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Archive for the ‘Missouri’ Category

The Texas Bowl: The last college football game I’ll ever shoot

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on January 3, 2010| 5 Comments »

It’s the end of football season.

Missouri sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the Missouri players walk off the field after losing the Texas Bowl game.

Which means, on New Year’s Eve, I shot my last college football game.

Carrying two backpacks (one covered by the pink jacket), a camera messenger bag and a 400mm lens on a monopod, on the way to the media entrance at Reliant Stadium. Blame the wind for the bad hair. Photo by Jeff.

Okay — more accurately, the Texas Bowl game was the last college football game I’ll ever have shot as an undergraduate photojournalism student. And boy, was it a tough one.

I’d like to think that I’ve improved with every football game I’ve shot this season. I started out a little rough with the Illinois game, which I chalk up to my previously not having ever used Nikon equipment and shooting with a D3, a D2H and a 500/4 lens. Photographing the Nebraska game turned out a lot better, despite the personal misery associated with the inclement weather conditions. And I felt really on top of things when I shot Missouri’s unexpected victory at Kansas State and happened to be in exactly the right places to capture most of Missouri’s touchdowns.

But boy, did the Navy throw Missouri — and me — a curveball with the Texas Bowl game.

Marching Mizzou bandmembers Elysia Gooding and Alyssa Cowman perform as members of the Naval Academy band pass by and shout their cheer before the game outside the Reliant Stadium in Houston.

Going into the game, I had a few thoughts that shook me up a bit:

(more…)

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The best day: A summer internship and a college bowl game

Posted in Atlanta, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Internships/Careers, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on December 9, 2009| 5 Comments »

Today, I accepted a summer photo internship at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

And got credentialed to photograph the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31 in Houston.

Today is a good day.

In other news, I’ve been working on various projects for the past few weeks. These include:

  • my final project for Staff Photo (about a brewery at the Texas Renaissance Festival),
  • my final project for Electronic Photojournalism (about a dairy farm) and
  • my portfolio Web site.

These projects are the main reason why I haven’t had much time to continue posting New York City photos and other photography expeditions I’ve recently had. Rest assured, these blog entries will come soon. I’m hoping to unveil my portfolio Web site and share my final projects in the middle of next week, and to pick up the NYC and other photos during winter break.

But in the meantime, I’m thrilled to spend the summer in Atlanta and honored to receive the internship offer. I really can’t wait to work in a larger newsroom and be in a new city. And I’m pumped to photograph the bowl game — I’ve come a long way in my football photography this semester, and I’m excited for the opportunity to cover a big game.

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Why I’m thankful: More lessons from the courtroom

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism on November 25, 2009| 7 Comments »

Introduction

As perhaps thousands of people now know, my conflict (for lack of a better word) with the Boone County Courthouse didn’t end a month ago.

If anything, these people know that:

  • the judge rejected my written apology and offered a second opportunity to send another apology,
  • I declined that second opportunity and did not send another apology; and
  • the judge declared a 30-day ban for me to enter the Boone County Courthouse effective Dec. 15 unless I filed a request for a hearing.

What the vast majority of those people do not know is this: I never declined that second opportunity. Additionally, the 30-day ban has — as of yesterday around 10:45 a.m. — been lifted.

In this entry, I will attempt the following:

  • explain how it was that I’d never declined that second opportunity,
  • divulge all relevant details, including associated court documents and e-mails,
  • discuss the importance of reporters’ getting ALL sides of a story and
  • express my gratitude to the many who helped me and supported me through this tough time.

This account will be told chronologically. As was the case with my first account pertaining to this incident, it will be long. But so many people have read my account about how I made my mistake and tried to atone for it, and I can only hope that at least half that many will read this follow-up.

How it happened

As was published first in a Columbia Daily Tribune article and then picked up by the Associated Press, I received a statement from the court on Friday, Nov. 20. This statement came almost a full month after the Missourian director of photography, the photo editor who edited with me on that assignment and I sent letters of apology to the judge.

Click on the image to view/download the full-resolution PDF file.

