Early deadline

Had some baseball tonight between UA and Missouri State. That part I knew going into the game. What I didn't know was the early deadline.

The game is running long. The game starts at 6:30 and at 8:15, we're just finishing the fourth inning. I get a call from my sports editor at 8:20 asking if I'm close to sending photos. "Well, I can be," I respond. Good thing because apparently my deadline is in 10 minutes.

So I quickly rush to the press box (luckily, I was already shooting upstairs when I got the call) and edit quicker than I've ever done. I had two photos moved by 8:30 and three more by 8:40.

I'm sure somewhere, someone told me about this deadline. I'm sure I completely didn't realize it. So I'm definitely to blame here, I'm sure. Fortunately, my sports editor is an understanding guy.

Also, just wanna throw out a big thanks to Marc for letting me borrow a spare battery. For some reason, when I put my backup in, it was completely dead. I know it WAS charged as I have a system for knowing when a battery is dead and in my bag. I really can't explain this one.

Why is Sunday spot news day?

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, Sunday just seems to be spot news day. And it's always no where near where I am.

I started out the day with a religion assignment in Siloam Springs and afterwards went over to the Dogwood Festival also in Siloam.

Then later as I'm finishing up some other stuff, I hear a call on the scanner for a fire somewhere in West Fork. Luckily after calling a few folks, I got an address for the house and found my way there. Of course after all this time in getting there, the fire was already put out by the time I got there (and I later found out that there was actually Winslow). But at least I was able to get something to make my drive worth it.

FOOTBALL!!!

That's right! It's spring football time!

All today was spent at Razorback Stadium. I started off with the Razorfest and finished the day with the Red-White Spring football game.

There was a HUGE crowd there for a spring scrimmage. The announced attendance was 40,200.

It was a little weird being the only shooter from my paper at the game. During the season, we always have at least three shooters at every home game. So I was a little nervous being the lone guy.

But, after a while I remembered how to shoot football and came away with some shots I was happy with.

In case you're wondering, Arkansas won.

Back with the Nats

Didn't post last night because I got in real late and just went to bed.

Today had me return to Arvest Ballpark for the first match-up between the "rivals" here in Springdale; they played a series last weekend in Little Rock. The Arkansas Travelers came to town and being another in-state team, everyone is trying to hype the "rivalry." Here's my $.02: it's minor league baseball. Even the players don't care about winning/losing. They're all playing for Team ME. It's all about getting moved up to the big league; records don't really matter in the minors.

Tight quarters

Well, I spent pretty much all day today in the Washington County Courthouse.

Gregory Decay was convicted in his capital murder case yesterday. The 22-year-old was found guilty for the murders Kevin Jones and Kendall Rice, both 24, a little over a year ago. And today was the continuation of the sentencing stage where the prosecution was pushing for death. A Washington County jury has not given a death sentence in decades. Today broke that streak.

This was my first time photographing in the Washington County Courthouse, so this was my first experience with "the closet." Photographers (still and video) are confined to a roughly 3x5 closet space shooting through a window looking into the courtroom. This small confine housed three still photogs and two TV photogs today. Needless to say, it was quite tight quarters.

Yes, I am a slacker

OK, I am finally posting again. Sorry for the slackerness that I exhibited. And thanks, Ben, for pointing it out. :)

Today was a rather light day (in number of assignments, that is). It weight of assignments, it was far from that description.

I had to go to Bentonville today (and afterwards to Rogers) for a funeral service for a local Marine that was killed on April 15 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when his convoy was struck by roadside bomb. The media was restricted from the grounds of both the church and the cemetery, so if the shots look like they're from a distance, there's a good reason. But despite the distance in proximity, I was at least satisfied with the result.

Ooops...little forgetful

OK, so, ooops! Yeah, I forgot to post on Sunday and here it is after midnight, I'm just posting Wednesday's stuff. Didn't take long for my procrastination skills to set in on this thing. But without further ado:

Today started with UA tennis practice. Despite the fact that I was sent there @ 9:30 for practice only to find out it doesn't start until 11:00, I got some art. The light was great and so I just shot some basic stuff with fun shadows. Nothing spectacular. They're hosting the SEC tournament which starts tomorrow (which I guess is actually today now).

And the other assignment today was at the UAMS Center for Children. They had a party for the Arkansas Children's Week. The beauty of this assignment is that the center is across the parking lot from our office. Rarely do I get the opportunity to walk to an assignment. Granted, I guess I COULD walk to any assignment, but let's be realistic. I'm almost too lazy to walk across the parking lot.

Look at that dawg!

Only one assignment today and only one photo to post from it.

I went up to Rogers for the Dogs Day Downtown. It's the second year for the event that for the most part allows local dog owners to get out and socialize (as they put it) and see some dogs that need to be adopted. I wish I could've taken one home but I know how mine would take that - not very well.

Another fun day at the park

Well, after the craziness of yesterday, today was definitely more tame.

I started out the day going to a local truck stop to get shots of some truckers filling up.

After that, I was sent up to Beaver Lake to get shots of the flood gates open at the dam. They hadn't opened the gates in like 10 years and after all the rain we've had recently, they've had 'em open several times over the past couple weeks. This is actually a sight to see. I really enjoyed shooting this. So much that I broke down and shot myself in front of it - something I RARELY do.

And then to finish off the day, it was back to my favorite ballpark. The Naturals actually picked up their first home win - and in dramatic fashion. Going into the bottom of the eighth, the Nats were down 4-3 until Kila Kaaihue (yeah, that's a fun name to type in the cutline) sent a pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam. They ended up winning 11-4. BTW, I hate the light in this stadium. The next game I shoot (and I'm sure that'll be soon) I'm really hoping for a day game.

I guess I should also explain the photo of the dog. Jake the Diamond Dog is tha shiznit. This dog is frickin' awesome. Not only did he catch frisbees in the outfield, he also fielded foul balls, served as bat boy (literally took bats back to the dugout) and delivered bottled water to the umpires between innings.

So except for the internet going down in the pressbox RIGHT before I was sending my photos, today was a lot better. In case you're wondering, I just packed up my stuff and quickly drove home to transmit. Luckily, I only live about a mile from the stadium.

Searching my closet for my ark

So, I didn't post this stuff last night because I was just too tired. I'll explain.

Wednesday night, I knew I wasn't supposed to work until 1 p.m. on Thursday, so I decided to stay up late watching TV, playing PS3 and watching the storms move in. And the lightning was fun to watch, so I went out to my car, grabbed my MagicArm and mounted my camera on my balcony to shoot some lightning. I did this till about 2:30 (hey, I could sleep late, right?). So after I'm deep into my REM, I'm abruptly awoken by my work phone. I get up to look at the caller ID and it's my boss. I look at the clock and it's 6 a.m. (yes, 3.5 hours after I went to bed). I'm told that I need to get myself together, get out and start shooting some of this flooding throughout the area.

I got to see a lot of Washington County that I had not seen (mostly near the White River). I think I'll go back sometime and see the area when it's not so covered in chocolate-colored rushing rapids.

And finally, the Naturals opened their first-ever home game. They lost 7-1, but that's not the story, right? The real story is that there's a new team with a new home with new fans, right? No, I think the real story is that they're not really good. Now, the facility and everything behind the scenes, that's top notch.

Anywhoo, that was my Thursday. I'll be back with the Nats again tonight, so maybe I'll actually shoot some game action.

Take Me Out To Arvest Ballpark

Yup, last day before opening day at Arvest Ballpark and our new family, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals.

Tomorrow is the Nats' opening game against the San Antonio Missions. And today was the last day of preparations for the park.

So, yes, I'll be back there again tomorrow and probably the next day and the next and the next and....

And baseball again...

I'm sure you all know my "love" for baseball by now, so you're probably ready for me tell you just how happy I was to cover it again today. And how I was even more happy for it to go to extra innings. Well, today was actually different.

The first nine innings were about the same baseball for me as usual. However, the tenth inning gave me a lot of excitement and some decent art.

The Hogs squandered an 8-2 lead and ended up losing 12-10 in ten innings. And to top it off, head coach Dave Van Horn got ejected. I don't think I've ever shot so many frames in such a short time span as this event. This was some fun. Not only did he come out to argue a call (he got ejected before he even got to start laying into the umpire); he came back out of the dugout for Round 2! Much fun, much fun. :)

Fooball and some singin'

Today took me back to football practice again. And today's was outside in Razorback Stadium! High fiiiiive! Man, I just love shooting some football. And the light made for some really fun shadows.

This afternoon I returned to Arvest Ballpark, home to the NWA Naturals to cover round two of the tryouts for folks wanting to belt the lyrics of the national anthem at games through the season. And let me say, some need a belt taken to them. OK, that's not nice, I guess. But, seriously, folks, I KNOW I can't sing. Therefore, I don't try. But to be honest, this was just a small percentage of those attempting the song. For the most part, there were some sensational vocalists. I stepped away from the "front stage" and got a shot of this trio practicing before their performance.

FOOTBALL'S BACK!!!

Well, the title of this post says it all for today. Spring football practice kicked off yesterday (pun definitely intended) and I was sent to cover it today. But more on that later in the post.

I started out today early afternoon at the physics department on the UA campus. They're celebrating their centennial and in doing so, they unveiled a statue. This, however, is not really a statue by most definitions. It's audiokinetic and called "Odyssey of the Spheres." OK, in layman terms, it uses kinetic energy and also makes sounds. To explain it a little more, multiple solid balls travel through a course of twists and turns and vary their course to a couple pendulums. I guess to explain it a little more, it's like the old game "Mouse Trap" on crack. Anywhoo, I could sit and watch this thing for hours (much like the kid pictured).

Next I went to the second day of spring football practice. Football is without a doubt my favorite sport to cover. I do, however, prefer shooting outdoors as opposed to the horrible lighting conditions of the Hogs' indoor practice facility. But nonetheless, I was thrilled to see the pigskin through my lens again.

And to finish off the day, it was another venture to Baum Stadium for baseball. Yeah, from my favorite sport to shoot to my least favorite sport to shoot OR watch. But shooting went pretty OK, I suppose. I got some decent art that I was at least satisfied with. The Diamond Hogs lost 5-2 to Auburn. And I get to watch 'em again on Sunday. The last photo is courtesy of Andy Shupe and shows how much enthusiasm I have for the sport. Thanks, Shupe!