Shadow And Light

Serendipity

2008-06-03T20:46:00.004-05:00

Back in my sophomore year of college when I was taking the intro to photography class that started me on this crazy path, my photography teacher Cade White told our class that sometimes he would find a frame when he was reviewing a shoot that he didn't think he had nailed, but had. He described it as feeling like God pushed the shutter button down for him. I have had a few moments that I have captured on film or digital sensor like this when I am striving for a moment, but am not sure if I caught it just right or whether a certain element is fixed perfectly in place until I look at my take later. It's not until then that I fully realize what I have. One of those moments occurred last month during a butterfly release ceremony in downtown Midland. The event was sponsored by a local hospice center, with the idea being that those attending could purchase a butterfly and have the name of a deceased love one read aloud during a ceremony and then everyone would release their butterflies at the same time. I had singled out a mother and daughter because the little girl was so precious was so interested in the insect in her plastic cup as she waited to release it. When the time came I shot plenty of frames of her, most of them just missing the moment and then stepped back and noticed her mother was one of the last to let her butterfly go, having had some trouble opening her container. I saw the butterfly emerge and snapped a few frames off again and then took some wider shots of everyone looking to the trees for as the little insects landed all over the place. It wasn't until I got to my truck and looked on the back of the camera that I realized I had the butterfly in the frame and furthermore, highlighted by the sun shining through the trees. While I think I could have composed the photo a little bit better, I feel like a got the the moment. The woman's face and the position of the butterfly are what makes the photo for me. Sometimes we just react to what we see, and attempt to capture a moment that can tell the story and let the viewer in on a moment of time they would never have seen otherwise.

Some night time work

2008-05-14T08:07:00.004-05:00

I have been wanting to shoot some slow shutter speed night time traffic photos around loop 250, which runs in a horseshoe shape around Midland. The building of the loop around a decade ago is credited with helping the city grow as much and as fast as it has. I have been thinking about shooting a picture page on the loop or on the city streets at night as I often have an hour or more to kill at the end of my scheduled shift at night, but haven't gone out and shot any photos for it yet. Last night I finally got started, shooting from an overpass to get this shot (this is at Midland Drive and the loop for anyone familiar with the Midland area). I will probably start out just shooting a few images over the next week or so from on and around the loop until I can find a theme I can use to unite the photos in a small photo package or picture page for the paper in the future. Honestly, the whole point of shooting last night was to get out of the office and shoot something for myself, which I don't do as often as I should. I need to keep my eyes fresh.

Trying out a new technique...

2008-05-06T20:46:00.004-05:00

Stanton High school 800m runner A.J. Lozano

As I've said in another post here portraits don't come so easy for me, and sports portraits cause me more stress than most. When I arrived at work today and found out I had to drive 20 miles away for a portrait of a high school track runner I was a little nervous. I brought several flashes with me but only used one on the final shot as it was the only one I could use in a high speed sync mode with my camera. High speed sync was the only way I could keep the subject well exposed and underexpose the background using my shoe mount flashes without significant and unethical post processing (at least it would be unethical to print in the paper). I go the idea for this technique from the Strobist where I have seen a couple of examples. To be honest, I didn't stray much from what I had seen before because what I was going for was simple and pretty straight forward. One light up high and just out of frame on the left and a lower camera angle were all it took to spice up a routine photo. Next time, I would like to use multiple flashes or try this look with multiple subjects, maybe with some very controlled light, like from a snoot or grid, in a wider shot. I'm sure the opportunity will come up because we always need portraits for our player features.
I should note that stobist is one of my favorite sites. It's on a netvibes tab that I check daily with a few other blogs like A Little News. I will probably post a roundup of my favorite sites pretty soon, with these two topping the list.

Editing Decisions...

2008-03-14T09:40:00.007-05:00

Yesterday while editing an assignment I ran into a problem where I had narrowed down an assignment to two photos, and had to pick one for publications. Now this isn't anything new, in fact it's something I do everyday. Yesterday, However, I kept second guessing myself. Self-editing is something I would like to think I'm good at, but from time to time I get stymied on one set of photos. I think the problem usually comes when we get attached to a photo, but often don't want to admit it to ourselves. Usually I can step back and objectively look at things, other times I can't. Yesterday's conundrum wasn't helped by the fact that I didn't have the luxury of time, I had another assignment I needed to get to, and I couldn't step away for a few minutes as I often do. You'd be amazed at how different photos can look to you after taking the time to step out get a drink or water or a soda and maybe a quick visit with a co-worker.
The photos were not going with any story, the one I picked was to run as a stand alone piece of art on the page. The girl scouts in the pictures had just donated several books related to girl scouting to the local library and were getting a tour of the children's area by a librarian. I picked the first one to turn in despite the fact that one of the girls was looking in my direction. I liked the moment with the girl in front and I'm a sucker for framing. I had a really tough time, and in hindsight I think it was my love of the framing technique that won out. It doesn't make me very proud to say so because that's not a very good way to pick out photos. The second one has its flaws as well, one of the girls faces is obscurred by the book and the girls in the back aren't even paying attention. It does tell a little more about the event since you can tell the girls are brownie scouts and with the woman in the foreground holding a book it's a pretty easy guess that she may be a librarian. Since this ran without a story, the second one does convey more info to the reader than the first. However, the first photo does have the interesting angle and composition going for it. Feel free to leave any comments you have about my decision, the photos themselves or which one you would have picked.

TAPPS state basketball tournament

2008-03-04T08:34:00.003-06:00

I took my first overnight trip last week to shoot three of our local private schools in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) state tournament in San Antonio with of my paper's sports writers, Mitch Worthington. We took off Thursday since we had an 11:00 game Friday morning and we arrived back in Midland Sunday afternoon. The trip was pretty fun, although it was also very tiring, especially on Friday as I was either shooting, editing, transmitting or riding along to the next venue all day long. I shot in a total of four different gyms, which means four different lighting configurations to deal with. That also meant four different venue administrators who couldn't seem to agree on just where I could shoot from, as well as four different lighting setups with their own challenges. I really have gotten spoiled with just shooting in two or three local gyms frequently, with the Chap Dome and it's ceiling-mounted strobes being the main one. The light at three of the places was alright, but there was one that was a total cave. I ended up shooting at ISO 3200, and using PictureCode's Noise Ninja software to erase some of the noise I get at that level of sensitivity.

Two of our team's made it to their respective championship games Saturday, and the paper wanted photos for both the sports and news sections so I was kept pretty busy at those games shooting not only action, but the crowd and of course the reaction and trophy shots. The biggest challenge for me was often finding an outlet to plug in my laptop so I could edit and transmit, providing I could find a wireless connection. It never failed that my laptop battery would start to run out when I only had about five minutes of work left. It usually took me much longer than that to find a plug and get started again. Little things like this are small challenges that I wouldn't have been prepared for if I hadn't done freelance work and had to transmit to various paper's or offices when I was still in college. It's not hard at all, but it can be frustrating if you aren't used to it. My co-worker Reid Merritt and I have found that when it comes to transmitting if it can go wrong, it probably will, twice. I was pretty lucky this time, but we have some horror stories we tell at the office every time one of us is covering an out of town game just to make sure the other guy knows how bad a night he could have. It's just one of the little ways we look out for one another in the photo department.

The last thing I have to say about this weekend, is how cool it was to get back to the paper Sunday and see all my photos in the past two day's papers. It's not like seeing my work in print is anything new at this point, but seeing which photos made it and how they were used is fun and something I hope never stops being so for me.

Working under pressure...

2008-02-10T09:32:00.000-06:00

For a smaller market photojournalist, there are often several assignments to complete each day. On average, I shoot 2-3 assignments on a weekday and anywhere between 4-8 on a Saturday. Let me say right now I am usually up there in the upper end of that estimate on the weekend. The past two Saturdays I have shot 7 seven assignments, often one right after another in three and four hour blocks. Needless to say I have some busy days. The challenge of the job, then, is to still bring back something good, whether I have 15 minutes or and hour and a half to shoot an assignment. A good example of this was last Saturday when I had to shoot a noon soccer game, get to a boy scouts event where they were retiring American and Texas flags at 12:45 and then get back to the stadium to shoot another game at 2:00. When you factor drive time in there things can get pretty hairy. Once I got to the boy scout event I was ready to shoot them burning the flag remnants, but as will often happen to a photojournalist, they were running behind cutting the flags up. For those of you wondering why they do this, it is to make them easier to burn and to speed up the process which can take awhile. Myself and a photographer from another nearby paper were both shooting the boys cutting the flags and looking at our watches. We both had somewhere to be and had not budgeted too long for the assignment. I ended up staying longer since I could stay until around 1:45 and still make it to the soccer game shortly after it began. Of course there was a ceremony and some speeches so I was really wondering if I would even see some flames. Just before I was going to leave they began burning the flag pieces and I was able to shoot for about seven or eight minutes before running to the truck. Despite the event moving along slowly I made several images I was happy with. I have found that I need to shoot very quickly at events like this, especially when they don't stay on schedule, but I must still be thorough, getting names and such for caption info. Often, I feel like someone should be playing "flight of the valkyries" every time I jump into my truck and take off to the next assignment. I have have plenty of assignments where I don't have an 45 minutes to wait around for the action to happen and must get the best photo possible while I am there. I would have had to turn something in still even if I had only had five minutes to shoot. I find that sometimes I thrive in these assignments, but that some of my biggest mistakes come from these assignments as well. Photos © Midland Reporter-Telegram.

The stars of Old Glory burn as pieces of a flag are set afire during a retirement ceremony put on by area boy scout troops at Veterans Park.

Joey Aceves of Weblo Scout troop 129 in Andrews tears pieces of an old flag during a flag retirement ceremony at Veteran's Park Saturday afternoon. Boy Scout officials said the flags are torn into pieces to make them easier to burn.

Boyscout's Jordan Homefeld (front) and Joey Aceves (background) cut up old and worn-out American flags to make them easier to burn as part of a flag retirement ceremony at Veteran's Park Saturday.

A piece of American Flag is thrown into the fire as area boy scouts gather around to watch the flag remnants burn at a flag retiring ceremony at Veteran's Park Saturday.

George Friday, Unit Commissioner with the Buffalo Trail Council, moves around pieces of American and Texas flags to help the pile burn faster during a flag retirement ceremony Saturday afternoon.

Simple is often best

2008-02-10T09:09:00.000-06:00

When I get a portrait assignment, one of the first things that usually comes to mind is that I need to check my bag o' flashes and make sure I have everything I need to complete the assignment. Yet, not all portraits require the use of flash, sometimes the light available on site is good enough or even better than hooking up the strobes and pocket wizards. The portrait below was taken of a local businessman, in the restaurant he has run for twenty-something years. The whole front wall was practically one big window, letting plenty of beautiful sunlight in so I decided to go with that instead of something fancy. Mr. Brooks seemed like a straightforward and simple man, so I hope the choice to go available light here adds to the photo and says something about the subject too.

Julius Brooks in his restaurant Mr. Brooks Barbecue, which he will have owned for 29 years in August. Photo © Midland Reporter-Telegram

For the baseball players below, I used just one light at camera right to light up their faces and to even out the exposure. Unfortunately, the sky wasn't blue and cloudy so it's mostly blown out. I include this here because six months ago I probably would have been too scared to even try a one light portrait as I felt I didn't have a good grasp of lighting basics. I have been a strobist reader (www.strobist.com) for over a year now, but I still felt nervous shooting with small strobes on assignment. Thankfully my job has pushed me to not only do so, but to begin experimenting more and more with simple setups that can easily turn a dull portrait into something better. I'm not saying the photo below is great by any means, but it is certainly made better by using a simple flash setup. As I grow better in my lighting skills expect to see some more complex portraits here on this blog.

The daily grind and trying new things

2008-01-29T09:52:00.000-06:00

So I have never been too good at going out in search of wild art of feature photos. It's not that I don't like stand-alone photos, it's just that unless I have a plan of attack, I feel like I it's just a shot in the dark. When I get into my truck I want to know where I am headed and what I plan to shoot. Unfortunately, this viewpoint is not always compatible with the life of a smaller market photojournalist. I often have to go out in search of these photos, mostly for our local section where we don't use art from any of the wire services. Many times, our reporters will give us ideas for assignments where there is a good photo opportunity but not much of a story, often, though, I am just on my own. There can be a lot of pressure here, especially for a young photographer like myself. You are expected to pull the rabbit out of the hat on a regular basis. With that in mind, here are a couple of stand-alone photos I have taken in the past few weeks. Photos © Midland Reporter-Telegram and myself.