(more…)

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How everything came together: Missouri defeats Kansas State 38-12

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on November 15, 2009| 1 Comment »

Somehow, Missouri got it together and knocked the socks off of Kansas State yesterday, when the Tigers pulled off a 38-12 victory in Manhattan, Kan. This was a victory completely unexpected by almost everyone I talked to before leaving for the “Little Apple” to photograph the game.

A player (yet to be identified) embraces Missouri junior tailback Derrick Washington (No. 24) after Washington ran a 13-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

But I’m not here to ponder, consider or explain how or why the Tigers secured their victory.

Senior Leslie Horn reaches out to senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon after Missouri defeated Kansas State 38-12 at the Billy Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kan.

Rather, this entry’s title refers to the facts that:

All this means that, now that I know the game and know I can get the action, I can and should focus on working different angles and getting shots unlike what editors, fans and readers expect to see from a football game.

But as it is for now, I’ve got a few action shots from the game I’d like to share with you.

(more…)

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Flashback to the 90s: A Third Eye Blind concert

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism on November 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Third Eye Blind lead singer Stephan Jenkins likes to perform barefoot, apparently.

As I wrote last week, I photographed a Third Eye Bind concert last Tuesday. Two projects and a wedding weekend later, and upon the insistence of my friend Cat, I’m finally posting these photos.

Third Eye Blind guitarist Tony Fredianelli.

When I was assigned to cover the concert, one of the editors referred to Third Eye Blind as “everyone’s favorite band from 2000.” Since I’ve had my head (and ears) stuck in a 1960s/70s rut for the past 21 years, I wasn’t sure I was familiar with the band’s music.

So Jeff had me listen to six or seven songs. And of those, I immediately recognized at least five from the opening chords.

It was definitely a throwback to contemporary radio play during my adolescence, and it definitely helped explain why the concert at The Blue Note was sold out.

(more…)

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City lights

Posted in Missouri, Mizzou, Photography on November 4, 2009| 2 Comments »

Last night, Third Eye Blind played a sold-out show at The Blue Note. I was there not as a fan, but as a photographer for The Missourian.

But before I photo’ed the show, I wandered downtown Columbia a bit.

Eighth and Cherry.

When I first came to Columbia three years ago, I fell hard for downtown. Having an eclectic assortment of restaurants, shops, services and government buildings right at my doorstep was a complete novelty after living in Houston for my entire life. Within a month of living in Columbia, I knew downtown better than I knew the MU campus.

Then I started exploring downtown at night. And downtown at night is a completely different creature.

It’s just more beautiful.

Ninth and Broadway.

This was the first time I had time to wander downtown at night since at least April, and the first time I’d done so with a camera since freshman year. So I kept it simple. Having no tripod, I couldn’t hand-hold long exposures for too long.

I love this parking garage, even though it doesn't have nearly enough public-parking spots. (Everything else is permit.)

I’ll have Third Eye Blind photos up either later tonight or tomorrow before I leave for Houston for my brother’s wedding.

No, I’m not the wedding photographer. But I will be bringing my film camera and a roll of black-and-white!

As for the severe lack of photo updates this past month? I’ll get on it. I promise.

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Lessons from the courtroom: A photography faux pas

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism on October 23, 2009| 30 Comments »

  • UPDATE (10:38 a.m., Nov. 25, 2009) — By my general reckoning, at least thousands of people know there’s more to this story, as of this past Friday. Various editors, journalism school faculty and I have since worked to remedy the situation. Now that we’ve tied up our loose ends, I believe now is the time to clarify exactly what happened — at least on my part. Please read my blog entry for the second (and final) component to this incident.

“Hello, this is Chris.”

“Hi Chris, this is Josh. You need to tell me the truth about what happened in court yesterday. And don’t lie to me, because lying isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

That’s how, via a phone call today at 9:13 a.m., I found out I was in trouble.

Here’s why:

Yesterday, I spent almost six hours in the Boone County Courthouse as the pool photographer for the fourth day of William Clinch’s first-degree murder trial. Armed with a 300mm lens, a 70-200mm and a 17-35mm, I knew the following before I entered the courtroom at 12:45 p.m.:

  • Do not photograph the jury.
  • Do what the judge tells me to do. Do not anger or even mildly irritate the judge.
  • Be respectful and quiet. This means not firing off more than three frames at a time.
  • Do not photograph the jury.

I photographed the jury.

That is why:

  • the Missourian reporter was kicked out of the courtroom this morning,
  • the photo director (Josh, above) called me,
  • I had to explain exactly what happened to several editors,
  • I could have been put in jail for contempt of court,
  • I spent the next hour tearfully worrying and wondering what would happen next,
  • I wrote a letter of apology to the judge,
  • I ended up on A1 of The Columbia Daily Tribune and
  • I am writing this blog post.

More specifically, I am writing this blog post to clarify exactly what happened. I believe in transparency, and I believe that other journalism students and journalists can learn from my mistakes.

Therefore, I am laying out everything that happened. This is the truth and is consistent with my letter of apology and my explanation to various Missourian editors and colleagues. And the truth is long, so this blog post is long. But I hope you’ll keep reading.

(more…)

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Tony Hawk and Twitter bring skate tour to Columbia

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on October 18, 2009| 5 Comments »

Tony Hawk is a MAJOR twithead.

The one and only Tony Hawk.

The one and only Tony Hawk.

Using the hashtag #THTH (“Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt”?), Hawk has started a Twitter revolution in which he reveals stops on his BirdHouse tour. He tweets scavenger hunt-like clues to locations where more clues are hidden — and then, whoever finds a clue must reveal its contents and, therefore, the location of his next tour stop.

On Friday, Hawk announced he would be in Columbia… on Saturday.

So, of course, every little kid with a skateboard, every college student with a camera and a lot of other people showed up. And I showed up.

Simon Midkiff, Logan Prange and Bubby Rios-Diaz vie for the attention of Tony Hawks promoters, who were tempting the crowd with a free skateboard.

Simon Midkiff, Logan Prange and Bubby Rios-Diaz vie for the attention of Tony Hawk's promoters, who were tempting the crowd with a free skateboard.

Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins warms up on the half-pipe before the demos officially start.

Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins warms up on the half-pipe before the demos officially start.

Jesse Fritsch on the half-pipe.

Jesse Fritsch on the half-pipe.

I arrived late to the event after I wrapped up another Missourian assignment, so I missed Hawk’s street-skating demo. I wasn’t assigned to cover Hawk, but my editor called as I was walking toward the skate park. Turned out the assigned photographer was 40 minutes away — so, a darned good thing I was already there to make up for him!

Walking into the skate park knowing I was legitimately covering this for a newspaper empowered me to ask the promoter to get me behind the barricade and in front of the nets. A few complications and 20 minutes later, I got access.

(more…)

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Neither rain nor wind nor cold: Shooting my best football game yet

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on October 10, 2009| 10 Comments »

Missouri lost to Nebraska, 27-12.

Where to start?

It was cold, rainy and windy.

Missouri sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert runs the ball against Nebraska junior safety Eric Hagg during the first play of the game.

Missouri sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert runs the ball against Nebraska junior safety Eric Hagg during the first play of the game.

Tons of sloppy play.

Nebraska freshman running back Rex Burkhead fumbles a punt from Missouri senior punter Jake Harry IV during the second quarter.

Nebraska freshman running back Rex Burkhead fumbles a punt from Missouri senior punter Jake Harry IV during the second quarter.

We lost.

Missouri freshman Morgan Stephens covers her eyes during the last play of the game against Nebraska.

Missouri freshman Morgan Stephens covers her eyes during the last play of the game against Nebraska.

And I shot a lot, learned a lot and tried not to worry a lot.

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Missouri vs. Nebraska: It’s college football game day!

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on October 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Kickoff against Nebraska tonight is in five and a half hours. In an hour and a half, I’ll be meeting with other Missourian staffers to shoot the game.

versus

This means that right now, I am stuffing my face.

Last time I shot football, I became physically weak due to hunger during the third quarter, and I’d eaten the food provided to media. Now that Missouri Athletics no longer provides courtesy meals to the media at football games (instead, media can pay $7.50 for a cold-cut sandwich — ick), I’m currently loading up on carbs and proteins.

