Another... uhh.. it's Tuesday now...

My first Tuesday night football I've ever shot. There's a first for everything in this business.

What a miserable night though. The radar was completely clear when I left the office and somehow it just poured cold rain the entire first half. Most of the photos were absolutely useless.

The comedy club...

I've never been to a comedy show... I've never seen live comedy. I've only seen it on TV (when I had cable I was addicted to Comedy Central). I'm periodically amazed at where my job takes me, and this was a really fun assignment.

I was happy with most of the photos I took during the night. But this one I was glad I saw. It's dark a heck in these places and there are only a couple of very focused can-lights in the rafters. I just waited for a waitress to take a drink order from the tables near that light. I knew then to move to the back of the room and played the waiting game. I was pre-focused on where she'd walk by under the light and I like the result.

Love the moody feel, although it's really begging for the cigarette smoke you'd expect in a night club. Darn smoking ban!

Waitress Trisha Hughes delivers drinks to tables while comedian Tanyalee Davis of Las Vegas performs at the 8pm show at the Skyline Comedy Cafe in Appleton, Wis., Friday evening, Oct. 19, 2007.

Hailey

Hailey Meltz, a two-year-old from Appleton, has an inoperable brain tumor. This is the beginning of her story.

More information here: Team Hailey
And here: The Post~Crescent

Another Fri– hey wait a minute...

In Wisconsin, the end of football season starts getting screwey. Games start being played on Thursdays, and Tuesdays, and Saturdays in addition to Fridays.

That kind of threw me off a little bit, but I still had a decent night. The nice aspect is that I only had one game to cover. It's incredibly relaxing. I even walked to Subway during halftime to eat dinner. (sub of the day... just $2.99...)

It was a total mud-bowl because of recent rains, so I tried to capture that a little bit.


I try to avoid putting in pictures of people's backs, but despite that, I think this picture of an interception has a lot going on... lots of appendages... appendages are always good, and so is mud.


Our sports tabloid cover photo:


I like flying turf.
I always get a kick out of it, and I should stop being so obsessed with it. But you have to understand: when I was in high school I shot high school football on high-speed color film – believe it or not... I'm not that young. I developed it by hand for extended times in hot developer... that's how most everybody shot prep football. The resolving power of that film along with the relatively short lenses made photos looks pretty awful. There were minimal details – ooo... a hand! ooo... a ball! I got the ball in the frame and it happens to look brownish! Sweet!

Now with digital, the low-light quality really rivals and often exceeds what film ever did – without the carcinogenic chemicals. Seeing amazing details like blades of grass flying up from a soccer slide-tackle, or the finest of hairs on a person's face in a portrait shoot are really commonplace anymore. One really disgusting example is that I once captured someone sneezing at 8-frames-per-second... and no, they didn't cover their mouth.

My point: we've come a long way from tintypes and wet processes, and we should continue to be amazed at the increasing accuracy we can depict our world with.

A final frame.

Running...

Why do people do this to themselves? I want to be fit and in shape, but collapsing and nearly heaving-up a lung and throwing-up isn't a price I'm willing to pay for that.

Seriously... this is a very narrow view of the finish line. You're not seeing the rest of a battlefield...


Cross country...

The strongest, most persistent, positive woman I've ever met...

Victoria Goss – Victoria runs the Last Chance Corral, a horse/foal rescue operation in Athens, Ohio. I had been out of touch with the Corral since I graduated from Ohio U. It's a special place and I missed its aura.


Long story made short, Donny is gone. Victoria is moving on by renovating the house.
She's doing all the work herself, of course using her diverse skills in masonry and woodwork and stonework... anything she doesn't know how to do, she's learning as she goes along. She's a woman who doesn't let anything stop her.

Eva

We want her.



We want her.

From 31,000 feet...

This won’t be a photo entry today. Sometimes just my words are all I want to spew onto your computer screen.

I woke at 5am this morning… that was sure fun. It’s literally been months since I’ve woken up and there was no sunlight. Today I’m flying home to Ohio to visit. It’s a visit long overdue.

For some reason it’s a mix of feelings leaving your “new home” for your “old home” for the first time. It’s liberating: for five days work is the least of my worries… although I’ve been gone for only a day and my email inbox is flooded already. It’s also strangely unsettling and I can’t begin to comprehend why. Perhaps it’s a little bit of fear visiting old places knowing that after only three to six months they will assuredly not be the same places I once knew, either in appearance or nature.

