pardon me for venting...

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

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...

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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...

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

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)

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

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

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

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)