Guns and Hoses
Sarah left for home on Saturday, April 15th, and I found myself mired in my usual post-airport funk all day. Saying goodbye never gets easier. You’d think it would and that you’d be used to watching the person you love walk away and board a plane to fly thousands of miles away, but it only gets harder. I cannot imagine what it’s like to watch a loved one leave you for a year to serve in the military knowing you may never see them again. A few months is hard, a year, must be insane.
Stuck in this funk I turned to photography. Like any good creative mind, misery only fuels it. What better way, then, to satisfy my inner frustration and aggression at saying goodbye to my girlfriend than to shoot a couple dozen sweaty men beat the snot out of each other?
Guns & Hoses is an annual charity event put on in Evansville by local firefighters and police officers four the last four years to benefit 911 Gives Hope. You’d think they’d do it to upgrade their equipment, but they don’t see a dime. The “Guns” won the first event handily but lost the next two to the “Hoses.” The Hoses were projected to dominate again, but anything but that happened. While the Hoses took the first bout in a unanimous decision, the Guns won the next seven bouts straight recording two TKO’s in the process. There were 15 matches on the bill and after three hours of coverage, intermission came between matches eight and nine, which were enough for me.
The event was awesome and had record attendance. Next year it will undoubtedly be held at the new Downtown Arena. Here’s hoping I’m around to shoot it. Some overhead shots would be awesome from this.
Firefighter Shane Onstott falls backward from the cross of policeman Jared Whitney in the eighth match of the 2011 Guns and Hoses boxing event held at Roberts Stadium on Saturday, April 16, 2011.
Over Some Streams and Through Some Woods…
On Sunday April 10 I woke up earlier than any human being should have to. I don’t care what you do for a living, unless it’s putting out fires or corralling bad guys or something else for the general human good, no one should be awake at 5:30am. I though, rolled out of bed at the crack of still dark outside and found some way to motivate myself. I was off to the Northern reaches of Evansville to cover the 2011 Southern Indiana Classic Marathon and Half-Marathon and needed to be in position on the course by 6:30 to get volunteers setting up and the first runners coming through. I had a map, a general gameplan for covering certain mileage points and the morning to shoot. I actually spent as much time editing and posting the gallery as I did shooting, getting 1,500 images down to about 30 to be merged with freelancer Dan Patmore’s in a gallery on the website. I was lucky Dan was taking care of the start/finish line so I could roam the course freely. I was even luckier that the full-marathon was cancelled due to heat concerns.
It turned out to be a gorgeous morning… once I was coherent enough to appreciate it. The clouds let me play with the sky and the color of early morning light make it pretty easy for any photographer to get over the sleep they’ve lost. That and Red Bull.
I probably walked a good five miles of the course myself hauling a 400 on a monopod, 70-200, two bodies and 24-70. Racers joked as they jogged by that they’d gladly carry some gear a mile up the course for me, or that I needed to keep up the pace because I was falling back. You have to love anyone who has a sense of humor after running for 8 miles non-stop. The effort and determination of many of the racers, young and old, was awesome and was what pushed me through the grind of an edit. If they can run 13 miles in two hours, I could stare at a computer screen for three from my air-conditioned office.
Southern Indiana Classic Half-Marathon Gallery
Runners pass each other on Princeton Road as they approach the eight and nine-mile markers in the Southern Indiana Classic Half-Marathon on Sunday morning.
Earth, Wind and Fire
While the popular band from the 60′s and 70′s go together fantastically, the real elements themselves are a horrible combination. It’s mostly the wind and fire that ruin the party for Earth, who does pretty fine on her own. Earth is always having to bring in water to cool fire off when wind gets it riled up. But seriously…
On April 3rd I was enjoying a relaxing Sunday morning before I had to head into the office with Sarah when I got a phone call from Ryan Reynolds, the breaking news editor in the office. A three-alarm fire had broken out about 30 minutes away. The relaxing morning quickly changed to frantic rush to figure out where this place was and how best to get there. I had a slight advantage starting from home, but the blaze was still a few miles past the airport, so it would take a while for me to get there. Generally the number of alarms that are related to a single fire correspond to the number of fire stations that have been asked to respond to a fire. In a major city, what may be a one-alarm fire for a major station with tons of trucks could be a five-alarm fire in a smaller community. While this was a three-alarm blaze, at least five different companies were represented when I finally arrived on scene.
The home owner was apparently trying to burn something in his back yard… during a “code red” burn advisory, which means no burning should be occurring because of dry conditions and the potential for spread of fire… and on a day where winds were sustained around 20 miles per hour. As I documented above, high winds, dry grass and fire don’t mix at all, and quickly what was just a couple of sticks on fire jumped to several nearby automobiles in this man’s yard and eventually to the back of his home. Firefighters worked for hours in 80-degree temperatures to get the cars to stop burning. No one was injured, but the potential for disaster was extremely high. As the cars, which all had flammable liquids in them, burned one by one toward the house, firefighters reported mini explosions coming from each as parts of the cars combusted. The potential for a catastrophic explosion existed had the garage caught fire where the cars led to as several gas containers sat full by the back wall.
One thing about a windy fire, you always leave smelling like barbecue.
Firefighters try to extinguish a lingering fire in one of several old Volkswagen Beetles that were destroyed in a three alarm fire in the back yard of Thomas Wilson's home at 9301 Old State Road on Sunday afternoon. Wilson was apparently burning something in his back yard when high winds caused the fire to burn out of control and leap to several automobiles and eventually to his home.
A Fire in Perspective
On March 30th I was sorting through photos from shoots I can’t even remember on the day when a familiar tone came across the scanner of a house fire on College Highway in Evansville. I have no idea why it’s called College Highway to be honest with you. The road is several blocks from UE and it’s just a normal city side road a few blocks from U.S. 41 in what is a very nice looking neighborhood next to a large church – but I digress.
To avoid a lot of false alarms, we usually listen to the scanner long enough to hear the firefighter’s first impressions of the situation. The words “smoke visible” are always a good start. The words “fully involved” lead you to a dead sprint to your car and the possibility of a slew of traffic violations. This was more of the former situation, but when you hear “smoke pouring from multiple windows,” it almost means a perfect situation for a photographer. It’s not gotten bad yet, but it’s close.
Luckily this house was only about a mile from the office and when I got there, firefighters were on the roof ripping out holes and insulation to vent the smoke. The home owners arrived and looked awestruck at their home surrounded by firefighters. Jim and Heather King were both at work when the fire broke out on the second floor of their home, and their five kids were at school. It wasn’t long, though, before Heather turned to Jim and realized their dog was unaccounted for. Moments later Maggie, their five-year-old golden doodle came bounding out of the first floor of the home, firefighters walking out behind her.
The dog put the blaze in perspective for Jim as he walked the extremely well behaved dog without her leash down to his car and loaded her in. “My expectation of what my house would look like when I got here didn’t match (reality),” said King. “My family’s alive. My dog’s alive. The rest of the stuff is just stuff. I feel blessed.”
