November 4, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
Posted in Missouri, Mizzou, Photography | 2 Comments »
October 27, 2009 by Chris Dunn
Because it’s that time of year again — internship application season — I’ve completely redone my resume.
For two years or so, I’ve used a variation of the following format and style:
I’ve been pondering my new brand and style for several weeks. One thing that I knew I wanted to change was how regimented my old resume is. So last night, I played around, and here’s what I turned out:
My actual new resume is a little different from the one I’m showing and have uploaded. Namely, I removed my mailing address and cell phone number for privacy reasons and, accordingly, shifted the top heading (“(photo)journalism by Chris L. Dunn”) a bit.
But I really like my new resume. The new format — two columns all the way down, indentations instead of bullets and no lines — is clean, airy and organized. To punch it up a bit for impact (and save on what would be excessive costs for color printing), I’ve introduced an 80-percent opacity on the body text. Finally, the new heading typeface gives the whole page some pizazz and a creative feel.
Now it’s time to whip up a letterhead that’s congruous with this resume — and pump those applications out before deadline! Wish me luck. And, as always, I’d love to know what you think about my new (or old) resume.
Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photojournalism | 8 Comments »
October 23, 2009 by Chris Dunn
- 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.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 30 Comments »
October 22, 2009 by Chris Dunn
Ever seen this photo?
Photo courtesy of Time Inc.
The man who captured this tragic moment, this stunning blow and this iconic photo is an MU photojournalism alumnus.
His name is Bill Eppridge. He’s shot for LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated, and he was in town for the past three days. He gave a presentation to about 150 journalism students and faculty, received a Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism and talked to my staff photo class. He also reviewed my portfolio on Wednesday afternoon.
I’ll be honest here:
- I haven’t seriously looked into summer internships/jobs (yet). Being in class 16 hours a week and working at The Missourian and the equipment locker for at least another 20 hours a week have stretched me thin on any other pursuits.
- I haven’t given a good, long, hard look at my work over the past year. Plus, between photo editing at The Maneater in sophomore year, reporting in Jefferson City in junior year, working at Philmont for three summers and interning at washingtonpost.com this past summer, I haven’t had much time or many opportunities to be an actively shooting photojournalist until this semester.
But as soon as I heard that Bill Eppridge and his wife Adrienne — who is a photo editor — were volunteering to review students’ portfolios, I knew I couldn’t pass this opportunity up. So, in 10 minutes, I threw together a quick portfolio of single images (fortunately, I’ve been posting all of my best work from the past two years on my Flickr). And then I swallowed my nervousness as Bill and Adrienne looked over my work.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Internships/Careers, Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism | 2 Comments »
October 18, 2009 by Chris Dunn
Tony Hawk is a MAJOR twithead.
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 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.
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.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | 5 Comments »
October 15, 2009 by Chris Dunn
I feel sorry for our neighbors downstairs.
When I arrived back home after work today, I found all the furniture shoved against the walls and Chelsea saying, “Oh, you missed it!”
“I missed what?”
“We were dancing the Thriller!”
Apparently, at 12:30 a.m. UTC/GMT on Oct. 25, there will be “an annual worldwide simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.” It’s an actual, vaguely organized event called “Thrill the World.”
And my roommates are participating. And apparently have been practicing for much of the afternoon and evening.
After I declined their invitation to join them in their final practice run of the night, I decided to take photos. At the very least, it’d be a good break from editing… more photos… for a presentation tomorrow.
And why is every photo from generally the same angle? Because our living room is small, and they warned me in advance to stand on top of the sofa.
“It’s the only safe area,” Chelsea explained. “That’s why the computer is there.”
And now, back to work. I think it’s gonna be an all-nighter.
Posted in Mizzou, Photography | 1 Comment »
October 10, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
Tons of sloppy play.
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.
And I shot a lot, learned a lot and tried not to worry a lot.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Introspection, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | 10 Comments »
October 8, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
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.
Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | Leave a Comment »
October 5, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
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 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.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 1 Comment »
October 5, 2009 by Chris Dunn
Simply put, I haven’t yet made a lot of progress on my Web site.
Right now, all I’ve got are the index and a few linked pages that I created for my Electronic Photojournalism class. And right now, everything’s still on my school-sponsored Web space.
But soon enough, I’ll have a functioning Web site with my own domain name. In the meantime, with the help of 10,000 Words and a few other blogs, I’ve been exploring other photographers’ portfolio Web sites.
One of these sites belongs to Chase Jarvis.
Jarvis, who operates out of Seattle and Paris (!), is definitely a commercial photographer who’s had quite few big-name clients. For example, he did photography and video for the worldwide launch of Nikon’s D90. He’s done ad campaigns for Reebok, REI, Windows Vista, Volvo, Jeep and more. And he has a few more string projects that, it seems, he does for fun.
Jarvis also has a really good Web site.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Journalism, Photography, Photojournalism | 2 Comments »
October 1, 2009 by Chris Dunn
90ish days of summer
On our second day in the Rehoboth-Dewey-Lewes area of Delaware, Jeff and I visited Cape Henlopen State Park, where I almost destroyed my camera.
Before: I was walking along the (really nice!) beach at Cape Henlopen State Park. With my camera in hand, of course. Photo by Jeff.
After: The waves came up higher than they ever had before, and splashed me up to my waist. And almost soaked my camera and lens! Photo by Jeff.
But now I’m just getting ahead of myself.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Photography, Travel | 2 Comments »
September 30, 2009 by Chris Dunn
90ish days of summer
Just a short and sweet post with some more photos from the summer!
