Hindu deity makes a clutch grab in Georgia Southern win

Who needs Photoshop?

I swear, this is totally real. It's simply the result of being in a particular spot at a particular moment in time. Shoot enough frames, you're bound to come up with some surprises.

Georgia Southern wide receiver Mitch Willford made a clutch reception on fourth down in the fourth quarter against Elon that allowed the Eagles to run out the clock. He celebrated, as did offensive lineman Zach Lonas. Their bodies and arms lined up in way you could never have planned for. It's phenomenon totally unique to still photography.

Anyway, a four-armed receiver ought to haul in anything that comes his way.

Saturday, September 25, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, daily work, just for fun, sports photography | 1 comments [ More ]

Family trumps politics

Mary Matalin expounds on her daughter's occasional opinion of daddy
James Carville, background left, during Wednesday's appearance at
Georgia Southern University's Hanner Fieldhouse. 

Political power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin brought their He Said/She Said act to Georgia Southern Wednesday.

 The two may disagree on politics, but I was able to capture a moment when they whole heartily agreed – where Matalin described how their daughters can be mightily embarrassed by their Dad's antics as a New Orleans Saints fan and proud Louisianan.

Uh, loser!

Thursday, September 23, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, daily work | 0 comments [ More ]

Touchdown Jesus, Southern style ...

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the famous football icon at the University of Notre Dame known as "Touchdown Jesus."

Well, my colleague at the Morgan County Citizen, Angelina Bellebuono, e-mailed me a pic that's almost unbelievable, at the same time not surprising. It kind of speaks volumes about football, religion, and the South. What's funny is that Angelina didn't know she made this image when she pressed the shutter button.

She was simply doing what many of us news photogs do when shooting sports. That is, shooting pictures of the scoreboard after important plays to mark the score, time, down and distance, etc. to help with captioning later on.

"When I began editing, I realized I was looking at DaVinci's 'Last Supper.' Without the supper. I never saw it as I was actually shooting the image," she said in her e-mail.

It kind of reminds me of religious apparitions you hear about on occasion. You know, like the Virgin Mary appearing in a cloud formation or a potato chip shaped like Jesus.

Angelina wondered if it was subliminal. I say not. There's nothing subtle about religion and football here in Georgia.

Some might say they are one in the same.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, just for fun, sports photography | 1 comments [ More ]

Politics aside ... I am a biased journalist

I'm not much for politics. Sure, I've got my opinions. Plenty of strongly held ones, too. But I keep'em to myself when I'm on the job. You know, in the interest of fairness and accuracy, which are the true benchmarks of professional journalism, not the ubiquitous, misunderstood, and misapplied term "objectivity."

When I'm covering political events, the story I always try to tell is the human interest angle. In the interest of fairness, I'll tell you straight up that my personal bias in my work is that of humanity. One of the great advantages of using photographs as a means of communication is that we can see ourselves in other people, regardless of cultural, political, religious or personal beliefs.

In our increasingly polarized political atmosphere (and I admit that's an opinion based on my personal observations), I'm always looking for little nuggets of humanity. When Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, visited Statesboro Saturday as part of his "Fire Pelosi" tour to stir up participation in November elections, the political electricity in the air couldn't be felt more strongly.

At the end of Steele's speech, a citizen reminded him to address an issue of great importance to her. Honestly, I couldn't really understand much of anything she said from my vantage point, but she was clearly feisty and her comments elicited side-splitting laughter – especially from Steele himself. Did I mention doubled over with laughter?

She was asking Steel for a definitive statement on whether or not the Republican National Committee was going to support Christine O'Donnell, the surprise winner of the Republican primary for a Senate seat in Delaware. In other words, she was holding the leader of her political party accountable, and she was doing it with humor.

Is there anything much more human than humor? Any time we can see opponents, adversaries, or anyone different from ourselves as the human beings that they are, well, I think there is great hope for humanity itself, because that is the starting point for any progress.

So there it is. My bias. Sue me if you don't like it, but don't say you weren't advised.

By the way, Steel said he and the National Party have started transferring funds to O'Donnell's campaign and would support her in every way.

I am a journalist, after all.

After his speech during a stop at the Holiday Inn in Statesboro on his "Fire Pelosi" tour, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele doubles over laughing at the spunkiness of Hazel Jordan of Savannah, right.

Saturday, September 18, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, commentary, ethics, photojournalism | 0 comments [ More ]

September 11th in 2010: here, there, and everywhere ...

This is how our local Statesboro and Bulloch County public safety officers honored their own on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Tim Grams of the Statesboro Fire Department, left, rings a bell to honor safety officials who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 during a ceremony at Bulloch Memorial Gardens Saturday.

And this is a link to one of my favorite photo blogs, The Big Picture by the Boston Globe, which features many pictures from many sources about how people remembered 9/11.

The Tribute in Lights illuminates the sky over lower Manhattan on September 11, 2010. (REUTERS/Gary Hershorn)

Monday, September 13, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, daily work, photojournalism | 0 comments [ More ]

Remembering 9/11 from behind the lens ...

Bill Biggart's final photograph. He was killed when the second Trade Center 

tower collapsed on top of him minutes after this exposure.

Many of the world's greatest photojournalists were in New York City on September 11, 2001. I thought I'd post just a few links to recollections of 9/11 from the men and women whose photographs will help ensure we never forget.

• Steve McCurry
• James Nachtwey
• Seeing the Horror: first hand accounts from numerous photographers covering the events of 9/11
• Bill Biggart's Final Exposures: surviving digital images document Ground Zero before photographer loses his life in the collapse of the second tower.

I'll try to add more links as I find them. Feel free to add your own.

Friday, September 10, 2010 | posted in photojournalism | 0 comments [ More ]

'Tis the season: multimedia slideshow

It's become a marker of fall for me. Georgia Southern football and multimedia.

On Saturdays, I lurk amongst the tailgaters with my funny looking Zoom H4 audio recorder (looks a little like a stun gun).

On Monday, I start perusing through over 1000 images shot at the game and listening to the audio I recorded. Then I start to play around with music loops in Apple GarageBand until I have some music appropriate to set the stage.

Mix it all together with Joe Weiss' amazing little Soundslides program, and voila!

Hopefuly, something a little better than a clicky-click slideshow. Perhaps something that captures a little more of the energy at Paulson Stadium?

Soundslides is pretty amazing. It produces an Adobe Flash-based slideshow which looks way better than a typical on-line video. Check out the full-screen mode by clicking in the bottom-right hand corner.

Tell me what you think.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, multimedia, professional technique, sports photography | 0 comments [ More ]

1980s madness ...

Okay, I feel really old.

 After the Statesboro High School marching band performed their '80s Madness routine at halftime Friday night, Tyler Smith, 17, told me I was one of the few people who recognized he was portraying Slash of Guns-n-Roses.

"People were coming up to me and saying 'Hey Ozzie!'"

Madness, indeed!

Friday, September 3, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, daily work, just for fun, personal | 0 comments [ More ]

Football madness: stories from the sidelines

Portal's Nolan Clark lies prone on the field after cramping up on a 

Southeast Bulloch kickoff return.

As a photojournalist, my main job is to tell the stories I cover through photographic images. Sometimes, additionally, the access afforded photographers gives us a chance to make observations and share stories of the non-visual variety. The sidelines at sporting events can provide some unique experiences and perspectives not always accessible to most fans and even sports writers who tend to stick to the press box.

Our first Friday night football game of the 2010 season featured Southeast Bulloch and Portal high schools. Tons of story lines. Two local, cross-county rivals playing each other. Two new head coaches, to name a couple. From a news standpoint, last Friday was a can't-lose situation. On the field, however, somebody had to lose.

In the end, Southeast Bulloch won in convincing fashion, 37-12, snapping a 19-game losing streak in the process. The story in the following day's paper reflected the significance of that feat, as well it should have. They exercised a demon and set a new tone for the future of their program.

But there was another story line that emerged on the sideline which was discussed amongst us in the local news media and was also reflected in my photographs as I edited them later. It's an issue that most every small school struggles with when competing against larger schools. Sometimes football is a game of attrition as much anything else.

Portal's Jordan Cowart, one of the many two-way players for the Panthers, 

walks slowly off the field after a turnover against Southeast Bulloch.

Portal High School head football coach Cherard Freeman.

When the two teams put their best 11 players on the field against each other, there wasn't a great deal of difference in talent – if any. But when you looked at the sidelines, SEB's advantage was evident. The Yellow Jackets dressed out possibly three times as many players as the Panthers. While SEB has its share of two-way players, Portal players almost never came off the field, with practically the same 11 playing defense, offense, and special teams. That takes its toll, especially on the big guys in the trenches. Add in South Georgia heat in August, and that's a lot to overcome. More than once, there were multiple Portal players cramping up on the field between plays.

So what's the point of this post? There's certainly no slight intended towards Southeast Bulloch. They earned their win and I look forward to covering them. I hope the Portal players aren't embarrassed. I expect them to be very competitive against teams in their own region. They have some players who can "ball" and a coach who really likes to teach the game of football.

The point is that sometimes pictures can tell a part of the story that might not make it into the gameday story. And sometimes I like to pass on what I see and hear while working the sidelines.

More to come ...

Portal quarterback Hunter Oglesby led all rushers with 137 yards against
Southeast Bulloch.

Thursday, September 2, 2010 | posted in behind the lens, daily work, sports photography | 0 comments [ More ]