Horiffic Crash, Minor Injuries

Emergency workers carry 21-year-old Sabrina Williamson up an embankment after she crashed on the outer loop of the Athens Perimeter near Commerce Road on Thursday, January 6, 2011 in Athens, Ga. Sabrina Williamson, 21, was traveling west on the Perimeter, between North Avenue and Commerce Road, just before 12:30 p.m. when her car drove off the north shoulder and down an embankment, Athens-Clarke police said.

I had just started editing an assignment after getting into work when a call came over the radio about an accident with the car down an embankment and possibly into a retention pond. Another case of sprinting out of the office at full speed.

From Last Year: Barn Fire

Doyle Johnson embraces his wife Chelsea as Athens-Clarke firefighters work to extinguish a barn in the 4000 block of Barnett Shoals Road on December 15, 2010 in Athens, Ga. No people or animals were hurt in the fire but antique furniture stored in the barn was lost.

I was listening to the scanner when I heard a call about a barn being on fire. I looked out the window and saw from 5 miles away that it was fully involved.

Accidental Shooting

Athens-Clarke Police Major Mark Sizemore, left and Capt. Clarence Holeman, right, try to console the friend of 20-year-old Chateaubrian L. "Toby" Bailey who was killed after Bailey was accidently shot while playing with a gun in the 130 building of Bethel Midtown Village on Friday, August 27, 2010 in Athens, Ga.

Last Friday, I was back in the office for all of 10 minutes before I was called out to the scene of a fatal shooting. After everything was sorted out, the victim was purportedly (according to Police) was playing with a gun alongside a second individual who was arrested for involuntary manslaughter.

You can be too close.

An Athens-Clarke firefighter walks past a fireball erupting from the remains of J and J Chemical Company on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 in Athens, Ga. The fire broke out around midnight and flared up around 8:15 a.m. The Athens plant produces toilet bowl disinfectant.

Everyone who knows me understands that I am a spot news photographer. I love it, i love the chaotic environment and the stories that come from it. I also like being there and witnessing stuff as it happened.

But there's such a thing as being too close....

Sad Recognition

So last week i get a call while I'm walking to another assignment about a possible triple shooting. This means i drop everything and head in the general direction until i get a specific location. All i knew was 3 people shot and it was a domestic shooting.

Four Alarm Georgia Theater Fire

Around 7 AM, a multi-alarm fire was called in at the Historic Georgia Theater in Athens, Ga. I found out about it around 745 and was out the door by 746 and on scene 10 minutes later. (Of course, my fiancee did call me for 15 minutes straight until i answered the phone. It was a day off)

The structure that was built in the 1930's was completely gutted. Roof collapsed early on, keeping firefighters from making an interior attack. The downtown power grid was off as the main power vault was underground in the vicinity of the structure. ACCFD was able to keep the structure from completely collapsing and burning to the ground. The walls are still standing and some of the rafters are still intact despite being very weak.

Something this big spot news wise means photos are going to have to be worked hard and fast. I needed to make quality, storytelling images fast beyond what the average person would get. Spot news does need to be exactly that, on the spot. But a compelling fire photo generally needs some decent composition or or at least artistic thought.

Saturday morning quarterback. I went up high but didn't even try and talk my way into the Bank of America building or onto the roof. Big mistake. Some people who worked in there got good images. Missed out on my tower/silhouette photo early on. Sun rose fast and i didn't get the picture i wanted. (That and a tree was in the way). And lastly, i ran out of the house without socks. I have blisters all over my feet. (And i'd have had better photos if i had answered the phone faster)

Here's how the front page looked.



Bottom left first-on-the-scene-photo by newsroom intern Allie Goolrick.



Thats my only picture with actual flame in it. I missed a flare up while walking around the giant block but got somewhat lucky when they opened up the front door to try and extinguish and save anything else in the front.



There's an interesting symmetry between the gracefulness of a a rainbow mixed with the abject destruction of a landmark being consumed by fire.



