Military Funeral

I shot my third funeral in as many months last weekend. First was a police officer's funeral, then a Marine funeral and now Army Spc. Ryan Gartner's funeral. At all three of these funerals, the family members agreed to let media come inside for the church service and attend the burial. It's a tough situation to be in, and really a huge responsibility. You feel almost an obligation to the family that let's you in. They are sharing what could be one of the lowest points of their lives, making it my job to tell their story with dignity and respect.



Both the father's (above) and mother's emotions were pretty raw. Their son was scheduled to come home in two weeks, and they were still waiting for answers about the specifics of their sons death. It was an unthinkable situation for both parents.
I had shot several strong images of the mother, all of which just broke my heart. The last image (lower right) was during the gun salute. Her mother was trying to comfort her and she pulled away, almost in anger.

And then she looked right at me.

It was hard to tell what she was thinking as she looked down the barrel of my zoom lens. Who knows if she was even looking at me. It was a brief glare, then "Taps" began to play. It was one of those moments where I felt terrible for being there, like I was somewhere I didn't belong. I paused for a few minutes, found a new spot, and then continued shooting.

I hung around until it was over. All the condolences had been given and only a few family members remained. That's when I saw the mother going back to the coffin to sprinkle a bit of dirt on her son's casket and say goodbye one last time. It would have made another emotional photo. I was getting ready to lift my camera before I stopped myself. Maybe I still felt guilty. Maybe I was just being weak, but I felt like this wasn't a moment for me to capture. I'd captured plenty of photos already that told the story. No, I thought, this moment belonged to her.

Turtle Power

We had a bit of a cold snap recently. Like, below freezing. And while our temperatures were probably still the envy of most of the country, it was big problem for the sea turtles.

Hundred's of turtles, stunned by the drop in water temperatures, started floating in the bays and washing up near a local fishing pier. Most of them weren't dead, they were just stunned by the cold and unable to move or swim. They just needed a place to warm up before they drowned. That's where the turtle experts from the Padre Island National Seashore came in. They collected hundred of turtles from the area and further south. I met them at one of the hatcheries to see what they had collected. It was quite a catch.




It was really cool to see all the turtles, even though they mostly just laid there. It was one of those things the average person doesn't get to see. This job is full of surprises sometimes. They couldn't warm up the turtles too quickly. After about a week or so, the turtles were let go back into the gulf.

Slice of Life

I was shooting a high school JROTC inspection recently, and shot this image of a couple of the JROTC members practicing before the inspection started. I loved the photo, but I quickly started to get the same question: What's up with the guys head sliced off?

I got the question from one of my editors, who thought the photo may be a bit confusing to the average reader. I started to wonder if she was right. Did it tell the story, or did I shoot this just for me? Well, I kind of thought it was both. After talking it out with her and a designer, it ended up the lead photo on the front page. I was excited.



But guess who wasn't excited: Mom. The next day a coworker said she got a call from the photo subject's mother. She said the mom wanted to know if I had a copy of the photo where her son's head wasn't cut off. Unfortunately the answer was no. I shot about four or five frames of the kid, and in all the shots I had cropped out the guys face in camera. The photo wasn't about him, I tried to justify. It was about the action and the drawing of the sword and the pagentry of the event and so on and so forth. In other words, the photo was really about me.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. I think I should shoot more for me when I go out on assignments. It's my job to make photos with impact, though I definitely see the mother's point. It's a tricky balance sometimes.

Taking Stock

One of my resolutions this year was to blog more frequently. Not because I feel I have all this wisdom to share, but because I know the more I blog, the more motivated I get to push myself creatively. Plus it's easier then giving up soda or going to the gym.

The livestock show is one of those annual events where I need a little extra creativity. There are two week-long county livestock shows we cover in January. Since January is typically a slow news month, it's not unusual to spend back-to-back days mining the fairgrounds for photos. It wasn't until the second livestock show, though, where I finally felt like I was getting something a little different.

