pwned

Pwned has moved!

2008-09-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Pwned has moved!
http://beckdiefenbach.com/blog/
or for RSS:
http://beckdiefenbach.com/blog/?feed=rss2

My blog will now be hosted on my own server via Wordpress. Many thanks to Erik Lunsford (and his blog) who really helped me get started. Without his help I would still be lost in the code... (wouldn’t we all?).

The Canon 5D Mark 2- stats analysis [WARNING: May contain camera jargon]

2008-09-18T21:16:00.001-07:00

So yes, the new Canon 5D Mark 2 looks amazing. I am sure the visual quality surpasses anything out there. It is a great step in the right direction. The 5D Mark 2 has built off what the Nikon D90 started (which came out a few weeks ago and was the first DSLR to do video).

5D Mark 2 strengths:

1080P video (D90 only does 720) 1080 should be good enough to pull stills as long as it is not too compressed.

12 Minutes until the buffer is filled (5 Min with the D90) If you shoot a clip longer than 12 minutes, then you’re doing it wrong.

Audio IN jack + built in mic (D90 only has built-in) Possibly the best thing the 5D brings to the table. I always use an external mic (wireless or shotgun) when shooting video. And you always need a built in mic as a back up.

21 Megapixels (13MP for D90) Fucking hell. 21? really? My D3 “only” has 12 and I have never felt like that wasn’t enough. When you are dealing with 200 dots per inch (only 72 for web) 21 is overkill and will just waste HD space. But whatever, the number is bigger so I guess that’s better for studio people.

Unlimited Jpeg- The buffer out-paces the shutter's frames-per-second. This means when shooting jpeg format (instead of RAW) you can put your finger on the trigger and never let go (until your card fills up).

$2,700 (that’s about $1,000 less than the original 5D Mark 1 when it came out)

25,600 ISO- Nikon D3 did this a year ago.

5D Mark 2 weakness:

4 frames per second- No where near what I need for sports, or even news for that matter. D3 does max of 11 FPS.

No Vertical Grip- Humans see horizontal, yes. But every so often vertical works better, i.e. portraits and sports. Yes you can just tilt the camera on it’s side. But for sports this is a bitch. Also, being a half-body means less buttons. Less buttons means the menu system has to be utilized more. Photogs always bypass the menu for a dedicated button when possible. Menus slow photogs down.

Build Quality- Half bodies are never built to last the abuse given by photogs.

What I want (Ideally in the Nikon D4, when ever it comes out):

15 MP- allows for cropping but won’t fill up my HD and DVD-Rs.

1080i- I need to be able to pull stills

20 Minutes of Video on the buffer- If I am interviewing someone I do not want to have to... oh wait, shoot, hold that thought...I just need to restart this camera.

Audio IN Jack + built in mic + Audio IN through the camera’s hotshoe- This way I can wireless mic someone while recording natural sound through a clean shotgun.

10 FPS- At least this, maybe 12 FPS

Full body- half bodies are for pansies

In conclusion:
The new Canon 5D Mark 2 is great, but not yet what a photo staffs need, just like the Nikon D90. But it is a step in the right direction!

Photo staffs need to invest in gear that is applicable with everything they shoot. I want to only have to cary 1 set of gear. Not still AND video gear... just the right gear.

Frankly, I am actually kind of surprised that Canon chose the 5D Mark 2 to start doing video. They should have done it with the Canon 50D (more consumerish, on par with the Nikon D90 or Nikon D300). The 5D series is designed for: (1) studio photogs (they do not care about video, yet) and (2) rich ass-holes (the photo market doesn’t care about, nor do I). For these reasons I do not think the 5D Mark 2’s video capability will get much play. We may not be seeing many videos produced on 5D’s.

Canon already has both of their top-end camera slots filled in the past year:
1D Mark 3- Designed for photojournalists with 10 MP at 10FPS
1Ds Mark 3- Designed for Studio photogs with 26 MP at 3 FPS

Nikon only has the D3 out as of last year.
D3- Designed for photojournalist 12MP at 9 FPS or 6MP at 11FPS

Nikon has a chance her to really “serve a death blow” to Canon with their next high-end camera, probably going to be called the Nikon D3x. It will have 24MP we know that for sure. The problem is that it will probably only have 3-5 FPS, thus only for studio photogs.

We will just have to wait for the Nikon D4 or Canon 1D Mark 4 to see where these video capable DSLRs really go...

Flooding hits Missouri

2008-09-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Water came in everywhere, and it took a lot with it. To the residents of the St. Louis western suburbs, the remnants of Hurricane Ike seemed like more than just a storm. This was a flood some had not seen in thirty years, but will be remembered for much longer.

Sunday was a day off for me. After having worked an extra long day covering the Missouri vs Nevada game in Columbia, Mo., I was awoken the following morning by hard rain on the four skylights in my apartment’s ceiling. Around 10:20 AM I received a call from my assignment editor, asking weather I was willing to work on my day off.

“The city is floating away,” he said.

I immediately agreed. My portfolio is lacking any good “spot news” images. I probably would have spent the day working on applications for internships and jobs, but this was more important.

I called one of the other photographers who was also covering the flood, Robert Cohen. He directed me to an intersection in Brentwood, a suburb, less than 10 minutes away from my place. I grabbed my two issued Canon cameras and got in my car.

I immediately came across obstacles.

Roads were blocked everywhere. Either by police cars, road barriers, or feet of water. I currently live in Webster Groves, which borders a few other suburban towns along Deer Creek, a major source of the flooding. I was still trying to find the intersection in Brentwood that Cohen had told me about. I was forced to weave through the maze of suburban streets. I found myself lost in no time.

I decided to just stay close to where the river should be. I’ll find my news there.

By the time I was starting to take pictures, the flood waters had crested. People had given up on their homes and cars. Now they all watched and waited.

Canon 1D Mark 2 N with 17-35mm f2.8, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/1600 of a sec
One of the first people in the water I came across was a man from the local gas company who had come to these condominiums. He had been ordered to shut off their gas lines. Without any protective clothing, he walked straight into the buildings basement in search of the shut off valve.

Canon 1D Mark 2 N with 17-35mm f2.8, 640 ISO, f2.8 at 1/8000 of a sec
I continued to make my way around the creek, finally arriving in Brentwood at the intersection I was trying to find. There was one business already trying to clean up. This tire shop had sustain only a few inches of water.

Canon 1D Mark 2 N with 17-35mm f2.8, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/3200 of a sec
Down the street, huge tractor tires littered the sidewalk. They had been dragged blocks away from the store where they came from. Lumber and other warehouse inventory had floated for nearly a mile down-stream.

So far, all I had covered was the business side or the storm. Waters had nearly receded entirely. Now I needed the home element. I had spent the past few hours driving around making images of families waiting. Now they were getting in their homes and assessing the damage.

I grabbed some food on the way back to the Deer Creek area, only to find all my Canon Camera batteries were dead. So I swung by my apartment and grabbed my personal Nikon cameras.

I returned to a street where at least half the block had a few feet or more of water inside the homes. One of the house’s lawn was covered in damaged furniture, books and carpet. The home was occupied by an elderly couple and one of their sons. The family let me in and that’s where I stayed for a few hours.

Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/320 of a sec
The grandmother and her daughter-in-law were debating weather or not to keep the flood-damaged bible. The grandmother decided to keep it.

Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/100 of a sec
The books had swelled so much with flood water, no one could pull them out of the shelf.

Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 4000 ISO, f4 at 1/160 of a sec
After stripping out all the carpet and padding from the living room, it was the grandson’s job to clean out the residual dirt and water with the shop vac.

A little bit later I found my way into the grandparent’s bedroom. This was a touchy situation because this was their personal room with the most valuable family pieces. Few which were spared. I watched as the grandmother and her daughter dragged soggy items, piece by piece, out of the bedroom closet. Future Christmas presents, clothes and old bills were now damaged and destroyed.

Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 3200 ISO, f4 at 1/30 of a sec
Later, they came across the birth certificates and house deed, all damaged by the water.

Nikon D3 with 12-24mm f4, 3200 ISO, f4 at 1/60 of a sec
The grandfather was cleaning too. But he would take a step back and just watch every now and then. I do not think I ever saw him without a cigarette in hand. Something to deal with the stress, I imagine. They had no flood insurance.

At about this point I had already worked more than a full shift and people back in the newsroom needed my images for the Web site and the next day’s paper. I headed home and transfered what I had to the photo desk.

Today I went into the office at my usual shift start time of 10:00 A.M, tired from yesterday’s long day. I was immediately turned around to go find more images of the effects of the flood. David Carson, a fellow photog, had stepped in as the assignment editor for the day. He told me that I needed to take the day to work on finding a good spot new image.

“News gets jobs, “ he said, refereeing to the gap in my portfolio.

I followed up on ever house I had stopped by the day before. But I needed to find something new. I had been in contact with a writer who directed me to an apartment park in Brentwood which had been hit hard apparently. That was an understatement.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2
A couch, which had floated to the ceiling of an apartment living room, took out the window and most of the wall when the receding waters rushed out. Below the couch is his 60-inch LCD television.

