Gray Stone Graduation 2012

This year I was again hired to take photos for graduation at Gray Stone Day School. This year was a little bit more stressful to do so, since I'm currently in school as well as working part time. But I really enjoy doing it, so I gladly agreed to go back and take the photos.

I always feel so inspired when I come back and attend these graduations, and I see how motivated and ready to take on anything some these young graduates are. Its easy to start to feel jaded after a while when you are so focused on completing the individual task at hand. Hearing what some of the graduates had to say during their speeches really reminded me to try and keep my end goals in mind, and not to get swamped with what's going on in the present. Of course, its very important to make sure I get the things done now that need to be done, but if I forget why I'm doing them, its easy to lose that motivation to do the work.

I'm also so glad to see my high school thriving five years after I graduated from there. When I first attended, it was almost brand new, only in its second year my freshman year. Those early times we all hoped we were making the right decision by attending, that not only would it help prepare us for college, but that we would be able to help the school succeed and continue to grow. It certainly had a big influence on helping prepare me for where I am now. I was very proud to say I graduated from this school, and I am just as proud today, especially seeing how much the school has continued to grow. I just hope these graduates realize the influence this school has had on them, and take with them what the learned and discovered through their future experiences. Congratulations to the Class of 2012! 
 

Charlotte Checkers Practice

Back in mid-December, I got the chance to go photograph a practice for the Charlotte Checkers (they are a minor league hockey team for those that don't know).  I got this opportunity through my mom, and her affiliation with my old high school's yearbook.  Basically, its a program where high school photographers get to come in to photograph a Checkers as a way to practice and get tips on sports photography.  The session was led by a fairly well-known photographer, Gregg Forwerck.  He actually is well-known for having produced the photographs for thousands of baseball cards.  You can read an article ESPN did on him here.

My mom wasn't sure that I would be able to go, since I'm obviously no longer in high school (and no longer an undergraduate in college for that matter).  But she talked to the coordinator for it, and since I still contribute a significant number of photographs to my high school's yearbook, they said it was fine.  So I jumped on the opportunity, I knew it would be difficult to have a chance to photograph a team like this again.  In fact, sports photography is one of the areas I consider myself somewhat weaker in, just because it takes so much focus to capture a great moment with sports, so I really knew I would benefit from the chance to practice and get advice.  I spoke with Gregg briefly, and mostly discussed uses of ISO and White Balance, but I also got to hear a couple stories about famous athletes he's worked with, including Cam Newton.

Anyway, here are some of the better shots I got during this session.

 

The last two pictures were actually from a different team, that came out on the ice after the Checkers.  Apparently, this was the team the Checkers faced next.  I'm not sure exactly which team they were, although I thought I heard they were from Chicago, but I know for sure their mascot was the Wolves.

In these next two photos, I decided to try using some intentional blur to create the effect of movement and motion.  Instead of using the fastest shutter speed possible to completely stop the action, I dialed up the aperture, which slowed down the shutter speed.  To get the effect I want (which as you'll see is the subject appearing clear while his surroundings appear blurred, to show the player is moving), I had to pan the camera basically at the same speed as the player so he stayed in the same place in the frame.  As you can imagine, this isn't easy to do, and took quite a few tries to get anything worth showing.  The two I'm showing below were the best I got.

If nothing else, being able to practice this technique made the entire experience worth it.  I always enjoy shooting sports, because I played varsity sports in high school.  I don't really have the opportunity to play sports on a competitive level anymore, so when I get to photograph others playing sports, it reminds me of when I used to.  It certainly does help my ability to photograph a sport when it is one that I played before, because I know what to expect and look for to make a great photograph.  That was also one of the major challenges with shooting a hockey team, because I never played hockey, and have little understanding of the finer points of the game.

Stay tuned for my next photo project!

MeAnn's Wedding/Back to Photography

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Unfortunately, I was very busy with school the second half of my semester, so not only did I not have much free time for any photography, but I also didn't have much time to update this blog. However, my schedule is much lighter so hopefully I'll have time to share my journey with photos as it continues.

In October, my cousin MeAnn got married to her fiance Sam. I would have loved to have attended, but the weekend she held the wedding I had EMT class the entire day. However, I was able to do something very special for her, which I thoroughly enjoyed, which was to take her bridal photos. I had never done any bridal photos before, so I was a bit nervous about not getting good photos. But since I was photographing somebody I know well, and I had my mom and sister there as well, I was able to relax pretty well and just naturally take photos that ended up turning out well. My mom attended the wedding, and put some of the photos I had taken on a digital frame to be on display.  Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.

All these photos were on UNC's campus, which is such a beautiful campus. Even though it was a few months ago now, it was so great to be able to take these photos for my cousin. Taking photos that make me happy are great, but it feels even better to take photographs that make people I'm close to happy as well.

Look out for my next blog where I talk about my experience photographing the Charlotte Checkers!