The End is Really Just the Beginning...

A teen at Freeport High School struggled with the odds to gain a high school diploma. A couple weeks before her graduation, I was sent to photograph her at the school possibly working on homework in a classroom setting. With that out the window once I arrived, I had to come up with a setting myself and took her outside to do just that. Once I saw the welcome mat, I knew what I wanted to do. The picture above is the final product and was published at the end of last month.



I got a second helping of spring football this year with two more games during the last week of May. The first set of pictures was the Navarre v. Pensacola Catholic game on May 28. I traveled with Nick to this game, which the Navarre varsity team won 13-6 at the half, and the top picture was published in the print. Pensacola Catholic went on to win the entire game at 32-13.



On the previous night, I traveled solo to cover the Rocky Bayou v. Vernon game in Destin. Vernon kicked Rocky Bayou out of the water by beating them 75-0. Vernon's J.J. Roche led the team to victory and made some amazing plays. The second photo was published.





The first graduation I covered this year was at South Walton High School. I borrowed the Daily News' laptop and traveled over an hour to the school to photograph the ceremony. The students were already ready to go when I arrived even though I was about 45 minutes early, so I worked on shooting print images during the ceremony itself instead of beforehand preparation moments. The top image was my favorite of the bunch and the published image for the next day:



Many of the graduates had problems keeping their hats on their heads. I loved catching those moments:



Signs in the crowd by proud family members are always cool shots:



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What is spring without some football?

Spring football...two of the most refreshing words to hear during the month of May. After feeling football withdraws for the past 6 months, I finally was able to satisfy the anticipation of shooting my favorite sport of all time. Last Thursday, I traveled to South Walton High School and photographed their game against the Baker Gators. Being on the sidelines again was great and only increased my desire for September to arrive. I only stayed half of the game, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first and third pictures are action shots of the game, and the second photo was a touchdown celebration by a Baker player:





I was able to photograph this year's All Sports Association/Daily News boys weightlifter of the year for the print. I had him lean toward me as I took a low-angled shot to enhance his muscles and strength. When I took and toned this picture, I liked the elements in the background, but in hindsight, it wasn't as great as I thought it was. I didn't want a plain background, but I wanted some form of placement in an environment. I don't regret the idea of a crowded background, but I should have chosen a different background to create that effect. Still, a photographer never grows unless they try different things whether they turned out good or bad. This picture wasn't horrible, but not as strong as I would have liked it to be. You be the judge.



In the beginning of the month, I was given the opportunity to shoot a spring practice at Freeport High School. I spent about an half a hour there and grabbed a couple shots for print:





This next week I plan to photograph two more spring football games. Look forward to those pictures next.

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www.varsitysportswest.com

You Win Some...and You Lose Some...

This was another slow week in the photojournalist part of my life, but it was not unbeneficial by any means. Wednesday I decided to hang around the office on my own time to see if any good spot news or assignments would come up. Sure enough, some spot news did occur, and I was rushing to the scene to capture what I could. A van's gas tank exploded when it being removed from a van at Big Iron Environmental in Fort Walton Beach. I arrived in time to see the firemen putting out what was left from the explosion but never caught any flames. The photo was not published but placed in an online gallery on the Web site.



Shortly after the spot news, I tagged along with Nick and photographed Okaloosa County's Middle School Track Championships at Choctaw High School. The kid above won the boys 1600 and beat the county record by running it in 4:44 (country record = 4:46). Once he realized his accomplishment, he began cheering in celebration. Below is the girl who won the girl's 1600 and strained just to pass the finish line:



Friday morning amidst the gray storm clouds, I photographed a group of middle school kids from Calvary Christian Academy who were raking leaves as part of a service project. They were very enthusiastic about the project as well as my interest in taking their picture. This image was published:



This last photo has no real significance except that the moment caught my eye and I had to photograph it. The turtle on the far left of the picture was lifting its head in a similar pattern to the branches that poked up from the tree:



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www.varsitysportswest.com