D.C. Protest

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

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

Football is getting closer...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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