Going Ballooning

One thing that I've been wanting to do for a while is photograph my friend, Tracy Sines, and his parents, Jan and Gary, doing hot air ballooning. This Saturday (September 25), I got the opportunity to see them in action. And boy, was it fun!

Tracy's parents own Balloon Stormers, a company which flies in races, trains pilots, and offers rides throughout the state of Missouri. They've competed in the US, as well as Costa Rica, Mexico, and China. They also own the World's Biggest Gumball Machine and Coco the Clown balloon. Neither balloon flew on Saturday.

We (Tracy, Steven and Melissa Silvey, and I) drove to New Haven, Mo., to attend its annual balloon race. The race was actually canceled because of weather, but some people flew away, including Tracy's mom, Jan. His dad, Gary, decided to inflate their balloon, the World's Biggest Gumball Machine. Here's some of my favorites from this event.


This one was taken through the vent at the other end of the balloon. I love that I caught them peering into the balloon to watch it inflate.

The Woman Who Inspired Champions

I am, of course, speaking about Nadia Comăneci. She was the very first gymnast to score a perfect 10. She did it in 1976 at the age of 14.


Left: © Jerry Cooke; Middle: © Steve Powell/Allsport; Right: © Tony Duffy/Allsport

When I was a very little girl, I remember watching Nadia perform and she inspired me to be a gymnast. Of course, I never became a gymnast. My family moved too often and didn't quite put a priority on me being active in sports. But I still remember loving this girl who poured her heart out when she performed.

Project 365 - W25

Week 25. I've been pretty busy.


Monday. One of the photographers in Staff, Ally, has been having problems when going out on assignment. Her insecurity and perfectionism contributed to her psyching herself out and barely producing useable images. I was getting frustrated. She was getting frustrated. Other editors were getting frustrated. So I approached her about going out on a shoot together so that we could talk about how we approached things, etc. We were going to go to the Heritage Festival on Sunday, but it was cancelled. So on this Monday, I went out with Ally on a reshoot of people working with bacon for the paper.

-- Side note: stupid article on bacon! The number of shoots they had us do (which were a pain in the tuccous) and then don't link the article to the multimedia. And the pictures that ended up in the paper were pretty lame. The frustrations of photo editing! --

Up and Over It

The internet is a vast savannah of both the sublime and the mundane. One could spend years and never find every page that exists. And more are being created every day. But in this potential desert of idiotcy, I occasionally come across some pretty cool stuff. And this is one of them. I just had to smile when I watched it.

A little hand jig.



From their website:

Suzanne Cleary and Peter Harding are two of the most talented and innovative Irish Dancers in the world. They first met on the Irish Dance competition circuit where between them they accumulated World, North American, All Scotland and Great British championship titles. At 17 the couple were head-hunted by Riverdance and after only six months were chosen to lead the show as the productions’ youngest ever understudies.

Cleary and Harding went on to become one of Riverdance’s most exciting couples and received regular training with the Moscow Folk ballet. They have performed at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, Hammersmith Apollo, London, Radio City Music Hall and at the United Nations to name but a few. Between them, they have toured every continent and have taught master-classes throughout the UK and Europe.

After four years with Riverdance, Cleary & Harding toured with Magic of the Dance where they were soon appointed Artistic Directors. It was here the couple began experimenting with Irish Dance, bending the rules of the form and taking inspiration from other dance styles. Up and Over it! is their first solo outing as they bring audiences something previously unseen in Irish Dance.

Project 365 - W24

Week 24. Okay, so I love my dogs.


Monday. I started out this photo session after Riley had been playing with these nyla-bones I'd gotten them. After a long day of photo editing - very busy! and partially irritating - I was finally home and Riley was asking be to play with him, by gnawing on the bone and growling loudly at it. Riley then was hard at work on the bone, and I took pictures of his gnawing. Then there were pictures of Cullen and Dudley. I liked this one the best.


Tuesday. When I took the Duds into the vet last Friday, because of his swollen eye, I set up an appointment for the boys to get their yearly shots. This picture is Riley at the vet, waiting for the offer of a treat. It turned out that Riley didn't need his shots (got them in February when I took him in because of his pre-hot spots). But I was able to get a replacement for his license and his rabies tag (that Dad lost out at Lake Stockton last year). I love the Ri-Ri's ears!

Woo-Hoo!

Caption: With his teammates and coaches celebrating behind him, T.J. Moe runs in the winning touchdown during the last minute of the fourth quarter of the San Diego State game on Saturday. The Tigers beat the Aztecs 27-24. ¦ Sarah Midgorden

Okay, so I'm driving in my car and listening to the game on the radio. MU was down by 1 against San Diego State with about 5 minutes to go.