The resident, a 27-year old Texas native, had just arrived back in St. Louis after visiting his family in the Lone Star State for the first days of Hurricane Ike. He said his family was not really hit at all, just some rain. He came home to find his apartment destroyed.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2
I had never seen the effects of a flooding so close. I was surprised to find that after a flooding, not everything stays wet for very long. Furniture eventually dries out. What the flood leaves is dirt and mud. Anything no taken by the flood waters, is covered in a thin film of dirt from the nearby creek.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2

Thankfully I can say I have never experienced a natural disaster so closely. I was only 4 years old in the 1989 San Francisco earthquake and our house was fine. I selfishly hope I only have to experience these events on the backside of my viewfinder, and not find myself in front of the lens.

Back 2 Back Football

2008-09-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

Friday night was the typical high school football routine. This week was Granite City vs Belleville West.

Canon Mark 2 N with 400mm f2.8

What made this weekend different was that the next morning I got up early to drive out west to Columbia, Mo., to cover the University of Missouri's destruction of the University of Nevada's defensive line. Missouri beat Nevada 69 to 17. I have never seen a score get run up like that.

Canon Mark 2 N with 400mm f2.8

Canon Mark 2 N with 400mm f2.8

Canon Mark 2 N with 400mm f2.8

Canon Mark 2 N with 400mm f2.8

And the one that ran in the paper...

Canon Mark 2 N with 400mm f2.8

Another day of portraits

2008-09-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Canon 1D Mark 2 with 50mm f2.5 (yes, 2.5), 800 ISO, f8 at 1/125 of a sec

This was a story meant to highlight this local woman's red velvet cupcakes. When I saw the red chair in her living room I knew I hit jackpot. After rearrange her furniture, I came up with this image.

First week in St. Louis, MO

2008-08-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

Last Monday I started my internship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I have shot a few assignments- having used a lot of my time here learning the system of the PD and getting around the my new city. In my first week here in St. Louis I have been able to shoot a large range of assignments. One of my first jobs was to shoot a portrait of a local business woman.

Susan Elliott was one of the first women hired by IBM as a programmer. As always, I tried to shoot more than one portrait with her. One themed and one not so themed. I do this incase some miscommunication between myself and the writer causes my themed portrait to be inappropriate for the story.

I arrived at Mrs. Elliott’s office building about half an hour early so I could grab a sandwich and walk around scouting for locations. The assignment sheet even suggested some nice red brick buildings in the area. I found a nice shady spot underneath a tree with a red brick wall has a backdrop. This would be my “unthemed” portrait because it could pretty much go along with any story about the individual. “Local business woman starts new internet company,” or “Local business woman save cat from tree.” That kind of stuff.

I had borrowed lights from another photographer and planned on lighting the shot. But of course I forgot that the lights were not battery operated. My lights from both previous internships ran off batteries. I felt bad having made this lady walk all the way out to this tree, so I shot it anyway so not to make her feel like it was all for nothing.

Canon EOS-1D with 70-200mm f2.8, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/500 of a sec

For my themed portrait I asked if she could show me around the office of her company. She showed me the cubicles and private offices. Nothing interested me. Then Mrs. Elliott mentioned their newly redesigned server room in the basement. Perfect!

Canon EOS-1D Mark 2 with 17-35mm f2.8

I really wish I had a third light to illuminate the area behind her head so that her hair didn’t blend with the background, but I worked with what I had.

Later that week I shot high school football. Oh high school football, how I have missed you. Your nasty lighting, and terrible smell are so unique. The great thing about high school football is that you can pretty much go anywhere you want (minus the actually playing area of the field). This was the first week of the games so I tried to shoot off the field as well.

Canon EOS-1D Mark 2 with 17-35mm f2.8

Canon EOS-1D Mark 2 with 300mm f2.8

Canon EOS-1D Mark 2 with 300mm f2.8

Arriving in St. Louis

2008-08-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

I have just arrived in St. Louis after 4 days of driving across middle America. This was my tenth time driving from the west coast to the mid-west and I plan to be here for three months. I did the drive with my dad this time, and together we ruled I-50 and I-70 all the way from the Golden Gate to the Gateway Arch.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/200 of a sec

I will be living in this great room to myself on top of a detached garage from the house of another photographer from the paper I will be working at, the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Technically I am in a western suburb, Western Groves, which appears to have some historic downtown. More on that another time.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 800 ISO, f4 at 1/100 of a sec

I start my internship at the St. Louis Post Dispatch tomorrow. I am extremely excited and have very high hopes for this next season of work. I took the Summer off and am now very eager to start assignments again. Pictures of friends are great, but I am ready to move on.

Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA

2008-08-11T22:27:00.009-07:00

I just got back from my second major trip of the summer: my family's annual week-long trip to Drakesbad Guest Ranch in Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern California. After carrying my camera non-stop for six straight weeks in Europe, I thought I should relax my already over 20,000 actuated D3 shutter and keep it off the dusty trails of one of our most overlooked National Parks. But I just could not help myself.

Below are just a few images from the trip. Because I have family and friends who complain about the lack of images I tend to post, click here for a full photo gallery from the trip if you care so much. (WARNING: this photo gallery may contain embarrassing photos of family members, sister's boyfriends, and godmothers drinking hard cider).

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 3200 ISO, f2 at 1/40 of a sec
My dad

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/200 of a sec
Discussing hiking trails around Lake Tahoe

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 1600 ISO, f2, 1/60 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 3200 ISO, f2, 1/30 of a sec
My sister pouting because she was loosing in cards to her little brother.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 1600 ISO, f2 at 1/25 of a sec
Campfire in Warner Valley

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 4000 ISO, f2 at 1/20 of a sec
Star gazing

Castlebar, Ireland: green is everywhere

2008-07-31T16:53:00.008-07:00

Castlebar is a medium sized town of about 12,000 people. More notably, it is the home town of Dwayne Corcoran. Born in 1986, his family immigrated to the United States when he was three years old. Our traveling trio had planned on spending three days in Castlebar, but after only two days in Dublin we were ready to move on, adding the extra days to Dwayne’s hometown.

The unofficial motto of this trip tended to be “relaxed travel.” We had spent a week in each city: Budapest, Prague, Munich, Paris, Brussels (not Dublin). This gave us ample time to not just see, but experience each city. To come as close to living in the town, without actually having to find jobs.

Castlebar is not the capital of a European country. And even though we were living with Dwayne’s Aunt Helen near the town center, we spent most of the time visiting his aunts and uncles who still lived in the surrounding farm country. This part felt like an entirely different trip. If the previous five weeks had been five course meal of Central and Western Europe, this last week was glass of brandy to settle our stomachs.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f9 at 1/400 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f9 at 1/125 of a sec

Early in the week we visited Dwayne’s uncle Joe, who lived on a farm outside of Castlebar. We walked amongst the cows for a long while. Dwayne showed Ian and I an 800-year-old watch tower (now only a single wall), which resided on a small hill on his uncle’s land.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f4.5 at 1/400 of a sec
Dwayne searching the remnants of the 800-year-old watch tower for fossilized goods.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f4 at 1/1000 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f2 at 1/3200 of a sec
Hoping electric fences to reach the hill top.

We spent the rest of our evening resting on the hill watching the burning sun set fire to a line of trees on the horizon.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f2 at 1/3200 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f2 at 1/640 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f2 at 1/800 of a sec

The next day, Aunt Helen took us to Croagh Patrick, a holy mountain near Westport, about three minutes west of Castlebar, straddling the Atlantic Ocean. Every year a pilgrimage is made up these rocky slopes, many people with bare feet.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f8 at 1/160 of a sec
At the base of Croagh Patrick

The hike was difficult, and at times treacherous, as the rain began to fall on us in bucket loads. But the final view was worth it.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/1250 of a sec
View from the top of Croagh Patrick.

Every day we were meeting more of Dwayne’s past. His old families, old friends and old homes. We stopped by one home which he used to live in as a small child. Currently, a relative lives there with two young boys. Dwayne had not been back in Ireland for three years, so neither child remembered him (one was not even born then). Hopefully Dwayne was able to make an impression that may last till next time he comes back to the homeland.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/3200 of a sec
Dwayne with the younger of the two children living in his old house.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/1600 of a sec
Cows residing at Dwayne’s old house.

Faster than any other destination, Castlebar was gone. It may have had the least to offer a random passer-by, but we left with the most. Having met so many of Dwayne’s family was a fantastic treat. Getting to experience the rolling hills of the deepest green Ireland has to offer made it the most magical destination by far.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/100 of a sec
Our plane departing Shannon, Ireland, for home.

Now I am back in San Francisco, but tomorrow I leave for a family vacation and will be unable to update this blog for a little over a week. I’ll make sure to bring back some nice images from Lassen Volcanic National Park on my return.

