ACP

This week I am in Whitesburg, Kentucky, way up in the mountains to participate in the Appalachian Cultural Project. The workshop was started in 2003 as a way to end stereotypes of the area and show the rich culture of the mountains. The workshop started this morning and we have to find a story for the week, but as for right now we just had to shoot a religious service. I am very excited to dive into the community here in Whitesburg, and am even more excited with the people I am going to meet. I will be updating when I have time.

Dry Ice

For the rest of my posts for my picture stories class I am not going to write what the stories are about. Instead, I am going to let you determine the subject matter. The goal is: if you can tell what it is about just by looking at the pictures then I have succeeded as a photographer; if you cannot then I have to try much harder next week. Here is the first story.

AFA

Early Saturday morning I got to play war photographer. A group of guys who meet in the middle of nowhere in Bowling Green and play airsoft. And not with plastic, pump action guns from Wal-Mart. Hundred to thousand dollar equipment, with real war game tactics, radio chatter, ranks, the whole nine yards. I didn't know what to expect when I stepped on the battlefield, but I hope within the next few weeks I can go back and get some more interesting shots.

One Weeks Work

Six Degrees

Here is our first real assignment for PJ. We had to take six portraits that were all connected in some way. Whether it was through something large like a church or a group, or they just all knew all the other people. I went with the latter.

First Day of Picture Stories

So this week was the first week of classes and with the was the first day of Picture Stories. I am really looking forward to this class for a number of reasons. First, I am excited to be shooting almost nothing but picture stories the entire semester, and I am also looking forward to the copious amount of shooting I am going to be doing every week. That being said, I am extremely nervous about all of that. This class is going to kick my ass in every possible way, but I am hoping all the beatings I will take will make me a better photographer.

That being said, the first day of class we were sent out to find a feature about the weather. We got hit pretty bad with snow and ice, but not nearly as bad as the rest of Kentucky. This just slowed the town down for a day or so, as opposed to being a month without power like some places will be. This is what I came back with.

Inauguration of Barack Obama

As you all know, this past Tuesday the United States swore in its 44th President, Barack Obama. While this was a most historic event for several reasons, the obvious one is that he is our first African-American President. I am lucky enough to live close enough to the city so I didn't have to travel from far and wide to get to the inauguration. Many of my close friends stayed at my house for a few days leading up to the inauguration, and in total we had about 20-25 WKU Photojournalists come down for the event. It was absolutely incredible. Here are a few selects from the day.