juggling

Students and teachers throw the word "juggle" around like the word originally meant "multitask"... I thought it was ironic when I found a pair of jugglers in the University of Arkansas bus depot, practicing. Fayetteville jugglers Galen Harp and Ella Winters came here because it had "high ceilings, air conditioning and 24-hour access," Winters said. They can also be found at www.jugglology.com.

wild art / bugs?

Out in Elkins, Arkansas there's a lot of wildlife. I've seen speckled (or spotted) owls, whitetailed deer, and more snakes that I care for. I spend half my time trying to get rid of most insects since they are either trying to chew away my house or get inside it so they can fly into my lips. "Patooie! Gross!" is heard once every night.

But yesterday, as I was driving to the grocery store, I noticed an odd shape on the emblem of my car. I drive a 1980 Pontiac Bonneville, aptly nicknamed "Yui" (think: U-Turns) because of it's graceful handling. When I arrived to the store, the bug was still clinging firmly onto my car, and I realized it was a praying mantis. The joyride had frazzled it so much that it was swiping at the air with its little retractable arms. So what did I do? Got my camera, of course, and practice a form of macro photography that Y taught me when I used to help him with weddings.

The thing about a Praying Mantis is that it can remain very still and chameleon itself with its environment--a perfect test bug. This was my best shot before the thing swiped at my lens and bolted--leaving me to shriek like a girl, coddling my abused lens.

a few more...

After a rapid-moving thunderstorm passed through Northwest Arkansas, Fayetteville and several other towns witness the felling of several giants. This house, just off Arkansas Avenue, shows how closely the storm came to the University of Arkansas campus. Luckily, the main campus was unaffected.

This is another photo from last night. At twilight, I saw a lot of couples taking strolls around campus (corny, I know) but I decided to look for a good romantic scene. The peace fountain was abandoned except for this couple relaxing on the encircling stone situpon. This is a rare situation when three different light temperatures converge to make a nice photo-- flourescent from the fountain, tungsten from the sidewalk lamp, and daylight from the evening sky.

An addition photo from last night's pep rally rehearsal. I meant to put this up last night, but I was just too tired! The curves do it best for me. Curves from the stage, that is!

This was a little scene I found today inside the Arkansas Union on campus. I'm not sure why, but several students sitting in the corner decided to inflate their umbrellas while they chilled on the couches. I thought this was a funny way to protest the current weather we've been having-- but it looks like they were having fun!


Also, my first photo from the internship ended up on the www.ladybacks.com website. It is a photo of the volleyball team standing hand-in-hand during the national anthem. That's all for now. Two more days of the first week. Hopefully I'll have more tomorrow.

Mahalo!

When working is its own reward...

After a long day of walking what seemed like miles from building to building, assignment to assignment, class to class, I came upon this scene just before making one last stop at the Traveler office. The Razorback Pom and Cheer teams were rehearsing their routine for Thursday's Pep Rally at the Chi Omega Greek Theatre. The symmetry, the light, the lines. It just all came together. Unfortunately, production was finished and our files were en route to press. Still worth keeping around, I think.

A weekly update from the trenches (or sidelines)

The Ladyback soccer team had their first game Friday night at 7 pm against Oral Roberts university. Our freshmen were put on display to show their moves, and they truly delivered-- but not without a little help from some of the veterans on the field. Below, Senior middle field Christina Burger wrangles the grip of an Oral Roberts defender as she dribbles downfield.


Following Saturday's orientation events, which included mug shots of several women's athletic sports, the volleyball team dressed out and presented an afternoon Alumni match. Outside hitter Denitza "Denny" Koleva furnished a .452 percentage with 16 kills during the match. Koleva was a threat to be reckoned with last year, and if the Ladybacks have much luck, the same will apply for 2006.


In other news, the first edition of the Traveler was released last Thursday, but it is hard to tell what people think of the new design. As usual, I did my fair share of photo assignments to help along with production. I even wrote a column to help fill space in the Opinion section. Fortunately, it was only a temporary gig. I was running low on printable opinions, anyway.

That's all for now. Hopefully I will have more to share on a current project that is in development.

Mohalo!

Summer Photos

Okay.. I might have gone a little overboard, but I just couldn't help it! First photo post and all... anyhow, these are my favorite images from my summer break.

SEC Outdoor Championship, Pole Vaulting.
I LOVE the sky in this photo. I am usually not a silhouette hunter, but I couldn't resist this chance.

This is an outtake from a project on the Eureka Springs Triathlon. After the race, I found some teenagers jumping into Lake Leatherwood from an old diving platform. I should have shot from an angle that shows the ladder a bit more clearly, but I think the shadow at the bottom is telling enough.

This fella from the ES Triathlon was happy to show off his injuries from battle. Luckily, the medics gave him a bandaid on his elbow.

Just before the race begins, the swimmers get into the zone by taking deep breaths and slowly exhaling. It sounded like a huge breathing apparatus.

A rider from Dallas Athletics goes through inventory at around 8:30 in the morning. Temperatures were already in the mid-90's by that time, so hydration was key.

Here's a couple from a local skate park. This shot was a little scary-- I laid flat at the edge of a ramp and let them jump over me.

As I was sitting down, chatting with some of the skateboarders about horrific injuries, I noticed this little scene in one of the halfpipe banks.

Another silhouette. Man... I guess I AM a silhouette hunter.

My good friend invited me to the Bentonville Hot Air Balloon Festival, or as most people call it, 'Balloon Fest". I had all the flame-lit night shots, so I decided to post something that said "family time".

Another outtake... this one is from the SEC Outdoor Track Championships. When I shot this photo, I already knew I wanted it in monochrome. It's a little cluttered, but I still like it.


Looking back, it's been a really great summer. I'm sure the fall is going to be crazy, but I'll make time to post here and there.

Mohalo

First blog

I don't have any photos to publish today, since this is the first blog I've ever published, so I will just say a few things about my day and about the first day of my internship (yesterday).

Tuesday, Aug. 08 - 2006

Today, we did mug shots of all 23 players on the soccer team, and a few random athletes from other sports in one of the lobbies at Barnhill Arena. I was impressed by Y's ability to find a clean background in an area that had so much reflective glass. Glass tends to scare me a bit when working with strobes or flash, but the photos turned out well-- Y cropped tight, and kept the poses simple and uniform. Some of the girls requested a second shot, which was a lot like pressing the >< button on an elevator.

After a lunch break, Y and I proceeded to the court to get a volleyball team photo with all the coaches and staff. That was over in less than 5 minutes. Actually, Y counted to 3 about 5 times, so I suppose it was actually 15 seconds. It was a good first day. While I didn't learn much, I did get a chance to see some of the Women's Athletics support staff in their natural habitats. Hopefully it will be a matter of time before I feel like I'm in my own natural habitat.

Today, Aug. 08 - 2006

Elly and I were finally able to get together this morning and go over some of the thoughts brewing in our heads lately. After speaking with her, I feel we're on the same page, and I have full faith in her leadership as Photo Editor. She has decided that my role as Chief Photographer will be to help the staffers with any technical problems, ideas, etc. I'm also somewhat of a coordinator for a photographer developing a package idea. It'll be nice to share some of the things I learned in my documentary courses.

When our Media Director, Steve, called the EiC and I into his office, I was expecting to hear everything Elly and I work on be dashed away by some kind of budgetary or beaurocratic limit-- but Steve was open to our ideas. We are currently working on a way to compensate photographers for photos published only to the website-- something that we have never actually done before (the compensate part, not posting photos). It was thrilling to get so much done today. I can't wait to set aside my writing pad with all the notes I've made in preparing the traveler for the next generation of photographers, policies, and new implimentations. I'm ready to shoot! Last year, I covered the campus resident halls "move-in day". I'll be covering it again this year, so it'll be a nice challenge to actually have a recurring story. It'll give me a chance to find a new angle.

I feel blessed that after only a year of working as a photographer, I've come this far with so much support. I have another goal--well, it's more of an effort-- but I want to give the new photographers the same kind of support and aid that I was given when I first started out.

As Robert Hanashiro would say--- Mohalo!