I go through Taco Bueno's drive-thru and when I turn the radio up, MU is now down by 4 with 1:58 left in the game. The announcers are summing up how this was the first time that the Aztecs had beaten a BCS team in c.25 years, these like crazy statistics that highlight just how bad this loss really is for MU.

And all this because they like to choke in the 4th quarter.

Pictures from the Boston Globe -- Youth Olympics in Singapore

Pictures from the Youth Olympics, held in Singapore.


Caption: Darren Choy of Singapore carries the Youth Olympic torch on his way to ignite the Youth Olympic Flame at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Youth Olympics at The Float at Marina Bay on August 14, 2010 in Singapore. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

I absolutely loved this picture. It's one of those that I wish I had in my portfolio.


Caption: Greek actress Ino Menegaki delivers the flame to the first runner inside the stadium in Ancient Olympia on Friday July 23, 2010. The flame was bound for the Aug. 14-26 Singapore inaugural Youth Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Dimitri Messinis)

Pictures from the Boston Globe -- Afghanistan

Some of the pictures from an on-going series of pictures from Afghanistan:


Caption: Abdul Qahar, an interpreter with Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, finds one of the few shaded spots during Operation Big Wave in Khanagawr, Afghanistan, Aug. 18, 2010. During the operation the men spent two days in direct sunlight with temperatures reaching more than 120 degrees. The operation was conducted to disrupt the enemy from using supply lines to bring weapons and fighters into Nawa. (U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt. Mark Fayloga)


Caption: The tomb of Sultan Mohammed Telai, which was destroyed during the Afghan civil war in 1990's is lit by setting sun on Friday, July 23, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)

Pictures from the Boston Globe -- Pakistan

I looked at The Boston Globe's blog this weekend, and wanted to share some pictures! It's stuff like this that is why I love photography.

From the floods in Pakistan:


Caption: A man marooned by flood waters, alongside his livestock, waves towards an Army helicopter for relief handouts in the Rajanpur district of Pakistan's Punjab province on August 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)


Caption: A Syrian Muslim girl stands at the top of Mount Qassioun, which overlooks Damascus city, during sunset and prays before eating her Iftar meal on August 22, 2010. (REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri)

Project 365 - Week 23

Week 23. More action shots. And other blogs about photo editing.


Today I got the "pleasure" of working on Labor Day - see my other blog post where I complain about that - and getting a nice migraine in the process. I could have had some nice Labor Day picnic pictures, as my b.t. had a picnic, but, no, I was at home feeling like my left eyeball was having a thumb dug into it and wanting to ralph. I took this picture of the picture of Brenden, because I like to have pictures for my contacts. Since I didn't have one, I took a picture of his picture on the board. It was one of many that I took. They're up there to help us put faces to names and to help communication in the newsroom.Brenden is my co-editor for the day, but he's lucky and doesn't have to come in at 9 am but instead of 2 pm. Yes, I am a whiney weenie complaining about going in at 9 am. I know this. But at this point in my life, after years of getting up and being at work at 8 am, and after several years of grad school screwing up my sleep pattern and distorting what seems like going to be early (12 am instead of 9 pm), 9 am IS early.


So, I figured out why the dogs have been getting out of the yard this week. It's not that I haven't been locking the gate, it's that Riley has figured out that pulling on the pliers will open the gate. I caught him in the act. I was NOT pleased. But secretly - I will never tell him that - I'm impressed at his ingenuity.

Irish Fest 2010!

Image by Kevin Gilbert.
I am proud that I am Irish. My great-grandparents on my father's side immigrated from Ireland. I am also proud that I am Canadian. My grandparents on my mother's side immigrated from Canada. Their ancestors actually arrived on the Mayflower and fought in the American Revolution. I am also Scottish - my mother is of Armstrong stock. I also come from Germany (Grabske and Trefz) and Sweden. Gotta love the melting pot.

Labor Day weekend, they had the 8th Annual Kansas City Irish Fest. After the Jubilee, I met my parents down at Crown Center for the festivities.

'Funny' side note. I was already downtown, at Union Station, because of lunch after the Jubilee, and I ended up driving about 20 minutes both ways to run home and change my pants, shoes, and get the ticket. For some reason I thought the Fest was in Independence. Hah. [I sigh.]

Remembering September 11, 2010

So, 9 years ago today, on a Tuesday, 2,996 people died when stupid people, minds twisted with hate, murdered them by flying 3 planes into the towers of the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon. (This number also includes those people on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania, who saved lives because they fought back -- "Let's roll."


