Reuters--Inside a Women's Prison

For our Advanced Techniques class, we were asked to post an example of an audio slideshow. This one is from a Reuters photographer, Carolina Camps, about her experience photographing inside a women's prison.

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/customslideshow?buddyJS=slideshow20080115111403.js&title#a=1

(Or click on the title of this post and it will play automatically)

Thanksgiving Whippet

Our host had two whippets--they are hilarious dogs. This one actually settled down long enough to relax a little with a guest. I used curves in Photoshop for the first time, not sure I did it right. Happy Thanksgiving to all! I am grateful for so much.

Tropicana Night at Sapphire Lounge

Friday night is Latin dancing night at the Sapphire. Talk about a difficult situation for a beginning photographer--only a tiny fraction of my pictures were not blurry or completely dark. I had a blast, though, made me seriously think about learning salsa and merengue. Most of the dancers left me alone because I had all my gear, but if it hadn't been for that, I would have been dragged out on the floor--everyone asks everyone to dance so it's hard to be a wallflower.

Nellie

As David Rees would say, this isn't the picture--it's an idea for a picture. Gayle Moore of Fulton had this standing in her front lawn, all decorated for hunting season. Her husband is an avid hunter and she's decorated "Nellie" in hunting gear for the past ten years. I had to snap this fast while she held her very protective dog back so it wasn't exactly an optimal shooting situation. Gayle says her husband has a "dead animal room" of trophy game animals that she decorates festively for Christmas.

Pine Ridge Campground

I struggled with the framing on this one--the deer was hanging between two trees and getting them both in didn't seem as visually interesting as leaving them out entirely. Couldn't get an angle that I liked. Regardless, it's hunting season here in mid-Mo, and this sight reminded me of home. Pine Ridge is near Millersburg.

Columbia Saturday

Came across this pair near Anderson Street, playing in the leaves. I find it hard to be objective when it comes to dogs, I love them all.

As Esquire magazine once wrote, "I give thanks for every dog that ever lived."

Balancing the Flash

Our assignment was to balance the flash with the outside light, and an extra credit one with "popping" the flash so that it creates blur. I tried a variety of situations, went with the bridal shop and the couple I met at the laundromat.

Top: Not related to assignment--just snapped it!

Middle:
Taylor Huffman and Rebekah Borchers ready The Villager Bridal Shop for the holiday season. The Villager, located on Broadway between 9th and 10th Streets, specializes in bridal wear as well as holiday and cocktail gowns. Huffman, a Mizzou junior in Psychology, said “I like helping brides—we have fun with the dresses!” Both women will be part of Columbia’s annual Living Windows festival in December.

Bottom:
Mollie Gallup folds the family’s laundry with the help of her husband, John Henry Gallup, Sr., at a coin-operated laundromat off of Business Loop 70. One of 13 siblings as well as four kids of her own, Gallup is no stranger to domestic chores. “I took care of all of ‘em. My son, he’s 39 and I do his laundry, too—he says that’s women’s work.” John Henry Gallup, Sr., age 79, worked as a manual laborer all of his life; jackhammer noise has left him virtually deaf in both ears. The Gallups live five miles outside of Columbia city limits and come into town once a month to do their laundry.

National Socialist Movement Rally

The neo-Nazi rally held in Jeff City was small, a mix of protesters, supporters, passers-by and a ton of journalists. It was hard to point the camera without getting a fellow photographer in my lens.

Tomorrow's Big Day

In honor of our civic event tomorrow--may the best man win! (If you live in Columbia, I bet you've seen this car on 10th Street...)

Sunday Afternoon at Stephens Park

I should have been reading "Good News: Social Ethics & the Press" but I decided to go out to Stephens Park and shoot for an hour. I met an eager shepherd named Wallace and a tree that looks like one of those Technicolor postcards you find in antique shops (although I did bump up the saturation here quite a bit just for effect).