The reflections of several downtown buildings, including the Wilco and Bank of America towers, are combined in the rounded windows of the Summit Building II on Illinois Tuesday evening.

A worker with Butts Plastering works on the wall of the Stonegate Fellowship Church Children's Building Thursday afternoon.

The next shot was taken from the rafters at the local college athletic center where most of our local basketball teams host heir home games. I am scared of heights and this photo required me to stand on a chair and lean over a rail so I really went out of my comfort zone for the shot. I think it works, although it could certainly be better (and safer to obtain). I think I might try a remote camera setup sometime in the future for these types of shots and will post about it here if I do.

Lee's Dave Morris attempts a shot from under the basket friday night agianst the Cooper Cougars.

I just liked this one because the shooter's eye is framed by the fingers of the defender's hand. It's one of those times when I didn't see anything special about a photo until I was back at the office looking at my take for the evening in detail.

Jesus Morales gets off a jump shot despite the attempts of Cooper's Darius Robinson Friday evening at the Midland College Chaparral Center.

Catching up

2007-12-05T08:44:00.000-06:00

So obviously I have failed miserably at keeping this blog updated lately. It's not that I haven't meant to, but you know things can get a little busy when you are constantly traveling between two cities and getting used to a new job. I figured I would start again however and post some of my most recent work, and perhaps keep it up enough to do a week-in-review type post every week. This week I have a couple from Thanksgiving when it snowed heavily here and then my favorites from last week.
All images copyright The Midland Reporter-Telegram.

This one is of the statue of Lady Liberty on the front lawn of the county courthouse downtown. Like any trained dog or photojournalist I know that when I wake up and it is snowing in West Texas, I will need a weather photo. In fact I will probably need two weather photos just to be sure. I went out early on Thanksgiving to get these since I figured someone from the paper would be calling me wanting a snow photo eventually and if I already had one that would make my life just that much easier. Plus I could shoot what I wanted and take my time without the rush of a deadline.

This is a Turkey Day photo as well. We knew that two of our larger teams in the playoffs would be practicing that morning. I was excited to shoot football practice in the snow since that doesn't happen to often around here.

Here are a few from this past week:

This first one is a portrait of two brothers who play football on the same team, which also happens to be the team their father is an assistant coach for. I included it because I am trying to better both my portrait and my lighting skills and I feel this one was a step in the right direction. I used one off camera strobe at camera right hooked to a pocket wizard (that's a brand/type of radio trigger used to shoot with your flash on a stand, hanging from a tree, tied to a lama, etc. etc. for the uninitiated). This light was mainly used as a fill light since I had some nice sunlight coming in from behind me that was perfect for my main light (as sunlight often is).

This photo is of a championship ring presentation ceremony for the local junior college basketball team. It's pretty cool shooting photos of a team that included several members of last years national championship team. With quality athletes come opportunities for quality photos if you ask me.

This is one of my favorite basketball photos I have ever taken. The intensity on the faces and the little details like the players tattoos just make this one of my favorites. It helps that we have some awesome strobes up in the ceiling to illuminate the player and throw the background into darkness. This has got to be one of my favorite parts of the job so far. I have always loved shooting basketball, and wanted to light the floor like this but was on too much of a students budget to afford to do it. My newspapers setup is really great. Shooting with the big lights does have it's downsides though. You have to get to the location early and climb up to the catwalks to manually turn the strobes and radio triggers on, and you can't exactly motor drive your way through a ton of frames as the lights need to recharge every few shots. My camera syncs with the flash at 1/250th of a second also, which is a little slow for sports, although this is a problem for most pro digital camera's nowadays. The good things is that the flash helps to stop the action, and I can shoot at f/4 or f/5.6 to get a little better depth of field and not worry about the crowd being in focus since they are underexposed from the 7th or 8th row on up.

Yeah, I really like to shoot basketball at my new job.

Dusting off the blogger account

2007-09-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

So it's been awhile since I posted, and I don't really know why I quit. I think maybe it had to do with feeling that I didn't really have much going on at the time, but when I look back at it now I realize I did. I have been searching for a job for some time and and finally that search is ended. I am now working for the Midland Reporter Telegram, the daily paper for Midland, TX. I have already worked there most of a week and am currently back home in Abilene with the family.

Maria and the kids aren't moving up there with me until she gives birth to our third child the first week of November, so the next couple of months will be a little difficult. Those that have followed this blog for awhile now (insert silence and chirping crickets sound effect here) will know that my family has had to do this once before, when I interned at the daily paper in Odessa, TX. Coincidentally, Odessa and Midland are only 20 miles apart. Tough times are ahead but Mary and I have a strong relationship and our kids are young so they adapt pretty well. I won't be able to make it every weekend though and that's when things will get challenging.

On a purely blog related note, if I do start keeping this thing updated more I may check with the online editor so they can link to it from their local blogs page.

Inspiration from different places...

2007-04-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

I'm not really a fan of rap music, but I do listen to some on occasion and I recently found a Jay Z song that has actually been some inspiration to me. The song is the last track on the "Black Album" and it's entitled "my 1st song". It begins with a clip from an interview by the Notorious B.I.G. where he is quoted as saying:

I'm just, tryin to stay above water y'know
Just stay busy, stay workin
Puff told me like, the key to this joint
The key to staying, on top of things
is treat everything like it's your first project, knahmsayin?
Like it's your first day like back when you was an intern
Like, that's how you try to treat things like, just stay hungry.

The chorus of the song is sung by Jay Z and it reads:

It's my life - it's my pain and my struggle
The song that I sing to you it's my ev-ery-thing
Treat my first like my last, and my last like my first
And my thirst is the same as - when I came
It's my joy and my tears and the laughter it brings to me
It's my ev-ery-thing.

(song lyrics copied from lyrics.com)

To be honest, the lyrics lose some of their effect when they are only read and not heard. The point is though, that every song (or for a photographer, every assignment) should be treated like it's the most important, like it's the first one. Even more than that, it's a reminder to keep up a good work ethic, and to push yourself everyday. Regardless of my opinion of the majority of Jay Z's music (and the genre in general), this song has been on alot of playlists on my iPod lately. I have let myself get into a rut in regards to my shooting; I just don't find the time to do as much personal work as I should. I am also getting a little to used to shooting 'grip and grins' for the university and I feel like I am getting complacent. Maybe this week will be the week when I break out of this rut, and when I can reminde myself to treat every assignment as if it were the first time I picked up a camera and had so much enthusiasm and saw the whole world through a new perspective.

The other point this song brings up is to remind me to ask myself this question: Am I hungry enough? Am I hungry enough for these jobs I am looking at, for the process of storytelling? How badly do I want to do this for a living? If at any point the answer is "not enough" then I think I will have to reevaluate where I am. Right now, I am hungry. A professor was suggesting to our class the other day that an interviewer was likely to ask the question, "Why should I hire you?...." and that we should have an answer ready. I think my answer will be that I am hungry. Hungry for this job, but also hungry to get to know a new community and tell the stories I find there. That I desire so much to work as a photojournalist on a daily basis, and to find a way to impact people's lives through my photography.

Coffee with an old friend

2007-03-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

Today I had the chance to visit with an old friend, Brady Lane. I didn't even know Brady was in town until another friend told me he had come to speak to her class. Brady has been working at the Marshfield News Herald for the past several years. He and I were able to talk for about an hour, and I have to say that our conversation really helped me put my current situation in perspective. Brady told me that he was out of school for 9 months before he found his current job, and that he had been feeling some of the very things I have been as he searched for employment. I have been so focused on finding a job or deciding what to do after graduation that I have even considered doing types of work that I know wouldn't make me very happy but bring in some extra income such as portrait work or wedding photojournalism. I guess I thought that if I couldn't find a job at a paper by May then it was all over for me, I would have to sell out. I know this probably sounds stupid, but that's how I have been looking at things. I walked away from our conversation with a sense of relief, a burden had just been lifted off of my shoulders. I still do want to have a job lined up by May, but on the chance that I don't my life isn't over. So often we focus on one goal so hard that we get our perspective out of whack, and forget that there is a larger picture to look at.

We also talked about finding small papers that still put our good work, since I will most likely be starting at a smaller publication. It's good to hear from someone who has found one and encouraging to think that I can do the same. I felt that my photo editor from my internship, Mark, was one of those editors who pushed his photographers to keep a high standard and I hope that I can work for someone like that again. Overall, it was good just to hear from an old friend and catch up.

Some high school basketball

2007-02-22T21:39:00.000-06:00

Last night I shot a game between Odessa High and Mansfield Summit High for the Odessa American last night at Moody Colliseum on campus. I really hadn't every shot any high school b-ball, but since the game was in a familiar venue I was used to the lighting and such. Here are a couple of the photos from the game:

Overall, I think I did ok, but I know that I can shoot much better photos at a basketball game. I had the same problem this past weekend when I shot two games for the university, I feel like my work was just good enough, but not excellent. I really need to step it up next time. I don't want to keep feeling this way after assignments. I'll see if I can post some from another assignment I shot this weekend for the university.

Expanding my mind...

2007-02-06T11:46:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been feeling the urge to learn about graphic design (and design in general). I have also been experimenting with Adobe Illustrator for designing my new business cards and letterhead and such, which would probably explain my newfound desire. I have always admired graphic designers and other digital artists so this recent interest in learning more is not surprising to me. I bought a few books on Amazon to help spark my creativity and to educate myself about color and type. One of the books, the one I am currently reading, is really causing me to think. It's titled Thinking with Type , and it's really interesting material.

Like most ACU journalism students I thought Dr. Marler was a little crazy when he spent 3 weeks talking about typography during the Publication Design class, but now that I have a few years more life experience and a much different outlook on life I think the topic is fascinating. Not only is typography interesting but how the designer places the text and positions it, sizes and colors it all go into creating a great layout. Coming from a school newspaper background I know that the body, or text, on a page is an element much as the art or photographs are and not just linear text, but somehow the author of the book presents this idea in way that is new and refreshing to me. I'm not saying I am going to switch to page design or try to become a graphic designer, but I do feel that dabbling in these fields is beneficial to me, the same way learning to record audio or shooting and editing video are skills that improve my creativity and story telling skills. As I write this I am reminded of a time when I heard David Leeson tell a group of photographers that he wanted to live an artful life, and I can understand that. It's more than just being a good photographer, in fact if I only do that with my life I will be a failure in my own eyes. I would like to understand and appreciate the art that is all around me, from subtle beauty of nature and God's design for it, to the buildings I work, live and play in and even the objects/devices/tools I use in my everday life, everything around me has been designed to fulfill a purpose or to elicit an emotion or feeling. Realizing this, and tapping into it, might just be the greatest thing I can do as an artist.

Time flies

2007-02-05T00:55:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I posted here, mainly because I haven't made much time for it. Another reason I have stayed away from the blog is that I feel like I might have gotten off track with it. In the beginning, this was supposed to be a photo blog where I showcased some of my more recent photos and blogged about them or the circumstances behind them. This was for a class. Then I started the internship in Odessa, TX and this blog became a way for me to share my experiences and work but ever since I came back from that experience I seem to have quit posting photos almost altogether, with the few exceptions being photos of my family. Part of the reason is that at times I was busy shooting events and such that payed the bills but did not always produce work I deemed original enough to post here. Lately, however I have not been shooting much at all, I seem to have hit a dry spot in my personal creativity as well as my freelance opportunities. While I have no doubt that I will overcome both of these problems (this isn't going to be another whining post) I just haven't had much to put here. I have had about a billion thoughts in my head that I could of posted, but I am still unsure of where I want to take this blog.

The thing about it is that I find blogging my thoughts to be helpful and enjoyable. Often while I type out a question or describe a problem I begin to realize the answer before I am finished. So I guess the whole point of this post is to let anyone who actually reads this know that there will be more photos in the future, but there will be more "photo-less" posts as well (and probably some more whining for good measure).

