I have pictures! Lots! But no time to post them now because it’s 1:30 am and I’m leaving in a few hours to go to Savannah for four days to be a supportive big sister.

So, in somewhat light of the POYi awards and everything else, I’ll leave you with *this feature photograph* from what appears to be the Evening Herald in Dublin, Ireland (photog unknown) (arrows added for emphasis).

Perhaps it will give you cause for a few moments reflection about the more serious aspects of our profession - mainly those surrounding ethics of publication and photo choice, civic duty and the journalistic prerogative, and also that of impeccable timing.

Or maybe you’ll just laugh like I did.

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Over and out for the while. It’s my first trip to Savannah alone and I’ll be taking along my relatively new GPS unit, Burt (named for Burt Reynolds), for his first long run so we’ll see how he does and hopefully I won’t end up in Mississippi before I know what’s happening.

Remember back in November when I told you about this great portrait of a Hurricane Katrina survivor taken by Times-Picayune photog Ted Jackson, but I couldn’t find it online anywhere?

Well, it’s turned up on the internet finally, and in a pretty appropriate place.

“SEARCHING FOR SOLACE - KATRINA SURVIVOR” - First place, Portraits, Pictures of the Year International

(Thanks to Ben for pointing out the link)

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I’m using Firefox on Mac OSX… can anyone else see if there photographers credits with the photos? I can’t see em.

Ironic. You win a super awesome prize for your super awesome photo, but we aren’t going to tell anyone who you are! HAHAHA! (Note: There is a POYi Winners List… coming soon.)

Hmm.

Mystery solved.

Donny has yet another personal problem, this time at an airport, and shows us how to use the liquefy filter.

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annnd…. Mr. Hoyle hots up a Facebook photo for one lucky fan!

Yay!

I sincerely hope that in #8 he’ll put boobs on a Nicole Ritchie corn dog as suggested. That would be awesome.

Shot some womens tennis for the R&B on Wednesday. This is the second time I’ve ever shot a tennis match. The first time was indoors and such a horrifying experience I still shudder when thinking about it.

I’d like to think this turned out better. These two matches were side-by-side. And none of the opposing team, this time.

UGA womens No. 30 doubles team Naoku Ueshima and Yvette Hyndman

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Despite ever-lingering flu, Wednesday night I drug my ass, my camera stuff, a camping chair, mp3 player and a bottle of wine out behind my house in Athens and had a go at the lunar eclipse.

Jury is still out on the results.

We had clouds coming and going the entire time, and when the eclipse peaked, go figure, almost full cloud cover. ARG. It was still amazing, tho, and the wine was a nice touch.

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Hey, dudes, check it out.

It seems that if you’re a “bona fide professional journalist” with your FFL, and if you attended the FNH USA Writer’s Shoot at the Shot Show (”The Show That Supports Everything You Stand For”) in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, as a token of their appreciation for all your hard work and fair and balanced reporting and that mess, you coulda got you a free personalized engraved FNP-40 or FNP-9 pistol! Your choice!

Wow… free gun. Sure beats another pen.

And now there’s a photo gallery online where you can find Your Shot! Haha! 544 pictures, you gotta be in there somewhere…

.. … …

Really now. I mean, what the hell? Did I miss something? When did this become okay?

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Dear Nikon HB-29 Lens Hood,

In the list of Occasional Irritants, you are in my Top… 20.

I’d say you were somewhere near “Little Rock That Gets Really Stuck In The Tread Of My Boot And Makes Little ‘Scratch-Clack’ Noise Every Time I Walk On A Hard Surface” and “Dang… Stale Crackers.”

You were irritating, and now you have left me, and despite it all, I miss you.

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UFOs are really cool. I wish I had one in a small jar and could keep it as a pet. I’d probably name it Fred, or Eric, as in my relatively short life I’ve already had 7 pets named either Fred or Eric, and this seems like something I should keep going. Since the chances of ever having a little UFO of my own as a pet are pretty slim, I got to wondering about UFO sightings, at least, and of course, UFO photography. I did some research, and here I bring you the conclusions of my efforts.

As I have stated before, the US Copyright Office will not copyright your sighting of Elvis. Based on that and a general knowledge of copyright law, you can’t copyright a UFO sighting. You can, however, copyright your photo of Elvis or of a UFO, or Elvis in a UFO with Howard Hughes and Jimmy Hoffa in there too.

In the event you do see a UFO and your camera is conveniently accessible, here are some online tips and tutorials for photographing a UFO:

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Gymdogs vs. N.C. State at Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, this past Friday.

As previous post suggest, I was not on the top of my game. Felt like I hardly even nailed the standard stuff, much less made anything particularly exhilarating and otherwise awesome. I tried to keep an open mind picking photos for the blog. Reckon it worked out.

I feel like I kinda boogered this entire sequence, which annoys me. A whole lot of close-but-no-cigars. Part of it was my fault, part of it…photo fate.

University of Georgia Gymdogs wait at the edge of the tunnel in Stegeman Coliseum while the announcer introduces the North Carolina State team.

University of Georgia Gymdog Christi Fortunato runs through the smoke into the Stegeman Coliseum arena at the start of the Gymdog’s meet against N.C. State.

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I’ve been a combination of sick, stressed and miserable these last few weeks (ain’t worth talkin about) and in this I’ve discovered something that should have been obvious and probably was I just forgot.

Healthy, happy photojournalists are good photojournalists. Sick, stressed and miserable photojournalists might as well just stay home. Or be art photographers. Ha.

( This is a bit of a paradox in itself I think given what this job can do to us, happy or not )

I have not been on top of my game these last two weeks. Like… damn. I can feel it in my bones when I’m working and I see it on the contact sheet later and I cringe and want to do something awful like push over a three-legged kitten.

That’s about as thoughtful as I’m getting today, but uh… loose moral of the non-story… keep your shooters happy. Speak in pleasant tones, make sure they have a warm dark shelter to hide in, scratch them behind the ears every now and then, and if nothing else, buy them sugary treats at least once a week.

So thinking positive…

Things This Week That Made Me Happy:

1. William was outside on our front non-porch taking a smoke and a bird crapped on his head and it was HILARIOUS. All caps. HILARIOUS. See, kids, that’s what you get for smoking.
2. Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
3. Impromptu surprise birthday party Mark and I threw for Zac
   • homemade fruity pebble rice krispy treats + Hannah Montana balloon + Ernest Tubb + Johnny Cash + burned cookies + Jim Beam with a bow around it + noisemakers + cheap wine + pizza with french fries and bacon on top = awesome
4. COWSCAPES

Things Next Week That Are Going To Make Me Happy:

1. Hair dye

Wish me luck. Homework now. Photos from the last week soon. Happy shooting, everyone.