WOW... what a fire

I'm too tired right now to think of a better title for this post.... but I know there's a good one out there.

I got an early morning call about a fire at World of Wings. (best chicken wing place in town) The restaurant is in a building with two other businesses. I thought I'd give a sort of play-by-play of what the fire fighters did early Wednesday morning.

First, they put out the fire. (duh) I was not there for this part, so I don't have a photo to show.

Second, they ventilate the building by putting huge fans by the front door and blow the smoke out the back door.

After that, they check on the business next door. It was filled with smoke and water. That's the Assistant Mgr. of this Marine Supply store sitting down in front of her store. (this store sells recreational boating supplies) I'm hoping for a "smoke damage" sale where I can pick up a cooler and floaty key chain for super cheap.


After getting that under control, the Fire Chief goes into the burnt building to look for clues on where and how the fire started. This blaze started in the kitchen somewhere. They pretty much narrowed it down to one area, but don't know the cause yet. (FYI... I smell REALLY bad right now)


Now that leaves one business in this building that we don't know about yet right? Well, thank god, it was unharmed. And it opened right as everything was winding down too. Tall Espresso Macchiato White Mocha Latte Cappuccino Extra Cream on me!

Take a Moment and...

I'm at the half-way point of my 2007 graduation season. I've shot four, and have four to go.

At first, I was not to excited about this stretch of graduations. Having to listen to endless valedictorian speeches where the kids never look up from the paper their reading from, sitting through the countless names that are announced, the screaming family... etc.

But I got to thinking tonight, graduations are a great source of moments. Something photographers live for. Every aspect of a graduation is filled with moments. From the grads hanging out back stage getting ready, to the kid who holds his hands in the air after getting the diploma, to the parents giving their child a hug and a bouquet of balloons.

So I went into tonight's graduation with the mind frame that I can make pictures the entire time. (This attitude got a little help from a can of Red Bull and a Starcrunch)

If you want to become a better photographer, go shoot a graduation. Good photography is about catching moments. And I can't think of a better venue with a bunch of moments all under one roof than a graduation.

Everything from little moments that you happen to be in the right place for...




To big moments that you can prepair for...



For a little background:

In the first shot, the girl is giving the peace sign to a teacher who's sitting a few chairs down from me. (Side Note: This happens to be the same young lady who is cutting down the basketball net from that photo debate thing a while ago)

The second shot is of Toni Fitch hugging "one of my four best friends" after getting the keys to a new car. When I was walking out of the Civic Center following the ceremony, this guy grabbed and said to go wait outside the door. So I kind of new what was going to happen and made sure to be in the right place. Jackpot.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've been to graduations where nothing happens... or maybe I'm just not in the right place when they do happen. But the moments are there, and it's up to the photographer to hunt them down and shoot them.

And cross your fingers that the next four graduations go a well as tonight's did.

While it's true that every dog will have his day, When all the bones are buried, There is barely time to go outside and play

I've always believed the saying that a photograph is just as much a reflection of the photographer as it is the subject in the photograph.

Meaning photographers shoot how they feel, not just what they see.

I'm going to add a little twist to that and say that we also sometimes shoot how we WANT to feel, and not necessarily exactly how we feel.

The past few weeks have been pretty tough... Being the only shooter a the paper plus lots of work plus some other things have really added up.

And I've looked back at some of my recent images and they don't really show how I feel. But they show how how I'd like to feel.

For example: I photographed a girl having a great time while riding a carnival ride with her friends the other weekend. That day sucked for me, I didn't feel like working at all, and it took everything I had to get out of bed that morning. But that image sure doesn't say "having a rough day"

And today, I was on a boat with a search and rescue dog named Sky. Her job was to sniff around the water to find stuff. (in this case it was a man who had drowned a day earlier) When she was finished, her handler told her to stop searching and gave her a treat. Then she became happy-go-lucky-dog-on-a-boat.



This picture sure doesn't say "Matt doesn't want to be working and can't remember his last day off" to me. But isn't that a great picture of a dog!? I thought it was great. She's just chillin in the breeze knowing she did a good job (according to the lady on the right)

I don't know... My mind started to wonder while I was boiling spaghetti noodles tonight. So this might be the sun burn and lack of a good nights sleep talking.

But on a happier note, My boy Nabil called while I was on the boat and told me some good news. He's now working on his Masters Degree in Pittsburgh Penn. What that means is I'll soon be taking a trip to the only city in Penn. that ends in "gh" (that tid-bit brought to you by Nabil)

What that also means is that I can finally wear my Roberto Clemente Jersey in public and not get funny looks.

Anyway, Homor Simpson and Milhouse just rolled past Chief Wiggum in a garbage dumpster, so I should probably go watch that.

Don't Jump

Well, this morning has taken another interesting twist.

While riding around with a couple guys from the D.A. office arresting people who haven't paid child support, we get a call that there is a guy on top of the Houma Twin Spans about to jump.

I cover more fatal wrecks, deadbeat dads, and suicide attempters before 10 a.m. than you do all day.

I'm like a zombie right now and don't feel like working up any more photos to post. But I've put a photo gallery here.

everybody cross your fingers that nothing else happens today. I'm pooped.

zzzzZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZzzzzz

I planned on an early morning Thursday. But this is just nuts.

I went to bed around 11:00 Wednesday night, which is somewhat early for me. I planned to wake up around 3:15 a.m. so I could make it to an assignment at 4:00 a.m. I wasn't too excited about it, but I don't make the news, I just cover it. (The assignment is to go around with the sheriffs office arresting guys who haven't paid their child support)

Around 12:30 a.m. I get a phone call about a fatal wreck down the bayou. So I crawl out of bed and drive about 40 minutes down to the end of the Earth to find a flipped Ford Explorer. Not cool.

(here's a shot of the SUV after it was flipped back upright and the Volunteer fire fighters were looking for insurance and any other kind of paper work to find out who was in the car.)



Quick Lesson: If you're the passenger in a car, in the dark, late at night, on a two-lane highway, don't reach over and grab the wheel to dodge an animal.

It's almost 4:00 in the morning now, and time for my next assignment.

I'll living off Red Bull and Power Bars the rest of the day.

And when I looked the Moon had turned to gold

Got some good captions still coming in for the Caption Contest... I'll try to put together a list of all the captions sooner or later.

It's been a long day and I'm looking forward to being lazy tonight. So I'm not going to spend much time on this post.

But here are a few shots that I like.

This is from an ALMOST full moon... one night short of being full. The cross is on top of a downtown Houma Church.



And here are some shots from my two assignments on Saturday.

First I shot a local Doctor who has a hobby of racing cars... And on Saturday, he tried his luck at racing go-carts. Pretty fun... he said to keep in contact and the next time he goes out, he'll let me drive one.



This weekend is the Thibodaux Volunteer Fireman's Fair. Good Music, Good Food, unfair carnival games, and overpriced rides. The second picture cost me three bucks. (Side Note: If you look between the chains of the second photo... you'll see a dude in jeans and a light blue shirt... that's Raymond, the reporter. He's holding my hat and the rest of my photo gear.)





That's all for now.