Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘photography’

Camera clicker is gone, baby, gone

Posted in Everything changes, tagged , , , on April 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The older of these two guys is leaving the school sports photo biz. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Diet Coke in hand, he’s hitting the road.

Photographer John Fisken, who has haunted Whidbey Island sporting events for the past two decades, is moving on to different pursuits.

“It’s been a fun ride, but time to end,” he said.

Fisken publicly confirmed Tuesday that he is retiring from sports photography at the end of April, taking to Facebook to offer a farewell.

“My original plan was to hang up my camera at the end of the 2025-2026 school year,” he said.

“Circumstances have changed, and except for the few commitments that I already have on my calendar, I’m retiring at the end of the month.”

Fisken expressed his thanks to those who have been along on his ride.

“It’s been a lot of fun, and being around the young people has helped keep me young,” he said.

“I’ve enjoyed watching the growth and success of various teams, as well as felt their pain over the past two decades.”

His website, JohnsPhotos.net, will remain active through the end of the year for those who want to continue to purchase prints

Meanwhile, he plans to dive deeper into researching his family history, then travel extensively once wife Diane retires from teaching in the Oak Harbor school district.

After graduating from Seattle’s Roosevelt High School in 1980, Fisken served in the US Navy for 24 years, landing on Whidbey in the early 2000’s.

After videotaping games with a camcorder early on, first in Hawaii, then Oak Harbor, he morphed into a photographer, following an interest which had first sprouted when he was in high school.

From covering Wildcat games, at the middle and high school level, Fisken later expanded to snapping pics in Coupeville, and, eventually, South Whidbey.

Fisken’s favorite football photo features Hunter Smith plunging into the end zone for a touchdown.

Fisken ran a blog, Oak Harbor Sports Report, from 2008-2016, and his photos have appeared frequently both on Coupeville Sports and in the Whidbey News-Times.

Along the way, he expanded his photo snapping to include parades, military ceremonies, graduations, dances, and breaking news, such as cars and trucks plowing through buildings and raging fires.

Read Full Post »

All the talent, all the skills

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Logan Downes did NOT skip leg day. (Mia Farris photos)

Mia Farris shoots and scores, and she snaps and scores.

The Coupeville High School junior is a deadly markswoman while livin’ large on the hardwood, and a talented photographer while patrolling the sidelines.

The pics above and below come to us courtesy the Wolf ace, while the last pic puts her own face front and center thanks to fellow yearbook supernova Bailey Thule.

“You’re going out there a rookie, and coming back a bright, shining superstar, Mia! Any other photographers get in your way, you knee them right in the nads!” (Bailey Thule photo)

Read Full Post »

The ol’ ball coach and the barn

Posted in Photos, tagged , , , , on July 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »

A long-gone piece of Whidbey Island history. (Bob Barker photo)

Bob Barker is still in the game.

The former sage of the roundball remains arguably the most-successful coach in Coupeville High School history.

While he’s no longer stalking the sidelines during Wolf basketball games, Barker remains a go-to source for Whidbey history and interesting photographs from the past.

Today’s shot, of a historic (and long gone) Oak Harbor landmark, arrived with the following note:

Back in the days when I was involved in photography, I especially liked to take pictures of old buildings, old barns, old churches, covered bridges and scenes (both seascapes and landscapes without people in them).

This is an old barn that has since been torn down to make way for the expansion of the city of Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island.

This barn was situated behind what is now the Elks Club.

Oak Harbor was originally a Dutch community and you can see the Dutch influence in the architecture of the barn. 

This barn in its day would have to be considered the “Cadillac” of all barns.

Note the curvature of the roof. The lower portion or base of the barn was concrete and not wood. 

I wish that they had had the foresight to restore this barn as it was “one of a kind.”

I cherish this picture as it a reminder of a life that has vanished and is no more…

Bob

Read Full Post »

Wolf grad ready to capture your big moment

Posted in Graduation, tagged , , , , on March 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Famer Valen Trujillo is available for all your grad photo needs. (Hunter Printz photo)

As we go through uncertain times, one Coupeville High School grad is stepping up to help those who intend to follow in her footsteps.

Hey Coupeville Fam!

My name is Valen Trujillo, I am a 2017 CHS grad and now I own my own photography business specializing in local and destination weddings, couples photos, and portraits!

I feel so bad for this year’s graduates.

I couldn’t image how it would have felt to have the thing I was looking forward to the most be cancelled.

So I decided to offer a SPECIAL DEAL for all 2020 grads (high school and college) to get grad photos done! (in your cap and gown too!!) 50% off!!

Here’s the info:

$150
45 minute session
30 minimum edited images
1-2 locations
up to 2 outfits
online gallery // printing rights

You’ll get these photos within a week of your session! You can print, post, and download all of the photos to have forever to remember this special time in your life!

This is for any grad – on Whidbey or off Whidbey!

If you are interested, email me at

valenleephotography@gmail.com

I am here for you all! 🙂 Stay safe and wash your hands!!

 

To see more of Valen’s work, pop over to:

https://www.valenleephoto.com/

Read Full Post »

Work hard, dream big!!

Posted in Basketball, Track, tagged , , , , on July 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Logan Martin skies for a bucket. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Logan Martin is always working.

The son of Coupeville coach Bob Martin, and younger brother of Wolf track and field legend Dalton Martin, he can be found in virtually every photo from off-season SST training at the school.

And, during basketball season, Logan is always the first one to hit the court at halftime or after games, putting up shots and working on his game.

The benefits have begun to show, as Martin has been a key member of successful middle school and AAU hoops squads, mixing a deadly three-point shot with strong work down low.

As he preps for his freshman year at CHS, the quiet, but driven, young baller has his eyes set firmly on the goal.

“I want to make varsity as a freshman, be a four-year varsity (player),” Martin said.

He plans to stick with track and field as well, where he’s a top thrower like his older brother, who captured four state track medals, but is letting go of football as he makes the jump to high school.

While he’s been successful in the track arena, it’s the hardwood life he fully embraces.

“Basketball is my favorite sport, because I feel it’s the sport I’m better at than other sports,” Martin said. “It’s a great way to exercise.

“It can be played by anyone – young or old,” he added. “And you can take a basketball with you practically anywhere and practice anytime.”

When he’s not practicing or playing, Martin is an avid photographer and has shown a canny eye behind the camera.

A series of pics he snapped during the spring high school track season ran in several articles here on Coupeville Sports, with the photos garnering praise for how they captured the inner essence of prep sports.

Whether he’s documenting others, or taking center stage himself, Martin is one to watch.

Playing against Sequim during his 8th grade hoops season, he opened the game by taking, and hitting, the first three shots of the game — a fall-away jumper, a soft fader, then a three-ball from the left side.

The display showcased Martin’s skill, and his versatility, something he’s always working on.

“I think one of my strengths as an athlete is my work ethic,” he said. “I would like to work on having a better attitude when I play.”

Mom Abbie is his biggest fan, faithfully appearing at every game to cheer for her youngest, while dad Bob draws praise for shaping Logan as an athlete.

“My dad (has had a big impact), because he started me in sports and coaches me all day in life and in athletics.”

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »