A Typical Northern Neck Road
Rt. 624 in Westmoreland County. A narrow two lane road with corn on either side and a deer crossing sign. Now you understand why when you are driving through rural Virginia you see shotguns in the back of pick-ups. This photo also provides me the opportunity to correct a previous post regarding corn. I've been advised that the corn about to be harvested is feed corn which tastes like (expletive deleted). Sweet corn has already been picked. Its amazing what you can learn over a cup of coffee at Hyperion.

Been swamped getting ready for school on Tuesday...also archiving and cleaning out a very full hard drive. Here is a frame I liked from the area around Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China, where I went on many a day trip.

Been swamped getting ready for school on Tuesday...also archiving and cleaning out a very full hard drive. Here is a frame I liked from the area around Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China, where I went on many a day trip.

Been swamped getting ready for school on Tuesday...also archiving and cleaning out a very full hard drive. Here is a frame I liked from the area around Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China, where I went on many a day trip.

Been swamped getting ready for school on Tuesday...also archiving and cleaning out a very full hard drive. Here is a frame I liked from the area around Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China, where I went on many a day trip.

Been swamped getting ready for school on Tuesday...also archiving and cleaning out a very full hard drive. Here is a frame I liked from the area around Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, China, where I went on many a day trip.

I spent yesterday at FedEx Field in not-so-sunny Landover for the first home game of the Redskins’ season. Surprisingly they won but I wasn’t there to see it – I bailed early as my deadline had come and gone, I was having a hell of a time sending pictures out and well, it is FedEx Field which is a notoriously unpleasant place to work.

I’m pretty sure it is the only venue in the NFL where you have to pay for an internet connection. They put out some hot dogs that look like they are left over from last season though I should give them a little credit – this year they put warmers under the trays! The sidelines are really tight as they want to maximize space for seats and unless you pay for a parking pass, you have to park at a demolished mall and ride a bus. This year they said buses will NOT run for the hour or so following the game in order to wait for fans to clear out. So, had I stayed I would have been there till about 12:30am. No thanks. Not for a preseason game, anyway. Before this degrades into an angry rant, here are a few photos from last night’s game:

Pretty standard pictures but I felt like I was getting back up to speed. It can be easy to forget how fast the NFL is compared to other levels of football. Plus I’m used to shooting with a 400mm lens and ours is in the shop so I went with a 300mm. plus it is easier to handle with rain covers. It does force you to position yourself differently though and it was kind of a nice change of pace. At this point I’m not sure if I’ll be back for the Patriots game next week as I think Friday is the start of the high school season so we’ll see…

Last night I was sent to cover a meeting of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors as they held a public hearing and vote on whether or not to join the Virginia Railway Express. It started at 6:30 and my deadline was 10pm. I figured that was plenty of time. I wasn’t expecting to make a particularly great picture but the decision to join has been argued back and forth for nearly two decades. A fair number of people turned out to support and oppose the county joining. Arguments included everything from opposition to a new 2% gas tax, to the morality of joining or not joining, that supporting VRE is just another example of socialism, that it would improve the quality of life, that it would bring revenue to the county and somebody even floated the idea that VRE is unconstitutional. The public comment portion wrapped right around 9pm and I was excited – plenty of time to get the vote in and beat my deadline. I’d be home in no time.

I should have started out by saying that I do not regularly cover local government meetings and I now have a new respect for my colleagues on those beats. After the public comment had ended, the supervisors started talking. And talking. And then another one would talk – no wonder this process has been going on for years.

9:30 rolled around, still talking.

9:45, more talk.

9:50, now I’m getting nervous.

9:55, and I am trying my best to employ a jedi mind trick on the chairman, “This is the time to vote. Vote now. Do it!”  Alas, it didn’t work.

9:58, I’m sending text messages to the office saying the vote will happen any minute if only these guys will stop listening to themselves talk. The crowd was kind of keyed up and I wanted a reaction picture so I held off on sending anything.

A couple of minutes after 10, they vote to join VRE but with the provision that the date be moved to February 2010, after any new supervisors take their seats, essentially opening the door to another vote and the possibility of NOT joining. Read reporter Dan Telvock’s story here. The reaction picture I was hoping for didn’t happen and the pictures I moved could have been sent a hour earlier. So, 4 hours and 3 mediocre pictures later I stood in the parking lot, transmitted pictures and contemplated punching myself in the face.

Changes.

This is a picture of three couples on various planes of St. Pete Beach, shot while relaxing and reading a book before my first day of training for a new gig.

Over coffee one morning in China, I saw a rather interesting job opportunity on the wonderful threads of APAD. A few weeks later, after a 36 hour block of traveling, I drove my newly purchased car to the beautiful town of St. Petersburg, Florida.

I'll be a Photojournalist in Residence with Pinellas County Schools, teaching photojournalism, multimedia and newsroom skills at Lakewood High School. I'm part of a program called Journeys in Journalism, a specialized education initiative in partnership with the St. Petersburg Times and the Poynter Institute. It's a change in pace for me, but I think it will be a rewarding and unique job. It's the first year for the program at the high school level...so lots of room to develop and shape the program. Not to mention the two months of vacation a year...more traveling? Certainly. Also, I'm living in St. Petes in the midst of a wonderful photo community. Can't afford a hotel for Geekfest 2009? You can crash on my floor. Funny, I've been a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan since I was ten despite never being to the area before. That's what growing up in New Mexico without a local team will do for you...

I'm planning to do some freelance work in the area, keep working on projects, etc. So hopefully no more month long lapses in illtown...

Changes.

This is a picture of three couples on various planes of St. Pete Beach, shot while relaxing and reading a book before my first day of training for a new gig.

Over coffee one morning in China, I saw a rather interesting job opportunity on the wonderful threads of APAD. A few weeks later, after a 36 hour block of traveling, I drove my newly purchased car to the beautiful town of St. Petersburg, Florida.

I'll be a Photojournalist in Residence with Pinellas County Schools, teaching photojournalism, multimedia and newsroom skills at Lakewood High School. I'm part of a program called Journeys in Journalism, a specialized education initiative in partnership with the St. Petersburg Times and the Poynter Institute. It's a change in pace for me, but I think it will be a rewarding and unique job. It's the first year for the program at the high school level...so lots of room to develop and shape the program. Not to mention the two months of vacation a year...more traveling? Certainly. Also, I'm living in St. Petes in the midst of a wonderful photo community. Can't afford a hotel for Geekfest 2009? You can crash on my floor. Funny, I've been a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan since I was ten despite never being to the area before. That's what growing up in New Mexico without a local team will do for you...

I'm planning to do some freelance work in the area, keep working on projects, etc. So hopefully no more month long lapses in illtown...