Tag Archives: Hans Koepsell

Day 37

Today started out with a trip to Hauser. A local lady just recently purchased a restaurant that is a local landmark and has gone under a few different times; she had some new ideas about how to get it to be a successful place so we did a story on her. Next was a photo from a location in Athol near Silverwood Theme Park which is being debated over to be subdivided for over 80 homes. There is a big fuss over it though because it is a plot of land which is zoned as rural and it could have a big impact on the wild life especially the elk in the area.

Day 36

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So it was my first time back in a few days… and I’ve been loving the little break. My day started out with a stand alone nightmare! I went to a middle school activity where I took photo of a 3D printer demonstration. The nightmare was that in checking the names to see who could be published, almost none of them were able to be published! That was a new experience. Next I went to a staff vs. staff basketball game from a couple of the local middle schools; it was so funny.

Day 35

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Usually I start my day at 10am but today there was a feature story going on in Moscow at the University of Idaho campus so it was an early day, 8:15… oi. The story was about a fair going on at U of I called Invent Idaho. There were elementary, middle, and high school kids from all over the state competing against each other with their inventions, practical and not but all very very creative! That was pretty much all we had for the day, but later on I was asked to take a photo of a different hotel for that same NIBJ story because the reporter was only able to contact this particular hotel. And now, for an extended weekend!

Day 34

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There was another long drive first thing this morning, out to a place called Careywood. Careywood is in danger of loosing their Post Office because it is such a tiny town. We were doing a feature story on that. Then, on the way back we went into Hayden and took a photo for a NIBJ story about a man who went from being a volunteer employee at a boat dealer to being their business manager.

Then there was a stand alone opportunity with a non-profit called Wings of Rescue where animal shelter dogs are flown here from California to be cared for by other non-profits, however after being there for about 15 minutes still waiting for the plane to get there I was called out to a 50 acre grass fire in Athol and that took first priority. It was also pretty fun being with the fire fighters, they were all cool with me being there. That was today, pretty exciting!

Day 33

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This morning I had a long drive ahead of me for a fun photo opp at a Rathdrum elementary school. Mr. X a math magician did an assembly for students to bring the wonder back to math. Next there was a chance to go out and photograph a couple hotels in the area that have recently changed hands for a NIBJ story. Then, later on in the evening, Jeff, the reporter that was working on the fireplace regulations story, set up a tour for me to go to a wood stove manufacturer so I could get a better photo than just the wood pile! Thank goodness.

Day 32

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Today was a busy day, it started with a trip to Post Falls High School regarding the Post Falls school levy that will be voted on soon. My assignment was to take a photo of the gym being used because one of the plans if the levy is passed is to build PFHS an auxiliary gym because of overcrowding.

Next, there were a few “just get them done” assignments. One was to find people enjoying the sun, another was for a story on the rising gas prices, and another was for a new wood stove regulation. I needed to get these all done by around 4:30 because I had an appointment with a place called Summit Cider to photograph the preparations for the grand opening this weekend. I also got a stand alone of some city workers trimming the trees near McEuen Park.

Day 31

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Today started out with an in-person portrait of a member of the GOP community in Coeur d’Alene. That took all of 2 minutes. There was some good news afterwards, I’m going to be reimbursed the miles that I’ve driven since Tess left and from now on! That was really exciting to hear! So I started work on calculating my past miles and in the middle of doing that, one of the reporters asked if I could get a few shots for him. The first set would be a story that he was doing about a housing developer that is selling a lot of lots in our area, and the last photo was for a story he was doing about a new Tesla Motors supercharging station that was recently built near Hayden. He’s having a really hard time getting info on them which is strange, it’s like they want to keep them a secret when they are so blatantly public.

Day 30

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Today was another low key Saturday. My day started off with a feature story about a therapeutic ranch that rescues and trains horses, it was a challenging experience because it was new however it was really fun and a great change in scenery. The kids that I was working with in these photos were a hoot, totally okay with the camera and really fun to work with. I’ve found that I really like working with kids because they are usually less camera shy than adults especially when they have their friends around; and when they hear you are from the paper all they want is to be in that photo. Maybe it’s just my inner kid feeling at home. Maureen wanted me to get 5 shots to go with the story since it would be running Monday and that is usually a pretty thin paper.

Next, and still in Hayden, there was a Girl Scout’s automotive 101 class that we were doing a story about. It was less about the class and more about the girls in the scout troop… these were all older girls, high school juniors and seniors who had been in this troop since kindergarten and elementary school.

