Luck under pressure

N0130SMITH05c.jpg, originally uploaded by ©JL.

Had about ten minutes to shoot a portrait of a Boulder Police officer before rushing off to shoot two rivalry games between Boulder and Fairview High Schools.

The officer was receiving an award for his actions during the stabbing of a University of Colorado student last August. He subdued the alleged assailant and prevented the attacker from killing himself. The dilemma was how to shoot a photo at the cop shop. There wasn't a whole lot of visuals to work with so I bailed on the standard portrait of him next to his bike and enlisted the help of Metro student Logan Lyles, who was along for the long ride that day. He made a pretty good light stand and we were able to knock out the picture and hustle to the game.

This was the last frame and I just spun the shutter dial to let in a bit of ambient and didn't really look to see if it was better than the others. Just fired and said thanks to the officer. On a side note, he pulled me over and handed me a ticket for having license plate covers last year. I didn't like him back then. The other day he was very polite and accommodating. Can't fault a man doing his job, right?