A Wandering Soul

A Humbling Experience

2010-10-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today I visited the Genocide Museum for the first since I have been in Cambodia. I have been debating about whether or not to go. I know a little bit about what happened during the time of the Khmer Rouge and have even heard stories from people who lived during that time, but wasn’t sure going to see the museum would be worthwhile. I was wrong.

The museum was originally a school, which was turned into a prison/torture facility by the Khmer Rouge. Thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured and died here. Walking through the halls and classrooms, which had been converted into prison cells and torture rooms was haunting and an emotional experience. Much of the facility is still in the condition it was when the Khmer Rouge abandoned it. The tiny one-person cells still exist, where blood and even handprints, can still be seen on some of the walls. The beds were prisoners were tortured still sit in many of the rooms with torture tools laying on them. In one room, there are cabinets of human skulls of victims of the facility.

I am not the most emotional person in the world, but this experience was emotional. There are thousands of mug shots of Cambodians whim were imprisoned here, including pictures of people being tortured. It was worth a visit if anyone ever visits Cambodia.

My experience in Cambodia continues to be a great experience, both emotionally and career wise. Work is starting to pick-up and I am getting more responsibilities and experiences. The more I learn about using communication strategies for social change, the more I become interested in pursuing this area in my future career.

Here are some photos from the Genocide Museum.

More Views from Cambodia

2010-09-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from my first 4-months in Cambodia.

Views of Cambodia

2010-09-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of my time here in Cambodia. Just a sampling of life here and how I see it.

I'm Back!!!!!!!

2010-09-25T23:02:00.001-07:00

After more than a year hiatus, I am beginning my blog once more. Hopefully someone out there is still at least a little interested in what I have been up to and what I am doing now.

I have left the Connection Newspapers and the newspapers business. I was accepted into and enrolled at Brandeis University for a graduate program in Sustainable International Development. Don’t ask me what that means, I have not figured it out yet, but am working on it. I spent the last year on campus in Waltham, Mass, just outside of Boston, for the on campus portion of the program. Since June, I have been in Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the second-year off campus-required portion. I will be here until the end of February. I am working with an organization called Equal Access. Equal Access is an organization that uses communication has a form of development through social and behavioral change, mainly through the use of innovative radio programs.

I have enjoyed my time here in Cambodia learning more about the field of international development and hopefully finding something I can be interested in and passionate about in this new life direction of mine. Cambodia is a beautiful country that is emerging from years of horrible atrocities and a period of genocide. Cambodians, for the most part, are looking to the future, but without forgetting the past. Over half the population is under the age of 18, so youth development is of vital importance here, and it is a difficult path to chart.

Enough of work and the reasons for development here, Cambodia, is truly a beautiful country. There are hundreds of ancient Hindu, and Buddhist temples dotting the countryside, none more famous than Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. This is a massive complex of over 20 temples in one general area, with Angkor Wat being the biggest. Angkor Wat is the largest religious complex in the world and has stood for thousands of years. There are also amazing, remote and undeveloped beaches, which are wonderful due to a lack of technology and crowds.

Well, I guess that’s it for now. I promise I will make a better effort for now on to maintain regular updates, with photos of course, to my blog.

Graduation Season

2009-06-30T10:13:00.000-07:00

Our high school graduation season has recently finished and I am very happy about this. Over a two week period I attended and covered 16 graduations. Here are a few from those ceremonies.

Sports Weekend

2009-06-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the high school state championships and we had five teams playing in three sports with three state champs. First was girls soccer and then girls and boys lacrosse.

2009-05-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again, when the weather is pretty warm and nice and everything happens at once. Yes, it is prom and carnival season and post-seasons sports time. Yes, I said prom. We cover all of our school's proms, over 30. Will do the same for graduations also in just a few weeks.

This update includes my first prom of the season, an artsy-fartsy pic from a carnival and then soccer and a bike-to-work commuter.

Clinton in Town

2009-05-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Bill Clinton was in town last week to stump for his good buddy, Terry McAuliffe, who is running for Governor of Virginia. It's always goo to see go ol' Clinton.

Lacking on Updates

2009-05-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have once again been lacking on updates for my blog. So, here are three pictures from the past week. I have been pretty busy with work and trying to figure out my future grad school plans. As of now, I plan on attending grad school in the fall and leaving a 12-year career in photojournalism. But, I still intend to shoot as much as I can and to keep updating my blog.