Lastly, there was a GOP Lincoln day dinner going on at the resort. This was fun, but it ended up being a waiting game because our information was wrong. I was told that the keynote speaker was going to be going on at 6pm, when in reality the dinner started at 6 and the keynote speaker didn’t get up to speak until 9:15pm… it was kind of a fun party though. There was a lot of auction items and raffle items, mainly a gun raffle, I thought that was a little stereotypical of them, but it made me laugh anyway.

Day 29

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So since I worked nearly a 12 hour day yesterday, Shawn told me not to worry about coming in until around 2pm today and that was really nice. However, when I got to the Press all the photo assignments were taken and so I did some resizing of photos for the boss, and some editing for an upcoming story. Also, a mom of one of the girls I photographed at the Gymfest wanted some prints. Good news!

Day 28

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Shawn was off today and so I had a long day ahead of me. There was a keynote speaker that I needed to get at the resort but first, Emma has had me printing out photos of the cities that we’ve lived in or visited that I’d taken; so I went up on top of the parking structure at the resort and got some shots of the city for the set that I’m printing. After the keynote speaker I went on a tour with one of our reporters to Titan Spring. Some students with the STEM after school program took a tour to see the facility and get information about possible jobs and internships. They needed a couple for daily and then a couple for the NIBJ. And yet again, there was basketball.

Day 27

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I got to feed squirrels out of my hand today! We did a story on some unlikely mascots that the county courthouse has had around the grounds for about 10 years. They feed them each day and give them water. It was really fun! These photos are in city park which is across the street from the courthouse, the guards will feed them over in the park and the squirrels will follow over to the courthouse eventually and they get quite a group sometimes.

That’s not how today started however, I first went to a middle school career day and got some photos of the kids for that. And the day ended with a high school robot demonstration. It was a good day!

Day 26

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Today was a nice but challenging day I went to a dress rehearsal for a youth play Pocahontas. It was challenging because I’d never shot a play like that before… but I learned that I can’t be afraid to get in people’s faces if I have to, they’ll usually live through the experience. And then there was basketball.

Day 25

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It was the first Saturday that I’ve worked here at the Press and it started out really weird! When I walked in the employee entrance all the lights were off, I was expecting it to be a joke! There was no one working, so I got to my desk and thank goodness there is a window in my cubicle because I didn’t know where the light switch was. A little bit later I got a text from the reporter that was working and she asked if I was on my way to the legislative meeting down at the library… I was never told a time so I wasn’t on my way, but it was just down the street and I figured I’d go a few minutes early so I could walk. It was a legislative meeting alright.

Next on the agenda was a gymnastics event happening down at the resort, apparently there were athletes from 11 states and also a bunch of locations in Canada. That was really fun to see, but gymnastics photos are tricky to take! Very different from the other sports that I’ve shot. I went yesterday too and determined to go back because I didn’t like any of my photos. This time I got some that I liked alright.

Thinking that since Shawn was still gone and it was still only me taking photos, I went to look for a stand alone after the gymnastics thing. It was a really sunny day and so I went down by the beach and the City Park to look for people. I found this guy with a metal detector and a go-pro on his head looking for stuff in the park and so I got a photo of him, he was actually pretty nice.

Day 24

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The first assignment of the day was actually pretty fun! Not that they aren’t usually, but I didn’t think I’d ever photograph a welding competition. This made for some fun photos, the shooting of those photos was pretty tricky though, I had to wear a welding hood so I couldn’t really see my camera and that meant I had to spray and pray. After sorting through the mass of photos I got a couple good shots. Next it was time for an update on the construction of Winton Elementary which is scheduled for completion at the end of this year. I feel like I’ve shot more construction photos lately than anything else… but that’s ok, the environment and the lines, dynamic lighting and unusual subject matter can be really fun some times. And then, there was basketball.

Oh, and I shot our vending machine.

Day 23

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Today was the first day that Shawn would be out of town in Boise for state basketball… I was the lone photographer. It started out with an interesting assignment though, Maureen got a call from a gentleman who just sold some of his property to a developer but on the property was an old stage coach station and an old post office, like 1800s old. So a reporter and I drove out to Hayden and got some info and photos, sadly both buildings would be torn down and so we were trying to document the area before that happened.

Next, the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center was filming a public service announcement about domestic violence that will go hand in hand with the ads that aired during the super bowl. The lighting was such a treat! And the last assignment for the day was a teen dental party in which teens can go and get dental screenings and sealants for free which would normally cost $400 a person. It was a good day today. Lots of prayers today and I was feeling it.