My Exploding brain!!

2006-12-18T00:10:00.000-06:00

I am having one of those moments right now when I really want to create something or express myself in some way but I have not focus, and and unsure of what to do. So I thought I would write a little bit of the blog to help me out. I get this way every once in awhile and usually it happens in the middle of the night and I just lay there staring at my ceiling thinking of all the great things I could be doing if I would just get out of bed. I feel like my brain will explode if I don't do something. But when I get out of bed things just don't seem to work out like they did in my mind. I start to wonder if taking photos of all the doorknobs in my house was really a good idea and wonder how I came up with the idea. But sometimes, and only on rare occaisions I produce something worth keeping. Such as the time I found myself sitting in a dark room with my camera's shutter open for 30 seconds using a flashlight to "paint" the light onto some flowers I had bought Maria that day. The photos were really good, and if I hadn't lost them when my laptop hard drive crashed last year I would post them online. I guess the whole point of this has been to let someone else know that sometimes my idiotic creative urges aren't so idiotic. Maybe sometimes I just need to reach out, regardless of whether anyone else is reaching out. It's that act of trying to find a way to communicate satisfies my creative soul I guess. Does anyone else ever have these moments of cretive need? I can't be the only one.

Things have been rough lately

2006-12-06T09:32:00.000-06:00

Lately, I have been struggling to figure out who I am and my place in the world of photojournalism. I look in the mirror and just don't know who I am or who I am supposed to be. I was talking about this with my photojournalism advisor Cade White and I think he pointed out one of my big worries: I have a family that is affected by my every decision. If I were a 22-year-old PJ student about to graduate, I would probably sell everything I own and travel south to Mexico or South America and photograph the lives of the people there and focus on the issues that concern them. If I failed, and couldn't get anyone to publish my photographs I would come home with a lot of experience and start working at a paper. But I am not a 22-year-old wonder boy or girl without any commitments. I am a 25-year-old husband and father who has to make sure I can shelter, cloth and feed three other people. I have so much more to think about, and sometimes it is overwhelming. I don't regret any of the decisions that go me to this point in my life and I enjoy my family and love them very much, they are what motivates me to keep going every day. Despite that fact, I often feel it is hard to figure out who I want to be and what type of photographer I want to become when I have others depending on me. The truth is, that I really do know who I need to become, someone they can depend on, a man who they can all lean upon and who will care for them. I guess the real struggle I face is, how do I do that and fulfill my own goals and desires at the same time.
This morning I had coffee with Cade, and he pointed out that I need to look at things with the perspective that I can find happiness wherever I am working. Even if that means I end up working in Abilene or a city near hear for a few years. As he was talking to me I keep thinking of this little plaque that my grandmother had in her house that said "Bloom where you are planted". I know I can do great work anywhere, that I can capture meaningful moments that tell people's stories in any town, in any state, or in any country. One of the things Cade mentioned to me when we had spoken yesterday was how freelancing gave me some freedom that I wouldn't really have at any other job. Right now I do have more freedom as a freelancer than I would as a staff photographer somewhere. And my work does have meaning to others, even the "grip and grin" posed shots I shoot all the time for the university have meaning to someone. They are probably on people's wall and sitting in frames on end tables, work desks and on fireplace mantles. I know this, yet I can't help but want for more. Maybe it is selfish of me, what I feel like I have the potential for more. As much as I like working for the university and occasionally doing an assignment for the local paper, I feel like I should be doing more with my work. Many mornings, as I look in the mirror I feel like selling off most of my gear except for one camera and a few essential lenses (the primes, of course!) and throwing myself into a project, without knowing that I will be published. I feel like finding a story to tell, whether it is here in Abilene or a thousand miles away, and telling it through my eyes and the eye of my camera. I find the camera to be an amazing tool and photography to be an almost intoxicating act, a way for me to transfer what I see around me to a sensor or a piece of film that can be printed or displayed on the web for others to see. Often just the act of photographing something or someone, of thinking and looking through the viewfinder is satisfying in and of itself regardless of the outcome. I enjoy the basic thrill of this, it still has the capacity to excite me and I hope over the years it always will. The problem arises when I feel that so often I get used to shooting for others, trying to see things how they want to see it that I lose sight of my own vision.
This past weekend I really tried to combine the two on a couple of assignments for the university. I tried to include my own style more into the photographs that I turned in, yet I kept in mind the goals and needs of my employer at the time. I think the photos worked out much better, I even received a compliment on my work and how I shot those two events from my employer. On the one hand the photos aren't drastically different than any other events I have shot, but on the other I tried to include (or exclude) little details that intrigued me and to frame things the way I felt they should be framed a little more. In this way I felt like I was finding my own vision again. I konw I have a way of seeing that I can share with others and that I can share things that will enlighten people and help those in need. Regardless of where my life takes my family and I, I hope I can remain true to myself and my vision, whatever that is.

A few photos

2006-11-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

I haven't been very good at posting photos lately, probably because I haven't actually been shooting much the past two weeks. I did shoot some photos of my family at the park, feeding the ducks. My daughter loved it, she kept screaming at the ducks "Duckies, come see me!". I skipped a class to go with them, and it was probably the best day I had last week. I really enjoy when I can get some time with my family outside the house, it's different than just spending time around the house. I know these aren't professional work, but these are my favorite photos from the past week.

Sunday, November 12

2006-11-12T21:50:00.000-06:00

I went over my slideshow with a good friend of mine, Eyakem Gulilat , who has really jumped on the multimedia bandwagon. Eyakem has his own ideas and perspective that make him an interesting artist. He gave me some good advice and went over the slideshow with me and helped me to tighten it up. I am going to post an updated version in the next couple of days. I don't want to get too tied up in this project though, as I feel like I need to move onto something else now. I can still work on the gym project, but I need to work on something newer as well to keep myself sharp.
On another note, I posted my portfolio in an online gallery. Some of you may remember that I had done this a while back on photoshelter, but I cancelled my account because I wasn't really using it for anything else. I used adobe lightroom (a neat little app that is free right now while it is still in beta) to create a web gallery that I copied to my server space at the school. There are a few newer images, so take a look and let me know what you think. My Portfolio

Slideshow video

2006-11-06T11:55:00.000-06:00

Here's the slideshow I have been working on. I used iMovie, so the photos aren't as high resolution as I'd like. I wanted to use Soundslides (a program many photogs are using to create flash slideshows) but it cost $40 and I want to check it out more before I go and make a decision about it. If I would have the demo version for this the video would have been watermarked. I would appreciate any feedback, especially on how I can make it better. I want to improve my storytelling skills, so anything you can suggest will help.

Abilene Old School Boxing

What I'm working on today

2006-11-01T10:26:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to produce an audio slideshow of photos from the boxing gym that I have been shooting at on and off for the past 6 or 7 months now. It's the audio recording that is holding me up right now, I pretty much have the photos down, but recording audio is something that takes a new set of skills. I know I can have those skills, but I need to develop them. I've already gotten an interview with Geno, the man who runs the gym but it's the natural audio that is killing me. I think I didn't do enough research on the mic I borrowed from my advisor, Cade White . I honestly ran out and just jumped into trying to record audio without much thought to it.
I'll probably be going back tonight to get more and hopefully I will be better prepared. I will post the slideshow here whenever I finally get it done.

NPPA Flying Short Course

2006-10-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

I am in Little Rock, Arkansas this weekend for the National Press Photographers Association's regional Flying Short Course workshop. It's a good opportunity to hear some excellent photojournalists speak and to have your portfolio critiqued as well as have your gear checked over by technicians from the manufacturer. On a side note, I love the Canon people. Really, I do. They not only cleaned my camera but they replaced the hot shoe and the rubber piece that covers the pc cord port without me asking them too (like the unpaired socks in the dryer, I'll never know what happened to that cover). On the other hand now my camera looks newer so I need to go out and shoot with it, scrape it against some more walls and bang it around while I have my flash on it to loosen the hot shoe and make it look used again.

After the presentations were over today, the group went to the Clinton Presidential Library downtown for a reception. The library was an impressive structure and chronicled the accomplishments of the former president. I realize that this building was probably built with money donated by Clinton's supporters, but I hate to see so much money being poured into a project that does not serve much of a purpose to the general populace, only one man and a few of his supporters. A far greater legacy than a building, in my opinion, would have been to use the money for something that benefited others.
Despite my thoughts on the buildings usefulness, it is impressive. I took a few photos while I was there and selected a couple to post here. One is of the exterior and one is of a workshop participant looking at one of the displays.

An update!

2006-09-29T23:45:00.000-05:00

So things have been pretty busy around here. I have neglected the blog for awhile but I am hoping to get back in the habit of posting here often. Tonight I went to a local hot air balloon festival. I haven't been shooting much for my own lately, so it was fun to get out and use my camera without the pressure of absolutely having to bring something back. The funny thing is that I will probably end up using some of the images for one of my classes, so there was a little more to it than just having fun. I guess I can't shoot for the pure love of photography anymore. Also, when you shoot for fun you don't get paid, which kind of sucks.

Lately I have been getting paid nearly every time shoot, so that is a great improvement from where I stood this time last year. I feel like I am finally moving forward at more than just a snail's pace. Maybe there is something good career-wise in my future. But enough ranting, here are the photos from tonight:

The bottom four shots were taken around the RE/MAX balloon which is piloted by Wayne Standefer out of Dallas, TX area. Standefer is the guy with the striped shirt in the basket. He need quite a few people to weigh down the balloon after he got it filled up as the wind was to strong to actually take off. The pilots will light up there balloons for the crowd, whether or not they can actually take off. This part of the evening is called "the Glow" and, as expected, is one of the most popular parts of the evening.

My work does get used

2006-09-12T10:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was shooting the second century convocation for my school, Abilene Christian University, along with the primary shooter for most of their events Gerald Ewing. They had a slideshow of the centennial celebration over this last year that was being shown on two huge screens hung from the ceiling. I saw a lot of Gerald's work and was going to congratulate him when I saw some of my photos that I had shot for the university being shown in the slideshow as well. I felt proud to have a few of my photos make it into the slideshow and to have been part of something as large as a schools year-long birthday celebration. Seeing the three or four photos of mine that made it to the slideshow was much like watching the paper being printed during my internship. I felt like I was a part of a team effort, and although I was only a small part of the team, I still felt proud to see that my work was included in the wrap-up of the year.

Portfolio Review

2006-09-07T09:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went to the local paper, The Abilene Reporter News, and had my portfolio reviewed by their photo editor, Robin Larson. I enjoyed the review and talking with a professional in the business. I was really impressed by Larson, especially when I found out that she went to a pretty prestigous Photo J school and had some incredible instructors. As for my portfolio, it fared pretty well. She wasn't the harshest critique I have ever had, but she flat out cut several photos pretty quickly and discussed with me why some of them were borderline. It was nice to hear some positive critiques as well. I can remember about three or four years ago (yes I have been in school that long already) when I had my work reviewed by another Reporter News editor, Matthew Minard, and left with maybe one keeper. So for me, to walk out of the paper with most of my portfolio intact was a good feeling.
Portfolio reviews can be rough, especially when the reviewer pretty much rejects everything you have and you feel like you are starting over. Yet that is necessary, and sometimes those are the best critiques.
For me the challenge will be twofold: To replace the weaker photos in my portfolio and to not feel too confident in the ones I am keeping. I personaly strive to be humble about my work, I don't want to get overconfident as that makes for a weak photographer (and a weak person as well in my book). I should walk away from a mostly positive review the same way I do from a negative one, with renewed vigor for my work and a sincere desire to better myself and my craft. I am unsure of what the future holds for my family and I right now, but I know that I will keep shaping myself into a better and better photographer and hopefully will find steady work as a result.

The post that almost was.

2006-08-25T00:30:00.000-05:00

I just typed up a really great post for everyone to read that involved my daughter taking a big step, my internship and future career and Reese's Puffs but due to either a browser error or my stupidity it was erased. You would have liked it if you could have read it (trust me on this one). It may have been the best blog post ever. I think I am going to go console myself with some crunchy, peanut-buttery cereal.

My last day...

