The First Snow.

… well flurries. It is amazing what you get to experience at 230 in the morning. In grad school this is a regular occurrence but and recently it is the norm. Tonight, however, I embraced it.

There is something about the middle of the night that heightens your senses. “I feel like its snowing,” I said to Tim as we walked out of my house. I heard something and smelled something that reminded me of snow without even seeing it. Moments later as we stepped on to the street, the snow hit our faces. It was a great and needed break from my work. So I decided to go back out with my camera for a couple of minutes.

To the first snow….

self portrait

Who’d a thought this would be next door

2007 CPOY Winners

The 2007 CPOY (62) Winners have just been listed. Check out the images here. There is also a list of winners. I have also listed them below.

First of all I want to congratulate all of my classmates including Travis Dove who was named College Photographer of the Year. It is so amazing to see the growth that has occurred in the last year. I think the most amazing thing was that the awards were scattered among many people — showing the strength of our class as a whole. I truly am proud to be part of this class at OU. I have to point out that OU took away 28 awards this year (in gray)

Spot News
Gold - Brian Frank - San Francisco State University
Silver - Michael Mullady - San Francisco State University
Bronze - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University
Award of Excellence - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University

General News
Gold - Phillip Andrews - Western Kentucky University
Silver - Phillip Andrews - Western Kentucky University
Bronze - Peter McCollough - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Jenn Ackerman - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Brandon Kruse - University of Missouri
Award of Excellence - Ben Fredman - University of Missouri
Award of Excellence - Peter Hoffman - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Edward Linsmier - Western Kentucky University
Award of Excellence - Daryl Peveto - Brooks Institute of Photography

Feature
Gold - Justin Mott - San Francisco State University
Silver - Brandon Paul Watts - Brooks Institute of Photography
Bronze - Jeff Giraldo - Western Kentucky University
Award of Excellence - Jenn Ackerman - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Peter McCollough - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Ross Mantle - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Matt Eich - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Justin Maxon - San Francisco State University

Sports Action
Gold - Peter McCollough - Ohio University
Silver - Benjamin Reed - University of Missouri
Bronze - Cody Duty - Western Kentucky University
Bronze - Daryl Peveto - Brooks Institute of Photography
Award of Excellence - Jeff Giraldo - Western Kentucky University
Award of Excellence - Andrei Pungovschi - University of Missouri

Sports Feature
Gold - Noah Rabinowitz - Ohio University
Silver - Teresa Prince - University of Nebraska
Bronze - Ben Fredman - University of Missouri
Award of Excellence - Travis Dove - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Mandy McConaha - Western Kentucky University

Portrait
Gold - Travis Dove - Ohio University
Silver - Brian Lehmann - University of Nebraska
Bronze - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University
Award of Excellence - Ben Rasmussen - John Brown University
Award of Excellence - Mikayla Mackaness - Macquarie University
Award of Excellence - Noah Devereaux - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Justin Mott - San Francisco State University
Award of Excellence - Jake Stevens - Western Kentucky University
Award of Excellence - Tim Gruber - Ohio University

Pictorial
Gold - Nicholas Weissman - Brooks Institute of Photography
Silver - Shaena Mallett - Ohio University
Bronze - Afton Almaraz - Brooks Institute of Photography
Award of Excellence - Mikayla Mackaness - Macquarie University
Award of Excellence - Kirk Irwin - Syracuse University, SI Newhouse
Award of Excellence - Daryl Peveto - Brooks Institute of Photography
Award of Excellence - Ricky Lesser - Brooks Institute of Photography
Award of Excellence - Travis Dove - Ohio University

Illustration
Gold - Katie Barnes - University of Missouri
Silver - Justin Wagner - Brooks Institute of Photography
Bronze - Kelly Marie Heck - Savannah College of Art and Design
Award of Excellence - Luiz Gilberto Santos - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Lindsay Adler - Syracuse University, SI Newhouse
Award of Excellence - Benjamin Roberts - University of Iowa

Domestic Picture Story
Gold - Jenn Ackerman - Ohio University
Silver - Tim Gruber - Ohio University
Bronze - Michael Mullady - San Francisco State University
Award of Excellence - Daryl Peveto - Brooks Institute of Photography
Award of Excellence - Nathan Morgan - Western Kentucky University
Award of Excellence - Max Bittle - Southern Illinois University

