Washington Capitals vs. Nashville Predators

It's finally hockey season! Not only does that mean I get to watch games, but I get to shoot them as well. By sheer luck my first shoot of the season was the Nashville Predators against my beloved Washington Capitals. It was extremely hard not to yell and cheer for them but regardless, I had a blast. I also tried not to only take pictures of Ovechkin and the other Caps players. These pictures are aren't my best, but overall I'm happy with the outcome. The six months worth of rust has been shaken and I look forward to the next game. Until then, enjoy!

...But I didn't say I totally didn't single him or HHBL out.

Suzanne Bowdy, 33, of Annandale, Va., takes pictures of players from the Washington Capitals during warm ups before a game at Bridgestone Arean in Nashville Tenn. Bowdy travled from the D.C. area to see the game and visit Nashville for the first time. "I love it here. The people here are super friendly and it is definitely a hockey town."

Anders Linback #39 of the Nashville Predators makes a save against Marcus Johansson #90 of the Washington Capitals during an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Washington Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth #30 watches a puck shot by Nashville Predator forward J.P. Dumont (not pictured) go into the net during the first period of an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The Capitals would win the game in overtime 3-2.

Nashville Predators defenseman Kevin Klein #8 hip checks Washington Capitals forward Alexander Semin #28 against the boards during an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Ryan Suter #20 of the Nashville Predators battles for a puck against Brooks Laich #21 of the Washington Capitals during an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Shea Weber #6 of the Nashville Predators attempts to block a shot from Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich #21 during an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn.

Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber #6 shoots on Washington Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth #30 during an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The Capitals would win the game in overtime 3-2.

Alexander Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Alexander Semin #28 and John Carlson #74 after Semin scored a power-play goal in the 3rd period of an NHL game on October 16, 2010 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The Capitals, who started the 3rd down 2-0 would rally and win in overtime 3-2.

"Features" Week 6

Last weekend my roommates and I went on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which lets you travel through the gorgeous Kentucky country to visit six of its most famous distilleries. The weekend was amazing, and it was hard to go back to reality after those few days avoiding it. Of course, I kind of forgot to take real pictures throughout the trip for Practicum, so I just turned in 3 pictures from the weekend. It probably won't go over very well with the professor, but everyone needs to get away for a little bit.

Portrait Shootout

However, we had a 40 minutes to get a portrait of someone during class and I feel in that time I made a much better portrait than any of the previous ones I had done that week. Maybe it was the pressure of needing to get a picture, maybe I put more effort into it without realizing, or maybe shooting portraits all week actually made me better. Either way, it's a step forward and I'm wanting to keep up with it so it wont be as big a weakness as it is right now.

Blake Lambert, 21, of Davies County, Ky., spends the afternoon outside with his Farmhouse fraternity brothers. Lambert is an Agricultural Education major at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky.

Portraits

Unfortunately, I really don't like portraits. Overall I just don't enjoy it and I feel it's by biggest weakness as a photographer. Of course, that just means that I have to keep doing them and get better at them. That didn't happen this week.

Bowling Green resident David Wood works as a caretaker at the Fairview Cemetery in Bowling Green, Ky. "It doesn't bother me," he said when asked about constantly being in a graveyard. "It's a job that somebody has to do."

"I try to make things easier for people during a rough time." Abe Shelton owns Borders Monument Co. in Glasgow, Ky., which carves headstones for the recently deceased. "I think it helps people deal with their loss."

Kelley Sisk works as a florist at Hobdy's Florist in Scottsville, Ky. "There's just something about people's reaction to flowers, no matter what the occasion is."

Features Week 5

Sophomore Marquarious Moore flops in mud with his Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers after winning a mud volleyball tournament in Bowling Green, Ky. The tournament featured fraternities and sororities from Western Kentucky University.

Barbara Conley, 49, of Bowling Green, Ky. cleans the counter of Theresa's restaurant in Bowling Green while there is some down time after the breakfast rush. The 21-year-old restaurant is a favorite in the city and has its busiest times in the early mornings and afternoons.

BG Transit employee Frank Lee, 38, of Bowling Green, Ky., tops off a transit bus at the end of one of his shifts.

Features Week 4

7-year-old Josiah Markin of Bowling Green, Ky., busts open a piñata during the cities annual International Festival. The festival brings together food, music, crafts, and other types of culture from all over the world.

Bob Jenkins, 76, of Scottsville, Ky., gives his wife, Judy, pointers before bowls a frame at Southern Lanes in Bowling Green. The couple bowl in a senior league twice a week, and try to practice together at least once a week. "It's challenging, but we do it for the social reasons mostly."

Alejandro Lopez and his wife Melanie dance to a salsa band playing at the annual International Festival in Bowling Green, Ky. "We've come every year since it started," Melanie Lopez said.

Deadline Football

I've been super behind on posts. That's what happens when weeks blend together as all of them are non-stop with work and such. This is from my deadline assignment. We had to shoot a football game and have the pictures captioned, dropped, and turned in at a certain time.

James Quick of Trinity High School runs the ball during a game against Bowling Green High School on September 24, 2010 in Bowling Green, Ky.

Bowling Green Purples running back Jackson Sowell returns a punt from Trinity High School. The Purples would ultimately fall on their home turf to a score of 14-12.

Trinity High School wide receiver Jackson Noe celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Bowling Green High School to give them a lead in the second quarter. Trinity would win the friday night fight 14-12.

Features Week 3

Karen Horton of Scottsville, Ky. pets her dog, Levi, prior to the annual wiener dog race at the Kentucky Downs in Franklin.

Willie Taggart, head coach of the Western Kentucky University football team, leads a group of students through campus to the football stadium prior to WKU's home opener. Taggart spoke to hundreds of tailgating students to get them excited for the game against Indiana University.

Sports Week

Ravenwood libero Micaela Bailey (#10) makes a pass during a game against the Greenwood Gators in Bowling Green, Ky. Ravenwood would defeat Greenwood and win the Greenwood Invitational tournament.

Western Kentucky Middle Fielder Christen Sims rushes down the field during a game against South Missouri State. WKU won the game 1-0.

Players of the Western Kentucky soccer team celebrate after Mallory Outerbridge (#16) scored the lone goal of a game against Southeast Missouri State on September 17, 2010 in Bowling Green, Ky.

Features Week 2

25-year-old Russell Gonzales kicks around a hacky sack with his friends as they wait for the midnight release of the highly anticipated video game Halo: Reach.

Fred Dent practices batting with his son, Ryan at Kereiakes Park in Bowling Green, Ky. "He and his [twin] sister have games every week, so we are usually here every weekend," he says. Dent had a chance to play professionally before a torn rotator cuff ended his career. "I'm just trying to pass on what I know to my kids."

One Weeks Work

My first assignment for Practicum was one weeks work. We had 4 categories (Feature, News, Portrait pertaining to news, and Sports action) to shoot in precisely a week. I had more fun this week than I have had in a long time and am so happy to be shooting again. Here's to kicking off what is hopefully going to be one of the best years of my life!

Bahome Ishakembe, 16, practices stopping shots from Ooreh Reh (right) and Melvin Flores, 12, at Preston S. Miller Park in Bowling Green, Ky. The boys are a few of many that come to the park everyday to play pick up soccer and goof around after school.

Bowling Green, Ky. resident Keith Keown, 42, eats a free lunch at the Salvation Army's soup kitchen. "I'm here Monday through Friday for going on five years now," he says. Keown worked construction for over twenty years before suffering an injury that forced him out of work.

Sedin Agic is an Imam at the Islamic Center of Bowling Green in Ky. "I love what I do and we have a great relationship with the community around us," Agic says. "It speaks to the nature of the people here, that we can have so many cultures here at once."

Franklin-Simpson Wildcats quarter back Max Bennett (#9) tackles Bowling Green Purples defensive back Jack Miller (#23) after Miller picked up a fumble during a Franklin-Simpson possession. The Purples shut out the Wildcats 35-0, continuing their undefeated streak to three games.

Features Week #1

One of my photo classes this semester is Practicum, where we study by shooting as much as we can in a semester. Learn by doing. For the next 15 weeks I will have 3 feature photos due along with whatever my assignment is for that week. The posts will be coming often to make up for the lack of updating over the past year. Here are my features for the first week.

Melissa Sorrell plays with her nieces, Ella Rose and Molly Kenney, 6 and 3 at the Russlle Sims Aquatic Center in Bowling Green, Ky. Sorrell, of Nashville, Tenn. tried to come up once a week to visit her nieces, who live in Owensboro, Ky.

Bowling Green, Ky. resident Kevin Lashley, 31, nears the finish line of a 5k sponsored by the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club. The run, titled Run for Sight, benefited sight conservation in Bowling Green and has been an annual event for 21 years.

Luiz and Abi Martinez, 17 and 12, play with their sister across from La Luz Del Mundo church. They boys, along with their parents, cook and sell food everyday across the street from the church in order to raise money for it.

Smooth Garage

Amidst the countless concrete corporate parks that populate Fairfax, a few of my friends found a secret place where they take their longboards to kill time at 1 in the morning.

Strasburg's National Debut

Steven Strasburg (#37) throws strike out number 14 to end his major league debut with the Washington Nationals. Strasburg, 21, was drafted first overall by the Nationals in the 2009 MLB Draft, a year to the day of his first start.

Fans celebrate as Stephen Strasburg (#37) walks off the field at the end of the 7th inning in a game between the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Penguins. Strasburg, 21, broke a Nationals record of 14 strikeouts in a single game, and tied a record for seven consecutive strike outs. Nationals Park sold out to over 41,000 fans with standing room only tickets available early in the morning.

Bowling Green Storm Cleanup

Here's an assignment I shot for the Herald at the tail end of the semester about the BG Public Works cleaning up after the massive storms that flooded Kentucky and Tennessee.

Knoxville Ice Bears vs. Huntsville Havoc

Big surprise: another post from a hockey game. I'm hoping to get some baseball on here soon if I can find a game that fits in to my schedule, so some variety should be coming soon. I spent the night in Knoxville, Tenn., to shoot an SPHL game. Super minor league. I think I almost had more fun at this game then any others I have gone to or shoot. Almost. I also feel I shot a lot better than last time. Let me know what you think and what I need to do better.