An Athens Clarke firefighter is treated by EMTs during the blaze. (No firefighters were hospitalized or injured that I heard about)



Wilmot Green, owner of the Georgia Theater, (white shirt) sits on a curb with firefighters across from the blaze.



Firefighters use aerial towers to fight the blaze. (Note, the city only owns three and all three were used during the blaze, just not in this photo)



Firefighters battle the blaze from street level.



Nothing like what i was trying to make.

End of Month Post: Heading to Vacation

Katie Jones, mother of Judge Steve C. Jones, lays a flower on the casket of retired firefighter Louis Ford, Jr., at Athens Memorial Gardens on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 in Athens, Ga. Ford was the first black firefighter in Athens.

I'm going on a much-earned, much-deserved vacation.

So here's some recent stuff. I'm tired, I'm burned out, i have no idea how the rest of this year is going to go. I don't know how we're going to manage with our current staffing levels. I was listening to a sports-radio guy today who was talking about leaving his present job because he knew where he wanted to go and he couldn't handle having to do everything himself or basically knowing that he wanted to work with more people to get the help you need to reach the goals you want.

He's got a valid point. Beancounter cuts (you never see them taking cuts or putting that in a S.E.C. filing) have gotten us to the point where it endangers the quality of work thats being performed. I'm just tired of having it seem like i have to do it all myself due to disorganization and people constantly doing the jobs of two-or-three people when they get their rock-bottom pay cut.

Anyways, photos.



Jessica Miller has her wedding photos taken at the Arch on the campus of the University of Georgia on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 in Athens, Ga. Miller received both her undergraduate and graduate degress from Georgia.



ATHENS, GA. -- Alisa Goler (15), Jennie Auger (12) and Brianna Henson (8) celebrate as the #6 Georgia Bulldogs beat the #11 Ohio State Buckeyes 7-6 in the championship game of the NCAA Super Regional Softball Championships to advance to the Women's College World Series on Friday, May 22, 2009 in Athens, Ga.

Sixth-grader Malik Freeman slides down a water-slide during Madison County Middle School's attendance extravaganza on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 in Daniellsville, Ga. The day of fun and games was a reward for students who missed less than 10 days of school all year.

Its a Red Ball, Bunk.

If you are into spot news, crime reporting or anything resembling homicide investigations, go find David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets" as he follows around a squad of Baltimore Homicide detectives around for an entire year. (Yes, The same David Simon that did "The Wire" and "Generation Kill")

I only mention this because we've got a major red ball going in town. For the casual reader, a "Red ball" is a major case where you drop everything in a effort to solve the case/find the bad guy. Something with major media attention.


News broke Friday morning that George Zinkhan's jeep was found in a ravine not far from his house. So if its a red ball for the cops, its a red ball for us. I've never seen that many Law Enforcement officers armed that heavily before. U.S. Marshal's service, F.B.I, G.B.I, GSP SWAT and ACCPD's SRT. The tract of land where it was found can be Googled here. Its a large tract of land that was naturally closed off to photojournalists like myself.

So covering this was myself and another staffer. Our office ran a shuttle for cards earlier in the day. The hardest/biggest thing about spot news is calming yourself down, focusing and making good story-telling images. Looking back, some lack some context.


From there it was like a mental shot checklist. Jeep? Yup.



Guys in pickups armed for bear? Yup.



Convoy of cars? Yup.




GSP roadblock? Check.



Helicopter? Check.



Scene setter? Ehhh.... little fuzzy and from about a mile away but yeah, just run it small.



Constant stream of onlookers? Shoulda thought of that one. Something to think about next time.

Presser? I've had these conversations at a former paper before. Something to the effect of "you want me to leave a crime scene to go photograph someone with a microphone in their face?"

