Mo.Pho.Jou

End of 2011; New Endeavors in 2012

2012-01-11T05:56:00.001-05:00

A new year in a new place. After more than two years in Vero Beach, Fla. serving as the Director of Photography and lead shooter for the Vero Beach 32963 newsweekly the time has come for me to branch out into new adventures. As tough as it is to leave behind my coworkers, friends and the sunshiny beaches of Florida, I've packed my bags and moved to Baltimore, Md. in search of new opportunities. Here's one more gallery of images from Vero 2011 that have yet to be featured on the blog this year. 2011 was a diverse year in Vero. There was a wealth of strong portrait subjects and colorful arts festivals and fairs (image 8 is from the Spring Under the Oaks art fest - the woman is standing in front of a painting of people looking at art in a gallery) and also a couple of storms. The island was also faced with unexpected tragedy. Here's one last batch of images from 2011 in Vero Beach.

Rotate, Add Text

2011-11-22T03:28:00.001-05:00

Every week for the Vero Beach 32963 newspaper I shoot for Arts, People, Health and Real Estate sections in addition to the bevy of news stories at the front of the paper. Each of those sections gets it's own magazine-style cover that runs as a full-page, vertical photo. At every assignment I shoot I've always got it in the back of my mind to make sure that I get a "cover" shot to run. It's got to be something that will look good and sharp at 12 x 15 inches (which is a pretty big photo) with room to fit text. Shooting a vertical real estate photo every week poses unique issues (I've always got my fingers crossed for high ceilings) and sometimes the health story for the week really doesn't lend itself to obvious art, but that hole is always there to fill. The upside is that I get lots of practice turning my camera on its side. Here are some of the "covers" from the last few months. Some of the photos may look familiar. If anybody has been paying really close attention to the blog (ha) and ever thought "it's odd that he seems to shoot so many vertical real estate photos" well, here is the reason.

Haunted Children's Theatre

2011-10-26T01:31:00.002-04:00

Last year at about this time I decided to put together something special for the Halloween issue of the paper. The Riverside Children's Theatre here in Vero puts on a haunted house every year and I arranged to get inside access to the whole process from the try outs and construction at the beginning straight through to opening weekend. It was a lot of fun and I came away with a ton of photos and audio. In addition to a nice spread in the paper, I put together this audio slideshow, which ran on http://www.veronews.com/. For some reason I never posted it on the blog. So, I figure that now is as good a time as any to revisit the haunting. (Also, this blog should now be compatible with all of your iDroidpad devices. Exciting developments.)

Some More Summer

2011-09-14T00:56:00.004-04:00

Nothing says summer like Fourth of July sparklers and fireworks. This summer I also shot a fishing event with lots of children gathering to catch tons of (mostly small) fish. Of course, sprinkled throughout were the regular selection of local artists, a group of late night turtle watchers, a few different golf tournaments and a mad scientists event at the Vero Beach Book Center. The last slide here is a composite image I made to illustrate the shortcomings of an attempt to regulate an intersection in town. This shot is made up of all 15 vehicles that, in a 30-minute period, ignored the new "no left turn" sign and decided to turn left anyway. I lucked out that one car happened to have a dog sitting up in the front seat.

Two Years in Vero Beach

2011-09-05T23:35:00.000-04:00

This month marks two years since I moved to Vero Beach and began shooting for the Vero Beach 32963 newspaper and it's sister site VeroNews.com. This slideshow starts out with a photo that turned out to be very expensive. Beach goers are trying to help a beached pygmy sperm whale while I'm behind the lens successfully ruining my camera (with help from an unexpected wave). This set of photos is just a sampling of what I've shot over the last month. The slideshow ends with some photos from Hurricane Irene's offshore passage at the end of August, which made for some great, nasty surf for a few days. I've got a pretty serious backlog of photos so hopefully I'll post again soon.

Summertime Already?

2011-06-16T00:11:00.006-04:00

I disappeared for a bit there. It's summer now. The sun is high, the surf is mostly flat (hurricane season is on its way), and the snow birds have all flown back north. Here's a little sample of what's been going on in Vero over the last couple of weeks. A roller blading banker, retirement community activities, high school graduations and a literary, rock collector; things keep chugging along here on the Treasure Coast.

More Vero Springtime shots

2011-03-17T01:38:00.005-04:00

This post's got a little bit of everything: reptiles, a school musical, real estate photos, food shots, at least one dog, art galleries, a mascot boot camp at the Vero Beach Sports Village (formerly Dodgertown), and I threw in shot of the Cardinals' Albert Pujols, not because it's the greatest baseball shot ever, but because it's spring training time down here in Florida and the post just wouldn't be complete with out it. <<< just one sentence.

Season Happens

2011-03-09T23:58:00.002-05:00

The sun is out, the days are warmer, and the beaches are filling back up. Spring draws near and I'm staying busy here in Vero Beach. Below are a bunch of photos from the last few months. Beach shots, food, sports, a car show, a sport clay shoot. The last two photos show the crowds that came out to the beach to try to catch a glimpse of the space shuttle Discovery's last lift-off. We love the shuttle around here. Unfortunately, there were some hazy clouds in the sky so the launch wasn't visible. It was still a nice day to be at the beach, though.

Flocks of Snowbirds

2010-12-24T18:08:00.004-05:00

The year is coming to a close and the snowbirds have begun to migrate back to Vero to participate in the boat parades, Dr. Seuss Gardens, Tennis Tourney's and whatever else arises with the return of the SoFla busy season. In addition to the aforementioned events, this past month I've shot the regular bevy of artists, restaurant dishes, fitness groups, real estate layouts, and what looks like a painkiller advertisement (actually a full-page photo for the cover of our health section). Vero also held the 5th annual Mardy's Tennis and Jake's Music Fest which features homegrown celebs Mardy Fish and Jake Owen as they put on a fundraising tennis exhibition and country music show. It's one of the biggest events of the year around here, so it was kind of neat to shoot it for the second year in a row. A bit of good news: I've been named Director of Photography at Vero Beach Media. I'll still be doing the shooting for the Vero Beach 32963 paper, but I will now also be overseeing the visual side of our new northern Palm Beaches paper the Palm2Jupiter. So, 2011 should be a busy one. Happy New Year all.

Wedding News

2010-12-03T00:58:00.014-05:00

I recently had the opportunity to shoot a wedding as part of a story for the paper. The couple, David Helseth and Maria Colontrelle, met through their jobs at Publix. After dating for two-and-a-half years, the two were married at St. Helen Catholic Church in front of their families, their Publix co-workers, and their friends from the Sun Up Center, where David, Maria and others in town with developmental delays go to meet their challenges head on. I even scored a little photo page to run alongside writer Michelle Genz's piece, which you can read here: Everything you dream of for your kids.

I spent a little bit of time with David and Maria in the days leading up to the wedding, but when I went to make the final photo selection I found that the images from the ceremony and reception, with Maria and David joined hand-in-hand throughout, told the story.

Mr. Mycelium and the Mushrooms

2010-11-30T01:23:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, local mushroom cultivator Michael Johnson allowed into his backyard grow shed to take some photos as he prepared and harvested his crop of Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms. It was a great way to kick off the work week cycle, hanging out amongst the shelves of Shiitakes on a sunny, comfortable Wednesday morning. Johnson hopes to make regular customers for his mushrooms of some of the local chefs in and around Vero Beach. I have to admit, I like the idea of eating fresh mushrooms from right up the road rather than re-hydrated Shiitakes trucked in from who knows where (though I'm probably not enough of a mushroom connoisseur to actually discern a difference in quality). Interesting note: the mushroom grow shed doesn't smell moldy or rotten like one might expect. Rather, the scent was reminiscent of wood shavings on a foggy morning mingled with what, to me, smelled like the insides of a freshly carved jack-o'-lantern.