Dublin: The land of real Guinness

2008-07-30T14:45:00.008-07:00

I am now back home in San Francisco (arrived Monday), but I still want to make a few more posts describing our last week of the trip in Ireland. This Friday I will be leaving for another trip, to Lassen Volcanic National Park, in which there will be absolutely no internet (no electricity either) so the Europe trip posts will be done by then.

Dublin- So incase you did not know, Ireland is an island. Yeah, mind blowing right? While planing our trip, we came across the problem that trains do not travel on water. So how do you get form Brussels to Dublin? Well, you fly.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f22 at 1/125 of a sec
Walking up the flight of stairs to our plane

Flying, even for only an hour and a half, felt very odd after 5 weeks of trains through Europe. Security checks and that sticky airport air replaced the relaxed attitude and open-air fee of train stations.

First thing after getting into Dublin, Ian, Dwayne and I visited the Guinness Store House. This is more of a museum with a souvenir shop than anything else. No Guinness is made in the building. But there are some pretty good exhibits explaining the process. For example, the water that is used to make the beer. I can’t imagine they use this actual water, but the waterfall was cool nonetheless.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 500 ISO, f 2 at 1/250 of a sec
Waterfall at Guinness Store House

And of course you get the free Guinness at the end of the tour. Best... Guinness... ever.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f5.6 at 1/125 of a sec
Dwayne and Ian enjoying their Guinnesses (Guinnessi?)

We spent the rest of our time in Dublin walking around the city, through St. Stephen’s Green. This provide many images of Dwayne and Ian’s gay honey moon (the real reason for our trip).

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f5.6 at 1/200 of a sec

And of course, more pints of Guinness were in order.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 6400 ISO, f2 at 1/60 of a sec

We were scheduled to stay in Dublin for five nights, but after only two nights we decided to move on. We probably could have spent more time in the city, but we were eager to spend more time in Castlebar (Dwayne’s home town). So after our second night in our hostel, he hustled out out of there.

Nikon D3 with 35mm, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/30 of a sec
Rushing out of the Dublin hostel to make our train for Castlebar, Ireland (Dwayne's hometown)

Day Trip to Bruges

2008-07-21T02:40:00.008-07:00

I am still kind of behind in the posts but in case you are confused, Ian, Dwayne and I are currently in Dwayne's hometown in Castlebar, Ireland and our trip ends in just a few days. Here is a post that backtracks to when we went on a day trip to Bruges, Belgium while still residing in Brussels.

Brussels- Day four
We took a day trip to Bruges. It is a small, historically beautiful town about an hour train ride north of Brussels, Begium. I knew nearly nothing about Bruges expect for some screen shots I had seen from reviews of a recent movie titled "In Bruges." which wasn't shown much in the States, and I never saw it.

The Beguinage, a convent in Bruges

But Bruges does live up to the hype of being a architectural historic gem. It is an extremely beautiful town. You can easily forget that it is still an actual city in which people actually live. I found myself getting lost in the Disneyland feel, wondering what was going on inside all of these extremely quaint buildings.

The Madonna and Child (1505) by Michelangelo Buonarotti in Our Lady's Church in Bruges.

Bruges is also known for its chocolate. We went to the chocolate museum, which was kind of a waste of time. I think we were expecting a Willy Wonka Factory experience, and instead, received a history lesson on the Aztecs... yawn.

The museum tour did get us into the mood for some chocolate. Dwayne and I were finished after visiting one chocolate boutique, eating about seven to eight pieces of chocolate. In fact, I was even a little stomach sick after that "little" amount. Ian put Dwayne and I to shame. Ian had the drive to try as many different shops as possible until he could eat no more.

After visiting at least four stores, and eating a significant portion of Belgian chocolate, Ian was down for the count. Enough to make me sick the entire day, but just enough to make Ian sleepy.

Ian resting on Dwayne's shoulder, exhausted form chocolate

Brussels, minus the sprouts

2008-07-21T01:49:00.009-07:00

Brussels-
As I near the end of this trip, memories of so many similar western European cities have begun to blur together. I have gotten very tired of shooting nearly identical churches, sunsets over rivers, and fun moments with Ian and Dwayne (they all happen too often). Thankfully, Brussels has brought something slightly different.

Our hostel was the white building to the right of the statue.

Our hostel was located on the very beautiful and oddly quite rotary near the Botanical Gardens of Brussels. Although we did not have a balcony view on to the Vltava River, like we did in Prague, this was a very nice mini-park to walk past when ever arriving or departing from our temporary home.

On my very first day in the city, I walked a great deal around the eastern side of town, starting from the newly transformed Middle Eastern neighborhood, to the rich lavish houses, and finally the historical stone archways. This city is changing/growing very rapidly.

There are cranes everywhere. Skyscrapers bookend the the older generation of construction throughout the city. This is the first city we have been in where such tall buildings were not so rare.

This constant growth goes beyond buildings. New languages are permeating the menus, ads, and walls all over this city. Although the two major languages are still French and Flemish (Netherlands). The country is so split by the two languages that it is not uncommon to find multiple ads repeating themselves in each language.

The same advertisment. Once in French (left), and once in Flemish.

This split is so strong that during the week we were in Brussels, the Belgian Government hit a standstill and the Prime Minister offered his resignation based off of reconcilable difference between the two language sides of Parliament.

Later that day there was a small protest down city center streets. Not sure what is was for because I hadn't found out about the governments dissolution until afterwards.

This has made Brussels (and Belgium as a whole) much different than previously visited Western European Countries. Oh, and the fact that we had muscles and wine for breakfast one morning.

Ian (left), Dwayne and I enjoying our breakfast of shrimp, mussels and hite wine.

Paris- finding the places that matter

2008-07-17T02:01:00.005-07:00

Paraphrased from my journal-
July 10, 7:45 P.M.
Paris- Two days ago was my first day exploring the Paris. In that time I discovered some great hidden treasures. First was a little boulangerie on the small island east of the island housing the Notre Dame on the Siene River. I bought a sandwich there which was fantastic. I instantly knew that boulangeries would be my best friend in Paris.

Luxembourg Garden

Later I found the Luxembourg Garden. This garden is by far my favorite in the city (I have visited several of them now). The Luxembourg Garden has more usable space and less people than the more popular Jardin des Tuileries. Little sail boats fill the pond and small children run around it with sticks, attempting to lead their ships on a course across the pond.

Unexpectedly, there was a series of about 25 large print photos dealing with controversial issues from the past 10-15 years, hung on the exterior of the fence surrounding the garden. Most of the photojournalism on display was fantastic and really grabbed the attention of everyone walking by.

Statue in the Paris Pantheon

Later that day I found a Canadian bookstore in which I bought the entire Lord of the Rings series (in one book). I just finished the Hobbit a few days ago. In the bookstore I met a French-American author who had written a biographical book about a female photojournalist in WW2. She and I exchanged lots of ideas concerning women in photojournalism in the past in contrast to today. Even though she had obviously researched women's role in the history of journalism, she was not aware of the current state of things.

Water bottle fight in our extremely tiny room in Paris.

Today I went to the Louve with Ian and Dwayne. Ian went very early in the morning, getting there just as the doors where opening. Dwayne and I opted for the more sleep option. After the Louve, I attempted to nap in the Jardin des Tuileries but it was too loud and the chairs not comfortable enough. I also attempted to read, but I found myself to sleepy. It is a rough life. So I grabbed a sandwich on the way home and took a long nap in my bed. I think it will be another relaxing night of reading and writing- unless Dwayne and Ian have anything to say about that.

Paris- Day 1, meeting a local

2008-07-14T07:27:00.009-07:00

Paraphrased from my journal
July 9
Paris- On our first day in Paris (July 7), Dwayne, Ian and I arrived at our hostel located on the far north side of the city. In fact, the hostel was so far north, the street it was on did not exist on my map. Thankfully, we found the place without much trouble, and we arrived in the early evening.

On the train to Paris, I had only eaten a raisin croissant (which I pretended was lunch). So after dropping off our bags, our first order of business for Paris was food. Our hostel's receptionist, Reggie, recommended a small restaurant down the steep hill from the front door of our building.

"The french cuisine there is f**king incredible," he said.

The restaurant did not open for dinner for another hour, so Reggie suggested a stroll to the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart Basilica). About two blocks away from the front steps of the Basilica we came across a little, old lady (she was truly very small and quite elderly). We were walking our normal pace (as fast as three young men would) thus we overtook her quite quickly. As we came to pass her, she immediately engaged us, with French flowing at us like a waterfall. She spoke so fast that even Dwayne could only understand her every dozen words or so. She was very nice and seemed well intentioned so we continued walking with her, with Dwayne nodding so often and responding in a few french words here or there. She reached for Dwayne's hand and he helped lead her down the cobblestone sidewalk.

So there we were in front of the Basilica. Dwayne is discussing something with an elder lady. Ian strolled about 6 feet back, I did as well (taking many pictures). Every so often Dwayne would come to believe he partially understood what this little woman was saying and would translate a brief portion for Ian and I. Apparently she was saying something about the beauty of Paris, and something about her two sons as well (we think).

