Texas Southern vs. Grambling
Shot for The News-Star
Chennault:
Got to spend the beginning part of the afternoon at Chennault Golf Course…
One last post for today…. my catch up blogging day!
I went out to check on a wreck on I-20 today, usually they are semi-bad. This one wasnt, and the fire truck that responded to the scene saw some smoke down the road a bit and decided to check it out… I followed. Turns out there were three grass fires along the road. These fires can be caused by the sun, a spark from a rock throw by a tire or a cigarette. It was a nice way to end my day, with a little bit of suprise art instead of a boring wreck. Shout-out to all the Ouachita Parish Firemen and the Troopers that got the fires under control.
I got to chase around an athlete yesterday, while he finished his training for the Iron Man Triathlon in Florida this weekend. Best of luck, I could barely keep up with him in a car….
Medal of Honor recipient Sammy Davis spoke to West Ridge Middle School about patriotism as Veteran’s Day is approaching fast. It was great to hear such a courageous person speak. I lucked out with him turning around (as I was behind him) and caught him saluting the other side of the room.
Read the full story by Amritha Alladi on the News-Star here.
I was called in a few days ago to take a portrait of a woman that had a heart transplant fifteen years ago. At first I was excited then, I realized that its might not be as exciting as I imagined (I try to pre-visualize images and tend to trump up the details in my mind- I was thinking post-op scars..etc…).
As it turned out, the story was less about the actual transplant and more about the relationship of the donor’s family and the recipient. The donor was a 17 year-old boy and the recipient a 50ish year-old grandmother, Marilyn Thorn. The donor’s mother and Marilyn are friends today, keep in touch and visit together just like family members.
It was great to sit and listen to Marilyn’s view on life and how she lives an encouraging life even after going through so much.
Read the full story on The News-Star by Sarah Eddington here.
Angela:
It is always a privilege to shoot other photographers, especially when they are as comfortable in-front-of as well as behind the lens. Angela needed some updated shots of herself and gave me a call. Check out her work here. The shoot was great fun, a time of catching up, laughing and making a few images. Here are a few from the shoot.
Bobby’s Idle Hour:
So here is the video I have been working on. A few hours of shooting and hanging out with some really great down to earth people resulted in this. Had some audio issues but turned out pretty good, for showing up at a bar with no story or source.
quick sequence try after getting issued our gear on Tuesday…
Impressed:
Ok, so I have a lot of blogging to catch up on and it will prob be in a jumbled order since I’m doing this while my movie files convert…
I have been shooting DSLR video in Nashville. I was issued a Canon 7D, a Rhode Shotgun mic and a Sennheiser wireless mic system. I have briefly used a 7D and a 5D before, but never to this this extent. I was shooting in a very dark dive bar and was pushing the ISO of the 7D to the max both in shooting video and stills. I was skeptical but have learned that a noisy image is better than none at all. I have to say I have been so impressed with the 7D and have a new found respect for it. I was shooting with I was a 16-35 f/2.8 L and a 24-105 f/4 L and at 6400 ISO most of the time. All the images above (except the first Iphone photo) were shot at 6400 ISO with a 24-105 f/4 L on the 7D.
#fall #fashion in #Monroe: I have to say, my job is spontaneous… and I like that aspect of it. I have no idea what assignments I will shoot when I walk in the door. One day I’m at a murder scene and the next I’m going around to boutiques for fall fashion shots. I shot at two different stores today, Signatures by Linda and Her Toggery. I left my Canon Mark IIN in the car for these, clicked a 85mm f/1.8 on the Nikon and rolled out to the first shoot within 30 minutes of walking in the door… (also in those 30 minutes I locked my keys in my car and had to call AAA). Let’s get one thing straight… I did not have anything to do with the clothing choices… and the “models” were employees… Yeah. I shot wide open for most of the shots and had to use the outside walls of the shops (both were nowhere near anything better) so I know they are a tad redundant. I shoot men’s fashion tomorrow ( if nothing changes - which is rare) and am hoping to try something a little different…
Who Dat:
Today I shot my first NFL game. Thats two down (NBA, NFL) guess I will have to hit up a MLB game next… The Houston Texans vs. the New Orleans Saints ended with a score of 40-33, Saints taking home the win and a exciting 4th quarter. This was probably the most I have ever enjoyed shooting a sporting event. The energy in the Superdome was crazy, fans of both teams were entertaining. It took a bit of getting used to the faster paced but action packed plays but everything seemed to click in the second half. After the game I was trying to get the players interacting with the fans and turning around Brees was coming straight at me. Drew tried to “juke” me when he was running into the tunnel but I think I came out with a decent shot.
