Dean Humphrey
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Arriving early for a high school swim meet, Dean Humphrey decided to spend a few minutes photographing the divers warming up. It was an indoor meet and he couldn't use a flash.

"I thought it was going to be very difficult to stop that action," Humphrey recalled. "But I decided to risk it. In situations like that, you get something you know you can use, and then you take the risky shot."

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From the opposite end of the pool and using a long lens, Humphrey caught a diver tucked and rotating in the air. The frame also captured other swimmers standing nearby and talking, indifferent to the dive.

When he returned to the office and examined his film, he was surprised to see that the shot had turned out well. He also was sure it was the one he wanted the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel to publish.

His first step, however, was to deliver a printout to one of the subjects in the shot to be sure it was all right with her to be pictured from the back. She agreed.

"You have to be careful with kids," Humphrey said. "We have a higher responsibility with kids in a public setting to make sure we don't take advantage of them."

Humphrey is a native of Montrose, Colo., and graduated from Colorado Mountain College with a degree in commercial photography. He earned a teaching certificate from Mesa State College and has been a photojournalist for 10 years.

One of his two daughters recently created a photo essay and accompanying story for the Daily Sentinel about her study abroad for a month in Mexico. Humphrey lives in Grand Junction with his dog, Baruki.