Morning on the Ranch

2010-11-24T01:36:00.005-05:00

The other day I woke up early to go spend the morning on a ranch west of town with local artist/poet/rancher Sean Sexton. It was a nice change of pace.

Too many dogs in my portraits?

2010-09-21T01:14:00.003-04:00

Looking through the last year's worth of blog posts, I see that I did really poor job of updating (considering that I shot thousands of photos last year and only made 16 sporadic blog posts). Here's another random sampling from the last couple of months. I notice that people's dogs tend to make it into the shot when I'm doing portraits. I don't force it, I swear. The dogs just place themselves in the scene and I can't resist it. I've also got some baseball, scientists scanning the beach for dead birds, Raku pottery, a water lily, children watching Toy Story III, three shots from the 4th of July, a chef portrait, gastric bypass surgery, a librarian putting away books in the new library ahead of the start of school, and a scene from an opera.

One Year in Vero Beach

2010-09-10T02:44:00.002-04:00

I started my staff photo job in Vero Beach on Sept. 1, 2009. On that day I was sent out to find a few feature shots and cover a fire that didn't amount to much. My main responsibility here is shooting for the Vero Beach 32963 weekly newspaper. However, I also shoot a lot for the online sister site Veronews.com. The Website has a little slideshow on the front page that is sized to a 360-pixel square. I don't usually shoot square photos so shooting for the site front was (and sometimes still is) a bit of a hurdle for me. I thought it might be fun to post a slideshow gallery of every photo that went on the 360px front from the last year. After weeding out a few super uninteresting sign photos and building mugs (not all of them) I've got 295 photos. You might notice some of the recurring news was: Vero Beach Electric Debate, Ira Hatch Trial, features of fishing, Friday night high school football and the beach sand replenishment project. I spent way too much time on this slideshow but there are a few keepers in there. So, if you've got the time, try cycling through the whole gallery. I even threw in some short captions to explain most of the shots. Here's to one year in Vero.

I thought the Soundslides looked kind of cool with all of these photos.

Football, Horses, Crabs, CT Scans, Bike Rides and an Artist

2010-07-22T09:41:00.005-04:00

Things are slow in Vero this time of year but I'm still keeping busy. This medley of images starts with a couple of shots from St. Edward's School's summer football practice. Up next is a little photo package of equestrian Chandler MacWilliam and her horse, Chip. There was only room for one shot in the paper so the random out-of-focus, oddly composed horse, detail shots didn't have a place to run. I went feature hunting in Sebastian a little while back and came across Jeff Skok and his chocolate lab, Bosco, checking their crab traps in the Indian River Lagoon. Last issue's health story dealt with radiation and CT scans so I managed to get access to doctors actually scanning patients and reviewing scans. For a different, profile-style story, I tagged along with Dr. Stephen Tate as he and his family went for their regular evening outting. And lastly, for the Arts section front (think of it like a magazine cover...maybe I'll do a post soon with some pdfs to better illustrate what I mean) I photographed artist Patty Vaughn working on watercolor paintings in her home.

Christmas and the New Year in Spain

2010-07-14T01:47:00.008-04:00

This year for Christmas I got to make a trip to Spain to visit my little sister (who was finishing up a semester abroad) and celebrate the year's end with my family. We drank wine, ate tapas, experienced Gaudi, and my sister and I celebrated the New Year in Puerta del Sol with a fireworks display amongst new friends. It was a blast. During the trip I grabbed a shot here and there but my camera also snapped about a hundred photos of my feet all on its own. Apparently, the way I wore the camera under my coat (to protect it from the rain, etc.) caused it to take a photo with every other step of my right foot. I decided to play around with it and make this little audio slideshow of my journey through Barcelona and Madrid.

Spring in Washington D.C.

2010-06-27T17:52:00.005-04:00

A couple of months ago I visited my Humble Grape sippin' friend in Washington D.C. where we wined, dined, danced and also did a little sightseeing. It was great to get a break and just shoot somewhere new with no pressure. A lot of shoot-from-the-hip, no worries style photos came from the weekend. Here are a few them. Also, I'm trying out slideshows on the blog, in keeping with the website update I completed not too long ago. http://tommccarthyjr.com .

Run for the Sun

2010-06-03T20:55:00.004-04:00

I just ate it so hard running to the beach to photograph a sunset. Since it is summer in Florida it rains every afternoon (usually starting around 3 p.m.), which can be a hassle if you need sunny skies for that portrait or building mug you've got planned. However, it also can make for some pretty nice light late in the day. This evening I noticed that the conditions were perfect for a sunset rainbow over the ocean (the last time I bolted out of the office for this shot I got all the way to the sand before I realized I'd left my memory card in the computer). Alas, no rainbow tonight (at least not much of one), but a beautiful sky did materialize in the final moments of daylight. I was already in the process of updating the phlog when I made my mad dash for the beach, so I'll just tack the shot onto the end of this post.

I was combing through my files looking for any overlooked gems for an upcoming portfolio submission (hint: the deadline was extended) when I came across a few shots that never made it into print for whatever reason. The first shot here is from a sunrise on Easter (I was there shooting the beachside "Sonrise Service"). Up next is a shot I got while riding along with the St. Edward's School's crew coach as the sun set on the Indian River Lagoon. Third is artist Sharon Sexton working on a new piece on the back porch of her ranch home in west Vero. Fourth is just a simple window light portrait of R.G. "Ace" Cappelen. I miss my cheapo 50mm f1.8. Up next is some of that sunset light during the half-time team warm-up at a St. Edward's football game. Nearing the end is a shot of a kid jumping off some brand new playground equipment at the newly renovated Humiston Park. And lastly, the sun sets on the Vero Beach Pier.

Well into Spring

2010-05-27T22:52:00.003-04:00

The photos have started to pile up again over the last couple of months. Included here are shots from art festivals and galleries, fishing tournaments and aquariums, sports action, sportrait and sports feature, a dog show, a cancer walk, heavy machinery on the beach and another addition to my never-ending quest to shoot the perfect face painting photo. The last photo is of the Vero Beach High School Girls Lacrosse team, who pretty much beats every opponent to a pulp with unwavering consistency. In the game pictured here, the entire starting line-up sits on the sidelines eating grapes after gaining a double-digit lead in less than a third of the first half of play (that sounds like a fourth grade math problem). Also, I've redesigned my website (AP style) and updated my portfolio. The edit is a little loose right now so feel free to check it out and send any suggestions my way via electronic mail.
www.tommccarthyjr.com

Dining Page

2010-04-26T23:57:00.002-04:00

More food photos from the weekly dining review page. Since the last food posting I've messed around a little more with composition and made more use of the setting in some of the shots. I've been told that we've covered almost every restaurant in Vero at this point so I've photographed quite a few plates in the last few months.

OK, Look Right In Here.

2010-04-23T21:45:00.004-04:00

I shoot a lot of portraits. Half of my time is spent trying to keep from shooting posed photos. I'm a big fan of photographing people doing things. When I get an assignment to shoot a portrait I always try first to figure out if the subject has any upcoming plans to do something relevant to the story that I can just show up to and actually document. Upon arriving I often hear "What do you want me to do?" To which I respond, "Just pretend I'm not here. Do whatever you would be doing if I weren't here. I'll do the rest. That's what I do." Sometimes it works. Sometimes I'm left with no choice but to do a standard portrait. Honestly, neither situation is easier than the other to shoot anyways. Here is a small selection of portraits from the last few months. I've been wanting to post some of these for awhile now but haven't been able to force myself to decide which ones to show. Here's just a random handful to get something of my portrait shooting up on the photo blog. There are so many more. Maybe they'll make it into a future post.