Flying is enjoyable to me. But it’s the one thing people love to hate, so hey– I’ll go ahead and hate on it, too.

Driving into the airport a safe hour before my flight, I realized that recent construction had ravaged the airport signage… “where the **** is the daily/weekly parking?” I asked while I circled the airport grounds three times feeling like a complete moron… all the while, my breakfast (consisting of a Qwik Trip donut) taunted me from the passenger’s seat.

It only got worse from there…

Outagamie County Regional Airport (ATW) is not a busy airport… except of course for days on which I’m in a hurry. Upon entering the terminal (10 minutes late thanks to the lack of parking signs) I found myself at the ticketing counter behind 20 woodsmen all dressed in camo and their wives (totally not dressed in camo) apparently going on a hunting trip. The line for the security checkpoint was literally going out the door.

As the minutes ticked by getting closer and close to my departure time, I watched helplessly as each of these hunters checked their allotted five guns each. Between frequent mental fits over the delay, I wondered how many frigging guns one man actually needs to kill an animal. Then I realized that what was once a one-gun activity (key word: active) for finding food to live on has modernized and Americanized into a multi-firearm “sport” involving recreational drinking and climbing trees.

For a moment I considered cutting to the front of the line. I immediately realized that was a ludicrous idea: everybody knows you never cross Wisconsin hunters… particularly a group of 20 with enough firepower to form a poorly regulated militia.

Upon getting checked-in I headed to the security line, where – as I said – it only got worse from there…

There are at least 50 people ahead of me. Don’t people pay attention to the TSA rules? Television news only spend half of their newscasts for a week reviewing the changes. Furthermore, it’s not as if they just instituted the no-liquid-rule yesterday. It’s been effective for over a year. Nevertheless, there’s a second line next to the main line of the folks who disregarded the advisories. They stood there upset, chugging their bottles of overpriced spring water with the same vigor as a UW-Madison student doing a keg-stand.

I boarded my plane with just a few minutes to spare.

It only got worse from there…

The plane was smelly.
The plane was sweltering… I think there was a bonfire stoking in first class.

At least I sat next to an interesting person. He did prove the premise that Americans are generally uncomfortable with verbal silence in social settings, but he was nice. He’s worked in the aviation industry, private and public sectors since the 1960s. He wanted to be a licensed commercial pilot but onset diabetes prevented that. He said that one of his employers were part of developing the coatings and paints that make the military’s stealth bombers undetectable by radar. They are also one of many aviation firms trying to develop supersonic aircrafts that are flyable over the continental U.S. – they merely have to find out how to break the sound barrier without making a sonic boom. Interesting stories although I wouldn’t bet my journalistic credibility on them…

Now, I’m at 31,000 feet on my connecting flight from Minneapolis to Columbus. By now, I’m probably over the one state I loathe the most. I’m sitting next to a guy that tried to trick me into taking the window seat… I ain’t no sucker. I’m probably driving him nuts though, because even though I hate the window seat, I love looking out the window. They need to work on airplane design to accommodate both of my needs. My row-mate (sounds like prison) can’t read this because he’s asleep, rudely claiming the center armrest for himself. I’m squeezed in-between him and the drink cart in the twelfth row, right next to the bathroom. Why did I pick these seats again?

The captain just came on and said we’ll be on the ground in 15 minutes. Current weather: light wind and rain.

But the sun will come up tomorrow.

Ehhh....

...not the best stained glass photo I've ever seen... It's okay.

Anthony Ross of Coventry Glassworks and Gallery, one in a crew of four, installs stained glass windows in the sanctuary of St. Mary Parish in Menasha, Wis., Monday, Oct. 8, 2007.

Called up to the big leagues...

I was planning on heading north to Lambeau Field to work on a feature/atmosphere story for my next ViewFinder project.

Then the Crandon shootings happened and the usual plans went out the window. Patrick Ferron, who usually shoots the Packers games with Dan Powers, was sent to Crandon and I was assigned to game coverage with Dan. It was my first regular season game.

Specifically I was assigned to be the "Favre-cam." At home games we like to have one photographer focusing on Favre full time so we get all the action, reaction, or injuries. I got some decent photos from the game, and even the game-winning touchdown, but more importantly (in my mind) I learned some things that will make next time easier and more productive.

Dan Powers: "I know you're assigned to Favre, but when it's the 4th quarter, the game is tied, and the Bears are past the Green Bay 40, why the **** are you still shooting Favre on the bench... the game is out on the field!"