Alma mater:
Last Saturday, I shot my first Louisiana Tech game post graduation. It felt different. I wasn’t shooting for a Tech publication. As a matter of fact, I was mostly shooting the University of Houston for the Associated Press.
This time I couldn’t wear my “relaxation pants,” an old v-neck and a backwards Tech hat. Even though no one would have cared if I wore my Tech hat, I left it in the car…
I shot the game, left early to make deadline and promptly forgot about it because I was in weekend mode.
Today I saw that my images made it into several large newspapers including The Houston Chronicle, The San Francisco Examiner and The Austin Statesman. Thanks to my great friend Johnny, I was able to see my name in print and not just online.
While this is a routine happening when you work for Gannett, its always encouraging to see my work leave Monroe.
On the Water:
I had been waiting to try out this idea of doing a photoshoot not in, but on the the water. So I called up a few friends, made a few trips to Goodwill, got a few cinderblocks and found a “closed” beach. Amber was great, never complaining even when I made he wear these awful yellow heels. The Cody Bryant was on hand to help and take a few shots of his own. Unfortunately the sun was hidden most of the shoot and just as we were getting kicked out/leaving the sun decided to show its wonderful golden self and a rainbow appeared on the opposite horizon. In all a fun shoot, learned that cinderblocks are a LOT heavier when wet and came out with some cool shots. Also I have to add that the huge awesome folding fan was a $4 awesome thrift store find!
Star Trails:
I was inspired by TimeScapes by Tom Lowe and decided to try something way lower tech and with a lot less gear…
I have to say… not to shabby for a first try! I think the foreground was a bit blurry do to a bit of user error and because a lot of unexpected car traffic that made the bridge I was on bounce…
OH snap… saw someone else’s lightroom have a personal logo in the upper left… had to make one real quick… geez I wish I was a graphic designer as well.
I feel like Vincent:
Last Saturday, ULM and the News-Star footed the bill for three hours of flying time in order to get some aerial shots of ULM’s stadiums during the I-20 Classic. I of course made sure I was the photographer on that plane. As soon as I got the A-OK I started looking at different techniques and went to one of my fav’s Vincent Laforet.
The stadium images won’t be posted on here until I give them to ULM, but here is a shot that I thought was pretty cool… reminded me of a way less cool nature version of Laforet’s “Me and my Human.”
He was there:
Story by Barbara Leader
Photo by Ben Corda
Active duty Marines Crystal and Andy Stephenson, a young married couple were both working on Sept. 11, 2001 — one in New York and one in South Carolina — when time stopped and the world changed.