So after awhile it gets mundane. You can either stay at the main entrance/exit and get those shots over and over or you can become enterprising and start driving around and searching for any photo that your competition doesn't have. Once you've CYA'd, you just cant sit there especially when it seems that the search has become fruitless. You get a feel for what's going on and rumors run rampent through a crime scene. Plus its common sense - you're not going to see 17 car loads of SWAT team members go into a scene where the suspect is deceased; You're going to see forensics, CSI and coroner type people. So i went and drove around until i found a pickup truck full of FBI people and photographed them going through a neighborhood or two from a safe and respectful distance.






And then a resident appeared.



You don't want to be overly aggressive because you can't do your job from jail. So bring the 400/2.8 and the teleconverter and stay back on the public easement and give them their space. Respect them, be professional and they will respect you. They probably will mess with you some but thats the nature of cops sometimes and really, some levity to break the moment isn't a bad thing.

Other good lessons? Crime scene food/water. Stash it in the trunk. You don't want to be off getting food when everything goes down. Sunscreen. Bug Spray. Comfy and appropriate shoes. (IE flip-flops are a very bad idea to be traipsing around a crime scene in) ANSI-Approved Highway vest (for standing on that easement next to the road). And bring your manners. Be professional. Be tactful of those not in the press that might be around you.

Weekend Update Pt 1 - Spot News

As usual, I've been a tad tardy with my updates around here. Its been a busy week, lots of things i've shot have been advance and they just get forgot by the wayside in posting. That and I've shot my fair share (and then some) of video in the past week....

So I've been living and dying by the scanner of late. Caught two spot news happenings.



Athens-Clarke County firefighter Brian Coggins, left, is covered by water mixed with insulation while overhauling an apartment fire Hillside Condominiums at 125 Berlin Ct in Athens on Thursday, September 4, 2008.

Coggins and his partner on Rescue 4 knocked that down fast. When i stepped out of the car, there was billowing black smoke. By the time i got the camera up, the fire was out.




Athens Clarke County firefighters use axes to overhaul the roof of an apartment fire in Hillside Condominiums at 125 Berlin Ct in Athens on Thursday, September 4, 2008.



Cindy Schnavley, center, cradles the head of a pedestrian who struck by a pickup truck at the corner of East Campus Road and Hooper Street on Friday, September 5, 2008.

The pedestrian was okay. Looked worse then it was. Of course I was nearly nailed in a crosswalk the other day.

Condo Fire.

Caught a fully involved Condo fire today. Beat the 2nd due engine to the scene. ACC FD did their primary attack from the rear of the structure that was backed up to a fence. Couldn't get back there. No real good angle to get great shots of an interior attack. Mainly tried to get pictures as fast as i could.



Fire was knocked down with 3 or 4 minutes of me getting on scene. Fire was confined primarily to the one until but damaged two others.

Spot News out the Window

So I was getting ready to walk out of the office when i look out the window and see the ACC Police pulling these two gentlemen out of their car right in front of our office. So i sprinted down there and go so-so spot news photos, especially knowing what i saw from my window. Had i had my camera actually with me, rather than in the car, i should have gotten something better.

These two gentlemen were riding around in a green Lincoln that was BOLO'd as being stolen the night before.

More that Didn't Run

A driver who struck a bicyclist watches as emergency workers attend to the victim at the intersection of Meigs and North Pope streets around 5:30 PM on Tuesday, December 11, 2007.

Somehow, spot news just doesn't make our paper sometimes. Lord knows why. I've taken a more active listen to the scanner these days, trying to run on things that i can get to. ACCPD and GSP are really professional at the scenes i've been at of late.



EMS workers work to stabilize Geneva Norman who lost control of her motorcycle on U.S. 29 northbound on Wednesday, December 12, 2007. Norman was trying to turn right into a gas station when she lost control of her bike. Norman was wearing a helmet and suffered minor cuts and abrasions.

And my personal sympathies go out to ACC PD Sgt. Courtney Gale and her family after Sgt. Gale was brutaly attacked while working as security at a Kroger here in Athens. I've delt with her on a handful of occasions and she is by far one of the most professional police officers I've delt with.