February 20, 2010 by Chris Dunn
This afternoon, I returned to the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture‘s office/house to make more pictures for my one-day/five-points-of-view story.
Adam talks about how CCUA is keeping its six hens in a greenhouse until the weather is warmer and the coop is built.
Another photographer was taking photos of the hens inside the greenhouse while everyone was out in back to look at CCUA’s chicken tractor. The photographer must have left, because a few minutes later, someone said, “Hey — are the chickens supposed to be outside?”
The chickens were on the run!
And they almost made it to the road.
Adam herds the chickens away from the road and back toward the greenhouse.
So why did the chickens (almost) cross the road? — Because they were tired of being cooped up!
Ha. Ha. Ha?
I’m really loving how I can milk all these old chicken jokes and references. And I think I’m good for my one-day/five-points-of-view story for capstone… I think.
Posted in Capstone, Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism | 3 Comments »
February 19, 2010 by Chris Dunn
It has been a long week.
That's 10:15ish p.m., mind you.
I spent my entire last weekend photo-editing for The Columbia Missourian — Friday night, all day Saturday and then Sunday morning at the rec center for the Missouri Grand Prix, and then Sunday afternoon and night in the newsroom for a regular shift.
Then there was my regular shift on Tuesday afternoon. Which lasted until almost midnight.
And now there’s today, which has turned into late tonight.
All told, it’s about 47 hours of photo-editing, from last Friday afternoon through this Friday night.
That’s a lot.
But now it’s time to go home, drink a Woodchuck and veg in front of the Olympic ice-dancing reruns.
Posted in Capstone, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 4 Comments »
February 19, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Summer in the city
After Jeff and I ate at Grimaldi’s, we went to the waterfront off of Old Fulton Street to catch the fading light over the East River.
Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge at night.
Let me tell you: This was the first and only time I wished I’d had a tripod with me on the trip.
Brooklyn Bridge.
We left the waterfront, wandered to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, got a little lost in Brooklyn while looking for a bus stop and finally made it back to Manhattan via subway.
Then we took the midnight ride on the Staten Island Ferry.
Panoramic composite of several images.
Of course, we took the ferry right back to Manhattan, and then the M15 back up to my uncle’s apartment in the Lenox area of upper Manhattan.
And that was the end of our first full day in New York City.
Check out a few more photos I didn’t post here!
Posted in New York (City), Photography, Travel | 1 Comment »
February 18, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Last September, my camera and I followed 11 agricultural journalism students into woods, prairies, caves and other pockets of southeastern Missouri. I emerged with plenty of photos from the trip, as well as a rash of chigger bites all over my ankles, waist area and, oddly, shoulders.
Over the past five months, I’ve visited my general practitioner three times and a dermatologist four times. Four packs of prednisone and a number of other prescriptions later, the final diagnosis? The bites have been aggravated into dermatitis, and the only way they’re going away is if I stop scratching them.
That’s the problem — they itch like nothing else.
Yesterday, I began to apply a prescription of Cordran Tape.
Self-portrait. Chigger bites on my right shoulder.
The tape is medicated on the underside, and it prevents me from scratching and protects the bites from being irritated by my clothing. After five months of nothing working or helping except the prednisone — which is not a drug anyone should take often — this tape is a godsend.
I’m really hoping these bites clear up before spring arrives and I should start retiring long sleeves and footed tights.
Posted in Capstone, Photography | Leave a Comment »
February 18, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Summer in the city
After Jeff and I took never-before-taken photos of our walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, we went to Brooklyn Bridge Park, which is part of the DUMBO (“Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”) area.
My version of an oft-taken photo of the Manhattan Bridge.
We spent some time in Brooklyn Bridge Park, where we rested our feet near the East River and saw a photographer take photos of a wedding party. Then we left to get in line for a little pizza place called Grimaldi’s.
The Grimaldi’s proprietor holds the door for an exiting customer. This is probably my favorite of all the photos I took on this trip. Actually, it’s probably my favorite of all the photos I took last summer. I love the gritty graininess of the film, and the motion blur, and the tiled letters, and the brick, and the mood.
We waited at least an hour in line outside the restaurant before we were seated inside the cramped pizzeria. New York City has its fair share of tourist traps with long waiting lines, but quite a few of the customers willing to brave the line were locals. And the pizza, which is baked in a coal-fired brick oven, was completely worth it.
Check out a few more photos I didn’t post in this entry.
Posted in Analog, New York (City), Photography, Travel | 2 Comments »
February 17, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Chickens are really funny animals. And they are, surprisingly, pretty fun to photograph.