Rehoboth Bay, just out of Dewey, Del.
Jeff and I spent three days in mid-July in the Delaware beach area — specifically, we went to the beach at Dewey, the boardwalk at Rehoboth and the state park in Lewes.
We didn’t take that many photos. The point of the three-day getaway was just that. To get away from the hubbub of the nation’s capital, from long hours editing photos, from hour-long commutes.
Just taking it easy and not worrying about getting really great shots — that was a new concept for me. Of course, I’ve shot photos for fun before (spring break, anyone?). But for the first time in a very long time, I was someplace new for more than a day and I wasn’t there specifically to take photos. So that was nice.
But, of course, Jeff and I brought our cameras anyway.
On the first night, after spending the afternoon at the beach, we went to Rehoboth Bay just outside or near Dewey. Which is where we caught a gorgeous bayside sunset.
You can view more photos here, of course.
I’m still behind on blogging all my photos from the summer and our three-day photo adventure in New York City. But I’ll post the rest of the beach weekend photos soon, and I hope to get everything else up within due time.
Posted in Photography, Travel, Washington, D.C. | 2 Comments »
September 29, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
Posted in Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | 2 Comments »
September 28, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
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. 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism | 2 Comments »
September 23, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
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.
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 Cure"match. Petrick's grandmother is a breast cancer survivor.
Anthony Oetting. Again. High school football is so epic, and I mean that seriously.
The big lessons I learned:
Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | 1 Comment »
September 23, 2009 by Chris Dunn
I’ve always been a little critical of my hometown paper.
The Houston Chronicle is Texas’ largest daily paper and has bureaus in the state capital of Austin and Washington, D.C. Established in 1901, the Chronicle beat out the other city newspaper — the Houston Post — in 1995 and has since become the Hearst Corporation’s largest daily newspaper. More than 2,000 people work for the Chronicle, including more than 300 reporters, photographers and editors.
The Chronicle is also the only one of the 10 biggest U.S. papers that hasn’t won a Pulitzer.
But I’m not here to blast the Chronicle for its shortcomings. Rather, for part of my Electronic Photojournalism class, I’ve chosen to review the Chronicle’s Web site, chron.com.
Let’s start with the homepage.
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Posted in Journalism, Mizzou, Photojournalism | Leave a Comment »
September 14, 2009 by Chris Dunn
90ish days of summer
After much agony, introspection and discussion, I am finally at peace with the fact that there are some things I just can’t understand at this point in my life.
Nothing heavy-handed here, folks. I’m just talking about a public fresh-food market. But that comes later in this entry.
On June 28, Jeff and I met my brother’s fiancee and one of the other bridesmaids at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. After we wandered around the largest Roman Catholic church in North America, we hopped on the Metro and explored Eastern Market, which had just reopened for the first time in more than two years.
But first, here’s the basilica, which is a short walk from the Brookland-Catholic University Metro stop on the red line.
The exterior of the basilica. Quite impressive.
Religious architecture has always bewildered me, but it sure is pretty.
I was surprised about access within the building. Jeff and I just walked right in and ambled around. I had the feeling that as long as we didn’t disrupt any of the ongoing services in a few of the sanctuaries or enter any private offices, we had free reign of the place. It was a Sunday, for goodness’ sake, and we were wandering the upper church and clicking our DSLRs.
View from the altar. I would be more descriptive, but religious architecture terminology is beyond me.
After taking a few photos, we went to Eastern Market, which is D.C.’s oldest and longest-running public fresh-food market. And here’s where I’m afraid I might get a lot of flak: I’m honestly not entirely sure what draws people there. (Forgive the superfluous use of adverbs.)
Opening weekend at Eastern Market. Photo by Jeff.
I don’t mean to come off as a non-native/bright-eyed intern who comes to town and tries to ingratiate herself with the locals (or, worse yet, poke fun at them). Nor do I want to seem like a blissful ignoramus whose mantra is “I don’t get it.” Rather, I relish learning, trying to understand and passing on knowledge and information. That’s just what I aim to do as a (photo)journalist.
But sometimes, I just don’t understand things as completely as I’d like.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Introspection, Journalism, Photography, Washington, D.C. | Leave a Comment »
September 6, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
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.
Me on the sidelines. Photo by Jeff.
Thing is, I’ll be the first to admit I’m not very good at shooting football.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Mizzou, Photography, Photojournalism, Sports | 10 Comments »
September 4, 2009 by Chris Dunn
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.
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.
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.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Jeff City/The Missourian, Journalism, Missouri, Photography, Photojournalism | 2 Comments »
August 31, 2009 by Chris Dunn
90ish days of summer
During coffee with Claire on June 25, Sen. McCaskill first welcomed everyone in the crowded conference room and then opened the floor for a few questions.
A woman named Hope Tinker introduced herself and asked a question.
I think Jeff’s ears must have pricked up, because later he said to me, “I wonder if Mary Beth is here!”
Jeff and Mary Beth Tinker are basically best friends.
Jeff and Mary Beth Tinker, chattin' it up in Sen. McCaskill's office. Jeff usually looks this awkward in real life.
That’s right, the Mary Beth Tinker of Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District. The Mary Beth Tinker who wore a black armband to school in protest of the Vietnam War, was suspended from school, sued the district in defense of her First Amendment rights and won the case in the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Posted in Mizzou, Politics, Washington, D.C. | Leave a Comment »
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