Chris and Andrea

I may be almost a month late, but I'd like to say congrats to Chris and Andrea Ruiz, who are both wonderful people who make up a wonderful couple. Again thanks to Greg, keep an eye out on our respective blogs for another wedding coming up soon.

Happy Holidays

This is really funny if you don't think about how true it really is.

P.S. If you're here in Lincoln, check out Chris VanKat's exhibit in the Rotunda Gallery in the Union. Great black and white portraits of everyday Nebraskans. Here's a taste of his work.

Pepe the cat

Outtake from a new project...

In the doldrums

I'm in a slump. First image I kind of like in weeks, and I still went and mucked it up by blowing out the Husker "N". But, alas, it's not about me...

This is freshman wrestler Livingston Lukow, an extremely nice guy who took a year off of school to join the Marines. He's a Marine, and I had to crane my neck to talk to him (and I'm 6'1")...not someone I'd want to face on the mat.

I'm a country man

Somewhere outside Firth, NE

Aunt Marcia

Lomneth family tour guide, East Bay expert.

Doane College

Crete, NE

Staggerford

http://www.myspace.com/staggerford

Shot a concert on campus with live music photographer extraordinaire Natasha Richardson (links are that way -->).

NOTE: The answers to the guessing game are, in order of appearance, a plate of Hunan Chicken, a 1957 Bel Air and a fire hose.

Guessing game

Guess what these are...

I'm not ready for the weather to change

But I am ready for basketball season.

Democratic election day party

Sheryl Deluca comforts Kimberly Kirksey, who is overcome with emotion after Sen. Barack Obama is announced president at the Democratic election party at the Omaha Hilton on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. Kirksey moved from Alabama to Omaha in 2000. She said she could not describe what she was feeling at the time. "I had the Klan burning crosses in my yard when I was 12 years old," she said. "I don't even know what the words are."

http://frontpageimages.com/fpi

Insert best pumpkin joke here...

Vala's Pumpkin Patch
Gretna, NE

My Muse...

Is a genuine, unselfish, honest, loving woman, and an future photographer if she keeps spending time with me.

See you soon...

Jeremiah Selt

"I got kicked out of my apartment, I did. I was living in California, I was going to college...It's a hard place to survive and...the atmosphere isn't all that great there. I've been struggling from that point on. I'm ready to try to do something to make my life better. It was a hard situation there. People don't always accept you for some reason.

I loved it (playing guitar) ever since I was little...I remember putting the pick down the hole...My dad...said it would be something good for me. It's different, it is."

Amy Hilske

"Well, I love my job here. But...I won't be here forever. My husband and I are starting our own winery. So to tie in in with all the plants here, I also have two and a half acres of grapes that we grow in Ashland, Nebraska.

For me...when you think of a dream, that's my dream right now. We constantly on a daily basis think about that, work on that, as well as both have our own jobs...So that keeps us very, very busy but it keeps us going cause it's out dream that we're working towards...something that we work on together.

Right now, my husbands also taking a wine making class and our 'homework' is every week we have a new bottle of wine we need to try. It's been really fun the last five or six weeks. 'Oh, what homework do we have this week?' and everybody's like 'Homework?' I'm like 'Yeah, I have to drink wine.' That's been really fun to think every week I got a new bottle of wine I need to try and learn about and research."

Larry White

"I did this job in the summer-times, when I was a kid in high school...I decided that I wanted an outside job again, and I've just been really happy ever since. I enjoy working outside. So much better than being indoors.

I left Chubbyville, which used to be a drive in restaurant in town, as a car hop, making 95 cents an hour to come work for the city, summer-times, making a dollar seven an hour. Long time ago. That was back in 1971, I think it was...things have changed since then. Quite a bit.

I was on the mowing crew. Which was basically similar to the mowing crew we have no...We had some old equipment back then. We had hand slingers we'd use instead of Weed Eaters...and brooms and stuff rather than blowers...it took us a lot longer to mow than it does nowadays. Cuz we had like 36 inch Heckendorns, and now we have 10-foot mowers, so, things are just so much better now than back then. But it was fun, we had a lot of fun.

Lot of high school kids. In fact, two of them became cops...another one became, he's head of our credit union, City Employees Credit Union. So, you just never know. Crazy."

This weekend I...

Went to Valla's Pumpkin Patch


Gardened with my parents.


Shot a Palin protest for fun.

I know, fascinating.

Five dollar tattoos

Outtake from a new project...

Malik the Guardian

Follows me around like a shadow, most annoying creature I've ever lived with.

(I did not name him)

Omaha Fight Club

OFC amateur mixed martial arts at Chez Paree in Carter Lake, IA.

P.S. Check out Matt Buxton's multimedia on a different MMA fight.

Eric and Emily

Helped shoot a wedding with Greg and, as much as I love editorial work, this wedding was a lot of fun. I'm already looking forward to another one. I cannot thank Greg or the happy couple enough for a chance to tag along, but I can always try: thank you.

Check out Greg's site for a lot better shots, including one of yours truly. You know where to find it, and for those who don't: http://gregblobaum.blogspot.com.

Rodeo help

My new year's resolution might be to be less hard on myself. But until then...

There's something wrong with each of these images, that you can all see. However, I feel a rodeo image belongs in my portfolio and these were my three favorites. So, vote for your favorite, give feedback, criticize until you're blue in the face. It would help me out a lot. Do any of these belong in my portfolio anyway?

Thanks...

Gameday Outtakes

Some new stuff.

http://huskerextra.com/gameday/

Portfolio Outtake #2

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: I have little to no valuable sports action photographs for my portfolio. I shoot it all the time and I enjoy shooting it, but for most sports action there needs to be an element of the unusual in it. Some that immediately comes to mind is Alyssa Schukar's photograph of a volleyball player getting hit in the head with a ball or Teresa Prince's of a Texas Tech runner with the reflection of the track in her sunglasses (you know where the links are, don't play dumb).

There are two reasons none of the above photographs work in my mind:
1. This is the rodeo. People do stupid things on giant animals all day long. Which is to say, this sort of thing happens all the time.
2. I cropped half of this nutcake's head off on the first image, my favorite of the set.

I hate this time of year because...

1. School has started.
2. As I go through images for portfolios and the CPOY contest, all I see is what I did wrong. (Above: blew out the sky to get their faces and it doesn't look good, cut off too much of their bodies, left a little bit of a stadium light behind the girl in the middle, left a little bit of another girl behind the girl in the middle, no emotion, no sense of what's going on, etc.)

These next few days, those who haven't had enough of my whining about how I wish I was more talented in person can check out this blog to see images that will not be going into my portfolio, and more griping about how I should probably just take school pictures the rest of my life.

Just a few of those I miss

Yeah, it's good to be back home, but I wish I could have brought some people with me.

If any of you ever visit Nebraska (and I don't know why you would), just know you will always have a place to stay.

100 reasons this is the best job in the world

Yesterday was my last day at the Reno Gazette-Journal.

I've had a great time at the RGJ. I've met a lot of great people, hopefully improved and learned a lot. Something that I've learned that has been proved repeatedly throughout this internship has been the fact that I have the best career in the world. Here's 100 reasons why (and there's many more):

1. Everybody has a story to tell.
2. Shootouts.
3. Rodeos.
4. Always entering clip contests but never winning.
5. "That's a big lens."
6. Getting up early for sunrises, skipping dinner for sunsets, staying up late for the stars.
7. Shooting from the catwalks.
8. Sneaking into places you shouldn't be.
9. Speeding tickets while driving to breaking news assignments.
10. Knowing about the best places to eat in town.
11. Seeing a shy person become comfortable around you and your camera.
12. Meeting random people on feature hunts.
13. I love my job...unlike your accountant.
14. "Do you take pictures?"
15. Shooting the smiles and the tears - sometimes at the same time.
16. Photo mechanic.
17. Evening light.
18. Not wanting to leave an assignment.
19. Telling the whole story.
20. Miss America contests.
21. Going behind the scenes.
22. Roadtrips for assignments.
23. Seeing your work on AP.
24. Feature hunts at sporting events.
25. Being where the action is.
26. The struggle to make a better image than the day before.
27. Thinking you're in a slump and then coming out of it...only to fall back into one.
28. Everything is inspiration.
29. The little moments.
30. Details.
31. The colors red and blue together.
31.5. And most other colors in general.
32. Being more mobile than TV videographers.
33. Capturing ambient sound.
34. Knowing when and why to take the photo.
35. When reporters think you're crazy for working so much.
36. When other photographers think you're crazy for working so much.
37. Arizona Ice Teas.
38. Front page, above the fold.
39. "Can I get a copy of that?"
40. Getting together with other shooters and talking about nothing but photography.
41. Getting together with those who aren't shooters and awkwardly trying to explain photography.
42. You're not sitting in a cubicle.
43. Public Relations people that let you go wherever, do whatever you want.
44. Chicks dig cameras.
45. Waiting for the moment.
46. Ambient lighting.
47. Spending money you don't have on photo equipment.
48. Still using film every once in a while.
49. Looking back at past photographs to see how you have improved.
50. Looking at other photographers' work to see how much you suck.
51. Capturing history as it happens.
52. The amount of random and useless information you compile from interviews.
53. Every day is different.
54. Someone paying for your gas.
55. Using Photoshop to color correct, crop, save and...that's it.
56. Letting a kid look through viewfinder.
57. Making new friends every day.
58. Press passes.
59. Zero lunch, four hours of sleep, 1,000 images, five minutes until deadline.
60. Environmental portraits.
61. Being a stranger that cares what others have to say.
62. Bringing the camera everywhere.
63. Talking your way into restricted areas.
64. Meeting other shooters on assignment.
65. Getting an epic farmer's tan.
66. Everyone is jealous of what you do.
67. Never reading the instruction manual.
68. Putting together a decent photo package.
69. Getting an image nobody else saw.
70. Arriving early, leaving late.
71. Being the only one with my view of the event.
72. Trying to blend in with the crowd.
73. Feeding your curiosity.
74. Experimenting.
75. Irony.
76. "Am I going to be on TV?"
77. Getting your paycheck...a good reminder it's really, really, really not about the money.
78. Realizing your entire portfolio is filth...and trying to shoot images to replace them.
79. Trying to make an exciting image at a boring assignment.
80. Running into models willing to pay for headshots when you're out on assignment.
81. "What did you do today?"
82. Hail Mary shots - when they work.
83. People wanting you to tell their story.
84. Subjects who have zero camera awareness.
85. Scanner traffic.
86. Police ride-alongs.
87. Seeing the work of what your photographer friends are doing and feeling inspired to either never pick up a camera again or to go out and shoot immediately.
88. Sleeping next to your gear.
89. Someone asking you a photo-related question.
90. Events people want you to cover.
91. Being thrown into situations where I am completely out of my element.
92. Having no natural talent but all the drive in the world.
93. My back hurts, my feet are sore, I can't keep my eyelids open and I can't wait to get back to work the next day.
94. What I do in my day off resembles what I'd do on a workday.
95. What day off?
96. Nobody ever wants to take your photograph.
97. Depth of field.
98. Convertibles
99. Shooting photos of family and friends, just because you can.
100. Nobody else does/sees/experiences what we do.

Last week (?)

1. Trying to blatantly copy Matt Eich (my attempt above) is easier said than done.
2. As much as I do not like golf, I can respect golfers self-deprecating sense of humor.
3. Reno nightlife is a lot more happening (read: scary) than back home.
4. I need to learn to tell the story better.
5. I really wouldn't mind spending another three months down here.

P.S. Many of you might like to make a PayPal donation at this site.

Bridget Guess

Butterfly whisperer, fellow future resident of the Bay Area.

Flash floods

IMAGE COPYRIGHT RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Stead, NV

Attack of the clones

IMAGE COPYRIGHT RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

I should explain what's going on in this image, but I'd like you all to guess a little bit first.

Another week down

IMAGE COPYRIGHT RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

1. As much as I love the Fourth (who doesn't?), I despise shooting fireworks displays.
2. Ever since I quit smoking cigarettes, I may have become addicted to energy drinks instead.
3. There are some 7-11s that are just mini marts, with no gas pumps. Back home, they are always a gas station.
4. I am the only one around Reno that seems amazed by the fact above.
5. The summer is almost over.

I lost track of what week it is

IMAGE COPYRIGHT RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

It's not that I haven't learned anything. It's just that I haven't taken a day off for 17 days straight.

1. Some people still respect newspapers. They are usually retired elderly women, but they are out there.
2. Single? Put on some Wranglers and a cowboy hat and head out to the Reno Rodeo. If you don't look like a poseur like I did, you might be able to pick up some "buckle bunnies".
3. Reno has the highest concentration of people who see me carrying around two D2Hs and immediately assume I am working for a TV or radio station. They are usually disappointed when I say I work for a newspaper.
4. Sleep is overrated.
5. It's really nice to talk to someone who understands what Aksarben means.

Eyes in the sky

IMAGE COPYRIGHT RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

This week's shootout theme was "eyes in the sky". If you want to see half a dozen or so other photographers kicking my butt, check out the link on the right.

Whole Lotta Love

IMAGES COPYRIGHT RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Images from a small project on the carnival, apparently a great place to go if you have a date. I wouldn't know, I'm too busy hiding in the shadows with cameras.