Waiting For My Rocket

I shot one of those rocket launches last week, where I had so much fun I threw together a little audio slideshow.

Sometimes I kind of forget how cool these can be, the marriage of audio and stills. They can sometimes feel trite, formulaic or just another chore in the modern world of a newspaper photographer. But for people outside newsroom (you know, those readers we're suppose to serve) these still have an impact. I got a nice little note from an instructor telling me what a good job I did and how much the students are going to "treasure" the slide show. It really made my day. Who doesn't want their work to have an impact like that? Yeah, its not some stellar multimedia piece on poverty or anything, but that probably doesn't make it any less important to these kids.

Band and Cheeleaders

Viva Mexico

Just a couple of photos from a Mexican Independence Day celebration held last night at a local high school. As usual, I was drawn to the band.

Tuesday Night Lights

Another make up football game, and another creepy mascot.

Something about their absent stare gives me the willies. I ran into the female version of this Wildcat mascot eariler, and we had a brief stare-down contest. I couldn't look away until she lifted up too bells and started ringing them in my direction. It spooked me and I had to move on.

There was a nice little sunset towards the end of the first half. There was also about to be a touchdown. Should I shoot the play, or run over and shoot the nice light? Rather then shoot one well, I decided to shoot both sort of haphazardly. I thought this frame was nice though.

Monday Night Lights

Hurricane Ike canceled several games last Friday. Last night I shot one of the make-up games. It was kind of odd, and I swear the entire time that creepy Brahma mascot was staring me down.

The Hurricane That Wasn't

Yes, Ike was a very real hurricane, and for about two days last week it looked like it was going to be a very real disaster for Corpus Christi. And then things changed.


It had to hit somewhere, and unfortunately for the people in the Houston/Galveston/Surfside area, they lived in that somewhere. And while the infrared satellite images on CNN and The Weather Channel made it look like Ike was about to demolish the entire Texas coast, we didn't get a drop of rain down here.

It was about Tuesday night when the freak out began. The computer models were showing a Saturday landfall in Corpus Christi, Texas. I woke up the next day to the sounds of hammers and drills as neighbors put up boards and hurricane shutters. It was all a bit surreal.

My first assignment Wednesday was to go to Robstown, one of the evacuation pickup sites for people who needed help getting out of town. There wasn't a ton of people there, and several buses sat empty in the parking lot as evacuees trickled in. It made me nervous though. As a small group of people were tagged and lead onto the first bus, I pondered my own decision to stay and ride out the storm.






Next, I was sent out to hit up the gas stations and grocery stores. I was surprised how much food and supplies some people were buying. I had just put together my own little hurricane survival kit, which consisted of a variety of canned meats (ham, corned beef, fake spam), some crackers, cereal bars and some bottles of water. I just need enough to ride out the storm, I thought. I think in the back of my mind I figured that if I got hungry, I'd just go to Subway or something. I don't have the best survival skills, apparently.



The next day the hurricane was veering further and further north, but it was too late to stop the newsroom emergency train. By Thursday afternoon we were on voluntary hurricane staff and I was being sent to all sorts of random places looking for even more people preparing for the storm. Shoot video, get quotes, write copy. It was exhausting.



Friday came, and with it came the storm surge. The little effects that were felt in Corpus Christi were concentrated on the beaches and bayfronts. I was told to come in pretty late Friday. By then other photographer had been all over the beaches and the piers damaged by the high waves, so there was no reason for me to go. So I was sent to find some bay flooding. Oh, and shoot some more video while you're there, despite how un-thrilling this all is at this point. GO!


By nightfall there was no rain, and all the churning clouds in the sky did was provide a pretty cool sunset. This is as close to Ike as I was going to get.

Until Saturday, when I came face to face with evacuees from Houston. The ones that evacuated here were buying up all the generators and hurricane supplies that many people in Corpus Christi were returning. They were about to head to homes with no power, no food and water and possibly to no home at all. It was sobering. After Saturday my coverage of the hurricane and its affects would come to an end. I could go home and use my AC and cook on my stove and watch TV and return to normal. Yes, part of me is disappointed that I didn't get to cover a storm, but a lot of me is grateful we avoided all the devastation.

Good luck, Houston. Stay strong.

Wigging Out

I'll admit, I was a little shocked when I arrived at an Irish step dancing competition today. I think my initial reaction when I walked into the room was, 'What is wrong with all these people?'

The reason for my reaction sat right on top of every little girls head. Aside from the unusual, armless dancing, each female competitor wore a tightly curled wig on their head. It was so bizarre. However, it soon became my favorite thing about the competition. For the next few hours I obsessed over those wigs. They were fantastic. I ended up really enjoying this assignment. Man, I miss working Saturdays.



There's a few more (non-wig related) photos from the event here if you are interested.

Football Parade

There's only one thing I hate more than a slow-moving parade, I found out yesterday. And that's a really fast moving parade. Seriously, what's the rush?

I'm also not a fan of football booster moms. One conversation went something like this. Can you guess which team her son is on?

HER: Did you get a picture of the varsity team yet? They're right over here on this trailer.
ME: Oh, I haven't yet, no.
HER: Make sure you get the varsity team, that's why we're all here.
ME: I'll get them once the parade starts.
HER: What pictures have you taken already? Those other trailers don't have varsity teams. Did you take their picture, because you really need the varsity team.
ME: I haven't taken a single picture yet!"
HER: Well, make sure you get the varsity team."

