Up side of Unnatural Disasters

Fire!
Where?
About 30 miles east of the Daily News' location about to jump a state road in the Eglin Preserves.

Although spread onto 90 acres of the Eglin property this past Tuesday, the wildfire was contained before it reached State Road 20, and the tree-top flames melted into thick smoke that rested like fog over a lake in the morning just before we arrived on the scene.



Branches were still burning here and there (pictured above) and fire crews still remained in the area to make sure the situation was indeed contained (top picture - published). There were no injuries and no structural damage done by the fire, and at the time, the cause behind the fire was unknown. I enjoyed this assignment even though I was unable to catch any flames. I'm sure there will be other opportunities for that.





The oil in the gulf was a terrible thing, but that doesn't mean everything that comes from it has to be equally terrible. Niceville students used the presence of the oil in our gulf area to study its impact on the marine life. They took samples from the beach in the Destin area and brought it back to their labs at school to analyze. In the first picture, the two students look at different types of worms found in the gulf water:



This student measures, records the name and depth of the sea creature, and then has another student take a picture of the final product:



This is a sample of the sand found in the water where the student divers went. All three pictures were published.



Volleyball has been a challenge for me... but one that I wanted to take on and succeed in. This week I made a few minor changes to my settings and my shooting habits and found the results to be very positive. I captured several great shots and submitted two for print. The middle one appeared in the print edition. This game was at Fort Walton Beach and against the Niceville Eagles. Niceville won the match 25-8, 25-15, 25-15.







Video from the game:


Then came Friday night football. Coming off of a successful shoot in a low-light, fast-paced sports game, I applied many of those new changes to this football game and found equally-pleasing results. The game was at South Walton, who was the winner against the Baker Gators, 21-14. The top image was published.









Video of the game:


This was South Walton's homecoming game, and since I am a photographer that shoots for print and online galleries, I photographed some of the homecoming ceremony. The senior who was crowned the homecoming queen was genuinely shocked at her nomination, so I caught a few frames of the moment along with a student's reaction to the announcement:







That is all for this week. Check back next week for more and visit the Web site:
www.nwfdailynews.com
www.varsitysportswest.com

Reliving the Adventure... through images

Sometimes going back in time can be fun. Our thoughts can carry us there during a down moment, our friends can reminisce about it through conversation, or the simple act of noticing something familiar can trigger the memories and feelings from that time. I can't speak for most photojournalists, but every so often I like to travel back in time through my images and take a closer look at the events I photographed. With the college football season underway, I felt the itch to go back into my Gator football folder and dig through a game I photographed on the sidelines in 2008. As I did so, I found a plethora of photos that went unnoticed my first time around the editing process. Out of those images, here are some of my favorites:

This was during the Tim Tebow era and the National Championship-winning season. The game was against South Carolina and the odds were with the Gators.



This season had a bundle of talent like Aaron Hernandez (81), Tim Tebow (15), Jeff Demps (2), Percy Harvin (1)...



...and Brandon Spikes (51).



Smiles escaped Urban Meyer even after an interception by Brandon Spikes was caught and returned for a touchdown (above image). Urban's sturdy, blank stare was a common reoccurence through the rest of the season and the following year. Now Urban has turned that frown upside down - at least for the good parts of the game.



The offense during the Tebow era had more running game. Let me rephrase that, the offense had a more powerful running game. Tebow took hits like no other quarterback and images like this might become more scarce with the current quarterback...



...who is John Brantley, a more pro-style quarterback who has been known for his throwing capabilities. Here he is as a back up in 2008. Since then he has grown more in his skills and has become more built and toned.



The fans are just as loud, passionate, and expressive now as they were then. However, I feel the reactions might be more on the negative side now than it was during that season.