2006-08-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I posted here, mainly because life has been pretty busy for me. Mary and the kids came to visit me this past Sunday, so I enjoyed a day and a couple evening with them but had to start on the OA's football tour early monday so they went home. I didn't go home this week because of the tour, but that's also why I had Sunday off. I have so much to say about what I learned here, and I will probably have a couple more posts about it. I think in a week or so I will be better able to express how much this summer has changed and molded me (probably even more than I realize now). I feel like I can shoot much better now, but its not just that. I feel like I have a clearer picture of who and what I need to be to succeed in this business. I may not be that person now, but I plan on getting there.

Also, newspaper photojournalism is hard on a person in ways I can't explain. I really don't think anyone who hasn't tried it could understand. Maybe Cade White can help me out here. Somehow, the more tired I am at the end of the day the more I feel like I did my job. It's the long hours, the skipping lunch (what, there's a meal in the middle of the day?!?!?!) and the hours spent in the midday sun just waiting for some event to actually start 30 minutes after you were told it would; It's all these and the hours spent hunched over a computer figuring out which photo is best or how to tell your editor you screwed it up that somehow make the job... a job I love. I failed plenty of times, I had to re-shoot a couple of assignments (you usually don't get that lucky. Spot news only happens once!) and in the end I learned alot about what makes a good newspaper photograph. In the end, I would have done the job for free, if they had asked me. Give me a camera, some vaguely worded photo assignments and a press pass and I'll go to work. (Note: I mean the photo assignment thing. They get pretty bad sometimes. Many of them just have the word "none" in the photo idea section. Gee, that really helps me out.) I wouldn't have it any other way though. I am looking forward to finding a job somewhere, and getting to do this more. Ia few years the daily grind might have changed my mind, but then again I might just like the daily grind.

Watching the press

2006-08-01T00:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight I watched the first few papers come off the printing press at the Odessa American. Cade White had suggested it to me over a week ago, but I am usually out of the building long before the files are sent "upstairs" so I hadn't gotten around to it until now. Tonight I happened to be at the office late due to some spot news that came up literally as I was ready to walk out the door and go home. One of the reporters and I went to check out the operation upstairs and were told to come back in half an hour. Michael, the reporter, decided to go home but I just had a feeling I should stay and check it out since I only have a couple more weeks left and I might not be up at the office that late again.
It was worth the wait just to get a look at the operation. Although the printing press at the OA is over thirty years old, it works pretty fast. I got to keep one of the first papers off the press, which isn't really that big a deal but meant alot to me tonight. Somehow, seeing how things work up in the printing room was what I needed tonight. I know it's just a newspaper being printed, but it's "my paper", the one I work at (at least for a few more days). It's kind of like how I think my camera is special and performs 'better' at 3200 ISO than all the other identical camera bodies out there. (For those non-camera folks out there, pushing the sensor to this sensitiviy level loses detail in the shadows and creates excessive noise but is necessary sometimes when in low light such as indoor stadiums or when shooting an accident scene at night. No camera out today does very well at this sensitivity.) I also think my camera and I (yes I typed that correctly) can shoot at lower shutter speeds and still get a sharp picture where everyone else would fail. It's a foolish idea (don't tell Gertrude the camera I said that), but something that I think alot of us feel when we become attached to a thing or place. It becomes that much more special.
I felt like I was watching something special tonight, although in the end it was just another edition of the paper being printed like others all around the country. It's just ink on glorified toilet paper, uh, I mean really thin paper. My photos never look right, and somehow my copy always has crinkles in it, but when everything comes together you have a newspaper. So tonight, I didn't just watch another newspaper being printed, I watched the Odessa American being printed and somehow that made all the difference to me.

Why I like photojournalism (and why I don't like it some days)

2006-07-29T21:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I spent a good deal of time covering a large, three-day Christian concert held between Midland and Odessa called Rock the Desert. At first things started well, we had had a lunceon for all of us interns at the office earlier and I drove out to the concert site with my editor Mark to shoot photos of the event. All went well until it began to rain lighlty right as we were about to meet up to head back to the office. Of course the weather is part of the coverage, so we stayed a little longer. I ended up taking a shot that went on the front page as the weather had postponed some of festivities.

Image © Odessa American

These people were waiting in line to buy merchandise for one of the bands that had just gotten off stage as the storm clouds built up in the background.

After taking longer than we planned to, it was off to the office for Mark and I. By the time we got back it was 5:45 p.m., and I had a 6:30 assignment. That gave me 45 minutes to turn in my photos and get across town. I was late, but it wouldn't have mattered whether I was 15 minutes early either since the worship dance group I was supposed to photograph wasn't doing anything. They were beginning to plan for an upcoming show in October and had just finished up one show, so they didn't have any routines or costumes. I made the mistake of telling the reporter I didn't have much time and that I needed to leave in 10 minutes so I could get back out to Rock the Desert by 7:30 (why me God?!?!? is what I was thinking). So the reporter asks the group to perform an older routine for us, and despite the fact that I tried to stop them from doing so they got very excited and went about getting prepared. The reason I didn't want them to do this is because the photos from something like this are what I call "canned", in other words the event/shot/etc. was put on merely for my benefit and would not have happened if I had not been there. So I shot the photos, although I am going to talk to Mark about it and see if we can reshoot them. I just had a bad feeling in my gut about doing something like that. Now I have to include that the photos were basically posed for me in the cutline or I am dealing with an ethics issue. This is not aimed at this particular reporter, who is usually great to work with, but facts should be checked before writing up an assingment. It is frustrating to walk into somthing like this, especially with limited time.

So, after shooting the dance group I leave for the concert (late again I might add). I am supposed to be there to cover a "special guest" that ended up being a presidential impersonator that never even got to speak. Everything was going well until the rain started, this time very heavily. So sometime after 8:15 I find myself hudled in a tent with about 100 other people trying to stay dry and shooting everything I can. People praying, running in the rain, tents and stands being blown over, and families huddling together.

These people were trying to gather their belongings and get to shelter.

This girl is a part of a group called the Jesus Crew from Abilene (my hometown!). They are praying for the rain to stop.

Here this boy is praying out in the rain covered by just a blanket.

All the while water is getting all over my camera and lenses and even though I know the camera and my main lens are water-sealed I was worrying. Finallyaround 8:45 I decide I need to run back to my truck. I take off my button up shirt (good thing I had a t-shirt on underneath) and wrapped it around my camera leaving a little room around the lens in case I saw anything on the way and made a mad dash to my truck. I ended up waiting over and hour and 20 minutes just to get to the highway since I had wisely chosen to park in the sponsor are which was far, far from the road. I finally walk into the apartment cold, wet , tired and angry around 11:00. I told myself I had had a horrible day, but in the back of my mind I couldn't help but disagree with myself. It had been a crazy day, but still a good one since I got to photograph the world around me. I guess there is a part of journalist that feeds on the challenges and obstacles that sometimes pop up in the field. So I really do like this job, even when I don't.

A new look...

2006-07-29T21:22:00.000-05:00

I'm trying out a new look for the blog. I think I agree with Cheryl Bacon's comment on my last post about the white on black causing eye strain. (On a side note involving Cheryl and Cade White, my photojournalism advisor, it's really nice to have faculty actually read up on what a student is posting) I originally chose the black background because this blog was much more picture heavy and I thought they black made the photos stick out a little more, but as of late I haven't been posting as many photos as I have been describing my experiences here. I am also going to try and break up some of the longer posts into two or more different posts so that no one has to read such large chunks of text. I was going back over the past couple of posts and was amazed at how long they turned out. I think I may keep posting to this blog as I finish up school and start hunting for a job in the near future, so I need to make sure that I keep it looking nice and easily readable. I don't need to go off and forget all those design and visual presentation guidelines I learned at ole ACU as now, more than ever, a photojournalist has to have multiple skills under his or her belt.

2006-07-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

I just realized that I actually have less than three weeks until I am done with my internship now, which makes me a little sad and a little happy since I will be back at home in Abilene for awhile. Mary had asked me about this the other day but it didn't really sink in to my brain how short a time that really is until now. I am ready to be back home and be a full-time husband and daddy again, but I will miss the job and all the friends I have made here. Today most of the reporters and three of us photographers went to lunch together (yup, there were lots of jokes about the biggest spot news of the year going down in that hour) and we had a great time. I really like the staff of the OA hope to see some of them down the road in the field or working with them somewhere. I am still unsure of whether I can make it in this business or not, but I am going to keep trying for now, I think once I get back home and have some time to go over what I have learned this summer I will be able to apply more of it to my work.
Today I had a wierd moment after I shot the aftermath of a church parsonage fire that happened very early this morning. I took some photos of the granddaughters of the church's pastor digging out her jewelry, and then some overall shots of the damage and some more of the family digging through the rubble. When I got back, the editor-in-chief, the managing editor, the editorial page editor (that's a mouthful) and the senior reporter crowded around my workstation to see the photos as that was the biggest news of the day. I felt awkward because although the photos were from a big story, I'm used to just talking about a shoot with Mark, my editor. Everyone had their input and in the end I think we picked out the best shots, but I have to admit that after everyone left I just had a wierd feeling about the whole thing. We had been invaded. Its not anything against the rest of the staff, but we are used to being an island, with only a few visitors a day and even then usually for only a small amount of time. Thats why they keep us photogs in a different room (the one where the air conditioner didn't work well most of the summer). We all work together at the paper, but in the photo room there is a different atmosphere. We are our own breed of newsman (or woman as it may be). At least thats how I have read the situation, and the "vibe", for lack of a better word, that I have gotten. I am not saying that anything outright wrong happened, just that it felt awkward. Maybe it was the feeling that Mark ought to be making the call on what looked good or didn't look good, or maybe just the fact that I felt crowded. Now I'm not complaining as it was nice to hear the editor-in-chief tell me I did a good job, and I liked getting input from multiple people. But it just felt more "normal" to hear Mark say "that photos ok, I guess we could use it as a secondary..." or "I guess that's the best we got..." as he looks at the photo everybody else got excited about. Mark doesn't hand out compliments, in fact I don't think "great" is in his vocabulary while on the job, and I don't expect to hear it. He is a tough editor but also very professional, he doesn't throw stuff around and call all your work crap like I have heard of or read about online. He just tells it like it is and lets you know that you could have done better. One of my personal goals early on was to make him get excited with a really great photo, but now I don't think that will happen whether or not I take a great photo, it's just not the way he works. The other day he told me several of the staff members liked a portrait I had taken, and I asked him if he liked it (mistake on my part) and he got a serious look and said "it was alright" and went back to work. Somehow an alright from Mark isn't too bad at all. At least he didn't sit me down and explain all the reasons why it didn't work well or why it didn't tell me much about he subject, although I would have listened to every word he said and taken mental notes if he did.

While I'm here...

2006-07-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

Sometimes while on assignment I shoot photos that I am pretty sure won't make it for the paper or don't really go along with my assignment. I take these photos because I think they are good photos, regardless of whether they fit the assignment or are not what the paper was looking for. I don't spend too much time on them, I don't want to miss a shot for my assignment, but I do look for them. Most of these are at least a couple weeks old, but thought that my friends and family (and anyone else who stumbles upon this blog) might want to see something a little different.

These first three are from the Imperial Reservoir assignment some of you may remember from nearly a month ago. I wanted to take some scenics, and thought they might look interesting in black and white instead of color as you would normally see.

These are from a trip to a local bar/rodeo arena one Sunday afternoon for bullriding.

These last two are my kids, I haven't posted any photos of them here recently so I thought I would add them on here as a special treat for any family members of mine who check this blog in the next few days. I really miss being with my kids on a daily basis, it's one of the hardest things about this internship. My wife Maria can understand why I am gone, although I miss her very much as well and I know it has been very hard on her, but my little daughter doesn't really understand why "going to work" means I have to leave her for nearly a week at a time. Maria tells me that there are days she wanders around the house looking under closed doors calling out my name, and I often have to choke back tears when she tells me this. I know it affects my daughter because I have stopped recieving the endless flow of sloppy kisses that I used to get nearly every day we were together. Those kisses are what fuels a father, in a way, and I really hope that she will forget about my being gone so much when the internship ends.

Better late than never....

