I thought I'd update with a quick photo before I head off to Florida for a few days!

With Hales Corners being no larger than a couple square miles, you might never guess the community is now host to a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibit, "Between Fences." A group of fourth-graders from Hales Corners Lutheran Elementary School took a trip to the Stahl-Conrad Homestead yesterday and checked out the exhibit with their curious eyes and wandering hands.

No matter how dark a room may be, there's always a patch of light to be found. Fourth-grader Claire Ungerecht happened to be in the spotlight. I shot this photo at 1/60 of a second, f.28 and 500 ISO. I rarely will go over 500 ISO — with the camera I use, photos get extremely grainy when I go any higher.

The exhibit is free and open to the public through Dec. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

I wish I knew how to make a nice photo out of a basketball player shooting a free throw. I really do. But, I don't. Free throws rarely lend themselves to appealing photographs. So, during those moments, instead of focusing on the players, I look around. Sometimes, I see photos like this. Othertimes, I don't see a thing.

Her name is Sophie and she's 3 years old. When Sophie gets "big," she wants to be a cheerleader, she says. But for now, she's perfectly happy as the mini-mascot for the Muskego High School cheerleading squad. For the first half of last night's boys varsity basketball game between New Berlin Eisenhower and Muskego, Sophie shook her poms, grinning from ear to ear, all while staying within arm's reach of the girls she looks up to oh-so-much.

As photographers, we're inherently people-watchers. Not a day goes by where I don't see the world through a viewfinder, whether my camera is physically in my hands or not.

This photo was shot with a "long" lens (telephoto zoom) at 200 mm. I was sitting on the opposite end of the basketball court. If I had attempted to take this picture with a wider lens, chances are, I wouldn't have gotten the shot. The further away (and less obvious) the photographer is, the more natural people will be.

I'm not quite sure who was having more fun today at New Berlin's Lionel Railroad Club open house: the fathers or their sons.

Model trains of all different types filled the building and ran across the tracks on a scheduled timer from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, alternating every 20 minutes between day and night scenes. When the lights were down for the night scenes, not even shooting at 1/8 of a second produced any usable photos. I stayed for approximately "three days" (one hour) and got a couple pictures I was happy with.

The first photo of Gavin was shot at 1/50 of a second, f2.8, ISO 500, at 17 mm. I had my camera set on automatic white balance and, as always, I was shooting on manual. It definitely wasn't the kind of light photographers dream of, but challenges are what make me tick. The second photo below will probably never see the light of newspaper print, mostly because it would look like a muddy mess. I like it, though, because I think it puts a simple emphasis on an older gentleman enjoying his toys.

Stop on by the club tomorrow and see the show! They'll be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Lionel Railroad Club is located at 2721 S. Calhoun Road, New Berlin.

The Thanksgiving leftovers are barely cold in my refrigerator, and it’s off to the Christmas Tree Farm I go!

I spent a little time at Buffalo Bill’s Christmas Tree Farm this morning, located on Oakwood Road in Franklin. Owner Rose Hinkel, along with several of her family members and friends, were busy measuring and tagging trees. She’s thankful for the sunshine, Hinkel said, as I fumbled with my camera dials, grumbling over forgetting my gloves. I was thankful for the sun, too … it made for some nice light.

The first two weekends in December are the farm’s busiest times. Beginning this weekend, Buffalo Bill’s will offer hayrides driven by Santa out to the tree farm, where patrons can cut down their own trees.

I have a feeling I’ll be heading back in a few weeks …

I’d also like to address a few questions I received yesterday. I was asked whether I shoot on RAW or JPEG. For those of you who are unfamiliar with certain photo terms, these are two different types of digital file formats. Without getting too far into the pros and cons of RAW vs. JPEG, I can tell you that I shoot on JPEG Fine. Many (but surely not all) newspaper photographers do the same. JPEG files are smaller and therefore, you can fit more of them on a card. Also, small files are more easily transmitted wirelessly and online. As a newspaper photographer, the quality produced by a JPEG image is more than adequate for newspaper print.

