Background

I've always been rather intrigued with photographs. Photos could alway's take me places that I could never go; and still today they do. Images hold such a powerful force in society today. Without them, could you possibly imagine a newspaper or magazine?

I began to really grow serious about photography my Junior year in high school. I had recieved my first camera for Christmas the year before, but had not really put much energy into it until then. I attended Asbury College in Wilmore, KY  during my first year of college where I served as photo editor of the school paper. Starting in the fall semester of 2008 I  began attending Kent State University where I am part of their photojournalism program. During the summer and while on breaks, I work as a part-time photographer for The Alliance Review, the local newspaper from my hometown of Alliance, Ohio. I really enjoy my time there and have graciously been given the opportunity to practice and advance my photography skills through my work for them.

The photos below and in the blog archive have been taken for various photo classes, The Alliance Review, The Asbury Collegian, and for my own enjoyment. I hope that you like them!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Reenactment Video

This is the video I made with some of the photos from the reenactment I shot this past weekend.I know that the quality isn't great, but when posting it here, that's the best I can do. Let me know what you all think. I hope that you all had a great weekend as well.

Yanks vs. Rebs

These photos are just a few of the photos I took this past Memorial Day weekend in Burton, OH at a Civil War reenactment. These photos also appear in the movie which will soon be posted above. I'm having trouble uploading it, so it may take some time.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Amazing Grace

These are some photos I took of my Dad yesterday while he was performing at the Alliance Memorial Day Service. COMING SOON: Civil War reenactment photos!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Alliance

Downtown Alliance as seen from the public library.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

HDR Photography

I took this photo using a technique of photography known as HDR photography or High Dynamic Range photography. What I did was take several of the same exact photos (using a tripod of course) using bracketing. This way I could get lights and darks...and so fourth. Then I took the images and put them all together into one in photoshop. After that I took the image into another program and did did some tonemapping. This second program is responsible for the watermark on my photos, because I am using a trial version of the program, so they think I'll get tired of the watermark being on all my photos and so I'll want to buy it. Not quite. Though this type of photography produces great results...often very embellished, I am not all that fond of it, because it takes away from the true essence of what I feel photography is...truth or real life. So, I might continue to dabble in this, even though I could never use it in my photojournalism work, I will always feel somewhat like a cheater, because it is not exactly truth.

Skys of Blue

I have just been drooling over how beautiful the sky has been these past few days. I've been eyeing this spot for almost a year now.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hiking on a Beautiful Day

I went on a little hike this morning at the Mount Union Nature Preserve....here is part of my journey!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Just Beat It

I haven't played my drums in a while so today I put my set together and had some fun. I tried some lighting stuff with my new light stand, I can now do some cool stuff with the flash off of the camera.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Camping

I went camping this weekend with some of my close friends from school. It was our last weekend at the "bury" so we thought we'd make it a good one.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Highbridge Film Festival

Each year Asbury hosts what is known as the Highbridge Film Festival. There is a viewing of student films (high school and college) in the famous Hughes Auditorium and then there is a huge party afterwards in the Student Center. This year I was asked to act as "paparazzi". I wasn't all too impressed with my work, but they are alright. Thanks for visiting!