Last week I shot seven graduations in 6 days. Quite a marathon.
To make this years graduation season different (and more fun for me) I did a couple things to entertain myself.
First, I set up a remote camera in the cat walk of the Civic Center. On Monday, Misty helped me set up the lights and camera. She donated her brand new pocket wizards for me to use. (thanks!) Of the four graduations where I used the remote camera, it only worked on two of them. And, of those two graduations, I only got one picture I liked. It could be better, but I learned a lot, so next year... watch out.
But my major project during these graduations were the videos. Before each ceremony, I set up the camera backstage and just let the graduates do whatever they wanted on the Microphone. It was a blast. The reporter, also named Matt, would go round up people to talk, then send them my way. I'd tell the graduates that they could talk about whatever they waned. And what came out was pretty crazy. We had a blast editing down all the quotes after each ceremony. It made for some late nights, but it was well worth it.
So if you get a few extra minutes, check out these videos. I know you won't know anybody, but they're still fun to watch.
Now... everybody say Hi to Misty and Taylor who are at Disney World right now. The last update I got said Taylor was walking around with a goat named Luke at Animal Kingdom. Can't wait to hear the full story with that.
The other staff photographer at The Courier, Emily Schwarze, photographed the 5k Run last Saturday. She grabbed a couple shots of me near the finish.
Here's a quick rundown of what I'm thinking during this point in the race.
"I should have done a better job of keeping up with the guy in blue" (Who I later found out was named Gerald)
"I got nothing left"
"Only a block to go and there are a bunch of people cheering and watching, don't embarrass yourself."
"Don't let that kid who's been walking/running/walking/running for the last mile pass you again." (You can see him in the far right of the first photo... and he didn't pass me again)
"They better have some water for me."
"Dang it! I'm not going to break 28 minutes. Oh well." (I just looked at the giant clock at the finish line)
"Come on Bob and T shirt... Don't fail me now!"
After the race, my shins hurt like CRAZY. I iced them down really good and decided to take a little break from running for a while. The best thing for Shin Splints is rest, and I'm never going to argue with rest. So no running for me... probably through graduation season which starts tomorrow.
But, that leaves my Nike+ goal for this month wide open. I went with trying to run 11 times in May, but it looks like that won't happen now. So unless any of you have a problem with me skipping May to recover from stupid shin splints, I'm just not going to worry about it.
And to substitute for no running, I'll try to post some awesome graduation images and videos. Yes, I'm going to shoot some video. I've got an idea I think might be kind of fun. So we'll see how it goes.
Now for a quick weight update... I went to the Doctor on Wednesday for my bi-annual checkup and they always weigh me. And the past four times, I've turned around on the scale because I didn't want to see. Well yesterday I sucked it up and watched as the nurse slid that little weight thing across the scale. She didn't stop it exactly where the scale was level, but it was close enough to 186 that I can safely say that I'm 186. So I asked her to go back in my charts to see if I've made any progress since I have no clue what I weighed in the past. She said a year ago this month I weighed 206. Sweet!
I said to Misty on Friday that I'd think about aspects of the racing video game MarioKart during the 5k Race I ran on Saturday... but I completely forgot. There's a item you can get in the game that will turn you into a rocket and fly you at almost twice the speed of everybody else. I really could have used that around the second mile on Saturday.
I instead focused on the runners in front of me and finished the 3.1 miles in 28:09. I really wanted to finish under 28, but I was pretty happy with this time. Considering how the race started...
There were about 2000 runners and walkers entered. Everybody gathered near the starting line like cattle for the 6:00 p.m. start. We were all packed in on Main Street ready to start. We stood there for about a half hour. So all the warming up I did was pretty much wasted. Come to find out, the lady who was supposed to start the race was just looking for someone to sing the National Anthem. When she said that, everyone groaned and someone just started saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Then we finally started. So yea, that kind of sucked and I'm using that as my excuse for not finishing under 28 minutes.
I know Misty has some pictures of me from the race, but I don't have them... but... we did find some photos of me on the Bayou Runners Association web site. Here's a gallery from the Over and Under Tunnel Run. And here's a gallery from the Panda Meander. I only ran in one of those races.... So think "where would the photog be" when looking at the second gallery.
