Kris Marsh Photography

Pain in the Neck

2007-11-11T22:04:00.001-08:00

This month is hectic for everyone. From now until the end of the semester is probably the most stressful time in a college student's life. Final exams, signing up for next semester's classes, finding out you can't graduate because you don't have enough credits, and schoolwork in general stacked on top of the coming holidays are enough to make anybody go insane.

All of my friends plus myself have been experiencing this hectic mess lately.

And in case I haven't mentioned on here, I play snare drum in the school marching band. Outside of band, however, I participate in an activity known as Drum Corps International (DCI for short). I'm auditioning for a drum corps this fall, and I've had to learn about 30 exercises /excerpts of snare music. Needless to say, I'm sick of the Center for the Arts here at Towson.

Balancing all of this can be extremely difficult at times. Work piles up for class, assignments are rolling at The Towerlight, and drumming nightly leaves room for very little sleep.

I know I do all of these things because I like them and I know that I want to do them, but is there a point where there is too much going on? If so, how do you handle that?

These are just some of the things I like to think about throughout the course of my day.

I'm probably not nearly as busy as the young woman in the above picture, though. Shelly Guy is a contortionist who has performed at the Atlantis in the Bahamas and who is heading to Hong Kong over winter break to perform 3 times a day. Talk about stress, huh?

It was interesting to work with her. As a performer, I know that people who attract a lot of attention can have a proverbial "big head" sometimes, but Mrs. Guy was very professional and relaxed about her craft and working with me to get the shots that I wanted.

The semester is almost over, though, as all good things come to end eventually. Wish me luck with my auditions!

Oh yeah, here's some of my recent stuff from this week's issues of The Towerlight.

Hiatus? You could say that.

2007-11-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a while.

Why?

I say for betterment. I have had a lot of work thrown at me these last few weeks, and as my main job is to do well in my classes, that came first. Sorry, fans.

So, rather than post 3 or 4 separate entries, I decided to put them all into one packaged deal.

PJCLass: Spot News and Sports

Two of the hardest assignments I've had in my photojournalism class were spot news and sports. The assignment wasn't actually "spot news," but that's what I turned in.
My teacher, Monica Lopossay, was overall very pleased with what I turned in. So was I.

The fire was down the road from my dorm. I remember that Friday night clearly. As I was getting ready for bed, my roommate Mark called, walking back from his night job. "Hey dude, there's a fire across from Papa Johns. Just thought you should know." No sooner did we hang up was I already sprinting down the hallway to the door. I ran all the way from my dorm to the scene, a good half mile (p.s. Don't run without securing your backpack completely...my 70-200 f2.8 is not happy with me...).

This having been my first spot news scene, I was on an adrenaline rush. I was shooting nonstop, getting right up next to the engines, etc., all the stuff I was trained to do.

The night was exciting to say the least. No one was hurt, thankfully. A simple 2-alaram fire and some nice images with no one hurt or anything personal lost? Sounds alright in my book.

This shot was taken at Towson's soccer complex. The complex makes for messy backgrounds, but there are certain areas near the field, including the hill behind the far goal, that are great for clean images. I was actually standing on the hill shooting down, which gave me this insanely clean image. I wish I had got Ruck's hand in the shot, but no image is ever perfect.

Then of course there was this semester Erlich visit. Every semester the former governor speaks for Towson University Professor Richard Vatz's persuasion class. I was the lucky photog to cover it this time. I only had 20 minutes to shoot, which is a lot in this business for some assignments, so I decided to see how quickly I could produce a quality image. This is what I got. Simple, but it gets the job done.

I thought this portrait was pretty cool. David Vanko is the acting dean of Fisher College of Science and Mathematics. Ok...science. I had NO idea what to do for this prior to meeting the man. He agreed to visit his classroom, and we tried some things. I told him I had this idea of him behind something else, like something he uses for class. Well, this is what he thought to use, and I am glad he thought of it because I think it turned out well.

Well those are the biggies...here is some other stuff I shot and thought was worth posting.

Up next: twisting and shouting

Potrait Much?

2007-10-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

So portraits are fun. I enjoy them every now and then because they let me use strobes in ways general news doesn't call for. You get to weave your creativity into an image that needs to both inform and intrigue, and it can be difficult, depending on how much you want to do it up.

Normally my editor gets all of the cool portraits, but since he has been out, the staff has been turning to me to "git 'r dun." So here are portraits that have been printed in the most recent issues of The Towerlight.

This portrait was a jump in that I was notified I was going to do it that day, and when I got there my editor had been there 10 minutes before she said she would. SO...I set up my brella and asked him for a few seconds of his time, and this is what happened. Gruesome, in my opinion (sorry, Police dude). The light is very harsh and almost fake, and it just doesn't appeal to me...don't worry, it didn't run like this in the paper.