2006-07-09T13:02:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of images I took last Sunday and on the 4th. I stayed an extra day this week and took my 'weekend' a day later so I pretty much forgot about posting them here.
These first two are from the patriotic celebration one of the Baptist churches downtown held Sunday July 2. I will include the captions beneath them. (note: as always there may be errors in spelling in this version of the captions. I DO spellcheck when I turn the captions in to the copy desk before they go into the paper.)

A model of the Statue of Liberty took center stage at First Baptist Church Sunday evening for a patriotic celebration. The celebration included the choir, a barbershop quartet, an orchestra and members of the armed forces. Image © Odessa American

A mother holds her young boy as he waves a miniature flag during the Patriotic Celebration at First Baptist Church. The program honored those that have fought and died for our freedom as well as those who currently defend it. Image © Odessa American

Here I should add that I learned a lesson that should have been obvious to me: Don't use a photo if you don't know exactly who the people are or their relationship to one another. In the photo above, I don't know for a fact whether it is her son and I shouldn't have worded the caption so. I shouldn't have even used the photo at all. As Mark told, regardless of whether it is a good photo or not if you don't have the proper info don't use it. I could not get to them to get the info because they were in the center of the middle pew and had people packed in aroudn them. I wanted to wait, but I was already pushing my deadline for these photos and needed to get to a baseball game (that ended up not being used, ironically). I really liked this shot, and my infatuation with it blinded me to an obvious error on my part. Some lessons, even simple ones, are learned the hard way. This photo ran on the front page and earned me a scolding from both my editor and an email from the editor-in-chief. Needless to say, I am getting caption info now, no matter how hard it is to get to the subjects.

**I am currently having trouble with blogger so I will have to upload the last couple of photos later.**

Thanks...

2006-07-08T17:53:00.000-05:00

I just want to thank the friends and family who actually read my post June 29th (the where I needed to vent a little bit)and took the time to visit with me about it or emailed me or posted a comment here. The encouragement really helped and I think I have gotten over most of what I felt, although I have been tempted to hang up my camera for good a couple more times. My Photo J professor, Cade White, has suggested I take up a side project to help me work out some of my problems and mental blocks. I think I will take him up on his advice. I have already found a person from an earlier assignment who I think would make a nice feature package. I posted a picture of his funny bike a week or so ago, but he has more interesting trinkets and inventions of his own. I went to his house for about an hour today and shot a few photographs, several of which I like. Like always though, I think if I go back I can do even better. I am going to try and pitch the idea to Mark on Monday, but even if he doesn't think it will work out I will probably continue shooting on it for myself. Also, Cade suggested that I take up something that will really help me connect with the humanity in my subjects, so I am keeping my eye out for the "little" stories that I can tell with my camera. Tonight I am going with a reporter to a house for the homeless and drug addicts for a prayer meeting of some sort. Another photographer did a feature on the place but I think I could find a lead to something else that is related but seperate there. I am going to keep my eyes and ears open tonight for something that could turn into a story.

A trip to the rodeo

2006-07-01T18:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I went with one of the Sports writers, Lee Scheide, to the Rodeo in Pecos. Pecos claims to be the site of the first rodeo and this years was the 124th rodeo there. We got there a little early so I though I would shoot some feature stuff on the cowboys and just the general atmosphere until the event started. Things started and 8:00 with the grand procession, then the events started and about 8:20. I had a deadline of 9:30, and I needed to be at the hotel down the street around nine in order to download, process and send the files via FTP server. I didn't have much shooting time, but it wasn't too bad. I actually got the last file to the paper around 9:45 since the wireless connection wasn't exactly speedy and they asked for a couple more shots of a specific rider who wasn't in my initial batch. I thought I would go ahead and present a few of the photos I took before the rodeo and one from later on in the evening here. Feel free to let me know what you think, I can always use some good criticism.

pardon me for venting...

2006-06-29T20:50:00.000-05:00

I am feeling kind of lousy today. I shot 4 assignments today and don't feel like I captured anything special at all. I have been feeling this way pretty often lately, it's like I am dead creatively when I am pressing the shutter button. I really don't know what is wrong with me, and I am starting to second guess whether I really need to continue on with my chosen field. I don't think I am doing anyting that sets my photographs apart from the rest of the world, and I don't think I am trying very hard right now either. I don't think I have been able to really "get" into my work lately, and I am afraid the guys at the paper can see that as well. I don't know what is wrong, but this is the worst time for me to let myself down. I really feel like I am just looking through a box and pressing my finger randomly to get an end result that will work for my particular assignment. The thing is, when I started down this path I would stay hours on end just to get one good photograph, and I didn't take so many shots of the same thing. I was much more conservative with my exposures, and I think that my shooting digitally has a little to do with that. Don't get me wrong, I love my digital camera and I always will but there was a time when I would have three rolls to shoot an assignment for the ACU yearbook and I would have to make each frame count, because I couldn't stop and look at the histogram to check my exposure and then delete and re-shoot it if necessary. I had to know that my exposure would work without the luxury of an LCD preview. I have tried turning the preview off and shooting the same way I used to, but I always lose the willpower to keep it up and go back to looking at the screen a few minutes later. I really like being able to download and assignment or shoot minutes after I get back to my house or the office, so digital really does make my life easier, it's just that my mindset has changed in response to the convenience, and for the worse I think. It's like how using zooms instead of prime lenses makes some photographers lazy visually since they don't have to move themselves and they no longe "see" in a certain focal legnth. I used to be able to pre-visualize certain focal lengths much better myself, but now feel like things are all out of whack. Still, the problem isn't with my mode of capture as much as it is my mind and my "photographic eye", if I even have one (I am beginning to doubt I have the creativity it takes to make it in this business). I just don't see right it seems for this job. Almost every assignment I look at has major flaws in it. Why didn't I get this shot instead of that one? or Why didn't I realize I should have stepped backards and to the left or forward and to the right? I have been shooting for four years and this summer I feel like I am a beginner, it is so depressing. I read about these awesome men and women who pick up a camera at 22 just for a hobby and are making big bucks by 24, they have so much natural talent and I just can't help but be jealous. Why can't I do that, what is the difference? Am I so lazy mentally that I just don't know how to use the device in front of my face to be creative? Why does everything look so good in the viewfinder when I compose it and look likc crap on the computer screen? I look at my favorite photographers work and wish I had their sight, their vision, but no matter how hard I push myself to see the world differently when I open my eyes it all looks like it did before. I do occasinally do something right and nail a good shot or two, but it seems like even when I do something others like it is not good enough for me. I know somewhere inside of me there is a better picturel, but I sure as hell can't find it right now. If you actually read this and made it this far let me apologize to you for wasting your time. I am angry with myself and feel lost right now and couldn't figure out any better way to get it all out than to type it out of my system. Being away from my family has alot to do with my attitude right now as well. Hopefully between now and August 11th I can either figure out whether I need to keep it up or sell my camera and look for another job.

An interesting person

2006-06-24T20:07:00.000-05:00

I saw this guy riding his three-wheeled bike down the road and had to stop and take a few photos. I turned a better shot in where you can see his face to the paper, butI really liked this one as well so I thought I would post it here. This guy just likes to build things, so he added onto his bike. He has a toilet seat, a cot, a fishing pole and tackle, a tire pump, a whip to fend off dogs and a jug of water. He doesn't use most of it, I think he just likes the challenge of creating a vehicle that could meet all of his needs should he ever find himself in need of it. People like this are why I enjoy journalism.

A sad tale of loss...

2006-06-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

It seems that I lost my flash Thursday and didn't even realize it until Friday afternoon. I think it fell out of my truck on the side of the road while I was either getting my gear out or putting it up. I had been shooting road construction and parked in a couple different places along the highway. I went back yesterday and looked on the side of the road without any luck, but I am still going to double check the locations I parked again today. I am really upset as it was a good tool (and I had also just bought a light stand, pc cord and umbrella so I could take it off camera for environmental portaits and such) and cost quite a bit as well. Luckily I can either borrow one of the paper's flashes or my roommate Rafael's for the rest of the sumer. Eventually though, I will have to shell out some more money for my own again as it is a valuable tool that can really add a nice element to photographs when used correctly. On the subject of flash, I really think point and shoots have trained people to think about flash all wrong. I can talk about that another time however.
On a positive note, I think I am finally finding my groove here. I feel much more comfortable on assignments and I feel that my work is getting better. I have had many talks and short critique sessions with Mark and the others as well as rereading the words of Henri Cartier Bresson for inspiration and I think I can recognize a good news photograph much better now. I believe that is the first step to creating better photographs.

A much needed update and some photos

2006-06-22T18:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I have had a long week. I need to post some photos and let people know I am still here in Odessa working away. I seriously love the job and feel like every day my eyes are opened a little bit more. I only thought I was a competent photojournalis before this summer, but that's ok since I am turning myself into one with the help from the other shoooters here and my editor Mark.
On a personal note, this weekend was a little sad for me because I had to spend Father's Day away from my family. This was my second Father's Day and the first one since my son came into this world. I really missed them, and although I had a good day at work just couldn't help but feel a little depressed when I went to sleep that night. To make it worse for my wife, here own father was gone that day. Luckily she was able to spend the day with my parents which was probably an awesome Father's Day present for my dad.

Now it's time for a much needed photo upload.

This first bunch is from a feature the paper did on a reservoir near the town of Grandfalls, TX. I spent most of my Sunday two weeks ago working on this assignment.

These kids are from a family that visits the reservoir often. I spent some time visiting and talking with them, they really like spending their weekends at the reservoir.

Believe it or not, I actually got to eat one of these tasty steaks later. I spent about an hour and a half with this family, and then the father offered me a steak and a tortilla and I couldn't say no.

Many families spend the entire weekend camped out on the shore of the reservoir.

There are also quite a few boaters out as well.

This was the lead shot for our spread on the reservoir. Mark and I spent some time looking at photos that could work as the lead photo and eventually settled on this one.

All Images © Odessa American

Here are some more photos from daily assignments. I will include the caption info that is embedded into the file with each one.

County Commissioner Freddie Gardner receives a helping of boiled shrimp at the eighth annual Meals on Wheels Mudbug fundraiser Monday night at Graham Central Station. Image © Odessa American

Jimmy Diller (left) and Sherrel Brown, volunteers, prepare catfish filets Monday evening at Graham Central Station. 1200 people were expected to show up for the annual event, which benefits Meals of Wheels. Image © Odessa American

Regan Anderson, 17, waits patiently as her mother ap-plies her makeup for the 8th annual Juneteenth pageant at Blackshear Elementary School Thursday evening. Image © Odessa American

Gary Varnadore keeps a close eye on the ball as it nears the hole of the first green at Odessa Country Club Thursday during the 43rd annual Quarter Century Partnership golf tournament.
Image © Odessa American

Mickey Scott Tees off at the 4th hole of the newly renovated Odessa Country Club Thursday Afternoon during the 43rd annual Quarter Century Partnership golf tournament. Image © Odessa American

David Carr Jr. plays the saxaphone to a small crowd in the Noel Heritage Plaza Friday night in a concert sponsored by the Odessa Council for the Arts and Humanities. Image © Odessa American

Don Norris, Minister of Education at First Baptist Church sits in the sanctuary of the church with a bible. Image © Odessa American

A young boy opens up a valve and gets a splash of water in the face at Sherwood Aquatic Center Friday afternoon. Image © Odessa American

Davis Sovil comes up for air during the 500 meter swim at the Tumbleweed Triathalon Sunday Morning at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin pool. The 500 meter swim was the first event of the morning. Image © Odessa American

Penny Wasem nears the end of her 3.1 mile run, the last leg of the Tumbleweed Triathalon. Image © Odessa American

So there is what I have been doing up until Monday of last this week. I will try to update this weekend or Monday with some more work.

Update...