Jim and Heather King are greeted by their five-year-old golden-doodle, Maggie, after firefighters rescued her from the King's burning home on Wednesday afternoon. A fire broke out on the second floor of the King's home at 604 College Highway while no one was home but Maggie.
Washington’s Road to Indianapolis
So a week ago I planned to rapid fire publish about a dozen updates in a day or so after taking a month off of the blog while Sarah was in Evansville. That was before the rains came, which I’ll get to, but I finally got a break today to get some work done on catching back up. This post takes us way back to March 19, the day Sarah came to town, but also the day Washington High School in Washington, Ind. started their run to an eventual Class 3A State Title.
I picked Sarah up from the airport that day and after a quick swing by the apartment to let her freshen up from her full day of travel from Buenos Aires to Evansville, we hit the road across the state to Seymour, Ind. where the semi-finals of the 2A and 3A games where being played. I had to cover both Forest Park High School and Washington as they continued their runs. Forest Park, a 2A school, was undefeated on the season and had even beaten Washington during the regular season, but weren’t expected to beat Park Tudor High School. Washington on the other hand, lead by eventual Indiana Mr. Basketball winner, Cody Zeller (who is also an Indiana University commit), were heavy favorites to beat Batesville High School. The evening went just as it was planned too.
Forest Park hung around for a little while, but couldn’t keep up as the first half came to a close and once Park Tudor stretched their lead to double digits, they never looked back. Washington’s win came in a similar fashion, though the game was close for much of the first half, the Hatchets ran away in the second half and out-hustled Batesville all the way to a win. I didn’t get a chance to cover the team at States, we went with AP. I had to stay back to cover something that must not have been all that thrilling because I can’t remember what it was, but like his brother Tyler Zeller (UNC forward), Cody led Washington to a state title in Indianapolis.
Washington's Kurtis Anthony corral's a loose ball as Batesville's Chris Giesting (40) dives for it in the second half of Washington's 66-48 win on Saturday, March 19, 2011 in their semi-state basketball game held at Seymour High School in Seymour, Ind.
War Games
It’s been over a month since I last posted, and that’s because for the last four weeks my wonderful girlfriend of over four and a half years had been visiting. Sarah left in February for Argentina to spend a month exploring with her sister and then arrived on March 19th to spend another exploring Evansville with me. There was far less to explore here, but I like to think I made the trip somewhat worthwhile. Working all day five days a week and leaving Sarah at home to do just about nothing left me little time to devote to the blog as the last thing I wanted to do was have her sit around while I spent time on here. Sarah left for home on Saturday and as my life returns to it’s boring routine without her here everyday, it’s time I showed my blog and my readers (however few you may be) some love. While I didn’t have the most exciting assignments while Sarah was here, going back and looking over the last month, I actually did have some assignments worth writing about and the following posts will give you all what I can remember from each. So, without further ado…
Back on March 16th, I went up to the Evansville F.O.P.A.L camp to shoot the University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana ROTC groups participating in a military tactical simulation exercise. The cadets each received specially made paintball guns that were made to replicate M-16 rifles and broken in to two squads, Alpha and Bravo. The ROTC commanders from the schools created a battle plan for each group. All the cadets knew was they were to head to opposite ends of the wooded camp and after a certain amount of time for the two groups to get into position, they were to seek each other out and engage. What they didn’t know was the commanders had planned for things to go differently than either expected. One squad had orders to seek out the other at a certain position and attack in a certain manner, but what they didn’t know was that the commanders had instructed the other squad to set up an ambush.
I can’t remember which was which at this point, but for the sake of the story we’ll say Alpha was the ambushers and Bravo was getting ambushed.
As Bravo squad made their way through the bush, the reporters and I hung back with the commanders who had a position set up to view the eventual combat. What they didn’t plan for was Bravo squad’s leaders having the eyes of a hawk. From at least 300 yards away and through thick brush and trees the Bravo squad commanders spotted the Alpha squad troops setting up their ambush positions. They thought on their feet and circled around to attack them from the side, something the commanders applauded, but readily admitted they hadn’t planned for. The biggest problem now was that were were dead in the middle of the battlefield.
We hung back as Bravo moved in, but they were too loud. The Alpha squad heard their hurried movement through the bushes and before we knew it paintballs were flying everywhere. The commanders assured us we could move up closer to get better stills and video, but they hadn’t accounted for a few Alpha squad cadets that were waiting to pick off stragglers from Bravo. As we went to hide behind a few trees closer to the action, we found paintballs flying past us from hidden cadets. One cadet standing no more than two feet from me looked over to say something and took a paintball directly to the face. A few seconds later the tree I was behind took a peppering of five to six paintballs as a Bravo cadet tried to make his way over the trail and went down in the middle of it.
When all was said and done all but two cadets suffered kill shots and the two that didn’t had still been hit. In the heat of the moment many found themselves standing with no cover and firing away. Their battle plans went out the window and it looked a lot more like live action Call of Duty. The commanders critiqued their efforts afterward when they all gathered back at the main camp building, but a few took the media aside to have a little fun. With a ton of bulk paintball ammo left, and nothing to do with it, we had the fun of firing off the remaining rounds into the woods while cadets were critiqued. All and all, one of the more fun assignments I’ve ever had.
Here’sa link to the story with more photos as it ran on the 21st: ROTC members train at FOP camp for live combat
An ROTC cadet sets up in a parameter position as part of a joint University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana ROTC training exercise at the Evansville F.O.P.A.L. camp on Wednesday afternoon, March 16, 2011.
The Little Dance
The culmination of the NCAA Basketball season is the NCAA Tournament, or, The Big Dance. March Madness is filled with conference tournaments and title games and the opening rounds of the most coveted tournament in college sports. I had the chance to cover Ohio University in the NCAA Tournament last year, in Providence and see them upset #3 seeded Georgetown first hand. This year, The University of Evansville was my only shot at covering The Big Dance again, and sadly they could only muster a bid to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) a tournament in which teams actually pay $50,000 to host a game and could be considered the third tier of the post-season behind the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
If the NCAA Tournament is The Big Dance, NCAA Division II Tournament is probably The Little Dance. While 64 Division II basketball programs are given a chance for their division’s title just like their big brothers in Division I, the pomp and circumstance around the tournament can’t hold a candle to Division I’s flame. The tournament is broken into eight brackets instead of four with the #1 seed in each region hosting the games. I wish I had known this before I drove out to Louisville to cover the University of Southern Indiana (USI) in their title bid. I had no idea that Bellarmine, the #1 seed in the region, was hosting the tournament and showed up at Louisville’s new arena, The KFC Yum! Center only to have 50 Lady Gaga fans alert me it was on the other side of town. While the Yum! Center features brand new amenities, roughly 22,000 seats and what I can only imagine is great lighting. Bellarmine plays in a gym that also features a stage and may hold 3,000 people. It’s saving grace was a bay of windows that let natural light pour in on one side and a bunch of recessed lights that created spotlights of light on the court.
Anyway, back to USI.
USI won the national title in 2009 and as a #2 seed were poised to make another run. The Screaming Eagles, who only had five losses coming into the tournament, would have to get through teams that handed them 80% of their losses on the season if they wanted to do it though. Bellarmine had beaten the Eagles each of the three times they faced them this season and would meat up with USI in the regional final if they each made it that far. Kentucky Wesleyan, USI’s arch rival, had split a series with them for another loss, and could take Bellarmine’s place in the regional final if they got past the Knights.
USI first had to get past Drury, a team they had already beaten by double digits early in the season and the regions #7 seed. What looked like an easy game when USI quickly drained a deep three for the first points, quickly looked like an upset no one predicted when Drury went on a 14-0 run to make the score 14-3 just five minutes into the game. USI battled back, but looked sloppy and without rhythm for most of the game. They somehow grabbed a lead in the second half with about six minutes to go and held it until the final seconds, which were the oddest final seconds of any game I’ve ever seen.
With 10 seconds remaining and the score tied at 63, Drury needed to inbound the ball and score with just four seconds on the shot clock. Some how they got a shot off and in as the shot clock expired to take a 65-63 lead. But then the shot clock buzzer went off, the clock stopped at 6.5 seconds, USI inbounded the ball, the buzzer went off again for a still unexplained reason and they had gotten the ball past mid court before the clock started again. USI worked the ball around and Brandon Hogg drove to the basket and put up a shot when he fouled as the buzzer sounded again. Confusion was rampant. Why had the buzzer sounded twice on the inbound? Why didn’t the clock start? Was Hogg fouled and was it in regulation?
The referees determined Hogg was fouled and would be allowed to shoot two free-throws with no time left on the clock. At this point, I figured the game was over. The pressure on Hogg to tie the game had to be immense, and he had to hit both shots. To my surprise, he drained the first, and I began to think this game might not be over. Typically in this situation, if a player hits the first, the confidence boost almost guarantees the second one is it, but Hogg sent it long off the back of the rim and Drury stormed the court in celebration.
Here’s a link to the story and one to the gallery:
USI forward Nick Duncheon leaps for a rebound in the second half of USI's 65-64 loss to Drury in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament held at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, March 12, 2011.
Birds Eye View
Today I got a view of Evansville that few people get the chance to have, the birds eye view.
Yesterday my editor mentioned we may send someone to the airport for some aerial coverage of the flooding from the Wabash and Ohio Rivers. I immediately volunteered and that afternoon Kevin told me I was down for a 10am flight at Tri-State Aero for a photo hop.
I’ve always wanted to fly and while I actually enjoy the occasional long commercial flight, nothing can substitute the feeling of sitting in the cockpit. Although, I will say a bumpy roller coaster could be a fine comparison for what today’s flight was like.
With the weather warming up and today being the first nice day in two weeks, there was plenty of choppy air around 1,000 feet. Leaning out the window as the small Cessna banked around the target I was photographing was nerve racking enough, feeling the plane dip a few feet as I did it was a little freaky.
After a few tries I started to get used to it and came away with some good frames. It wasn’t much different than trying to fish on a small boat in open water at times. You rocked back and forth, up and down, but once you got a feel for it and knew what to expect it wasn’t bad. The flight smoothed out once we got away from the city too and out to the west of the city where the Wabash and Ohio meet, the site of the worst of the flooding. I was amazed at the power of the two rivers and how far they had surged past their banks. I can’t imagine how the barges that go up and down the river every day could possibly be doing it now as the normal boundaries of the river have completely disappeared, leaving full standing trees hiding underwater for any ship that strays too close to what would be the shore.
High flood waters from the Ohio River, west of the city of Evansville, run through fields and over roads on Friday, March 11, 2011.
One Last Time
Today, my first day back at work after my 5-day trip back home, wasn’t quite the way I expected to get back into the grind. I started early… at 8am… and went out to St. Mary’s Medical Center to shoot chaplains making their rounds at the hospital. I felt so bad for John Charles, one of the chaplains on duty this morning, as he’d been on-call since 4pm the day before and had gotten little sleep through the night. It was a bit difficult being a fly on the wall when medical release forms had to be signed with every room we entered, but everyone I did photograph seemed pretty relaxed and comfortable. It was actually the chaplains and doctors that seemed to feel awkward.
I got back to the office, did my edit and got the photos in and then found out what my second assignment for the day was. At noon, Jonathan Weinzapfel, the mayor of Evansville, was giving what would be his final State of the City Address at the Evansville Rotary Club. Weinzapfel, though only 45 years-old and a fairly successful mayor, isn’t seeking reelection in the fall and therefore, won’t have any more addresses to make. Speculation has bounced around thatWeinzapfel may make a run for governor, but he hasn’t committed to anything, and even dodged the question yet again today after his speech.
Usually these assignments tend to be fairly boring and fairly typical. A person stands at a podium, it’s indoors under poor light and if you’re having a really bad day, there’s some Powerpoint presentation behind them what kills your background. I had all of that today, but I stayed late and got a good shot as Weinzapfel’s mother came up to give her son a hug after his speech and interview with local television.
Weinzapfel has been one of the best politicians I’ve had to cover so far in my career. He’s been really personable and easy to talk to any time I’ve had an encounter. It will be interesting to see, if he does make a run for higher office, if and how that changes.
Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel receives a hug from his mother, Sylvia, after delivering his State of the City Address for the last time at the Evansville Rotary Club on Tuesday afternoon. Weinzapfel is completing the final year in his last term as mayor of Evansville.
Icing On the Cake
While their girls basketball team was traveling to Fort Wayne for the 3A Girls Basketball Championship, The Reitz Memorial High School hockey team was battling rival Harrison High School for the Evansville city championship at Swonder Arena on Wednesday night last week. It was the last assignment I had before my long weekend trip home and it was worth it.
Hockey, for me at least, has always been the one sport I’ve struggled shooting. I may be the restriction of having to shoot through a glass wall that never seems clean. It could be the light that never seems bright enough despite the ample reflection from the white floor. It could be my lack of strategic understanding in the sport. Or, it could just be my achilles heal when it comes to sports shooting.
Regardless, I was actually happy with what I got from the game. Memorial came out fast and went right at Harrison. It seemed that every time they were in Harrison ice they were in the crease in second. Harrison took the opposite approach, launching shot after shot from distance trying to power it past Memorial’s goalie or get a rebound and a tip. It seemed pretty apparent though, that Memorial’s fast play was wearing on Harrison pretty early, and when they jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, it was more than Harrison could handle.
The game finished 7-3, with Memorial’s last goal coming on an empty-netter, and two players recorded hat-tricks in the game, which lead to a few hats finding their way to the ice each time. You’d with one team riding an insurmountable lead in the second period would lead to some boring shots and lack of emotion, but Memorial’s players were as excited about every goal like it was their first and led me to some great shots.
Memorial's Sam Curtis (7) celebrates his second period goal against Harrison in the second period of their 7-3 win over Harrison on Wednesday night, March 2, 2011 in the Old National High School Hockey Championship. Curtis' goal put the Tigers up 4-1 in the game and was his second of the night. Both Curtis and teammate Reid Schultheis each finished with hat tricks in the game.
Mardi Bras
I’m almost having to force myself to write this blog post. I haven’t blogged since the Indiana State Wrestling tournament and that’s because I haven’t had a day off since then, until this past weekend. From last Thursday to yesterday I finally got a break from the grind and got to go home and see the family and Buster. It was great to recharge the batteries, but I had to jump straight back into it today.
During the nonstop grind that was the past few weeks though, I did get to do some cool assignments. My schedule jumped around a bit and I covered some great games and had another trip to Indy for the team wrestling tournament. I ran out on a fire that gave me some decent images for once, worked a bit on my own stories and did the daily stuff that pops up. One of the more unique assignments I had, though, was covering Mardi Bras, an artistic bra fashion show put on to raise money for AIDS research and support groups.
The bras weren’t what you see in the Victoria Secret Fashion Show, and neither was the pre-show entertainment as we were treated to belly dancing and a burlesque show. The bras ranged from semi-traditional lingerie to wild pieces of art with social and political undertones. It was pretty crazy, but definitely a nice break from the usual and a fun way to spend my Sunday.
Model Misty Adye does the robot as she struts down the catwalk wearing artist Jerrilee Lamar's "Wireless" bra design in the Mardi Bras fashion show fundraiser held at the Casino Aztar Executive Conference Center on Sunday afternoon, February 27. 2011. The annual Mardi Bras event benefitted the AIDS Resource Group (ARG) and raised money through silent auctions and donations on the various pieces of bra art modeled at the show.
Wrestling with the State Tournament
Yesterday I sacrificed my day off for a little overtime, a day on the road and in Indianapolis and the Indiana State Wrestling Tournament. I hadn’t covered any wrestling during the season, and really hadn’t covered much going back to my time at Ohio. Maybe five or six matches lifetime. I matched that and then some yesterday covering nine or ten different kids from the area as they competed in both the consolation and championship rounds of the tournament. At the end of the day, all but one wrestler from the area lost their consolation match, and the one that won was wrestling another wrestler from the area, so someone had to take it.
The finals matches brought a much different story. We had four wrestlers in the finals in three matches and each matched ended with our guys on top… both literally and figuratively…
The whole experience was a lot of fun. I met a lot of photographers from smaller papers around the area as this was big news for a lot of towns across the state. A woman I sat next to during the finals worked for a paper in Terre Haute and covered Armon Bassett, a former Ohio guard in her time so we shared a few basketball stories. Another young guy was freelancing for a paper in Muncie, but had interned at The Columbus Dispatch and went to Ball State. The older shooters I sat next to in the edit room were great to joke around with as we all tried to get photos out way past our deadlines as every match ran long. Come to think of it, I actually got almost two dozen photos out before they did and they were done four matches before me… I can’t imagine how tight their deadline had been.
As we edited and transmitted away we could see one of the final matches being broadcast on a TV in the workroom was going to it’s seventh overtime and we expressed our heartfelt remorse for anyone who was stuck waiting for the outcome. I think it even finished 2-1 with the last point coming on an escape, so I can’t imagine they got much through the 30 minutes they were probably shooting it waiting for that one celebratory shot at the end… assuming their guy won…
It was great to get to shoot an event like that and shoot with some really nice and friendly shooters and have some fun on the sidelines while we tried to kill the time between our matches and the ones we didn’t need and hopefully some more events like that will pop up in the future and I’ll get another shot at it.
Castle High School's Chad Welsh wrestles with Mater Dei's John Sims in the final match of the 160 pound weight class at the Indiana State Wrestling Tournament in Indianapolis, Ind. on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at Conseco Field House. Welch defeated Sims by a 3-0 decision.
Aces Shocked
I tried an overhead mount for a basketball game from the shot clock for the first time tonight at The University of Evansville’s game against the Wichita State Shockers (*insert high school snickering here*) at Roberts Stadium. I was really nervous going into this set-up. Most of it stemmed from not having done the rig before, but there were lingering concerns over the shot clock’s stability (the same clock fell off of it’s basket just two weeks ago for no apparent reason) and if the software I’d only tested a couple times would work when I needed it. There was also the issue of battery life as I had to set the mount up at 11am, but the game wouldn’t start until 7:05pm, and there was no way the basket (which is powered by a hydraulic lift) could be lowered before the game started.
I found out quickly Camera Control Pro 2 is a fantastic program and really an essential if you want to tether your camera to your computer for a mount. When we set up the rig, half the lights were off in Roberts and I had to set the exposure to aperture priority and f/2.8 at 6400 ISO since I had no idea what the exposure would be from that angle. When I came back for game time and realized how bright the arena really was, CCP2 allowed me to connect my computer straight to my camera 17 feet above me, change it’s exposure setting and mode and close down to f/5 and ISO 4000.
Nikon Transfer 2 wasn’t quite as cooperative. The program works with Nikon’s ViewNX 2 (which is like a weak Lightroom/Photo Mechanic) to ingest photos straight from the camera whether after they’ve been taken or as they’re being shot, or both. Through all my trial runs everything worked flawlessly, but of course that wasn’t to be tonight. I realized quickly I needed about five more feet of USB cable, but the signal would probably die if I went far over the 18 feet I was already running. It was certainly awkward trying to capture the images when the cord ended about chest high and it made it impossible to capture them live, which would have been the best possible scenario to get things out quickly.
I lost probably 20 minutes getting Nikon Transfer to connect to my D3s after the first half and after a computer restart it finally worked. Regardless, I would never had gotten the shot I wanted into the paper (seen below) on time without the ability to live ingest the photos as they were shot as it came with just a few minutes left in the game, and maybe five minutes before my deadline. I did, though, manage to get some decent shots out and they’ll run in the C&P, Wichita’s student paper and The Wichita Eagle, a McClatchy owned paper serving Wichita, Kansas.
Luckily, when the new arena starts hosting basketball games, we’ll be dealing with new baskets, faster wifi and I’ll have an idea of what I’m doing. For a first run, things could certainly gone much worse so I have to be happy with getting something. I just wish I’d gotten the shot I wanted in.
Evansville center Pieter von Tongeren puts up a shot over a Wichita State defender in the second half of Evansville's game against Wichita State on Tuesday at Roberts Stadium.
Playing Possum
Today was looking like it was going to be a very run-of-the-mill Monday. There were no assignments in the system for my shift and the dreary weather outside was keeping everyone fairly subdued in the newsroom. Around 12:30 Kevin asked me to see if I could find a weather feature. What I did wind up finding could only be described as the oddest 30-second period I’ve ever seen on an assignment.
While driving around Downtown Evansville finding absolutely nothing, Kevin called and asked where I was and if I had anything yet because he might have something. A call had just come across the scanner of an opossum stuck in a fence and/or can about five minutes from where I was. I figured at best I’d find a picture of a guy looking puzzled at how an opossum got it’s head stuck, but I shot over as quickly as I could.
I found the house not a moment too soon as the Department of Animal Control officer, Anthony Crothers, was just talking to the woman who made the call, Vera Williams, outside her home. I ran over, introduced myself, and got her permission to shoot, which she laughed and said was not a problem.
Looking down at the chain link fence that separated her home and what appeared to be an abandoned home in some disrepair was a small, gray, furry animal wedged between the fence and a concrete stoop with an aluminum can covering it’s head. Initially I wondered if the animal was alive, but I could see it breathing so my fears were quelled quickly.
Crothers looked down into the gap, looked back up and Williams and assured her, “That looks like a possum, alright,” and reached around for the best way to grab it’s tail and pull it out so he could remove the can. Once he was able to get a grasp on the animal, he lifted it up out of the gap to get a better look at the can.
At this point, the animal started thrashing about, wriggling itself around. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard an opossum make a sound before, but the sound this animal made wasn’t very pleasant at all. As it whipped around and hissed the can flew off and we were all surprised to see this wasn’t an opossum at all; this was a cat.
Now, opossums routinely hang by their tails from tree limbs in the night, sometimes support their weight and the weight of their children. If you’ve ever owned or even played with a cat, the one way to get any cat angry in a hurry is to mess with it’s tail. Officer Crothers found this out quickly as the cat flipped up and sunk it’s teeth into his gloved hand before releasing and sprinting off. Crothers suffered a minor bite wound through his glove, but otherwise was alright.
The slushy weather and the cat’s position in the leaves matted it’s fur and really did make it look like it could be an opossum, so I don’t blame Officer Crothers for the mistake, but I’m sure he’ll think twice before he grabs something by the tail the next time he gets a call like that.
An animal Department of Animal Control officer Anthony Crothers believed to be an opossum when he removed it by the tail from where it was trapped was actually a juvenile cat. While opossums routinely hang from their tails in trees, cats hate having their tails pulled. The cat, which Crothers had just freed from an aluminum can stuck to it's head, thrashed and hissed at Crothers. In just the few seconds Crothers held the cat (before realizing it wasn't an opossum) it whipped around and sunk it's teeth into his gloved left hand before releasing and running off. Crothers suffered a minor bite wound through his leather glove. Because of the rain and the cat's fur had matted down and it strongly resembled the opossum Crothers thought it was.
The Mayor’s Arena
Downtown Evansville is a shell of what I’m sure it must have been. At least half of the store fronts and restaurants are empty and the centerpiece of the current depression that Downtown Evansville finds itself mired in is highlighted by the vacant 420 Main Building. The building used to house the offices of Old National Bank, but Old National relocated to a new, much smaller building, along the waterfront several blocks away and what may be the tallest building in Evansville now sits empty and in moderate disrepair.
Numerous plans have ben attempted and failed in the past to revitalize the Downtown Evansville district. I’m sure Casino Aztar had to be one of those plans, and while the casino certainly draws and has for years, it’s not done much to bring businesses back to Main Street or patrons for that matter. The new Downtown Arena, that has yet to be officially named as several naming contracts appear to be in consideration, is the latest plan for Downtown revitalization.
It’s a complex issue to say the least, and almost a chicken or the egg paradox, or Catch-22. Businesses can’t survive without patrons, but patrons won’t come Downtown without businesses worth going to. Businesses have no reason to locate downtown with no one ever there and no one has a reason to go downtown without businesses to visit.
Mayor Jonathan Weizapfel’s plan with the Downtown Arena attempts to solve one of those issues and will be his legacy when he leaves office at the conclusion of his current term. By drawing patrons to Downtown Evansville (instead of several miles east to Roberts Statdium) for concerts, University of Evansville basketball games and IceMen hockey games, the hope is that businesses will find a reason to return. Already a few new bars have opened near the arena and are profiting from lunch and dinner business drawn from the hundreds of Arena construction workers just across the street.
The hole in the plan is sustainability.
The University of Evansville doesn’t sell out Roberts Stadium, and the team hasn’t been a contender in this millennium on the men’s side of the program. The women have been better, but women’s basketball, no matter what the school or level of play, isn’t a strong draw and not enough to fill a 10,000 seat arena. The IceMen may turn out to be the best source of consistent revenue for the arena as they routinely have to turn fans away from Swonder Ice Arena where they can barely find room for the average 1,500 ticket holders that make it in. The IceMen project at least 4,000 fans will routinely come to the new arena for games and that 6,000 fans would be easily attainable. That would make the newly founded CHL team (the NHL’s equivalent of AA baseball) the largest draw unless UE got really good, really quick.
It’s my understanding that the University of Southern Indiana will continue to play on the campus of USI in the Physical Activities Center (PAC), but the PAC is a small venue and the Division II basketball program is good enough to warrant play downtown where they may find more fans who don’t want to make the frustrating trip West on the Lloyd Expressway to USI’s campus. With two national titles under their belt (1995 and 2010) the team may have more drawing power than their Division I counterpart.
There has also been preparations put in place for an Arena Football League (or other indoor football league) team. Evansville had an indoor football team which played at Roberts Stadium, known as the Evansville BlueCats, from 2003-2007 in both the NIFL (03-05) and UIF (05-07) but the team folded in 2007. The new arena is big enough for a team, and talks have been had to see if a new team may return to Evansville, but it’s yet to be seen whether that will happen.
The major problem with using the arena as a tool to revitalize the district is timing. College basketball only plays from late November to March, CHL hockey only takes place from late October to March. This would mean that the Spring, Summer and Fall seasons would be largely reliant solely on concert crowds once every couple of weeks and for one or two nights only, for a downtown crowd. An indoor football team would provide a crowd for much of the spring (most seasons run from March-July when the NFL and college football are out of the headlines) but a team still hasn’t been seriously considered.
Regardless of the feasibility of the Arena’s mission, the building itself is truly impression. The tour with the mayor and project manager John Kish got me excited for the prospect of getting to shoot in the building in the fall. Roberts Stadium doesn’t have a catwalk conducive to any creative overhead shooting and there are no angles for lights to be mounted. The catwalk in the new building not only has catwalk positions over the baskets, but is easily accessible and has perfect positions available for strobes. On top of it all, the building is 60 years newer than Roberts, much more convenient to get to and fully modernized. I just hope the building doesn’t end up with as unfortunate a name as Louisville’s new basketball stadium, the KFC Yum! center.
Arena project manager John Kish (left), explains the seating layout of the new downtown Evansville Arena on a tour of the new building with mayor Jonathan Weinzpfel (right) on Monday afternoon, January 31, 2011. The new arena will be ready for basketball, hockey and possibly arena football if a team returns to the area, as well as concerts with seating above 10,000.
The downtown arena is seen from what would be the top level of seats in once the arena is complete. The arena will seat over 10,000 patrons, but the top level can be roped and curtained off for smaller events.
The Cost of Freedom
It’s been two weeks since I last posted and mostly that’s because it’s been two weeks of fairly average work from yours truly. I’m not sure how I managed to make weather photos different three times in the same week, but we were really hurting for stories for a while there. Then, right when I’m in a rut and every story seems to scream headache, a great opportunity falls in my lap.
I had the chance to drive to Fairfield, Illinois (my first trip to the state) to cover the funeral for Sgt. Michael P. Bartley who was killed on January 15th in Iraq along with another soldier from Sacramento. While Bartley and his unit were training a group of Iraqi army soldiers, one of them opened fire and killed the two soldiers and injured another before members of the unit took the rogue soldier down. Bartley was just 23 years old and the only child of Rebecca Isles.
I was really nervous going into the assignment. Funerals are always touchy to cover, especially when they’re big and especially when soldiers are involved. Many times the media isn’t viewed in the best light and people are quick to become defensive and protective. Luckily for me, but no at all for this community, they are used to military funerals now. This was their third in the last year.
While it was certainly challenging covering such a large display of support and solidarity from the community for this soldier and his family, I’m glad I had the chance to do it. It was beyond moving to see what people did to honor this young man. The roadside was lined with over 1,050 flags, fire companies at two points raised a giant flag over the roadway for the procession to drive under, several elementary schools gathered along the roadside all waving flags and Bartley’s entire high school was outside to honor the young sergeant.
Overall, I know there are things I could have done better, but I think I handled the assignment fairly well given how nervous I was going in. I’ll leave my feelings on the war on the side, but I will say it is an absolute shame that Sgt. Bartley had to die, or any soldier for that matter, for whatever cause it is we’re fighting for over there. My heart goes out to his family and that community.
Rebecca Isles (second from left), the mother of Sgt. Michael P. Bartley, is comforted as she looks out at her son's casket at Maple Hill Cemetery in Fairfield, Illinois on Friday. Bartley was the victim of an attack by a rogue Iraqi soldier while on his second tour of duty in Iraq. Bartley was part of a training mission when the rogue soldier opened fire and killed Bartley and another soldier.
Playoffs?! *Jim Mora Sr. Voice*
Last night was yet another one of the awesome opportunities my career hands me as I had the chance to cover The Indianapolis Colts wild card playoff game against The New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. I made the trip up to Indy from Ohio University last year for The Ravens loss last season and it was not a pleasant experience. I honestly didn’t expect to attend any more games at that stadium back in January of 2010 unless The Ravens ever made a Super Bowl there or I lucked into a job with the AP or SI. Oh how things change in a year’s time.
Two weeks ago, when the probability of a Raven’s trip to Indy for the playoffs was high, I talked to our sports editor to see if we could get credentials. We hadn’t shot a game in two seasons but had been sending a reporter every week so we figured our odds at 50/50. On Thursday when my editor asked me if I’d mind working my day off to cover the game, I didn’t hesitate in saying, “yes,” even though Baltimore was headed to Kansas City for their game.
The game was my third NFL game on the sidelines and oddly enough I’m still yet to cover a game in the regular season. Shooting the playoffs, though, is certainly more fun than shooting the preseason. Getting to hang out with Ray Romano and Kevin James before the game on The Jets sideline was awesome. Supposedly Taylor Lautner was there too but I didn’t see him nor any lady’s underwear being thrown on the field. Getting to meet and pick the brains of a handful of Sports Illustrated and AP photographers was great too and all that was just the icing on getting to cover a game with as much meaning and energy as a playoff game.
The game itself presented it’s challenges. The first half (where most shooters are going to get their images for the paper) was extremely dull to shoot. Few big plays happened on either side and most of each team’s runs where right up the middle around mid-field, making a clean shot really hard to find. To make matters worse for me, the 500mm f/4 lens I brought to shoot with decided to stop working for the entirety of the second quarter. I should have known better than to bring it when I asked three of the four photographers I work with if they had ever used it before and no one could remember if they had. I had a sinking feeling there was a reason no one ever used it but they couldn’t remember… I found out the hard way I was right.
I was smart enough to bring a back-up long lens, a 400mm f/2.8, but not smart enough to haul it the mile and a half from where I parked to the stadium. I initially though I could get by with the old film 300mm f/4 I had in my bag, but after slapping it on the camera and my D3s rejecting it in the middle of The Colt’s first half touchdown, I realized I was in trouble. I could either go through the game with a 70-200mm as my longest glass (which would leave me only shots inside the 20-yard line) or run out to my car and hope to get back without missing much to switch lenses.
I ran into the media room with about five minutes left in the second quarter, found half a dozen decent images that were actually in focus, edited and transmitted them to the paper. Then, with about five minutes left in the halftime break and Cheap Trick giving me little reason to stay and shoot the halftime show, I ran as fast as I could to get to my car and a usable lens. Unfortunately, the media room was on the opposite side of the stadium I was parked on, and I was in such a rush to get out and back I forgot my coat in the 12 degree weather outside. Somehow I got back in time to watch The Jets kick their third quarter field goal and shoot the rest of the game.
There may have been a reason that 400mm lens was sitting alone in the corner of the photo closet at the office too as it had habit of back focusing anything over 40 yards away, but it was much better than a lens that didn’t focus at all. I managed to get a decent group of action shots, but most of the crowd features I tried to grab just weren’t sharp. Being restricted to The Jet’s sideline and end zone also prevented me from getting anything clean from The Colt’s sideline.
All-in-all it was a fantastic learning experience and I can’t wait for the chance to do it again now that I’m a little more prepared. Here’s a gallery for the full set of images I was able to salvage from the game: Jets 17 Colts 16.
Jets linebacker Bart Scott dives to tackle Colts wide receiver Blair White in the fourth quarter of the Colts 17-16 loss to the Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday night, January 8, 2011.
Snow Day
If you’re lucky enough to live near a zoo that’s open 365 days a year like we have here in Evansville, I’ve got your perfect snow day activity.
While looking for a weather picture to make today I decided to check out the Mesker Zoo here in Evansville and see if at minimum I could get a cute picture of the now adolescent jaguar cubs the zoo has. While they had given up on the flurries falling outside for their warm indoor enclosure, the zoo’s tiger, lion and several other animals were relaxing in the white powder outside.
Whether you’re a parent and trying to find a way to keep the kids busy or just bored on a snowy day, take advantage of your local zoo if they’re open year round. There will be no one there, and I mean no one. I didn’t run into another person not working for the zoo until I was leaving. Your kids aren’t going to complain about the cold, they love staying out in the snow anyway. They certainly aren’t going to complain as they would if you took them in the summer when most parents do. You’re also not going to have to hear them whine for trinkets and snacks as all the concession stands are probably going to be closed due to low volume. But what’s best is the increased interaction you’re going to get with the animals. Because I’m sure I was the only non-zoo employee they’d seen all day, the animals all came to life when I approached their pen. The tiger began pacing his cage. A bactrian camel followed me around as I walked by his, coming from a good 50 yards away to say hello. A few emus even gathered to see what I was going there as I approached their pen. If you’ve got a little kid, it’s unbelievably cooler than trying to lift them over the crowd of other children crowded around the one moving animals pen at the zoo on a warm day.
Give it a thought, because at 22, I had a great time hanging out by myself at the zoo.
A tiger patrols his pen at the Mesker Zoo as snow falls on Friday morning, January 7, 2010.
One of a pair of adolescent jaguars rests in a tree in his enclosure at the Mesker Zoo in Evansville as he escapes the falling snow outside on Friday morning, January 7, 2010.
LeBron Could Take a Lesson
My assignment yesterday was one of the great ones that remind me how much I love the opportunities my job presents me with. I had the chance to go to the Deaconess Medical Campus on the East side of town to shoot Handles Franklin, a member of the Harlem Globetrotters, as he visited kids at the pediatric hospital.
Handles was a great guy, very humble and definitely brightened the day for a group of kids that otherwise would have little to look forward to on the average day. Getting to hang out for a few hours with Handles and see the impact he had on the kids there, as well as his skill with a basketball gave me a real appreciation for the good athletes can do with their talents.
While there’s definitely a competition gap between the members of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball teams and those in the NBA, there’s no doubt in my mind that members of the Globetrotters possess a supreme level of basketball talent. I also have little doubt that many of them could dribble circles around most of today’s NBA stars who mostly base their skill on how acrobatically they can dunk while taking five steps through the lane.
It’s great then, to see guys like Handles using his skills to make the lives of those around him better. The Harlem Globetrotters have always been about spreading good will and helping those around them. It’s a shame that modern players like LeBron James would rather take their talents to South Beach for millions of dollars that contribute to those around him. I don’t doubt that James has numerous philanthropic ventures nor do I think he should give up a career in the NBA where he could finish as one of the best players to every put on a uniform. What I do think, though, is that James could take a lesson in humility from the Globetrotters.
The Globetrotters at one point were a legitimate basketball team and have basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain to their credit. They aren’t just a group of trick basketball showmen, but ambassadors for the game and the country wherever they go. The same can’t be said for the players of the modern NBA. The image LeBron James would rather endorse now is that of the misunderstood villain who can’t catch a break with fans. Instead of doing what his teammate Zydrunas Ilgauskas did for Cleveland fans when he left by taking out a full-page add thanking them for their support over the years, James made a television spectacle of himself for the country to see leaving Cleveland with egg on their face.
It would be nice to see James drop the bad-boy image. To openly give back to the community and show a little more humility in public. Sure the media loves to portray him in his present light, but he should be fighting it, trying to show that he can do good with his talents, not just make millions and get himself a ring. The story has always been that LeBron had to do what was best for him by going to Miami. That he could never be considered as good as MJ without multiple rings on his fingers. Maybe James’ priority should be the legacy he leaves for basketball in the community, and not the legacy he leaves for the Hall of Fame. Who knows, maybe he can be like Chamberlain and be known for both.
Handles Franklin (right) watches as Ian Conner spins a ball on his finger (after a little help from Franklin) during the Harlem Globetrotter's visit to the pediatric hospital at the Deaconess Medical Campus on Wednesday, January 5, 2011.
Harlem Globetrotter Handles Franklin hands a ball to 21 month-old Connor Graham during the Franklins's visit to the pediatric hospital at the Deaconess Medical Campus.
The House That God Burned?
Yesterday I had what is possibly my worst assignment nightmare happen not once, but twice. I came in for my 9-5 shift and we had no A1 story and therefore, no idea what was going on the front page of our paper Tuesday. Now, on Sunday morning, a church on the West Side burned down. The building was pretty impressive before the fire, but was completely lost in the blaze that destroyed over 60 years of history.
The nightmare came when Kevin asked me to go to the scene of the fire and wait. He said to me, “We don’t have anything else at this point so if you have to hang out for two hours to find something, go ahead.” To me, there isn’t much scarier. While the number one thing I love about this job is that every day is different and you never really know what to expect, the prospect of knowing that if I hung out for two hours at this church and nothing happened we might not have a front page photo was a bit pressure packed.
Somehow, I don’t think I’ll be winning the MegaMillions tonight because my luck was completely exhausted yesterday. After about 45 minutes of wandering around the structure and shooting what rubble I could see, an older lady pulled up and walked up to me. She asked if it was ok for her to be where I was and if she’d get in trouble. I absolutely love it when people mistake me for someone important. I told her who I was and that I wasn’t sure, but I’d been there for a while and hadn’t been yelled at. When she told me who she was, I realized that my prayers had been answered.
The woman was Roberta Hughes and her husband had been a pastor at the church for 23 years before he passed away around the holidays two years ago. Her children were baptized there and married there and his funeral service had been held there. She was a little emotional as she shared this with me, but seemed very open to telling her story and how this had touched her. She was also open to me taking photos of her as she examined the destruction for the first time. I got her number and thought, “This is it! We’ll go to her house, she’ll have old photos, she’ll get emotional, it’ll be a great A1 feature!”
That didn’t happen. I guess either after our reporter pitched it or she had some time to think about it she changed her mind and was no longer as open to discussing the past as she had been before. I had some decent images from the scene, but not A1 quality. I thought we might be in trouble again as it was now 2:30pm and afternoon budget (where the paper is planned out for the next day) was in 30 minutes. Kevin asked me again, to head back to the scene and hang out. How lucky could I get twice?!
Extremely lucky. This time after about five minutes of wandering around I noticed a ladder leading to a second story window that hadn’t been there earlier. After a bit of staring at the window I noticed a shadow moving inside. Someone was inside what I thought could only be an extremely unstable room in the church. After a few minutes a man in a tan leather jacket walked by to the ladder and I introduced myself. He turned out to be Michael Stoetling, the current pastor of the church. He and a few church members had been permitted to go into his former office to recover documents and I happened to show up just as they were starting. I followed around a few guys looking in windows to see if any furniture could be saved (everything was either too water logged or burnt) and eventually climbed up the ladder myself to see the damage inside. After watching the pastor walk around for a good ten minutes I decided to test the floor myself. It wasn’t until I was standing on the soggy half-torched floor of his office that I realized the desk in his office that should have come to my waist was at my knees. That section of the office was a least a foot lower than it should have been.
I shot what I could for about ten minutes and then followed everyone out of the office thankful to be on solid ground again. I’ve already covered two horrible post-fire scenes in the month I’ve been here and both have been jaw dropping. It’s absolutely amazing what a fire can do to a building and the destruction it can cause. One would imagine this could only be looked at in a negative light, but the church’s congregation sees it the opposite way.
(Quotes are taken from Jared Council’s story) The church and it’s followers had been trying to save to build a new church for years and figured it would be at least ten more before they could begin construction on a new church. ”We knew that this building, more than likely with its age, would not provide a place of worship for our grandchildren,” the Rev. Mike Stoetling said. “So we were looking down the road … but we were still a long ways from that ever happening.”
So, like when anything odd happens that is tied to religion, people tend to see God as the reasoning. ”I see God everywhere in the fire,” said 20-year-old Sarah Limberger, “That sounds so opposite of what you might think, but the timing … it’s just like (God) said, ‘OK. It’s time. Start building.’”
Whether God influenced the church’s burning down or not, it is somewhat miraculous no one was hurt in the blaze (there was supposed to be a youth group spending the night that night but their sleepover was cancelled just days before) and that Stoetling’s office survived along with all the important documents within it.
To see more visit the image gallery. To read more check out Jared’s story.
