Holding on and pulling through

Monday, October 12th, was a federal holiday in observance of Columbus Day, so what better way for those military fathers to spend their day than at lunch with their kids. Schools were still in session, so the fathers were free to bring a lunch for their kids or sit beside them as they ate the cafeteria lunch and shared stories about their days at school. One girl wanted her dad to sit with her at her usual spot in the lunch room while another boy hugged his dad happily after they finished their lunches. Even with all the excitement in the room, the sudden entrance of former American Idol contestant Phil Stacey with his family was another thing to brag about. He ate lunch with his daughters then sang to the crowd "Old Glory", which was a song he wrote for his new album. The kids were eating up his performances as he awed a few girls in the crowd. All-in-all it was a great assignment and I loved meeting Phil Stacey again. The first and second pictures were published and the third was placed with the story online.





I woke up Wednesday morning to dark clouds and light rain but ultimately made my way to the Fort Walton Beach Yacht Club to photograph a sailing competition. I was escorted in a small motor boat into the middle of the bay where we circled the boats to capture interesting angles. With all the rain clouds, I loved the first image because of the cloud formation:



For the print edition, I chose this photo because of the coloring and the directions of the boats. The boats were tacking into position around the buoys so they could finish the race:



This image was included in the photo gallery but I wanted to post it here because of the shape the positions of the boats create:



Friday night football arrived again and I was off to DeFuniak Springs to photograph Walton and Navarre. Navarre pulled off the win, 49-27, but not without a struggle. I left at half time to meet my deadline and the game was 21-21. This photo was published since Navarre won:



This photo was particulary interesting to me when I returned back to the newsroom and stumbled across it. As I zoomed in, I noticed the football was in focus:





I included this picture because of the odd angle of the player. I later noticed the football was right by his helmet:





This was the first night of a cold front in our area. I saw several people bundled up in blankets in the stands:



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Butterflies, Bulldogs, and Blackouts

Butterflies! I know butterflies have been photographed to death, but I still have fun experimenting with the cliche because that will ultimately help prepare me for the more creative angles that I'm working toward. Nick and I traveled to Navarre to photograph the Monarch Madness Festival at a butterfly museum. There I took these three pictures (and a few of a buttefly that landed on Nick's shoulder) and then returned home.





Friday I traveled to Freeport High School for the first time to photograph the football game versus South Walton. Freeport, home of the bulldogs who ironically wear orange and blue, beat South Walton 43-21. This photo was published:



Each time I photograph football I try to grab some catching shots or interceptions. The one I caught this week was in the endzone and unfortunately for the receiving team, was incomplete:

(Edit: This photo was published on Oct. 13)




This photo was used as a flag for the Saturday sports page:





With one of the photographers still gone on vacation time, I was sent to photograph a volleyball game in Crestview. Last time I intended to photograph volleyball my camera died on me, so since my camera was still in the process of being repaired, I used the paper's Nikon instead. Crestview played Niceville in a blackout and Niceville won. Here are the two shots that were published:





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Football and Festivals

Friday night rolled around again and I traveled to Navarre to capture their game against Crestview. Last time I photographed Navarre, they were severely beaten by Pensacola Catholic, and with Crestview's track record, I assumed the same result would follow. Crestview did in fact beat Navarre, 21-13, during a very special night for Navarre High School. The 4th photo is Navarre's Homecoming Queen being crowned during half time. Too bad for Navarre that the football game didn't work out on their Homecoming night. The first image was published in the paper:











The next day, Angel and I covered the 31st Annual Destin Seafood Festival at Harborwalk Village. There were several options for seafood from different booths that lined the village. I wanted to catch a moment with someone eating seafood in order to capture the theme of the event (second photo). I also love to catch a moment of a child at these events. Kids bring more life to festivities then the happiest adults could ever bring to it. So, when I saw this little girl munching on a pink Sno Cone, I had to jump at the opportunity. The first two were published:







Till next time!
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