A new day











I know I was going to restrict my posting to once a week, but I had a very productive day and today's inauguration and the events following are definitely noteworthy. I had the opportunity to photograph President Obama when he visited Jacksonville for the first time this summer. The story bears repeating b/c it was pretty exciting (at least for me). This past summer I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Florida Times-Union. Without getting too into the details one of my best friends in Jacksonville (also a great photographer), his father works in the photo department at the TU and he got me involved in working during The Players Championship which led to some opportunities this summer. I would come into the office when I was available or when I was told something interesting may be going on. A few weeks prior to the event there was some talk of the possibility of the Obama campaign coming to Jacksonville for the first time. My friend's father told me that I should come into the office that day if I was available because he was in fact coming into town. When I got to the office it was a pretty slow day and I decided to stick around for the visit and maybe follow a photographer out. One photographer was assigned to go to the convention center where Obama would be visiting for a fund raiser and another was going down to the river where he would be speaking. I chose to make the walk down to the river (which was a short walk from the TU office) and see if I could attend the speech and maybe shoot a few shots. Going to the speech was a much bigger gamble b/c of my proximity to the (at that time) Senator and my not being an "official" member of the media. When I was walking down to the river I mentioned how excited I was just to have a shot at photographing such an event based on my limited photo journalistic experience. He gave some great advice and mentioned how many presidents & other politicians he had photographed throughout his career. When we approached the area we were stopped by 2 secret service agents and asked for credentials and to open our bags for search. It became clear to both officers that I was in fact NOT a member of the media and had no media credential. Fortunately the photographer I was with stepped up and went out on a limb for me and told the agents that I was his intern, and helping him out for the day. Once the agents realized I wasn't a threat and was trying to help the photographer out they allowed me in. Once we walked up to the area there was a line of tape that indicated to the photographers where to stand and where not to. There weren't more than 7 or 8 photographers present and it turns out I was shooting next to a guy working for Time and another for Newsweek and some others from the National Press Corps (whoa!). Anyway, they were all very nice and I managed to stay out of their way. Finally the time came and the motorcade came down and the intensity was amazing, all the people moving around him and everyone moving into place quickly, it was really an experience. This was a real throw back and brought back a ton of memories from my 2 summers working in Washington D.C. on the hill - man I loved that kind of stuff. The first thing I realized while he was at the podium was how CLOSE we were to him. That kind of threw me at first - we were literally within 10 or 15 feet and that kind of threw me at first but it just added to the excitement. Once the speech started I was caught up in trying to listen and trying to shoot. Trying to figure out the light and all of my settings and then it would go from cloudy to sunny and back again. It was a nightmare but considering my inexperience I managed. Even though shooting was tough it was an amazing experience that I will never forget! You can view the rest of the set here.

Regardless of who you voted for, or your political affiliation, today was a huge day for our country. With President Obama being inaugurated he will take control of the best and most powerful nation in the world during a difficult time in its history. A huge challenge for anyone. The democratic system that we all love and fight so hard to protect has chosen him as our president and we should all embrace it and allow him to do the job we as a whole have chosen him to do. I wish him the best of luck, will support him, and I truly hope he serves our country as he should. It's a new day!

Fortifying my legal knowledge... (awful, sorry)





Well its that time again and a chance for me to do something that does not involve reading or writing something for school. Since I had a long weekend and I am preparing to start my 3rd week of review classes on Monday night I decided to push the Sunday post to Monday night. A long weekend in this kind of situation isn't really something to look forward to. Since you have more time out of the class, there is more to do on your own, and if you aren't able to keep up you either fall behind and/or feel horribly guilty for not properly using your time. These feelings of guilt and doubt about the test usually creep in even if you've spent the last 8 hours doing nothing but studying, reading, and answering (and probably missing) practice questions. It all comes with the territory I guess. Fear and self doubt are a law student's worst enemy and I was able to handle it during school so I will continue to prepare and be ready when the time comes.

