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August officially ends summer, though September is technically the finally month to host summer’s presence… But this is Wyoming and summer never really started, so let’s not kid ourselves.

This month was filled with a great deal of downtime as the Daddy of ‘em All (Frontier Days) pretty much wiped everyone out last month. As a result, we did a lot of feature hunting on the photo desk this month and we seemed to make the best of it.

School started for many (not for staffer AAron Ontiveroz for the first time since 1989 and he is grateful), so we shot that. Photo chief Michael Smith had the opportunity of a lifetime when he shot rabbits wearing clothing. Odd as it may sound, he considers it his greatest achievement to date (kidding). Also, we again used rock-solid Shauna Stephenson as a fill-in and she killed it per usual.

Last but not least, our newest staff member, Jerret Raffey, completed his first full month at the WTE and he didn’t quit. Way to go.

Anyway, this is the start of a new season and a busy 10 months for the photo desk. We’re all looking forward to next summer when Mother Nature will grant the people of the high plains a few days of sun, fun and little to no wind at times.

Thanks for looking.

-WTE Photo Staff

America was in full force this month. Returned soldiers, celebrations of flags, a Cheyenne hoops legend was drafted into the NBA, Juneteenth-style jubilation, rodeo, baseball and a struggling national economy remained strong locally in Cheyenne.

Sadly, the UW Geological Museum, which houses massive dinosaur bones, went extinct. The University of Wyoming chose to close the museum due to campus-wide budget cuts. Michael Smith captured a classic photograph during the waning days of the cultural landmark.

Though this was a jam-packed month for news, not everything was devoted to all things serious. We had a great time photographing nature, kids at ease during their summer vacation and one heck of a Super Day at Lions Park.

All in all, the heat killed, the rain drowned and our myriad collection of stories kept us cool and afloat –  for now at least.

As always, thanks for looking.

-WTE Photo Staff

This month really pushed us to the limit. Not that we were overworked, but we certainly had our hands full with state sporting events, graduations, day-to-day news and the birth of staff ace Michael Smith’s baby girl, Inez J. Smith.

With our plates full, we called in the services of outdoors editor Shauna Stephenson and former WTE staffer Matt “Moose” Young to supplement the shooting duties. Everything played out well and we had another great month of shooting. It was a nice change of pace to hit a high gear for the upcoming summer months, which will undoubtedly be our busiest of part of the year.

We are now less than two months away from the start of Cheyenne Frontier Days, which will really push us to our limits. As the time approaches, we are focused (so to speak) on providing the best visual coverage of our community. We look forward to things ahead.

Thanks for looking.

-WTE Photo Staff

You know, in some places (i.e. Florida and Arizona) April plays host to a little thing called “Spring Training.” For anyone who has never been, check it out sometime. It is quite a luxury compared to the other kind of spring training experienced in Wyoming. The kind we get here is more of a tutorial on how to drive in conditions not unlike those in Siberia. Seriously, Rocky had an easier time training for his fight against the steroid-fueled pinko Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV” than many residents of our fair city — and we say “fair” in the least literal sense possible.

This month was not all snowshoes and shovels. No, no, no. Quite the contrary — that was only every other day. Half of the time the weather was sunny, warm and mostly moist, but not slushy and winter-like.

In the time that we weren’t cursing our tires, we were doing our jobs. Photo editor Michael Smith and staffer AAron Ontiveroz shot the deployment process involving some 900 troops, while Larry Brinlee had his shooting finger on the pulse of the coming spring and summer construction, which is a season all it’s own.

We are pleased to now be near summer (sometime in mid July to early August) and look forward to having at least a couple weeks of driveable/shootable weather. Bring on the sun!

Thanks for looking.

-WTE Photo Staff

This seemed like our least productive month so far, though it really wasn’t. Sometimes it happens like that. A lot of what we do is timing, and more so, luck.

Our photos, on the other hand, include some of our more humorous outtakes this year. Maybe it is the spring thaw (which was really not a thaw since the weather was erratic) or maybe people were just in generally good moods (it seldom happens in our presence — save for Brinlee since people love that guy more than “American Idol”).

Whatever the reason for the good natured month, we are happy we had the chance to be a part of everything. Luckily, we didn’t have to make our livings this month shooting boxes of corn flakes or other such corn-based products like starch or syrup.

Thanks for looking.

-WTE Photo Staff