A glimpse of the action

Ever go to a party and find out that you missed all the action?

We feel like that sometimes when people call us to come out to take a photo of a finished project.

In the past few weeks I have fielded calls about finished Eagle Scout projects and a check presentation of money raised from a bake sale.

Earlier this week, a co-worker showed me a photo of a new emblem on the front of my alma mater.

Great photo ideas, but all I could think of was the missed opportunity.

We missed the chance to actually show people something, to show people action, to show them an actual news event.

What if we would have taken a photo of a worker up on a ladder putting the finishing touches on the Blue Bomber emblem instead of noticing the painted school?

What if we could have captured the youngster's face as she piled up the goodies for a bake sale to benefit the Ronald McDonald House?

Would it have drawn interest if we took a photo of an Eagle Scout candidate installing a deck at the Carbon County Environmental Center? Or sanding a bench for a final coat?

A few weeks ago we published a photo of two children selling lemonade at the Palmerton sidewalk sale. Even though they were seated at a table, it was an action shot. They were choosing to do something.

Had we just taken a photo of them passing a check it wouldn't have been exciting.

When we go out to take sports photos, we make sure we capture the action. We don't take a photo of a player standing at second base waiting for the ball to be hit. Admit it, no one (except the boy's mother and grandmother) would look twice at that photo.

But capture the action of the slide into second base, or the tag of the glove when the ump declares the runner safe, and everyone can relate to it. They can cheer or jeer right along with the whole team.

We launched our new look on Thursday and this is the perfect opportunity to examine what we do on a daily basis.

Dear readers, are we exciting you or boring you?

Ribbon cuttings pose another quandary.

Why? Because they don't really tell you, our readers, anything about the business.

Let's face it. Often there are so many people in the photo that we can't even see their faces.

We want more for our new businesses and our potential advertisers.

We want to use our precious limited staff time to tell people what you are about. We want to show you something you don't know. We want to show you the product they manufacture, the signature dish they make.

We can publish submitted photos of the ribbon cuttings, but we need to use our staff to engage all the readers.

You'll hear more about photos in the coming months, as we continue to make improvements to each edition of the Times News.

We want to work with you, but it all starts by sending us an invitation to the party.