Film a New Point and Shoot and Some Street and Portrait Photogrphy

So I’m clearly way behind on the blogs. I had a full summer getting a wedding and portrait business up and running with a friend and fellow former newspaper photog. I did shoot some editorial stuff in addition to the weddings.

Here are a few shots I got with the Yashica T3 that I found for $5 at a thrift store. I still love shooting film and am always in search of new and “exotic” cameras to play with. This one has a exceptionally sharp lens for a cheap point and shoot as well as a waist level finder that makes street photography a bit more discrete. There are also a few portraits that I shot with it while on a shoot for my new business.

As always, thanks for taking a look!

-EB

Aurora Theater Shootings

When I woke up and looked at my phone early on July 20th my heart sank.

My career in photojournalism started in some ways with the Columbine shootings thirteen years ago. I was still in school and it was the first real breaking news that I had ever covered. It was the saddest thing I had ever witnessed, but at the same time covering those events gave me a adrenaline rush. The emotion was so raw and out there to photograph.

In the years following Columbine I got my first newspaper internship then staff jobs. Over the years I shot funerals, memorials, tornadoes, and worked on several photo essays on children with terminal illnesses. I have seen a lot of sadness and raw emotion since April of 1999.

Since leaving the daily newspaper business eight months ago, I have enjoyed doing editorial of a lighter and happier nature and shooting weddings and portraits. But as I read the news updates on my phone I knew that as a freelance journalist, I needed to go to Aurora.

Just as I did in my newspaper days I did my best to tune out my own emotions and try to respectfully capture what I saw unfolding in front of my camera.

However it quickly became clear to me that this would be the last time I would cover an event like this. The adrenaline never appeared, instead I felt for the people I was photographing. For the first time I tried to put myself in their shoes.

On one afternoon while waiting for a photograph at Holmes’ apartment. I saw two boys playing soccer tether ball (feet no hands) on a street sign nearby.

I had more fun shooting these kids for 5 minutes than I did in the seven days that I covered the shooting. I found myself wanting to find out more about these kids. What is their life like? why were they playing here instead of the nearby school yard? Will they be soccer stars one day?

Now I am far more interested in the back story of people, rather than the adrenaline charged moments of breaking news.

I plan to continue shooting editorial assignments and portraiture but I hope I will never have to put myself in these shoes again.

Primary Park

I took yesterday afternoon off from all things photographic and took my son to the park where I ended up taking pictures of him playing on the multicolored playground. Oh well at least I wasn’t sitting at the computer.

State Swimming

I don’t get to shoot prep sports much any more. So when I got the chance to shoot the 5A State Championship swimming I was actually excited. It feels like there is more genuine emotion in theses kids than you see in professional sports. Its always fun to watch.

Wild Art and Street Photography

Its funny, when you work at a newspaper its called a feature hunt or wild art. And depending on the frequency of these photo hunts it can be quite difficult to find a new and interesting picture every time. But when you do it for yourself, its street photography and a hell of a lot of fun. Here are a few frames I shot while running errands and attending meetings in Denver yesterday.

Thanks for taking a look!

North Dakota Ghosts

While shooting in North Dakota recently I took a day to do some photography for myself and wandered just south of the border with Canada. I found several abandoned buildings and churches on the high prairie. The ghost buildings are a reminder of the area’s agricultural past, a far cry from the current oil boom in the area.

 

 

 

Cirque du Soleil

I love shooting gymnasts/acrobats! In many ways I think that they are the best examples of what the human body is capable of. They are a combination of raw strength, endurance and flexibility. Unfortunately I had less than an hour to shoot them rehearsing before the opening night show at the Budweiser Events Center.

As always thanks for taking a look!

 

National Western Stock Show

I shot the National Western again this year. Its always a feast for the eyes and tons of fun to photograph. Thanks for Looking.

Return

So it has been over a year since I blogged last. I am not even totally sure why, though it does seem to coincide with the time that my daughter started crawling. Then her brother arrived last summer sooooo. We’ll see what happens when he starts walking.

So I think I’ll talk about the weather. I shot this photo yesterday after working my why around two road blocks to shoot an 18 car pile up on the highway. This poor guy was still a bit shaken up by the wreck. The scratches and bruises on his head are proof that this was no fender bender. I froze my butt off shooting this but that is nothing compared to what he went through.

ICE Raid Vigil

This past weekend we had  a vigil here in Greeley on the anniversary of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on the local meet packing plant. I was not working in Greeley at the time, but I heard about the raids. When I started here at the Tribune the ripples were still being felt six months later.

Families were torn apart as hundreds were arrested. Some were deported or jailed and others are still waiting for their day in court. The vigil was held in front of the Al Frente de la Lucha (At the Front of the Fight) community center in north Greeley.

Thanks for looking,

e