APAD 68: Something new, something blue

"In preparation for my upcoming graduation a selection of tasty beers are beginning to line the top shelf of the refrigerator at our home in Aurora, Colo. on May 30, 2008."

Today was a day to recuperate from last nights debacle. I laid low most of the day because frankly the grey skies didn't look too appealing from my position in bed. When I finally did manage to get something done it didn't really work out. I drove all the way to DU to finish cutting my mat board for my 20 prints for my independent study however when I got there I couldn't find the prints that I put in my car a day earlier. I searched the car in and out before calling my parents to see what they knew about the situation. To my demise my mom informed me that my dad had removed the prints out of my car when they went to get my emissions done today. Why he thought it was necessary to take the prints out of my car I'll never know. DU is a good 30 minutes from my house so I'm sure you can understand that I really didn't feel like driving down all the way home and then all the way back to school. 

I'll try to complete the task tomorrow hopefully in enough time to get me to the golf course for nine holes.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 67: Celebrating the end of classes

"The Lamont Symphony Orchestra performs in front of a full house in Gates concert hall on the University of Denver campus in Denver on May 29, 2008."

A wild night out last night left me unable to post until today. Classes officially ended yesterday to complete my academic career. It truly hasn't hit me yet and I'm sure it wont for a little while.

I had the opportunity to shoot the LSO last night on campus for the music school and it was a great assignment. I'm really pleased with my take and I got to listen to some outstanding music while I shot.

I joined up with my friend Sam and her friends for a golf pub crawl to celebrate her birthday. We stopped at nine bars/houses and had at least one drink at each. It was a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate my last day of classes, EVER.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 66:" All bright" ideas

"Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright addresses students, staff, faculty and community members outside of the newly renamed Josef Korbel Graduate School of International Studies in honor of her late father on the University of Denver campus in Denver on May 28, 2008. "

I don't know who had the bright idea to schedule a formal breakfast at 8am but I'm positive that it wasn't a college student. While running low on sleep this morning I made my way to Phipps Mansion to shoot the Chancellor's opening breakfast in honor of the renaming of the GSIS. I managed to make my images without any problems and got out of there in enough time to get some breakfast, move my images and get ready for the reception following the press conference.

This evening, after dropping off the wedding book with Destiney, I headed to Mike and myself staple thursday night activity, reverse happy hour and sushi. A few months ago we started going to sushi after photo club and Mike's tennis practice and it has now evolved into  a weekly activity of us finishing at least six rolls, appetizers and drinks. 

After dinner I headed over to Dave & Busters for the event that they were putting on for all the seniors. I was actually really surprised at the good turnout among my peers. Not half way through my beer Kelly (not the one you're thinking of, long story) arrived. She just graduated form CU a few weeks ago but I haven't seen her in nearly a year. I finished my beer and we headed down to Cherry Creek North to walk around and enjoy the beautiful evening. CC North is always crazy busy during the day so it was cool to see it quiet and peaceful.

My final official class as a student is less than nine hours away and I'm going to get some sleep prior to my presentation. It's starting to hit me and although it freaks me out a little bit I'm looking forward to being done.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 65: An abstract day

"Soft light from a nearby window illuminates an old winding staircase on the west side of University Hall on the University of Denver campus in Denver on May 27, 2008."

The last few days I've left my new 85 f/1.8 on my Mark II and forced myself to shoot at a fixed focal length and I've been pretty pleased with the results. Today I found myself seeing and shooting rather abstract objects and still life. Clouds blanketed the entire metro area all day which produced some wonderful soft even light. 

I had to take care of a few last minute errands on campus that needed to get done before graduation so I parked my car and walked to the various buildings making some images on my way. It really amazed me some of the things that I saw and shot just by going a different route to places. Trust me, I've probably on every square inch of campus over the course of four years but altering your route can affect how you see things.

After I finished my errands I attended to some business. I had two jobs that needed a final edit and an invoice to be created and sent out to the client. As usual Mike Kennedy and I chatted for a while in the office but I managed to get my work done.

I mailed out the pocket wizards that I sold over the weekend (I can't wait to get my shiny new MultiMaxes in the mail next week). Pop was on sale and Mom wanted me to pick some up for my party next week for the kids who stop by so I made sure to make a stop at King Soopers on my way home. To my pleasant surprise the wedding book that I created for Michael and Destiney arrived and I was stoked. The quality just absolutely astonished me and I can't wait to deliver the book when i get out of class. Unless something changes I'll be using My Publisher for years to come.