A few critiques and a day later, this is what happened to my shooting. I got the call that Nicole Burlew, pictured, was coming in and I was to do a portrait for cover. Ok...crap. What do I do? Cover, not in her "environment" (she was running for mayor of Aberdeen), and I had a time limit (duh). I pulled myself together and I thought the image turned out well. Nice sunlight to the back right, ella ella to the left, beautiful light.

Ok. This shoot happened 10 minutes after I was asked to do it. The Arts editor said that he wanted a portrait of this guy scheduled at 2:30. I have a lesson at 2:30, but it usually starts late anyway...no biggie, I'll just set up my equipment, ask him to please sit, and boom, be done. And that's exactly what I did. I like how the window light on the right seems to be the only light present. Little does the average reader know that there is a brelly over there as well, filling in his upper body and face. It would have looked terrible without. Props to my assistant Blake for helping with the setup.

Digression: There are these nasty bugs in my dorm. They have about 100 legs and they crawl on my walls, above and near my bed BTW, every now and then. I believe I just killed one...not sure, might have been a spider, which I am also not fond of. Oi...Towson...anyway.

Phew...last one (for now). This is cover for tomorrow issue. Similar situation as the mayor girl. This woman, who is a finalist in the Miss Maryland Pageant, was to come in for a shoot, not in her environment and completely improvised. Again, I thought I did alright. I have some different shots that are on my Flickr site with her and a trophy prop, but this is what the staff wanted on cover.

As you can see, lots of portraits, lots of strobing, not lots of recharging batteries (surprisingly). So if you happen to be at Towson, check out The Towerlight, maybe you'll see one of these lovely images in print.

Next up: Who knows. I think it's going to be another, yes you guessed it....a PJClass report! News is the name of the game this time, so I'll tell you about an experience that I had almost a month ago that sent me into the heart of a fire. Exciting, huh?

Gym Class Heroes at College

2007-10-11T20:57:00.001-07:00

I enjoy shooting concerts. They're a break from everyday podium shots, portraits, and general news assignments.

Being a musician, I get more out of the concert than might other photographers. I love listening and shooting; they go hand it hand for me. Not to mention the crowd and the crazy lighting and the ambiance all adds to an atmosphere that could get a congressman hyped up.

I was disappointed when I first heard that Gym Class Heroes were coming to Towson. I think they're an ok band, but I knew that my editor was going to get to shoot it over me.

That was until he got men...lymes disease.

Yay lymes disease! (sorry Pat)

I consider concerts to be somewhat tricky. Light flying everywhere, low light environment, fog, lots of movement...exciting, but tricky if you're inexperienced. Not saying that I am experienced at concerts, but I have shot a few before, so I wasn't clueless going into it.

I was with the Arts editor, Alex Plimack, for most of the time. He had a terrible night, first not getting a press pass and then getting screwed over by a certain campus organization that will rename unnamed. As crappy as his night was, however, both of us got to go onto the band's tour bus for an interview with the drummer, Matt McGinley.

Overall, the concert was fun. The "first 3 songs and you're out" limitation caught me off guard, but I think I did pretty well considering the circumstances.

Next up: Cops, mayors, potraits, oh my! Another portrait heavy issue at the Towerlight, all by yours truly.

Holding Up the Fort

2007-10-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

Being an Associate Photo Editor has its benefits. You don't have as much pressure on you to do well, less responsibility, and less time in the office (if you consider those benefits...). Sometimes I forget just how much the Photo Editor actually does in a day. Everything becomes automatic: images are always just assumed to be edited and ready to be laid out, pictures always looks good, and everything just IS.

So when everything is dumped on you because your Photo Editor is out with a terrible illness, things come in to reality.

Cup check? You betcha.

I got the news from my editor Tuesday night in a text message. I was informed that he would not be in because of an emergency, and that I would need to edit all of the images and make sure shit gets done.

This didn't really concern me until I realized what was actually happening: I had to be Photo Editor for a Wednesday production day. Wednesday. The day I have class from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., straight through, stopping only for an hour between band and Photojournalism class.

So beginning production day was easy. I was just going to edit the images (I feel like I have a decent eye for what needs to be done to an image, at least for my amount of education on the topic) and go on my merry way. It's amazing what a phone call can do, though.

My EIC calls me 5 minutes before my 11 o'clock programming class and says that no one has taken an assignment and that she needs a photog, ASAP, for 11 a.m. Having never skipped the class, and knowing that nothing was going to be done, I skipped and did the assignment. Nothing hard, but something like that will definitely shake up your day.

Fast forward to noon.

