It’s been about three weeks since the redesign of our newspaper and we have received a lot of feedback from readers, some negative and some positive. The company who worked with us, called Creative Circle Media, held workshops with the staff on how to build and create attractive lay outs with our photographs and stories. One phrase we heard constantly was they wanted to see “real people doing real things.” Photos of people holding a check or a book they just published are not very exciting photos. With the state of the economy, circulation and advertising down, getting good stories with great art is more important now than ever.

Case in point; the photograph I took of the teenager jumping off Salmon Falls Bridge from a moving truck was a cool photo of someone demonstrating risky behavior. In no way do I promote an activity like this, and as a father of a 10-year-old I cringe to think what he’ll be doing at 17.

Prior to capturing the photo I witnessed a few boys scaling the bridge structure and jumping from the top. A couple kids even went on record with comments and their names. I was originally out there for a water level story simply to show how high the water is compared to the bridge, but it turned into a different story for the fact this is an ongoing daily activity for this group of kids.

Witnessing the truck jump through the camera lens was like seeing it in slow motion. I happened to be walking to the bridge when I saw the truck approach and had a feeling something was going to happen, but didn’t know what. It was one of those right-time-right-place moments when I was glad to have the 70-200mm strapped to the camera. As the truck drove over the bridge the jumper crept to the edge of the bed, sized up his launch and within a few seconds he was in mid-air, and then disappeared. Spectators stood silent as he descended until we heard him smack the water. Then everyone carried on as if it was normal. Just another day of bridge jumping.

The only other time I have ever photographed a stunt like that from a moving vehicle was when the television show Stunt Junkies staged a jump off the Foresthill Bridge. Obviously it was planned and approved by the city, making it legal.

Choosing to run the photo front page was harder than shooting it. I’m not out there to get kids in trouble and the media is always to blame when someone exhibits stupidity or risky behavior according to a reader. Editor Deric Rothe and I went back and forth about running it for a couple reasons. One, it was a good photo so why wouldn’t we. But two, we don’t want to promote activities such as jumping off bridges from moving vehicles. Getting bombarded by angry parent phone calls isn’t fun either. Surprisingly comments online have been mild.

My take on it, is this: we need to sell newspapers. Good photos help make that happen. I informed everyone of who I was and why I was there, making them aware photographs were being taken. In the end I’m glad we ran the image front page and it was sure to turn heads at the newsstands.