I grew up in Louisiana, so I have seen gators. Then I lived in Atlanta, where the only gator you see is fashioned into a boot or a shoe.

So here I am back in Louisiana, and south Louisiana to boot. For more than two years here, I was on a gator drought. Occasionally, I’d see the baby gator at some of the festivals I covered for the American Press. However, the gator “au natural” escaped me.

Southwest Louisiana is one giant wetland with fresh and brackish waters right out your front door. There are more than a thousand shades of green occurring naturally here. It is a gator/waterfowl Mecca. Think the reality TV series “Swamp People” — not really, but almost.

Much to my disappointment after making trip after trip to Cameron Parish, the wild gator always evaded my sight and camera until I made my latest trip down to Creole.

With 60 minutes to kill before my next assignment in Cameron Parish, I cruised down a road just off of La. 27 and north of the ship channel. Rolling slowly past a small pool of water on the side of the road, I spied what could have easily been a log except for the texture of reptile skin.
Hastily slipping on my 70-200mm zoom lens on the Mark IV, I turned my car around at the end of the road. Rolling back to the point where I thought I saw what could have been something that looked like it was a gator, I parked my car. Camera in hand, I slipped out of my car leaving my car door open (just in case).

Peering over the hood of my car to the backwater pool, I saw her – all 10 or more feet of her — “au natural.” She was sunning and on her head sat a baby resting his little reptile feet on mama’s eye sockets.

I fired off a couple of shots but the 70-200mm did not get me close enough without being in “eating” range. So far, so good, mama had not moved. Seizing the opportunity, I opted for the 300mm. I changed the lens quickly and quietly while leaning inside my car with both eyes moving from camera to gator then back again.

This time I moved to the other end of the car, daring to be closer to mama. My exposure needed to be bracketed (varied) to allow for the glare on the water and the dark shades of a gator’s skin. Quickly, I fired off three shots, changed the exposure and fired three more.

On the seventh shot, mama started to move. For a brief second I debated my next camera angle, then the shear size of mama kicked in the fear factor. A picture is worth a 1,000 words but it is not worth an arm or a leg. Logic won. I got back in the car and fled with my all my extremities intact.

Safely inside the car, I checked my photos for exposure and focus. Yes! I had my gator “au natural” photo. With only 15 minutes until my next assignment, I downloaded the files onto my laptop just to be certain the shot was good.

Some things are missed in the viewfinder while shooting on the fly. Photos often look very different on a 15-inch screen than they appear on a small camera screen. Looking at my shots of mama sunning on the log with baby, I noticed another baby gator, then another, and another.

In all mama had nine babies — NINE babies.

** This notebook ran in the American Press on December 12, 2010

STORY BY KAREN WINK

AMERICAN PRESS, August 29, 2010
Current and former employees from the old Mathieson Alkali Works in Westlake gathered before sunrise to witness the last moments of a structure they called the heart of the old plant — a 320-foot tall flue stack.

At about 7 a.m. there was one small boom and then a thud. The heart fell into pieces, symbolizing the end of an era on Saturday.

“I hate to see it fall, but you have to move the old stuff out to bring the new industry in,” Said Gerald Singleton, a retired shift operator of the powerhouse.

The current property owner and his former employer, LyondellBasel, gave Singleton the honor of pushing the button on the explosives that caused the old stack to fall. The flue stack was the last remaining structure of the plant’s powerhouse.

Jim Redyke

Since its construction in 1934, the brick and concrete structure had funneled steam from the powerhouse that provided the energy for the ammonia and caustic-soda plant.

“One charge apparently directed the tower to lay down,” said Don Starkovich, a former employee who worked 28 years at the plant.

“Sad to see it go,” said Earl Dorman, who worked at the plant from 1980 to 2007.

Directing the deceptively easy demolition was Jim Redyke, the president of Dykon Explosive Demolition Corp. of Tulsa, Okla. For demonstration purposes, Redyke compared the demolition of a smokestack to cutting down a tree.

“It’s a similar process to taking a tree down with a chainsaw, where you cut a “v” out of the front on the fall side and go to the back side with a chainsaw to cut a notch, taking the tension side out. Then it falls in the direction you want,” he said.

Redyke said that with a smokestack, holes are drilled for blasting, and rebar must be meticulously cut. Safety is always the first concern. Redyke and his staff prepared the stack on Thursday and Friday, drilling holes and setting explosives for the Saturday morning implosion.
“Every job is unique because of the configuration of the stack. So you apply the principles you have learned through years and make the field adjustments based on what you know. There’s no book to tell you what to do,” said Redyke.

Redyke handles explosive demolition and cleaning and rock blasting.

“I always say that I get to blow and go.” said Redyke

I, on the other hand, am a fully-rounded human being, with a degree from the University of Life, a diploma from the School of Hard Knocks, and three gold stars from the Kindergarten of Getting the Shit Kicked Out of Me – Rowan Atkinson

Saving pets from Karen Wink on Vimeo.

Saving pets, 2nd edit from Karen Wink on Vimeo.

Little changes can make all the difference in a good video and a not so good video. I changed a few things on the second edit that I believe make a big difference. Having the major issues on the front of the video drives the point home and cleans up the story on the SNAP Clinic.

On the plus side, I’ve mastered the basics of Final Cut. Two things I want to change: my audio recorder and/or microphone and utilizing a tripod or monopod more.

Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

Collecting tear-sheets is a task I often forget to do. It takes more time if you don’t collect them as you go along. Add that to my revised list of New Year Resolutions. Below are the year end tear-sheets from 2008 and 2009. I also threw in one from my helicopter ride over Cameron after Ike.

Well I remember, I remember don’t worry
How could I ever forget, its the first time, the last time we ever met
But I know the reason why you keep your silence up, no you dont fool me
The hurt doesn’t show; but the pain still grows
Its no stranger to you or me

Cue drum solo.

This past Thursday night cued the start of prep football season with Jamborees. I covered two of the small town events. The first one was Thursday night in Vinton, a small town on the edge of Texas. Standing there on the field, I hear the distinctive intro to Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight, circa 1981. Instantly I am back in high school with my OM-1 and a hand-full of Kodak Tri-X.

Much has changed in photojournalism since the 80’s. I used to spend hours practicing my manual focus skills (which still come

s in handy at times). Although film still is near and dear to my heart, rushing to develop film and then prints added at least an hour to post-game requirements. The other nice thing about digital is knowing you have a shot–instant gratification or grief depending on your luck.

I posted slideshows for all the jamborees on American press.com. Here are my two: Vinton and Jennings. Having some daylight made for nicer photos. I dream of the day I can use a new camera with expanded ISO capabilities.

…words and pictures can work together to communicate more powerfully than either alone. - William Albert Allard

Here’s the latest. I love having every angle on a story covered in print and web. Donna Price, the LCAP’s art guru, put the page today for this past Sunday’s paper.

I opted to not have the audio correspond directly with the timing of the photos in the soundslide presentaion. It seems to work better that way. Have a look here. Let me know what you think.

One thing I choose not to put in the story was Patrick’s quote about the heat. He said: “It can be a little crazy. You take the heat in Louisiana and then you start a fire.”

This was a very hot story to produce for sure. Southwest Louisiana has hit over 100 degrees every day for about month.

I AM SO READY FOR FALL & FOOTBALL!

.If you get an opportunity in photography you have to grab it – they don’t come along that often. When you get the chance of a great picture, you have to identify that quickly and make the most of the situation. Whatever age you are you can do that. Even with luck, you will still have to press the shutter at the right time. You need good reflexes and you need to be fit. – John Giles

Today (06-18-09) is my one year anniversary at the “American Press” and that year has been…

Well, for starters, I had to adjust to being an employee again in a system that was totally new to me and it came without any blueprints or instruction manuals. This was made especially difficult by the fact I was used to being the boss. Thankfully, photojournalism does come with a good deal of autonomy. Honestly, I thought of packing it up several times. Still, photojournalism is my first love, so I sucked it up, walked it off, and here I am.

The work keeps me going. I’ve covered hurricanes, football, tennis, boxing, fires, escaped prisoners and lots of features. Perseverance has paid off and I have felt validated by a couple of fairly recent events.

The first is having two 1st places in the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press 2008 contest (I also got a 3rd place). One was for the multi-photo feature I did on a 4-H horse champion. I did one of my first audio slide shows on this story plus I wrote the narrative to go with my photo essay. The second 1st place was for a rodeo photo (see above).

The second is having “Sports Illustrated” pick up my Foreman photo for their magazine. I know that luck played a big part in Foreman fighting here (1) and having the opportunity to shoot it (2). Still, it is very cool that they chose my photo to run in their June magazine (see below).

What’s next? Revamping my website has been on my top agenda for a year now. Sure, I’ve been busy but procrastination on the layout and selection of photos has drug out for months now. Maybe I spent too much time pondering the look and feel of the website. I should just shut the hell up and do it. As for ‘The Press,’ I can’t wait to see what this 2nd year will hold. I’m learning video editing and teaching myself Joomla! Also, I’m considering a class in Flash and Dreamweaver. Wait & see…

“One is responsible for one’s own life. Passivity provides no protection”.~ Madeleine Kunin

One year has passed since I ventured back into photojournalism. This has been one crazy year. It started slow but then I relocated to Southwest Louisiana. Hurricanes, helicopters, air boats, and lots of sports– I have relished all of it. My skills have been honed and I continue to learn more multi-media and writing to enhance my photography.

The work is great and I still retain my optimistic attitude about life and people, this in spite of the negativity that exists in journalism and journalists in general. The change in print to net is nothing but exciting to me. (most people don’t deal well with change.) I hope to be well positioned when the switch is pulled and the economy starts to kick again.

Below are  my two most recent slideshows:

Well, I really did not slack on anything except my personal blog posts.

The holiday season was long and a little boring to be quite frank. I worked Christmas and trying to find feature photos on a rainy Christmas is almost impossible. My attitude was admittedly bad but it was my first time to ever work on Christmas and my first time to be alone on the holiday.  I manage to get over that quickly once I walk into Abraham’s Tent (LC’s soup kitchen). My spoiled pride just left me. I gave thanks for how blessed I am. I have a job that I love. I have people that love me. I have a roof over my head. I have many cameras. I was happy to see several local families spend their Christmas serving and handing out necessities to the needy at Abraham’s tent before they celebrate together. Really, the season is and should always be about sharing joy and love.

Christmas day also yielded another photo package in the Metro Section of the American Press. I had the pleasure of interviewing 2 members of the Lake Charles Model Railroad Club. These folks are detailed oriented craftsman with a love for modeling and railroads. I gather almost 2 hours of audio and was thankful I had a week to widdle it into a descent story. My writing is improving but I still have not found my voice in the words. Guess that will come will time.

Click to the image on the right to view the audio slide-show. Click here to see a larger tear sheet.