Basketball Portraits & Post Season

2009-03-11T11:51:00.000-07:00

It is post-season time and the first picture is from the TC Williams win in the regional championship game and the rest are a couple of portraits of the All-County team and player of the year.

2nd update of the year

2009-02-26T14:30:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is my second post of the year. I have been neglecting my blog duties, but hopefully, I will be better at updating for now on. I did not have a computer for a month, so that kind of been a damper in my blogging. So here goes. Here a few pics from the Presidential Inauguration. I know it was a month ago, but hey. I did not get anywhere close to the ceremony, but just walked around the mall as much as I could to get photos.

First Post of the Year

2009-01-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't been very good at keeping my posts fresh, but one of my New Year resolutions is to be better at updating my blog. So, for the first of the year, here are a few pics of President-Elect Barrack Obama. Obama talked about the economy in a speech at George Mason University the other day.

Santa Claus

2008-12-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Here a couple of pics of Santa that you may not normally see.

Election Day

2008-11-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Just a few images from my 18-hour election day coverage. I chose to include images with no politicians, because I am sick of them and thought these were better. I am very happy this election is over. It was fun and I had the opportunity to cover all the main people with access I've never had before, but am glad it is finished.

Judgment Day

2008-11-04T06:37:00.001-08:00

Who are you going to vote for?

or

Nearing the End

2008-11-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

With the presidential campaign winding down, the last two weeks have all of the candidates making stops here in northern Virginia. Here are a few pics from the last two. The first was John McCain on Saturday and then Obama supporter, Hillary Clinton was in town on Sunday.

Sarah Palin

2008-10-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last week it was Obama, this week it was Sarah Palin. I will be happy when this is all over and now that I have already voted, I wish that they would stop calling me and stopping by my house.

Nearing the End

2008-10-23T14:38:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama was back in town making one last effort the get Virginia's vote. Virginia hasn't voted democrat for a long time, but is leaning that way this year. Virginia is considered a toss-up state. Should be an interesting two weeks.

Obama Supporter

2008-10-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

Bush Pays a Visit

2008-10-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

President Bush recently paid a visit to a local small business to talk about the economy.

Blessing the Dogs.

2008-10-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Slug Fest and more

2008-09-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday marked a first for me. Two religious services in one day, a Baptist and Jewish service. These are from a Baptist church service celebrating their 142nd anniversary.

Sept. 11, 2008

2008-09-12T10:44:00.000-07:00

Sept. 11, 2008, marked the dedication and unveiling of the first official 9-11 memorial in the country. The 9-11 memorial at the Pentagon with thousands in attendance. It's a pretty impressive memorial, with a bench for each person killed that day at the site of the Pentagon. Each bench has a name inscribed and is lit from underneath. They lie in order of the age of each victim and either points towards the Pentagon or away, depending on whether they were on the plane of in the Pentagon at the time.

McCain/Palin Rally

2008-09-11T11:28:00.000-07:00

John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, held an outdoor rally in Fairfax city yesterday. An estimated 15,000 people attended the rally. It was huge and traffic was a nightmare. Traffic took longer than the actual rally.

Th hurricane that wasn't.....

2008-09-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

So, Hurricane Hannah came and went. Nothing really happened, just a lot of rain and some flooding in the area, but not much and receded quickly. All of my events were cancelled, except for one, but was called off shortly after beginning due to leaks in the roof. One of the photos is of someone walking near a lake in the rain storm. I also have a shot from a triathlon that cancelled the swimming portion because of debris in the lake from the hurricane and a shot from a church anniversary event.

That time of the year

2008-09-02T14:18:00.001-07:00

It's official. My job has just got busier than I normally am. School officially begun and in return, high school football is also in full swing. These first two of some of our first games this season and the second two are of the first day of school here in northern Virginia.

The Dean in Town

2008-08-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Howard Dean, the man who could of, until he freaked out a little, beaten Bush four-years ago, came to town to talk about the how the Democrat party is going to win. We'll see about that. Also a photo from a high school band practice, now that the start of school is just around the corner.

Obama on the campaign trail

2008-07-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today, Barack Obama made one of his campaign stops in our little neck of the woods in Fairfax County, Virginia. At first, I wasn't really excited or interested in the guy, but after today, maybe I'm leaning a little more towards voting for him. Maybe. Here are a couple of pics from the town hall meeting.

Golf and Swimming

2008-07-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Over this past weekend, I had the chance to shoot the 2nd Tiger Woods AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. It was started last year and was a huge hit. There were thousands of people everyday and it was virtually impossible to move around due to the crowds, especially anywhere near Tiger. This year, well, let's say wasn't the same. There were very little crowds and, oh yea, no Tiger. Due to his knee operation, he did not attend his signature event. There was still interest, just no where near the same as last year. Here are a few pics from the tournament and also a few from a swim meet.

Graduation Fever

2008-06-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

If I haven't mentioned it before, I have a pretty big coverage area with a lot of high schools that we cover. So when it comes to graduation season, I am pretty busy. In the last two weeks, I have covered 17 high school graduations. Pretty much all the same, with speakers saying the same things and all not very exciting. Though, by now, I could probably give a pretty good graduation speech myself, I've heard enough of them. But, I managed to get some pretty good stuff. It gets tough trying to find ways of shooting each graduation differently from the other.

State Championship Weekend

2008-06-09T11:24:00.000-07:00

Eleven games, two days, 90+ degree weather and the high school sports season is finally over. I shot soccer, lacrosse, baseball and tennis state championship games. We had 8 teams vying for state championships in 6 games.

One day celebrating...

the next, not.

State Champs!

Not a good day for one team.

Keep your eye on the prize.

A dominant, record-breaking day.

Celebrating third-straight state championship.

A perfect ending to a great season.

Back-to-back.

Winner of ten straight state championships at the high school level.

Rolling Thunder

2008-06-02T19:35:00.000-07:00

I know this is a week late, but here it is anyways.
Every year on Memorial Day, Washington D.C. plays host to the Rolling Thunder. Over 300,000 bikers converge into D.C. to pay their respects and to participate in different events. On the day before they rode from Arlington Cemetery and did a loop around the mall. Pretty impressive to watch a several-hour long parade with 300,000+ motorcycles.

Lacrosse Rocks

2008-05-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ever since I moved here to Northern Virginia, I have had the opportunity to shoot several sports I had never shot in Arkansas, since they did not exist there. Wrestling, field hocker and lacrosse. Though, I understand wrestling has made a presence now. Lacrosse is big and is taken very seriously in this part of the state and is actually fun to shoot, boys lacrosse at least. Boys and girls lacrosse have a few different rules, but other than one big difference are very similar. Physicality. Boys lacrosse is very physical with tackling and big hitting and girls lacrosse is not very physical and hitting is a major penalty in the girls game. So, when I got this shot the other night at a girls game, I was happy, cause you hardly ever see this.

Great weather

2008-04-25T08:05:00.000-07:00

Finally the Spring is here after weeks and weeks of trying. Which makes me want to be outside even more and I try harder to find things to shoot when it's nicer. Spent several hours on the Potomac the other day shooting kayaking. So, here's a shot of a kayaker and one from a track meet also.

2008-04-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I updated last. So here's a baseball pic and a portrait of a high school artist at an art show. Been busy, but haven't shot anything really exciting or good lately. Lots of baseball. Ughh. Soccer and boy's lacrosse are probably my two favorite sports to shoot in the spring, so let's hope I have more of those in weeks to come.

Open Mic

2008-02-19T08:39:00.001-08:00

I got to cover an open mic night at a pretty popular local music venue. Probably the most fun I've had at an assignment in a while. Of course the lighting was dark and made it difficult to shoot, but I like a challenge. Also since I really hate use flash, especially in a dark room, it was fun to come out with nice stuff.

4-Hour Traffic Assignment

2008-02-13T09:21:00.000-08:00

So, I had the pleasure of a 4-hour, 4-mile trip yesterday. I was on my way to an assignment when I got stuck in traffic after only about 2-miles. I was there for almost 4-hours. The exits on the on-ramps to the interstate were closed due to ice and several accidents. So, that meant, no moving. When I finally got off, I just turned around and went home, the other 2-miles. Being bored, I got my camera out and took picture of some of my fellow commuters and other things I saw that I thought were interesting since I missed my two assignments.

Finally, an update

2008-01-28T08:03:00.001-08:00

Wow, it's almost the end of January and I have not updated this year yet. Well, here a couple. Been busy and have just been ignoring my blog, but no more. The first one is from a one-act play festival of an actress rehearsing before going on stage and the second is of a recent short-lived snowstorm in the area.

The CIA

2007-12-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

Some of the places I go to for an assignment in this area can sometimes be interesting, or intimidating. In this case, intimidating. I had the rare opportunity to shoot inside the CIA headquarters. Of course, it was only one corner in one directions. We weren't allowed to shoot to the left or behind us, only in front and towards the right. I didn't get tosee too much inside, but did get to drive around the massive, college-like campus.

The infamous floor logo

Each of the stars on the wall behind the marine represent a CIA employee killed in the line of duty.

Marines posing with picture with a teddy bear given to the by the director of the CIA.

Six Days, Six Photos

2007-12-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

A photo each day from the last week. It's been a busy and interesting week.

Friday, Model Train Show

Saturday, Visit with Santa

Sunday, The Lonely Road

Monday, Basketball

Tuesday, Symphony Practice

Wednesday, Delegate Swearing in Ceremony

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Now that I have been a year, I am starting to shoot the same assignments again. But that's part of the newspaper business. The problem is coming up with a new way to cover these assignments each year, which can be difficult. This assignment was no different. A Thanksgiving Dinner was held by the Salvation Army for the homeless, families who can't afford a nice dinner and the elderly. Of course, I got a lot of people not wanting their picture taken, so I focused on the volunteers and kids. Most parents don't care if their kids are photographer, as long as they aren't. I am sort of happy with I what I managed to get.

Happy Turkey Day to everyone.

The Nutcracker

2007-11-14T16:34:00.000-08:00

We cover a lot of high school and community shows here. Plays, musicals, ballets and whatever else goes on in the arts. Last night was no different as I was assigned to cover a dress rehearsal for the ballet, The Nutcracker. In an effort to do something different, I shot most of the rehearsal from backstage. I might have to do this for now on. I got better shots from this rehearsal than ever before.

And some of facial expressions or things that the dancers do backstage before going on are pretty funny also.

Election Day

2007-11-09T11:04:00.001-08:00

So, Tuesday wes Election Night here in Virginia. I know most states didn't have any major races, but we did. Every state represenative seat was up and several local seats were being contested. As expected, the Democrats pretty much cleaned up. I had the pleasure, of hanging with the Democrats at their victory party headquarters. It was a long day and night, since several glitches in Fairfax County kept the results from being posted for most races until almost midnight. Here are a few pics.

This is Chap Petersen, one of the newly elected members of the state senate. He has a huge family and I think they were all their wearing avariety of clothing with his name. He even took his shoes off at one time and showed them to everybody to prove how much he had walked around to get votes. He's new, but he is already pulling thesame old political antics.

This is Gerry Connelly, the Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and had just won re-election. He is the ultimate politician. Shaking hands, kissing babies and telling jokes is what he does best.

New Update

2007-10-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

This first picture was from an art show in McLean, VA. Not an really exciting event, but I really like this picture. Spent alot of time on this just waiting for the right moment.

The second picture is from a dedication ceremony for a new elementary school. This kid was just standing with his father, when he just took off and stood face first towards the wall. Stood there for like fifteen minutes, for no reason.

D.C. Protest

2007-09-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

I had the opportuniy to shoot my first large Peace March and Rally in the Capitol on Sept. 15. I've shot rallies and protests before, but not this large. It went pretty well for the most part, but was also crazy at times. The march itself was highly unorganized and several of the organizers and volunteers were very hostile towards members of the press, which made coverage difficult at times. An estimated 100,000 anti-war protestors took part in the march.

It was supposed to be a peaceful march, with some civil disobedience. Meaning several protestors jumped over police barricades in front of the U.S. Capitol and were arrested. Around 200 people were arrested.

Then, of course, towards the end, things got slightly out of hand. The group of protestors closest to the barricades in the front, with me in the middle of them, decided to make one last push to break through the barricades and that's when some of the Capitol Police pulled out the pepper spray. Trust me, being sprayed doesn't feel very good when you happen to take a deep breath just as a blast of pepper spray comes your direction.

Alas, all in all, I would have to say it was a fun day. ;)

Busy week

2007-09-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

I need to get better at keeping regular updates on this blog, but I get busy sometimes and neglect it. So here's a few updates from the past week. First couple of pics are from the annual Dulles Day Family Fest and Plane Pull. Basically they get teams to come out and pull a FedEx Cargo plane as quick as they can. There are also a variety of planes on display.

Then there was a 9/11 rememberance ceremony. Kind of a low turnout, I guess for the sixth anniversary, there's not much interest anymore?

And finally a shot from a fall carnival.

This next week includes a Day Laborer Rally, a Peace March in D.C. and a variety of sports, so hopefulyl I'll have some nice updates for next week.

The Robbie

2007-08-29T08:34:00.001-07:00

Football is getting closer...

2007-08-24T13:53:00.000-07:00

Just a sample of portraits that I took of about 30 high school football players for our football tab. Didn't come out too bad for the last minute. Tried a few different styles, including a ring "pie-pan" flash that I made at home. I think with a few adjustments, I will have to use it again in the future.

Football Time

2007-08-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year, and we all love it. Well, sort of. High school football season. I shot my first few practices this morning and got this accident. Iwas playing around with different things and this ahppened. I know, it's out of focus, but I like it. It's kinda of cool looking and you can still tell what's going on.

You have to be quick at shooting practices here, becuase if it get's to be a certain temp or humidity level, they have to go inside. All the school's here, have a trainer or somebody who keeps track of the temp and humidity with this little machine and once it hit's that certain point, their done. I shot for an hour this morning at one high school andat about 9 am, they had to quit. Anyways, happy football season to everyone.

Portraits

2007-07-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

One of the areas I am weak in my photography are portraits. My paper also does not make good use of a good portraitopportunity. So, I have been making an effort lately to get stronger at them. This is one of the best attempts I have had in a long time. The subject a professional studio/portrait photographer, so I was nervouse doing this shoot, but I like the product.

This is my favorite, though at first the restroom sign location ticked me off, it doesn't bother me anymore. This was shot in a movie theatre where she has a showing. This was pretty much the only clean background, except for that sign. But I think it adds a little, only if it wasn't growing out of her head.

High School Graduations

2007-07-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

High School Graduations. That time of the year has finally came and went. Now, usually they don't bother me too much, but having to cover about 15 graduation over a 2-week period, that's enough. I even had 3 in one day twice. I know I'm complaining, but.....On the bright side, it gace me time experiement and catch up on my sleep. Oh, I managed to get a few nice shots also. Here's just a few of my favorites.

Also a few of the speakers were pretty interesting. Like Colin Powell. Some of the other speakers were Hillary Clinton, Ben Afleck (not sure why) and the losing coach from the movie, Remember the Titans, the real guy, not the actor.

Wandering Eye

2007-05-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I'm on assignment, I see things that catch my eye and I take a picture. Usually they are artsy fartsy, so we won't use them in the paper, but I can post them here. These are two I shot at a recent baseball game, something about them i like.

Bleacher View

2007-05-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have had to shoot high school tennis before, you know it can be a challenge. Here, they wouldn't allow me inside the thick, black fence, with tons of people standing around and a pretty messy background. Great, I was thinking when I started to shoot through the fence, then I noticed the background. The football stadium stands backed up right to the tennis courts. Yay, clean angle with clean background. I got some nice shot's from this angle. The second shot is of a recent soccer game.

Summer Time

2007-05-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

You know it's summer and school is about to end when you are assigned numerous golf scrambles to shoot. Yes, like everywhere, here in Virginia, school is winding down, which means the best sporting matches are finally taking place.

Also, every country club in the area will start holding their yearly tournaments. Which means I get to drive around the golf course like a madman on those cool little golf carts. Yay!!!!!

VTU Aftermath

2007-04-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since I have last posted, but I have been busy and stressed with the aftermath of the Virginia Tech Shootings. Even though the school is five hours south of where I live and out of coverage area, four of the slain and the shooter were from our area. So, I have had cover numerous vigils and funerals. This was very disturbing for me. I have covered funerals before, but I still don't like it. But, I guess there is an argument on being there, I'm just not sure what it is. Anyways, here are just a couple of shots from the week.

Trying New Things

2007-02-26T11:19:00.001-08:00

I have trying to try new things and techniques with my photography lately to keep me motivated and to stay creative, some of it has worked and sometimes not. This shot is from a track meet I shot over the weekend. I was getting bored, si I decided to try something a little artsy-fartsy. I don't think it was too bad, but not great either. I will certainly try again one day.

Swimming Galore

2007-02-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

I have been shooting a lot of high school swimming lately. Sometimes in really dark building, other times in nicely lit places, regardless, I think swimming is actually kind of fun to shoot. Better than a city council meeting anyways. Here are just a few pics that I liked. At the last meet, there were plenty of places to shoot from to get different angles, I tried them all.

A Very Long Day

2007-01-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday had to be one of the longest days of my professional career as a photographer. 15 hours, 7 assignments and 154 miles later, this is just a sampling of what I shot.

A Little Basketball Overtime

2007-01-03T08:36:00.000-08:00

Whenever I cover a sporting event, like basketball, I like to get there early and look for photo opps on or off the field. Last night I got to this basketball game a few minutes early, only to find the JV game going into overtime and was very close until the end. So I walked around a little while and found members of one of the varsity teams watching the game through the doors, so I worked the moment a little. I shot several different angles and not sure which one I like best.....

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T15:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone. I hung out for a couple of hours in Old Town Alexandria wich had a First Night celebration culminating in a fireworks show. It had been raining all night, so the fireworks got a little damp, but the show wasn't too bad. Hope this year is better than the last.

Happy Holidays

2006-12-26T17:28:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everybody from D.C. I went down to the national mall the other night to see the national Christmas tree nad other decorations. It was very packed and interesting to see. D.C. at night is also pretty cool along the mall area. All the monuments look entirely different at night.

Sweat, Blood and Boxing

2006-12-11T14:52:00.000-08:00

I got to shoot my first boxing match this past weekend. It is pretty fun to shoot and watch. It is also pretty difficult to shoot. You got the referee in the way, those damn ropes and they move around way too much. But, it was fun. These are a couople of pics to show what I got, nothing great, but not too bad either. I do hope to get another shot at photographing boxing to get better.

It's XMas Time!

2006-12-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

Have been really busy lately, particulary with Christmas related assignments. You would be amazed at how many places at once, that Santa can be at. He is really is amazing. Even though this picture isn't of Santa, I did like this moment.

Basketball time, Yay!

2006-12-04T20:42:00.000-08:00

Now that football is over, my life will revolve around high school basketball. Yippee. Now I finally have something to do with my Tuesday and Thursday nights, instead of chilling out at home relaxing. Who needs that. Yes the photo is grainy, but for some reason, here at most of the schools in Virginia, I am not allowed to use strobes, even during a scrimmage and expecially during games. This comes from the coaches and administrators. Makes my job more interesting.

Here is one of many practice and scrimmage photos I have taken recently. It is also, as many of you know, Christmas season time and I have been busy at work with covering holiday events also and will soon update with a few of my favorites. Later

Election Night

2006-11-08T08:22:00.000-08:00

As you all know, the election was yesterday and meant for a long day for journalists around the country, myself included. And, I actually had fun. Sure, I have covered hundreds of these events, but this was my first one in the D.C. area and that by itself adds a little something to it. It was packed full of media and supporters. But, I had fun. The race for senate in Virginia isn't over yet! It is one of 2 races in the country that will go to an automatic recount and could either win control for the Democrats, lose it for them or split it in half. Anyways, the pics.

These people wre great. I got a good jube and dejection shot from the same couple. Yay!

I really wish I could of just shot the crowd, but for some reason, editors always want to see the candidates also. These 2 are of the democratic supporters at the rally.

And this is one of the required candidate shots.

I am soooo happy that election season is over, at least for now.

Election Time

2006-11-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

My name is Robbie Hammer and I approved this blog.

It seems that all the political ads that you see on T.V. now all have this same message at the end. Both parties also seem to all have the same theme to their ads. The Republicans basically say if you vote for the Democrats, America will get attcked again, because they are wimps. The Democrats basically say that all Republicans are close and support Bush, so therefore they are evil and have horns.

All I hear though is; Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, vote for me, blah, blah, blah, my opponent bad, blah and evil, blah, blah, blah.

Anyways, I was on the metro the other evening after hanging out with some friends on Halloween. I hope to take more picture on the metro, there are a lot of interesting things to see there. As long as I don't get arrested. Later.

Pretty Colors

2006-10-30T11:19:00.000-08:00

I saw this reflection of some balloons on the sidewalk while at an assignment the other day and thought that it made a nice mix of colors and patterns. Me being artsy, fartsy, imagine that..The second is just of a skateborder losing his board. Ooops.

Things are going well so far at my new life. I have been pretty busy and will get even busier once I learn the ropes. I shoot pretty much only photo packages and that is fine with me, though some assignments aren't easy to get a package out of, but I manage.

