Before we ever touched an SLR in my high school Photo 1 class, my teacher wanted us to understand the basic mechanics and physics of a camera. There was no better way to do that then by building a pinhole camera. A pinhole camera works on the same principle of a camera obscura. Light comes in through a small hole (no lens) and is inverted and projected on whatever medium is available. The camera we built was made out of cardboard, glue […]
I appreciate music as much as the next guy. But I prefer to appreciate it through a nice pair of headphones than going to a concert. I’ve always been that way. I enjoy the studio-perfected sound rather than hearing the drunk girl next to me try to sing along. Maybe that disdain for live music carried over into my professional life because I’m not a big fan of photographing concerts either. To me, it’s just another assignment that I have […]
I grew up riding a BMX bike. VERY poorly. I had the benefit of living only a few miles from one of the nations premiere BMX tracks, EP Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, KY. I rode with my friends through middle and high school. Never once did I consider myself even remotely good at the sport. A few weeks ago, I was assigned to photograph the ABA BMX Midwest Nationals at Searls Park in Rockford. Only then did it […]
Photojournalists usually have a favorite part of the job. Some love shooting sports. Others enjoy shooting concerts and similar lifestyle events. For me, it’s the thrill of chasing spot news. Spot news differs from regular “news” photos in the fact that it isn’t planned or scheduled. It is a spontaneous event, be it a fire, shooting, car accident or the like. Many elements come into play when making a spot news photo. I think it is safe to say in […]
Sometimes, assignments just seem goofy. For example, how about a charity dog wash held at a car dealership? You can imagine what I went home smelling like. But the soggy dogs made for some cute and funny pictures. This one dog got a little attitude and stuck his tongue out at me.