I'm shooting a big breakfast reception for the chancellor and mayor at Phipps Mansion tomorrow so I'm going to try and get four hours of sleep before I have to get up. Tomorrow is my second to last day of academic classes in my career and I'm really looking forward to finishing up.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 64: Cold and wet

"A porch light is reflected in a puddle of water on the steps of a home in Aurora, Colo. on Memorial Day, May 26, 2008."

Today was the unofficial start to summer and all we got was cold cloudy weather with rain showers to end the day. I couldn't even get into the spirit of the holiday because it was freezing from the moment I woke up. I spent most of the day just lounging around inside.

After dinner my mom and I finally put together the menu for my graduation party and I'm really pleased with what we're going to be serving. I finally got my act together and  designed the invitations that we're sending to friends and family. My mom has been on my case about it for weeks so I'm glad that it's taken care of.

I only have 6 hours of class time left in my academic career and I can't wait until its over. I have worked extremely hard over the past 18 years. It really hasn't hit me yet but when it does it's going to feel really good.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 63: That wedding was LEGIT

"The sun sets over Shea Stadium in Highlands Ranch, Colo. on May 25, 2008."

I know, I know, a photo of a sunset is so cliche but I just loved the color and it was all done in camera so I couldn't resist.

I had two tickets to the Rockies game today and took along a friend, Liz, to enjoy the great day and game. Not only are the Rockies struggling winning games but they are also struggling to keep their players healthy. Seven out of the eight usual starters didn't play today but yet they won. Baseball is a funny game and it just works out like that some times. Regardless we had a good time sitting in the centerfield sun enjoying a great day at the park.

After I dropped Liz off at her place I headed up to Louisville to meet Andrea and deliver my take from yesterday's wedding. I hung around to play with her two year-old son since I haven't seen him since last June. It's amazing to see the little personalities that kids develop in their first few years. I got to see another one of those little emerging personalities at my brother's soccer game when I saw Miya, my brother's best friend's little one. She's almost three and full of adorable attitude. 

Jonathan, my brother, and Tommy, his best friend, are training and playing with their (former) club team over the summer before they head back to school for their senior season. They have some pretty good competition as their playing in a minor league against some teams from across the country. The boys played really well and they each delivered an assist during the game helping their team to a 4-0 win over the Des Moines Menace. Next week they play the Colorado Rapids U-23 team which should be a much better game. The club may hire me to shoot the game so I'm looking forward to shooting some images of my brother and the guys he has grown up playing with.

At this point I don't really feel like going into great detail about the amazing wedding that I shot yesterday because I have explained the story to at least 10 people by now. However I'll leave you some details and you can paint the rest of the picture. The ceremony was at the grooms house in Cherry Hills. The house and property were enormous but let's put it this way...their pool house was larger than my parents house. The actual ceremony was held in the backyard (which some might consider a park) in front of their own personal pond with water fountain that might as well qualify as the sixth great lake. There were over 300 guests and not a single one of them were unattractive. I swear that the pre-requisite for the girls at the party was a barbie doll look-a-like and a skin tight dress. The reception was in a huge white tent on their tennis court...if you can imagine a tennis court that big. The band, Jakarta, was AMAZING and by far the best wedding band I have ever heard PERIOD. Last but not least I have never seen so much alcohol consumed in my life. These people knew how to party and I found it hard to consider what I was doing was work because it seemed like I was at the party and just happened to be taking pictures. If that is was a wedding is supposed to be like everyone would be dying to get married immediately. Best of all the families and guests were amazing and treated us like friends and definitely not the help.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 62: Confidentiality clause

Due to a confidentiality clause in Andrea's contract with the client I am unable to post an image from the wedding that I shot. However, I did select and caption an image for the day and is included with the rest of my images from the project.

The internet has been down at our house leaving me unable to post until now.

The wedding was absolutely amazing! The house property was so big that when Andrea and I got there we were in the pool house and thought that was the main house. There were over 350 guests in attendance and I swear that was nothing but beautiful people there. It was by far the most lavish event that I have ever been to let alone shot. I'll leave some more details in tomorrow's post but I'm late heading to the Rockies game so I going to have to get out of here.

-JCE

APAD 61: Endless errands

"When asked to define himself in one word University of Denver student Saudmadi responded with 'courage' and evoked that feeling in his pose at Observatory Park in Denver on May 23, 2008."

It seemed like the errands were endless today. From the bank to hobby lobby to finishing some things on campus I had a busy day. I did make to the Muslim Student Association's picnic in time to shoot some portraits however only three people were willing to help me out. It was really frustrating because I only needed 30 seconds of their time but more than 10 people didn't want to do it.

As soon as I left there I stopped by chipotle before heading to the photo lab to begin cutting my 40 sheets of mat board for my "a photo a day" project. I'm printing 20 selects 8x12 and matting them in 16x20. It took me a good two hours to cut everything but I passed the time by watching the season finale of Grey's Anatomy that I missed last night. I think it might be one of the best episodes that they have ever had. I still have to cut the "windows" in half of the sheets but I'm waiting until I print the images before I do so.

My 85 f/1.8 cam in today and I played with that briefly before spending the evening getting ready for tomorrow's wedding  and working on the book that I'm making for my diversity portrait project. Considering how long it has taken me to get going on my independent study I'm really pleased with how everything is coming together.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 60: Making progress

"When asked to define himself in one word University of Denver student Andy Nguyen responded with 'temperance' and evoked that feeling in his pose outside of the Center for Multicultural Excellence on the University of Denver campus in Denver on May 22, 2008."

I got a lot accomplished today and that is always a great way to start the weekend. I made quick work of my quiz in class, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed over to the office to kill some time before my independent study meeting with my professor. I have been done with work for a while now but I still stop in to chat with Alexis. Although she is essentially my boss she's only a few months older than me which makes for an interesting dynamic. We actually have a great working relationship and it's a lot of fun to have someone my age in the office who is actually a staff member. Eventually I ended up in Mike's office, one of the sports information directors, to shoot the breeze. Somehow we always manage to talk about every sports topic imaginable and today was no different. After an hours worth of conversation about distance running later I headed over to the art building for my meeting with Sean.

I was a little nervous going into the meeting because, let's face it, my senioritis has completely kicked in and I've been a little behind on my work for my photography independent study. I did have some work to show him and he was pleased with what I did have done. We went over things for a while, tweaked my projects a bit and made some final decisions as to how I'm going to present the projects. For my project on diversity portraits I'll be creating a coffee table book of at least 30 prints and I'll be printing and matting a collection of 20 of my best images from my "A photo a day" personal project. I'm really glad to have some direction to take the work and I hope to finish most of it this weekend.

After the meeting I stopped by the CME to shoot portraits of the Asian Student Alliance membership and I followed that up by making it over to the Women's College to shoot some members of the Latino Student Alliance following a program they were having there. Just like last week I am pleased with my images and I think that the project is really going to look fantastic in a book form.

I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow so it will really be important for me to stay focused on what I need to get done. My 85 f/1.8 should arrive tomorrow and I'll be eager to play with it before the wedding I'm shooting with my former photography professor on Saturday.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 59: I love Wednesdays

"University of Denver club tennis member Michael Sasser embraces Aaron Medina in triumph of their doubles victory 2-0 over fellow members Colin Thurmond and Andrew Schwartz at Stapleton Tennis Pavilion in Denver on May 21, 2008. Sasser and Medina won Jamba Juice smoothies from their opponents for the victory."

I almost forgot to post...but I didn't.

Not much to blog about today because it was just your typical Wednesday. I slept in, went to class, stopped by photo club, shot some images of club tennis and then continued our Wednesday tradition, Jamba Juice for smoothies followed by Kona Grill for reverse happy hour drinks and sushi. It's nearing the end of the quarter so everyone has lame homework excuses for not coming. However, Mike and I are seniors with just over two weeks to go so homework is like a foreign word to us. We were a little late getting to Kona and weren't able to get a table outside for happy hour. For whatever reason happy hour is only served outside or at the bar. Considering there is usually only two tables being used in the actual restaurant and people waiting to get a spot outside I think that is a dumb rule. Everyone would be much happier if they served it in the restaurant as well. We hadn't eaten all day so we just sucked it up and got a table in the restaurant for regular price sushi. Six huge rolls later we were much more content.

Thursdays are much less entertaining but it is the start of a four day weekend so I can't really complain. Hopefully I'll get my graduation party invitations done so mom will get off my case. Or I could just use this blog as advertisement and save the 42 cents on the stamp. See mom I'm budgeting!!! If you read this you're invited. June 7th from 5pm to LATE. You know the Edmonds household knows how to throw a party.