Now then... allow me to catch you up on a few things from the past couple of weeks.
Two weeks ago, Houma brought home another State Championship. The Vandebilt Softball team won the Class 4A State Championship. They won 1-0 in ten innings. It was a marathon of scoreless softball. Here are a couple jube shots from after the game.
Here are a couple Houma Sports tid-bits you might be interested in knowing.
1: The starting pitcher for Vandebilt didn't give up a run in the playoffs and had a ridiculous amount of strike outs.
2: Another Vandebilt athlete was mentioned in last weeks sports illustrated. Rachel Laurent has the nations second best female pole vault this year. (and she also racked up the most photo awards in the schools annual art contest judged by me and Misty)
3: For a collection of celebration photos all taken in the course of one week, take a look at my sportsshooter.com member page here.
Now... how about some music?
Misty and I hit up Jazz Fest again this year, and aside from a little mud and a few (thousand) lovebugs, we couldn't have asked for a better two weekends of music.
It was pretty hot on Saturday. Thank god for these tents.
And a photo of me in front of a giant fan blowing mist.
And I think every music festival has one of these guys. We found him during the Amanda Shaw show. (He's holding a fly swatter in case you were wondering)
I've got a couple more videos I'd like to share, but YouTube is down right now so they'll have to wait. So enjoy these photos for now.
After the final show on Sunday, we were walking out of the festival area... You can't expect a photographer to pass up light like this can you? (On a side note, I ordered a Crawfish Pie soon after taking this image. I didn't really need it, but figured since I only get Jazz Fest food one a year I better make the best of it.)
While walking back to our car, we had to pass through a neighborhood. A couple of local residents hooked up a bubble machine from their second story balcony. So of course misty and I played in the bubbles for a while. Here's Misty taking a photo with her new Leica point and shoot camera.
As you'll notice, Misty is supporting a new Jazz Fest chair. I too am the proud owner of a Jazz Fest chair. I know what you're thinking... "Wow Matt, you guys must have dropped an arm and a leg for a Jazz Fest lawn chair like that." Wrong. They were free. It's amazing what you'll find scattered across the ground after everybody has left a concert. One of the Stage Managers said he combs through the grounds each year looking for stuff that would just get thrown away otherwise. And we've already put them to good use, they make perfect chairs for playing video games in the living room.
Another fun filled Jazz Fest. And here's an early invite to anybody interested in next years Jazz Fest.
I'll leave you with a bit of bragging if you don't mind... I recently found out the results of the Louisiana Press Asso. annual contest. There are 4 photo categories (News, Feature, Sports and Multi-Picture). They give first, second and thirds in each category for a total of 12 awards. And the awards are presented during a banquet that concludes a weekend of meetings and speakers.
Well, I took home 10 awards. I swept Sports, Muli-Picture and Feature. And I got First in News.
But, I've got to add that I only competed against 4 other newspapers in the state. We get divided up by circulation size. And don't get me started on the contest rules and judging. So I'm happy to have eared all the awards, but this contest really isn't a fair judge of newspaper photography in Louisiana.
What I'm probably most proud of is the fact that one of my photos was voted as Best of Show in the entire contest. All the winning images are displayed through out the weekend and the people attending can cast their vote for what they think is the best of the best from every winning photo in the contest. Not just in a particular circulation size, but everybody. So that was pretty cool winning that. I don't know how many people voted, but I know the voting box was completely full of ballots when I cast mine. Easily over 100.
Anyway, here's that image. It's a local kid practicing before going to a national cheer leading competition. Cool Side Note: I used a little piece of equipment that Misty had just gotten me to take this picture. I was lying on the ground with my camera in the grass. And Misty had just got me an Angle View Finder thing that attaches to the eye piece on my camera. It allows me to look down into my viewfinder rather than have to crank my head in awkward positions to be able to see through my camera. So thanks Misty!
I had to say goodbye to an old friend today. I didn't think it was going to be tough, but I actually had to think about it for a while.
I got a new strap for my camera this week. I was pretty excited because my old strap was pretty worn out. The old strap had two sides, one with cotton and the other with a rubber type substance. And I used each side depending on what I was wearing. Just any normal shirt I'd put the cotton side against my shoulder so I could easily move the strap. But if I had a jacket of some sort on, I'd put the rubber side against my shoulder to prevent it from sliding off the jacket.
I went to make the switch today and had to stop and think if I really wanted to get rid of my old strap. I mean, it's just so comfortable... like an old pair of shoes or an old hat that might look like hell, but is just too much a part of you to get rid of. But I finally made the switch, but not without thinking about what me and the old strap have been through.
(Que sappy music)
-Two Major Hurricanes -Katrina -Rita
-One Tropical Storm -Cindy
-Two full seasons of home Saints games, including... -One NFL divisional playoff game between the Saints and Eagles -Two Monday night football games (including the first game back at the Dome after Katrina)
-About a 10 LSU regular season games (don't feel like looking up exactly how many)
-6 college bowl games -Houston Bowl -Two New Orleans Bowls -Two Sugar Bowls -BCS National Championship
-One KSU football victory over Texas where I rushed the field and tore down the goal posts
-One KSU football victory over Colorado (Kelly Glasscock used it for this game)
-A workshop in Portland Ore.
-A trip to New York City
-5 (I think) Trips to Manhattan Kansas
-It's been swimming with me at the water park
-It spent a week with me at girl scout camp in June of 2006
-Its been a part of one state basketball championship -and three state runner up basketball teams
-Two state soccer championships
-Its kept me company at countless meetings, speeches and award ceremonies
-Its been placed on levees throughout Terrebonne parish
-It's been hung on hooks on the inside of bathroom stall doors
-I've taken it inside houses and buildings that have recently caught fire -It took a week to get the smoke smell out of the strap after going inside the World of Wings after that fire.
-I've used it to dry my hands
-It's seen... -Green Day -Gov. Bobby Jindal -Jimmy Buffett -Spike Lee -Bon Jovi -Bono and U2 -Stewart Scott -Jimmy Johnson -countless NFL stars -plenty of college football stars -George Bush the dad -and I'm sure others I can't think of
-It's seen the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico
-It's been to Jazz Fest in New Orleans
-It's been up and down Bourbon Street
And you know what... those are just the bigger things this strap has been through. I'm not even going to mention how many high school football, volleyball, basketball, baseball or softball games this thing as watched. Don't forget track, cross country, tennis and soccer.
or how many community theater practices it's sat through
or how many kids playing basketball or skate boarding in the streets it's seen
or how many road races its watched the start and finish of
or how many self portraits of me its seen
And I can't even begin to think how many times the strap saved my camera from having to spend weeks in the shop. I know I drop my camera quite a bit, but I always hold the strap in such a way that if I do drop it... no worries.
I think you get the point. And I'm sure there are plenty of other stories out there that this strap could tell.
And I welcome any stories some of you might have about my camera strap.
R.I.P Canon EOS camera strap. And may the new strap, with its little joint things to prevent the strap from getting twisted, experience and help the way the original strap did.
If anybody not currently living in South Louisiana is thinking about coming down here, but can't think of a reason... Read the rest of this post. And if you do currently live down here and haven't done any of the things i'm going to talk about... Shame on you.
Lets get started with a Sunday afternoon last week.
Taylor called me up just as I was about to start a game of Wii Sports and asked "You wanna go crabbing with us?" That's a no brainer. I grabbed my fishing pole, met Misty and Taylor at wal-mart (for snacks, bait, lures and so misty could get a fishing license so she didn't get another ticket like last year) Then headed down the bayou.
We went to Point-aux-Chenes and parked along the side of Island Road. Misty and Taylor set up 8 crabbing lines. (Strings with chicken necks tied to the end) and I rigged up something on my pole to throw into the water. I cast for about 20 minutes with out a bite, then gave up and decided to crab instead.
