Demolition Derby Video
When my friend Ryan Horn asked me if I wanted to come watch him compete in a demolition derby I knew it was a great opportunity to do an interesting video. Horn has been doing derbys for years and is actually in the demolition derby video game Test Drive: Eve of Destruction. I followed him as he fixed up his car and later as he competed in the Arizona State Fair. If you ever get a chance to see a derby live, go. It's a blast.Pat Shannahan

Hockey Fisticuffs
They never fight when I cover hockey. Last night was a nice exception. I ran down to the press room to transmit my images after the first period. My deadline was 8:30. After I got my initial images in I went out to see what more I could come up with before deadline. Shortly after I got back to my shooting position Phoenix Coyote Paul Bissonnette and Montreal Canadian Jay Leach decided to duke it out. I rattled off a few frames and headed back down to the press room to send them to the photo desk. I got the photo in with a few minutes to spare.Cl

Swimming
Shooting swimming can really be a challenge, especially if you are shooting the freestyle events. The nature of the stroke makes it hard to see the swimmers face. I made this image while covering the local high school state championship swim meet last weekend. It was made just as he was coming to the surface after diving in at the start. He ended up winning his race.Pat Shannahanwww.patshannahan.com@pshannahan on Twitter

5 Reasons to Hire a Photojournalist
I just read a really well written blog post by Andrea James about why it's a good idea to hire a photojournalist for a photo job. You can read her article here. The point I most agree with concerns a photojournalist's ability to capture moments. Being consistent in photography is like being consistent at playing a musical instrument. It requires daily practice. Newspaper photojournalist get daily practice at capturing moments. Who better to hire for a job when getting "the" moment is the main requirement.Pat Shannahanwww.patshannahan.com@pshannahan

Shots of shots
On Saturday I photographed people getting their seasonal flu and H1N1 flu shots. This family of five got everyone vaccinated. What drew me to them was their son sleeping in the cart next to them. He was knocked out till it was his turn to get vaccinated. I was surprised to see that it was a three hour wait to get a shot. Pat Shannahan@pshannahan