-JCE

APAD 58: A penny well spent

"Dan Ritchie, 26, seen at his home in Denver on May 20, 2008."

This afternoon Mike and I continued out DIY photo gear binge with his roommate Dan. Mike has been trying to get me to help him make a ring flash for the past week and today we finally worked on it. Yesterday Mike and Dan started on the prototype that was a great start. Dan is a mechanic and his garage is full of power tools so he was the perfect guy for the job. The initial model wasn't doing exactly what we wanted so after much debate and trial and error we decided to head to my favorite orange camera supply store to pick up some materials. While we were there we searched for some alternative ideas. We found a circular florescent bulb in the clearance section and I decided to take it up to the front and buy it if the price was right. My guess was that it would be around $5 which would make it a great deal. To our surprise, when we scanned the item at the self checkout it rang up $0.01 (no that's not a typo). I couldn't believe it. I pulled a dollar out of my wallet so fast you would thought I was trying to steal something. I even managed to purchase some candy with the $.99 that I had left over. When my sister and me go shopping we're always looking for a "mistake" and this was one of the best mistakes that I've found. Dan tried to buy the rest of the ones that they had left but it didn't ring up in the system at all.

When we got back to Mike's place I was eager to try out my $0.01 purchase. The essential concept of a ring flash/light is to place the light source on the same axis of the lens so that there are not any shadows on the subject. I tried to mix it up a bit by taking the light source away from the lens. Then by having dan look into the light I was able to capture some nice circular catch lights in his eyes. My light doesn't have the power that Mike's flash version has but for studio portraits I should be able to make mine work.

Tomorrow is another day closer to graduation so I'm sure it will be a good one!

-JCE

APAD 57: Ashley Jo

"Ashley Capple, of Louisville, Ky., and Kathleet Mulcahy pose in Red Rocks park and amphitheater in Morrison, Colo. on May 19, 2008."

I didn't get anything remotely interesting at golf this morning so at the risk of being one of those photographers who post an image of his friends I'm doing it anyway. Plus, I don't want to hear it from the girls that they didn't make my photo of the day. Who knew that my personal project would be such a hit.

Ashley, Kathleen and I spent the evening out in Denver enjoying the warm weather. Today was Ashley's last day in Denver so we wanted to show her some more of the city. We drove by Wash park, parked at Confluence park and walked the 16th street mall. Nothing really caught our eye so we decided to check out one of the roof top bars near Coors Field. We ended up at Lodo's only to get a waitress   with no clue about service. It took the young lady 18 minutes (yes, I timed her) to get me a beer and the bar was not busy at all. So FYI don't sit in Lexi's section at Lodo's or just avoid the place all together. Ok I'm done with my rant.

The last thing that we wanted to show Ashley was Red Rocks. Despite there noting being a concert there I still think she was able to enjoy the experience. I've never seen two girls more excited to pretend they were rock stars...or groupies, hahaha (we won't get into that).

I have to take her to the airport in three hours so I'm going to pass out. 

-JCE

APAD 56: Solid Sunday

"Sam Shelburne tees off at dusk on the 16th hole at Saddle Rock Golf Course in Aurora, Colo. on May 18, 2008."

After doing lots of nothing this morning I did manage to get out to Saddle Rock for 18 with Sam and one of his buddies. I haven't seen Sam for nearly a year and a half for reasons I won't get into so it was interesting to say the least. I was swinging the club pretty well but my short game showed exactly how little I work on it. The greens were much slower than I remember and that definitely got into my head. I absolutely hate playing on the weekends because that means playing behind weekend golfers. Now I'm not saying that I had my "A" game either today but at least I wasn't searching for my ball on every single hole like the guys in front of us. I seriously wish there were times of the day when only good golfers (<10>

After only getting through 17 holes (16 and 17 were played in the dark) I dashed to Cherry Creek all the way from SE Aurora to meet Ashley, Kathleen, Brandon and his friends for sushi at Happa. The food was great but I really didn't need to spend $25 considering I had a Chipotle before i left to play golf. Whatever, I graduate in three weeks and I'm going to live it up.

After sushi we rented a movie from the Red Box at McDonalds for FREE! I love having one of the secret codes. The Ashley and Kathleen passed out shortly after the movie started but I managed to watch the whole thing. Adam Sandler plays a completely different role than I'm used to seeing him in and that was really interesting. Its not one of my favorites but it wasn't a bad way for spend a Sunday evening after golf and Sushi.