2006-06-17T18:56:00.000-05:00

I haven't updated much this week because I left my laptop at home and have not had much time to use the work computers to updated. I thought I would let everyone know that I am still alive and loving my work. Today I actually went to a KKK Rally/Protest against illegal immigration. Some anti-KKK protestors got out of hand and some were arrested, there was alot of screaming and yelling; it was intense, and then it was over suddenly. The wacky thing is that I shot 400 frames and only one will be used, which isn't that unusual for a news photographer but on this assignment I could have published a whole page of photos that told some part of the story. I will probably put some of them up here (most likely in black and white since I am in love with that medium currently) some time this week. Last night, my friend Raf and I took out all our old film cameras that we owned or had access to through work (Raf has an awesome equipment closet up at UTPB) and talked until two in the morning about when we started shooting and how things have changed in the past few years. If I could find someone who would fund some photo stories/essays and let me shoot my Canon 1N and Leica loaded up with some Tri-x, I would jump at the chance. I love digital but film has it's benefits too, like a greater tonal range (at least when compared to the current camera sensors, this will change in the near future) and many films just had a particular signature look that is hard to replicate. There is software that comes very close, and I will probably buy it soon, but shooting the realy thing just feels good. But I digress... I will start posting pics from the past week as soon as I can get some serious time in front a computer.

A new experience

2006-06-10T23:40:00.000-05:00

This evening I shot my first Arena football game, and it was interesting. The whole arena football thing hasn't really caught my interest until today. It is a much faster, higher scoring version of football as most of us know it. I won't post any of the shots that the paper will be using, but I have a few that I liked to put up here tonight. I also have a couple from yesterday to post here. Some of the photos are missing complete caption info as I failed to copy all of the original files that had the caption info added on.

These first three are from a youth track meet held in Odessa on Friday.

Image © Odessa American

A young girl practices for the long jump with her father.

Justin Smith placed second in Discus in the young men's division at the Dr. Daniel Cepero Memorial Track Meet with a throw of 90 feet Friday evening at Rafliff Stadium in Odessa. Image © Odessa American.

This one is from an assignment where an intern reporter asked for some "mugs". Cindeka and I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to try an environmental portrait. I think it turned out ok, but I need to work on my lighting.

These two sisters (the religous kind) are leaving Odessa. Their order, the Daughters of Charity, have had at least one member in the city since 1982.

For the football game tonight, I had to shoot 3200 ISO just to get a fast enough shutter speed to catch the action, I have never really had to use this high an ISO for anything professional yet. The lighting was typical arena fare, or maybe even worse. The local team, the Roughnecks is actually very good though, and scored within the first minute of play. I decided to go with black and white for these shots since they are not your typical football shots, and also because I felt they lent themselves to that medium. They are pretty much self explanatory, but I will add a few comments after each.

For once, arena lighting worked out in my favor. A spot light actually illuminated something important instead of causing flare in my lens.

Again, the spotlight created a dramatic image. I will try to reshoot this one however, or look for something better that has some of the same elements. I do think it is a good try however.

For some reason, I thought this was a neat visual. These small little cheerleaders standing in front of the crowd had such amazing potential. While I think I captured a little of that, this image could be reshot or rethought to make a better final product.
I really think that the arena football team could be a great source for a photo essay. I got a couple that could work in an essay from just the hour I was there (I couldn't stay long because of deadline). I may pitch the idea to Mark on Monday, and I'll post any progress on it here.

Photos from yesterday

2006-06-10T00:02:00.000-05:00

Here are some photos from yesterday. I will let the captions explain each photo.

Daniel Garcia (left), son of graduating resident Avelino Garcia (center), waits with his sister Ehana, their grandmother Bernarda Gomez and their mother Nayibe for their fathers name to be called during the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at the Permian Basin graduation Thursday evening. TTUHSC graduated 18 residents in three departments. Image © Odessa American

Gary Rhodes/Odessa American
Abel Martinez, intern vehicle operator with Ark Contracting Services, takes a nap in tractor bucket during his lunch Thursday. ACS is currently installing the reinforced earth wall along the overpass by the JBS parkway exit of I-20.

Crane's clear out the basement of the Professional Tower building, located on Washington avenue between 3rd and 4th street. The Ector County Hospital District Board approved a bid from NC Sturgeon to build a parking lot in its place.

Of the three, the shot of the man napping in the tractor bucket is my favorite. It's one of those interesting scenes that you come across when you are looking for something else. I will be working late tomorrow, so I might not be posting anything else until Sunday.

Dirt, heat and more dirt

2006-06-08T23:24:00.000-05:00

This morning when I got to work there weren't any assignments on the board for me, so Mark suggested I go shoot the final days of an office building that is being torn down and then photograph the construction of an overpass on I-20. Both assignments were things that the paper has been covering for awhile, so they would just be updates. The first job at the demolished building went by pretty quickly. I was amazed at how they had torn down and 8 or 9 story building and were working on getting debris out of the basement. (By the way, I am going to start posting photos the day after so I don't beat the paper in getting photos out. I realized the other day that many times I put stuff on at 10:00 or 11:00 that isn't out until the next morning in the paper.)
The next assignment was a little more of a challenge, although the supervisor did give me a free hard hat and vest. He was a really nice guy, he explained alot of how their operation works and when they might be doing some interesting stuff in the future. There was a ton of dust though, and it was hot (the type of heat found only West Texas). My camera was covered in a find layer of dust, so when I wanted to change lenses I tried to cover it up. To my surprise when I pulled my 20-35 lens off dust flew from the rear element, which means it was close to or on the sensor as well. I am not talking about a light layer of dust, but grains of sand falling from the back of the lens as I put into the lens bag on my belt system. I was so worried about hurting my camera, but had to go on. I figured that's why I payed thousands of dollars for professional level gear that could take a beating and keep working. Later on, in the office, I blew whatever dust I could off the sensor and lens element, unfortunately I left my cleaing cloth in Abilene, and will try to get another one here in town to clean my lenses with. I think I have a sensor swab left that is going to get filthy here in a few minutes.
Surprisingly, there wasn't much dust shown in the images when I looked at them on the monitor. I guess it wasn't as bad as it looked. I felt dirty all day though, and the rest of my assignments were in normal conditions and not too hard on my gear. Looking at my camera though, I have put more scratches on the finish in the past three weeks that in the whole year since I bought it.
After my experiences my first few weeks I am seriously thinking about finding a second hand body and a new zoom or a couple of prime lenses to round out my system. I don't want the consumer or prosumer bodies though, they would have let even more dirt into the camera today, or I would only be able to use them when they wouldn't be exposed to the elements. Today convinced me that pro equipment is the way to go, it survives dust, light rain, jello and more.

June 4, 2006

2006-06-04T22:53:00.000-05:00

I keep thinking about the lady who was killed in the car wreck on Friday. Last night I found out a friend worked with her (she was a teacher), and then I went to my roomate's church class this morning and we prayed for her family. Someone mentioned that she was married and had two kids also. All I could think about during prayer was the blood stained car and how a family was now suffering and missing a mother. I know it could have been much, much worse, but it seems like people in the community are talking about it alot and I hear it discussed wherever I am. I don't want to tell people that I took the photo of the scene, even though it's not gruesome or offensive (at least to me). I know it's a part of the job, and I'm willing to do it I am going to try and find out when and where her funeral will be held and go if I am in town.
I have Tuesday and Wednesday off again (I will most weeks), and I can't wait to get back to Mary and the kids. Mary sent me some photos from a trip to the zoo tonight and seeing them really makes me miss them. I hope I can find a photojournalism job soon after I graduate so I can have my family near me and enjoy my work too. I will try to post some photos from this weekend in the next couple of days, althoug I really haven't done much lately since this weekend has been pretty slow.

A day of extremes

2006-06-02T22:28:00.000-05:00

Mark called me on my way out the door this morning and asked me to shoot some photos of a cowboy group who was putting on a Pony Express ride to the city of Seminole, TX. I had fun on this assignment and enjoyed hanging out with the cowboys, people who are usually fun in general. Not long after I got back to the office, I went out with one of the reporters, Casey, to the scene of a fatal rollover. This was my first accident scene, and to have it be a fatality made things that more wierd and surreal for me. I really had to watch what I shot, and try to not to anger the state troopers by getting too close. I went back to the Odessa American and went over the photos with Mark and Gene Powell, assistant managing editor. They helped me pick out the best photo that wasn't too graphic or offensive (I should note that I did not intentionally shoot anything to be offensive but at the scene of a fatal rollover it's not hard to find some pretty sensitve material to shoot). So after that experience, I went to a volleyball coaches conference at Odessa High School. This was a total extreme to the rollover scene, and I realized how crazt this job can be somedays. I hope covering wrecks never becomes routine to me, I don't want to reduce it to just another assignment. Here are some pictures from the day and a couple of pool shots from yesterday.

D.J. Laws, left, and Robert Byrd ride along FM 1788 as part of the Pony Expresses Ride to Hobbs, N.M. The participants rode in two mile shifts for the relay. Image © Odessa American

Bert Madera of Jal, N.M. prepares his horse, Cowboy, for their 2 mile shift along FM 1788 Friday as part of the Pony Express ride to Hobbs, N.M.Image © Odessa American

Bert Madera, founder of the Pony Express Ride from Jal, N.M. prepares to take his turn on the first leg of the ride to Seminole along FM 1788. Image © Odessa American

Here are a couple I missed yesterday from the local pools story:

Chris Stewart, 15, takes his turn running and jumping across the pool on top of some floating discs at Sherwood Park Thursday Afternoon. Image © Odessa American

Justin Rebber, Sherwood Park lifeguard, keeps an eye on the diving board and surrounding area Thursday afternoon. Image © Odessa American

Here is a photo from the accident scene. I won't relate any details about it yet as I am not sure what's proper to include for now.

Image © Odessa American

Back to work...

2006-06-01T22:45:00.000-05:00

Today I shot three assignments, and learned something about doing this job on a daily basis: Not every assignment will yield "the shot". This may seem rather obvious, but after my dissapointments the other day and shooting today I think I finally made myself realize this. I took some photos that work, and tell the reader something about what the story is about, but they just aren't what I wanted to get. I think I am putting too much pressure on myself to get some amazing, wonderful photos every day when I just can't do that, at least not right now. So here are two of today's assignments (the other assignment is still on the paper's computers)

This is from an assigment on a youth track team that is practicing for an upcoming meet. Image © Odessa American

In this one, Edith Gonzalez, who is recieving an award for overcoming adversity to graduate from high school, is working on a speach to describe the hardships she had to overcome with her friend and mentor who picked her for the award. There were 14 recipients in all. The award Image © Odessa American

This is just a long exposure that I took Monday night during a lighning storm. Unfortunately you can't see much lightning since the storm had really died about the time I took my camera out.

Some dissapointments

2006-05-30T21:01:00.000-05:00

I am off for a couple of days and will begin my regular rotation, a Thursday through Monday schedule, this week. I had plans of uploading some more images but I left my Powerbooks power cord in Midland so all I have is the last stuff I shot Monday that just happened to be on my microdrive. As far as work goes, things have been great, although I am happy to not have any more high school graduations to shoot. Monday I began work at about 1 p.m. at the Commemorative Air Force museum between Odessa and Midland. I enjoyed the event and really tried to get something unique. The paper only needed a few photos for the day and the other shooter had gotten some really good stuff but I wanted to try and get something memorable myself. At one point I saw a few kids playing in the fuselage of an old airplane that had been cut open so visitors could get an inside look at it. I tried everything I could think of, using the 14mm lens in the cramped interior, putting my camera on a timed release one the dashboard of the plane in front of the kids (who were mostly oblivious to me) and hanging off of the side of the plane to try and shoot through and open window into the cockpit, and I got nothing I liked. It was very disheartening to see the kids playing around and having a good time but not being able to capture a good image. The lighting was poor and even on 1600 ISO I had to shoot at under a 30th of a second, which is fine when you are standing still trying to be still but another thing altogether when you are holding the camera with one hand while using the other to hang out of a doorway. I still should have gotten something I liked though, so I was dissapointed by this experience. That evening I did better, but still missed one shot that would have made the whole day a great success. I was at a memorial service by the VFW and saw an opportunity to get a low angle shot looking straight up while two veterans and a soldier were folding the flag. I thought I should put my camera on aperture priority mode (which i never do) so that I wouldn't mess up the exposure. But witha backlit situation like that the camera is almost never right, I should have known that and kept my original settings. I ended up with some silhouetted figures holding a very dark flag. Now, if the light behind the flag would have illuminated it some more, it would have been a very good mistake, one that I would have been proud of. What I got was a great composition that was totally underexposed. By the time I switched back to my manual setting and snapped off two more frames the flag was almost totally folded and the composition just fell apart. I guess situations like that are why I am here to learn, but I should have gotten the shots I wanted on both assignments. I did come back with some good shots, two of which are below, but I didn't get the shots.