With an absolutely AMAZING finish to last Saturday's football game against the Hofstra Pride (that you can read about on www.thetowerlight.com), Kiel, sports editor here at The Towerlight, decided to do a feature on quarterback Sean Schaefer, hero of the game.

The entire week my editor had this idea of setting the ball on fire and having Sean hold it upright against a sunset with some 3D lighting going on.

But when your Photo Editor falls ill, your circumstances change.

At first I thought that we were just going run this story as an inside without a portrait. When Kiel approached me and asked me if I could cover it, I said yes enthusiastically, but inside I was nervous. I had NO idea what I could do with one strobe and make it as effective as what was was originally planned.

Up top is what ran in the paper, and below is another shot that I like for different reasons.

Which do you like better?

This was a big deal for me. It being my first sports feature image, I wanted to "do it up" as they say. I think I could have done much better, but for the circumstances I was in I think it turned out well.

This story does have a happy end. The paper was printed, as usual, and none of the photos were a sloppy mess (yay!).

I give myself a PAT on the back, along with the rest of the photo team who helped me get 'r done.

Next up: my explorations into high ISOs, fog, and drunk college kids. No, not tailgating in the early morning: concert photography!

Hot as a Dog in Heat

2007-10-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

Not to be cliche or anything, but my title is fitting.

Today was HOT.

After a long weekend (which I will talk more about around the time of my PJClass: Spot News post), Sunday is always a safe day for me. Yes, it's production day, and yes it can be stressful sometimes, but it's fun. I get to cool down. Not today.

I woke up at 10 a.m., which was nice considering I'd been waking up around 7 the past week. Scheduled to shoot the Men's soccer game again UNC Wilmington at 1, I drove to the office so I could upload my images from an event that will be talked about later. Never go to a game without empty memory cards, unless you're using an 8 GB card.

Never buy an 8 GB card, either.

Sports editor Kiel McLaughlin and I drove to Royal Farms to snatch some lunch before the game. Did you know that Royal Farms actually makes FRIED french fries? They're amazing, but eat more than one and forget enjoying the rest of your day.

After finishing my savory ham and cheese wrap, it hit suddenly hit me that the temperature had risen tremendously. 90 degrees? What!? For it to be this hot in October is ridiculous. Global Warming? Freak incident? Too many RF fries?

Nobody knows.

However, though the heat was draining, the Towson men's soccer team won over UNC Wilmington with a 4-1 victory. The second half came out of nowhere, with two goals scored within four minutes of each other.

Well, it's late on production day, and I still need to go practice and do some homework.

Homework. I always forget about that stuff.

PJClass: Feature

2007-10-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

David Hobby, a former staff photographer at the Baltimore Sun, also known as the Strobist, once joked on his blog about his editor telling him "Hey, I see you have 15 minutes between your afternoon assignments. Can you find me some weather art? Make it a vertical, okay?" I don't know the truth behind a quote like this, but after doing this assignment, a question like this would probably bring me to my wit's end.

This was a tough assignment. To find a slice of life in a candid fashion in a part of town that you are very familiar with is no simple task. As Monica Lopossay puts it, "Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives that we develop 'tunnel vision.'" I was definitely feeling the tunnel vision.

The shot I eventually got, shown at the top, was originally disappointing to me. The unedited image was a very wide shot of the store front with a car passing by. The exposure was just a stop underexposed (half of the finished image is underexposed as well, but I didn't touch it because it works as is, IMHO), and it was just a very busy picture.

After some inspection, however, I looked into the details of the image: the fact that Shane Gullivan is sitting on a barstool on the stoop of his shop, the "tragical" word/theme, the manakin staring Shane down, "no solicition", the 410 area code, and the initial perception that this might be two images combined. Perfect details to show, and nothing that a tight crop couldn't pimp out.

That's right. PIMP out. How do you like them apples?

Next assignment: News

Maybe I will catch a fire, or a crash, or maybe a beating.

Or a podium shot. Sigh.

On Style and Swag

2007-10-02T15:14:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been thinking a lot about how I can "define" myself as a photographer. I look at other people's work and I think, "Man, what a great idea!" or "Wow, I wish I would have thought about that." I don't think there's anything wrong with looking at other people's work and extracting ideas or concepts, but I am a little concerned with where I stand in terms of "style."

The last thing I want to do is imitate someone. I'll admit that when I first started shooting I went off of some people's ideas or methods, and I still share some of those things. These are all minor, common doings, though, such as marking equipment with my name, putting a black border around some of my finished images, and cropping certain ways.

In my quest for finding my own style, I stumbled across this article from Sports Shooter. To sum it up, I, or anyone else in my situation, should not worry or search for my style: my style will find me eventually. And if it doesn't, well...not worrying about it.

On a similar note, commercial photographer Nick Vedros spoke last Thursday at MICA. Most of what he talked about was the business side of commercial photography, such as bidding correctly, being marketable, and balancing the art and the business. And, as arrogant as he may have been, he had me hooked when he spoke about having an Identity, and how crucial it is for you and your work to be recognized as one.

Switching gears.

The gear stork has landed on the beer-stained carpet outside of my dorm room several times in the last month. I thought I might take a moment to share what I have acquired with the enormous pool of readers I have attracted to this blog (you know who you are...anyone? hello?).

Above is my Manfrotto 681B Monopod next to a Pocket Wizard pre-trigger motor cable for my Canon 30D. The motor cable allows for remote firing up to about 1600 feet about, and the pre-trigger box on it keeps the camera body from falling asleep. Very handy for sports.

And of course this fine image couldn't be done without...(drum roll please)...a light stand and umbrella! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Manfrotto 3373 and a Westcott 43" umbrella with removable black cover. The flash shown is an SB-28 I haggled for with the fine people down at Service Photo in Baltimore, and it is being fired with Pocket Wizards that I got at a reduced price through MOC.

I am also proud to say that the majority of all this equipment was purchased on my own (that's saying a lot for being a college student). You can check out my Flickr page to see some of the work I've done so far with the new swag.

Next up: I am saving for a lens. Thinking 17-35mm f2.8 Canon, or something very similar. If anyone has any insight or recommendations, please let me know.

PJClass: Portraits

2007-09-20T16:53:00.001-07:00

Members, from left, Matt Galler, Andrew Cohen, Rory Pettinghill and Trevor Simpson of Gatsby Gets The Green Light hang out in their "green" van, which has been modified to run on grease .

To say that the most recent issue of the Towerlight had a few portrait shots in it is an understatement. We would have run more if the stories weren't rescheduled for later issues.

The shot above is probably my best portrait to date. I had to use a fisheye out of necessity because of tight shooting quarters, but I think it added to the image. It was also one of the first times I used my umbrella to reflect rather than to shoot through. I got some praise from my fellow photogs as well, which is always a good morale booster.

I enjoy the following portrait because it uses two strobes (one far camera left with a red gel shot through a fake tree, the other high camera right shot through a white umbrella at 45 degrees to Mr. Letts). The red strobe was the idea of my photo editor, Pat.

There is one more portrait of mine set to run on Monday, so I'll post that up then.

I'll have to admit, I was nervous shooting these. Two of them were on the same day along with another assignment down in Baltimore, so the pressure was on to get them done WELL with a new flair each time. I managed them professionally, IMHO. The parts I didn't do so well on, like having to rush out at the end of a portrait, probably could have been handled better. Live to learn, right?

Even though they were somewhat hectic, these assignments couldn't have come to me at a better time. With the "Portrait" assignment given to me in my MCOM 391 (photojournalism) class, I was at first uncertain of what to do for it. I don't consider it cheating to be given a photo assignment at the The Towerlight that happens to also be my homework. Just coincidence. Right?

One of these days I'm going to plan ahead and have a friend let me do a portrait of him during a sunset here at Towson. They are remarkable, particularly from the viewpoint of the window in the lounge on my floor.

I also have to mention that the passion and enthusiasm that my Photojournalism teacher, Monica Lopossay, brings to the class is extremely, might I say uber inspiring. The way she talks about watching people and their actions and expressions, and the way people interact with one another and being able to capture that all is almost enlightening. It's doing well to guide me in choosing a major. I love it.

-Later-

PJClass: Familiar Person

2007-09-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

Alison Marsh, a sophomore at Archbishop Spalding High School, fixes her hair before eating breakfast, Saturday, September 8, 2007.

So I'm taking MCOM 391, Photojournalism 1. Not bad for being a sophomore, eh? My teacher, Monica Lopossay, is a staffer at the Baltimore Sun. Having grown up in a hick part of the country, she's actually a really interesting, passionate photojournalist. I hope to learn a lot from her and her colleague, fellow Sun staffer Christopher Assaf, who occasionally stops in when Monica is not available.

Our first assignment was "Any familiar person." We already had our class of editing the images and questions about "Is this good enough?" or "So I can crop the baseball out of this, right?" And of course there were the people who had dogs as their subjects, or people who shot their familiar person from a good 30 feet away.

But hey, we're all learning.

I had a hard time choosing which one to submit out of my take. I chose this one (see beginning of post) because it is more natural to me. It is my sister, and she knew I was there (I was literally a foot behind her). She doing what she always does in the morning, so there's a simple caption.

The hardest part for me was choosing content over quality. I had another image of my fiend Dan that would have fit the bill just fine, not to mention it was more clear and more in focus than my final decision. However, it was not as intimate. Here it is:

Choosing images is the hardest part of what I've had to do so far. I don't suppose it gets any easier.