I'm shooting the CHSAA girls golf championships in less than six hours so I'm going to bed. I don't think I'm shooting anything exciting but I'll see what I can come up with for tomorrow's post.

-JCE

APAD 55: 3 weeks to go...

"Rick Rimbert of Manitou Springs reaches full extension during the boys 3A long jump finals of the CHSAA track and field championships at Dutch CLark Stadium in Pueblo on May 17, 2008. Rimbert finished in third place with a jump of 21-0.25."

After yet another grueling day in the sun shooting track and field I feel well versed in the events. Today I didn't have to shoot any podium photos which left me available to roam and shoot any and all action. When I wandered over to the boys 3A long jump finals I noticed a very small window of uncluttered sky where the athletes were taking off. After a few test frames I was really pleased to nail the shot above on the first try. Funny enough I shot maybe 10 more frames and none of them turned out like this one.

All the finals were held today which meant that I was done shooting by 4:15pm compared to 7:00pm yesterday. I downloaded my last card as quickly as I could and then made my way for the highway. I was making excellent time until I ran into an accident involving two motorcycles. The accident was on the complete opposite side of the road but curious drivers easily lengthened my trip by about 25 minutes. Regardless I still made it back to Denver in about an hour and 35 minutes.

I picked up Ashley from Kathleen's house and we made our way to my house so I could shower and change before we went out for the night. Ashley Jo, I like to call her that since she's from the south, was up for anything for dinner so I figured that a good burger and a beer would do the trick. After some mild debate I decided to take her to Cherry Cricket in Cherry Creek North which is one of my favorite spots. They have all my favorite beers on tap (Blue Moon, Sunshine Wheat and Coors Light) and the burgers are amazing. If you haven't been its definitely a place you should try. Although Ashley didn't have a beer I still think she got the Cricket experience. You really can't go wrong with blue cheese on a burger!

We met Kathleen back at her place so the girls could finish getting ready before heading out for the evening. We couldn't let Ashley come to Denver/DU without a stop at the good ol' place between Subway and the laundry mat. For all of you who don't frequent the DU bar scene, The Border is the place to be Thursday and Saturday nights. Actually any night of the week you're sure to find someone there. I'll leave the rest of the evening to your imagination but you might guess that as Seniors with three weeks until graduation Kathleen and I showed Ashley a good time.

I have some things to do with my mom in the morning including but not limited to planning my graduation fiesta and then I'm going to play golf. Is it already May and I still haven't played 18 yet??? I've been hitting the ball great but my short game is struggling at the moment so I'm anxious to see how my game holds up on Murphy Creek's tough track.

-JCE

APAD 54: Run Forest, run

"University's Kaleb Greenwood (3) charges toward the front of the pack during the Class 3A 3200 meter run during the CHSAA track and field championships at Dutch Clark Stadium in Pueblo, Colo. on May 16, 2008. Greenwood dominated the last lap to take home the title."

I shot a LOT of track today. Oddly enough it was my first time shooting track and I had a pretty easy job doing it a guy who is selling photos to the parents. It was a really long day, in Pueblo at that, and it wasn't terribly exciting but it sure beats a day at a desk starring at a computer screen.

Afterwards Barry and his son took me out to dinner at 3 Margaritas for a great meal. I'll never turn down fajitas and a beer, no matter what city I'm in. We have yet another long day ahead of us so I'm going to actually make it to bed before midnight for the first time in nearly two months. This blog hasn't been the greatest influence on my sleeping schedule.

One of the girls that I studied abroad in Rome with is in Denver for a few days so I can't wait to get back to Denver and party it up after another day of track and field. It should be a hot one (80+) and I'm really not looking forward to sitting on the hot, rubber artificial turf all day but hey I never said that being a photographer was easy.

-JCE

APAD 53: Define yourself

"When asked to define herself in one word, University of Denver student Chisom Agbim responded with 'passionate' and evoked that feeling in her pose in the Johnston & McFarland dormitory classroom in Denver on May 15, 2008."

This evening I finally got my act together and shot some images for my independent study that will complete the requirements for my art minor. The project I'm working on right now is portraits of people of color at DU. The University has an issue with diversity and although they claim that they are working on the problem, it still exists. I want to call attention to the subject through my art. As part of the project I am asking students of color to define themselves in one word and then evoke that feeling in their pose. The goal is to demonstrate that skin color, nationality, race, gender or sexual orientation does not define a person, it only represents a small piece of who they really are. It was really interesting to read what word each of the ten students I photographed tonight picked to define themselves.