Green Bay Packers' Nick Barnett wraps up Chicago Bears quarterback Brian Griese in the third quarter.

Me and my low angles again. I'll master this yet! Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre prepares a hand-off for DeShawn Wynn in the third quarter.

Green Bay Packers' Atari Bigby is unable to keep Chicago Bears' Greg Olsen from pulling in a touchdown pass in the third quarter.

Chicago Bears' Desmond Clark tumbles over Green Bay Packers' Nick Collins at the end zone for the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Green Bay Packers' Brett Favre walks off the field after the Packers' loss to the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field.

Another Friday night... Week 7

Clearly the best end-zone lighting (cross-lit!) I've had all season...


This was our tab-cover... I'm kind of iffy on my decision to go with this...

Quarterbacks running from linemen is a nice safety shot to grab at any point in the game. This one does a little more for me, with the layers and that little ridge of hard light on the quarterback's face.

I still suck at shooting volleyball...

...but I'm getting marginally better. I still have to bank on celebration images and a lot of luck.

I hate halloween...

Halloween is my least favorite holiday. At a newspaper you just can't weather the fall season without an assignment or two pertaining to the damn day. People keep telling me that I'll love it when I have kids. Whatever. For now I reserve the right the be disgruntled with it.

This assignment raised my blood pressure. If one hates Halloween, they will surely hate a haunted house. Upon arriving at the "Burial Chamber," I trekked through the house (no lights on) and made this frame for our Weekend cover. Everything was totally freaking me out. I don't even want to think about it... uhh... bye...

Done it... seen it...

Every once in a while you think you're doing something so spectacularly original... so fantastic... that you can just imagine all the cheers you'll receive...

...and then, instead, you get that bubble immediately burst when you hear "Oh yeah, the beveled glass on that one door... oh yeah... we've all shot through that..."

Seen through the beveled glass window of a door to the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, U.S. Ambassador to India, David Mulford addresses Lawrence University students, faculty, and members of the public during a convocation titled "The United States and India: A Partnership for the 21st Century" in Appleton, Wis., Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007.

Octoberfest

You can't document Octoberfest without documenting the recreational binge drinking.

Patrick Leonard of Chicago sits on a curb near Division Street and College Avenue in the later hours of Octoberfest in downtown Appleton, Wis., Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. Leonard, describing himself as 'bored,' said, "I kinda want to go to the bars right now."


This picture alone doesn't tell the whole story. But this was the quirky frame from the day that made me laugh and smile.

Lawrence football... back to the Banta Bowl

I really love shooting at the Banta Bowl... lately the team playing there has been a bit lacking (albeit improving)... but you couldn't ask for a nicer daytime venue to shoot at in our immediate coverage area.

It's usually slightly overcast or backlit. The far end zone is wooded: dark and not distracting at all for the backgrounds. The sidelines aren't crowded either, further eliminating the visual clutter. It's great.

Lately I've been kind of obsessed with shooting from low-angles, ever since I saw an article on SportsShooter.com. I'm giving it a try with the mid-range lenses lying on my belly in the end-zone praying that they don't decide to throw deep into the end-zone my way...

I kind of like this frame of a touchdown run below, but part of me thinks that the awkward body position of the runner is what skews it towards an "almost frame".

Another Friday night... Week 6

Another week of trying to get something different... my creativity is beginning to reach a critical level...

I'm looking forward to a short break from this beat in a couple weeks.

The first quarter sunlight may be gone, but a kiss of it on the horizon was still there for the team introductions.

I'm becoming a firm believer of the mantra that not every good sports photograph has to be one with peak action of somebody flying through the air or catching a pass mid-air. There are plenty of instances where publications like Sports Illustrated will publish an image for it's athletic-strategic value – something that shows how the play happened, puts a face to the Xs and Os. I'm not a football expert, but it seems like this big run wouldn't have happened without the textbook blocks by the guy's teammates.

When right before my lens should appear, a defender making a grimace while he's ripping someone's arm off... when this happens I do a little mental happy dance.

Heritage Day

I always look for photos that will show the subject in a distinct place. Heritage Day is about music, it's about culture, and it's about the beginning of Octoberfest in Appleton.

In reality it's about 200 older citizens in lawn chairs listening to polka music in the waning hours of daylight.