International Picture Story
Gold - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University
Silver - Justin Maxon - San Francisco State University
Bronze - Ikuru Kuwajima - University of Missouri
Award of Excellence - Daryl Peveto - Brooks Institute of Photography

Documentary
Gold - Travis Dove - Ohio University
Silver - Carl Kiilsgaard - Western Kentucky University
Bronze - Brian Frank - San Francisco State University
Award of Excellence - Kainaz Amaria - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Phillip Andrews - Western Kentucky University
Award of Excellence - Justin Mott - San Francisco State University

Sports Portfolio
Gold - Benjamin Reed - University of Missouri
Silver - John Tully - University of Missouri
Bronze - Ben Fredman - University of Missouri
Award of Excellence - Jordan Murph - University of Hawaii
Award of Excellence - Nick Adams - Western Kentucky University

Portfolio
Gold - Travis Dove - Ohio University
Silver - Dominic Nahr - Ryerson University
Bronze - Brian Frank - San Francisco State University
Award of Excellence - Benjamin Reed - University of Missouri
Award of Excellence - Justin Mott - San Francisco State University
Award of Excellence - Justin Maxon - San Francisco State University

Individual Still Image/Audio Story or Essay
Gold - Crystal Street - UNC Chapel Hill
Silver - Tim Gruber - Ohio University
Bronze - Ricky Leung - UNC Chapel Hill
Award of Excellence - Chris Kelleher - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - M.K. Smith - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - Tim Gruber - Ohio University

Individual Video or Mixed Media Photo Story or Essay
Gold - Tim Gruber - Ohio University

Multimedia Project
Gold - Jeff Giraldo - Western Kentucky University
Silver - UNC at Chapel Hill - UNC Chapel Hill
Bronze - Sonya Hebert & Beth Skabar - Ohio University
Award of Excellence - UNC at Chapel Hill - UNC Chapel Hill

Stories In the First Person

In class yesterday we were talking about journalism in the first person. I thought this was a great time to highlight some photography and multimedia done in the first person.

This discussion began after watching the intro of Dan Habib’s (photo editor at Concord Monitor) documentary, Including Samuel, on his son Samuel and inclusion for children with disabilities. Check out the Concord Monitor’s film review on their website.

A couple of weeks ago, I also came across a piece Chris Tyree from The Virginian-Pilot did on the death of his father-in-law. While this is not in the first person it is about someone very close to him in his life. In an email I received back from him a couple of weeks ago, he said this about the project:

It was definitely the most emotional project I’ve ever done but one that I have grown from.

Sometimes these are the hardest stories to tell. I know this as last year my sister was in a horrible car accident and while I wanted to document her recovery and the eventual restoration of her eyesight, it was extremely hard for me to take photos. After a couple of days of documenting this, I decided to put down my camera.

About a year has gone by and I think because of my growth as a photographer in that year, I am seeing that desire to tell the stories in my own life grow. I wish now that I would have continued to shoot her progression, despite how hard it was to see her pain behind the lens. I applaud Chris for his courage to tell this story despite how hard it must have been.

And then there is the multimedia piece Matt and Melissa Eich helped Media Storm produce, Love in the First Person.

Also on Media Storm, filmmaker Julie Winokur and her husband, photojournalist Ed Kashi tell of their experience taking care of Julie’s father with dementia in The Sandwich Generation.

This discussion comes at a great time as today on NPR’s Morning Edition, Diana Walker talked about her experiences as a White House photographer.

It is amazing the stories that we can tell from our own lives. Every time I see a project done in the first person, I am encouraged to tell the stories that are placed in my life rather than always searching others’ lives.

At War

I stumbled across this blog by David Leeson and Scott Kesterson. It is an interesting look at the making of their documentary, At War.

This is blogging at its best. You get into the minds and lives of the director and producer of this documentary and become an active listener in the story because you are invested in the lives of those who are telling it. It also interesting to read the comments — some that are from the soldiers that were there when they were filming. Look at the Sept. 2. post, Subject Driven Storytelling.