Andy, a military bomb dog handler from Rayville, and Crystal, who is from Pennsylvania, were stationed in South Carolina but Andy was on loan to the United States Secret Service. He was working in New York City on an advance team for the United Nations General Assembly. His base of operations was the World Trade Center, towers 7 and 2 somewhere around the 85th floor. Tower 2 was the second tower hit by a hijacked aircraft shortly after 9 a.m. Sept. 11. Andy was to be at work at 9 a.m., but something that he says still defies explanation delayed his arrival. "It was 8:15 or 8:20, and I decided to take Sheila (his bomb detecting dog) down to Central Park, the only patch of grass we could find in New York City," he said. Sheila was a highly trained bomb detection dog who easily responded to hand and voice commands. But, when Andy decided to go back to the hotel, Sheila refused to come. "She was chasing pigeons, she wouldn’t come when I called her," he said. "She would lay down, and when I would try to get close to her, she would take off running. Here I was, someone who was supposed to be able to control his dog and I couldn’t. I felt like a fool. Thank goodness I wasn’t in uniform." For 15 minutes, Andy chased and coerced Sheila before gaining control and returning to the hotel. "I don’t know what happened," he said. "She’s never acted that way before, and she never acted that way again." At the hotel, he met up with three other Marines and left to catch the E train to the subway stop at the World Trade Mart. They missed the train and had to wait another seven minutes for the next. Meanwhile, Crystal heard about a plane crashing into the first tower of the World Trade Center through a phone call from Andy’s sister who didn’t know Andy was in New York. “I said, ‘Andy’s there’ and I hung up,” Crystal said. “Right then, Andy called.” Andy had emerged from the subway to find one of the towers burning. Like many others, it took him a few seconds to realize the magnitude of what had happened. When he did, he immediately called Crystal to let her know he was not in the building and that he was OK. Crystal was six months pregnant with their daughter. "You could hear the fear in her voice," Andy said. The whole scenario unfolded as Andy watched. He saw children being led from a day care center hand in hand away from the World Trade Center area. He was watching what he thought was paper falling out of the tower when he realized it was much worse. "It was actually people jumping out, hand in hand," he said. While the couple was on the phone, another plane hit the second tower and they lost their phone connection. "I actually fell down, and somebody caught me," Crystal said. "My knees got weak." Crystal went to her office to watch television with her co-workers. She feared that Andy had gone into the tower to help with the rescue effort. "I remember everybody turned around and looked at me," she said. "I must have been crying hysterically, someone said: ‘Get her out of here.’" Crystal said she asked to go home where she could be near her home phone and her cell phone. "I watched the towers fall," she said. "I watched one fall and then I watched the other fall. All I could think about was how I was going to have to be able to explain to our daughter who her father was." Hours passed before she reconnected with Andy. In New York City, Andy offered his assistance but was moved away from the scene with others in the effort to evacuate the area. As he left the area, he stopped to buy a disposable camera to capture the scene. He posed with his fellow Marine, Sgt. Christian Blue, as the towers burned in the background. During the days that followed, Andy was called to work with Sheila to secure areas for visits by former President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. "What I’ll always remember about that day is that after a city was humbled and brought to its knees, there was this huge sense of togetherness and patriotism," Andy said. Less than a month later, Andy and Crystal, impacted by the events of Sept. 11, re-enlisted in the Marines for another four years. Crystal is a member of the National Guard and has served a tour of duty in Iraq. Andy is a Louisiana State Police trooper on patrol with his narcotic detecting dog, Senda. "I believe some people are meant for the military and some aren’t," Crystal said. "Some can bear the weight and some can’t. Those of us that can, should … and we did."
Between all my assignments today, 9/11 portraits, the governor and WMHS, I liked this one the best… Ran into Andrew Miles across from the office, and he is proud to be an American.
Adventure-ing:
This past Monday was Labor Day, but to me it was just my usual Monday off day, with one exception - the weather was phenomenal!! After blazing heat and drizzling rain, the crisp fresh air with just the right amount of sunlight was exactly what I needed to jump start my adventure-ism.
I threw some odds and ends in my car… a tent, rope, swim trunks, a hunting knife, too much camera gear and some pretzels, rolled down my windows, slid a scratched Ataris CD in my stereo and set out north, not knowing or caring where I ended up.
I stopped by one of my favorite places in Monroe, Black Bayou, and saw an alligator. Not an uncommon sight out there, but this little guy was fairly close and was worth laying down on the dock with my iphone outstretched over the water. At this point I should say that this day adventure soon became driven by iphone photography… as a new iphone user and a photographer, I have embraced the remarkably good camera, cliche filters and the ease of dispersing the images all over the internet. All of the above images were taken with my iphone and the square ones were edited with the popular Instagram application.
I got back on the road for a bit and realized I was headed to Mer Rouge and recalled that my boss (who I also ran into a Black Bayou) had told me of a great ice cream place there.
After a delicious vanilla cone, I kept driving, made a quick loop into Arkansas to snap about 20 more Instagrams, lock my keys in my car at a gas station and then head south back to Monroe via a creepy, ghost-haunted dirt road.
All in all, a good adventure.