The only thing I don't like around here is the traffic. And I thought that I540 was bad. HA! But saying that, I really do like it around here. There is plenty to do, see and experience without ever getting bored. Plus, when I get some time off, whenever that might be, plenty of good roadtrips around here. Ciao.

High Heel Drag Race

2006-10-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

You haven't lived yet until you've seen the annual HIgh Heel Drag Race in D.C. in DUpont Circle. Basically its a b unch of drag queens dressed in their best garb running a quick foot race. Actually, its pretty hillarious. Britney Spears, or atlewast the drag version, amde an appearance.

Exciting Stuff

2006-10-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

These are just 2 pics I shot over the weekend. One was at friday night high school football and the other a shot of lunch from a colonial market fair. Exciting stuff huh. I am very happy to be back in the world of photography though. Ciao

Updates, Finally!

2006-10-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for the lack of updates, but I have been swamped since I have started my new job here in Virginia. I have included these 4 pics from the slew of assignments I have shot. Since I started 1 week ago, I have shot 7 photo packages. Everything I have shot, minus one assignment, has been for a photo package. The coverage area is pretty spread out also, not too mention the traffic. Hopefully, I will update more often and with probably just one or two pics. Later.

In D.C.

2006-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Ladies Arm Wrestling Night at the Palace of Wonders. That was my first night in D.C. I did not have my camera for those of you thinking where are the pictures, but don't worry, I will next time. I am staying with a friend of mine until I can move into my new home in Bethesda, Maryland. I lucked into this place. I met this guy who needed a roommate to finish off the lease for $495 a month. Wow. Around here that's hell of a deal. A nice place also, even nicer than house I lived in Fayetteville. I start work on Tuesday, can't wait to get back to the daily grind that is the world of photojournalism. I will update with pictures when I get around to actually taking some. Later.

On The Move Again

2006-09-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am on the move again. This time to the Washington D.C. area. I have accepted a job as a photographer with a group of weekly newspapers in the eastern Virginia area. I will start on oct. 16. I am excited about this move. I have been anxious to be out shooting full-time for a while. And it's in D.C. Lots to do and close to a lot of coll places. Sounds like this job will keep me very busy, but I like that. I hate boredom. I do not know where I will live yet, but it will probably be in Virginia. Hopefully once I start the job, I will update this blog more often with pictures. Later.

Never Forget

2006-08-26T11:36:00.000-07:00

As the anniversary of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina along the gulf coast nears, I started to remember about some of the peaople that I met and the stories they told, when I was down there volunteering with the Crisis Corps shortly after the two hurricanes. To hear the stories and read the news about the progress down there, especially in New Orleans is sad. There seems to be little progress, though there has been some, but not enough. It's been a year and much of the population still remains elsewhere or homeless. It saddens me to see that something like this could happen in the United States. Not the hurricane, cause there's nothing we can do to stop them, but I'm sad at the the aftermath and the loss of life. The disorganization of our government at every level. They all blame each other for the problems of New Orleans and the rest of the gulf, when everybody involved should be blamed for different reasons.

It angers me when we say we are the leaders of the world and other countries want to be like the United States or people want to come here to live, but we can't take care of our own citizens in a time of crisis and cannot fix our own problems. We send our troops and money to other countries to help fix their problems and keep the peace, but can't do the same here. Now, I'm not saying that we shouldn't help other countries, cause we should if they want it, but we need to do the same on our own land also.

Sorry about the rant, but sometimes we all gotta. Hope all is well with everyone and peace.

Just Thinking

2006-08-17T17:39:00.000-07:00

I have finally gotten my webpage up. Go visit and tell me what you think. I will probably make changes in the future, but I just wanted to get something out there. It was meant as a place for people, hopefully ones who will give me a job, to look at some of my stuff, but also for a place friends and family could go and see some of my photos also. These two pictures I have put here are some of my favorite pictures I have shot recently in morocco. Just simple and interesting, at least to me. Later.

Time To Begin

2006-08-15T19:30:00.000-07:00

I started this blog 3-years ago when I was in the Peace Corps in Albania, but for some reason, never actually posted to it. So I have decided to start posting now. Of course, I'm not doing much of anything very interesting anymore or living any where interesting, but I still wanted to start this. So, in the coming weeks, I will post, hopefully on a semi-regular basis. Thoughts, stories and even photos. Thanks for stopping bye and hope you all enjoy my blog.