Speaking of choosing images...

There are some days when everything I shoot just seems dull and rote and "by the books." Nothing seems to be in focus, the composition is terrible, and the images are just...well, in layman's terms, blah. Then there are the days that rock. You're on your game, with images just pouring through your lens like butter in an oven (hey, analogies are a lot like bad days sometimes...).

Today I thought I had a pretty good day. I shot field hockey at Villa Julie, which gave me about 20 images I could have used. Sweet. The choosing: not so sweet. But I managed, and this was the image that will run tomorrow:

Nothing crazy, but not too shabby, IMHO.

Ok, Sunday night at TU. Time to go do all my homework for las...this week.

-Later-

Reflect.

2007-09-12T18:57:00.001-07:00

Reset.

2007-09-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

It's funny how people can do something without knowing why they do it. Sometimes peer pressure comes into play, or maybe a celebrity model presents something that demands imitation.

That's how I feel about this blog.

At first I thought this blog would be a cool idea because of blogs I saw a few of my friends and colleagues using and updating. One of my former colleagues, Brian Stelter, did so well with his blogging that he ended up on the top as a New York Times reporter, straight out of college.

So why shouldn't I give it a try? I'll just do something similar to what my friends do, write similar things without any of my own personality and see how it works out. Of course I used my own images, but it still felt static to me.

I've decided to try this again. I'm going to "reset" my blog, without erasing the old. I thought about creating an entirely new site, but I figured that I have a perfectly fine one to work with. Besides, I think that the old stuff will be a nice reference when I get some new entries in.

I could be cliche and mention something about opening new doors or something, but I won't. This blog is now going to be my thoughts written down how I'd like them to look like, within reasonable grammatical structure (I've got to set some standards).

-30-

"And the Livin's Easy..."

2007-06-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ah, summertime.

Oh...no assignments? Drat.

I decided to post again to make sure I keep this blog going, and because I was sick of that lax shot from the previous post.

There's not much going on around here. I drum on the weekends, practice during the week, shoot on occasion. It's pretty nice, but I can't say my parents like it. Considering that I'm only home for about another week, and then I'm gone on a tour to California until mid-August, I think I can stick out the unemployment.

I'll try to post up the pic of me in The Maryland Gazette as soon as they freakin' publish the story...

CAA Finalists

2007-05-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Towson men's lacrosse leveled Hofstra today with a dominating 11-5 victory.

This was one of the most aggressive games I've ever seen. I swore that art least one player would break out into a fight with an opponent.

Not much to say tonight, other than I wasn't very happy with the shots I got. I'm going to start using Matrix metering, as I was using Spot...maybe that will help.

Shake n' Bake.

Elections

2007-05-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

Monday marked the turnover to a new staff for The Towerlight. I have never been a part of the mysterious elections before, but it was definitely a lot more intense than I thought it would be. After heated discussions and much debate, the Fall 2007 Towerlight staff was elected (for the most part).

Congratulations to Sharon Leff for getting Editor in Chief. I'm sure she will lead us well. I will also bang my own drum here and mention that I am now Associate Photo Editor. Slow and study, one step up.

I also shot women's lacrosse against Hopkins last night. They got destroyed (15-9), and I realized that women's lax is not NEARLY as intense as men's. Met a new photog, and shot some alright stuff.

Time to go drum. ALOT. Pace.

4/28

2007-04-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

Weekend a crazy what.

That pretty much sums up how this weekend felt. Personally, this was the first weekend where I didn't really have anything to do out of this state. I went to Jersey today to do a show, but that was small beans compared to an entire weekend of drumming.

Friday I went to the Paramore/The Almost concert at the Recher and had...fun. Saturday was Tigerfest and my cousin Richard's wedding. I was only at Tigerfest for the first half of it, which proved to be lamer than a pasty 12 yearold glue-eater. And from what I heard from the staff here at The Towerlight, Dashboard wasn't all that greatt either.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to think about things (there's a word for that...comment if you know what it is). After much introspective analysis, I've come to the conclusion that doing that is useless. SO...I'm just going to keep being a student, drumming, and shooting. No worries.

P.S. If you get a chance, read the short book "Wear Sunscreen." I thought it was great.

(Top Picture: A student pigs out on some wings at Tigerfest.
Bottom Picture: My lovely sister looking striking at the wedding.)

Recess

2007-04-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy with school work this week that I decided to "reward" myself with some time off this afternoon...which led me to shoot another assignment!

