimes the best pic (IMO) is the first one I take. This is Wayne Downing, a local radio personality who will be writing a column for us in the coming weeks.

*Back in 1995 I worked as a photo lab tech at the Coos Bay World, processing film, scanning and toning pix, cleaning the darkroom, etc. And every once in awhile I would get a photo assignment. Anyway, the photographer I worked with, Andre Ranieri, noted how it always seemed that his best pix would be the first couple and the last couple on a roll. For me, however, that is rarely the case, as it usually takes me awhile to make the shot I want. Very different of course from like HCB or Robert Frank, who would only take a couple pix of each thing they were shooting.

I don't normally like these kinds of pix — someone looking at the camera, giving a cliche expression or hand gesture. But in this case, I think it worked. On Friday night the Naselle Comets destroyed Raymond, 48-20, amassing 549 yards of offense. Lineman Seth Scrabeck has never really been one for this kind of thing, but the win was particularly satisfying as Raymond had been "trash talking" ever since football camp last summer. I think Seth was simply reminding them who was number one in the league.

This shot from Ilwaco's home meet last week I post because it was a great shot by Ross Kukula, who nearly holed it from about 30 yards out (which would have been for eagle on the particularly long par 5 fourth hole at Surfside). But here's something I will probably never be able to say again — I actually had a better shot than Kukula yesterday, as I holed an eagle from 60 yards out on the fifth hole at Peninsula Golf. I'm just glad I had Jeff there as a witness...

- DKM