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What’s hot? | Scene Through the Lens

Keeping cool

July 22, 2024: Some people dance with wolves, but Jere Neal is walking with birds, on the quarter-mile track along the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. Neal did 10 laps (2-1/2 miles) in the mid-afternoon heat. He aims to exercise two or three times a week, year round
July 22, 2024: Some people dance with wolves, but Jere Neal is walking with birds, on the quarter-mile track along the Cooper River in Pennsauken, N.J. Neal did 10 laps (2-1/2 miles) in the mid-afternoon heat. He aims to exercise two or three times a week, year roundRead moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

I rediscovered three things this past week while “covering” the heat wave by shooting “standalone weather art.”

The first is that you can make good pictures of hot people - or of them trying to stay cool - without going to the city’s many fire hydrants or fountains.

The second thing is that I enjoy every opportunity to meet and interact with people in our community. Almost as much as I like making and sharing pictures.

The third thing? I am reminded to always look back and review my own work to avoid falling into repeating myself.

The inclination to keep doing the things we know work prevents us from trying something different. So I will be avoiding composing “rule of thirds” photos with people sitting under trees. At least until it’s time to cover a snow storm.

Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: