Kid In The Park

So earlier this month I was glad I didn't have to resort to photographing kids in the park. This is one of several from the week! Hopefully things will pick up after the holidays.

Ring Flash/Pie Pan

I've been wanting to use a ring flash for a long time, but could never afford the roughly $1000 to buy the flash and accompanying lens. So I decided to rig one up and managed to do so for less than $3! Basically I just cut a few holes in a disposable pie pan (one for the lens and the other for my flash), set a camera up on a tripod and made adjustments until I got the effect. It's not as smooth as a "real" ring light, but I think it's pretty good for spending two bucks and some change. It does take some explaining when you break it out in front of your subject.

Happy Holidays

Light Warm Up

There was a window running the entire length of this pool and the sun was setting, which cast a single beam of light across the water before a high school swim meet I was sent to cover. I was hoping the light would stay around until the meet got under way, but it stayed only long enough for the warm-ups. Oh well, next time.

Casey Jones

It's Christmas time, which means it's time to wash the trains! This is a feature shot I found while driving around to find Springdale's lead art. I was glad I didn't have to resort to photographing some kid at the park.

Busted

This past weekend I went down to Little Rock to cover the 3A high school state football championship and managed to get what could be my favorite football photo of the year. As you can see above the quarterback has obviously fumbled the ball while being sacked, which was picked up and ran back for a defensive touchdown. But the referee said the quarterback was already down when he fumbled the ball and called the touchdown back. This is one of the coolest things about being a photgrapher: you always have instant replay. But of course my paper never ran the photo.

With A Rebel Yell

Last week I covered "historians" setting up for a Civil War reenactment of the Battle of Prairie Grove. During that battle, over 22,000 men fought and around 2000 men died. That's a pretty big number.

This was my first Civil War reenactment and it was about what I expected. It was definitely interesting to see all the people who literally recreate that period of history, but at the same time, it's kind of weird. There are no World War II or Vietnam reenactments, why the Civil War? No other countries try to recreate their civil wars. I understand people don't want current generations to forget about their history or past culture, but isn't that what reading is for? I mean, you are not seeing any black people out at these events to make sure people don't forget about slavery. Oh wouldn't that be fun!