I’m also covering and taping up every piece of equipment I’m bringing out there. In stark contrast to yesterday’s sunny skies and 60 degrees, today features torrential rain and 50ish degrees. Last night, I went out to buy a rainjacket (something I haven’t had in fours of college, somehow), garbage bags and rubber bands. I’m also wrapping up the cameras in Ziploc bags — a trick that Jason learned from Sports Shooter Academy and taught me.

There are a few other complications that will make shooting this game especially interesting, but nothing changes the fact that I’m going to stick with this and do my best work regardless of what the weather, my body and anything else throws at me.

Two days ago, I tweeted:

5 inches of rain = Thurs forecast. If I survive shooting the Nebraska game, it’ll be a miracle. If I get good shots, the world will explode.

So, here’s to hoping the world will explode — for no reason other than I’ll have shot good photos.

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Belated lesson from Week 5: It’s all about the people

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism on October 5, 2009| 1 Comment »

The past two weeks have been pretty hectic, which is why I haven’t blogged about my Missourian photo shifts and assignments until now.

So here is Week 5, which was Sept. 21-25. Of that week, I worked Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday — but you’ve already seen Friday and Saturday’s material.

The big theme for the other assignments I completed during Week 5? It’s all about the people.

Wendy Savley, an instructor at the Show-Me Gymnastics gym.

Wendy Savley, an instructor at the Show-Me Gymnastics gym.

On Tuesday, I photographed Wendy Savley at work for VOX’s “On The Job” feature. Savley, who used to be a gymnast, is now an instructor at a local gym, and my assignment was simply to photograph her doing whatever she does at work. So I tried to have fun with it and play with the rear-curtain feature on my strobe, as you can see.

Savley gently reprimands two of her young gymnasts for lying to her about when they could come to practice last week.

Above, you can see another aspect of Savley’s job that I hadn’t considered before. Working with younger children so closely often results in the instructor’s assuming a mentor role.

After I wrapped up at the gym, I met photojournalism student Mallory Benedict for one of the stranger assignments I’ve had to complete.

Mallory Benedict drives to the site of her Aug. 2007 crash. Benedict had been driving home from a friends house at 4 a.m. when she texted the friend for directions out of the neighborhood. While typing her message, Benedict overcorrected her steering three times, which led to her rolling and totaling her car. Although her airbags did not deploy, Benedict, who had worn her seatbelt, was not injured.

Mallory Benedict drives to the site of her Aug. 2007 crash. Benedict had been driving home from a friend's house at 4 a.m. when she texted the friend for directions out of the neighborhood. While typing her message, Benedict overcorrected her steering three times, which led to her rolling and totaling her car. Although her airbags did not deploy, Benedict, who had worn her seatbelt, was not injured.

(more…)

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Monday night lights: Shooting junior varsity football for the hell of it

Posted in Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on September 29, 2009| 2 Comments »

As we’ve already established, I’m not a great — or even a good — football photographer.

So, to practice for the Oct. 8 home game against Nebraska, I went to Hickman High School last night to shoot some junior varsity football.

High school JV football is definitely a lot different from college football. I’d never been to a JV game, even at my own high school. As Jeff explained to me while we kneeled on the sidelines and took photos, high school teams will do a lot of plays differently than college teams would. And, unlike those I’ve seen at college games, the cops at this game were cheering on one of the teams.

The light at the game quickly went from beautiful evening sunlight to pretty bad stadium lights.

The Hickman Kewpies defeated the Rock Bridge Bruins in overtime.

To help with my comfort level, I shot the game with the same arsenal of Nikon equipment that I’ll be using at the Nebraska game. I’m now a lot more comfortable with football and the equipment, but as you can see, these are pretty mediocre shots. I still have a long way to go.

Next week, I’m shooting another JV game at Hickman, three days before the Nebraska game. I can only hope that all this practice will show for something in my Nebraska shots.

Please view a few more shots here.

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Devouring some Roots ‘N Blues ‘N BBQ

Posted in Food, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism on September 28, 2009| 2 Comments »

I really love Roots ‘N Blues ‘N BBQ.

Ben Moore performs as one of the Blind Boys of Alabama at the Peace Park stage on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.

Ben Moore performs as one of the Blind Boys of Alabama at the Peace Park stage on Saturday.

Oops. As a journalist who covered the festival wherein music and barbecue took over downtown Columbia for two days, am I allowed to say that?

Oh well. I have loved Roots ‘N Blues since the 2007 festival, which was supposed to be a one-time thing. And then the powers that be decided to give it a second go. And then a third. And who knows if there’ll be a fourth?

If you don’t know what Roots ‘N Blues is — well, it’s a lot of things.

There’s music:

Ana Popovic shreds her guitar as bassist Ronald Zonker plays along at the Peace Park stage during the third annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. Popovic hails from Yugoslavia and learned to play the guitar at age 15.

Ana Popovic shreds her guitar as bassist Ronald Zonker plays along at the Peace Park stage during the third annual Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival on Saturday. Popovic hails from Yugoslavia and learned to play the guitar at age 15.

There’s barbecue:

Hole Shot BBQ team member Kevin Henderson arranges smoked pork at his teams station on Sixth Street in preparation for the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival barbecue judging on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. The team, hailing from Wentzville, also prepared ribs and chicken for the barbecue contest.

Hole Shot BBQ team member Kevin Henderson arranges smoked pork at his team's station on Sixth Street in preparation for the Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival barbecue judging on Saturday. The team, hailing from Wentzville, also prepared ribs and chicken for the barbecue contest.

There’re the fans from all over:

Music reviewer "Beatle Bob" - real name Robert Matonis - dances to Ana Popovics music at the Peace Park stage during the third annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. Matonis, who is the subject of an upcoming documentary called "Superfan: The Lies, Life and Legend of Beatle Bob," is known as a regular at live music events and for his active dancing to the music.

Music reviewer "Beatle Bob" - real name Robert Matonis - dances to Ana Popovic's music at the Peace Park stage during the third annual Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival on Saturday. Matonis, who is the subject of an upcoming documentary called "Superfan: The Lies, Life and Legend of Beatle Bob," is known as a regular at live music events and for his active dancing to the music.

There’re the kids:

Four-year-old Reid Boyd of Columbia plays his guitar while listening to James Hand on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, at the stage at Seventh and Locust Steets. Boyd, who doesnt know chords yet but can pick out tunes by watching others, is on his third guitar.

Four-year-old Reid Boyd of Columbia plays his guitar while listening to James Hand on Saturday at the stage at Seventh and Locust Steets. Boyd, who doesn't know chords yet but can pick out tunes by watching others, is on his third guitar.

There’re the activities for kids:

Balloon artist Mike Martin and Columbia resident Beverly Bell help place a balloon hat on 8-year-old Nikki Williams head on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, outside of Flat Branch Park during the third annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. Bell said the wait for balloon creations was an hour long.

Balloon artist Mike Martin and Columbia resident Beverly Bell help place a balloon hat on 8-year-old Nikki Williams' head on Saturday outside of Flat Branch Park during the third annual Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival. Bell said the wait for balloon creations was an hour long.

There’s peace:

Festivalgoers form peace signs with their hands in Peace Park while listening to the Itals performance on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009. The Itals, a reggae group hailing from Jamaica, asked the crowd, Give us some peace!

Festivalgoers form peace signs with their hands in Peace Park while listening to the Itals' performance on Saturday. The Itals, a reggae group hailing from Jamaica, asked the crowd, "Give us some peace!"

And there’s more music:

Texas country singer James Hand tips his hat at the end of his performance on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, at the stage at Seventh and Locust Streets during the third annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. Hand, who has appeared on Nashvilles Grand Ole Opry, also played at the Whole Hog Lounge for the VIP guests.

Texas country singer James Hand tips his hat at the end of his performance on Saturday at the stage at Seventh and Locust Streets during the third annual Roots 'N Blues 'N BBQ Festival. Hand, who has appeared on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, also played at the Whole Hog Lounge for the VIP guests.

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Belated lesson from Weeks 3 and 4: Sports, sports, sports!

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on September 23, 2009| 1 Comment »

Almost everything I’ve shot for The Missourian in the past two and a half weeks has been sports.

Hickman High School football practice, the day before playing against Wentzville. Junior wide receiver Anthony Oetting, left, dislocated his hip last season but is returning to play for the Kewpies as a starter.