This past week wasn't too bad but the work load has definitely turned up a notch once again. I imagine this will be a recurring theme and I will gradually spend more and more of my days reading and preparing as the exam gets closer. We covered our 4th and 5th subjects this week (property & torts) and the lectures were pretty good but it is just unbelievable the amount of information they cover and the amount we will likely be tested on. I was able to make better use of my time after classes as well so I am gradually catching up to where I need to be on the "paced program" and getting used to the feeling of being tired and ready for a nap almost all the time. Hopefully if I really apply myself and manage my time as I have been I will be able to almost catch up by the end of the week. Enough of that bar prep talk - there is only one thing worse than going through it, and that's reading someone droning on about their going through it.

On Saturday I got to take a little time off and head down to Gainesville to work the basketball game. For those of you who don't know, after my time with the UF basketball team I started helping the sports information department during home games as a spotter. I get to sit at the scorers table and call the game to somoene who then enters the information into the computer and then it is used on the scoreboard, online, as well as the official stat sheets. It's a great way to stay involved, an amazing seat (which I have always been spoiled to have), and I absolutely love spotting. It's high intensity, high paced, and a ton of pressure to get things right the first time in a very short amount of time - its a rush! Getting to work a game was exactly what I needed to relax and get my mind off of things for a while. It was an added bonus because it was a reunion of sorts since we played Arkansas. When I worked for the team I had the amazing opportunity to not only work for coach Donovan, but also some outstanding assistant (and soon to be head coaches) like Anthony Grant (now head coach at VCU), Donnie Jones (now head coach at Marshall) and John Pelphrey (head coach at Arkansas). Coach Pelphrey took on other members of his staff - Coach Tom Ostrom, and Coach Matt Siverling (who I worked with as a manager at UF) and I was really looking forward to seeing them and spending some time catching up with them all. It was a great day!

Finally, this past week when when I would take a short break from reading or doing questions I would check in pretty regularly with some of my favorite blogs. Doug has been doing some great work and he is getting some AMAZING shots with his new lighting gear. The first thing I am going to do after I take this test is watch my Strobist dvds that I got for Christmas and finally move from the dark side to the light side and become a Strobist. Not sure if I'm ready for it or not but after seeing some of Doug's recent work I would be crazy not to give it a shot! Maybe he can teach me since he is now teaching classes of his own. Doug also mentioned his hatred for our lovely FL weeather during the winter so I wanted to let him and any other non-Floridians that if you're ever feeling cold or snowed in, and you want to know what I'm going through down here in Florida check out my weather station and you will know exactly what is going on at my house. We had quite a cold snap last week and we are expecting another one this week - we might even get below 30 brrr! Stay warm everyone wherever you are! :-)

Over on the west coast Velvet is also doing some great stuff and had a harrowing experience while getting some amazing night shots in the L.A. area. Those traffic shots are unreal! Gotta check it out!

Finally I have been getting into Moose Peterson's Blog of late. How can you NOT be an outstanding wildlife photographer with a name like Moose? He has some amazing stuff and he has been on a trip teaching and shooting with the Digital Landscape Workshop Series in Yellowstone during the winter months. I ahd the chance to have a short visit to Yellowstone on our cross country drive and it has been really cool to see some of the same places completely covered in snow. It is such an amazing and diverse place and hopefully I can get back in the winter as well as take in a workshop with the DLWS team - I am sure it would be an amazing experience.

Well that is all for now. Time to go to bed so I can get up and start it all over again tomorrow morning!

The Sunday Post



So I am officially one week into my bar studies and I have decided to make an attempt at creating at least one blog post per week and it will usually be on Sunday or in this case very early Monday morning since Sunday will likely (hopefully) be one of the lighter study/work days during my preparation. I slept in today and I'm not feeling tired, but I did feel like one more beer before bed, so here I am and will try to bang out a post here in the next 30 or until I'm done with my beer - whichever is sooner. I find it funny with this whole bar prep thing, the prevailing advice is to take one complete day off. Unfortunately the company that is running our bar review puts things on the "paced schedule" every day, so there truly isn't a day off. Oh well, idle hands and all that mess. I honestly can't see myself taking a "full" day off during this whole thing but I will certainly take at least one day to relax more than normal while still doing some form of preparation. This whole process is really interesting to me and I wish I could write more about it, but it really is amazing how the whole process almost instantaneously changes you, physically, mentally and emotionally as you begin your preparation for this exam. It's really kind of crazy. Crazy or not I will be looking forward to February 25th at around 5:00 p.m.

Another thing you're going to have to just bear with me over the weeks is my lack of photography and "new" images posted to flickr, my site, or the blog. The above shot isn't too old, and was taken during a photo trip I took with Britt & one of my friends Brad as he made his way home after the holidays. A funny story about this shot - we were making our way through St. Augustine taking photos and we came to the Sisters of St. Joseph building which turns out to be a convent (I guess?). We were taking some photos of the building and other things when I saw this open upper level window - nicely lit with a cross above it. The image in my head really spoke to me - and although I'm still trying to work on a title for the image - it just says something like these sisters through their devotion have a window into God's heart. Something like that anyway. Well as I was framing this shot it occurred to me what I may look like. Leaning around a wall, with a long lens, and essentially aiming that lens right INTO a window. Of course I could not see in the window due to the screen and had not intent on looking in, but I immediately realized how this could be perceived in a negative light - by a nun no less. So I quietly fired a few frames and was pretty happy with the result, and as I was walking off, I hear blinds and then a window close. I was busted. I immediately felt horrible but there was really nothing more to be done and certainly no more shots to be taken at this building at least. I can only imagine what this poor nun (or nuns) thought of this Nikonheathen using his monster lens to spy on her activities. If you are out there sister, I apologize, and keep praying for me - I need it with this whole bar exam breathing down my neck. ;-)

The rest of the day was great hanging out with Britt & Brad while taking pics all day - the whole weekend was great actually - definitely just what I needed before the studying really started. The rest of the St. Augustine set can be seen here.

Next, I'd like to thank & welcome back this guy:



Tim Tebow, for making the decision to return to the University of Florida for his senior season. The selfish sports/UF fan in me wants him to return for hopefully another shot at a football national championship but the former student athlete side of me who has had the opportunity to work with similar elite athletes at this level wanted Tim to come back for the right reasons.

It is not very often that such a high profile college athlete (especially in a full contact sport) makes the decision to forego the NFL draft in order to return for his team and more importantly his education. It can be argued, and rightfully so, about what kind of future he will or will not have in the NFL, but I truly believe this decision was made for the right reasons, and not the fear of a low draft spot or the need to develop more as an athlete. In foregoing the draft this year it is likely that he (regardless of draft position or contract) turned down more money than most of us will make in a career to return to a place he appears to truly love, and play a sport he truly loves for free. Of course this decision is not for everyone, especially with some financial situations and the risk of injury that these athletes face in competition but his doing this screams for all that is right in amateur & college athletics and hopefully sets a strong precedent for future athletes faced with a similar decision.

Tim's announcement warmed my heart today, and made up for some of the difficulties and heartbreak I have experienced in dealing with other athletes that were faced with similar decisions and chose to roll the dice instead of going with the sure thing - education. Thank you Tim & I look forward to you leading the team once again during the 2009 season!

Time to jump off the sports soap box (but I do like how tall it makes me feel).

Another thing that is really discouraging about this whole bar prep thing is I won't be able to keep up with some of my favorite blogs that I usually have the time to read. Since my blog won't be too much to look at over the next few months (not that it has been much to look at over the past 12 months) you should definitely check out some of my friend's blogs who will actually have a life and they take amazing pictures as well.

Please take some time to check out my newest friend, fellow photog & blogger - Velvet - who I learned about from one of my other great friends Doug. Velvet & Doug are both great people & take some really awesome photos, so be sure to check out their stuff if I tend to drag a bit in my posting.

Well that is all for now (out of beer) - hopefully I will be able to post some more (and have another beer) soon! :-)

NUMBER ONE









Proud of my University, & proud of their football team. I am honored to say I had the opportunity to take photos at a game this championship season. What a feeling! Congrats Gators! We are #1!

Happy New Year!



Just wanted to make a quick post while I sit by the fire and listen to all of the fireworks going off to wish everyone a very happy, healthy, and safe 2009! I look forward to big things for us all and I can't wait to experience a happy and prosperous 2009 with you all!

Happy new year!