Birds and a Bug

2010-04-02T00:19:00.002-04:00

No people in this post. Just some birds on an old abandoned dock in Sebastian, Fla., a couple of shots of birds on power lines on an overcast day, and a white bug I found camouflaging itself on a white door frame. The third photo reminds me of musical notation.

House Fire Dog Rescue

2010-03-25T18:24:00.002-04:00

I've shot a few pet rescue photos (it's been awhile since my last, though) and today's house fire provided yet another opportunity to photograph a fire fighter carrying the family pet out of a smoldering building (today's house wasn't as smoldery as some have been). I also hung around and got a couple of shots of the dog (named "Q") getting oxygen in the back of the ambulance and a shot of Q being reunited with one of its owners (four-year-old Ceterria).

Vero Beach in Season

2010-03-17T16:22:00.007-04:00

The "season" here in Vero is in full swing which means lots of events and society parties to shoot. So, here's another random sampling of my coverage from the last few weeks.

I shot some more polo last month for an article that partially focused on the family aspect of some of the local teams. The second shot here is from an exhibition match where John Walsh squared off against his son, Hayden, for a few chukkers.

I got back in the kitchen for all of the excitement as chefs competing in the Vero's Top Chef fundraiser plated 160 dishes each for waiting diners and judges.

The Environmental Learning Center held its 14th Annual ECOfest, which brought people out in droves and gave me the opportunity to photograph happy children scooping up lake scum and holding large reptiles.

Out on the barrier island here you've got the beach on one side and the river on the other. It's only natural that I take a few shots of each on the reg.

I photographed local goldsmith Gary Dulac and, in an attempt to show his jewelry and him working at the same time, I shot one from the other side of the display case instead of up in his face. That one didn't make the cut but this macro shot of him applying his "scratch finish" to some 14k gold earrings made it into print.

The Vero Man Fossil went on display for a short time at the Vero Beach Museum or Art and drew people from all around the area for a glimpse at the piece of ancient art.

The Community Church in Vero began installation of their new Lively Fulcher pipe organ.

I like photos with space even if it's just a shot of a fellow dusting off a light fixture on the ceiling.

Asian antiques and their dealer

This last shot ran as a full page vertical on the front of our Health section. The patient is undergoing Conductive Keratoplasty to improve his near vision, not being tortured.

Bonus element: framing?

2010-03-05T00:14:00.005-05:00

I actually had my external hard drive hooked up to my computer the other day so I randomly selected a few photos that I like from the last couple of months to make a blog post. Now that I'm looking at them I see that there are unintentional similarities between the bulk of them and that, apparently, I've been doing a lot of framing lately. I guess I'll need to start using a new bonus element this month...maybe a pan blur on every assignment? I'd say about half off these made it into the paper (which is not to say that they ran with any great size or uncropped) and the others didn't for whatever reason. Below you have the Bass and Birdies charity fishing/golf tournament; a trio of dishes from Tangos II here in Vero (that fish is a sculpture on the wall reflecting off of the bar); a whole roast suckling pig at Vero's charity Top Chef qualifiers; a Pilates class; set production for Riverside Theatre's big production of "42nd Street"; a shot from the Vero Beach Museum of Art featuring a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of a watermelon; a neat little scene I stumbled upon walking along the highway the day after the Superball; a silhouetted Argentine horse at Windsor's Equestrian Park; and the last two are portraits of a fellow who is currently living and working aboard his sailboat at the Vero marina (I went with the first one for print but I liked the second shot as well). Thanks for looking.

Long Week

2010-02-23T19:22:00.002-05:00

The other week I shot 18 assignments in 3 days for the paper here. It was a very hectic schedule that didn't allow for spending the kind of time that I generally like to have with each situation but there wasn't really an option. In rushing from place to place I made a bunch of portraits for Valentines Day, covered some society events, shot the food page, visited the annual Garden Fest, shot the artist profile, photographed an Elvis impersonator, and managed to score a good vantage point for the last scheduled nighttime space shuttle launch. Here's a sampling of what came out of all that running around.

Explosion and a Fire at My House, My House

2010-01-18T22:52:00.003-05:00

A few days ago half of my apartment complex literally blew up. I was sitting in my living room when an explosion rocked me out of my chair. The neighbors across from me were trying to light their gas stove and something went very wrong. The explosion blew off an entire section of the building's roof. When I opened my door and saw the rubble and quickly growing fire I ducked back inside, grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911. Then I put on some jeans and shoes, grabbed my cameras and abandoned my apartment. After some initial shock I started shooting. I've shot quite a few fires, but the experience is very different when you are apart of it instead of just a bystander documenting the situation. Somehow my building didn't catch on fire and all of my belongings are ok (as am I) but others weren't as fortunate. I have had to move out of my apartment now since the gas, water and electric are all shut off and most of the complex is now condemned. I've been meaning to get back on task with the blog. I guess that this will do for the first post of the new year.

There are a few additionaly photos to view in a gallery at Veronews.com

Food

2009-12-01T21:45:00.002-05:00

Between all of the society events and the paper's dining review page I've been shooting food pretty regularly these last few months. I enjoy shooting food. I think people like to look at photos of food (as long as the photos make the food look appetizing). So, here are a few of my recent food shots. In order: Sea Scallops, Belinis, Salad, Sea Scallops, Alphabet Pasta, Ceviche, Truffles, and Honey.

Villin Cycle Works, Inc.

2009-10-22T00:25:00.003-04:00

I figure that before I start posting my current work I should take care of some of the backlogged images on my hard drive. Around the end of the summer I did some work for Villin Cycle Works, Inc. back in Gainesville, Fla. The guys at Villin go to great pains to craft custom, handmade bicycles from raw materials. The amount of precision and detail that go into these bikes can mean over 80 hours of labor per bike. I tried to spend a good number of those hours hanging out at the shop shooting the welding, painting and filing. These images are a selection of the images that I handed over to Villin for their Web site. The photos are all cropped to fit into a stretched horizontal slot on the site. I shot a good number of images for myself while I was at the shop, but I haven't had a chance to work through those yet. So, here are some of my favorite super horizontals. There are a few more shots on the Villin site at: www.villincycleworks.com.

Beach Life

2009-10-15T14:39:00.004-04:00

Since my last post I've started a new job and moved a little further to the south east. I'm now a staff shooter for Vero Beach 32963 and it's sister publication Veronews.com. The new job has kept me very busy, but that also means that I've been shooting a lot of photos. I'm going to start posting again now that I've begun to settle in here in Vero Beach. For now, I'll just put up this one shot from the other morning. After waking up to shoot an assignment at 5:45 a.m. (before sunrise) I decided to make use of my situation (being awake too early). Since I live across the street from the beach I wandered down to the water's edge with my camera where I stumbled across this guy. Nothing like some sunrise fishing. More to come soon.

The Alcove

2009-06-12T11:32:00.004-04:00

Lately, I've been doing some work around town for local businesses. Here are a few from a recent shoot I did for Alcove.

Rainy Weather Spot News

2009-05-22T01:29:00.003-04:00

It has been raining for about a week straight now here in Florida. Yesterday, I was downtown watching the UEFA Cup Final at the Alcove after work when I heard someone say there was a man lying in the middle of Main Street (in the rain). Well you know: have camera; will shoot. So, I walked over and took a some shots while the man (who had just been hit by an SUV while trying to dash across the street against the light) just lay in the middle of the street waiting for the ambulance to arrive and take him to the hospital. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries (as you can see in the first shot he busted his head open). The second shot here is of the man being tended to by paramedics while the woman who was driving the SUV gives her account of the accident to one of the officers at the scene. I haven't shot much spot news in a while. The Sun picked up the first photo below for today's paper. It was an unexpected end to my Wednesday.