However, many other types of photographers — such as magazine photographers, wedding photographers and portrait photographers — prefer RAW files, simply because the file is not compressed, and therefore, it has many more levels to it. Color balance and exposure can be re-adjusted in a RAW image, using your computer. Beautiful, large prints can be made more easily from RAW files.

Additionally, the camera I use (a Nikon D2HS) gives me the option to save both RAW and JPEG files simultaneously.

Second, I was asked how much processing I do to my images, and whether CNI has specialists who tone our photos. The short answer is: I am the only one who tones the photos you see on this blog. However, all of the photos that appear in our print newspapers are toned by myself and then sent to the downtown office of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to be toned by specialists.

That said, there is a minimal amount of toning going on within my photos. I believe we are here to document reality, and that includes colors. Photojournalists follow hundreds of ethical guidelines, but the bottom line is: Alter nothing, before you shoot the photo or after. I do adjust the levels of some photos to a point, to make colors pop a bit more. I also set my white points and black points, to make the photos less “flat.” I rarely, if ever, use the burn or dodge tool. The key to getting good colors is to find the best light and expose correctly before you press the button.
 

It's time to fess up: I'm absolutely addicted to clean backgrounds and pretty available light. But I'm not alone. Most photographers can't get enough of these photographic drugs.

Below is a photo I shot yesterday at the beautiful Pabst Theater, downtown. It's part of a long-term project I'm working on where I've been following a few of our local residents and children through try-outs, rehearsals and eventually, performances, of this year's, "A Christmas Carol," presented by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. In this photo, I set my exposure for the light shining down on Ebenezer Scrooge.

When we say, "clean backgrounds," we mean, no clutter. And by "available light," we mean, no flash. I've gotten scolded by past photo editors, but my flash rarely comes out of my camera bag. Bah humbug, I say to my flash!

Hello and welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

First, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Katie Derksen and I am one of six staff photographers at Community Newspapers. After two years of shooting for a newspaper down in Florida, I moved back to my home state of Wisconsin this past summer and jumped on board with CNI. It’s great to be home!

I’m extremely excited about starting this new photo blog. For those of you who are wondering, “What exactly is a photo blog?” … it’s a good question to ask. I hope to make this blog a little bit of what I want, but a lot of what you want. I plan on posting a few photos per week — these photos may be some of my favorites, and even some of my not-so-favorites. It’s mostly up to you!

When you’re scanning through my photos, ask yourself: What would you like to know about what we as photojournalists do from day to day? Do you ever wonder why we chose to stand in the strangest place possible? Maybe you’re curious as to what we mean when we say, “That’s great light.” Even if you’re just interested in what lens I used, please ask away!

Feel free to leave any and all types of comments, both positive and negative. This is meant to be a place where photography can be discussed and appreciated openly. Additionally, if you have an event you’d like me to cover, let me know. My coverage areas are New Berlin, Muskego, Hales Corners and Franklin. Through this blog, I hope to help our readers and viewers understand and value the role photography plays within journalism.

We have an extremely talented group of photographers here at CNI, all of whom I learn from every day. If I can’t answer a question, I promise I will find someone who can. I feel incredibly fortunate to earn a living from what many people consider one of their most enjoyable hobbies.

Irish Dancers — Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007 

The first photos I’d like to post are a few shots from an Irish Dance Recital last week, held at the New Berlin Public Library. Sometimes, as photojournalists, we have three assignments in three different cities to cover, all within two hours. It was that kind of night for me. It helps us to get to an assignment early, and it helps to stay late. However, that’s not always possible.
I chose this particular photo of little Izabella mostly because it shows a moment. The best moments are not always the most obvious. In this case, the best moment was not of the actual dancing, but a second or two after the routine had finished. This photo shows a young dancer looking up to an older dancer for some guidance. It shows the vulnerability of a young girl during her first recital.

The second photo is more of a technical photo. It was shot at a slow shutter speed (1/50 of a second) to show the motion of the dancers’ feet.