Eventually we reached the steps of the Basilica. The lady reached out her empty left hand toward me and I stepped forward and Dwayne and I helped her climb the stairs to the entrance. I left her to open the door, and that's where we separated.

At first we were concerned that she would continue to need our help, but she moved along ahead and continued as she probably has done hundreds of times before. The three of us walked along the left side of the church, watching her with a naive sense of concern until we saw her sitting down and praying. The Basilica and its beauty seemed pretty trivial at this point, so we left and made our way to dinner during what was already a great first day in Paris.

Catching up: Munich, Memories and Museums (w/ images)

2008-07-08T13:30:00.007-07:00

First I'd like to explain my lack of posts over the last week. Last week, we continued our trip by traveling from Prague to Munich- staying at the Wombat's Youth Hostel for 6 nights. The hostel was outfitted with computers which lacked any USB port- the only way I can upload images to this blog (unedited images mind you).

Yesterday, we took two trains to get to Paris and I have found an internet cafe in which I can now upload images. Without further delay...

Surfers in Munich's enormous English Garden.

Paraphrased from my journal-
July 4, 8:06 AM (Friday)
Munich- I just realised that it is the fourth of July. Weird I forgot about that until I woke up and checked my watch. Two days ago, a day after arriving in Munich, I ran into another old friend of mine. While having drinks with my travel mates, Ian and Dwayne, in the Wombar (the trendy pub on the lobby floor our our hostel), a tall scruffy man with a stained white shirt and dirty messy hair walked up to me and asks, "are you Beck?"

The stairs in our hostel.

I was taken back by 1)we were the same height, thus I was looking level at his eye (not usual for me) and 2)did I mention i was in Munich, Germany and this random guy just said my name?

"Yes I am," I replied.

"I'm Greg Keeney."

The name instantly registered in my brain with an image of a short twig-like blond boy in an over sized boy scout uniform (moms buy them big so you grow into them), a shirt that was never tucked in. This did not look like Keeney- we typically go by last names in Boy Scouts, except the case of myself, since for some reason 'Beck' is easier than 'Diefenbach.' Go figure.

The church with 'the devil's footprint.'

I have not seen Keeney for about 5 years, ever since i finished high school and left Troop 14, of San Francisco. Last I remember him, he was about 5'3" (now easily 6'2") and had an extremely unique raspy voice (still had it). I made a quick search around his face for anything else recognizable to verify his previous statement. There was a moment there where I actually didn't believe this 20-something guys standing in front of me. As though the prospect of an impostor attempting to con me with the story of a long-lost friend was actually possible.

The voice is what did it for me. No one else had this sound, and half a second later I initiated the only expression one can think of when this predicament arises: astonishment.

I find out he's been working as an intern in Europe for 6 months and is leaving to go home (the U.S.) the next day. When I heard this I knew I needed to spend the evening with Keeney recalling old stories of Troop 14, as well as fill in the 5 year gap from the present. Keeney invited my to a beer hall on the western side of town and I immediately agreed.

Making friends in Mubich beer gardens is very common.

It was a nostalgia-filled evening in which both of us acknowledged our interest in getting back involved with the troop in some form.

We ended back where we started, in our hostel's bar, and separated with well wishes and hopes to run into each other again- not likely in Europe.

Father and daughter rubbing a stature for good luck- missed the name of the statue.

July 4, Afternoon
Munich- Yesterday, Dwayne, Ian and I visited the Deustche Museum on the other side of the Munich. Munich is small enough you can walk anywhere you want to go, as we did this day. Literally translated, Deustche Museum means 'German Museum.' But a more accurate name would be 'German Science Museum.' It is packed with German innovations(and some non-German) covering tons of topics from musical instruments to space exploration.

The incredible mining exhibit in the underground levels of the Deutsche Museum.

The museum teaches the timeline of science with the origination, development and current status of most technologies used today as well as obsolete tools. It holds the first Diesel engine (which got a surprising 20 horsepower) and a fully intact German U-Boat military submarine.

The half a dozen floors of knowledge was very overwhelming. We easily lost track of time and before we knew it we were being escorted out because the building was closing for the night. We all felt we had missed so much that we wanted to see. Ian and I never got to experience the nearly full-size coal and precious ore mine in the basement levels of the building. Dwayne never got to experience the bio-chemistry section as well as many others. Although we only have a few days left in Munich, we plan on going back and seeing what we missed. Good thing I brought my old college student card, resulting in some fantastic Museum entrance discounts!

Later in the week we also visited the Dachau Concentration Camp located a few miles outside of Munich.

Dwayne visiting the prison chambers of the Dachau WW2 Internment Camp outside of Munich.

The Jewish Memorial site at Dachau.

Once again, sorry for the later than normal post. I will make up for lost time with another Munich post soon, and hopefully catch up with Paris experiences before we leave!

A tired Ian on the train leaving Munich, Germany for Paris, France.

Prague and Praha

2008-06-29T00:31:00.011-07:00

Prague- There are two different cities here. Prague and Praha. Prague is the internationally known city where tourists come to see the famous St. Vitus Cathedral surrounded by a castle were hundreds crowd around to watch the ceremonial changing of the guards every noon. Praha is where the citizens of Prague live and work, unless they work in Prague.

One of the many bridges crossing the Vtava River in Prague.

Every major tourist destination has these split personalities. One is a facade of a town which we are told actually existed and functioned as a normal town several decades, or even centuries ago. This fraction of the city still provides a very important economic and cultural role for every resident involved, but never seems to fully reciprocate the feeling with the actual town, in this case Praha.

A park in Praha.

Praha is the Czech spelling of Prague. Like when an actual Parisian pronounces Paris, "Pari," unlike the American emphasis on the "s." Although, this does involves an entire different spelling of the name of the city. This alternate spelling is not solely and English affair. In German it is spelled "Prag."

This difference in spelling may merely be an issue of semantics, but it relates to a separation in the city as a whole. Two days ago, Ian and I set off to do some shopping across the north end of the Vtava River, outside of the tourist boarder of Prague, Praha. We scaled through local parks and side streets to find your typical busy city full of trolleys and pedestrians. Nothing more and nothing less than the financial district of San Francisco, minus the super tall buildings.

Nearly all buildings in Prague are about six stories tall. This buiding is across the courtyard behind our own building.

As said before, every tourist town as this. But Prague sets the bar for its separation of historic and function. Never have I seen such a dramatic drop in travelers when I cross a single road. The old Jewish Quarter in Prague is packed, shoulder to shoulder with tourists, guides and store owners, but none exists outside of the six square block section. When you leave Prague and enter Praha you literally feel like it's a different town.

An apartment building in Praha.

While on the train to Prague from Budapest, we met an older American couple who explained to us that around 60% of Prague's GDP comes from tourism. I'm not sure if this statistic is accurate, but it sure feels right when walking through the city. Budapest felt nothing like this. Budapest felt like a regular city which happened to have some land marks which some visitors might like to see. There were no neighborhoods devoted to tourism. Prague doesn't just have squares, or streets, but entire neighborhoods, 100% devoted to tourists.

It is very possible that this is only an initial reaction to a fact of a continent that has been around for much longer than the country I was raised in- that I am yet to grasp the understanding of how real tourist destinations righteously function.

I really do love Prague. It is small enough to walk anywhere a traveler may need or want to go. And living here would not be so bad- known of those damn tourists would get in your way. You live in Praha, while they are visiting Prague.

Prague Day 1: Trains, friends and trains

2008-06-25T12:34:00.013-07:00

Copied from my journal
6/25 8:15 A.M. Central Europe Time Zone

Prague- It took about 10 hours, with no sleep for 36 hours, and we had a race against time to transfer train stations in Vienna, but we made it to Prague, or as the locals call it, Praha.

St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

Walking through the gardens of Prague Castle with Anjali, a friend we made in Budapest.

With a 6 A.M. train out of Budapest, I deceided to not sleep the night before, in fear of sleeping through my alarm. Although I truely wish I could have slept that night, the groginess I felt all day yesterday was worth the security of knowing we should not miss our first train.

Unfortunatly, I felt terrible the following day of travel. Never was I able to sleep for more than on hour at a time on the train due to the uncomfortable seats, sudden joting of the cab, or pain of hunger in my stomach.

On top of this, we had a very close call of missing our train transfer in Vienna. We had a one hour "lay-over" in Vienna, but our arrival and departure stations were about 2 kilometers apart.

The debacle started when our first train (from Budapest to Vienna) arrived 15 minutes late in Vienna's Western station. No, there were no cowboys on horseback to great us. So now we had 45 minutes to get to the Vienna Southern Stations. 15 minutes later and we were off our platfrom, found the info booth to figure out how to get to the other station, bought the tickets for the tram to the other station, go back to the info booth to find out if the tickets we got were the right ones and finally made our way to the platform.

We had 30 minutes left to go (with a 20 minutes tram ride ot fit in there). While waiting at the tram station, we consulted a map to determine how many stops it should take us to get to the other train station. As we face the map with our backs to the tracks, our #18 tram comes... and goes. Note to self: all three travelers need not be consulting the map together at the same time.