Today, on MSNBC, they replayed NBC's coverage, "9/11 As It Happened," from the morning, coverage like what I watched while I was getting dressed for work. Because that's where I was when I found out the Towers had been hit. Ironing a shirt, getting ready for work. Looking at it going, 'That wasn't an accident, there's no way that was an accident.'


(c) James Nachtwey
They had actual footage of the second jet approaching and smashing into the South Tower. They were interviewing (via the phone) a woman from the area and Jane Pauley sitting there prattling on and there it goes. When I was watching it, I was like, 'that's the second plane,' and as I reached for my remote to rewind it, they showed the South Tower exploding. You hear Matt Lauer say, "Oh, My God," and Pauley's oblivious. It made me cry all over again, because it was so intentional.

Wandering Around Downtown

So, after class today, I decided to wander around downtown for no apparent reason other than I felt like wandering around and taking pictures. No real destination in mind, no goal. I just felt like going out and taking images of things I found interesting. I took just my body and my 55-250 zoom and went a walkin'. And I had fun. It's been a while since I've just taken pictures of things, not to commemorate something or because I had to, but because I just felt like it. And it was fun.

I mean, I enjoyed photography for the joy of looking at something differently and capturing that image. It's been a while. With all the school work, just that pressure in 'what I ought to do,' it really zapped my creativity. It wasn't supposed to, but it was nice to snap a picture of someone doing something weird without feeling compelled to get their name.

Wow - SyFy Has Some Bad B Movies

Case in point, 'Android Apocalypse.' I hate movies that have you asking questions like, 'Why haven't (the heroes) been shot by the evil killer flying robots?' or 'Why don't just follow the robot guards out when they were recalled, when they completely weren't paying any attention to you, and it's obviously something bad that's going to happen?' Or even at the beginning of the movie, where there's some random kid wandering around outside in the toxic atmosphere and then gets chased by some bad flying robots. And just happens to fall and hit his head on a rock. Why was he outside, when everyone knows that it's toxic? And how did he get outside, anyway? Oh, no, foster false concern about a kid of no consequence to the rest of the film. Just bad writing.

And the acting was bad, too. I remarked on it more than once.

So why was I watching it? Because I kept hoping that it would get better. Foolish girl. After Ogre, you should have known better.

I just want to know why people internationally pay for this slop? That's why they get made, because of the money they generate *outside* the US.

And isn't it great, the hero loses his prejudice towards androids because of the friendship he made with one...

I Heard a Bit of Poetry

Today I heard A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad, part XL quoted. It was very... heartfelt.

Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.

I really like Housman's work. (Photograph, right, by E.O. Hoppe.)
I'm familiar with it because of high school. We read To An Athlete Dying Young, which I really loved, partially because of the imagery that Housman used and partially because of how sad it is:

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

And I Had to Work on LABOR DAY

PDF of the day's edit to be posted here later
For some reason, I guess because they're a newspaper, the Missourian decided that we should work on Labor Day. Even though the rest of the University had the day off because it's a state holiday, and we are a 'state' institution, and for MU employees, it is one of 7 official paid holidays in the year (the others? MLK, Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving & the day after, and Christmas), I did not, because I was lucky enough to be assigned the Monday morning shift.

So, I woke up with a migraine digging behind my left eye. And it progressively grew worse during the day, until, by the time the day was over, I was starting the feel dizzy and nauseous. Stinky fie! I hate feeling like something is trying to poke my eye out!!!

It was a pretty slow shift. Mostly. There were only 3 photo assignments all day. And one really lame one that shouldn't have been submitted in the first place, since it was for a story they didn't have on the 'budget' (publishing schedule) and the story was covering a store that wasn't even OPEN on Labor Day.

Because it was a slow day, two of our photographers got to wander about Columbia and take pictures (enterprise). The one eventful thing that happened was - there was a shooting over by Stephens Lake.

Project 365 - Week 22

Week 23. School has started. I promise it will not all be pictures of my dogs.


Okay, maybe starting tomorrow it will be something besides my dog.


Okay, so I was wrong. But I took this picture - yesterday's I just really liked how sweet Riley looked when he was sleeping. I took this sleeping picture because of how his neck was bent when sleeping. Riley used to sleep like this all the time, but nowadays, it's a rarity. The neck thing was a symptom of him having problems with his back and since I adopted him 4 years ago, I've taken him to the chiropractor a couple of times, which has definitely helped his back. I lost her number, which I wish I hadn't, because I need to take him back for another visit. Particularly since I asked the vet about his random yelping and he said it's most likely in relation to his back rather than his leg (lack of limp).

