Hector P. Garcia Day

It's not really a surprise to me, but apparently there is a lot I don't know about Hispanic History in Texas. But in his home town of Corpus Christi, Texas, Dr. Hector P. Garcia is a big deal.
The late Mexican-American civil rights leaders was celebrated today in the first state-wide Dr. Hector P. Garcia Holiday. From what I gathered, Garcia lead the way for Mexican American veterans, and was a big advocate for Hispanics and education. These were from a local elementary school's assembly. Photo wise, that meant tons of color and cute kids wearing little paper G.I. hats.
And I just loved this guy. Johnny Canales, the flashy Tejano star of the Spanish-language "Johnny Canales Show," hosted a banquet for the American G.I. Forum. I wanted to get photos of the guy before the event stated, but when I lifted my camera to take a photo he declined. "Wait til I put on my jacket," he said. I was a little turned off, until I saw the jacket. Best jacket ever.

High Society

OK, so the new job is great and all, but there is one aspect that I'll admit I'm less than thrilled about. Society events. I didn't have to shoot them at my last newspaper, so it's a bit new and weird to me.

It's not that I mind going to these events, but I feel kinda dirty taking "party pics" and shooting the grip and grins they want for the society section. But I do always enjoy shooting famous people.

Above is Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight, standing near palm trees that I am still fascinated by and include in just about every outdoor photo I take. Below, legendary NASCAR driver Terry Labonte. I didn't really know who he was until today. They showed me an archive photo of him before I left. In the photo he had a mustache, so naturally I didn't recognize him and had to have someone point him out once I got to the party. I'll never make it as a paparazzi, apparently.

And Ronald McDonald totally ruined my photo. I saw this shot about to happen and rushed into position. Unfortunately as soon as I lifted my camera, Ronald went from sitting like a normal human being, to putting his feet up on the table and staring right at me. As if that wasn't enough, he refused to break character when I went to get the clown's name. After a series of questions that went no where I finally asked if he was from around here.

"No, they flew me in especially for this," he said excitedly. From where, I inquired, thinking he was finally going to give me a real answer. Ronald paused, then said very matter-of-factly "McDonanldland, of course." A mischievous smile beamed from his face. I give up, I thought, and walked away.

9/11 Prayers

There was a lot of praying going on by the bay today. I went out thinking it was a Sept. 11 memorial service, but it was actually a Sept. 11 prayer gathering. A small distinction, I suppose, but it made for different photos than I expected. Less flags and tears, more prayer and praise. Here are some of the photos I came up with.

Football

I was jazzed about the great light at the start of the football game. Then I remembered that football games start at 7:30, not 7 like in Northwest Arkansas. It also didn't help that the offense started out heading away from the sun, making them back lit until the sun finally went down.

Auditions

(Above) Alex Gonzalez waits outside the audition room Thursday during tryouts for the Gulf Coast Children's Choir at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. (Right) Ouida Richardson strikes a note on the piano during Alex's audition.

There wasn't a lot to be seen at the children's choir auditions tonight, but I liked the top photo of the kid waiting outside the audition room. While the page designer didn't disagree, there was a consensus that the photo didn't say enough about what was going on. Even when paired with the random hand/keyboard detail shot it was still "confusing." I can see that. So in its place, another photo will lead the local section tomorrow. Here, though, no one can stand in the way of my odd photo pairings and questionable judgement calls.

Current Mood: RED

I'm not sure what that means.

Friday Night in Texas

It's a lot like Friday night in Arkansas, but with better players, bands and cheerleaders (yes I said it). I can't say I was looking forward to it, but I actually really enjoyed shooting my first night of high school football.
I do love the marching bands.Stalking cheerleaders
And there was a game as well

Once I got over the initial shock of "Oh my God I forgot how to shoot football!" I did OK. Hopefully next week I will turn in some great action rather than just the action that was in focus.

By the way, over on Digital Light, Brian Cassella has a great series of football player portraits called Beyond the Game. Definitely check it out.

By the way

I also shot kids and puppies today, too.

MIA Culpa

I need to work on my aim, apparently. A shot from the island, of some guy detecting metal on the beach. Its like every other metal-detector-guy photo I've shot, except it's on the beach, making it 87% more awesome. At right is the photo I did turn in. I don't like it as much because the guy is dead centered and has an awkward look on his face. Doesn't matter anyway. The photo won't get used because I got pwned by another photographer who shot a much better piece of beach weather art. My fault. I'll get it next time.

It's been a while since I blogged some tunes, I've noticed. Can't have that. All that ACL music isn't going to listen to itself.

I finally got my hands on the new M.I.A. CD the other day, and it is insane. The London-born rapper/singer is on the lineup for the ACL music festival next month, and I am super excited. Her songs have chaotic and pounding beats that overwhelmed me at first. But the second song on the CD, "Bird flu," quickly blew me away. Yes, that does sound like a squawking chicken. So fantastic.

Bird Flu.mp3 by M.I.A.
Jimmy.mp3 by M.I.A.

Waiting

at Whataburger Field. They are waiting for baseball player autographs. I'm waiting for the game to start. And so our worlds collide.

Eye Witness

You're going to have to bear with me. I will probably be posting a lot of silhouetted people/palm trees in front of the bay/beach in the coming weeks. At least until it gets old to me.Today I was really surprised. I fully expected to get horribly boring photos from the Jehovah's Witness convention I had to shoot today. Just a pit stop on my way to the cool Anime Convention down the street, I thought. I ended up liking these much more than what I got from the Anime-niacs.


I was expecting the full praise and worship, Southern Baptist kind of scene. But everyone was quite solemn. The only emotion I got came from a few of the Baptism candidates who teared up during a prayer before their dip in the pool. It was also all in Spanish, so sadly I was kind of lost. Also sad, I think I need to practice pronouncing my name correctly. Not "Zu-more-a," but "Sza-mod-a."

On The Bayfront

Today was my first day on the new job, and I have yet to get an assignment. So after my dinner break I trotted on down to the Corpus Christi Bayfront for a quick look. I realize this is probably the equivalent of shooting photos at Murphy Park (if you are unfamiliar, Murphy Park in Springdale, Ark., is the big popular city park where photographers trade in tiny pieces of their souls for quick feature art). I figured I'd get it out of my system before the real shooting begins, hopefully tomorrow.

Moving On

Well, yesterday was my last day at The Morning News. I will now spend the next day and a half furiously packing and begin my trip from Fayetteville, Ark., down to my new job at the Caller-Times in Corpus Christi. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll have some hurricane photos to blog when I get down there.

For now, here are the last two assignments I shot on my last day of work. Above and left are photos from move-in day at the University of Arkansas.

These two are from the first day of class at a new private Catholic school. Since it was the first day teachers hadn't sent out media releases to parents. So other than the principal's kid and a few she knew about, the majority of the kids couldn't be identified.

I am looking forward to my new job, but I will definitely miss many of the people I have worked with over the last four years. Your friendship and inspiring work has been greatly appreciated. I wish you all the best.

Demolition Man I Think...

You find interesting people at the demolition derby. Throughout the night I kept getting that song from "Team America: World Police" stuck in my head, especially hanging around this 9/11 inspired car.

"America, F**k Yeah!"

Dairy Farmer

A couple of photos from out on the farm this morning. I was slightly enamored with this little kid. He was so into the whole dairy farming thing and had the funniest little southern accent. He lives on the family's dairy farm, and unlike his older brother, he's already decided he wants to take over the family business. He's 11 years old and he's already decided what he wants to do for the rest of his life.


The morning had an uneasy ending though. When the mom on the farm asked me when the story was running, I checked my assignment and read the date: August 19. That also happens to be the day I will leave Fayetteville, maybe forever. For those you don't know, I have taken a job at the Caller-Times in Corpus Christi, Texas. Sure I'm excited, but I'm also nervous. Leaving the place that has become my home over the last four years was a tough decision, which I really haven't had time to think about in the last few weeks.

But today it hit me. Everything is about to change.

Cue the sweeping music with melancholic undertones...

Drifters.mp3 by Patrick Watson
Luscious Life.mp3 by Patrick Watson


(FYI: I had a mini-obsession with Patrick Watson for a few weeks. Then I actually bought the album and I realized I wasn't so crazy about Patrick Watson. The indie Canadian crooner's CD came out last September up north, but has yet to be released in the U.S. It's got several good songs, I suppose. If I listen to the whole CD, though, the feelings of forlornness make me want to shoot myself in the face.)