Bill Comes To Athens

Bill came to Athens today to stump for Hillary. Even though I support Obama, it was fun to get to hear a real live president speak. He is pretty good with the words, unlike W.

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Last Chance Corral

I've been working on my first photo story this past weekend. It is on a place called The Last Chance Corral. They take unwanted, neglected, or abused horses and foals (baby horses). While at the Corral, the horses are cared for around the clock and they try to get them healthy until another trusted person wants to buy them. It is a really cool place. I was there on Friday and Sunday, trying to get a feel for the place.

This poor foal was in bad shape. I took this photo on Friday and when I came back on Sunday and asked how it was doing, Victoria (the owner) said she had to put it down Sunday morning.

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Bracket Buster

OU came back from being down 17 to beat George Mason on Saturday.

I whipped out the wide angle for a while to try to get something different than the average close-up shot.

Bill Clinton is coming to Athens Monday, we'll see how close I can get. Also, I've started a project on a place in Athens called the Last Chance Corral, where they care for injured, neglected or unwanted horses. Headed back there on Sunday to shoot some more.

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Snow Day

All the schools in the area had a snow day today, except OU. I drove around looking for people having fun in the snow and eventually found this family that was sledding, after an hour of driving around town. They were really cool and they let me hang around and make some photos while they sledding.

Also, it is beard growing season, in case you didn't get the memo.

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Scott and Terry

While Scott and Terry laid down some tracks in my pseudo studio, I drank tea and pointed my camera at them.

Scott has a sweet guitar. Look at it. So nice, so nice.

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Bow to your Sensei!

These are from an OU wrestling match against North Carolina. It had a bit of a high school vibe to it, because the only people in the crowd were parents and girlfriends. And the ref didn't even show up. A D1 NCAA sporting event and the ref does not show. I couldn't believe it. They took 2 coaches from each side and had them officiate. I think this was the first wrestling match I've ever been to. Not the most exciting thing in the world.

This guy was sporting the "Jason Mask."

I worked hard to get some different angles. I noticed all the other photogs there were staying in the same spot, not moving. I tried to get at least some variety, and I tried to make sure you could see faces in each frame. 

This is why I never wrestled. I see no fun in this.

I took this one from the "upper deck" of the Convo. The UNC wrestler looks like he is putting the Kip Kick from Napoleon Dynamite on the Bobcat. 

BOW TO YOUR SENSEI!

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More Tornado Damage

Here are a few more photos from the tornado damage. 

One of many damaged churches in Lafayette, TN.

OU's meteorology professor Chris Towe talks with a family whose home was destroyed. They had an amazing story. They have a tornado shelter, but the storm came so fast they could not get outside to the shelter. When the tornado hit, the family huddled up against the fireplace together and all of them survived, while the house was completely gone. The fridge was the only thing left standing.

The tree remained intact while the home was demolished. And I think this frame proves that the bathroom really is the next best place to be if you don't have a basement.

A flag was blown into the back seat of a car.

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Devastation

The destruction that I saw down in Tennessee was unbelievable. You see footage of this type of stuff on the news, but being in the midst of it hits you hard. I was walking through people's destroyed homes, their belongings scattered everywhere, their lives torn apart. It was heartbreaking. These communities will be cleaning up and pieces their lives back together for a long time.

This photo is a good example of what many homes looked like in Lafayette, TN. We got an all access pass to tour and survey the damaged areas in this town and it was devastating. President Bush was here earlier in the week, so we basically toured the same area he did. Over 170 homes were completely destroyed, dozens of fatalities and many more still missing.

The remains of a home in Lafayette, TN.

A young boy eats his lunch, while his parents help clean up the damage of Wynnewood, a historic home in Castalian Springs, TN. 

These folks in Castalian Springs were in clean up mode on Saturday, unlike the areas in Lafayette, where much of the damage still remained untouched.

This home was completely destroyed by the storms. I talked to some of the people who were working on cleaning it up and a husband and wife were home when the twister hit. The husband didn't make it and the wife was still in the hospital.

A state trooper takes a picture on his cell phone of a car that was in the path of the tornado.

It was shocking to see all of the destruction firsthand. The neighborhoods in Lafayette looked like ghost towns. Everything was leveled and belongings were spread out everywhere. I hope the President gives this areas a lot of money to help the cleanup and rebuilding, because they need it more than we can imagine.

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Trip down South

As you probably know, over 60 tornadoes ripped across the southern U.S. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Dozens killed, hundreds injured. Just a terrible situation for many people down there.

One of my roommates is a meteorology major and  member of the meteorology club here at OU and the group is headed down to KY and TN on Saturday to go have a look at the damage and destruction firsthand. I was able to convince them to let me tag along and take my camera, so I can document some of the damage and talk with some of the families that have been affected by this. Hopefully I can come back with some powerful frames.

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French Creek Freddie

I woke up at 5am, and left for Middle of Nowhere, WV to find their State Wildlife Center. Today was Groundhog Day and it was the 30th anniversary of French Creek Freddie making the call of how much more winter we will have. He was mentioned today on the Weather Channel, so I guess he's legit.

Rob Silvester, the Wildlife Center Biologist, prepares to release the Hog.

Freddie wows the crowd, and also gives them 6 more weeks of winter.

The 5 hour round trip was worth it, I suppose. It was a fairly large event and beat anything that was happening around Athens. 

After Freddie saw his shadow and everyone got to see him, they let out ANOTHER groundhog in the pen. I thought that was bogus, especially after some kid asked what that hog's name was and the ranger says, "He's Freddie too." You can't have 2 French Creek Freddies. 

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