Freshman All-American

Today I had the opportunity to photograph Calvin Smith, a freshman All-American sprinter at UF. He recorded the nation's third-fastest time this year in the 400m a few weeks ago, when he notched a 45.74 at the SEC Championships.

NCAA Women's Tennis Round 1

It's been about two years since I last shot tennis, and I forgot how much I enjoy the sport. I'm covering the first two rounds of this year's NCAA Women's Tournament in Gainesville. Here are several of my favorites from Florida's match against Jacksonville.

Sportraits

I've been shooting sports portraits lately. Today I worked with UF tennis star Jesse Levine, the third ranked player in the country. I tried lighting his face in profile, but I think the safe horizontal shot worked better.
Here's Santa Fe Community College baseball coach Johnny Wiggs, who I photographed last week for a state baseball tournament preview story.

Firebugs

Lately I've been lazy. Weimer Hall veterans tell countless stories about how they covered hurricanes or the fires of '98. Those tales, about ambitious college photojournalists who load the car with supplies and chase after the big story, have motivated me over the last few years. So far, I can only tell one, and it didn't end up so well. After Katrina hit New Orleans, I decided I would cover the next big storm to hit Florida.

So when Rita came, I gassed up the Toyota and arranged to stay with a news buddy in Ft. Meyers. The storm came through overnight. Around 10 a.m. I headed to Naples with my girlfriend Kristen, who is also a photojournalist, to cover the storm's aftermath.

We got some nice pictures and then I made a mistake. The Toyota is not a boat, but I sure tried to make it one. I flooded the engine near the beach when the water level reached about 15 inches. Ooops. Grandad came to save me, the truck eventually re-fired, and I learned my lesson.

Since that fall day in 2005, I have covered several big stories, but no fires or natural disasters.

Until yesterday.

Sun reporter Jack Stripling and I headed north to Waycross, Ga., to report on the slowly-expanding two-week-old fires there. More than 100 square miles have burned. When the wind shifts south, the smoke settles in over north Florida.

We met up with Travis Dugger and other personnel from the Florida Division of Forestry. Clad in green nomex pants and bright yellow fire-retardent long sleeve shirts, we didn't see much fire. We sure did look the part, though.

Maybe wildfire photojournalism is in my future?

On a side note, our media cadre included a reporter for CNN Radio. I enjoyed listening to him describe the scene into his audio recorder as the chopper rumbled and the dozers squeaked. It takes talent to tell a story for radio.

Ooops.

So I previewed a post I just wrote, then realized I spelled commitments wrong (two t's), tried to go back and change it, and I lost the whole post.

I'll try to remember what I had written, and add some more.

It's been really busy around here lately. I thought I would be able to update this space more frequently. But between working at the paper, finishing a year-long research project (What an undertaking!) and various other commitments, I haven't had the time.

Last week was heavy with spot news. I shot a fatal car wreck, a large fire in an unoccupied, low-income housing complex and covered a truency sweep. Two women were killed after leaving a bar and driving south in the northbound lanes of a highway. It goes without saying, but drinking and driving is stupid.

Access to the fire was a little hard to get. When I first arrived, a cop wouldn't let me get within 500 yards of the housing complex, which has been closed for several years after a similar fire exposed major flaws with the facility's infrastructure.

Then I was allowed to stand in the street at the gate and shoot the fire trucks. Yay. A few minutes later I was told to go back to the edge where I was before. Boo. Finally, one of the deputy fire chiefs fetched the reporter and me and took us to the blaze. He explained why firefighters were in a defensive mode and how the fire had moved through a wing of the complex.

He gets it. The cops, not so much this time.

The next morning I spent a few hours with a deputy sheriff on a truency sweep. It was interesting, but we only made two stops. In a way, it was better than my night with undercover detectives in St. Louis. Yet it lacked the excitement - no one threatened to shoot us this time.

The week ended with a profile on a local artist who creates his own pottery glazes. They're irridescent, too!

Be safe.

What The Duck?

For some time now, a Home Depot retention pond has been home to a flock of Muscovy ducks. They aren't the most attractive creatures, but I had fun trying to make a good picture this afternoon. While driving to the Home Depot, I saw a few hundred pinwheels planted in front of North Florida Regional Medical Center.

I shot the quackers, called my editor to tell him I got some nice pictures, and returned to the hospital. When I first saw the colorful toys, some were spinning in the breeze and others were not. But then when I returned later in the afternoon, I had to wait a few minutes for the wind to return. Each pinwheel represented an abused child in Alachua County.

On The Fences

Have you ever wondered what it's like to shoot a gatefold image for SI or National Geographic? Joe McNally has some interesting stories about getting the picture on his Web site. Click on "Special Projects" and then click on the image with the hand-written notes.

On a similar note, have you wondered if those chain-link fence backstops at recreational baseball fields would support a person? Yesterday I found out they do. It's a bit shaky at the top. And climbing up was a little more exciting then climbing down.The view wasn't too bad. I've wanted to climb one of these fences for a long time to shoot baseball, but never had the time or will to do it. I found a Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department maintenance worker readying the field for play while cruising for features, and it was the opportunity I've been waiting for. Maybe I'll go back and set up a remote.

We had a hard time deciding which image to publish. Which do you prefer?

If you're wondering, the second one was published.