Photographer: Scott McClurg

Camera: Nikon D1X

Kansas University students from back left, Nathan McGinnis, Overland Park freshman; Kyle Gorynski, Topeka freshman; and Mike Irvine, Chicago freshman, sled down Campanile hill.

Lens: 17-35 mm shot at 17mm

ISO: 800

Aperture: 2.8

Shutter speed: 1/30th

When storms hit and most people head inside, a Journal-World photographer is likely to be walking around downtown or on campus, trying to find a picture to tell the story of the storm.

Tuesday’s storm brought a mix of cold temperatures, high winds, ice and snow. Once the nasty stuff started to hit town, I headed out to try to find people braving the elements. I also had to shoot for a fixed shape (vertical) because the brunt of the storm was hitting so late and the front page was pretty much already designed.

I noticed students walking along Memorial Drive near the Campanile. I asked if they were going sledding and then followed them to their hill.

Ideally, I would have shot this as a horizontal, lying down in the snow, but I had a shape to fill, so I continued shooting until I got this frame on the group’s final run down the hill.

I used a slow shutter speed and high ISO to keep enough light on the Campanile in the back of the frame and then used an off-camera flash to light the sledders. The flash froze the action, so the sledders weren’t blurred by motion.

Tuesday’s was the worst snowstorm in which I’d ever had to shoot. The snow was blowing around and coating the viewfinder so much that I could barely see through the camera. I actually had more out-of-focus frames than sharp ones, but only one good one is necessary for the next day’s paper.

“Behind the Lens” is an ongoing weekly series that features an image selected by the Journal-World photo staff that previously ran in the newspaper or online. Wondering how a certain picture was created? Nominate it for “Behind the Lens” by contacting chief photographer Mike Yoder at 832-7141 or myoder@ljworld.com.