The way they strut around and interact with each other (there’s a reason why it’s called “pecking order”) is totally erratic and unpredictable. At least, that’s how it seemed to me — your everyday girl from suburbia — when I visited the chickens owned by the Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture.
Columbia recently passed a city ordinance that allows residents to keep up to six hens in their backyards, with some restrictions on coops, waste management and etc. CCUA and its members currently keep six hens — three Rhode Island Reds, one Buff Orpington, one Australorp-Rhode Island Red mix and one Dominic — in a greenhouse across the street from its office/house, at least until they finish constructing the coop in the backyard.
Flight of the... chicken.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Capstone, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism | 4 Comments »
February 16, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Jeff made these:
Before. (Photo by Jeff)
He brought them over to Lee Hills, where photographers ate the majority of them. But I ate at least six or seven. And I wiped the plate clean:
After. (Photo by me)
Jeff knows how to do things right. And so do I.
Posted in Capstone, Food, Photography | Leave a Comment »
February 15, 2010 by Chris Dunn
This is where I work:
David and I serve our fellow photojournalism students by manning the department’s equipment locker, which houses more than $100,000 worth of photo, video and audio equipment (much of it is donated). It’s fun to help other students get acquainted with and appreciate quality gear, and it’s just as fun to tease those who are already gearheads when they come with a shopping list of exactly what they need to work on a project for a few days.
It’s also a bit stressful at times. Especially Mondays. This semester, I’m the only one working on Mondays, which means I get to check in and reshelf all the gear that was checked out over the weekends.
Today — as you can see by the photo — it got a bit out of hand. Students kept coming around to check in more gear or make reservations, so I didn’t get a chance to remove and charge batteries, detach lenses from cameras, replace back lens caps and camera body caps, or anything… until thirty minutes remained in my shift.
The contents within my photo for today represents probably half of the photo inventory and a third of the entire locker’s invenory.
It is a good job.
Posted in Capstone, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 2 Comments »
February 14, 2010 by Chris Dunn
By now, I would have blogged my Day 11 entry, and would be writing up my Day 12 entry, for the 30-day challenge.
But because my portable hard drive crashed 15 minutes after I finished editing and submitting Missouri Grand Prix photos for The Columbia Missourian early this afternoon, those blog entries will have to wait. The photos for those entries — and for many, many other projects — are stored only on that hard drive, since it functioned as my scratch/working disk.
In the meantime, I am:
- trying not to cry;
- doing what I can to recover my data;
- learning, the hard way, that I should back up my data much more often (I have another external hard drive that I use for backup);
- trying not to cry;
- working one of my Sunday shifts at The Missourian, which qualifies the past three days as a full weekend of photo-editing; and
- trying not to cry.
If I can get those files recovered, I’ll blog Day 11 and Day 12.
If not — oh, well.
My chief concern is not that I might have lost two days of the 30-day challenge but rather that I regain the photos I’ve taken this semester and ensure that working files of several projects are still intact. None of the data I’ve lost has extremely personal information or constitutes a security concern — it’s just a lot of work that might be lost forever.
We’ll see what happens.
Let this be a lesson to anyone and everyone who doesn’t back up data on a weekly basis.
Posted in Capstone, Photography, Photojournalism | 5 Comments »
February 12, 2010 by Chris Dunn
I’m spending this weekend at the Student Recreation Complex, where swimmers have gathered to compete in the fourth annual Missouri Grand Prix.
The Columbia Missourian photographers are photographing. I’m there to edit — but between card dumps and transmissions to the photo desk, I have the opportunity to roam and make pictures, too.
So that’s what I did tonight.
I’ve shot dual-team meets at the rec center before, but never a full-blown, multi-day tournament whose roster includes Olympic swimmers. Tonight, I fiddled around a bit and tried not to resort to just the “one swimmer per frame” kind of shooting. Tomorrow and Sunday morning, because I know what to expect and where I can go, I’ll do better with this.
That’s right. I volunteered to live-edit during almost my entire weekend. But I made a point not to volunteer for the Sunday evening shift — because I’m sure as hell not missing the pairs short program for the Winter Olympics.
Posted in Capstone, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | 5 Comments »
February 12, 2010 by Chris Dunn
90ish days of summer
A favorite inside joke Jeff and I had during our three-day stay in the Big Apple was: “Nobody’s ever taken this photo before!”
This was a particularly frequent utterance while we were walking the Brooklyn Bridge toward Brooklyn.
We were being completely sarcastic. These photos have been taken before, by thousands if not millions of other people who have visited the same places we did.
Manhattan skyline.
Check out some more photos I didn’t post in this entry.
