October 14, 2008
I’ve fallen behind terribly when it comes to posting stuff that’s been published in the paper. This weekend I uploaded a bunch of images and will get around to putting them up here, maybe.
This dude reminded me of Daniel Day Lewis’ character in “There Will Be Blood.” I know he didn’t play the preacher man, but the facial hair really made me think. If he had mentioned a milk shake, I would have bolted.
Hmmm.
Some church services end with pie and coffee. Some end with throwing a 400-lb. calf to the ground and tying its legs together. And, it’s fun for the whole family!
Posted in Abilene, Assignments, ClipFile, Life, Photojournalism, Published, Reporter-News, Texas 
| 2 Comments » |
October 13, 2008
A few weeks ago I got a call from an editor, to see if I could shoot a story at a local hospital. The assignment was to cover a new diagnostic tool used for premature babies, and the focus of the story would be on the therapist performing the test. The story was for a big pull-out section on Health.
I went to the hospital, got to scrub in and put on this awesome gown, and was escorted into the NICU. I met the parents, and was then introduced to these tiny, beautiful little twins. Antonio and Alana were born about eight weeks early. Antonio was about 3.5lbs, and Alana weighed in at a dainty 2 lbs. 6 ounces. I had never seen a baby that small.
The family was very gracious and warm, and I hope to see them again once they get the babies home. It is always an honor to be allowed access into people’s lives, and I hope these images show the family and this episode from their lives with dignity and respect.
Posted in Abilene, Assignments, Black and White, ClipFile, Kids, Life, Photojournalism, Published | 7 Comments » |
October 12, 2008
Published in the Abilene Reporter-News- October 12, 2008
Posted in Abilene, Assignments, ClipFile, Photojournalism, Reporter-News, Texas | No Comments » |
October 11, 2008
Last Saturday I got to go shoot a big fish-fry here in town. They had more than 20 large vats of boiling oil to cook over 2500 pounds of fish and chicken, and the gas lines that fed them looked interesting to me.
So, I took a photo of them, and now I am posting that photo here. And now you are looking at it.
Posted in Assignments, Black and White, Random | No Comments » |
October 9, 2008
“Photographers go to the extreme edges of human experience to show people what’s going on. They believe your opinions and your influence matter. They aim their pictures at your best instincts: generosity, a sense of right and wrong, the ability and the willingness to identify with others, the refusal to accept the unacceptable“- James Nachtwey
Images © James Nachtwey
Seeing these pictures…
It makes me want to sell all my gear and never take another photograph, because I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do something as meaningful and life-changing with my work.
And it makes me want to work harder than ever to try to attain even a fraction of Nachtwey’s ability to tell human stories in a compelling way, and to use my photography to actually help people.
Posted in Black and White, Life, Links, Photojournalism | 4 Comments » |
October 4, 2008
This morning, one of my four assignments took me to St. Francis Catholic Church to cover their Pet Blessing. To commemorate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the local priest offers to bless animals and their owners. Also, there is a car show.
Father Thirumangalam, a Spanish-spreaking priest from India, sprinkles holy water on a cat in a bag. The cat was less than thrilled.
I hope the animals don’t have to be looking AT the priest for the blessing to work.
Sociedad Guadelupanas: they served up some delicious hibiscus (jamaica) agua fresca.
I think this entrant in the “lo-rider” category was trying to sway the judges.
Posted in Abilene, Assignments, Black and White, Photojournalism, Random | 1 Comment » |
October 1, 2008
We are now two days away from the unveiling of the major story that James Nachtwey used his TED Prize from 2007 to cover. I don’t have any idea about the nature of the story, but I trust it will be timely, impressive, beautifully covered, and powerful.
Click the image above to find out places near you where you can go observe this story unfold.
Posted in Links, Photojournalism, Resources | 1 Comment » |
September 27, 2008
A shot from an assignment this morning. I love getting close to objects with my wide-angle lens, because it lets me make that thing or person the center of attention, but also includes plenty of context. I just like the feeling this one gives of standing on stage, with no audience. The possibilities…
Posted in Abilene, Black and White, DOF | No Comments » |
September 20, 2008
I was processing images from an assignment this morning, when I came across this shot of a woman with three arms.
I was wondering what was going on when I remembered reading this article at T.O.P. the other day.
I cropped this severely to show the “three arms,” but the original shows a woman walking behind this couple. This woman only has two arms, her left one holding the bottle of water, and the phantom arm behind her belongs to another person.
Not very exciting, but I thought I would share…
Posted in Abilene, Random | No Comments » |
September 19, 2008
It’s Friday.
The ARN has a nice feature about the Cowboy Church revival from Wednesday night. I was a little surprised to see one of the shots from the church on the front page, about 3 columns wide and half a page tall, since I was told the article would run in the “Life” section. On the front page of the Life section, though, were four more shots, in a very nice layout. Designers can really make your stuff look good, or not. The online version isn’t as pretty, but if you’d like to take a glance inside the world of cowboy church revivals, there’s a photo gallery there.
Also, every week, VFXY puts together a “Weekly Theme,” where people can submit photos, which are then displayed on one big page. It’s a great way to start your Friday morning, looking over hundreds of beautiful images…it’s how I find a lot of new photoblogs and websites. Check it out here (this week’s theme is “Sunsets”).
In a similar vein, PhotoFriday is a “weekly challenge” site. I don’t think there are any prizes or anything, but it’s another site where a lot of photos are posted around a particular theme, but they’re usually a little more nebulous, and open to a bit more “interpretation.”
Now, go check out these sites, have a little fun, and go out and shoot something this weekend!
Posted in ClipFile, Links, Reporter-News | No Comments » |
