Fireworks

On July third a couple neighbors and I waked over to the baseball stadium to watch the fireworks after the Corvallis Knights baseball game.  They put on a pretty nice little fireworks show.  Here is some video:

Random Photos From Work: Bobcat Release

Recently Kyle Odegard and I went to Bald Hill Park to watch Chintimini Wildlife Center release a bobcat. You can read Kyle’s story here. You can read my work blog post about it here.

Neighbors and Chintimini Wildlife Center workers and volunteers watch as a bobcat is released in the tall grass near the barn at Bald Hill Park Sunday afternoon. The bobcat called "Nasty'" by some of the workers and volunteers at Chintimini Wild Life Center was found last fall with a broken femur after it was hit by a car.

A pair of month-old bobcat cubs Chintimini acquired after they were found in Eugene.

Random Photo From Work: Fender’s Blue Butterfly

Several weeks ago Bennett Hall and I went to Wren for a story on Fender’s blue butterfly habitat in Benton County. You can read Bennett’s story here.

Bill Pearcy has been working to enhance Fender's blue butterfly habitat on his land near Wren for years. But he worries that Benton County's plan to protect the endangered insect puts too much burden on landowners like him while making development easier elsewhere.

Random Photo From Work: Spring Football

Yesterday was the annual game played at the end of the spring practices.  The photo I sent to the Associated Press was used by Sporting News Today.

Hummingbirds and Cherry Blossoms

Last year I put out a humming bird feeder just after the cherry tree out back finished blooming.  This year the feeder was out earlier so I could make some photos of the humming birds with the cherry blossoms as a background.  Here are my first attempts:

Random Photo from Work: OSU vs Cal Baseball

On a recent warm spring Sunday afternoon in front of a record crowd at Goss Stadium I photographed an exciting extra inning game. You can read the story by Brooks Hatch here.

Cal catcher Dylan Tonneson walks off the field as Oregon State's Adalberto Santos scores the winning run in the 11th inning Sunday. The Beavers rallied for two runs in the 11th to knock off Cal 5-4 and complete a three-game sweep of the Bears.

Landing on Runway 27 at KCVO

One of the cool fringe benefits of being a photojournalist is that sometimes you get to go flying for work.  I am at my sixth newspaper and have had flying assignments at each one.  In Roseville, California, my second paper, I was sent on a flying assignment on my second day. This past year I have been on two flying assignments and both were in the same Cessna 172.  Nancy Raskauskas and I did a story last spring on Guobiao “George” Zhang.  We went for a short flight over Corvallis with George and here is a video of our landing:

 You can read Nancy’s story here, and see a gallery of her aerial photos here.

Seasons Greetings From Corvallis

 

Last week it was looking like we would get a white Christmas here in Corvallis, it still may happen for the folks north of us in Salem and Portland.  May you all have a great holiday.

Random Photos From Work: Harlan

On Sunday December 7, 2008 we ran a collection of stories about the Coast Range community of Harlan.  You can read Kyle Odegard’s stories here, here, here and here.  There is also a larger gallery of images here.

Most of the land in Harlan is zoned for timber or farm use, and that has made it nearly impossible to build new homes there. The result has been an aging group of residents and a declining populations, locals said.

The signpost at the Harlan T intersection shows that the community is miles away from anywhere else. During periods of nice weather, locals sometimes drive over Marys Peak to get to Highway 34 and Corvallis.

 

Sterling Grant and his daughter Rebekah Grant live on property their ancestors homesteaded in the 1870s. "I want to live out here all my life," Rebekah said.

Sterling Grant, pictured in his grandfather Leonard Grant's trophy room, talks about predators in the Harlan area. Leonard Grant was a government trapper, and later Lincoln County Commissioner, who killed more than 600 bears.

An old vehicle on Gene Cooper's spread is being reclaimed by nature.

Gene Cooper is 87, but he said he still does 90 percent of the work at his mill by himself.

Sawdust sprays at Gene Cooper's one-man saw mill. "Everybody in this country has got a few of my boards on their property," Cooper said.

 

The first person buried at the Harlan Cemetery is Morgan Lillard, who was shot to death by his son-in-law.

 

Aaron Bauman and his wife built a studio-sized shelter to stay in this winter. Though it doesn't have electricity or plumbing, at least they won't be staying in a tent.

 

There's an interesting mix of people in Harlan, said Aaron Bauman. "You've got loggers, hippies, farmers, Vietnam vets," said Bauman, who moved to the Coast Range community in January.

 

 

Winston Grant attended Harlan High School in the 1930's, and holds up his letterman's sweater. He ran track and played basketball for the Huskies. "Belive it or not, I used to jump center. I was five-foot-eight at that time."

HUAYLLIPACHA

Yesterday evening I made this video of  HUAYLLIPACHA, a group of Peruvian musicians  who  have been visiting Corvallis for the past 9 holiday seasons.   You can learn more about them at their website.