Forest Hill Wesleyan Church pastor Michael Stoetling examines the damage inside his church on Monday afternoon after a fire destroyed it early Sunday morning. The blaze hastened the planned construction of a new church.
Busy Start to a New Year
To say yesterday was busy is a major understatement. It’s been a long time since I’ve had four daily assignments in one day at a paper… in fact… I can’t recall a time I have…
Anyway, the day started simple enough with the swearing in of new county officials at The Centre, the convention center and major theatre in Downtown Evansville. I’ve been by the building every day driving to work, but never inside, and I was quite impressed. Evansville really does have some fantastic venues downtown, especially with the new Arena going in across the street from The Centre. The ceremonies took about an hour and a half and were a pretty big challenge to shoot. The light was low, even for the D3s’ abilities as I was shooting at 6400 ISO, f/2.8 and barely pulling 1/60th of a second. I also had a decent distance between myself and the officials as the stage was pretty large. I decided to embrace the distance and take advantage of the theatre’s features and shot from every angle I could find. I climbed up to the top boxes and shot, from the side boxes, from the center aisles. At the end of the shoot, I managed to get some good angles we could use.
The plan for the rest of the day was just a basketball game at night when Indiana State came into town to play The University of Evansville. But then news happened.
At 3pm I had to run to the hospital to shoot the first baby born in the area and her mother. It was 34 year-old Lakecia Thomas’ tenth child and she and her new baby will always share a birthday as Lakecia was also born on New Year’s Day in 1977. Thomas and her baby, who she hadn’t seen and hadn’t named when I got the chance to meet her just 9 hours after giving birth, received a hefty collection of gifts from St. Mary’s Hospital and local vendors for having the first baby of the year to sweeten the deal of having a famous baby. I was even lucky enough to share in the moment of the baby’s father, Dale McDonald, getting to see his daughter for the first time in the nursery. It was definitely a nice addition to the day.
Things weren’t all babies smiles though. As soon as I got back to the newsroom I ran out to Lincoln Ave. and Alvord Blvd. where a single car had somehow flipped onto it’s side in the middle of the road. I cannot imagine how anyone could possibly do this, but someone did. I arrived just as it was getting dark and just as the two passengers inside the car were being loaded into ambulances. I was able to get within about 15 feet of the accident scene, but the shoot was challenging because of the number of emergency workers on scene. There must have been at least 20 firefighters, police officers and paramedics on the scene trying to help.
I had just enough time to edit those photos and get them in system before I ran out to cove the Evansville/Indiana State basketball game. I shot the first half and realized immediately how spoiled I was covering Ohio University for four years. Even in the Bobcat’s down years, the program is miles ahead of Evansville’s, who haven’t made a serious post-season run since the mid-90′s. If I remember correctly, ISU led 24-6 at one point in the first half… Yeah, I’m definitely hoping Evansville can get a lot better as I cover this team, but I’m not making any travel plans for the NCAA Tournament this year any time soon.
University of Evansville center Clint Hopf (52) fights through the defense of Indiana State guard Carl Richard (15) and center Myles Walker (34) as he tries to put up a shot in the first half of Evansville's game against Indiana State on Saturday night.
Rescue Training
I was going through my assignments for the month trying to figure out my mileage and realized I had forgotten about this assignment. OnSite rescue team was performing construction rescue training for area firefighters and OnSite crew members at the Casino Aztar parking garage back on December 10th. The situations they come into, one would think occur fairly often, but I’m told that’s not the case.
Basically, imagine you’re a construction worker on a high rise building, or maybe a bridge. You slip, fall, and all that’s holding you above the ground is your safety line. You can’t pull yourself up, or let yourself down because the line is only designed to keep you from plummeting to the ground and you might even be unconscious from the fall. Enter OnSite to save the day!
The setting of the parking garage was great to do this shoot. I could easily get down to where the dummy was hanging, had the city as a back-drop and could get in close to get the angles I wanted. The OnSite guys were great to work with and performed each rescue without a hitch.
Bryant Garibay 'rescues' a dummy during an exercise Friday afternoon at Casino Aztar in Downtown Evansville.
New Beginning Heading to the New Year
It’s been a long time since my last post, but sadly since shooting Lady Gaga, nothing much happened. No new photo assignments, just work. All that changed, though, toward the end of November when I finally managed to land a job in the industry at a paper. Oddly enough, one whose internship I’d applied for several times, but never managed to get.
On December 1, 2010 I started my professional photojournalism career at The Evansville Courier & Press. Between a logic board crash, moving, another computer repair and Christmas, I haven’t been able to update the blog, but now that things seem to be settling down and I’m able to settle in, I’ve finally found the time.
So far I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of community journalism, high school sports, and today I even managed to squeeze in a spot news fire. I’m looking forward to a great start to my career here and working and learning with the great staff here at the C&P. If I have any words of advice for my fellow photojournalists still looking for jobs, or still in school, it’s network. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the friends I made along the way and impressions I left on them. Work hard no matter what you do, stay humble when you find success, and always strive to outdo yourself.
Today I had the chance to make this photo where I really didn’t think one would exist. Because of the storms on the east coast, flights into and out of Evansville were delayed and cancelled. I expected typical photos of lines and annoyed travelers, but I managed to find a cute moment of people not waiting to board a flight, but to see a family member off.
Neveah Stone, 5, pretends she is an airplane as she and her brother Leyton, 3, watch the plane their grandmother will fly to Atlanta on, taxi to it's gate. Their grandmother had originally been booked on a 10:30am flight to Atlanta that was cancelled due to weather on the East Coast and had to wait for a 3:30pm flight out, which was also delayed because of weather.
Gaga for Gaga
After a week off and beginning to think I wasn’t going to see much more action from The News Journal I received a much unexpected phonecall from them today. In the middle of a job at my dad’s office, I got what I knew would have to be a freelance call, one I thought I’d have to turn down because of my hours. When Suchat said he had something for me I’d definitely enjoy, I felt even worse knowing I’d have to turn it down.
When I saw it was covering Lady Gaga in Philly, I promptly went to my supervisors and asked to leave work early.
First, I have to admit I’m a Lady Gaga fan. I’m not a “dress up and spend $500 on floor tickets and wait all day to be first in line,” kind of fan, but if someone had a ticket to her show and asked me to go, I’d probably take off work that day to do it. I also have both her albums. I more respect her as an artist more than anything. I know that sounds corny, but personally I see her as my generation’s Madonna (frankly a more talented one at that).
So, with that said, I was both excited for the opportunity to see her live (albeit briefly) and to cover a concert I knew people cared about. While she is playing two shows in Philly this week, I was surprised to see I was one of three photographers there, and we had all come from over an hour away – no one from the Philly media market was there.
A big thanks to Gaga’s tour manager for being such a cool guy to hang out with and letting us up front for Semi-Precious Weapons on the opening three songs and for letting us hang out and listen to half of Gaga’s set before we went out to shoot “Telephone,” and “Speechless.” It’s really rare to get personable members of major artist’s staffs and especially toward the end of a year-long tour.
Lady Gaga performs her hit song "Telephone" at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. on Tuesday night, September 14, 2010.
