‘Unflagging commitment to safety’

This was a challenging subject to photograph because it can be difficult to get an interesting picture of someone using a crosswalk. But I was determined to take as creative a photograph as possible.

I positioned myself by one of the poles where the flags were placed and waited. Just as I was about to photograph one student crossing, I pressed the shutter and my battery died. No photograph.

I rifled through my bag to find some fresh batteries and pop them into my camera. Just in time too -- the three students in the picture above had just grabbed the flags and were crossing the street. I framed them with the flags on the pole to give the photo an additional perspective.

-- Douglas Zimmerman

20060129its214ncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Newport Harbor High School students Chris Womble, right, Buck Evans and Brittany Klehm use brightly colored flags while crossing 15th Street near the school Monday. The flags are part of an effort to make the crosswalk safer.