I noticed a pair of kids washing down their lambs with Woolite, which I found so entertaining. I took dozens of photos of then washing their animals down, trying to get the bottle and the people and the animal all in the same shot. It all kind of came together, I think, in the frame above.

I also was a bit obsessed with all the cowboy boots, which came in all kinds of colors and styles. I think what my photography has been lacking recently is attention to those details.
Livestock season is over for another year. Hopefully that will give me enough time to get the lingering smell of barnyard animals out of my car.

Thankful

You know what I'm thankful for? Crying volleyball players.

Crying volleyball girls above the fold on A1, however, makes me giddy. Let me explain.

I don't mean to be heartless. I truly wish things had turned out better for them. This was the King volleyball team's first time to make it to the state tournament, and they did it with a first-year head coach. It was a big deal for the team and the school. The two days leading up to the tournament the girls were front-page news. Many expected them to take the whole thing home, including some of our editors, who planned the front-page package around the girls celebrating in the opening round of the state tournament. But we all know what happens when you make plans.

The team was playing the late game of the day, so the editors decided that win or lose, volleyball would be the dominate package on the front page. The pressure was on. I was shooting a sport I rarely cover, plus live tweeting scores during each time out. Mix that with the regular deadline pressure and the expectations for some good A1 photos. The whole game was a blur. A chaotic, pressure-filled, fantastic blur.

When I shot the top image of the girls crying, arms linked with the scoreboard behind them, I felt like I nailed it. It's a feeling that I don't get very often. My worry, though, was that the photo wouldn't see the light of day. I knew it would run online, but there is some hesitancy at the paper to run pictures of high school athletes crying, especially on the front page. The night editor confirmed my fears when we talked on the phone. She liked the photo, but she just didn't think it would fly. I offered up some alternative photos and hung up the phone, thinking the picture of the girls crying under the scoreboard was done for.

So once I got back into town and finally saw the front page the next afternoon, I was very surprised. Surprised it ran dominant on the front page, yes, but I was more surprised how excited I got. After working in newspapers for nearly a decade, it makes me feel good that I can still get excited about seeing my work in print. I was excited to find out that the night editor fought for my photo. She stood up for good photography, and I am so very thankful I work at a paper that is still willing to do that. Most of all, I was thankful that there are still dedicated and talented people, from editors to designers to photographers, who still have a passion for putting out a good product.

I'll be honest, some days at work are not so good. Some days I wonder what I'm still doing in this field plagued with uncertainty. Some days I wonder if my work means anything. Not so on this day. So thank you, King volleyball girls, for giving me this great photo. On this day, I was know I was right where I should be.

Are you ready for some football?

The answer is no, I'm not ready. Almost passing out from my climb up the bleachers to the press box made it clear I did not have a very productive off season. That's why I was super surprised I nailed this image early in my first high school football assignment of the year.

Bam! I'm ashamed to admit I was doing some hard core chimping in the end zone when I saw this in the back of my camera. Unfortunately that was the highlight of the evening. The first night of football you're really just trying to get something in focus and shake off the sports-shooting rust. Hopefully I will only get better as the season moves on.

A part of me, though, is really excited about the start of the season. One of my favorite things to do at football games is to find side features. There's something so iconic about high school football games. It's such a ritual and an event almost everyone can relate to. Friday I didn't have a whole lot of time to search for those quiet moments I love. Hopefully I can snag some sweet Friday night photos in the coming weeks.

Movie Magic

It's been a long, hot and mostly uninspired summer. But there were a couple of creative bright spot over the last few months. One of those was the annual Corpus Christi 7-Day Film Project.

The project is pretty straight forward: write, shoot and edit a short film (8 minutes or less, minus credits) in only seven days. There are also three required elements each film has to include. This year the required elements were a prop (a black ribbon), a line of dialogue ("The problem with _______ is that he/she thinks too much") and a character (Sam, a male who recently found something).