 

Let's not forget the former coaches. Steve Addazio started as the offensive coordinator last year after Dan Mullen left for the head coaching position at Mississippi State. Here is Mullen after the game in 08:



Ahmad Black still reigns as a strong safety in the Gator Nation. Here Ahmad celebrates after catching an interception (something he is highly known for doing):



Tebow takes a snap:



Jeff Demps is the only player besides Brantley and Ahmad in this blog post that is still a player on the current team. Hernandez and Spikes were drafted after last season to the New England Patriots, Harvin was drafted after the National Championship to the Minnesota Vikings, and Tim Tebow was drafted after last season to the Denver Broncos. Here is Demps back in 2008 meeting some fans after the game:



But my question is, where will Demps go after the season? Right now he is orchestrated as one of the best players in the nation. He most definitely has the fastest speed out of any runningback and can out run many of his opponents, but he is only a junior and could easy decide to stay for his senior year next year. Whatever the case may be, the Gator offense is explosive with him there and could quite possibly provide some spark during this lackluster season of Gator football.

Now that I have found and relived some of the most precious moments in my photojournalistic history, I can place these memories back in my past by safely storing them away in that file folder like a scrapbook stuffed away on a shelf...

Or I can keep them here and use them to remind myself of the adventures I can have and capabilities I already have as a photojournalist.

I think I'll do the latter.

Pace, Prisoners Of War, and Pinwheels

Fort Walton Beach High School could not keep up with the "pace" of the Pace Patriots during this week's Friday night football game. Pace defeated the Vikings 34-9 in a heavily one-sided game. This was my first trip to Pace High School and the first half alone was very uneventful for FWB. They were chosen among many sports analysts to be the favorite to win the game, but they couldn't get any momentum going, especially in the first half. I only caught that part of the game because of deadline, but it was still a fun game to shoot. The image below was published:



A Pace player makes an interception and returns it for a touchdown:


VIDEO:


Earlier that morning, I covered the National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony at the Air Force Armament Museum. The ceremony started inside with a couple guest speakers and then proceeded outside with a wreath presentation by a local elementary school, a rifle volley, and a fly over by the 40th Test Evaluation Squad. I shot still and video from the event. Both images were published:





VIDEO:


Thursday evening I headed over to Niceville High School to photograph the volleyball game against Choctaw. The Niceville Eagles pulled off the win over the Indians 25-16, 25-5, 25-8. In this game I tried to get some different angles than the standard shots with the net and came up with a few good shots.



This image was published:




Video:


I had forgotten all about those paper pinwheels that teachers have you make in elementary school. This assignment was a childhood reminder. Different grades participated in the creation of these concoctions for the Pinwheels for Peace project to mark the International Day of Peace (which is 9-21-10). These seventh and eighth graders enjoyed decorating and assembling the pinwheels and placing them in a cup holder that grew into a pinwheel bouquet. And I enjoyed watching them do it.

This image was published:




That is all for this week. Check out the Web site for more galleries and videos:
www.nwfdailynews.com
www.varsitysportswest.com

No Nonsense Navarre

"Interesting" is the word I would use to describe the Navarre vs. Walton High School football game last Friday night. Sure, football can be interesting in general, but this game kept the players on their toes... as well as me in shooting the game. Once when Walton scored after several drives, Navarre came right back and scored on the next. The game breezed by quickly as far as momentum, but for me, the hour was up much slower than expected. The faster I obtain my shots for print and my video for the web, the more relaxed I am with the pace. But I love the games with big plays and great opportunities for images, and this was one of those games for me. Navarre won the game 42-36 after almost losing it during the second half.

Video for the Web: (Visit www.varsitysportswest.com)



Player runs for a touchdown (photo for print):






Earlier in the week, I practiced shooting a volleyball game at Choctaw to make sure my camera was working properly. After a messy situation with a rainstorm two weeks prior where my camera stopped working, I wanted to make sure no further problems would occur while using it in a sports assignment before football on Friday. Sure enough, the camera worked fine and I caught a few good shots of the Choctaw vs. Crestview game:









This next week I start back at my internship full time, so expect more shots next week after Friday night football.
www.nwfdailynews.com
www.varsitysportswest.com