Gator Stompin': a big pub crawl

2009-05-10T15:44:00.002-04:00

Lately, I've been shooting more for The Gainesville Sun, which is nice since it means I'm actually getting published again. The other weekend I photographed Gator Stompin'. It's billed as the "world's largest pub and restaurant crawl." I started at the beginning and worked my way all the way to the end with all of the Stompers. There was a noticeable change in many of the participants as the night wore on. The event also gave me the opportunity to check out some of the bars and clubs in Gainesville to which I've never been (and a few to which I don't plan on returning). The paper ran some of these as a photo package and also put a gallery up on their SITE.

Below are photos of people getting their Gator Stompin' shirts checked off as they visit each establishment on the list, catching a bike taxi ride at the end of the route, waiting in line in front of one of venues, playing a Captain Morgan's miniature bean bag toss game, and lastly a fellow taking a breathalyzer test at the end of the night.

Lib Arts Graduation

2009-05-04T18:59:00.003-04:00

This weekend The Gainesville Sun had me shoot the undergraduate commencement ceremony for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Florida. The ceremony was at the O-Dome (where the Gator basketball team plays). Aside from the dome's abysmal lighting, it was an enjoyable assignment. After the ceremony ended, I went outside to get some shots of the recent grads celebrating and taking pictures. A lot of people went across the street to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and were taking photos down on the field. I managed to get a couple I like from there to add to the take (nothing like taking photos of people taking photos). Here are a few shots. You can see more at The Sun's online gallery HERE.

More Polo

2009-03-31T18:28:00.004-04:00

Here are a few more from my self-assigned polo excursion in Ocala on Saturday. This time I included a couple of shots from the actual match (not incredible frames, but necessary to have if one's shooting polo). I'm thinking I might need to get my hands on a 400mm and go back out and see what I get (polo fields are wicked long). The last shot is the hood ornament on the McNamara's old pick-up truck. I think it's pretty cool.

Sunset statuette; 5

2009-03-31T18:25:00.002-04:00

A sliver of sunset lights a statuette yesterday. I like that there is the deep orange/yellow light from the sunset on the statuette, but in the background you can see the deeper blue light in the shadowy backyard.

Yellow, Droplets; 3

2009-03-30T16:39:00.003-04:00

From Friday night: a rain-covered motorcycle windshield and my buddy Evan tending his newly opened beer and wine bar, Alcove, on South Main Street in Gainesville.

Ocala Polo; 4

2009-03-30T02:08:00.006-04:00

On Saturday I went down to Ocala and photographed Patrick McNamara from 123Tack.com play in a polo match. I'd never even watched polo before, so shooting a match was pretty fun. I didn't really have the lens power to capture the major on-field action, but I enjoyed shooting all the preparation that goes into the sport. Here's a small sample of what I got. I'll be posting more soon.

Sunrise, sunset; 1,2

2009-03-26T18:10:00.002-04:00

A leafy thing on the back porch at sunrise a few months ago paired with a shot from last night right after the sun set. Then, the sky as the sun came up this morning. I'll be putting up a few more like this soon probably.

Catching Up

2009-03-03T15:55:00.003-05:00

I had some free time today so I decided to start sifting through all the photos from the last few months that I've been neglecting. These four are from a trip I made up to the North East at Christmas. I guess I'll just post as I edit.

BBQ Video

2009-02-22T19:48:00.002-05:00

I self assigned myself to shoot some video this weekend at the Sante Fe College Boots 'n BBQ Contest in Starke, Fla. So, I borrowed my housemate's Casio Exilim 6-megapixel point and shoot camera and went to town. The camera has some image quality issues (streaky pink lines if any light is reflected towards the lens, etc.) and the on board microphone didn't offer a lot of versatility, but it was enough for me to get some practice shooting moving pictures. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Quick Post

2009-02-04T15:03:00.003-05:00

So, despite my last post I still haven't been doing too good a job of updating this Phlog. Hopefully, this quick, two-photo post will kick start my drive to keep the interwebs up to date on my photo happenings. Below are two shots of my grandmother and her four daughters (one of which is my mom) at the end of a get together at the beach in Jacksonville, Fla. last month. Naturally, I've fallen into the role of family photographer, so before they headed back to their respective home states we did a quick portrait session out on the balcony. They also all got bracelets that say sister (for the sisters) and mother (for Grandma), which I thought was worth trying to get a shot of before they rushed off to the airport. A lovelier group of ladies you'll never find.

New Year's Return to Phlogging

2009-01-07T16:39:00.003-05:00

Sadly, I let the photo blog fall into a state of disuse as the year 2008 came to a close. So, fittingly, here are some New Year's Eve photos to kick of a new year of phlog posts. They are noisy, colorful and mostly shot with either available light or with my hand positioned in front of the on camera flash (which makes for a neat effect I think). Feliz Ano Neuvo.

Digital Polaroids

2008-07-18T18:25:00.002-04:00

After finishing up my internship at the Journal Star in Peoria, Ill. I went on tour with the band Handbook for Boys, playing shows up and down the East Coast for a couple of weeks. While on the road I decided to start making what I'm calling Digital Polaroids. In this, the first/prototype stage, all a DP consists of is a simple life-size polaroid frame that I made out of white foam board. The goal is not to make a photo that looks like a flawless polaroid, but rather to make it obvious that this frame is actually in the shot (leaving in the edges of the photo and showing the hands holding the frame together, etc.). Here are just a few of the ones I've worked up since getting back from the trip. This first one is almost all luck. I was trying to set up a simple photograph of the I <3 N.Y. painted on the side of a building in Brooklyn when this guy biked through the frame. It's an imperfect shot, but in a way that's a part of the whole thing. Next you have band member Charlie Shuck with the NYC skyline in the background. Then there's a quick picture I made (holding the frame myself, tricky) of Charlie and Joe Shuck in Washington D.C. Lastly, is the first DP band photo that we tried. In the background is the shrine to Stonewall Jackson (a.k.a. the house where he died in Virginia). There are a bunch more of these from the road, but so far I haven't sorted through all of them yet. Hopefully, I can refine this process a little more and make something cool out of it. Oh yeah, you can check out the band (plug) at:

www.myspace.com/handbookforboys

Sports Photographer?

2008-06-16T17:41:00.004-04:00

Looking back over my last month at the Journal Star, I realize that I shot a lot of sports. Prior to these last few months sports shots were more or less non-existent in my portfolio and then all of the sudden I've got a whole month's worth. Can't beat that. So here's some baseball and more high school track photos. The first shot is really more of a feature than a sports photo. It's from the first game of Peoria's new vintage baseball team. The guy on the right is scoring the team's first run ever by hopping onto home plate, which was made out of a pile of white flour. The last shot is from my last assignment at the Journal Star on my last day photographing the Louie Louie parade to ring in the summer in Peoria (I kind of missed my own going away party because I stayed after the parade to get this shot). That baby didn't know what to make of this uber-licky dog.

Girls State Track

2008-05-23T00:13:00.002-04:00

Quick update from the Illinois Girls State Track competition last weekend. I'm leaving out the basic running across the finish line shots. Instead are the falling, crying, pole vault, umbrella and praying to track shoes shots.

Fotos de Abril

2008-05-16T03:40:00.002-04:00

My internship here in Peoria is drawing to a close and I've not posted nearly enough photos. As I move from my basement apartment back into my car I feel I should put up some shots before I become too consumed with other tasks. These are just a few shots I took in April that I have close at hand. In order, first is a feature shot of a Mustang League baseball team's first practice of the year that I stumbled upon after driving out to shoot a high school game that was canceled due to cold weather. These guys were tough enough to brave the chilly temperatures, though. Next is a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force watching the Prairie Air Show from out on the wing of his plane. Last month I also spent a rainy Friday evening at and Illinois State Police "Safety Check Point" where there were no major violations or arrests, just lots of people handing over their ID and proof of insurance. Fourth is a shot of some children playing with Peoria's anti-litter garbage can mascot. Second to last is a feature I found of some guys at a RC Car (remote control car, savy?) race track just north of the city. I saw the top of the observation deck through some trees on my way to shoot another assignment and decided to check it out. I'd never seen an RC car track before. Interesting way to spend a Saturday. And finally is a face painting photo, generally reserved for intro to pho jou assignments, I realize that I've never really shot face painting before. So, this fills in that gaping hole in my life experience. I just like that you can see this little girl's brother, who's face is painted like a tiger, staring on has she gets a flower painted on one cheek and a rainbow on the other.