Coming up next: DUMBO… also known as, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
Posted in New York (City), Photography, Travel | 1 Comment »
February 11, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Columbia is supposed to get some snowfall again tomorrow evening, but right now, everything is generally thawing out a bit. Although, some big fat flakes were falling earlier while the sun was out.
I caught at least a dozen snowflakes on my tongue. I almost choked on one of them.
Anyway. Earlier, I wrote in two tweets:
- It’s only Day 9 of the 30-day challenge, and I’m already bored with my life / staggered over how boring my life is.
- I need to break my routine and get out more, or I need to examine more closely that same routine. Or – I need to do both. #visualagony
I decided to break my routine. So Jeff and I went to the Green Valley Drive bridge over Hinkson Creek — just off of Broadway near Old 63 — and took some photos there.
Hinkson Creek. That overpass bridge is Broadway.
Detail of the icemelt on top of the creekwater's surface.
Then, as Jeff and I were walking from my apartment building to the journalism school, we both spotted this pipe at about the same time:
Continue Reading »
Posted in Capstone, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography | 2 Comments »
February 10, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Walking downtown.
Today, my Business Practices in Photojournalism class visited L.G. Patterson‘s studio in downtown. (His Web site either is down or won’t load on my computer, which is why I linked to his Twitter.)
L.G. — whom I’ve seen at various MU athletic events — is an Associated Press photographer who also does a lot of commercial and portraiture work. Among the tips he gave us:
- Meet people, and make it meaningful. Don’t just sit in front of a computer screen or hand out business cards because…
- …The business of photography — like many others — is often more about whom you know.
- We as students often undersell ourselves.
In other news, today was my last day with the 14-24/2.8, at least for a while. I shot the above image on our way back to the journalism school. Here’s an outtake:
BOO!
On our way out of L.G.’s studio, Jason kinda popped out at me and I snapped this frame. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have cut off his fingers or foot. If not for that, and if Jessica weren’t in the background, I think this would have been my designated photo for today.
Oh well.
Posted in Capstone, Internships/Careers, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 1 Comment »
February 10, 2010 by Chris Dunn
90ish days of summer
After our encounter with Edwardo Alvarado in the Times Square station, Jeff and I had a pretty chill time on our way to and at Columbia University.
The typical college kid thing — you know, playing Frisbee in front of Butler Library.
Why leave lower Manhattan and make such a big detour to Columbia if our next stop was the Brooklyn Bridge? Well, we still had time to kill, and I remembered enjoying my time on campus when I was there for the Columbia for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association‘s Gold Circle Awards with five other staffers of my high school newspaper.
Low Library, back in March 2004 when my high school newspaper adviser took six of us staffers to New York City. This photo was taken with a really crappy disposable film camera.
That was a really great trip. I had joined the newspaper staff at the beginning of the schoolyear and loved it more than anything. It was also my first out-of-town trip without my parents, which was liberating and wonderful. It’s no exaggeration to say that I felt a lot better and more confident about myself after spending a week in New York City with some of my favorite people.
Now, of course, I’m a bit out of touch with them. A few months ago, I e-mailed everyone on the trip to see how they were doing, but no one has replied. I’m wondering, especially because each of us were particularly passionate and eventually became editors on the paper, if anyone else in the group is still pursuing journalism as I am.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Analog, Introspection, New York (City), Photography, Travel | Leave a Comment »
February 9, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Who doesn’t love a little distortion in photos?
The stairs/amphitheatre outside of the Reynolds Journalism Institute.
I’ve checked out a 14-24/2.8 lens for a few days, and it’s a lot of fun to use on a full-frame camera body like the D700.
I remember David telling us in Fundamentals — the first photojournalism course in the sequence — that we should distort our photos only when distortion enhances or adds to the photos’ quality or storytelling ability. So I’ve been keeping this in mind, and am on the lookout for scenarios and environments where warping the image via the lens would contribute to the image.
Here’s another one:
Some gnarly little tree near Middlebush.
And one more, which I took last night:
Some poor abandoned sweater in a tree next to the Manor House graduate apartments.
I have this lens until tomorrow evening. I’m bound and determined to have fun with it until then.
Posted in Capstone, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 8 Comments »
February 8, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Patrick T. Fallon has way too much time on his hands.
Patrick, a junior photojournalism student here at MU, is known by all and beloved by many. It’s prudent, accurate and inoffensive to say simply that he is a character.
Patrick (center, in Mizzou sweatshirt) shares his newest Facebook album with MU photojournalism chair David Rees (center right, with glasses). From left to right, fellow photo-j students Grant, Sam, Nick and Jeff gather around. I shot this photo with a D700 and a 14-24/2.8, which explains the distortion.
Patrick’s latest Facebook album consists of diptychs of two Joels: Joel Kowsky and Joel Hawksley.