I promise myself that tomorrow it will not be one of my dogs. Even if they are one my favorite subjects.

Friday Night at the Photo Desk

So here I am, stuck working at the photo desk at the Missourian. It's my own fault, really, because I wasn't paying attention when I signed up for dates and dug my own grave, so to speak. I'm trying not to feel bitter about people not taking pity on me... Or wanting to be spiteful in the future in case they need help (like switching a shift). Of course, I'll do it, if I can, because that's what Jesus would do, but it's just that yucky sour taste it's left in mouth...

I'm going on little sleep and I'm probably going to be here until at least 9:30-10 editing pictures - arg! Then I get to travel to KC for our bi-annual jubilee.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Well, the high school football games started late so our fair shooters returned later than expected. Here's a couple of photos I edited tonight:


Really love the atmosphere of this picture.

So I'm Taking Photo Desk Management

What's that, you say? It's serving as a photo editor for the Columbia Missourian. I was 'lucky' and ended up with the Monday morning shift, which means I get to be at the Missourian at 9am. Yes, I'm a little bitter because I *hate* Monday mornings especially. I always seem to have a really difficult time sleeping on Sunday night, so Mondays are torturous. I also feel a little bitter because I accidentally signed up for this Friday's shift, the first night of our bi-annual Jubilee. So, not only am I working *on* Labor Day, because even though the whole of rest of campus is celebrating the Labor Day holiday, even though there is no class, etc., the Missourian is still putting out a paper. Oh, joy. Oh, rapture. I am so lucky.

Anyway. Here's the first set of pictures that I edited (with the help of new professor Brian Kratzer). Shot by Taylor Glascock, it features the Missouri Contemporary Ballet's first day of practice after their summer intersession.

I know this feeling will fade (at least I hope so), but right now I feel so inadequate. And a little afraid. That I don't know what I'm doing and I'll pick terrible pictures. I sigh. I was talking to Brian about it a little today, so I feel a little better about the whole thing. I just remember when I was in staff, it felt like the editors were so confident and sure of their pics and what they were doing. Wow. I guess I must appear that way to those staffers... Oh, the irony!

Anyway. Here's the pics:

This one was my favorite of her images. I really liked the moment.


It really captured the emotions that ballet can portray and produce. Very nice.

One of the things that I really liked about the shoot was the background colors/pictures on the wall. They juxtapose really well with the dancers.

It Was a Good Day

Photographer: Oded Balilty
Caption: A lone Jewish settler challenges Israeli security officers during clashes that erupted as authorities cleared the West Bank settlement of Amona, east of the Palestinian town of Ramallah. Thousands of troops in riot gear and on horseback clashed with hundreds of stone-throwing Jewish settlers holed up in this illegal West Bank outpost after Israel's Supreme Court cleared the way of demolition of nine homes at the site. (February 1, 2006)

The photo lab at school has undergone renovations over the summer and one of the things that changed are the pictures that were displayed. The new pictures are all from MU Photojournalism alumni. The old pictures, the ones that they decided to get rid of, are from the New Deal exhibit. To quote Davd Rees:
"Here's the history on that exhibit: created by the Smithsonian, it traveled the country for a few years in the 1980s & early 90s. When it was finished touring, it was given to the Museum of Art and Archeology here on campus. They stored it, but never showed it. When Lee Hills Hall opened in 1996 the museum offered the exhibit to us... So, we were glad to have those pictures, as many of the photographers had also been part of the original Farm Security Administration project - and the photo documentary approach that has so heavily influenced our program and American Photojournalism.

Since the School didn't want to dispose of them, they offered them to us students. So, I journeyed to the photo lab and sorted through the pictures and came home with 2 prizes. The first was a picture from the New Deal collection, of girls jumping rope. The second, why it just made my day, was this huge print (seen above) by Oded Balilty. I've often looked at this picture, hung in the photo lab, and yearned for it. I don't know exactly what it is about it, but I really love it. And I lucked out and scored the print!!! I haven't hung it yet - I need some help to make sure that it will be straight - but I'm very excited about this picture.

And when I went online to find the photographer and caption information, I discovered that Oded Balilty had won a Pulitzer for this picture! I knew it had won in POYi (Human Conflict -- First Place, 2007), but not a Pulitzer.

I now own a Pulitzer-prize winning print. It doesn't make me like the picture any more, but it's still pretty darn cool!

The ironic thing is, I almost didn't go. I wasn't feeling good, but decided at the last minute to go. Way to encourage me, God.