Never Stop Going Further
I really had a fun time during my Intro to Photojournalism class taught by Mr. Broekema my first semester as a student at Western Kentucky University. Most of the assignments were about using light and candid moments to make great pictures. I really liked the “round-table” type discussions we had on each other’s pictures, and I think it really left an impact on me. Our final project was to do a photo story on someone of our choosing, and produce a four page spread layout with our pictures. I spent a lot of time with John while he and the band prepared for their first actual live performance. It was my first endeavor working with InDesign and laying out pictures to flow in a methodical way. I think page designing is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to do more of it in the future. Click on the document above to see my finished story full screen. Thanks for reading.
Fore!
A few weeks ago I had a freelance assignment for the Daily News to cover a local golf tournament. Never before had I shot golf, but I’ve always wanted to try it out. I was really glad that the course gave me my own personal golf cart to use for the day, it really made getting around a lot easier. I certainly met some interesting characters that day. Golf is a pretty hard sport to follow, and it can be difficult to make a variety of creative pictures. Since then, I’ve been busy with assignments for The Herald, Western Kentucky University’s student run newspaper, a long with a lot of freelance work. I’ve got some fun blog posts to write, to share what all I’ve been up to this last week before college starts. More to come.
Charleston Sunrise
This past April I went to Panama City Beach in Florida with my friends over Spring Break. While we were raging our way through the nightclubs and the foam parties, I kept wondering how awesome it’d be to use that killer sunset and the ocean in some of pictures. Before that trip, I hadn’t been to the ocean in years, the last time being a vacation my parents and I went on a few years back when I was younger. Of course, because I was with my friends and we were on the move a lot, I knew I didn’t want to have any of my gear with me. When we left, I had always told myself I wanted to come back and do some really cool stuff that nobody back home would be able to do, since we don’t have a beach where we live.
Last week I wrote about my trip to South Carolina with Austin to shoot him and his friend Tyler working the new album, be sure and visit that post if you haven’t already. When I knew I’d be making a return to the ocean, I was really excited because I knew I’d finally be able do what I had wanted back in PCB. One morning we all got up really early and made the trip to the Isle of Palms just outside of Charleston to catch the beautiful sunrise. Just some guitars and great music on the beach. If you haven’t already, be sure and give Austin’s music a listen.
I’m going to be starting my first year as a photojournalism student at Western Kentucky University next month, and I’m really excited. It’s the greatest thing ever to have the best university for what you want to do, right in your back yard. I’ll have a lot to share after the first few weeks, more to come.
Friends Making Music
A couple of weeks ago, Austin invited me to fly out with him to Charleston, South Carolina. Along with life long friend Tyler Ezsol, who now lives in Charleston, they were about to finish his debut album, and wanted me to come and make some pictures of their week. For me, it was a work trip with a two of the coolest people anyone could have asked for. Whenever they weren’t busy writing or getting ready to record in the studio, we were either at the beach or checking out the cool shops downtown. For anyone that hasn’t visited Charleston, it’s an amazing little city. There are a lot of cool places to venture to and visit. It’s different from the other coastal cities people have been to, just because it’s not over-run with tourists. There really wasn’t a vacation feeling to the place, but more what you would see in your local hometown.
I had always known Austin had a thing for creating his own music, but I had no idea how far along he was with it. I’ve had friends in the past that had attempted to make their own music, but none of them has had the solid, consistent sound that Austin has in his music. If you have a chance, visit his website and listen to his tracks. The music that he now has out was recorded that day I was with them in the studio. They were working in the same studio where bands Needtobreathe, Band of Horses, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Citizen Cope all recorded their albums. Needless to say, I was giddy with excitement when I found this out. I had heard Austin and Tyler performing in the apartment in Charleston, but the finished recording sounds so much different and better. They really thanked Joey, the sound engineer for Charleston Sound where they recorded, for working his magic on Austin’s tracks and adding the necessary effects to really bring them home. At the end of the day, Austin, Tyler and I were each given a copy of the album. Something I’ll defiantly hold onto forever.
Spending that week in South Carolina with Austin and Tyler was defiantly one of the highlights of my summer so far. I love working, and especially with great people when we’re having fun. I really hope Austin’s music career takes off and that Tyler’s pursuits in becoming a youth minister do well. Soon I’ll be sharing the pictures that we made on the beach. We made a special trip early in the morning, just after 5am to catch the beautiful sunrise.