This is Sal Guerrero, VFW member, who was part of the honor guard at the service. Image © Odessa American

This one is of Cheryl Haas, who presented a wreath in honor of those who have served to keep our country safe during the service. Image © Odessa American.

This is a closer look at Sal who I thought had an interesting face and eyes.

May 28, 2006

2006-05-28T01:46:00.000-05:00

I shot another graduation tonight, or by now it was yesterday. I think this one went better than the first one as far as my photograph go. I was so tired coming home, and now that I am here I don't really want to go to sleep, I just can't stop thinking about my family. I really miss my wife and kids. Me being here is a big sacrafice for the whole family, especially my wife, Maria, and my 18 month-old daughter who I usually play with daily. I think going home Thursday actually made things worse in a way because I would like to have a job like the one I have this summer and be with them. Friday was so surreal, I woke up with my family and went to sleep alone late that night. The worst part is that I feel this way one week into a twelve week internship so things are going to get much harder. This is probably going to prepare me for how hard this life really can be on a family.

Graduations Galore

2006-05-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Actually, there are only two graduations that I will be shooting this weekend, and I have already shot one of them. After enjoying a relaxing day with the family on Thursday I got back to work on Friday for a pretty slow day. The big event for the week, and the weekend, is the graduations of the two local high schools, Permian and Odessa High. One of the regular shooters Kevin and I started shooting between 7:00 and 7:30 in the evening, and we finished up about 10:30. We were attempting to transmit from the press box at the football stadium where they were holding the event (they have too many students graduating to hold the event in the colosseum) but Kevin had some connection difficulties with his cell phone so he had to run back to the paper at about 9:45, while I stayed to catch the throwing of the hats and such. I guess when it comes to transmitting photos, something can always go wrong. We are going to do the same thing tonight, so I hope we don't have any more problems. Here are a few of photos from the event:

All images © Odessa American

And now for a few photos...

2006-05-24T23:37:00.000-05:00

Here are the photos that have been/ are going to be published in the paper. All images are the copyright of the Odessa American.

This first photo is from the gelatin fight I described in my earlier post. This is one of the 4th grade teachers, Shilo Duckworth, attempting to duck the globs of gelatin headed her way.

This is a shot of Travis Lee, senior shortstop for the Crane High School Golden Crane baseball team taking a few swings during the work-out Tuesday.

This last photo is from today, and it is of a first grader, Daisy Lujan, from Pease Elemntary in Odessa. Daisy was one of 5 students who won a coloring contest for the Harmony Home, a local organization that combats child abuse.

Overall, I think these photos are ok, but I know that I can do much better and plan on doing so in the coming weeks. Today, I shot two assignments on my own (the coloring contest was on of them, the other one is still on my memory card and it's too late to download it now). I feel like I will get the hang of things pretty soon, and the guys at work are really helping me.

Just a few things

2006-05-24T08:48:00.000-05:00

I figured since I will be talking about the Odessa American in most of my posts that I should add a link to their website. So under the links section to the right there is now one for the newspaper. It's a nice website and you can find links for most of the days stories, and even pdf's of every issue there. I think today's newspaper won't be available as a pdf until late in the day or tomorrow, but it is a pretty cool feature for them to offer. I am a pdf addict, so when I saw that they offered the paper electronically I was pretty excited. In my opinion, it puts them ahead of many newspapers and I hope they continue to offer the paper electronically on their site. I encourage you to check out the site and take a look around.

Internship update: Day one and two (plus some jello)

2006-05-23T22:57:00.000-05:00

The first couple of days here at the Odessa American have been amazing. I was able to go out with my editor Mark and the other two shooters on some assingments. I should have a couple of photos in Wednesdays paper which is pretty exciting. I know it's corny but I plan on getting out tomorrow and buying a couple of copies for myself so I can see my work in print and keep one to take home to my wife, Maria. Yesterday I went with Mark to shoot some photos of a girl who has not missed a day of class in 13 years, which I find pretty amazing. I also shot an award presentation by the Chamber of Commerce with a photographer named Cindika. This type of situation is called a "grip and grin". There is not much room for creativity, but it is an event that is important to the community so we need to be there. The last assigment was a event called "Meet the Coaches". The football coaches from Permian High School were at a local Catfish joint, Big Daddy's Grill and Bar, while the cheerleaders and dance team waited on guest. The whole event was actually a fundraiser for the booster club, which confused me a little. When Cindika and I first got the assignment, we thought the coaches were serving dinner, something we thought would be pretty funny since football coaches are gods here in West Texas (unless they lose). It still turned out to be a good assigment with some funny moments of it's own. At one point, I saw what I thougth was an empty booth next to a family enjoying a meal. I thought I would squeeze into the booth up against the wall so I could get a good shot of a cheerleader serving them. I moved the two mostly empty tea glasses on the table aside, positioned myself ans waited for the server to return. While I was waiting the couple who had left the booth to go to the buffet line returned, which caused an awkward moment which was resolved when they laughed and told me to stay where I was if I thought it would help me out. I ended up taking a few shots, which were ok but could have been better if I had stood up and shot down at the group to simplify the background a little. I will try to post it here tomorrow when I copy some files from the office. As for todays assingment, the first one was a jello throw for elementary students who had done well on the TAKS test (a standardized state exam in Texas). The kids threw jello at their principal, assistant principal and teacher. Everything was going well until I got a little too close while attempting to get a close up, and got some jello on myself and my bag. I backed up, but somehow still managed to get more jello on the front element of my 200mm lens, much to my dismay (the kids had some really bad aim). I cleaned it off and in the process took off some of the coating as well. Needless to say, tomorrow I am buying a protective filter to put on the front of the lens ($15 mistake versus a $650 one). On a positive lens note, Mark let me borrow a 14mm lens to try out, which was very cool of him. I guess that makes up for the jello incident. The last assigment of the day was in a town called Crane where we shot some photos for a feature on two senior baseball players. All of the other photographers are really good at using fill flash and location lighting with the strobes for features and portraits, something I need to improve on if I want to apply for a full-time job on a daily. I was watching one of them, Kevin, in an attempt to pick up some tips on posing for an sports portrait (commonly called a sportrait). When we got back and turned in our photos, I learned that one of mine was going to run, as well as one from the jello throw. So yeah, I am pumped up and can't wait to see the paper tomorrow. I will post pictures here soon, after I copy the files from the office. From here on out, I hope to have the photos the same day as much as possible. For those of you who made it this far, thanks for reading to the end. Let me know what you think, I am up for suggestions on how to make this blog as interesting as it can be.

Internship update: May 23

2006-05-23T22:53:00.000-05:00

I was given the go ahead today by Mark Sterkel, my editor, to update this blog with my internship experiences. My goal is to update it daily with my experiences. So check back often, I should be adding photos often.

Good news

2006-05-05T09:58:00.000-05:00

Some of my work will be displayed in my schools library this upcoming week and probably most of the summer. I have been working with one of the professors in the art department,Nil Santana, on a guided study photography class. As part of the class I had 12 photos printed on canvas and then we mounted them on foam-core board for display. This is the first time anything of mine will be displayed, so I am pretty excited.

Some 35mm scans

2006-05-05T09:33:00.000-05:00

I have been slowly trying to scan a few 35mm black and white negatives in. Some of the files are a few years old, others are more recent. I figured I would post a few here to get some critiques. I will have to clean the negatives and rescan a couple of these, the dust is just too much for me to clone it all out. I need to work on my scanning as well, I am still trying to figure out how to get a good scan on my epson flatbed (that may be the problem in the first place).

This first photo is from the photo essay on the local boxing club. This guys name is junior, he's one of the guys I met when I first went there and also one of the most approachable and friendliest.

Here's another shot with just the boxers legs in it. These guys can move around pretty fast sometimes, and I thought this would make a nice composition.

This one is from a home mass a priest friend of my families said in my Grandmother's home. This is from a couple of years ago or more. I think I am going to work on more religous/faith based stories. I am intrigued by others faith as well as my own.

Technical details: The first two were shot with a Leica M4-P with a collapsible 50mm and Tri-x film set at ISO 1600 (hence the grain). The Home Mass shot was taken with a Nikon F3 and 50mm lens using T-max film (I need to check the negative again on this one)

Photojournal: May 3rd

2006-05-02T23:32:00.000-05:00

This weekend I shot a wedding with a classmate of mine, Emerald McGowan (you can link to her blog on the right). I have shot a few weddings before, but it was a first for Emerald. Working with another photographer really took some of the stress off of being the sole photographer. Emerald also took some shots and tried some angles that I didn't, so when we put our work together I think the end result will be better. I think I may try to apprentice or assist one of the local wedding pros to get some more experience and not deal with the hassles on the business end.

The youngest boys are the children of the bride and groom, and the "face" on the left is a nephew.

This is Shelly, the bride. I like this photo because it is a candid moment of her laughing and giggling while she is talking to her bridesmaids.

This photos is of the ring-bearer. I saw him walking across the room and snapped a couple of shots, this frame being my favorite.

Here is one of the happy couple dancing their first dance. I like the smile on her face, but wish I could see his. I have several where both faces are clearly visible, but neither of them has such a great expression, so I picked this one.

This little girl has such a joyous look on her face. She is trying to chase the balloon that she is already holding the string to.

I like the look on her fathers face in this shot. He was so proud of her and kept telling her how much he loved her.

I threw this one is because I have been drawn to second curtain sync, draggin the shutter and panning lately. This photo has all three.

The technical details: the indoor photos were taken at ISO 800, with bounce flash from the ceiling. The outdoor shot was taken at ISO 100. Camera used on both was a Canon 1D MarkII, all files were shot as RAW and then converted and adjusted using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop.

A self portrait of sorts

2006-05-02T14:33:00.000-05:00

I know that my Photo J professor Cade used to require students to submit a self-portrait weekly so I thougth I would try one and post it. It's kinda goofy, but it was fun to try. I tried a little more complicated one the next night that didn't involve a mirror but things didn't work out and I got frustrated and went to bed (it was 1 a.m. anyway). I am going to try and do some more that are a little more technically creative/demanding and that are "expressive" of how I see the world and myself. Tonight I will post some of the shots from a wedding I shot this weekend.

Photojournal: April 26

2006-04-25T23:11:00.000-05:00

Well, I shot some more bands this week for my art project, and I also shot several assignments for the schools creative services project. I documented the rehearsals for a concert collaberation between the universities theatre department, 10 alumni, and the local philharmonic orchestra. I also shot some photos of a climbing wall the campus Outdoor club brought in on friday. For now, I have some photos of the bands, Death by Space Laser and Streets of Simon Lee (both on myspace, you should check them out), and the rock wall. I still have to organize the concert shots, and will try to get a few up here. As a side note,the band shots are in black and white because I was trying out a new photoshop plug-in that simulates various film-stocks. These photos are supposed to replicate Tri-X, with some added contrast for fun.

The first two photos are of Darby Hewitt (and his hands), guitar player for Death by Space Laser. The third is the hands of Dylan Wands, drummer for the band. You can visit the bands myspace page here:

Death by Space Laser

These are of the drummer, Benjamin Fikes, and bass player, Blake Earnhart, of another local band named Streets of Simon Lee. You can link to the here:

Streets of Simon Lee

Both bands were very good, and I enjoyed the show. I hope you will visit their site and check them out.

These last two are actually from the band I shot last week, named Guiaconda (sp?). I liked them in black and white so I figured I would repost them and see what others thought. I did not get any more info on the band so I cannot provide a link or names right now.

I figured I would add this at the end if anyone (anyone?, anyone? anyone?) actually reads this. I am tired. I think that I am getting so caught up in the end of the semester crunch that it is affecting my work. I haven't felt particularly strong about anything I have shot lately, and I can see it when I look at my photos.
I did shoot some video of a track meet in a town a couple of hours away. I feel like I have some stuff I can work with, but again I don't feel to strongly about it or can't get excited about working on it. Even at the meet, I really missed my family (at this point I had only seen my children a few hours in the last 3 days) and wanted to be home rather than two hours away getting sunburnt (again) and struggling with video/audio issues. This job is hard on relationships and families. Talking to a local professional only backed that up, he gave me some good advice, but could only confirm for me that the road ahead will be rocky. I am thankful I have such a supportive and loving wife; however that doesn't take away the feeling I have everytime I leave the house and my daughter cries and holds her arms out for me. I have seen that too much lately. I am not sure if this blog is the place to put all this but I need to vent somewhere.