After leaving my Design class early, I noticed a horde of little children walking around in a group on Campus. I immediately whipped out my camera, since I haven't seen this many little kids since I was home for Easter. Later I am notified by Sharon that these youngin's are a story, so I followed them around campus for about an hour. They ended up on Stephen's field, where they had lunch, ran around crazy, and got their shirts signed by various TU Sports icons (Sean Schaeffer pictured above).

I'll admit, I felt like I was at middle school recess when I was tossed in the middle of their eating and craziness. It made for a relaxing afternoon and a few alright shots.

Also, if you're a photog and you want something to shoot, Apple is holding an "Insomniac" competition this week. I guess posting this at 4 doesn't help, since the deadline to register is by 5. At least you know I'm participating in it :D

Shooting Tigerfest and lax this weekend, then going UP on sunday. Craaazy.

WGI PIO Champs!

2007-04-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

So I struggled. I cried. I worked my butt off.

But this weekend made all of that worth it.

At the 2007 WGI World Championships in Dayton, OH this past weekend, United Percussion took first place in Percussion Independent Open class with a score of 95.5 (out of 100, of course). We topped Penn State Indoor by 7 tenths. This is the first time United has ever won a world championship.

What else is that we were also "bumped" to World Class, so we will now be competing in WGI PIW competition. Word.

The feeling I got when they announced, "...and in second place, with a score of 94.8.............(forever passes time)....Penn State!" was unbelievable. So much pressure was lifted, and when I saw our staff crying and hugging each other, tears filled my eyes. it was a GREAT weekend.

However, now school is back in my mind and I have a photo project due tonight at 6. Lata.

Destructions

2007-04-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the nation experienced the worst handgun shooting in its history. All I wanted to was watch the TV in the office and be around the vibe and buzz of all of the information that was being learned.

Instead, I got to shoot Greek Week 07's singing/step competition...Yowza, yowza, yowza.

While the competition did include a moment of silence for Virginia Tech, it didn't resolve the fact that all the people I try to stay away from most were there. Annoying Sororities and IQ-deficient frat boys were the name of the game.

Even in the midst of destruction, someone still has to cover the assignments, I suppose.

Below is a shot of an on-campus building, Lida Lee Tall, being wrecked. This was my favorite shot, even though every other photog in the office took something similar.

30D

2007-04-13T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's official. My first DSLR is a Canon 30D.

I picked it up today at Service Photo in Baltimore, after a recent stumble over forgotten savings bonds knocked my brain loose. They didn't have the battery grip, but that's nothing an order can't take care of.

This camera so far has been nothing but amazing. The focusing system is amazing (at least compared to the dinosaur 10Ds I'm used to using...), and the size and weight are comfortable. Except for the awkward print button (which isn't really all that badly placed), the backpanel display and layout is ergonomic and convenient. 5fps, ISO settings that hit 1/4 stops, and the luscious 2.5" LCD screen top this off as an exceptional piece of work.

More to come on my assignments. Stay tuned!

Holy Assignments Batman!

2007-03-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

I have to say that in my entire time with The Towerlight, I haven't had nearly as many assignments at once. Yesterday I shot the baseball game against UMBC and the martial arts expo in the Sus. Last night (really this morning...2 am) I shot lights around the campus (top picture), which ended up being really fun because I hung with my friend Travis under a light and did some street drumming when I was done shooting. Today was Cook Library jazz and the Darfur Day panel. Wow!

Tomorrow will be some prof cooking in Newell dining and the dating associate game in Richmond classroom.

It's exciting to have so much to shoot for once. Brian also gave me my first writing assignment on the Martial Arts Expo. I hope they don't rip it up too much.

So without further ado...my work:

Baseball against UMBC

...abuh?

Genocide at Darfur...right atchya!

Jazzin' at Cook

Doesn't that just look BA?

Gritty.

2007-03-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

Spring Break is over, which means more Towerlight assignments and college fun.

United Percussion went well this weekend. We took first in both Prelims and Finals of the Coatesville Regional. We topped Penn State by .1 ONE TENTH...WOW. Hahaha...Cass was funny.

Over break I had the opportunity to work with Photoshop, and now that I'm back at school I can work with CS2 more. I experimented with Dave Hill's gritty looks, and some more general PS stuff.

Enjoy. More to come as the assignments roll in.

Fooling Around with PS

2007-03-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

So I'm home for spring break, which allows me to have absolutely NO responsibilities...for the most part. My dad's PC has Photoshop Elements on it, and, while it's not as versatile as CS2, it still allows me to play around with different techniques.

I also totally forgot I had an "Elements Guide for Digital Photographers" sitting downstairs on my dusty bookshelf.

Long live Photoshop.

Own up

2007-03-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

I want my own equipment.

That is all.

Actually, that's not all. It's not that I don't like shooting with the office-supplied cameras and equipment, but right now, for instance, I want to experiment with some strobing in my house and I don't even have a freaking camera, not to mention strobes.

