Friday, October 12, 2007

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Dorsey's Meats

Just finished up my summer photo project on the Dorsey's Meats business in Woodsboro, MD. They have been a family run business for over 100 years and are currently in the 5th generation of meat cutters. Would love any feedback you all might have. Katie--thanks for the Sound Slide help.

link

Do you all find the pacing a bit fast? Too many images?

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Student photos of bridge collapse

Andrew Worrall, who is just starting his first year at Mizzou, arrived on the scene of the I-35 bridge collapse about 20 minutes after the incident.

Here is a link to some of his photos.

And here is a link to a story the NPPA did about him.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you who are volunteering at the WIPC when I return to Austin. Until then, safe travels all around.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Software that can report impending hard disk failure

SMARTReporter is an application that can warn you of some ATA hard disk failures before they actually happen! It does so by periodically polling the S.M.A.R.T.-status of your hard disk. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a technology built into most modern hard disks that acts as an "early warning system" for pending drive problems:


SMARTReporter

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Friday, July 13, 2007

Newspaper-Video

For all of those interested in the current debate regarding what is worthy of being put on the web (which is apparently anything and everything) and more importantly onto major newspaper's websites:

Newspaper-Video

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Czech mate and beyond

Hi party people,

I'm in for the blog as well, although I'm still on the road. I'm in Lisbon right now, then going back to Eastern Europe. Prague was utterly amazing. I shot some assignments for the Prague Post while I was there and shot some photo stories (and actually managed to finish them!). :) It's not all updated yet, but if you want to see some photos from Prague, look at my flickr sets: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43028992@N00/sets/

It was wild being in a country where very few people speak English. It taught me to be more patient, to move more quietly, to walk alone, not to fear traffic (!), and communicate more with body language than speech. Some days I didn't talk to another person at all. Not having to interact with people somehow made it easier to look and see the bones of situations underneath things where before people's words have distracted me. Still, I'm really looking forward to being able to talk to my subjects again, at least so I can explain what I do and why they don't need to fear the lens. (The lens is your friend...)

The biggest shock about the trip for me came in terms of realizations about how people relate to public and private space in communism. My Czech friend Tomash explained it to me like this: In the former communist bloc, being in public meant you couldn't smile or appear outwardly happy or another but serious and solidarity-minded. He said, if you smiled, it meant you had something special to smile about, something all your own, which really should be shared with everyone, and why are you hoarding that smile all to yourself! So breaking away from communism meant being able to express emotion in public again, to have thoughts and feelings all your own. Still, old habits are hard to break, and generally Czechs are a stony-faced lot. It was pretty intimidating being confronted with 30 pairs of staring, expressionless eyes the first few times I rode the tram. But the upside is that when a Czech smiles at you, you know you've earned it and they really mean it.

I'm not sure how my internet access will be since I'm going east to Poland and Hungary, and not sure how much I can post, but I'll update when I can. Hope all of you are enjoying life, shooting hard, and having good summers. POST MORE PICS! What are you up to?

Oh, and has anyone heard from my beloved jonhuang.com? (He's probably fallen down a World of Warcraft hole and can't get out.) :)

Sunday, July 8, 2007

the sweetwater project

After a weekend in Sweetwater, Texas, I spent an evening editing photos for The Daily Texan, where I am a photo editor.

I don't know what this is, and I don't know who is reading it, so I suppose some introduction is necessary. I'm Joey Castillo, photojournalist, student and reigning photo editor at The Daily Texan, the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin.

I spent the weekend in Sweetwater working on a photo package on wind energy, a force that has transformed a ranching town of 11,000 into a renewable energy powerhouse. Wind has brought 200 new jobs a day and millions of dollars of investment into the small West Texas hamlet. There's even talk of getting a Starbucks.

Anyway, because I'm a photo editor, I don't feel comfortable taking the cool assignments and leaving everyone else with crap, so I brought along two photographers from the staff. That made for a good mix, by my count: three photographers and one reporter piled into a beat-to-hell 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan for the 500-mile weekend.

This was the result.

I have always believed in the power of photographs to tell a story, yet when I looked at our takes, I at first saw just a bunch of wind towers. It took a few minutes to distance myself and remember: this is about people. It's about places. It's not about reducing dependence on foreign oil, or meeting some abstract goal of one-percent renewable energy. It's about Rebecca Gunn saving her ranch. It's about kids playing in the shadow of high technology. It's about Mayor Wortham, who's turned his hometown into the wind kingdom of West Texas. And even though it took ten hours on the road and a solid $20 for film, even though it involved toting home 4x5 negatives soaked in bags of caustic water, even though it entailed two days without a shower and two weeks' worth of phone calls, it was a good trip.

So yeah, I'm a little late to the blog party, but hi guys. I'll be posting as often as I can.

Job Opening at Faquier Times-Democrat

From Mark Mulligan:

Wanted to let everyone know that my newspaper is now taking applications for a new staff photographer. The job is posted on JournalismJobs.com here:

http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?JobID=795189

It's a full staff job where you'd be joining a staff of three other photographers. You're outfitted with two Canon bodies and glass from 16-300 f2.8 all the way.

The main paper is a twice weekly, Wednesday, Friday, and you also sometimes shoot for a third paper in the neighboring county.

Fauquier County is extremely unique in its proximity to DC (45 miles), but its definite distinction of NOT being an over-developed suburb.

If you have any questions or interest, please let me know. This is a great first "real" photo job (it was/is mine).