Hickman High School football practice, the day before playing against Wentzville. Junior wide receiver Anthony Oetting, left, dislocated his hip last season but is returning to play for the Kewpies as a starter.

I don’t really mind.

Since I shot the Sept. 5 football game pitting Illinois against MU, I’ve shot a high school soccer game, MU volleyball practice, high school football practice and private gymnastics training. The only non-sports assignments I’ve had are a three-day field reporting trip for agriculture journalism professor Bill Allen’s class (not affiliated with The Missourian) and a fairly odd portrait assignment I completed yesterday.

Hickman High School junior forward Connor Hollrah drives the ball past Jefferson City High School senior midfielder Gavin Juckette on Sept. 8 at the Soccer Park in Jefferson City.

Hickman High School junior forward Connor Hollrah drives the ball past Jefferson City High School senior midfielder Gavin Juckette on Sept. 8 at the Soccer Park in Jefferson City.

It’s as if something or someone told the editors that I want to practice more sports shooting. I’ve had a lot of experience shooting basketball, and I’m pretty comfortable with baseball, gymnastics and swimming. But fall sports — like everything I’ve shot in these few weeks — are not my strength. And that includes not just shooting to get the moment or the game shot but also shooting for features.

MU freshman middle blocker Lindsey Petrick watches for the ball during practice at the Hearnes Center on Sept. 15, the day before the Dig for the Curematch. Petricks grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.

MU freshman middle blocker Lindsey Petrick watches for the ball during practice at the Hearnes Center on Sept. 15, the day before the "Dig for the Cure"match. Petrick's grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.

Anthony Oetting. Again. High school football is so epic, and I mean that seriously.

Anthony Oetting. Again. High school football is so epic, and I mean that seriously.

The big lessons I learned:

  • Shooting soccer with just a 400mm lens is pretty tough. (more…)

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Long lenses and crude fans: The ups and downs of being a female football photographer

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports on September 6, 2009| 10 Comments »

It’s football season.

The Missouri Tigers take the field at the Edward Jones Dome.

For many people, football season means ordering pizza and wings, kicking back with buddies and beers and watching the TV in the living room. For many other people, football season means suiting up in team colors, tailgating in parking lots and screaming alongside thousands of others in the stands.

Six-year-old Liam Hampton of Springfield shouts the M-I-Z cheer during a rally in the alumni association area outside the Edward Jones Dome before the Missouri-Illinois game.

Six-year-old Liam Hampton of Springfield shouts the "M-I-Z" cheer during a rally in the alumni association area outside the Edward Jones Dome before the Missouri-Illinois game.

For Missourian photographers, football season means you’ve got one Missouri home game to shoot for the paper. So you’d better make the most of it. At least, that’s how I see it.

This season, I have two football games lined up for me. The first — yesterday’s Arch Rivalry game against Illinois in St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome — was a special opportunity that I seized. The second is the Oct. 8 game against Nebraska.

On the sidelines. Photo by Jeff.

Me on the sidelines. Photo by Jeff.

Thing is, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very good at shooting football.

(more…)

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Lesson from Week 2: Young children are easily distracted

Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism on September 4, 2009| 2 Comments »

To say that I love young children and small animals is a vast understatement.

Jing Han and 2-year-old Kevin Han at Rhymes and Rhythms for Pre-Walkers in the Columbia Public Library on Tuesday.

Jing Han and 2-year-old Kevin Han at Rhymes and Rhythms for Pre-Walkers in the Columbia Public Library on Tuesday.

For the past year, “I want a puppy” has been my favorite mantra. When I was the Maneater photo editor during my sophomore year, all my photographers knew to go out of their way to capture “aww”-inducing photos of young children and/or small animals while on assignment. Granted, we rarely actually used those over-the-top cutesy photos, but that didn’t stop the photographers from going the extra mile to make me fawn over their photos.

So, on Tuesday when there were absolutely no assignments available, I leaped on the chance to do some enterprise at the Columbia Public Library: a children’s music-and-dance program designed for parents and babies who haven’t yet reached the walking stage.

Rebecca Sanders and 8-month-old Jaden.

Rebecca Sanders and 8-month-old Jaden.

One thing I learned quickly: babies have EXTREMELY short attention spans.

