Featured! Daily Cal Photo Blog

Soooo, the most exciting of things happened yesterday. I got to shoot the Cal Men's Basketball Game!!! Yeee!

Usually this is a special assignment that only the old time photographers get to shoot, but I was in the right place at the right time and I just got super lucky. The second photographer happened to, last minute, not be able to make the game and so, just as I was leaving the office, my editor (the very talented and very awesome Miss Anne Marie Schuler) asked, "Want to shoot the game with me?" My answer?! "Yipeeeee!" Of course. :D

Anyways, the game was AH-maaazing. Let me just say.

Some of the things that happened/I learned at yesterday's game:

1.  It was an overall very exciting game. Clearly.
2. I have decided that I loooveeee basketball. I want to go to every game next season. Hopefully I'll get to shoot some of them. But that might be asking for too much. (:
3. Sitting on the court is the best way everrr to watch a basketball game. Celebrities know what's up.
4. Press passes rock. Really really really.
5. When you sit on the court next to the drums, you should wear earplugs. Or prepare to lose hearing. Also, you may get hit by flying drumsticks.
6. I could actually do this for a job. yee.
7. WE WON THE PAC-10!!! (for the first time in fifty years!!! yikes...)

I'll post my favorites from the event later, but for now, check out my photo on the Daily Cal Photo Blog! yee. :D

Image ©The Daily Californian. Well, not the screen shot, but the image. Clearly. (:

Inner City Services, Berkeley, California

Welcome to my very first shoot as a photographer for The Daily Californian! This is Inner City Services, a local non-profit (?) agency that helps the unemployed build skills and find a job. Such laudable work. (:

All of the people who worked there were very nice. I couldn't think of better people to work with it you are down and out. Or, honestly, even if you aren't. (:

I may love this photo more for the little kid's face than nothing else. The irony is that it says, "NO CHILDREN ALLOWED." Go figure.

The awesome reporter, hard at work. Go Katie! (:

They collect gently used suits and other work clothes and pass them along, for keeps, to those they help out. Awesome!

 

This is my favorite photo. Not really appropriate for the newspaper, but I like how it feels. (: 

The classroom:

The photo from the paper: 

This is the anti-smoking wall. The director has literally covered it with dozens of posters detailing all of the harmful effects of smoking. It's his personal project. (:

This one is my personal favorite. I hope I can use that line one day. (:

Some nice portraits. (:

An awesome looking building just down the street. Not related in any way whatsoever to Inner City Services. Clearly. I even should have probably put them in separate posts. But I didn't, so please enjoy these mindfully. 

Here's an image of the web version of the article. I'd like to say, we were featured on the front page of the print edition of the paper. Score! What a success. Welcome to the world of photojournalism! :D

Accompanying article expertly written by my friend and fellow journalist Katie Nelson, Contributing Writer to The Daily Californian. 

For my images online at The Daily Cal's website, please see here. You can find the full news article online here. 

All images in this post ©The Daily Californian. Please contact them for information regarding reproduction, printing, purchasing or reposting images. For reprint information you should visit the reprints site here. Thank you!

Brad Paisley in Concert

Last week Taylor and I rented a Zip Car and drove three hours (we switched off in the driver's seat) up to Fresno to see Brad Paisley, country music superstar, do his thing. He was perfect--gorgeous, cute, sweet, nerdy, country, playing a guitar, aaand singing sweet lyrics. All while wearing a cowboy hat. Girls, it doesn't get much better than that. Trust me. (:

The Save Mart Center is a huge place. I guess Fresno has a lot of space... (:

If you ever go to Fresno or the Save Mart Center, take a word of wisdom from me and don't eat here. It was sooo gross. ewwww. ):

The Center serves also serves as a home for the Fresno Bulldogs--their sports awards were hanging from the ceiling. Kind of cool in the low light. 

The main attraction. Gorgeousness. Click the images for larger views. (:

This is what the arena looked like not ten minutes after the concert was over. They move fast! Oh, and check out those awesome light fixtures! It was a theater major's dream, *cough  Suzuki cough*

Anyways, awesome concert. If you don't listen to country, pick up Brad's CD. He has funny stuff and adorable stuff. I mean really. You just can't go wrong. (:

p.s. Then may be my favorite Brad song. But I love them all so much that I just can't quite be sure...

You Know it's Your Birthday... :D

TWENTY is a big number but I'm ready for it. Every last moment. (:

The following two self-portraits were taken on assignment for a photography class I'm taking as part of training for The Daily Californian. It's slightly difficult to get one's whole face in the frame but I kinda like these images nonetheless. (:

Anyways, Happy Birthday Me. :D

San Francisco Pillow Fight (and cute shoes...)

Nick and I spent Sunday in the city and, without planning to, ran into the huge pillow fight in the Embarcadero Plaza. There were easily thousands of people there, and once the clock struck 6pm they didn't stop fighting for more than an hour. What persistence! 

After the pillow fight started somebody let free a heart shaped balloon. It floated up above all of the pillow fighters and up up up above the bay. You can just make it out here. (:

As the intensity of the "fight" picked up, pillows started to break. The feathers spewed over the "fighters" and into the air; it almost looked like it was snowing!

This girl had on the cutest shoes and I couldn't resist pointing my lens at her toes. How weird is it that I snapped this spy pic? ... 

Anyways, Happy Valentine's Day and Happy February. <3  

Self-Portrait

A cool self-portrait I took of myself reflected in an old movie marquee--you can see lights around the edges blurred out a little bit in this photo. Anyways, I don't always have the coolest photos of myself (probably a product of my always being behind the camera) so this image, well, just kinda makes me happy. (:

Taken at the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale yesterday. Other photos from that same day will be up soon, I think. 

P.S. My birthday is on Tuesday. I'll be the big TWO ZERO! Ack. 

Kegan and his Guitar

Some days just scream at me to take out my camera; there was something about yesterday that had this quality. Something about the rain stopping for the afternoon and leaving sunshine, some clouds, and crisp, clean winter air meant to me that I just had to get my camera out. Not many people were around but Kegan was down to head out on the town with his guitar and let me shoot him. It was a very last minute shoot, with no prior planning, so I didn't really know what to expect when I loaded the images onto my computer; I must say, I'm very very pleased with the results! (:

This is Kegan: 

Perhaps the best thing about this shoot was that Kegan didn't just sit there and look like he was playing his guitar, he actually started singing! And, he's amazing! Some people looked at us funny as we were shooting but I was so impressed by his music and enjoying myself so much that I just didn't care! :D

A nice, simple, plain portrait. I call it, "Man with guitar." :P

The next three images are the best of the whole shoot. Seriously. 

This is my absolute favorite image from the whole entire shoot. Perhaps ever, in my whole life. It's not possible for this photo to make me any happier--I know because I've tried. 

Click on the photo and check out the soulful look on his face. (:

This is Kegan's guitar. 

I made him sit on somebody random's front porch. He was a little nervous that somebody might come outside and ask what the heck we were doing. He refrained from playing any songs in this particular location and so we moved on quickly.

This photo reminds me of the first photo on the blog in the shoot I took of Taylor earlier this year.

A good image to end on. This is Kegan's guitar. (:

Anyways. If Kegan keeps on making music like what he was playing yesterday, I hope he comes out with an album sometime in the near future. Selfishly, I hope that he finds some images from yesterday that he thinks are absolutely perfect for an album cover. A photographer can hope. (: