Captive release

I've been sitting on this one for a while. I produced a music video from two different performances of the Boulder/Denver-based band Paper Bird. I was done with it about four weeks ago, but because the story isn't going to run until June 6, I haven't been able to share it. This is even a bit premature I'm sure.

It was a lot of fun but hard work to produce with one camera and the wrong audio equipment. I won't go into a ditch about all that. My only concern is that where do newspapers –soon to just be news outlets mind you– draw the line on the type of content they produce. I was asked to do a video of the performance by my editor, but this is basically a promotional video for the band. (Disclosure: I've fallen prey to their sound which is nothing like what I normally listen to. If you have the chance to see them live GO! They are great.)

So I ask, where is the line? In this constant push to remain viable and the convergence of the world in bits and bytes have those walls come down? Do viewers care or pay attention to that notion of watchdog and objectivity? Or does that depend on the age of the viewer? Lots of things to iron out. In the meantime let me know what you think of my chances of working for Spike Jonze.

Edinburgh fun

It's been an interesting trip for the most part so far.

A couple lost bags – The folks' bags didn't connect in London.

Not much sleep – Who really sleeps well on a plane?

Lots of drinks and salty food – My blood pressure is noticeably higher considering my Ring doesn't want to come off.

Aches and pain – Walking a couple miles a day on the rough and tumble sidewalks and cobblestone roads – Should have gone for a new pair of kicks. And these beds are horrendous.

No rain yesterday – Because I wore the rain jacket and jeans.

Concussion blasts – At 1p.m. everyday but Sunday at Edinburgh Castle a Howitzer is fired. I was waiting to shoot a photo of it when I nearly soiled myself at the blast.

Met Harry Potter – No, really! His real name is Harry Potter and he just married Sarah last weekend and were on their honeymoon from a town near Leeds. Great people. Even if Sarah is the boss.

More food and drink – Had a gluttonous amount of tapas at a restaurant with the Potters and nearly as much beer.

Sick people – My mom and Steve are feeling a bit ill today. Don't know if it was from the food or something else.

Rain today – Because I wore shorts.

We'll see what else pops up. I'm having a great time, other than the phantom vibrations of a phone in my pocket when I don't even have a phone in my pocket. I'm going to venture out on my own for a bit while the others rest up.

Cheers

Off and running

Well, I covered the 30th running of the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. It's always a long and hectic day. Monday was no different for 13 plus hours. I lugged a 300mm around all day, but it was worth it in the end I think. I got some exercise if anything from running about a mile with all my gear trying to shoot a photo of a man with an American flag. Never ended up making a very good photo of it, but it was a fun challenge dodging and darting through the G to H waves to keep up with him.



I made a few interesting frames this year. I had a totally different approach this year for some reason. I didn't shoot last year, but this was my fourth Bolder Boulder. Don't know what it was really that had me looking at it differently. Some issues were that I had a 14mm, a POS 28-80 that's as soft as a newborn's backside, 70-200mm and the 3. So I shot a lot really wide and a lot pretty long. Very polarizing on the creativity really. Check some more out over on Flickr. Maybe next year I'll get to run it without all that gear? Could be a pleasant change of pace really.



Well, I'm off and running again. This time on a completely different note. I'm heading to the motherland - Scotland. Be there for nearly 2 weeks. So hopefully I'll find a few broadband connections out of the 30 percent or so in the UK so I can post some photos. If I don't you'll just have to wait or go back and read about Brazil last year or other travels. I think I'm going to make a trend out of traveling every May-June.

Cheers!!

Two days of sunbaked ©JL

It's been a busy couple weeks with high school sports going into the state playoffs and championships. This weekend was the state track and field championships. Lots of events all at the same time with the harsh Colorado sun beating down on you. Sunscreen is a beautiful thing. Too bad I didn't use enough of it.

I have to admit, shooting track and field is probably one of my weakest photo categories. I can get photos, but I just feel like they are all so standard and boring. Every time I shoot a meet I'm constantly trying to find a way to take a plain old track photo to the next level. Well, I've still got a lot of learning to do. I was able to learn a few things about a couple of the field events. But the running events have a ways to go.

At any rate here's a slew of photos. There's a few more over on my Flickr page and on the Camera gallery page.

Walk2Class

Here's a goofy little piece I put together from photos I have made over the past four semesters of teaching at Metro State. I created the music in Garageband and gathered some ambient sounds from a couple walks.

Something a little different and fun. Gotta have some fun once in a while or it's all work.

A vision of things to come

It's spring and that means it's graduation time. Every year I shoot several graduations, mostly high school commencements. This year, for the first time in my tenure at the Camera, I shot the University of Colorado's spring commencement. It was a long and tiring ceremony of high contrast light. I originally was going to try and to a quick and dirty audio slide show but time constraints kept me from working up the audio and putting it together. I know, excuses. In some respects I was completely distracted in my mind.

While I was shooting photos of the graduates filing onto the plastic floor of Folsom Field I couldn't help but think forward two years to 2010. That is when I plan to be draped with a gown of crimson and gold, fresh off of completing the Digital Media Studies masters program and becoming a Pioneer in more ways than one. It will be a challenging yet fun two years I am sure. The journey is better than the end goal I know. But seeing thousands graduates spread across the field, all I could think about was how much different my life will be in two years.

Commencement: A beginning; a start. The word is more than just receiving a fancy piece of paper with your name and the school's name on it. In most respects it is the beginning of something more than the end. So, with seeing all those graduates I'm all about commencing a new beginning.