Fire!

Fellow staff photographers Tricia Spaulding and Kelly Lambert watch as we set fire to a softball in the studio.

So i've always wanted to do a sportrait involving fire. Always. So i practiced in the studio and went out into the field. To do this you need rubber cement, a lighter, a willing subject and very little wind. Rubber cement will burn on leather for about 10-15 seconds and then go away. At 100 ISO, Fire is around 500@f/8. (Bright sunlight at 100 ISO is 250@f/8)

So this is the most important thing to realize: Use a leather ball. Synthetics actually do catch fire. I know this, as i nearly set a softball pitcher on fire. Fortunetly, common sense ruled the day and she just dropped the ball in the dirt.

Other general advice.... bring an assistant to actually light the ball on fire.

The results ended up in black and white on page 4... which is unpleasant.

Silouette Happy

Tailback Knowshown Moreno before the game against South Carolina.

Okay, so i went a little overboard with the sillouettes of the surrounding stuff at the last Georgia game. Yes, i climbed back up on the horse and did almost the exact same thing i did that i got injured doing (see below) and made a nice shot of tailback Knowshown Moreno.

I also tried to sillouette the trumpeter that starts the game from the stands (it didn't work, you cant see the trumpet cleanly) As well as the offensive line (below) during warmups and the crowd at sunset (below)

Silouettes are good if used correctly and sparingly. Out of the four, the crowd is the best, followed by the Moreno shot. Needless to say, I'm done with silouettes for a little while.



However.... by happy accident, i made a bizarre blur/panning photo at 1/10th of a second following one of the silouettes. I kept following the play despite hearing how slow the shutter was going. I like the fluidity of the motion.

College Football pt 2......

One very angry Steve Spurrier.

So game two of college football season is in the books. Shame of it is, i really don't remember that much beyond the images. The images help me place the evening together. By the time i was done, i just wanted to crawl into a hole. The earplugs kept the crowd noise to a minimum. My head is still pounding. Imagine a hangover that won't go away.

I work with a tough crew. Between John, my Director of Photography who has shot football for close to 30 years and Trevor, I have to work my tail off just to make the paper. I like the sense of friendly competition; i'd just like to be able to have my head together when it happens. Here's our take - http://www.onlineathens.com/multimedia/galleries/090807scvsga/index.html

So i think i had a better game shooting wise. Got some interesting stuff. Went sillouette happy for awhile. And the sunset one, i swiped that idea from Josh at the Red & Black.



South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell and Georgia defensive end Blake Mitchell dive back for the ball after Mitchell lost the ball on a 3rd and 4 in the second quarter as the South Carolina Gamecocks lead the no. 12 Georgia Bulldogs 10-3 at halftime in Sanford Stadium in Athens on Saturday, September 8, 2007.




Fans cheer during a kickoff as sun sets on Sanford Stadium.

Friday Night Lights..... Upside the head.

Oconeee County Warrior players wait before practicing kick returns before their game against Winder-Barrow Bulldogs on Friday, September 7, 2007.

So two frames later, i got kicked in the head. Yes, i was laying down, a good 6 yards deep in the end zone, pulling off a sillouette. No one saw me there. The guy was running backwards as he was fielding the kick, Destroyed the lens hood and gave me a bit of a concussion. No real damage there other than to the head. Bump on the nose from the camera and a nasty headache, nausea... all good, ol' fashioned concussion symptoms. Nothing some vicodin, advil, dramamine and a boatload of sleep can't fix. I've been hurt much worse before. Last one was in a car accident, a year ago January.

All in all it was a good game shooting. Got some good stuff. There was nice light there, around 1/250th at 1250 ISO, wide open. Today is the Georgia/South Carolina game, 5:45 ESPN2. I plan on working the visitors sidelines again. Look for the guy dressed like he's invading poland.



Oconee County Warriors Daniel Mobley throws down Winder Barrow Bulldogs Taylor Bradberry during a punt return at the end of the second quarter of Winder's 16-3 win over Oconee.

War.

Katy Wettengel holds a portrait of her late son, Steven "Scott" Helvenston in her living room in Leesburg, Fla., on Friday, March 17, 2006. Helvenston, along side Wesley J.K. Batalona, Michael R. Teague and Jerko "Jerry" Zovko were working as security contractors for Blackwater Security Consulting when they were ambushed and brutally murdered on March 31, 2004. Helvenston, a 12 year Navy veteran who served his entire career with the SEALS, contracted with Blackwater to provide security for then U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, L. Paul Bremmer, for two months. Wettengel along with other surviving family members have filed suit a wrongful death suit in North Carolina against Blackwater Security Consulting.

The most difficult assignments about my job are usually the more emotional ones. Somehow, its more fufilling at the end of the day. The woman above i photographed on my last job. It took an entire hour to get her to agree to a picture.

Yesterday, i had to do a similar shot. Another grieving mother over her son, taken away from her too soon. There's nothing i can really say to these people about their loss. No amount of meaningless chit chat can express my personal anger with why they've died. Usually i just shut up and take the picture.

Why I Do this

Five-year-old Katie Grace plays in the rain outside Chase St Elementary School on Thursday, August 30, 2007.



Sometimes You win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes it rains.

So people ask my why i do what i do. The hours aren't great. The money isn't great. Its constant negotiation to get access and set things up to get the best photos possible. Granted, its a cool job, its a lot of fun, etc., and so on. I've seen things and been places i've never thought I'd do. But I have a desire to change the world with my photos; to somehow change the world - or at least my little corner of it - or otherwise brighten someone's day.

The best rewards i get from this job are the times i do manage to make someone's day. The rewards i get from my peers are nice, but the most rewarding moments are when i've gotten thank yous from a subject or their parent. Its pretty amazing to see a parent tear up at the joy of seeing their kid in our newspaper, especially if its amazing. It's almost a little creepy when you see your photo on a t-shirt. At my previous job, someone bought a copy of the original file from the paper and put it on a shirt for their daughter, with the text being "Thats my big sister."

So you can imagine my utter shock and surprise when the father of one of my grown-up subjects emailed me about my photos of him earlier this month. This is the father of someone whom i admire and respect greatly. I was beyond flattered and will go out of my way to get some additional stuff in a few weeks. So Woody, you made my day and then some.

Big Time SEC Football

Senior running back Thomas Brown is held in the air by lineman Fernando Velasco as they celebrate Brown's first-quarter touchdown.

Well last night was my introduction to true, big time college football. Ninety-two thousand people jam packed into Sanford Stadium, not to mention the 20+ thousand who couldnt make it in that were outside. I was on the visitors side with the bands. A very wise photographer once suggested earplugs for these events and i thnak him very much.

I think i did a pretty good job shooting. It was my first experience working an event as a "team" meaning "you shoot in this area." All in all we did a kick ass job. I had a couple of nice images, like the one above and the couple below.


Tailback Knowshon Moreno runs for a 35 yard gain after a Matthew Stafford pass in the third quarter.


UGA fans spell out their delight at No. 5 Michigan's loss to Division 1-AA Appalachian State.