MOMENTS 2006

Tiffany Brown

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006 | 7:05 a.m.

Tiffany Brown

With only so much room to run photos in each day's edition of the newspaper, there are inevitably pictures that we are fond of that are not published.

Instead of looking back at my best pictures that ran this year, I'd like to show you a few of my best that didn't. These are outtakes from assignments - space was limited, the picture didn't speak to the story as well as another photo or it was simply a picture I saw and made for myself that never had a place, until now.

I missed this picture of the Miss Rodeo America Pageant in early edits and didn't find it until weeks later. The lighting mixed with the wallpaper of the Orleans ballroom and the combination of the two girls' contrasting expressions made this my favorite photo from the assignment.

Mr. Olympia was my first bodybuilding contest, and it was fascinating how the men and women used their movements to activate particular muscles. I wanted to capture that precise movement.

Much of what we do as photojournalists is paying attention to the quieter details of a situation and looking beyond the center of attention to make pictures that tell more about the scene than the obvious. That's what I tried to capture on the federal officials' boat tour of Lake Mead.

I made more than 4,000 pictures at the Stardust, photographing both employees and patrons of the 48-year-old casino during its final week. The shot of the poker dealer collapsing was the most powerful moment I was privileged to witness. The story just wasn't complete without the story of the people who spent chapters of their lives there and will be changed by its absence in their lives. I also wanted to make a photo that spoke to the ushering away of what many people say was the last great Strip casino of Las Vegas' early days.

The photo of the iconic Vegas showgirl is obscure and flashy. It is not a quick "read" for the viewer, but it has become one of my favorites.