Another 5 minutes, and again the #18 tram swings by. We jump on and hope for no more delays. The trams eventually goes underground which allows for faster stops and less time between them. This is when I realize that this may be the only chance we get to see Vienna on our trip. Now most of what I know about Vienna is underground.

We get to the Southern Station, still no cowboys, with only minutes to spare. We find our platfrom, get our tickets validated at the ticket window and rush to our platfrom. As we are placing our bags on the racks above our seats the horn begins to blow, signaling the departure. Made it.

--------------------------

Our hostel in Praha looks nothing like a hostel. We each have seperate twin beads in a private room with loads of space. 12 foot tall ceilings are decorated as though this hostel used to be a very nice, chic, apartment. We even have a private balcony opening to a fantastic view of the river and across to the other side. The kitchen is very modern and living room feels too clean.

Dwayne and our private room's view

Large, empty, white walls surround every room and trendy blue spotted comforters cover each each bed. If the Loft Hostel in Budapest was the teen Eurotrip movie set, this is the Jason Bourne Aprtment in the Bourne Identity.

Streets of Prague

The downside of having a private room and much quieter common room is that the likelyhood of making friends here is much lower. But the amount and quality of sleep will improve a lot. Making friends in hostels increases the overall experience of a trip.

Chilling on the Danube

Walking with friends on the bridge of the Danube at sunset

Without the friends we made in Budapest, we never would have found the blues bands in a basement bar, stuffed our faces at Mongolian BBQ, or partied on the bank of the Danube River. Connections get you into and inform you about places you neevr would have seen otherwise had you stayed in a hotel.

Walking around Budapest with hostel mates

Budapest Day 3 and 4: budgeting, bands, and bars

2008-06-21T08:52:00.015-07:00

Copied from my journal:
6/20 19hr (7 PM)
Budapest- Even though we have only been here for three days, I decided to do some math to figure out what my spending has been. So far, I have spent about $34/day - which is about $4 more than I was planning for food alone. About 40% of daily spending is on items other than food (metro tickets, bike rentals, and bath fees). So I am doing pretty well I think.

Louise, our Aussie roommate

But it seems I have two different exchange rates to work off of. Yahoo.com gave me a market rate of 153 Ft to one US dollar (confirmed with other local sources as well). This has been my day to day conversion running in my head (which is about as easy as explaining the US electoral college system). But when I withdrew 25,000 Ft from the airport ATM the day we arrived in Budapest, Wells Fargo claims that I withdrew the equivalent of $156 which equates to about 160 Ft to the Us Dollar. This lowers my spending to about $32/day. Kick Ass.

Today Ian, Dwayne and I biked through Margaret Island. It is a large Golden Gate Park-like island with fountains, old ruins and very nice views of the city.

Eventually we left the island and made it to the Buda s of the Danube River, where we barely escaped with our lives from the crazy Hungarian drives. Pedestrians and bikers have nearly no rights in this country. Even at cross walks, you have to wait until the 50 km/hr taxis clear out of the street before you even think to look to see if it is clear. Must rent scooter!

Not from journal, but added on the spot-
After our bike ride, we rested at home before heading our to watch our hostel's host (a Hungarian named Ferci) play in his band in a bar around the corner. We had some extra time to kill before the show started, so we got some food and beers (no law against open containers in public) and walked along the river at sunset.

The band and the bar were fantastic. The band has a blues style, in which Ferci plays lead guitar and sings!

When the band was done, we and our hostel mates (about 8 in total) moved on to the Roof Top Bar, which was literally on a rooftop.

Red lights saturated everything within 2 or 3 tables distance. Music was blasting from a DJ who played European mixes of American music I had never heard (i.e. Limp Biscuit on top of Red Hot Chili Peppers).

This bar in the skies seemed much higher than it actually was. Almost all the buildings here are 5-6 stories tall. Because of this, being on the roof, you can see very far because there are no other taller buildings in the way.

walking home

Dwayne dancing in the street

Tonight we are going to a music festival held in the museums throughout the city (an annual free event). Apparently one of them is a tribute to James Brown. All my life I have been waiting for Hungarian James Brown music!

Budapest - Bath houses and buffets

2008-06-19T22:12:00.009-07:00

Dwayne starting his journal yesterday

An excerpt transcribed from my journal:
July 20, 6:20 AM
Budapest- Yesterday was great. Although, The only, but very large, down point was that Ian couldn't spend it with us. He used most of the day puking and sleeping. We aren't sure what it was from, but we hope it was a food-related illness and not a bug, that could be spread. He is fine now, and will be joining Dwayne and I for our activities for today.

Ian and Dwayne yesterday (Ian not sick yet)

Bedsides that, yesterday, like I said, was great. Dwayne and I joined up with Louise (Syndey, Australia), Matt (Texas), Josh (NY), and another Australian girl (Melbourne) for a simple, but long, fun-filled day. We started off with lunch at an all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ in Buda.

On our way to the restaurant

Drinks were also included, which we weren't sure was a blessing or a curse due to the lingering hung-over effects we were all still feeling. For this meal you would go to the buffet line and stock up on your choice of dozens of different types of raw meat (anything from chicken to horse or rabbit) and then a chef would cook your plate for you as you watched. The only bad part was the whole slice of lemon I accidentally ate. It took several glasses of sangria and water to wash out the sour taste in my mouth. I think the group appreciated this much more than I, as this lemon was cause for some very interesting facial expressions on my part.

The group at the restaurant

We then took the bus back to City Park where we went to the Szechenyi Bath House. Budapest is world-known for it's bathhouses, and rightfully so. This was a huge outdoor/indoor bath, with beautiful sculptures, fountains and buildings. We slowly migrated from warm pools, to hot saunas, hot tubs, super cold pool, and even a real whirlpool. Our group spent about 2.5 hours there just resting in water.

Afterward, we walked the several miles back to the hostel taking side streets as the sun began to set.

Walking so far after relaxing in hot tubs may not have been such a smart idea. My muscles were screaming at me by the time we got back home around 9 PM. I went to bed at about 10:30 and slept until 6 AM, a full eight hours of sleep! Hazzah!

Up early in Budapest

2008-06-17T21:34:00.005-07:00

As transcribed from my journal:

June 18, 5:33 AM local time
I woke up about a half hour ago and have not been able to sleep since. I suspect the sun rose at that point. I am amazed that it rises that early, but I assume it is due to our very Eastern position in the Central European Time Zone.

Walking to our plane in Dublin - click image for larger

Last night we arrived at The Loft Hostel in Budapest and had nearly no problems finding it. The street corner we arose from the Metro on was partially closed down due to construction, but eventually found our way through the beautiful old streets, with very little light.

The Loft Hostel, which will be our home for the next week, resides on the fourth floor (top floor) on what appears to be an apartment building. Our hostel takes up about 1/3 of the floor, featuring very high ceilings (nearly 20 feet high) and large wooden support beams crisscrossing everywhere- staying true to it's name.

Killing time in Dublin Airport - click image for larger

This is a very cool place to stay. Possibly too cool. Ian and I agreed that with all the different languages, posters, colors and murals all around us, this place feels like the set for some teenage coming-of-age Euro-trip movie.

*now it is beginning to rain very hard

Nearly everyone here is very nice. Everyone wants to tell you about their travels and hear about yours. The Loft's host even even cooked the entire hostel dinner last night (not a typical act we are told). He made some sort of Hungarian meat dish mixed with noodles and topped with sour cream and an incredibly good hot sauce.

Navigating the Budapest Metro while half asleep - click image for larger

Our room fits eight beds spaciously. When we arrived, there was two twin top bunks and one full size bottom bed. Ian offered me the full size bunk knowing how I don't fit well in most beds, but I would have been fine either way. Besides us, there are six other tenants in our room (and there are two other rooms of unknown capacity, but I believe both are smaller). Two of the six are Asian men who appear to be my age. Another two of the six is a man/woman couple from the U.S., Atlanta I believe. They leave this morning for Prague. In fact they are the only ones awake with me in the room as they are preparing to leave. Another one of the six is a Canadian guy named Adam from just outside Toronto. He seems to be younger than me, but also sounds like he has done much more traveling than I. Lastly, there is an Australian woman named Louise. I think she is traveling on here own, like Adam, the Canadian.

Ian and Dwayne appear to be sleeping very well. But as always it is impossible for me to fall back asleep after waking up.

Off to help the strong European economy.

2008-06-15T16:24:00.004-07:00

Tomorrow I leave for my long awaited trip to Europe with two of my old high school buddies. Check back here for weekly updates of my travels. see you all soon!

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Spending time with friends

2008-06-10T22:47:00.009-07:00

Margaritas on the beach in San Luis Obispo

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f2 at 1/3200 of a sec.

A boy being patient at a college graduation party.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 400 ISO, f2 at 1/60 of a sec.

In the garden during another graduation party.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f2 at 1/160 of a sec.

Ian posed for me in the bathroom for this one.

Nikon D3 with 35mm f2, 100 ISO, f8 at 1/80 of a sec.