Crabbing is a really simple concept. Toss the chicken-neck-on-a-string out into the water, wait a few minutes or until you see the string get tight, then slowly pull the string towards you. And what you're doing is pulling the crab, who's eating the neck, towards the shore. You put a net in the water and pull the crap up over the net, then just pick up the net. And presto! You've caught a crab. Sometimes the hardest part is getting the crab out of the net.
We spent the rest of the afternoon catching crabs. I tried my luck at fishing a couple more times, but really all I did was throw shrimp and lures into the water and reel them back.
Here are some photos...
Misty with the net in the water and pulling the string... at sunset. (Go ahead and say it... Ohhhhh Ahhhhh that's pretty)
Got it! (It actually is kind of exciting because some of the crabs are quick and scurry away when they see the net.)
Another version of the first photo...
When you get two photographers together, you know something like this would happen...
And then you boil them... (We caught about two dozen, and Misty's dad did the cooking)
And then you eat them...
Now see... don't you want to do that? You don't need a fishing license to catch crab, you only need one to catch fish. So come on down and catch you some dinner.
If you need to take a break, now would be a good time. So go grab a snack, visit the restroom, whatever you need and come back for the other reason you need to get down here.
Live Music... you can't go anywhere in New Orleans with out hearing live music. This past weekend was the French Quarter Festival. A three day music fest in the French Quarter with tons of live local music. And the best part... it's all Free. There are multiple stages set up through out the Quarter and lots of tents with food and drinks from local establishments. It's pretty awesome.
I guess you can say that the French Quarter Festival (FQF) is kind of a warm-up to Jazz Fest. It's the same sort of setup where you can just walk from stage to stage hearing a bunch of music. The only differences are Jazz Fest brings in some bigger named bands while the FQF keeps it pretty local. Oh, and of corse, FQF is free.
We spent Saturday and Sunday walking around the quarter listening to music, eating some awesome food and just enjoying the nice weather. (Sunny and about 70-80 degrees... it was a little windy so later in the day having a jacket sure helped)
Here's Jackson Square... one of the locations with a stage. There were tents around the edge of the square with all sorts of food. Misty had a Jambalaya and pizza... and I had a crawfish sausage po-boy and two slices of Crawfish Bread (The greatest food ever made by the way).
We spent a good portion of Saturday at the Brass Band Stage along the river. Misty laid down to soak up some sun while I continued to groove to the Pinstripe Brass Band. You can see our drink of choice there on the left... it's a hand grenade. It tastes like a mountain dew. I also had a Hurricane, just so I could say I had a Hurricane while at the FQF.
And here's what I was grooving too...
We saw quite a bit more than just music this weekend too. It seems there's always something interesting to see in the French Quarter.
Like the Natchez Steam Boat... actually, just wanted to kind of show how high the Mississippi River is right now. I don't know many specifics, but I've heard it's as high as it's been in a while at 17-feet. And they've had to open the spillway outside of town. And you could really tell when we walked along the river this weekend. The water was almost up to the sidewalk. It was crazy. There's a lot of water moving in there.
Or a group of folks on Bourbon Street enjoying their new shirts. (I just thought this was funny)
Or a dude knocked out on the street. I'm not quite sure what happened to him, but from what people were saying, he was punched in the face.
Now then, if you don't want to come down here after all that... I don't really want you to come down here. From standing in shin deep water catching crab to sipping on a Hurricane watching live music along the Mississippi River... And remember, Jazz Fest is just a few weeks away. If you come, your first slice of Crawfish Bread is on me!
And I'll leave you with Misty and I having a little fun on Bourbon Street. I can't count the number of times we've seen people so drunk they can hardly stand up. They usually attract a small crowd of people watching them look like fools. They're pretty funny to watch. So this weekend, I decided to act like one of those drunks. I've seen them enough that it wasn't hard to pretend. And after a few seconds, I had people pointing and watching. My conscious got the best of me when I saw people stop and stare. So I stopped. But not after a few laughs.
How's your bracket looking? I've decided that next year, I'm only filling out one bracket. If I fill out more than one... they're all going to be the same. I think that'll make the three weeks of the tournament more interesting. But I do know that in one of the brackets I have money in, I had 7 of the 8 elite eight teams. So that's cool.