No Rest For The Wicked
I know I don’t tend to my blog as much as a should, or post as often as I should. I just finished my internship with the Daily News here in Bowling Green, and I’ve had the best time ever learning. It’s the greatest thing only having to be at school for half a day, and then spending the rest of the time doing what you love the most. I’ve got a blog post I’m working on sharing my favorite pictures and stories from the year. My friends and I have since graduated high school, and I’ve been busy traveling for fun trips to different music festivals like Bonnaroo and Forecastle, and watching my best friends leave town and go off to their colleges. This past week I flew to Charleston, South Carolina to work on a personal project. One of my best friends Austin “John” Hatfield is an up incoming musician and has just finished recording his debut EP “HELLO.”. It was so cool being there with him and our friend Tyler in the recording studio. It’s a lot of fun being able to see how the music we listen to everyday on our phones and iPods is engineered and produced. It was a lot of fun just hanging with Austin and Tyler and shooting them behind the scenes as they worked to produce the album. It was great that I had all of my gear and flashes to be used on the beach, and we made some really killer portraits to be used in promotional pieces later on. On the flight back I spent my time just going through the pictures, and just recently I’ve finished the edit to be shown. I’ll have a blog post soon on the week in Charleston and whats in store for Austin. Just wanted to write an update on what I’ve been doing the last few weeks this summer and the projects I’ve been working on. I’ll have more to come soon.
Big Hits
After football and basketball season is over with, I completely ignore the boring sport of baseball because the the ‘fastest sport on two feet’ has already started. Down here in Kentucky, lacrosse has never been that popular among smaller communities like Bowling Green. Greenwood was the first high school between Nashville and Louisville to have an actual lacrosse team. Last year they won the Division III State Championship, and have since moved to Division II. It was time for me to work on another photo story for the Daily News, and my editor thought it would be a great idea to do one on Greenwood’s team. Since I played on the team my sophomore year, I know everyone real well so it was easy for me to do what I wanted to do. The story ran three weeks later, so I spent a lot of time with the team, going to their practices and their first home game. Even though it’s been rough for them to start out the season, I think they might have a chance at returning to the state championship if they try hard enough.
All Creatures… Great and Small
The Daily News assigned me to choose a subject that I could do a photo story on. After a lot of going back and forth, trying to find something interesting that hadn’t been done before, I decided I want to do a story on a really veterinary hospital, All Creatures. It’s run by a husband and wife team, and has a really solid staff and an army of college interns. Really enjoyed spending a week with the bunch, watching what they do everyday. It was especially cool to watch a dog get spayed, and be a part of the surgery process. I really like working on more “long-term” photo projects like this, I think that’s where I get the best experience.
Cowboy Up
This past weekend the rodeo was in town, and I had a free Saturday night to be able to go. Talk about a wild culture (yeah, that was suppose to be a joke) surrounding the whole cowb0y community. Imagine getting tossed around by an animal that is at least 3 times your size, to win money. I think I’ll stick to my day-job.
Feature Swing
Been doing a lot of feature hunting lately as part of my co-op internship with the Daily News. Sometimes I really don’t like just driving around, hoping to come across something interesting. Most of the time, I prefer the moments that happen right when I’m already there, ready with my camera. But then sometimes, you come across every-day moments that you can make look really cool. Nikki, a two-time state championship golfer, makes it look easy.
Inked
My best friend Tyler finally officially became a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha (also know as “The Pikes”) fraternity at WKU. I’m glad all of his pledge stuff is over with, he’s defiantly going to have some killer stories to tell his kids about.
Strike
A couple of weeks ago all of the schools in Bowling Green had their first bowling match. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association recently declared bowling to be an official school sport, along with football and soccer and all of the other sports we’ve come to know and love (except for baseball, nobody loves baseball). When the official decision was made, I was actually dissapointed because I was looking forward to the possibility of a wrestling team starting in this town in our high schools. Either way, the first bowling match was actually really cool. It’s not like every other “sport” you shoot. I’m just waiting for later on in the season, when things get intense, and a coach flips out on an opposing team just like this scene in one of my favorite movies. More posts to come. Been a busy past two months.