Vas and Danie

2008-06-05T02:01:00.011-07:00

Last week some of my buddies from the Daily Illini, Vas and Danie, came up to see San Francisco, and enlisted me as their guide. Danie recently graduated from Columbia Journalism Grad School and just moved to the Bay Area to be closer to Vas, who works in San Jose as a journalist. So this was my chance to make icky cute photos of them seeing the city.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 200 ISO, f2 at 1/8000 of a sec

We started off at a beach near my house. Danie quickly realized that the bay is cold as hell.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/6400 of a sec

Chinatown

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/640 of a sec

I took them down to north beach and we stopped by City Lights Bookstore, a local favorite.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 400 ISO, f2 at 1/50 of a sec

Near the end of the day we were on the hunt for a cable car. We jumped on one at Fisherman’s Warf, but only took it for two stops or so, so we wouldn’t have to walk as far back to our car.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 1600 ISO, f1.4 at 1/50 of a sec

I posed the pair for a few shots while walking back down the hill to our car.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 200 ISO, f4.5 at 1/125 of a sec

After dinner, we made it out to the Golden Gate Bridge. There was barely any light in the parking lot we went to, but thankfully there were some car headlights to work with.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 3200 ISO, f2 at 1/80 of a sec

11 Days...

South Bend Tribune Internship: A Look Back

2008-05-30T10:14:00.005-07:00

I just finished an audio slideshow about my experience from my four month internship at the South Bend Tribune in South Bend, Ind. There is also a link to my Sportshooter page showing a summary of my work from the internship.

Above is a page on my Web site discussing this internship.

Only in California

2008-05-26T12:22:00.004-07:00

Good to be home

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 100 ISO, f5.6 at 1/500 of a sec

Road Trip Home

2008-05-24T11:03:00.005-07:00

I finished my photo internship at The South Bend Tribune this past Monday, and now I am living at my parents house in San Francisco, Calif., for a few weeks before my trip to Europe in June. Road trips are not unfamiliar to me.

This was the eighth time I had driven from the Mid-West to the West Coast. I’ve done the southern route and the northern route. Small roads in the desert of Nevada, to the huge monster known as I-80. I’ve done the drive with a co-worker, best friends, a girl-friend, a father (3X) and a god-father (2X).

I have been living temporarily for the past 5 years, never staying in one place for very long. This perpetual state of transition will probably last another year seeing as how scarce newspaper visual-journalist jobs are.

Before leaving the Mid-west, I got to have dinner with Katie, a theater friend from my University of Illinois days. Even through she graduated from school two years before me, we have stayed close, possibly gotten closer, since she left Champaign, Ill.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 3200 ISO, f1.4 at 1/50 of a sec

You always need someone to do the drive with. For safety and sanity, it’s a good idea to bring someone you know you won’t run out of conversation points with. My godfather, Lee, arrived at Midway Airport on Tuesday and we headed out the next morning
on I-80.

It's a good idea to bring snacks for the trip.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 100 ISO, f2 at 1/640 of a sec

The driving went by very quick. I have never felt so relaxed while doing this long trek through middle-America. I think it was the sense of being done with work, with weeks to relax before my next big event (six weeks in Europe).

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 500 ISO, f5.6 at 1/5000 of a sec

Driving the central states can get monotonous. You go for miles in a single direction with out any turns.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 100 ISO, f3.2 at 1/8000 of a sec

We stayed our last night in the small town of Elko, Nevada. After showering, I sat down on my bed to get dressed and found some warm morning-light reflecting off of the huge wall-to-wall mirror.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 640 ISO, f1.4 at 1/160 of a sec

Now I am safe and sound in San Francisco. I will soon be posting an audio slideshow some of my work from The South Bend Tribune. If you’re in SF, and reading this, call me because I wanna see you. I leave June 16th for Budapest!

High School Prom

2008-05-17T21:21:00.008-07:00

Shooting high school prom is sorta like shooting a bloody car crash. While I’m shooting, I keep asking myself, “can we even print this?” But in then end, you find moments that express the excitement and fun that comes with prom. You just have to suck it up and know you aren’t a perv for taking pictures of high school kids kissing. For select songs (the one's that talk about grinding and touching your toes and such) you just put your camera down and wait for the next song to start.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 2500 ISO, f1.4 at 1/125 of a sec

Like in any event-based assignment you find your groove and stick with it until you’ve made that image, and then move on. I don’t like shooting with flash. First, I don’t like the look of flash. But more importantly, it ruins the moment. You only get one chance with flash, then everyone knows what you’re doing.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 1600 ISO, f1.4 at 1/250 of a sec

It’s easy finding some close couples during a slow song. So I tried the more rambunctious kids. I think “Mr. Brightside” from The Killers was playing at this point. This was our song, Nick.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 2500 ISO, f1.4 at 1/80 of a sec

This is my second-to-last day at the South Bend Tribune. My last assignment tomorrow will be covering the Notre Dame graduation. Seems fitting.

This image has nothing to do with prom, but I shot it earlier today and will probably never get run. Favorite of the week.

Nikon D3 with 28-70mm f2.8 at 38mm. 2000 ISO f2.8 at 1/200 of a sec

Lazy Day

2008-05-14T13:29:00.006-07:00

We’ve had a few small rainstorms the past couple of nights here in South Bend. Each morning my landlady’s backyard gets covered in more and more of these tiny green leaves. No, it’s not grass.

Nikon D3 with 20mm f2.8, 400 ISO, f5.6 at 1/100 of a sec

NIkon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 400 ISO, f5.6 at 1/60 of a sec

I don’t own a true macro lens, so I made with what I had.

NIkon D3 with 70-200mm f2.8 at 70mm, 800 ISO, f5.6 at 1/100 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 70-200mm f2.8 at 200mm, 1000 ISO, f5.6 at 1/200 of a sec

My Landlady's Garden

2008-05-12T17:51:00.003-07:00

Nikon D3 with 20mm 2.8, 200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/500 of a sec

100 Voice Women's Choir

2008-05-11T17:05:00.007-07:00

Last night I covered the 100 Voice Women's Choir at Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church. The concert was a split Mother’s Day/Breast Cancer Awareness event and featured local singers from all over the Michiana area.

For the most part the assignment was a typical performance. Although, two instances struck me as new and unusual. First, at the end of one of the songs, one of the choir members became overwhelmed with joy and relief. I found out later that the young woman, Crystal, who has Down syndrome, had been practicing that song all week with the help of Jenny, the lady standing directly to her left of Crystal in the image below. Crystal had never completed this particular song without error. But during this performance, she got it right...

"We've been rehearsing all week. Hard work, that's what it's all about."
-Jenny

Nikon D3 with 70-200 f2.8, 3200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/800 of a sec

I wasn’t in the best place for the image, but at least I got something. If I wasn’t leaving in a week, Crystal and Jenny’s relationship may have been a great story to follow.

Each soloist had a palpable conviction in their voice. I wanted to make some images showing the amount of energy each solo performer brought to the table. I placed myself in front of the first row hoping to get in really tight with my 50mm.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 1600 ISO, f1.4 at 1/320 of a sec

We shoot performances very often. Most are boring high school musical rehearsals (not Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep Theater Company though!) What makes this performance different? Why should I care any more about this concert than the one they had their two weeks ago? Because of moments like Crystal’s.

Taste of Michiana

2008-05-08T16:48:00.006-07:00

Nikon D3 with 28-70mm 2.8 at 60mm, 4000 ISO (yeah, 4000), f2.8 at 1/60 of a sec

Taste of Michiana is sort of a miniature Taste of Chicago, or any restaurant/winery street fair. Except it was indoors!

This was a terrible place to shoot due to the very poor lighting. A few lights are scattered on the ceiling, about 30 feet above a sea of tables and booths. This restricted me from shooting at certain tables, not just because of the lack of light, but the abundance of light beyond it. Lets do these things outside people!

My Kitchen

2008-05-06T17:17:00.005-07:00

I was going to the kitchen for a cookie when i saw this.

7:56 PM, Nikon D3 with 20mm 2.8, 1600 ISO, f8 at 1/60 of a sec

Chocolate chip, if you were wondering, but only because the supermarket was out frosted oatmeal.

Foul ball hits man, spills drink

2008-05-05T18:26:00.006-07:00

I was shooting a Minor League Baseball game when a foul ball hit a dude in the neck. Ouchies indeed.

Nikon D3 with 300mm f2.8 + 1.4x tele (420mm equiv.) 1600 ISO, f4 at 1/8000 of a sec

Obama, Clinton and Cinco De Mayo

2008-05-04T16:43:00.013-07:00

Cinco De Mayo celebration in South Bend.

Nikon D3 with 50mm f1.4, 100 ISO, f2 at 1/8000 of a sec

Nikon D3 with 17-35mm at 17mm, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/3200 of a sec

Time is running out in Indiana. Come Wednesday, we won't matter any more. Today I had two assignments concerning the presidential nomination. Both Senators Barack and Hillary were in Michiana, but that would be too much for one photog to handle probably. Another staffer was called in (on a Sunday!) to cover Barack who was going door to door in Elkhart, Ind., asking for change. Get a job!