Cat in a Fire

2008-04-29T17:20:00.003-04:00

Sunday started early for me. A couple of lackluster assignments had me ready to go home when the scanner reported a possible fire in a garage on the other side of the river. I ran on it and arrived just when the scanner announced an explosion. Surprisingly, despite the explosion, I wasn't kept back (possible because I arrived right when I did) and was able to shoot the fire with nothing longer than my 80-200mm. There were firefighters in the house when the explosion occurred and they suffered minor injuries but stayed to continue fighting the blaze before going to the hospital with hearing damage. The house's occupants got out safe and two pets were rescued, including this singed and ornery cat, which headed straight back to the house to hide and was picked up again by another firefighter.

The March Madness Experience

2008-04-21T18:55:00.002-04:00

The Illinois high school state basketball finals are held in Peoria every March. This year there was a big exhibit hall at the Civic Center full of basketball related activities. I shot it for the Journal Star's Heartland section (a weekly photo page/section). The conditions were pretty tough. Dim lighting, super high black ceilings, and sports action made my job pretty hard. I really didn't want to have to lug a lighting kit around with me and set it up at each station, but eventually I caved (not soon enough to get all the photos I wanted, though). So, the results are a mix of lit and unlit shots from the different stages of my coverage. These ran awhile ago but I forgot to add to the phlog. Here they are.

Softball Screwup

2008-04-18T03:23:00.002-04:00

So, I went to shoot a high school girls softball game today for some sports page wild art. After shooting the whole game, I noticed that the sign in front of the school I was shooting at said Jr. High on it. After a quick check of the rosters I'd gathered from the two teams I realized that I had somehow shot the sophomore game instead of the varsity game (which took place directly across the street and was apparently over long before I realized my mistake - I checked). Luckily (sort of) there was a night game on the other side of town so I went and shot that. Unluckily, the lights on the third base side were out (not that it would have mattered that much). This is the shot I got of a play at home plate from the daytime game that I accidentally shot (the photo that is in tomorrow's paper will not appear on this phlog). Ugh.

Weather and a Movie

2008-04-05T14:41:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday was a pretty full day here at the Journal Star. A few stories fell through and left us all scrambling to fill in the holes in the Monday paper. Among the things I shot were this weather/kids having fun feature and this photo from the opening of a local indie horror film at a theater downtown. The theater shot is of one of the film's producers who was nervously pacing in the back by all of the projection equipment. Being a movie theater, it was very dark so I had to do a long exposure (2 seconds) but this guy was nervous and kept pacing, becoming just a blur in the images. Luckily, he paused right in a spot of light from a screen and stayed there long enough for me to make this frame (camera braced on the railing and prefocused manually with a prayer). The great green color was an added bonus.

Backyard Ice RInk (one year of phlogging)

2008-04-04T02:57:00.002-04:00

Today is the one-year-anniversary of this phlog. I don't have anything brand new to put up (not on this computer, you see), but I do have these photos from a few visits I made to this family who've been building an ice skating rink in their backyard for the last nine years. The son (a hockey player) is graduating this year and going on to college so this is probably (supposedly) the last year that the dad will be building the rink. Some of these photos are from a day when the high was 10 degrees (colder in a shady backyard) and I forgot my gloves. That was horrible. This is a very loose edit (um, kinda). Forgive me.

I'll Tumble for You

2008-04-01T03:11:00.002-04:00

It's been over a month since the internet went out in my basement apartment here in Peoria, but I finally got it fixed this morning. Hooray. Here's some photos from a while ago of a group of young kids who started a tumbling group. They did a short performance (I mean short) at this Black History Month celebration and I was there to photograph them. The only worthwhile photo I got during the actually performance is the first one here and that is what ran as the centerpiece in the paper the next day. I was more partial to the second shot here, which I took after the performance when the kids were just fooling around and getting some extra practice in with their coach. To be honest, I might just like it better because the sign is fully readable (that's what I do, take pictures of signs). I like the third one just because of that smile. Oh, and I lit this with two dynalights bounced off of the ceiling because it was in an old building with an unlit stage and I'm shooting with D2H's these days. But I think the lighting made a big (helpful) difference.

2008-03-31T12:59:00.001-04:00

I shot this portrait for a story on how students should keep their social networking pages clean because potential employers might see them when the time comes to get a job (y'all know this story, it's been around for a while). When I arrived at the college advisor's office, where supposedly a student would be getting hands on help with cleaning up her page, I discovered (not to my surprise) that it was one of those set-up "so, we're here, what do you want us to do?" sort of situations. So, I said, "Judging by what you just said we are going to be doing a portrait. Let me go grab my light kit from the car." I then proceeded to photograph this young lady, who was suckered into this gig at the last minute on a friday afternoon. She had set up her laptop (the kind with a nice, glossy, reflective screen - ugh) open to her facebook page in a tiny white office littered with random notebooks, papers, old computer monitors, random extension chords and power strips, etc. After a trying to make use of the environment I decided to get rid of the environment instead by using one of my strobes to just completely blow out everything in the room except for the laptop screen and the girl. I put one strobe behind the computer with the output pumped way up and then popped a little light in with a second strobe on an umbrella to light the girl's face and the front of the computer. I think I shot this at a 1/4 of a second (hand held, one should always have a tripod, but alas) to let the screen burn in. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Don't Miss

2008-03-17T22:28:00.002-04:00

I was looking back through old takes the other day (trying to put together a fresh portfolio) and found this over looked shot from the Highland Games in St. Louis. I think it's funny. That Lochness Monster is staring her down. Intimidating.

Pinewood Derby

2008-03-14T01:16:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I shot the local scouts pinewood derby. THe gym actually had some nice light situations, which was a plus since the kids just seemed a little bored with having to wait so long between turns and were relatively unemotional. After shooting for a while I decided to go for a panning shot in an effort to get something a little different for this yearly event (the standard photo being image #2 here, which ran as my secondary). I liked the panning enough to offer it as my local lead photo and the paper went for it. So, that's one cheap trick I can't use again soon I guess. Overall an enjoyable assignment I'd say.

Hands

2008-03-05T22:25:00.003-05:00

Been shooting more basketball here in Illinois as we work our way through regionals/sectionals. I thought this shot was kind of neat and a little different (because of all the hands of course). I wish there were more face, though. Soon start the state games. More posts once my internet starts working properly again, I promise.

>

Remodeled House

2008-02-27T17:37:00.002-05:00

By request, here are a few photos from a house shoot I did. The home had a nice rustic feel and also two cats that wanted to be in every picture. I tried to light these in a way that looked natural, using a slow shutter speed and tripod to let the natural light seep in over the strobes.

A Little Spirit

2008-02-27T01:22:00.004-05:00

I've fallen behind in my phlog updates lately. So, my plan of action to fix this problem is to decrease the number of photos per update in hopes that I will be able to more quickly throw up a larger number of updates. I'm not sure if this is the solution but, in the words of Jimmy Cliff, time will tell. For my first quick and easy post I give you the Illinois State Championship Dance and Cheer Competition at the Peoria Civic Center. The first photo ran as the B1 centerpiece, which I was happy about. The third shot did not make it into the print edition, but through the magic of online galleries it still made it somewhere. Can I get a
G-O
T-E-A-M!