This is the third year my friends and I have participated. The three of us wrote the script, I shot the movie while they "acted," and then I pieced the whole thing together in a semi-coherent order. This year was my first year as the team leader, which really just meant I payed the entry fee (still waiting on your share, Phil and Israel). I did get a pretty sweet swag bag, though. It almost made winning absolutely no awards over the weekend bearable. Almost.

We shot the film back in July, but we weren't allowed to post it anywhere until after the screening and awards ceremony this past weekend. Since that's all over, I'm now free to plaster our film everywhere. There's definitely bits of each of us in our main character, Kevin. The three of us each wrote different portions of the story, and it became clear we were all in very similar places in our lives: Slightly unsure, questioning our life decisions and wondering if the things that are so important to other people our age (marriage, family, careers) will ever be important to us.

Anyway, enough words. I hope you enjoy our film.

Ra Ra Ah Ah Ahhh!

OK, so I knew this was coming a few days ahead of time. I played it cool. I didn't make a fuss. And when I saw the photo request on the photo budget, I casually volunteered to shoot it...but inside I was bursting with anticipation!

Lady Gaga is not coming to town, but a local radio station was having a contest to send the best Gaga look alike performer to her show in Dallas. Two concert tickets, airfare and a hotel stay were up for grabs, attracting a gaggle of Gagas and hundreds of onlookers to the local mall. And I couldn't have been more excited to be there!

Now, I wouldn't say I'm a big Lady Gaga fan (especially compared to these people). I only recently bought the album after kind of ignoring her music for a while. Some of it is just so damn catchy. After seeing a couple of her interviews I realized she actually has some talent and wasn't there to bring the world of pop music to new lows. No, that's Justin Bieber's job (Oh! Bieber burn!).

Anyway, the Gaga look alikes had a minute and half to either dance to a Lady Gaga song or sing. Most chose to dance, and "Bad Romance" was the song of choice. What, no love for "Paparazzi"? Not that I didn't get to hear the song. I had at least three different Gagas sing parts of it to me as I was shooting. I wasn't sure what to think about that.

This Gaga was probably my favorite. Not only was the look straight out of the "Telephone" video, but the passionate impersonator was a 13-year-old boy! Most of the Gagas were dressed and ready when they arrived, but this kid had some changing to do. I saw the boy and his mother walking by with a soda-can wig in one hand and a black leather jacket in the other. I chased them down into a clothing store next to the stage and followed them into a dressing room. I'm not even sure they knew who I was at first, but they were so nice and welcoming. There was also something kind of loving and sweet about the mom helping her son get ready for the contest. "I don't know how I feel about helping my son get dressed in drag," she joked at one point, but then quickly worked her magic to pin the hair in place, finish up the makeup and comment about how cute the shoe were. They are both my new heroes!

The winner was quite impressive on stage. He (yes, he) had the moves from the video down, and he finished off his performance with an homage to Miss Gaga's blood spattered performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. And the crowd went wild.



I had hoped for a little more Gaga/mall shopper interaction. It would have been so wonderfully awkward. For the most part, the Gagas were kept together and away from the crowds. Although I did enjoy watching people ride up the escalators and get an eye full of Gaga when they got to the top. Fantastic.


You can see more photos from the event over at caller.com, plus a little video put together by Caller-Times videographer Michelle Christensen.

Beisbol

The baseball action is heating up in the area. The state championships are scheduled for next weekend, and we still have about 5 baseball teams and 2 softball teams in our coverage area vying for a trip to Austin. How good is baseball in Corpus Christi? Well, we will likely have two local teams face off for the class 4A state title next weekend, and another school has a good chance at making it to the 5A title game. Needless to say, it's been a busy couple of weeks for me.

3-Point-Oh No!

Oh, Las Donas, I had such plans for you. It was going to be bold. It was going to be beautiful. Mostly, though, it was going to be so Scripps 3.0. But, alas, I was denied.

