Portland, Oregon-based photographer - 503.421.5700

>Ink

Added on by Thomas Boyd.

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tatoos
Originally uploaded by thomasrboyd.

These dudes were posing for a photo for a friend when I came out of the bathroom and took a snap. They couldn't figure out why a dude with a pro camera was taking their photo. I didn't offer any explanation either. I just said, "cool" and kept walking.

>Mud and Dennis Miller

Added on by Thomas Boyd.

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mud
Originally uploaded by thomasrboyd.

I shot this when I worked in Vancouver. There was a rain storm at the Clark County Fair and a spontaneous mud fight broke out.

The photo was widely published and somehow Dennis Miller held it up and said something funny about it on his show. That's what I heard anyway.

I posted this photo because I reminds of something I had no idea of when I first started out as a photojournalist. When little moments come together like this and a photographer is there with the right lens and manages to be in position to get the picture, it's really kind of a miracle. When I took this photo I was just out of college and into my first few years as staff photojournalist for the The Columbian. I thought I would be in position to take photos like that all the time. I thought it would be easy to make pictures like that. I thought I could go to any county fair or community festival and walk away with great photos of very interesting moments. I took this miracle for granted. I thought I made that picture because I was a "good" photographer.

I know now that I had very little to do with it. I was just ready when it happened. That was the extent of my involvement.

I've been to dozens of county fairs and even more dozens of community festivals and parades and gatherings. Rarely does something happen that interesting that I'm ready for.

>Chief Joseph's Grave

Added on by Thomas Boyd.

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cheifjoseph
Originally uploaded by thomasrboyd.

I pulled this from my archives. I always thought it was interesting that General U. Grant has a memorial twice the size of of Chief Joseph's headstone that only marked the spot where he had a potato patch.

Twice the man, half the headstone.

>This Will Be Me in My 70's

Added on by Thomas Boyd.

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kiteboarding
Originally uploaded by thomasrboyd.

This guy cracked me up. It looks like he's shooting with a disc camera. It's probably just a fancy dit cam. The funny thing is, he has a pretty high end point and shoot dit cam hanging from his neck.

He's probably an old newspaper photographer. I shot this in Hood River, Oregon. He was photographing kite-boarders readying their equipment.