A couple thoughts on running really quick... Last Monday, I ran my farthest run yet. 5.77 miles. And it wasn't that hard. I had just been scared to go over 4 miles for whatever reason. And I even finished faster than I started. Check out my chart from this run. At the two mile mark, I was running pretty slow, but from there on out, I sped up. Then ended faster than I started. Not to shabby.
This run accomplished a couple things.
1: it put me less than a mile from completing my March goal of 29 miles. So, if you'll check the chart on the right, you'll see that I finished the 29 miles with time to spare. (I guess it should be noted that I had a two mile run not register for some reason. So this long run would have put me over had that 2 mile run been recorded)
2: It put me over 200 miles total since Sept. It took me 36 runs to get my first 100 miles. And my second 100 came in 34 runs. It took a little longer to reach that second 100 miles, but I pretty much took December off so it all works out.
So now I just need to come up with a goal for April. I'm leaning towards something like "5 runs under 9.25 per mile" or something like that. March was about distance, maybe I'll make April about picking up my speed a little bit. Thoughts are welcome.
When I'm our running, I always think of funny cleaver things to say in my blog, but then I never get around to posting anything. So I know I'm forgetting something. Oh well.
I'll leave you with a photo I took on Saturday in Raceland. Paddle Bayou Laforuche took place this weekend. A bunch of people spend four days floating down Bayou Lafourche. I hung out at a Bed and Breakfast that was having a party for the paddlers. And I've decided that I'm doing this next year. Looks like fun.
That's all for now... And who do I go for this weekend? North Carolina because I have a UNC jersey and I've been to their campus and I like Roy Williams or KU because I have them in my brackets and KSU beat them and it'd be awesome to say "We beat the National Champion" Hummmmmm...
Unfortunately I was unable to watch the final 7 minutes of the game because CBS cut to the Duke game. But that didn't stop me from yelling while sitting in my living room by myself.
The Cats are finally playing an NCAA tourney game. I was filling out a bracket last night and had to stop for a second after picking us to beat USC in the first round. It felt awesome to see "Kansas St." one one of those little lines.
I remember in taking a small, hand-held TV to class with me in 7th grade to watch the Cats play in the Tournament. My Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Getz, allowed me to watch the game. I got a really fuzzy signal, but was able to see some of the game. The game hadn't finished yet by the time school let out, so mom and I listened to the rest of the game on the radio on the way home in our big van. We lost.
A couple other points of interest going on right now...
I ran in another race last Saturday. The over and Under Tunnel run. They think it's the only road race in the country that goes over... and under.... the same body of water. I had been practicing the hills of the bridge and tunnel for a couple weeks leading up to the race. It paid off. I passed about 10 people on the final hill.. most of them were walking. So that felt awesome.
If you get a chance, check out and bookmark Misty's new photo blog. She just started it last night and I assume it'll be filled with her work. The first image on there is one she just took at a baseball game. It's pretty impressive so check it out when you get a chance.
I'll leave you with a pretty nasty image I took the other day. It's from a really bad wreck I went too. It was the strangest thing how it happened inside the Civic Center, with an audience of high school kids, right before prom season. And the victims blood was Ciro Syrup.
1: I just ran 4.3 miles along the Mississippi River. Misty and I went up to the Luling area and went up on the Levee next to the river. She rode her bike and I ran. It was awesome. A little windy, and at some points dusty from some of the factories in the area. But it was just awesome. Perfect day.
2: I still believe in KSU basketball. I don't care if we've lost 4 in a row or if Beasley is a one-year college player. He's brought basketball excitement back to Manhattan... something the Little Apple has needed for years. Go State!
3: I've been following the Ellender Lady Patriots in the State Tournament the past few days. If you remember, they won the State Championship last year. Kelly and I have gone to Hammond twice in three days to watch the Semifinals and finals. Ellender was #1 in the state, and favored to win.
so check this out to see how it all went down. (might want to push pause after pushing play, to let it load all the way.)
I'm from Kansas, but live in South Louisiana now. I'm the Chief Photographer at The Houma Courier, a New York Times owned daily newspaper.
I graduated from Kansas State University in 2003 with a BS in Print Journalism.