It's gonna be a long football season.

Olympic Baseball

So here's a game you can play at home.

Last week I was very burned out on baseball. It was the last full week of the Hooks minor league season, and I was ready for it to all just go away. At the same time I was obsessively looking at Olympic photo blogs. I was astounded, sometimes jealous, yet always inspired. As I drove to yet another game, I thought, why don't you think of this as an Olympic venue? Go in with a fresh eye and shoot it like you've never been there before. The actually game was secondary, and the spectacle of the event became the focus. Here's some stuff I got (pretend they are all Chinese and the Olympic symbol is everywhere, it makes them better).









Yeah, I'm no Sol Neelman or Scott Strazzante (unless you count when he talked about missing the shot while shooting track and field), but it was fun. It definitely made the last few games of the season bearable. Until we meet again, Hooks.

Creative Differences

The best new comedy sweeping the nation premiered over the weekend. "Creative Differences," the short film me, my roommate Israel and our friend Phil made, had its debut at the Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project screening on Saturday. Watch it and tell me how great it is!

There were a couple of rules for the films.
1) The film had to be 4-8 minutes in length (not counting credits and titles)
2) The film had to be totally written, filmed and editing within the 7 day time period.
3) A specific prop, a line of dialogue and a certain character had to be included in the film. They were: a tortilla, "You can go to (______) and (_______) for all I care," and a character named Beth, the victim of a recent tragedy.

I thought our movie was great, but unfortunately we were not showered with awards at the screening. Thejudges just didn't get our genius, I suppose. We got a lot of laughs though, and the audience really seemed to like it. That's all that matters. At least that's what I tell myself.

Smoke Break

I was waiting for some smokers to take a break the other day at Whataburger Field. The designated smoking area had some beautiful light streaming onto the concourse, so I decided to shoot from above. It was also part of my sneak attack plan to shoot pictures of smokers without telling them why I was taking their picture. Something about embargoed news and what not. Whatever. I liked the angle, and the light was super fantastic.

Unfortunately no smokers showed. I had to shoot the game as well, so I eventually abandoned my post. I did shoot a few passers by as I waited. This little boy was the only one to notice me on the balcony above. I thought it made a nice photo. If only the kid had a stogie in his other hand.

Football

It's almost that time of year again.

Football returned to the Coastal Bend Monday, with high school teams heading back to the field for the first day of practice.


It was so hot outside today. It was 95, with a heat index of about 237 degrees, I think. I can't imagine having to run and throw and work out in this heat. There's gonna be some warm Friday nights on the football field this year.

Time to put your game face on, I guess.

Skate

"My name's Michael and I'm a photographer with the Caller-Times. I got a picture of you skating, you mind if I get your name."

"Oh, no, I don't want a picture of me skating in the paper."

But I like the shot, I thought. It has palm trees. It's not even a shot about you, you just happen to be in it.

He continued, "In fact, can you just delete the photo? I don't want to be in the paper at all."

I thought, I just spent the last half hour scouting out the scene and waiting for this photo. I spent even longer driving across this city looking for anyone actually doing something interesting outside. If you think I'm deleting this photo...

"Uhh, I guess." I said.

He skates off.

Dolly Disappoints

All is well in Corpus Christi, Texas. Besides that little hurricane that landed about 130 miles down the coast, it was just another day at the office.

I bought some rubber rain boots yesterday, which came in handy for a few photos like the one above, but mostly I just felt awkward walking around in them. I was soaked by the end of the day, but at least my feet were dry.

We missed a direct hit from hurricane Dolly (thankfully?). It rained on and off all day as each squall from the hurricane's outer bands past over the area. There was some flooding in the usual spots and a lot of wind, but that was about it. No heavy damage reported in the area like there was down in Brownsville or Harlingen. I sort of stuck to the downtown area so I wouldn't overlap with the other photographers shooting in other parts of town.

It was pretty much a day of hunting for rain features. I was a little disappointed in how I shot today, but I think it was good practice if the real thing ever comes our way.

Hello, Dolly

It's funny how quickly things can shift. I moved into a new place and had nothing but moving trucks, heavy boxes and decorating ideas on my mind all weekend. So I was a little caught off guard when I walked into the newsroom and people were buzzing about Dolly. I really should have picked up a paper or watched the news at some point this weekend.



As I walked to my desk, one of the other photographers asked if I was ready for a hurricane. My mind had a hard time processing as she went on to list all the items I should have in my car in case the tropical storm in the Gulf strengthens and swings our way. When she was done, all I could think to say was, "I really hope this doesn't delay getting the DSL set up at my new place."

I was soon sent out to get pictures of people preparing. As I drove away from the office, the reality of what could potentially happen over the next few days set in.

And I got very excited. I was also very anxious.




Back in May, everyone was sent a letter about volunteering to work the hurricane and given a copy of the company's Hurricane Preparedness Plan. They don't force anyone to work a hurricane. Once a solid threat heads this way the paper goes to an all volunteer staff. I wasted no time reading, signing and returning that letter. Why wouldn't I? Besides the potential for some awesome photos, you get hurricane pay AND you get to camp out at the office during the storm. Sounds like a blast! Now we just wait to see if anything actually happens.