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.