a little bit of flare

On Saturday, Smith Adams residence hall held an annual "backyard bash" for its residence. I was there taking pictures when a friend of mine from study abroad decided she wanted to sing (they had a stage and sound equipment set up and an audience of college students in lawn chairs). So I took a lot of pictures of her because a) she's really photogenic, and b) I was intrigued by the light. She was fairly backlit through a group of trees (yes, there are trees in Abilene) and the situation was reaking havoc with all of the auto functions on my camera. So I was just playing around, trying to master the situation (ha!) and I noticed the lens flares...and I liked them.

Emily Hobbs

Tell me what you think!

SURPRISE! a sport I like to shoot

So last week I shot softball practice for the first time and I surprised myself--I actually liked it. Looking back on it now, I think it might just have been because of the informal atomosphere of it. I was allowed to go anywhere the ball wouldn't hit me in the head, the action was repetitive so I couldn't miss anything important changing angles or positions, and the lady wildcats really didn't care that I was out there, they were just having fun doing something they love. Practice is definately better than a real game, I think. And once, I thought I heard the 8-year-old tomboy in me craning her neck to reach my ear and whispering, "see! girls can too play baseball...just not you."


I really liked this angle, the ball in action about to be caught, but the background could have been cleaner.

This girl undoubtedly hates me, as this was the picture that ran in the Optimist and her facial expression isn't the most flattering. Alas, I seem to be following in the footsteps of our photo-editor, attempting to catch the most embarrassing facial expressions...lets face, they're a lot more fun.

The obvious critisism: another inch on the right side of the ball would have been nice.

In this one, I really like the way her body is positioned...kind of like a goalie blocking the ball/puck/whatever. In the three last pictures I really like the clean backgrounds and the ration of dirt to grass. It seems kind of soothing to me...until you look at their faces.

One last thing: these photos were shot entirely on manual settings...manual settings that I set. And it really was easier to have a consistant setting than to battle the automatic systems.

Finger-licking good

Today I shot pictures at the Barett Hall cookout. The dorm and RA's paid for and/or cooked burgers for all the residents who wanted free lunch. It smelled INCREDIBLE and believe me, I was wishing that I lived in Barett.

Alexandra Miles

I really liked her expression and action but the framing wasn't wonderful. I cropped a little, but it still doesn't feel like an overly strong picture.

Liz Whitley and Katherine Leigh Young

These ladies were wonderful for letting me shoot them eating. In this shot and the next shot, I was trying to portray as accurately as possible the scene and how many people were there. This shot portrays what they were doing and the next portrays how many people were there, it just could have been taken anywhere. I wish there was some way to combine them.

Liz Whitley, Cassie Watson, and Katherine Leigh Young

Life is like a box of chocolates...

When Trish Tobin woke up on Saturday morning, her only plan for the day was to pack up the baby and head to the mall for the second-ever Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra Chocolate Festival Fund-raiser (that's a mouthful!). After attending last year, Trish wanted a return trip to discover if the chocolate samples tasted just as good as they did when she was pregnant. They did. Little did she know, that I'd be there to catch her in her moment of discovery.


My next stop was the puddin' eatin' contest. The young gentleman to the left is Mason Caraway, age 5, and he's wearing that victorious expression because he has just completed his bowl of pudding in the fastest time. You'll notice Kaitlyn Hathorn, age 5, and Zeke Mendoza, age 4 and the most proper eater, checking out Mason's empty bowl. At the end is my favorite, the oblivious messiest eater, Antonio Guerrero, age 4, still plugging away at his bowl of pudding.


My last stop was the Godiva Chocolate station outside of and sponsored by Dillards. I wanted to get more of an interaction shot, they were passing out chocolate and giving free samples of lotion that smelled like chocolate (I passed on both for fear of addiction), but I got distracted by Cameron McCay, a Dillards Employee. I really liked the way the blue drop cloth brought out her blond hair and skin tone. Also, I liked the way she was moving and the composition of her body with the trays with the background sign. So far as a journalistic shot, it's not so great, but for publicity or as a portrait it's maybe not bad. Tell me what you think.

Rockstars! (or the next best...well..somewhat close to it)

Saturday, ACU held a Battle of the Bands for Christian rock bands. I had never personally been to a Christian Battle of the Bands, and it was an interesting experience. Definately different in very singular ways--no alchohol, no cigarettes, and slightly quieter. The bands, however, were just as wild and crazy on stage.

Elijah Felding, Rhythm guitar for Everthorn

Everthorn was the first band to perform on Saturday and they were quite a shock for me. While I've been to Battle of the Bands before, I've never shot photographs of them. They move a LOT! Through the first song I was constantly playing with ISO and framing, attempting to get the shutter speeds fast enough and myself far enough back (using a 50mm lens) to catch all thier flailing limbs and do so in focus.

Justin Barton, bass guitar for Everthorn

This guy had some interesting facial expressions, he just moved so much I couldn't catch them in focus.

Phillip, vocalist, and Cody, bass guitar for Burgundy Road

These are two of the guys from Burgundy Road. This shot was interesting to take because Cody was jumping in circles in the background. I had to wait for him to face the way I wanted him to.

This girl is a friend of the Burgundy Road Band. I was testing ISOs on her before the first band started and really liked the backlighting...I just wish her huge purse wasn't so messy in the middle-ground.