Photojournal: April 19

2006-04-19T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well, this week I shot some photos at the opening of our newly renovated Library, the central area of which is now called the Learning Commons. It has a genuine Starbucks, and pleny of tables and computers for group activities. Here is one of the photos I personally liked the most, of a girl picking out her free drink sample (everyone who came within a certain time on the first day got one).

Here are some photos of a couple of local bands that played at a small park pavilion. As the evening went on the light situation went from bad to terribly, horribly, hopelessly dark.There was one lamp slightly to the right of the stage, a halogen lamp I believe, so I used my flash as my main light. In order to keep things creative I tried some second curtain sync shots while I panned the camera slightly.

I also tried one 2 second exposure while using the multi-strobe mode on my flash (a canon 580 EX by the way)

On a seperate note...

2006-04-12T13:29:00.000-05:00

I have an internship for this summer. I will be working at the Odessa American, in Odessa, Texas. I am pretty excited about this, and am looking forward to twelve weeks of working as a photojournalist at a daily paper. The photo editor there told me I will be working on a couple of projects aside from daily work and at least on of them will be self-assigned so I plan to keep this blog updated with daily work and some photo stories.

Photojournal: April 12

2006-04-12T13:16:00.000-05:00

Well, I keep telling myself I will update this blog more than once a week but every week I only have one post. I will try to post more work here during the week as I shoot it so that some things will be more timely. Things have been so busy lately, but last week I went with my schools journalism department to the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association contest/seminar in San Antonio. I had a good time and got to hang out with people I am usually not around very much. I competed in two live photo contest taking photographs downtown along the Riverwalk, but didn't win either one. My friend Brian Schmidt, whose blog you can link to on the right, placed third in News photography and first in Sports so I was happy for him. I strongly recommend checking out Brian's blog as well as my other classmates, there is a wide variety of styles and interests in our group. Here are some photos I took while I was there, a couple are from the contest.

Photojournal: April 5

2006-04-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

This Saturday I covered a track meet at our school, the Olver Jackson Open. It is a smaller meet, but many of the athletes are trying to qualify for nationals, so there is always the possiblity for some great performances. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day.

Photojournal: March 29

2006-03-29T13:07:00.000-06:00

This week, we had a group of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender students called SoulForce visit our conservative Christian campus to dialogue about several issues. I covered as much of the visit as I could, although I didn't want to make a big deal out of it either. It was interesting to hear the conversations and presentations as well as watch students and group members interact.

I also covered a Theology conference this week for the school media department. I am not sure if I should trash this picture or not, but I thought it was worth attempting. Let me know what you like/dislike about it.

This picture is just an interesting shot from the construction of a new jogging track that is going to circle the whole campus.

I have been working on a short macro photography project for an art class I am taking. I enjoy this type of work because it can be done at home and it is a good creative excersise that helps me to "keep in shape" mentally and photographically.

Photojournal: Week 6

2006-03-08T14:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I am embarassed to say that I have had a slow week. I went to the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference with my fellow ACU photographer Brian Schmidt. Hearing Bob Black and John White from the Chicago Tribune was probably the highlight of the weekend. They had alot to pass on to us younger photojournalist. As far as photos this week, all I have is some photos I have shot of my children, Grace and Atticus, since I have been on my assignment from my wife Maria to take more family photos.

Photojournal: Week 5

2006-02-22T08:59:00.000-06:00

These photos are of the women's social club Alpha Kai Omega, who had been told they had recieved 1st place, and then found out the scores were miscalculated and they were in fact second place. The first shot is of the women celebrating after their performance, and the second is of the women crying while they wait while the scores are recalculated.

On Sunday I covered the Alumnus of the year luncheon. The first photo is of the alumnus of the year, Don Crisp. The next photo is of his granddaughter looking back at her grandmother as during a vocal/piano duet they performed in honor of Mr. Crisp.

I went back to the boxing gym this week, and plan on going with two of the guys who are fighting this weekend in a nearby town. I see this gym as a potential source for a photo story that I would like to see in my portfolio soon.

Photojournal: Week 4

2006-02-15T10:20:00.000-06:00

This week I have quite a few photos that I want to post. I will work on linking to a gallery next week, but for this update I am at home and do not have access to my school web space. First up are some baseball photos. This was my first game of the season, and I was excited. Yet, after the game I felt a little let down by myself, and sports action in general. I think I am less interested in sports in general, I don't see a sports action shot changing the way someone thinks about the world. However, they are fun to get and people love to look at them so here are my baseball photos of the week:

The next set of photos are the ones I am excited about. I went to a local boxing gym last night that I didn't even know existed until my Photojournalism instructor Cade White made a comment about a boxing gym in town. I talked to the owner, Geno, and he agreed to let me shoot some photos, and it looks like he is going to get me in free to a boxing tournament he is holding in town on March 17 or 18. The gym is non-profit, Geno does this out of his love for the sport and for kids. Ages at the gym range from middle school age kids to college students, some from my own school. Here are the images:

These are the shots I took with my Canon digital camera, I mainly used my Leica rangefinder camera and a 50m lens. I will upload those photos when I have processed them (I ran out of fixer at 11:00 last night, so whenever I can find some more of that in town) . I really liked working with the Leica, it is unobrusive and allowed me to get close to some of the guys. Later, after I felt that I had become part of the backgroud to most of the boxers, I went to my truck and grabbed the 1D digital with 28mm lens (angle of view of a 35mm lens on my camera) for some wider shots. Some of the shots have some blur to them which was intentional. I could have boosted the ISO higher (I was already at 1250) but chose to work with sutter speeds between 1/15 and 1/60. I wanted to convey the sense of motion and activity of these boxers training. I will be going back a couple nights next week and hope after some time the guys will get used to me being there.

Words of Wisdom

2006-02-09T21:02:00.000-06:00

I thought I would share the words of Henri Cartier-Bresson from his book entitled "The World of Henri Cartier-Bresson." Here are a few quotes I thought my classmates and anyone else interested in photography might enjoy:

"Photography is an instantaneous operation, both sensory and intellectual-an expression of the world in visual terms, and also a perpetual quest and interrogation. It is at one and the same time the recognition of a fact in a fraction of a second and the rigorous arrangement of the forms visually percieved which give to that fact expression and significance."

" We must place ourselves and our camera in the right relationship with the subject, and it is in fitting the latter into the frame of the viewfinder that the problems of composition begin. This recognition, in real life, of a rhythm of surfaces, lines, and values is for me the essence of photography; composition should be a constant preoccupation, being a simultaneous coalition-an organic coordination of visual elements. Composition does not just happen; there must be a need for expression, and a substance cannot be divorced from form."

"Reality offers us a rich abundance that we have to simplify, to make a selection, but do we always choose rightly? In the course of our work we have to attain a certain discipline, an awareness of what we are about."

"In this type of photography one comes to count the strokes, rather like an umpire, but one is, alas, always an intruder. Approach the subject on tiptoe, even if it is a still life. Let your steps be velvet but your eye keen; a good fisherman does not stir up the water before he starts to fish"

I could probably post several more here, but I do not want to get carried away. I really like the one about composition; it strikes me deep down as a photographer. I may be a "photo nerd" but I feel that photography is an inseperable part of me. The times when I take the best photographs come when I feel the camera is a natural extension of myself. I "see" through the 35mm lens or the 50mm lens even when I am not holding the camera. The way I got to that point was by shooting everyday, and when I began to stop that practice I lost much of that. I really want to get back to that point this semester, I know that I can create better compositions, I just have to connect with myself. Well, that is enough rambling for one evening. I hope someone else finds some inspiration from the Cartier-Bresson quotes.

Macro photos

2006-02-08T22:59:00.000-06:00

While we were in the hospital, the shower head dripped constantly. I could hear it as I lay on my miserable little chair that turned into a bed (smallest "bed" I've ever seen. During a fit of boredom, I took my camera and flash into the small white stall to photograph the shower head and water drops, hoping that might help me cope with the problem. It worked out really well, and you can see the grime built up on the shower head and the sink spout as well. Yeah, what's with that? It's a hospital, it's supposed to be clean and they are growing algae on the shower head. I went home for my shower the next day.

I have always loved Macro photography, and this was a fun way to pass a few minutes. My wife was a little concerned when she saw the light flasing from the bathroom constantly, but I reassured her it was just a photographer wasting time. I like the first one, though both of the water drop ones have shallow depth of field. the faucett one in particular should have both the faucett and water in focus. I was afraid to stop down any more than F/8 and working at that close a distance with a long lens (I used the canon 100 f/2.8 macro lens) depth of field is always and issue. I will get back to the sports and news for the coming week and plan on posting more than once a week if possible.

Photojournal: Week 3

2006-02-07T19:54:00.000-06:00

Well, the big event for me this weekend was the birth of my son Atticus Tate Rhodes. He is my second child, and my wife and I couldn't be happier right now (although we definately could have more sleep). This week will be photos of him since I spent most of my time in the hospital with my family. Here are the pictures of him, they begin with a couple from right after he was delivered.

This next photo is of my wife Maria later that night. She had delivered him via Cesarean after many hours of waiting for nature to take it's course for a natural birth and was very sore and groggy from the drugs. Normaly I wouldn't have taken a photo under those circumstances, but as I look at the photo I remember how worried I was about her and how hard the day had been on her.

The next two photos are one of Maria with Atticus and a shot of me with him.

Photojournal: week 2

2006-02-01T14:20:00.000-06:00

This is a better speaker shot than last week I believe. Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter who has covered several big big KKK killings.

These are some baseball shots from practice on Tuesday. I tried to be a little different with the close-up of the ball and the out-of-focus players in the background. I really want to shoot sports with a "new eye". Not just looking for the peak action.

Here are some photos of the Women's basketball team. I tried shooting from the stands with our paper's 300mm lens. I liked that much better than being on the floor. Again, I need to work on finding some better angles to work from.

I liked this photo mainly because it was a silhouette; Silhouette's seem to be one of my favorite types of photos to shoot, I am not sure why but they seem to create drama when used properly. There was a major street on the behind me, so that's why I thought the silhouette might work better instead of a shot with an ugly background.

Photojournal: Week 1

2006-01-24T20:46:00.000-06:00

Leading off this week is a photo from the ACU Women's Basketball game from Saturday, January 21. I am not so sure that I really like this shot, but what I do like about it is that I shot it with a wide angle lens from under the net. Usually I shoot Basketball with a telephoto lens (anywhere between 100mm and 200mm) but I decided to change things up a bit for a while Saturday and used my 28mm lens to get this shot. I have been feeling that my sports photos from the past few events I have been at have become stale and boring. I don't want to constantly be shooting the same peak action shots over and over. Also, I may stop using my motor drive so much, I think that I used to get better shots when I had only one chance to get what I wanted. My sense of timing was better. The next Picture is from the men's game and was also shot with a 28mm lens:

Aside from sports action I also had a chance to shoot for the local paper here on Monday, the Abilene Reporter News. Former State Rep. Charlie Stenholm was being honored by the local Boy Scouts Council. I was excited to get the call, as this was my first assignment for the paper. I hope that maybe some more will come my way. The first photo is the one they ran, it is really a "formula" or "safety" shot. It's not particulary interesting, but it is a photo of the main subject of a story. The next is one that I like a little more, with the former Representative shaking the hand of one of the scouts. This photo tells more about Stenholm's relationship with the Scouts, but lacks visual punch.

Since the requirements for this journal are pretty open, from time to time I might add a shot or two of my little daughter Grace Anne. Here is one of her looking at me after we have just had a fight over the remote control:

Hello

2006-01-20T15:24:00.000-06:00

My name is Gary Rhodes, and I am a photojournalism student at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. This blog is a journal of sorts for a photojournalism class I am currently taking. I will be posting photos here weekly for peer review in class, although any critique is helpful.
Gary Rhodes