Journal Star

2008-02-12T20:46:00.003-05:00

I'm almost done with my first month here in Peoria. Things got off to a slow start (a little blame goes to the scratch I got on my eyeball from a low hanging tree branch the day before I started at the paper). Here's a sample platter of what I've shot over the last month. First is "Family Fest" at the Peoria Civic Center. The first photo ran as the A1 centerpiece in full color, which was kinda nice. The second photo is of a really cute little girl with a giant balloon hat. Unfortunately, she saw me before I saw her and refused to look at me (or even ignore me, which would have been just as good). Next up, there's the aftermath of a house fire, remodeling at a bike shop, and an Orchids workshop. Last week the temp went from really cold with snow on the ground to almost warm with a little ran, which created really heavy fog that caused a bunch of people to wreck their cars. I also shot the opening night of the musical Ring of Fire. While waiting to get in I took a few slow shutter speed shots and thought this one looked kind of like a painting so I sharpened in PS a little extra to make it more paintingy. Lastly, high school basketball is important to people (including the paper) in these parts. I've never shot basketball before, but, by way of the shear volume of assignments, I think I'm finally getting the hang of it (as a bonus, I've learned how to light the games, too). Also, I changed the html, so now there's room for bigger pictures (!)

A break in Florida

2008-01-30T04:06:00.000-05:00

Since my last post so many weeks ago I have made the move from St. Louis to Peoria where I am now the Spring intern at the Peoria Journal Star. Before moving further north into even colder weather, I took a trip back down to Florida where I visited Camille and the all the Gainesville folks. So, here are some shots from Gainesville (and one from Jacksonville) replete with warm sunset light and fireworks. I tried to make this post last night, but blogspot's desaturation of all the photos (which are actually just links on the page, I guess) was unsatisfactory. I've made a temporary fix for the color problems, but if anyone wants to give me the magic formula for posting larger, correctly toned photos I would welcome the info with open arms (the little messing around with the html that I did wasn't getting me what I wanted).

interim update

2008-01-07T19:54:00.000-05:00

I'm back down in Gainesville right now, soaking up the sun before heading back north to start a spring internship at the Peoria Journal Star. Here are some more shots from the end of my internship in St. Louis.

Ultimate frisbee practice of the SLU woman's club team on a rainy, cold night (temperature in the upper 30s, I think). I was working the evening shift when I got the call that my horizontal photo from a fire needed to be vertical to fit into the page design. So, I decided to stop and shoot this practice. I only shot verticals, and then rushed back to my car to send the shots back before deadline.

The next day I shot some guys playing frisbee golf. The paper didn't go for back-to-back to frisbee sports pictures, but I thought this turned out alright.

Rick Bess, of Jackson, Mo., goes through the process of taking apart a United States Navy T-34 aircraft for inspection at Sabreliner Corporation's facility in Perryville.

Dan Serafin, of Robertsville, works in the shipping and receiving department of Laderle Machine Company in Pacific, Mo. and prepares to weigh a box loaded with plate rolls that is being shipped to Famira, S.A. in Santa Domingo.

After a full day of shopping, Robbie and Lauren Stites of Atlanta relax with Lauren Stites' cousin Elizabeth Lloyd of Eureka while Lloyd's three children played with the other children at Playtown in the Chesterfield Mall. "I've got three kids, four and under, so we had to come here," Lloyd said of the playground in the mall.

Adeline Jenicek, 3, of Ballwin peeks out at Preston Devlin, 4, of Chesterfield, from inside of a fake log in Playtown at Chesterfield Mall.

Lafayette High School sophomore Jessi Holtz switches from the buttterfly stroke to the back stroke on a turn off of the wall during swim team practice.

I took this photo of the swim coach while I was waiting for the two swimmers that I was assigned to cover to return to my end of the pool.

Ashley Grammar, a sophomore at Lafayette High School, glances at the pace clock after finishing a lap at swim team practice.

Jerry Kronable, center, of Fred Weber, Inc. lays down concrete on Tuesday during construction of the new flyover ramp that will connect eastbound I-64 to northbound I-170.

food and chef portraits

2007-12-23T23:27:00.000-05:00

This post is all shots of food for a recurring section in the Post-Dispatch. The assignment is a for a photo of the food and sometimes an additional simple portrait shot of the chef. These were all shot using either window light or my two strobes (one on camera and one off) or possibly a combination of the two. In order, there is a festive Christmas time dessert called tree bark, a low-fat, low-cholesterol bundt cake, a meatloaf meal from a diner in Jerseyville, Ill., a plate of gorgonzola green beans, a serving of red beans and rice from Blueberry Hill, and lastly a bowl of Pozole, which is a Mexican soup served at Christmas. The hardest to shoot, by far, was the meatloaf. The photo of the chef precedes the photo of that chef's respective meal. Feliz Navidad.

Senator Clinton and Soulard Kids

2007-12-21T01:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a much needed update. Today was my last day at the Post-Dispatch and as I was gathering together all the stuff that I shot over the last few months I realized that I have quite a few photos left to post here. Below are some shots from when Senator Clinton made a visit to St. Louis not too long ago. Shots one and four ran in the paper. And I also have some pictures from a story we did about kids at a school in Soulard (south city st. louis) that go with their culinary arts teacher to the farmers market to pick out food to be prepared for the school lunches and then help the teacher prepare the lunch for the school later on. It was an enjoyable assignment. More updates to come soon.

Tanning beds and stuff

2007-12-05T00:16:00.000-05:00

A bunch of mo phos I know spent the weekend in Atlanta. I did not. Oh well. Here's a bunch of photos. Some of these are from a while ago, but I figured I might as well put them up now. The first three are from an assignment at a tanning salon. I wasn't real hopeful since the assignment said the owner would be organizing bottles of product, etc. Luckily, the guy actually went into an upright tanning unit and changed some of the 200 watt bulbs. The side of the stall that the unit was in had a mountain scene painted on it, and I thought it was just really weird and neat looking. Tricky to ballance. If he hadn't changed those bulbs I would have just gone with the second shot, which isn't too bad thanks to that cool metal ceiling. I also tried an up-close all inside the tanning unit horizontal shot, too. My left eye felt totally out of synch after shooting into such bright light (that's right, I'm a left eyed shooter). Up next is a quick feature I shot of some guys rolling out a sign onto the windows of the newly completed casino in downton STL. Next shot is of some telephone operators. Not an exciting assignment, but I kinda like how the longer lens compressed the scene like that. Next is a photo of a woman dressed in full mourning attire at one of St. Louis' historic houses. It was taken back before Halloween. After much difficulty I managed to get a shot with my second strobe popping in from the side so it lit her face up beneath the veil...Spooooooky, huh? Up next, an old man and a B-25 bomber. I also photographed a prop christmas present in the studio with a wide angle. The next two shots are from a folow up to a fire the week before. Unfortunately, there wasn't much going on except in the adjacent building that was wet and smokey from the fire fighting. So, I tried to borrow one of Jeremiah's old tricks and do some framing and then I also went for a reflection shot. Next is a shot from the backside of a PET scanner towards the control room. I also experimented with painting with light on an assignment to shoot some orange peels in a sink drain with a disposal. Lastly, why not another fire picture. A brush and old railroad ties fire next to some railroad tracks. P.S. I've decided that the discriptions belong at the bottom of the post from now on.

sports post

2007-11-26T02:43:00.000-05:00

Since the last update I've taken quite a few more pictures. This post is going to be all sports, though. I've been gathering hours on the sidelines here shooting the multiple state final games that have taken place this month. None of the St. Louis teams that made it to the state final game won. All losses. Start of with some soccer at the Anheuser-Busch Center and then class 3, 4, and 6 football at the Edward Jones Dome. Lots of sad high schoolers. Oh, and for the last game I shot on Saturday I took the time to go shoot from up high. Managed to get that photo of the opposing team stretching over the goal line for their seventh touchdown. Lots of sad high schoolers.