::Sigh::

Once this summer rolls around and my indoor drumline ends, I'll have more time to work toward a body to call my own. I'm looking into a Canon 30D, but I'd prefer a Nikon D200. Whatever I get would be nice, except for those dinosaur Canon 10D's I'm used to using. They're not bad, but some newer stuff would be hellanice.

I'm so tired.

P.S. I'm officially announcing my entrance into Eddie Adams' Barnstorm XX. I don't expect to be chosen, but I can damn well try. Game on.

"The Eddie Adams Workshop is an intense four-day gathering of the top professionals in photojournalism, along with 100 carefully selected students. The Workshop's purpose is to create a forum in which an exchange of ideas, techniques, and philosophies can be shared between both established members and newcomers of the profession of picture journalism. The Workshop is tuition-free, and the 100 students are chosen based on the merit of their portfolios." - Eddie Adams website

Doggy Style

2007-03-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

So softball season is here, which means yet another new opportunity to shoot. I have to admit, it was really tough at first. After a while I got a hang of it. The hardest part, IMHO, was getting around the rather...bulky? yeah bulky...coaches. At least 4 times would I have had a good shoot if one of the beastly mothers hadn't masqueraded in front of my lens. Eh.

I love this shot of the dog. It was right after part 1 of a double header against North Illinois. It's so cute, isn't it( Kristen, Assistant Senior Editor) told me to say that).

Great weather. Go and play.

My Weekend on a Thursday Night

2007-03-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

So I thought that I had off tonight from Indoor, and I was planning on just leaving tomorrow morning to go to PA for practice. However, as driven as we are, the snare captain has decided to hold a sectional, possibly at Rutgers University, which is another 2 hours from my house.

Oh well.

Knowing that I might not get much relaxation time, I spent some personal time at the Battle of the Bands last night. The bands were Stupid hero, Larken's Call (sp?). Maylen, American Diary, Some Like It Hot, Gatsby Gets the Green Light (great name IMO), and the winners, The Apathy Eulogy, who get to play on stage at Tigerfest with My Ch...I mean...the "unknown performance." They also get 5 free hours of studio time at Studio 8121, and something else that I forgot.

These are some of the shots I got from the show. It was my first concert shoot, and I loved it.

Greg tasting the music with his band, Some Like It Hot

Guitarist from Maylen

Crazy bassist from Maylen

Chris Henry, former Towerlight photo editor, playing bass with his band Stupid Hero

Gatsby Gets the Green Light

Drummer from Stupid Hero

The Apathy Eulogy

Singer for The Apathy Eulogy

The Apathy Eulogy

Phew.

2007-03-07T18:48:00.000-08:00

So this past week has been uber busy.

I performed with my indoor drumline, United Percussion (www.unitedpercussion.net) in a regional competition held at the James Trent Arena in Dayton, OH, on Saturday and Sunday. We took first for both prelims and finals. Needless to say, all that performing and the 22 hours round trip left me numb. The 2 hour drive home from our PA complex at 11AM Sunday night didn't help, either.

I've been contemplating my future a lot lately, probably more than ever. I think I'm afraid to let go and chase my dream of being a "Getty-esque" photographer. My mind is telling me no, but my everything else is telling me yes.

This guy, Richard Berke, is the Assistant Managing Editor for the New York Times. He visited the Towerlight office today before he spoke to students about who he is and what he does. His whole little crew seemed pretty chill. This shot is interesting...it DID seem like Brian was manhandling the entire conversation...It's all good though. Mr. Berke totally schooled Brian. Nice.

Latent Inspiration...BRING IT

2007-02-28T19:32:00.000-08:00

I've been hearing a lot of emotional stories and advice lately. People talking about "I wish I had done this..." or "Why did I do that?" They've all been getting inside my head and making me think. People talking about "follow your dreams and your aspirations; that's what happiness and success is."

In particular, Chris Skinner (picture) was paralyzed from the clavical down as a result of an intense drunk driving crash. He was talking about how not to let life pass you by, and to follow what you love.

I just have been thinking about that a lot lately...and I really think I'm going to pursue a career in photography. I love it all. News photography, sports, nature, abstract...I want to travel to foreign countries and capture it all.

Maybe I've only been hearing what I want to listen to...but maybe not. Maybe, somewhere inside me, I have finally decided to pursue something.

Leave it to me to pick one of the hardest fields to make it in.

For now...BRING IT ON.

Outdoor

2007-02-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Outdoor started finally, which means warmer weather and more assignments.

I shot my first lacrosse game yesterday. I was pretty amateur about it, I'll admit. I shot ISO 1600 at 2.8, aperture priority. Well, now I know, right?