Joel Kowsky is a fellow photojournalism senior at MU. He photographs for the university’s athletic department and is generally a gearhead.
Joel Hawksley is a photojournalism sophomore at Ohio. He photographs for the university’s athletic department and seems to be a gearhead.
I’m not sure what Patrick was thinking, but he went through photos of the two Joels on Facebook and found seven uncannily similar photos of the two, who, it’s safe to assume, have never met.
Here’s an example of one of Patrick’s diptychs:
Click the image above for more diptychs of Joel and Joel.
Patrick shared with me the public link to the Facebook album where you can view more eery diptychs of these two photographers doing very photographer-y things (like taking photos of themselves in mirrors). You can view this album either by clicking on the image above or here.
My photo for today in the 30-day challenge is the first photo, which shows Patrick showing the album to photojournalism chair David Rees. I daresay David enjoyed Patrick’s efforts, as has hopefully everyone else who knows either Joel.
Posted in Capstone, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 3 Comments »
February 7, 2010 by Chris Dunn
I love the Food Network‘s competition shows.
“Chopped“? It’s great when I don’t mind a slightly higher blood pressure. (For me, it’s stressful to watch. But enjoyable.)
“Food Network Challenge“? Entertaining, but even more so when non-pros take on a challenge.
“Worst Cooks in America“? I’ve only seen a few episodes, but Chef Anne’s voice is sometimes a bit too grating. That said, I have to admit that watching it makes me feel that much better about myself as a cook.
“Iron Chef America“? …best show on the Food Network. Period. My favorite, by far.
That said, Bobby Flay is not my favorite Iron Chef. That said, I don’t have a favorite Iron Chef. But if I did, it wouldn’t be Bobby Flay.
Jeff decided to make Bobby Flay’s chili recipe for our Super Bowl XLIV enjoyment, as well as some traditional corn-and-bean salad.
Suffice it to say, it was delicious and boasted a deep, hearty flavor. It was also beyond my tolerance for spiciness. Admittedly, my threshold is fairly low, and Jeff claims he added only half the amount of spices in the recipe.
The recipe also called for a “toasted cumin crema” and “avocado relish,” which Jeff made and said would help cool my palate after some bites of chili.
Well. As a born-and-raised Texan, I don’t want any of that creamy silliness in my chili, spicy or not.
So thank you, Bobby Flay, for publishing an over-spiced recipe and then having the gall to suggest that we should truss it up with creamy silliness.
Here are a few more photos of our Super Bowl menu lineup:
Continue Reading »
Posted in Capstone, Food, Missouri, Photography | 2 Comments »
February 6, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Saw these while at the register at Hy-Vee.
Apparently these balloons sing.
If I were younger and had been dragged to the grocery store by my mother, I probably would have found some way to pull one of these balloons down and make it sing for the sole purpose of annoying my mother.
But I haven’t. And I didn’t.
Not today.
Posted in Capstone, Missouri, Photography | Leave a Comment »
February 5, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Answer: “Who is Lindsay Eanet?”
Yes, I took a photo of a CRT TV screen.
Lindsay and I met while working at The Maneater student newspaper in our freshman year. I don’t remember exactly how we met, but we became friends when we worked together on a fashion story for MOVE, which is The Maneater‘s biweekly arts and entertainment magazine. The next year, when everyone was moving off-campus, we became roommates.
Linds tried out for the College Championship series in Jeopardy! that year as well as the next. She didn’t make it until this year — and earlier this evening, a large group of us all gathered at The Heidelberg for a watch party to see Lindsay win $22,100, triumph in her first round and sail into the semifinals.
At the "Jeo-party." This is THE photo for Day 3 of the 30-day challenge.
Lindsay’s semifinal round airs on Wednesday, so check your local listings to see when Jeopardy! is played wherever you are. For those of you in Columbia, be sure to tune to ABC/KMIZ-17 at 5 p.m. on Wednesday the 10th.
On an unrelated note, I carried a camera around with me all day to see what I could get. Here are a few more photos that almost made the cut:
Continue Reading »
Posted in Capstone, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | Leave a Comment »
February 5, 2010 by Chris Dunn
Last night, I was disappointed it wasn’t snowing when I got out of work.
But it was snowing on my way to work this morning.
Outside my apartment building this morning. The vignetting is natural.
And it’s going to keep snowing.
And I’m glad that the weather gods don’t hate me too much after all.
P.S. This is not my entry for the 30-day challenge — I have a few more photo opportunities to milk before I blog again today!
Posted in Missouri, Mizzou, Photography | 2 Comments »
« Newer Posts - Older Posts »
Words and Light 