First, I was sent to John Young Middle School where Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano was stumping for Obama. People who came to hear her speak were registering to volunteer for the campaign at the front desk of the school. I thought this was a descent alternative from the typical podium shot.

Nikon D3 with 17-35mm at 17mm, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/500 of a sec

I went directly from Napolitano to Hillary who was speaking outside of her South Bend campaign office. I would vote for which ever candidate has more outdoor rallies. Although the Sun made for some harsh shadows, I'd take this over a fluorescent-filled gym any day.

Nikon D3 with 70-200mm at 200mm, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/3200 of a sec

This was my third time shooting Hillary. First was at Mishawaka High School and the second was at Coveleski Stadium (Silverhawks Minor League Baseball Team). This was my extra chance that I spoke about last time. A chance I wasn't sure I'd get.

Nikon D3 with 17-35mm at 17mm, 100 ISO, f2.8 at 1/1600 of a sec

This time around, I was desperate to make something new. We were outdoors again, but this place was different. There was a nice background of the city's buildings. And different materials surrounding the Senator like glass and trees. This allowed for some more experimental images. I spent the first half of the speech making sure I got my safe shots.

Nikon D3 with 70-200mm at 70mm, 100 ISO, f4 at 1/800 of a sec

And then I experimented.

Nikon D3 with 70-200mm at 70mm, 100 ISO, f8 at 1/60 of a sec

I am pretty sure this image will never run beyond the Web gallery at www.SouthBendTribune.com. The editors at the Tribune don't ever like to to take risks with images. But you can't let timid editors keep you down. Especially when you are an intern. I have to grow and work hard no matter what I am told.

It is a delicate balance between shooting for yourself vs shooting for the paper. The paper's needs will always trump my own, but I will never let the paper get in my way of enjoying my job. Just because an image won't be seen doesn't mean it shouldn't be made.

Newsroom Bridal Shower

2008-05-02T20:15:00.003-07:00

Nikon D3 with 17-35mm f2.8 at 17mm, 640 ISO, f2.8 at 1/320 of a sec

A woman who works at the South Bend Tribune with me is getting married this weekend. A mini-bridal shower with cake and punch was held in one of the conference rooms where the wife-to-be was being pinned with dollar bills as dictated in her family tradition for bridal showers. Dammit, I forgot to tell people the Diefenbach tradition for 23rd birthdays of stuffing my pockets with your $20 bills.

Chago - My Partner in Crime

2008-05-01T20:24:00.006-07:00

Nikon D3 with 50m f1.4, 500 ISO, f1.4 at 1/250 of a sec

Helps me make jokes about anything Gene says on slow news days.

Hillary comes to South Bend, again

2008-04-27T19:08:00.010-07:00

Nikon D2H 70-200mm f2.8 at 200mm, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/3000 of a sec

Yesterday, Sen. Hillary Clinton came to town and spoke at the local minor league ballpark for an open, free rally. I was the sole still shooter, but this time had to transfer images back to the newsroom and Web site multiple times.

The only place to set up my laptop was in the dugout, which of course is eye level with the dirt field. Dust and light were a problem on what was a very windy day. Thankfully, the Clinton Press people provided black sheets to cover ourselves with. Unfortunately, we looked like idiots using them.

Nikon D3, 17-35mm f2.8 at 17mm. 200 ISO, f4 at 1/800 of a sec

Hillary arrived relatively on time. This has never happened before during any political assignment I’ve shot. I know the Secret Service purposefully staggers the time an individual makes an appearance for security purposes, but usually the presidential candidates (and/or endorsers) are 30-45 minutes late to each event I’ve worked.

Nikon D3, 17-35mm f2.8 at 17mm, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/2500 of a sec

The baseball puns were not in short supply. “With your help, I’m gonna hit this primary out of the park!,” or something like that. It was like that the whole beginning of the speech. It got old...quick.

Nikon D3, 17-35mm f2.8 at 35mm, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/2500 of a sec

Every so often I turned to check on the crowd. I didn’t even notice until after I submitted this image that it’s full of only women. I didn’t notice if the total crowd was women-heavy, but apparently the areas closest to the platform was.

Nikon D3, 17-35mm f2.8 at 17mm, 200 ISO, f4 at 1/3200 of a sec

I do not feel like I made any images that drastically differed from the last time I shot Hillary. The only difference was the lighting, because this event was outside. In fact, I think I did a better job last time.

I want to say that I missed my chance to make images of a presidential candidate struggling to grasp the last swing state. I want to say that I missed the concerned supporters who are worried about their candidate’s survival. But those moments didn’t really happen. These events are just an act. There is barely anything real about this event.

Just before Hillary left the field, one photog (working for her campaign) asked Hillary’s head of security if he could tell Hillary to turn and wave one last time before she ducted out. He sarcastically replied, “wouldn’t that ruin the realism of all of this?”

Hopefully I’ll get another chance. I get the sense that those chances are few and far between in the world of political photography.

Earth Day

2008-04-25T14:51:00.011-07:00

Perley Primary Center celebrated Earth Day yesterday by actually being active. I think when I was in elementary school, all we did on Earth Day was wear green and talk about the environment with our teachers. Although this is better than nothing, it was nothing compared to what the kids at Perley Primary did to recognize Earth Day. These students helped green-up Michiana.

Nikon D3 at 35mm, 200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/1250 of a sec.

Each grade in the school was given a potted plant to give to a neighbor down the street from the middle school. I latched on to an ESL (English as Second Language) third grade class and pretty much followed them the entire time.

The class had problems finding someone who could take the plant, not because no one wanted it, but because the first home they went to was abandoned (quite typical here) and no one answered at the second door. Finally the third door was a winner, and the lady who answered the call was pretty overwhelmed. I don’t think it was the gift itself that surprised her, but the crowd of of 25, or so, third graders on her doorstep. The homeowner was very grateful, and the kids said “you’re welcome” in unison (with much coercion by their teacher).

Nikon D3 at 17mm, 200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/250 of a sec

Following the potted plant donation, all of the grades met at the park adjacent to the school and picked up trash for about half an hour. This part really surprised me. I do not think my school ever asked us to pick up trash that was not our own. Granted, I went to school in downtown San Francisco’s Chinatown, which is very different than Mishawaka, Indiana. All of the kids were given plastic gloves and taught not to pick up glass, needles or anything dangerous. But the boys repeatedly spoke about how they wish they would find something dangerous.

Nikon D3 at 19mm, 200 ISO, f2,8 at 1/4000 of a sec

There was one young boy who I ended up shooting the most. He was one of the students trusted with holding a garbage bag for recyclables (yes, the kids even separated trash from recyclables in the park). Although I didn’t get the impression that he truly understood the importance of what he and his classmates we doing, he still appeared genuinely concerned with cleaning up the park as much as possible (like it was a class assignment). I later found out he is actually a Liberian refugee, and has only been living in the U.S. for a year now.

Nikon D3 at 26mm, 200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/2000 of a sec

Eventually the students started to get distracted (any kids would if they we asked to pick up trash while an empty jungle gym lingers in the background). The teacher called in the troops and began the march back to class where she said the class could rest while she read them a book.

I lingered behind trying to pick photos in my camera incase there were any other names of kids I would need. That’s when I took this image.

Nikon D3 at 17mm, 200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/2500 of a sec

Kind of cliche, I know. Both of the kids in the image were the ones who were put in charge of holding the trash and recyclables bags. They were the most determined to do a good job in the class, and the teacher made sure they knew how well they did. "You guys carried the biggest bags of trash," the teacher said to the two boys.

Notre Dame Blue and Gold Game

2008-04-20T17:32:00.015-07:00

Yesterday was the Notre Dame Spring Football Game, also called the Blue and Gold Game. Even though it is technically not a real game (not even exhibition), I deceided to shoot it as though it was the real deal (as opposed to feature-heavy), because it was my first time in Notre Dame Stadium, and I wanted to put my new camera through some heavy working conditions.

Nikon D3 at 420mm, 800 ISO, f4 at 1/4000 of a sec

Much more images at my SportShooter page

The biggest difference between working at Notre Dame Stadium and back at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is the number of photogs. At Illinois, there would be maybe 8 to 10 photogs at a normal non-conference game. Half of those being Daily Illini photogs. In a conference game, you may get upwards of 15. At yesterday's game there were at least 40 photographers on the field. Other staffers at the Tribune have told me that it can get as high as 50 photogs during the regular season. Evene when Notre Dame sucks (they were 3-9 last year). Most of these photogs aren't even getting paid to be there. They just go to shoot for themselves. Which should be fine. But the less experience a photog has, the more likely they will get in the way of people who are trying to work. It can be frustrating, but I just remind myself that it wasn't that long ago that I was in their shoes.

Nikon D3 at 420mm, 800 ISO, f4 at 1/3200 of a sec

I've tried to pay attention to anything Notre Dame football related in the paper so I know who the sports writers may want to feature later on. I tend to forget the defense in football. You can get really caught up just following the quarterback and the ball, and never even look at the guys going after him. If the position is important, then it's important to get images of the guy at that position. It may not be the most glamorous player, but it is still important.