Later tonight I'm going to shoot some for my photo class. I think I'm going to go toward the downtown Towson area. It's so grungie (sp??), I love it.

Watch for me at the games, guys (and gals).

Come Early, Stay Late

2007-02-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 8:55 today. Class starts at 9. Crap.

Good thing when I got there, a note posted on the door told me that class was canceled. Ironic? Nah, just my luck.

Not having class gave me time to collect my thoughts and my stomach. I got some chow at the Den while reading my PJ book, searching for ideas to help me with my assignment.

I got to shoot Omo Ache, an Afro-Cuban percussion group based in California. As a percussion enthusiast, I enjoyed it immensely. I even found myself clapping and tapping my foot to some of their nasty rhythms, where I quickly snapped out of it to shoot some sweet pictures.

This one is of an intrigued 6th grader. She had just wondered into Stephen's auditorium, and was searching all around for something. I got her when the light was just right.

Kanji and Desiree were there, way before me might I add. I ended up having to run to my dorm in Newell twice, realizing that both my tripod and tripod mount were left behind.

Lesson of the day: Come early, stay late.

Love It

2007-02-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

With Towson being closed today, and me being the ambitious dude that I am, I spent the day in the office and chillin'. Chris and I played some madd Donkey Konga, and there was an aggregious defeat.

Towson had their second to last men's game tonight. This was the best shot I got. In general, I was just not close enough, and my shots were really blurry. But I still love it, and I'm still learning.

Happy Valentine's Day

sNOw School?

2007-02-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

I awoke today to a blizzard. Unfortunately, it wasn't sticking enough for us to officially get out of classes. Luckily I got out of my Design class, which freed up some time better used for shooting.

I am slowly learning about how to become a better photographer, personally and as a member of The Towerlight. I have learned a lot through Pat. He is so willing to help anyone out, and I'm extremely grateful for it.

So, in honor of Pat, I've decided to take one of his shots and re-shoot it, snow style. Original, right?

Drive safely out there.

Back In Black

2007-02-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

So I've been away for awhile out of frustration in using this website, but I adjusted my preferences and learned some more, so hopefully I'll be posting a lot more of my Towerlight shots on here.

This shot was taken at the Towson/Drexel game. We won, 55-52. It was an OK game, but the real highlight was meeting pretty much the entire photog community at Towson. I met Desiree, Scott, and Bob at the game, and Kanji earlier at the Club opening. Not too bad for a day's work.

In the Midnight Hour

2006-11-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

I was at the President's award ceremony thing at the Sheraton down the street for a while last night. I came back and drummed, then decided to go on a shooting spree.

Here are some of my results.

2006-10-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

So Saturday was pretty interesting. I ended up crashing in Mallory's (i just murdered her name...) apartment, so we just drove straight to practice.

We won the game 49-35, which was worth the cramped playing space UD afforded us. During the 3rd Quarter, we (the drumline) got to jam out with the UD line under the bleachers. We traded music, and we played particularly well (hmmm...I wonder why). It was very cool. Probably the coolest part was my encounter. When I tried out for Surf in 04 I went alone, and I hung with this kid Gabe the entire 2 camps I went. I hadn't seen him since then, almost 3 years ago. He was in UD's snare line!! I was so stoked, it was INSANE.

Fun times though...Aberdeen TOB = muddy wind tunnel. Oh well.

Sunday I worked with the Towerlight a lot, and ended up seeing The Prestige on my way to go practice. Don't worry, don't worry, I practiced after the movie.

So Surf should be cool, lots of new additions to the staff. I can't wait...but I'm still going to the Cadet's international weekend to get evaluated...and if I just happen to make the line then I guess I won't be at Surf...hmmm.

2006-10-30T07:42:00.000-08:00

So Friday night was supposed to be just another percussion rehearsal until the wee hours of the night...and it was.

Chris H and I hit up PAWS' pool tables afterwards, as usual. To our surprise there was a country band playing. I don't really like country, so I kinda just dismissed them, although the drummer was smokin'. Chris left, but I hung out with Kate C, Summer-Rain, and some other peeps. I talked to the drummer, Frank the Tank, afterwards, and him and I traded drumsticks. A few pictures were taken, but the most interesting part was that the band wanted a place to chill until they had to leave around midnight.

So...I got my shit for band together, and we went to Millenium Hall and chilled with the band for about an hour. Stuff went down...for instance, the Mandolin player, Derek, stripped to his boxer briefs and put on a bright red apron that said in white letters, "Kiss the Donor." He preceded to frolock in the halls with it on, Bacardi in hand.

Summer-Rain sucked Frank's face for approximately a million years, and then we went back upstairs and crashed at like...2:30. Craziness.

More on the Delaware Game and Sunday later. Right now I need substinence.