The library aide, Hilary, told me as much when I asked why the program was only 30 minutes long. But I didn’t see this for myself until I started taking photos. I thought I’d start out discreetly by using my 70-200/2.8 and maintaining my distance before starting to inch closer and use my shorter lenses. But my first shot — the one of Jaden, above — clearly shows that babies are easily distracted. I was probably 10 feet away to the side when I aimed my lens at Jaden, and she still saw me and started mugging for the camera.

Freakin’ adorable.

The downside of this? I knew right then and there that using my flash would be a completely futile effort. The light in the room was pretty bad, but popping a strobe would have created a madhouse of crying or maniacally fidgeting babies.

Oh well.

(more…)

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Coffee with U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill

Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics, Washington, D.C. on August 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

90ish days of summer

On June 25, 2009, Jeff and I had coffee with Claire.

L-R: me, Sen. McCaskill and Jeff. This photo was taken by an official Senate photographer and e-mailed to me from Sen. McCaskills office.

L-R: me, Sen. McCaskill and Jeff. This photo was taken by an official Senate photographer and e-mailed to me from Sen. McCaskill's office. Jeff does not look this awkward in real life... generally.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., has 9 a.m. coffee with constituents every Thursday while the Senate is in session. Upon learning of this weekly meeting via Twitter and finding out that I would generally have Thursdays off during my internship at washingtonpost.com, I knew that Jeff and I had to visit with Sen. McCaskill at some point.

So we did.

Some slight exaggeration may be involved here, but I partially credit Sen. McCaskill for embroiling me into Missouri politics and, what the heck, political reporting in general.

(more…)

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Tribute to a good friend: Bon voyage, Darren!

Posted in Missouri, Mizzou, Photojournalism on August 29, 2009| 2 Comments »

Today is Saturday, Aug. 29, which means that tomorrow, my good friend Darren leaves the States to spend the schoolyear in Jordan.

This is Darren. He uses Canon, just like me.

This is Darren. He uses Canon, just like me.

Darren, who is/was a photojournalism student at MU, will be studying Arabic and International Studies in Amman under the Council of International Educational Exchange’s program there. He also spent this past summer in Irbid, the northwest region of Jordan near the West Bank.

Of course, all of us are going to miss Darren a lot — especially since this is our senior year and some/most of us will be graduating in May, a week before he returns from Jordan.

Darren is also my oldest friend at MU.

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SENIOR YEAR EXCITEMENT: Staff photography and economics reporting

Posted in Economics, Investigative Reporting, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Politics on August 23, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Classes and my senior year of college don’t begin until tomorrow morning, but I’m excited for this semester nonetheless. Today, I had two meetings that have determined how busy this semester will be — and it will be very busy.

The first meeting was the staff photo meeting at The Columbia Missourian, a morning city newspaper affiliated with the MU School of Journalism and staffed completely (except for certain editorial positions) by students. I’ve been a reporter for The Missourian for a year, during which I reported on now-attorney general Chris Koster’s general election campaign, the state budget and other such state political and economic news.

Now, I’m one of several staff photographers. I’m looking forward to this, mostly because I haven’t been on the field and behind a camera since freshman year, when I shot for The Maneater student newspaper. (In sophomore year, I was the Maneater photo editor, and last year I was doing political reporting for The Missourian.) I’ve talked to a few now-alumni who were also staff photographers at The Missourian. Among other things, they urged me to be enterprising and proactive in what I shoot.

“Take advantage of that press badge, and work your stories,” one told me (I’m paraphrasing — that conversation was several weeks ago). “Think of one story you want to follow all semester, and work toward that. It’s good exercise for you, good for The Missourian and good for your resume and portfolio.”

Which is exactly what the Missourian‘s new director of photography, Josh, said.

During the staff meeting, Josh reiterated the importance of being proactive, even if it means getting just a standalone photo published. He repeated his desire/the need to make The Missourian more visual.

“We die if we don’t have ideas,” he said. “The balloon deflates, and the reporters take over.”

Fortunately for me, I’ve already got a leg up on being proactive. Last semester, my Jefferson City editor Phill Brooks gave me a long-term article I never completed or even began: an in-depth look at rural poverty.

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