Nikon D3 at 420mm, 800 ISO, f4 at 1/6400 of a sec

Just after halftime the defense was able to interept the ball and run it back for a touchdown. Surprisingly, a fight broke out between players (yes, they are on the same team). I missed most of the fight- I was on the completely opposite side of the field. By the time I got there, players had been pulled away from each other and had cooled out. Thankfully, one dude was done talking smack and he broke out again just as I got within a descent range.

Nikon D3 at 420mm, 800 ISO, f4 at 1/2500 of a sec

I was able to crop it down obviously, and I was really impressed with how well it ran in the paper

Notice that unimportant lineman shot from before?

In the end, we always want a nice clean shot of the quarterback. I was very happy with how this image came out. I was able to find a whole in the field and track Clausen (ND quarterback) throughout the entire play. Somehow, no one crossed into my frame. Normally a referee's ass fills up half of the frame right about when the quarterback releases the ball.

Nikon D3 at 420mm, 720 ISO, f4 at 1/8000 of a sec

Much more images at my SportShooter page

Notre Dame at night

2008-04-18T08:06:00.006-07:00

Excuse me for the lack of posts recently, but Blogger wasn't letting me upload images for some reason.

I was hanging around the Notre Dame campus the other night and played around with the incredible ISO range of the D3. No, I do not regularly walk around University campuses at night. I'm not that lame.

4/16/08 at 8:59 P.M.
Nikon D3 at 20mm, 3200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/25 of a sec

4/17/08 at 12:11 A.M.
Nikon D3 at 20mm, 12800 ISO, f2.8 at 1/25 of a sec

So in the middle of writing this post I just felt a small aftershock from last night's earthquake in southern Indiana. I just can't get away from these things.

Notre Dame Hockey

2008-04-13T17:10:00.003-07:00

Sadly, the Irish lost in the championship round of the NCAA Hockey Tournament. The team came back home today to a moderately sized crowd gathering on campus. After one of the team's captains spoke I decided to follow him during his exit from the event. I wish the image wasn't as cluttered, but I'm happy with what I was able to pull out of a 10 minute presentation.

Nikon D3 at 28mm, 400 ISO, f2.8 at 1/1250th of a sec

Action and Reaction

2008-04-13T17:04:00.005-07:00

Action

Nikon D3 at 17mm, 3200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/200 of a sec

Reaction

Nikon D3 at 200mm, 3200 ISO, f2.8 at 1/125th of a sec

Discussing the Issues

2008-04-12T20:05:00.003-07:00

I found these two gentlemen discussing the development of land near Notre Dame University while waiting for Congressman Danny K. Davis to come speak in a mini-town hall meeting in support for Sen. Barack Obama.

Nikon D3 with 50mm, 1600 ISO, f1.4 at 1/400th of a sec.

Mishawaka High School baseball

2008-04-11T17:33:00.003-07:00

My editor was able to get my issued 300mm AF-S fixed which has been great. Just in time for baseball. I shot this entire game on one camera, using one lens. 300mm 2.8 with a 1.4x teleconverter.

Nikon D3 at 420mm, 400 ISO, f4 at 1/1000 of a sec

This image would not have been possible with my old issued NIkon D2H. I may have caught the moment, but it would not look nearly this good.

Barack Obama

2008-04-09T22:22:00.004-07:00

Even though it was my day off, I decided I couldn't give up a chance to see Sen. Barack Obama speak. I already shot Sen. HIllary Clinton when she came to town, so why not listen to them both? An old childhood friend of mine, who happens to work on the Obama campaign, was able to get my name on the media list even though I wasn't originally scheduled by my editor. Thanks dude, you rock.

I just wanted to post this one image because it's so "presidential." He's kissing a baby. Whatever. But the people behind Obama are what make it for me. They think this is huge. Like no politician has ever done this before. The girl on the left is reaching desperately for him. To them, he is the holy grail. He is hope.

NIkon D3, 2500 ISO, f4 at 1/200 of a sec

Kids

2008-04-07T17:44:00.006-07:00

Kids always make good pictures, but that's what makes it so hard. Kids are too easy. They almost always exude emotion and are fairly predictable. Today I had to find a feature image about being outside. This was pretty easy as it spring break for public schools and it was a very nice 65 degrees outside.

Nikon D2H, 200 ISO, f18 at 1/60th of a sec

Also got to shoot a free ballet basics class at the Mishawka library. Some of the little girls brought their own tutus and got way to excited about it.

NIkon D2H, 800 ISO, f2.8 at 1/80th of a sec

I tried to layer in another element so the fact that they are kids is not the reason the image is good. Even if they were teenagers or adults, I think these images would still be relatively strong.

Notre Dame Football and the Kennedys

2008-04-05T17:00:00.008-07:00

Today I had two very different, yet similar assignments. First, I covered a public 2-hour Notre Dame football practice. I was given a 30 player list. I only got about 10 of them.

This was a terrible experience for me. The practice was held in terrible shooting environment called the Loftus Center. It is an indoor training facility with a full-size football field. We have all shot in bad indoor lighting, but this was the worst I've ever been in. Worse than Huff Hall, if you know that place. In most indoor facilities, photogs can normally get close to the action. Or maybe even bounce a flash. We were kept 10 yards back from the end zone while all of the drills and plays occurred on the opposite end. This would provide a difficult environment, but not as terrible as I make it out to be. But not all photogs get the chance to shoot in such a dimly multi-color florescent lit building with the gear I've been issued: Nikon D2H with a very old 300mm 2.8 AF.

And to add salt to the wound, the dude next to me had two D3s, 24-70, 70-200, 300 and 400mm. All new. I nearly shat my pants. (That's about $26,000 of new gear)

The above image may look descent in low-rez with proper sharpening, but I assure you, it's nasty.

Same shot at 100%.

I missed 2/3rds of my list because most of the players never even came close to the ned of the field in which media was restricted to. I ended up giving up on the list and just trying to make pictures that would look descent.

After banging my head against my 300mm, I continued to my next assignment. Ethel Kennedy came to town to speak in support of Barack Obama. This is my third Kennedy in less than three months. Caroline had a book signing in Naperville, Kathleen was here a few weeks ago supporting HIllary, and now Ethel is here for Obama.

She didn't really speak. She shook hands and such. Former Indiana Congressman Tim Roeman sort of stumped for her. I have gotton REALLY bored shooting speeches. My current fad is to shoot them super close. Now I just need that 400mm...

I say these assignments are different, yet similar because even though one is about politics and the other sports, they are inherently the same thing: a performance. There is true joy and excitement at both events, but they are predictable and expected. I am not saying these assignments are not worth while, just similar in tactics and game plan on my part. For Notre Dame I was 60-80 yards away at all time. With Kennedy, I was 6-8 inches away. Just gotta use a wider lens.

Shadowing a student

2008-04-03T21:59:00.011-07:00

At the Tribune we are shadowing a Penn High School student for a "day in the life of.." feature to run in a few days. A sophomore named Aubrie Lane was picked (not sure exactly how) to be followed. For some reason the assignment to follow her was split into three separate assignments. This made the project very difficult as each photog had to reacquaint themselves with the subject. Why not just give one photog the assignment to follow her for an entire day?

I was assigned to follow Aubrie during her softball game today against Elkhart Memorial High School. She is a pitcher, but didn't start in today's game. Rather she came in during the fifth inning, with not very good results...

When I first met with her (about an hour before the game started) she was obviously tired of being followed by photogs all day. I was the third person to follow her that day. Not including the writer.

Despite this apparent frustration, she did seem to be quite candid with me. She seemed like the popular girl type. The kind that I would never had really talked to when I was in high school. She didn't really even talk to me now. Seemed like she had more important things to do, like loose the game for the team.

She came in during the 5th inning, with a healthy lead of 9 to 2. She let 4 runs go buy in less than 2 outs. Another pitcher took over but she couldn't fix the damage. By then end of the inning the team was now loosing 9 to 10. I had to leave after this frame because I had to make deadline for the actual game. Oh yeah did I say that already? I had been assigned to shoot action of the game AS WELL AS profile this one girl specifically. And when I arrived at the field the writer asked me if I was doing video. Jebus.

Doing Laundry

2008-04-02T15:50:00.003-07:00

Silverhawks Media Day

2008-04-02T14:57:00.008-07:00

Here in South Bend, Ind., we have a Division A Minor League Baseball team called the South Bend Silverhawks. Yesterday was media day. I was sent to make some pictures of the team warming up during their first practice on a very cold and windy day. Almost as though it was an April fool's joke.

I wanted to show the light attitude going on with the young team.

It did not feel like spring

Of course, some baseball was played, but it was practice so no one was going all out. Not too happy with what I got action wise, but then again, action wasn't my main concern.

Mainly I was looking for features that don't normally run in out paper. I get tired looking at the same stuff everyday. Hopefully the designers appreciated what I got them.