In the Loupe | The Photography of Craig Kohlruss » Fresno Bee

Grizz Air

Craig — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:45:55 +0000

Sunday at The Bee is rarely slow, but this past Sunday had me out hunting for a feature package for the Local page. A sign in front of Fresno’s Woodward Park peaked my interest so I drove over to the relatively new Woodward Park Mountain Bike Skills Progression Course. There I found folks, young and old, enjoying the fabulous weather and an incredible MTB trail course. I staked out one ramp and tracked one rider as he performed a Grizz Air trick. I had heard of the course but never seen it up close. You can’t even see it from the road that goes around the park, but it is 10 acres in size and varied with many jumps and obstacle skills courses. It’s got me thinking again of getting a mountain bike for sure. There’s nothing like this anywhere around here and maybe even the state. See http://woodwardmtbpark.com/Woodward.html for more details.

Tour of California – into the Sierras

Craig — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:46:54 +0000

Finally got my first chance to photograph the Amgen Tour of California Wednesday. I had applied for credentials for several years but for whatever reason, I was never able to make it out to one of the stages. This time it was coming into our coverage area so we would definitely be all over it. The Bee had both the start and finish covered so they had me head up to the summit of one of the climbs. I chose Highway 49 just north of Ahwahnee where the fourth King of the Mountains point was set. Snow covered the hills around us after days of storms. It would make a cool shot. After three hours of waiting the riders finally came by going much faster than even I was expecting. These guys are amazing athletes. I was happy to grab one frame of Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer of the Astana team. All that waiting for about 30 seconds of photos. So I headed down the hill to catch them riding into Clovis for a few more shots. Among the other riders I photographed were George Hincapie and Floyd Landis.

Cast away

Craig — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:12:25 +0000

while on a feature hunt I found myself wandering further and further out of town. That’s not unusual at all. Sometimes I just let my whims drive the car and before you know it, I’ve got 100 miles on the car just looking for something that makes a picture. Lucky for me I found this guy fishing on the Kings in relatively short time. He was perched on a rock in a scenic spot that captured the pretty colors of the hills as well as the spring-like sunshine overhead. He was a nice guy who I chatted with about his construction trade that had been pretty slow due to the economy. The fishing happened to be pretty slow too. He was ok with it though because it was such a nice day.

Dog day afternoon

Craig — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:51:49 +0000

Spent the afternoon shooting dogs and their owners to preview an upcoming dog show in The Bee’s “7.” Dogs are fun, but they are like kids in that they really don’t care about having their pictures taken. The big challenge is squeaking a toy with one hand and focusing and shooting with the other.