Local Photographer Honored Statewide

An earlier issue of the States- man-Examiner covered the Washington Newspaper Association’s (WNPA) presentation of an award to local reporter Brandon Hansen. This week’s article features photographer Derek Dobell, who won second place for WNPA’s Front Page Design. Dobell has been providing photographs to the local paper for the last one-and-a-half years. “Shannon Chapman (with the Statesman-Examiner) called me up one day after she’d seen photos I’d taken for Winterfest in Chewelah and asked if I would share them with the paper,” said Dobell. “After that, I came on as an independent contractor. I take pictures for whatever events they call me for parades, fairs, rodeos, baseball/football/wrestling. I did the Home and Garden Show.”

Dobell said he got his start watching his dad take pictures and develop them in his dark room. “My dad used film until the day he died. As a kid, I’d go for long walks and take pictures. I took photography in high school and worked on the yearbook. I stopped taking photos for a while when I served in Afghanistan. After that, photography became something I did for my own mental health.”

Dobell has been a contracted employee with the Sturgis Buffalo Chip Campground for the past six years, documenting the annual Harley Davidson Rally and its motorcycles, events, and concerts. A Harley-Davidson rider himself, Dobell has photographed bands such as ZZ Top, Megadeth, and Kid Rock at the Sturgis Buffalo Chip venue. “All I had to do to get the job was apply,” Dobell said. “They asked to see my portfolio, and they hired me. You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.” He added, “My work speaks for itself. I take a photograph, not a snapshot. Photography is different from how it was in the 1980s and 1990s, when people were exposed to 500 images a day. Today, with doom scrolling, people are exposed to 2,500 images in a day. I make every effort to capture the essence, the vibe of what it is I’m photographing.”

Dobell said he met his mentor, Andy McAlpin, on the ice rinks, playing ice hockey together. Soon the conversation turned to photography. “He was shifting from film to digital, so we had something to talk about.” Dobell said McAlpin has given him valuable advice. “McAlpin said something that stuck with me, ‘Look for the photo inside of the picture.’ This applies in life, too, in a lot of different ways.” In addition to award-winning photography, Dobell works full time as an IT Specialist for the Department of Transportation.

“I fix computer systems that break, do upgrades and updates.” He spends a lot of time in his workshop making planter boxes and is also a medic and observer-trainer in the U.S. Army Reserves. Dobell’s advice to aspiring photographers is to get off auto and use the manual function on the camera. “Get out there and take pictures. And read books. You’ll get better.”