Gazette visuals reFocus blog returns

The Gazette visuals staff is thrilled to be re-launching our blog: reFocus. The blog has been dormant since it fell victim to a website redesign phase that began in 2014, but the web development team has given it a new home, along with all Gazette photo slideshows at TheGazette.com/photos-videos.

reFocus allows the visuals department a direct way to engage with readers by publishing photos that wouldn't necessarily be seen elsewhere on the Gazette's website and share the stories behind specific photos and videos from the visual perspective. 

The blog is a space where we can share and discuss outtakes from assignments, give a 'behind the lens' look at the news and sports we cover throughout Eastern Iowa and beyond, as well as compile weekly slideshows of the most compelling images taken by our visuals team.

But that's enough explaining, I'll kickoff the revival of reFocus by sharing the backstory of the photo I chose for this post, of the sun rising over downtown Cedar Rapids in April. This is the prettiest photo of the city I've taken this year and one I felt was fitting to pair with the blog's renaissance.

I took this photo on a Wednesday in late April, after having already shot two assignments before 6 a.m., a very rare occurrence in this job. My abnormally early start to the day had left me in great need of coffee, so I made a stop in downtown Cedar Rapids around 7 a.m. as I had some time before my next assignment. As I drove across the river with my coffee I noticed the blossoms lining the edge of May's Island, parked the car again, and wandered the shoreline, finding a spot where the sun, the blossoms, and the buildings all aligned nicely. I then put my coffee down and took some photos, this one being my favorite.

So that's one story behind a photo, check back for more posts like this, and other visual-themed posts from our team's adventures in photojournalism.