The Las Donas de la Corte held their annual Buc Days Coronation last week. It's an event where young girls dress up in jewel encrusted gowns and crowns before one is named queen of the court. It was actually an event I was looking forward to covering. I had a great time last year and was given some great behind-the-scenes access. So this year I had big plans. I brought a video camera, a backdrop, portable studio lights and a sort-of-fleshed-out idea about taking off-beat portraits and photo-booth style pictures. It was an awkward mash up of ideas that stemmed from something I'd done before and something I saw on glee. Hey, I'm trying here.

Of course, you know what happens when you make plans. After hauling over all the equipment things started to unravel. I had issues with the backdrop, and had to slice my backdrop paper almost in half to fix it. Suddenly it was way too narrow. Soon I realized I was missing equipment, I had a busted tripod and I had brought the worst roll of tape from the newsroom with me. But I wasn't going to let that stop me.

So what did stop me? Well, a mix of things. Two girls in, I did have a couple of decent portraits, but I wasn't getting the audio/video I needed. Plus I was running out of time. Mostly, though, it was some miscommunication (mostly on my part), and I didn't get quite the same access to the girls as I thought I would. But there was still a paper to put out. So when it became clear this was all falling apart, I buckled down and focused on the still photo. Oh well. I'll save my half-baked ideas for another time.



Despite my multimedia meltdown at the coronation, I was still set on milking Buc Days of its 3.0 potential. I figured the annual Illuminated Night Parade would be perfect. More than 150,000 people line the streets to watch this night parade, so it seemed like a no brainer to do something with it.



I didn't want to do a slideshow or edited video or anything. My bright idea was to livestream the parade on our newspaper's website. I figured it would be super easy. As an added bonus, I volunteered to cover the whole event myself. Each year we usually have two photographers cover the event: one focuses on the street parade and pre-parade set up stuff, and the other hangs out in the stadium where the parade starts to catch the pre-show and crowning of Miss Buc Days. It's more a matter of deadline timing (and sanity saving) then it being too much for one photographer. Or so I thought.

Well, I won't do that again. Not only was I exhausted by the end, but setting up a live cam is harder than I thought. It was such a pain, mostly because I didn't know what I was doing. The camera kept cutting out at important times like, oh, when the parade would start or when I was frantically trying to turn in photos on deadline. Of course it streamed crystal clear when I had it set up wrong and all you could hear was the judges banter and not the actual parade. Oops.

Anyway, it was a rough ride on the 3.0 bandwagon last week. The hardest part about having to do multimedia with the daily stuff is that the daily stuff is always going to be the priority. The print product is still our bread and butter, and any multimedia I try has to get crammed into the spare time I have between shooting stills. But I'm not going to let this discourage me. I'm going to write this one off as a Buc Days curse and try to recollect my motivation. At least I don't have to worry about Buc Days for another year. I wonder if it's too early to schedule a vacation for next year?

Buc Days Blues

I'm not sure how to describe it, but the last couple of days I've been trying to shoot things very "flat." Not necessarily physically or tonally flat, just sort of emotionally flat, I guess. Muted, maybe. It's just the general mood I've been in lately.

Yesterday evening I went to the Buc Days carnival armed with a 70-200mm and a 50mm 2.5. No wide glass. They only wanted one photo for the paper, so I let myself be extremely selective about what I shot, trying to avoid the same old happy-kids-at-the-carnival scene I always seem to get. I took a lot of pictures of carnival workers, for some reason, and used my 50mm almost exclusively. The above photo stood out to me. It was something about that longing look on his face coupled with the blurry joy of the corn dog eating cops going by. At first I liked the photo, then I really started to hate it. Then I convinced myself it was brilliant. Now I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I continued my quest today when I went to the Buc Days Junior Parade, which is the annual children's parade through Corpus Christi. I'm not really a fan of children, and I really hate parades, so it was sort of my perfect storm of assignment frustration. OK, it wasn't that bad. I won't say I enjoyed it, but I didn't hate it either. I had to abandon my trusty 50mm, but I still found a couple of "flat" images I liked.