This photo of Dorf Kapelle trumpeter Warren Wirth warming up his instrument before taking the stage in Houdini Plaza (I think) says all that needs to be said. The fall color palette sure helps.

Fox Cities Marathon

Lately I've been covering a lot of running. Somehow it's left me inspired to start running myself. My short term goal over the next 6-months is to train for a 5k. In the next two years I would like to run a marathon.

Here are some of my favorite photos from this year's Fox Cities Marathon... like golf it's about finding the aesthetics and the quirky moments, because the peak action ain't that interesting to look at.

Runners arrive by bus early in the morning and sleep in the halls of a nearby building prior to the race.



Volunteers make the marathon go off without a hitch. They do everything from cheer on runners (as in the case of these residents from the St. Paul Elder Services Villa, and the medical staff at the finish line who help people who have given every ounce of energy they have.

Real life vs. TV

I was handed the opportunity to tackle an assignment involving a portrait series for our features section. We did a story about the fall network TV line-up and wanted to talk to people in our coverage area who have the same careers as those on CSI, The Office, Boston Legal, and Grey's Anatomy.

I was given total creative license with these shoots. For two days I worked out of the basement, setting up a makeshift studio with a large muslin backdrop, one light and a reflector.

I had wonderful subjects to work with who were receptive to my ideas and offered some of their own. After each shoot I interviewed each of them for a short sound bite and produced an audio slideshow for the web. In hindsight, maybe I was pushing things trying to get a multimedia piece from this. I think it's a good multimedia opportunity but I don't think SoundSlides is the right presentation for it. Something more interactive and flash-driven might have been more appropriate.

These photos were labeled photo illustrations because I dropped the color out of the background, but other than that these are all in-camera shots.



Dr. Chris Hugo, a Neenah ER physician. We used magenta ink from the old presses to simulate the appearance of blood on his gloves. That was a lot of fun trying to wash off of my hands...



Rhonda Ziegler, a local assistant bank manager, posed for me on top of a filing cabinet... unused filing cabinets are really hard to find in an office building.



Sgt. Scott De Broux of the Appleton Police Department does a lot of crime scene photography, fingerprint and identification work. Standing in as our corpse is my colleague Kirk Wagner. Get this guy on Law & Order...



Local attorney Sarah Kons. We tried full lengths portraits like the others but they just didn't work because of the lack of props (attorneys typically only have a large briefcase). Something tighter to emphasize the slight bit of attitude in her face was needed. I asked her to pretend I was a judge who just handed down a verdict against her. Kons said that studies have shown that people shop for lawyers by appearance in their phone-book photograph. The meaner you look, the more people want you to fight for their cause.



Our printed page... click it to see it larger.

Portraits: Up until the last second...

...I have no idea what I'm going to shoot most of the time. Usually, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I've never seen my subject before. I've never seen the location I'm shooting at. That's why every single piece of equipment I have is in my trunk everywhere I go. A colleague told me my boss Dewey once said that we have to "Stop, Drop, and Roll with the punches."

A key player in the making of the George Lucas movie Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones (I've never seen the movie, I swear) once said that pre-visualization serves the purpose of selling a concept. I find that to be truer and truer with every portrait I've planned in my head beforehand. It sells the idea to my editors, but hardly ever do I get the image I set out to capture. And almost always I emerge with something better.

In the case of this portrait, my most valuable pieces of equipment were my ears and my mind. Ray Waiter of Appleton, 74, has been running marathons for about a decade and a half. He's shown opposite a prized trophy from the 2002 Fox Cities Marathon. He placed third in the 65-plus age group.



The moment I met Ray, he showed me the bronze trophy. He was so proud of it. He joked that he thought it looked like a Heisman Trophy. It was special to him and I new that I had to incorporate it into the portrait. I had my colleague Kirk Wagner hold the statue halfway between Ray and I. The perspective makes the trophy appear larger and it's form balances the frame against Ray's determined body language. Often, I use flashes to jazz up the lighting scheme on a portrait, but this was a case for simplicity... just me, my camera, and a subject.

Another Friday night... Week 5

Tonight the story was the weather. Severe storms rolled through the Fox Valley and caused several delays and made things a general mess.

The weather was already threatening when I got to Kaukauna, and by the time I made it to Appleton East it was a steady downpour. I'm pretty happy with these.

Their World is the Gridiron

My latest ViewFinder photo column deals with what it's like to experience the pre-game atmosphere of high school football. It's a project I'm fairly proud of. Check it out.

(Click to view larger.)