Up to date

2007-11-13T01:02:00.000-05:00

Might as well start this post off with a photo from a fire that seriously damaged a home across the river in Illinois. At first I was trying to shoot this from over the backyard fence, which was the first good vantage point I came upon, but I noticed people just kind of standing around in the yard so I walked around the block to the front and just walked right back to where the action was. I wish I could shoot more fires up close and wide like this. I was able to get off quite a few shots before someone noticed me and told me that, for my own safety, I needed to go back out to the street. The second shot here is of construction workers at a new building that I was asked to get a shot of. I did the basic building mug shot, but had this nagging feeling that I needed to try for something more. Luckily, my next assignment was at the building next door so I hung around and tried to make something more compositional and feature-ish. Up next is a portrait of a 96-year-old woman who originated the linguine recipe pictured in photo number four. The fifth photo is from a slow feature hunting day. These guys are cleaning one of the old buildings at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery while a stone fox on the adjacent building looks on. Got the Gateway Arch in there, too. Now if only it were ethical to photoshop out errant light poles. Next is a shot of a young woman who is fixing to open her own shoe shop downtown (it's the red building behind her). Silhouette shot of an F-15 Eagle in the Missouri National Guard hangar at Lambert Field. <<<(that was not actually a sentence) I think I made some sort of offhand remark about how I thought interns were supposed to shoot all of the high school sports assignments. So, last week I shot high school football and soccer.

And here is another Soundslides you can check out on STLtoday.com. Just click the photo to watch it.

News, Sports, Features

2007-10-30T04:29:00.000-04:00

I've been keeping busy lately and my phlog updates have suffered as a result. The first two photos are from a four-alarm fire in Festus, Mo. a few days ago. The third news shot is of search and rescue crews investigating a building that collapsed last week. Luckily, no one was trapped inside. The fourth shot is from a regular section called "At Work With." This guy works for Critter Control. I also got to shoot my first NFL game this weekend. Here's a wide-angle shot of the 0-8 STL Rams on their way to the most recent loss. Photo number six is a feature I got during a rainy weekday on the north side of town. I thought it was worthwhile to shoot since they were cooking out in the rain, plus I thought I could do something cool with the mural on the side of the building across the street (it's a skyline of St. Louis - always easy to recognize by the Arch). I never did get what I wanted with the mural, but this seemed like a nice moment. United Auto Workers went on strike at the Chrysler plant outside of town so I spent the day out at the picket lines.

Lastly, I put together a soundslides from the 2007 Greater St. Louis Marching Band Festival at the Edward Jones Dome on Saturday. The marching band festival combined with the football game meant I spent most of the weekend walking around on fake grass. Click on the photo below to see the soundslides on the Post-Dispatch Web site.

Month Two of Post Posts

2007-10-10T02:20:00.000-04:00

Starting into month number two up here in St. Louis and I've got a bunch of photos I never put up from last month and few fresh ones, too. Here are the highlights, I guess. First off is a fresh shot from this weekend's Scottish Games that I'm happy about. Then I've got two pictures I shot at a carnival celebrating Rankin Technical College's 100th anniversary. I liked the first one, but my editor wanted the second one (a different shot entirely actually ended up running). I've also got some food photos that I promised two posts back. The first one is the one that ran, I think. The second is my favorite because I think it looks like it is from 1984. Lastly, some shots from a baseball practice being conducted by one of the two teams that will be competing this weekend in an effort to break the record for World's Longest Baseball Game.

Constructing Photos

2007-10-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

One month into this internship and I'm already preparing to send out another slew of portfolios for an internship in the Spring. Hassle. Something I shot at the beginning of last week ran today. There's a winery south of St Louis that is building houses on site for people to buy and live in. The idea is to create a little village at the winery/vineyard. None of the houses are finished yet, but there is a spa and restaurant done already. The houses are supposed to be reminiscent of the old French colonial architecture in nearby Ste. Genevieve. I basicly tried to get construction photos that showed the expansive view. Try to show a sense of place and not just a bunch of construction photos. Despite it being an overcast day it turned out pretty well, I think.

Of course, shooting at a construction site wouldn't be complete if I weren't given a hard time by the workers. This guy asked to borrow my camera so he could take some shots of me. I told him he was going to have to find his own camera if he wanted to take any pictures. He found one.

Shooting and Publishing

2007-09-30T01:28:00.000-04:00

I've been shooitng a lot but many of my assignments lately have been for stories that will be published in a week or two rather than the next day. I feel like I should wait until the paper publishes the photos before I put them up. So, this update is made up of a few features and spot news shots. Oh, and a quick portrait of architect Gyo Obata that I made really quickly in an effort to convince him to let me come back and shoot something more documentary style of him working in his garden. Also, I tried to get his dog into the shot with him but couldn't seem to make it work. He never called me back so the portrait ran, which is alright I guess. There've also been a couple of fires (though in both cases the fire itself wasn't visible) and a feature shot of some A/C repair guys up on the roof of a building with a big mural painted on its wall. Coming soon...probably some food shoots I've done this past week.

More Horses; Race Horses

2007-09-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

My last assignment was a tough one for me. There is a horse racetrack on the outskirts of East St. Louis (that's in Illinios) that is in trouble financially due to gambling legislation and other issues. There is a group of people who both work and live at the track, either in the dorms or in trailers/campers in a lot next door to the track. Next season the track may have to cut the number of races from 90 to 60, which could mean really bad news for the people who count on the races to provide work and shelter. The top photo ran on the front of the Metro section today and the second photo ran inside. Both people are grooms at the track who also live in the dorms. The first photo is of a 20-year old who's parents died in a car/train accident a year ago. The second photo is a mexican immigrant who lives in a 10-by-12-foot dorm room with his wife and two children. It was tough trying to get into the dorms for photos that show the track is more than just a work place, but also a place where people live. But when the light fell on the young groom while he was applying a poultice to the horse's leg it all felt worhtwhile.

Spot News

2007-09-19T00:41:00.000-04:00

I stayed at the paper 30 minutes past the end of my shift on Monday night, which meant that I was the obvious choice to be hurried out of the office to shoot some spot news. The manager of a small neighborhood market/deli in the south part of South City was shot and killed during what was apparently a robbery. I got there when just his two sons were there. Then, the rest of the family arrived plus pretty much the whole neighborhood was standing around in the lot across the street. It was a weird, emotional thing to have to shoot. Very sad. The shooter not been caught. The first photo ran in the paper, the second online. The last one I didn't submit, but it's very emotional for me.

Dancing and Protesting in the Street

2007-09-15T15:18:00.000-04:00

More photos and less words for this post. I photographed a protest in front of City Hall yesterday afternoon. I was underwhelmed with the take and I don't know if it made it into the paper or even the online. Plus, it was late afternoon so the protest was completely in the shadow of City Hall so the sky gets blown out and leaves big empty spaces in the corners. The TV cameras and vans also limited the options for shooting positions. I also went on another photo hunt outside the city limits. This time I ended up in the town of Kirkwood where I saw a group of dancers performing outside at the Plaza Station. The shot that I submitted for the paper was the first one. However, there was also a group of war protestors on the opposite side of the street and I tried to get them into the picture, too. I never quite managed to get the picture I wanted with both groups in but I did get a shot of both the dancers and the protestors along with a baby that made a break for it, heading straight for the street. His mom caught him before it was too late, but the picture I got seems odd so I'm posting it.