Cheers,

Mark Mulligan

--
http://f8inaround.blogspot.com
www.chironphotos.com

Mark Mulligan
Staff Photographer
The Fauquier Times-Democrat
Warrenton, Va 20186
O:540.347.4222
C:832.541.5130
mrkmully@gmail.com

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

From Katie and Audrey

Happy Fourth from the Hyattsville contingent.

Both Katie and I will be shooting the scenes in DC tonight (her because she's being paid, me because it's the Fourth of July and I'm in the nation's capital).

I vote that everyone who shoots festivities today and tonight come back tomorrow and post their best shot, so we can all have a look.

Have fun, be safe and shoot something great.

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Friday, June 29, 2007

SportsShooter Academy Boot Camp

I know I talk about sportsshooter.com a lot, but you all really need to be taking advantage of the resources they have available. They're the most helpful group of people you'll find.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the SportsShooter Academy, it's a workshop they hold every year for, I think, the first 20 people admitted. You have to submit a portfolio, and the spots are precious. Everyone who goes raves about the experience.

Well, in November they're holding a multimedia (they call it 'rich media') boot camp. It's Nov. 2-3.

You can get more info here: http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1794. It's being sponsored by Apple, Canon, Think Tank Photo and someone else.

Think about it.

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Fanny packs? I think not.

I tend to collect photo bags. I've used backpacks and I've used shoulder bags. I even have that sweet red 1984 Olympics fanny pack Dennis gave me when I bought those lenses from him.

i'm probably going to buy a new backpack, probably the Whickey & Cox from Crumpler (www.crumplerusa.com). Seems like a good way to carry my camera and laptop to school and back.

The thing is, the bags I like for transport are rarely useful for being in the field. It's a puzzle which has plagued me for some time. The Crumpler bag I want is sturdy and secure. Rarely, though, does sturdy and secure equal easy to get into and out of when I'm changing lenses or needed new batteries or (and this happens) needing a new roll of film.

What I've been looking at for a long time, though, is the Modulus belt system from Think Tank. You can see it at www.thinktankphoto.com.

Think Tank was started by photographers and the products are designed by photographers. I like the logic behind their pieces. I hope you guys will take a look and let me know what you think.

I'm all ears for other suggestions as well.

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Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Info on releases

Talking to Katie today, the subject of releases came up.

I thought the information in this link might be of some use. It's kind of the ins and outs of when and why releases are necessary or just a good idea.

http://asmp.org/commerce/legal/releases/

The ASMP is a great resource. Check it out.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Some internship advice

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news_story.html?id=1790

From Jim Merithew at ss.com.

In short:

1. Find a mentor.
2. Ideas are golden.
3. Don't despair.

I think that third one's a good one to hold on to.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Hey...Katie is on board

Hey all.. i just want to say that this is a great site. I wonder if we will ever actually talk to each other once school starts and we are in the same building, or should we start a rule that we can only blog to each other. Anyways, just wanted to say hi.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Interview with Bill Frakes

Good read.

http://www.aphotoaday.org/apadnews/


On an unrelated note, I might have just heard gunfire in downtown White River Junction, Vt.

Because we like snakes

http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1758

Katie + Pat,

Follow the link at the bottom of the page to see how this guy covered the same event we did in Sweetwater. It's an interesting take.

It really made me think about how lame I was there, how few really daring, thoughtful shots I took.

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World in Focus Photography Contest

http://www.worldinfocuscontest.com/

The prizes are really rad.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

The good, the great and the ugly

In spite of Audrey's challenge to accept nothing but the best, I thought I'd post a shoot from earlier today. Yes, it's competitive eating. (Deal with it, Eli!!)

Seriously, though, any thoughts are welcome on the photographic merits of the shots. I'm always looking to get past the food-splattered-competitor shots.

Here's the flickr gallery.

Hope everyone's having a great summer

Friday, June 22, 2007

Can't sleep

So I'm lying in bed thinking about shooting a triathlon in the morning, followed by all-star lacrosse matches.

While I'm pretty excited about lacrosse I honestly don't have any desire to shoot the tri, and am having a hard time being enthused about it.

Every time I think about how much I don't want to go, I'm reminded of a speaker RD and I heard this spring in Norman. Most of you have heard this little rant before, but I think it's good to be reminded.

A large chunk of Mike Shuh's presentation was about willingness to work. He exhorted us not to blow off the every day assignments but to use them as proving grounds for our ability to handle the really big assignments.

Shuh said three things I'm going to try to live by for the next five weeks, and I hope you guys will join me in this.

1. Champions enjoy the process of getting better.
The will to succeed is nothing without the will to prepare to succeed.

2. Good is the enemy of great.
Don't settle for anything less than your best.

3.Bring your A game. Every assignment. Every day.

That said, I have a quick addendum to the earlier post about Rosco gels.

Those three links are direct links to the pages you use to request swatchbooks for the individual gel types. Going here: http://rosco.com/us/filters/index.asp will take you to the main page for all of their filters and let you look at the specs of the indivual categories.

I have a packet of the Roscolux swatches, but have no idea how the other two types compare. Perhaps someone with more knowledge on the subject can help us out.

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Ed Kashi article

Ed Kashi article from the most recent issue of Digital Photo Pro on the state and future of freelance photojournalism:

http://www.digitalphotopro.com/articles/2007/mayjune/photojournalism_now.php

Gels...

Here's info from Audrey about gel samples from roscolux:

http://rosco.com/us/filters/swatchBookRequest.asp?type=roscolux

http://rosco.com/us/filters/swatchBookRequest.asp?type=supergel

http://rosco.com/us/filters/swatchBookRequest.asp?type=ecolour

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Texas Photojournalist is a place for photographers at the University of Texas and elsewhere to come and discuss issues, post work, get feedback, and share information relating to the field of photojournalism.