Signs and Feats

2007-09-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

So, I've had a few more days shooting here in STL and as a consequence I've got a few more photos to post. I got assigned to shoot a sign the other day. Sign photos usually aren't all that exciting but I tried to jazz it up by waiting for dark and doing a long exposure on a tri-pod, which made it slightly more interesting, I guess. The signs a little funny, anyway. I also ended up shooting a feature today. I was sent on a portrait assignment that didn't come together so I decided to continue my hunt for a photo outside of St. Louis City (which I had been advised to do earlier since most of the the Post-Dispatch's readers are out there anyway). I came upon some young guys playing tennis in a park and it was a beautiful day. I thought it was a grass tennis court, which I thought was cool and worth a look, but it wasn't really. I went with a wide angle and tried to get in both the sky and the lines on the court...it turned out alright. I don't know if it is going to run but I feel like I at least accomplished something by stopping and taking the time to shoot it.

First Post-Dispatch Post

2007-09-12T02:11:00.000-04:00

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch sent me out on my first assignment today. There was a group of about 25 people who gathered outside of the city and marched 21 miles in to the Gateway Arch. The organizer has been doing it every year since the first anniversary of 9/ll, when he made the hike by himself. Over the past few years more people have come on board. So I back tracked the march route and spent a few miles photographing. Here are the three shots I turned in. I'm not sure which one the paper will run. Oh, the stoic guy in the first picture is the organizer.

Finally a New Post (with Horses)

2007-08-01T21:34:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting this blog lately but here's an updated (special for Luanne). I photographed a horse show and the unveiling of a new plan for renovation of parts of Southeast Gainesville. The photo requestes were pretty specific. For the unveiling I was asked to photograph officials unveiling the plans and get shots of the crowd. For the horse show the paper wanted shots of the horses jumping. So I tried to get those aspects covered. Sidenote: I'm going to be the fall photo intern at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which I'm excited about.

The first shot is the one that the paper ran as the local centerpiece. Of course it was probably the third picture I took out of at least 200.

I spent the last 30 minutes I was there trying to get a good panning shot. This was pobably one of the better of those.

Here are the shots of the unveiling of the new plans for Southeast Gainesville. They're pretty straight forward, I guess.

Some more impromptu portraits

2007-06-05T18:53:00.001-04:00

Two posts in one day? Why not? If I don't put these up now they'll probably never resurface. Next time I might give the grandparents a chance to smile before I snap the picture...maybe. I'm still loving this 50mm.

Grandma

Grandpa

Rachel

The Intergalactic Gentleman who lives on my front porch

The grandparents in some dramatic elevator lighting (not a portrait, but where else should I put it?)

high school graduation

2007-06-05T18:27:00.000-04:00

I went up to the Chicago burbs this weekend for my little sister's high school graduation. While there I got to see my family and I took a few pictures. Here's a couple from the graduation (both pre, during and post).

Here name is Eileen. Her friends call her "Tilt." How witty.

Grandpa's hands holding the graduation program.

Lots of graduates.

But I managed to spot her anyway. (She's the silhouette)

New 50 mm

2007-05-28T04:21:00.000-04:00

My new 50 mm lens finally arrived so I took it out for a test drive. It is a fun lens. I've mostly just been getting used to the fixed focal length and experimenting with the shallow depth of field (which I really enjoy). Here are some pictures from around Gainesville, basically just warm up shots.

At the lake with only my 70-300mm

2007-05-22T13:22:00.000-04:00

So, I recently spent a weekend at a lake house in Melrose, Fla., but I only brought my old Rebel xt and Sigma 70-300mm. It was an odd way to shoot and it made getting that intimate feeling a little hard, since I had to shoot from so far away. I got a few shots I like, though. Also, I made a wicked awesome Soundslides (I enjoy it, anyway) but since I have yet to register my new Mac version of Soundslides I'm not going to link to it. Just know that you are missing out. Here are some shots that I like from the weekend.

New Portfolio Site!

2007-05-01T05:26:00.000-04:00

I just finished a new Web site! It incorporates some Flash and I'm pretty happy with it. It will evolve even more over the next few weeks as I fine tune the content away from class assignment and towads a personal portfolio display. Check it out:

http://plaza.ufl.edu/staged

I'm also planning on getting my self a good host since I won't be a student much longer. Any suggestions?

Hoppy Belated Easter

2007-04-26T04:47:00.000-04:00

Realized that I never did anything with these photos after taking them (anything meaning look at, display, show off or post on a phlog). So, just in time for the end of April here are some shots from Easter Sunday brunch at the SKA(J) house.

An Easter Smorgasbord isn't complete without a pastel pink sweater. (sweater provided by Josh)

Easter Eggs Benedict? Anyone?

Charlie arrives!

This Easter Basket contained a John and Carlee instead of a chocolate bunny.

Josh never leaves the house anymore without his copy Idiocracy on digital video disc.

The two master chefs responsible for preparing Easter Sunday Brunch preferred to remain anonymous.

Portraits at 17mm

2007-04-08T12:45:00.000-04:00

I woke up early on Saturday morning and discovered my house full of fellow early birds standing by windows with pretty morning light. So, I did some impromptu photo sessions with all of my sleepy housemates. Most of the shots are at 17mm...I don't know why but it felt right. The first photo here is red because of the red sheet my housemate uses as a window curtain.

Then I went for a walk around the neighborhood and snapped a few shots of things that seemed photo worthy. I don't usually just take pictures of signs, but these seemed a little odd so I couldn't resist it.

Apart from the Herd: a photostory

2007-04-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

This is a photostory I completed recently about Bubba Kurtz, a dairy farmer in Live Oak, Fla. He decided to break with the milk co-operative a few years ago and now he raises his grass fed herd, miks the cows, bottles the milk and distributes it all himself with help from his wife, Leslie, and his two daughters, Virginia, 15, and Amelia, 17.

Spring Break at The Florida Times-Union

2007-04-05T16:20:00.000-04:00

I spent my spring break this year doing a practicum at The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla. It was a good oppurtunity to learn from a veteran staff of newspaper photographers and I came out of the week with a few clips of my own.

Two people stroll in the shade of the north side of the Modis building in downtown Jacksonville, Fla. on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, March 14, 2007. The top of the Modis building, the second-tallest building in Jacksonville, can be seen reflected in the angled windows of the building's own distinctive, flared base.

Fifth-graders from Andrew A. Robinson Elementary School watch as one of their fellow students, who is reflected in the window, prepares to participate in the First Annual Egg Drop contest at the University of North Florida on Thursday, March 15, 2007. The students worked together in teams to design protective cases for their eggs, which were then dropped onto a target from two stories up. Points were calculated based on whether the egg broke, where it fell on the target, and the weight of the protective contraption.

S. P. Livingston Elementary School fifth-graders watch as one of their classmates releases his egg from the second story of a building at the University of North Florida.

Jessica Stamps, 17, and Shawn Shults, 18, spend part of Wednesday afternoon at Riverfront Park off of River Road in San Marco. Both students, Stamps at Douglas Anderson and Shults at Wolfson, had a short day of classes with the schools letting out early.

Participants in the 30th annual Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla. pass by the last water stand before the finish line at the end of the 15k race.

Sad End to Celebratory Evening

2007-04-04T19:10:00.000-04:00

The mood quickly turned somber early Tuesday morning. At a time at which most of the revelry had already subsided following UF's title win, a Gainesville Police officer was critically injured in a hit and run accident at the intersection where the celebration had taken place. The officer passed away Wednesday afternoon from the injuries he received. The driver of the vehicle was intoxicated.

UF Celebrates Second Basketball Title Win

2007-04-04T18:55:00.000-04:00

The University of Florida's third national championship title in less than 365 days gave a crowd in excess of 25,000 people another excuse to take to the streets and celebrate on April 2, 2007.