I am shooting high school state championships four out of the next five days so I will have to put my project on hold until next Wednesday but I look forward to working on the project some more. I will be in Pueblo, ughhh, Friday and Saturday and I pray that my hotel has free wireless internet so that I don't have to go searching for somewhere to post each night.

-JCE

www.jcedmonds.com

APAD 52: We're dorks

"Denver sophomore Adrienne Day poses during a lighting demonstration at a Photo Club meeting in Driscol North on the University of Denver campus in Denver on May 14, 2008."

I spent the morning catching up on some much needed sleep. The past few weeks there just hasn't been enough hours in the day and frankly sleep just hasn't been at the top of the list. Despite only having a few classes and being done with my workstudy I am still busier than ever. I don't really know why and I can't even begin to explain it but there are a lot of little things that I still need to take care of each day. Thankfully I've been able to get them done but as a result I haven't slept much.

Class, if you want to call it that, was pretty chill because we only had to work on our decisions for quarter 6 of our marketing simulation game. Professor young brought in some cajun cuisine to celebrate Gabe since he was from New Orleans. My worked pretty well today considering the goofy mood the girls were in and we were able to get everything done in two hours.

Following class I headed over to the Photography Club meeting. Yes, I'm a photo dork and I can accept that. In fact we're all dorks but we really don't care. For the past two weeks Mike and I have been putting on instructional sessions for the rest of the club. As you can imagine we are both more than sufficient photographers but we go to the meetings to help everyone out. I think that it is really important to pass on the knowledge that someone once gave me.

We spent a few hours explaining how we would approach a particular assignment and then showing everyone how we would shoot it. Mike covered the basics of lighting and the different types of effects that you could get. When he was done I did a little more elaborate set-up with two lights using things like gels, snoots, gobos, and cookies to create my shot. The thing that I really stressed was to use what you have. In this case the blue wall, red chair and Adrienne's yellow shirt really complimented each other. I know that our little workshop helped our fellow students but I know that it also helped me to explain everything out loud. I really felt like I had a grasp of the idea I was trying to create by explaining it to others. The next time I have an assignment I'm going to try to explain it all out loud to myself so that I can think about everything that I need to make the image work.

After a night out with my brother last night I got home way too late to post anything that my image for the day. Therefor, I would like to announce that my new website www.jcedmonds.com is officially up and running. I would love some feedback on the site so let me know what you think.

-JCE

APAD 51: Lifestyle

"After morning and early afternoon rain showers a man and his dog get out to enjoy the late evening sunshine at Washington park in Denver on May 13, 2008."

APAD 50: Andiamo

"University of Denver senior basketball player Brooke Meyer shows off her guns after winning the strength and conditioning award at the 73rd Annual Student Athlete Awards banquet held inside the Ritchie Center on the University of Denver campus in Denver on May 12, 2008."

I had a great day assisting Manuello on his shoot for Stanford magazine at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs. The subject was great and really cooperative which usually makes or breaks the flow of the shoot. Manuello i s true professional and everything went smoothly as planned. I'm a little behind on my sleep so I'm going to have to cut it short yet again. I will try to talk about my day with Manuello a little more tomorrow.

-JCE

APAD 49: Mother's Day

"My mom has a laugh while enjoying an afternoon outside on the patio on Mother's Day at our home in Aurora, Colo. on May 11, 2008."

I spent most of the afternoon hanging out with my mom. She is a great person, outstanding role model and one of my best friends and I'm lucky to have her. The weather has started to come around here in the mile high city which allowed us to sit on the patio enjoy the day. Sometimes its great to enjoy a holiday without all the commotion and that is exactly what we did today.

With that being said I am proud to announce that my website is finally finished (almost). You can check it out HERE!!!!

The URL still needs to be changed but I have submitted the form and it should be completed in about 72 hours or so. When that does happen I will be sure to let you know. I would really appreciate some feedback so be sure to leave your comments below or send me an email.

-JCE

APAD 48: Right place, right time

"Shattered glass from the victim's minivan covers the ground following a shooting outside of La Sierra night club in Aurora, Colo. at approximately 1:50 am on May 11, 2008. Aurora Police could not provide any additional information at the time."

Internet woes here at home have prevented me from posting any earlier.

I was working on my website, which is nearly complete, tonight when I saw a slew of police and fire vehicles racing down my street. I reacted just like a journalist and grabbed my keys, gear and raced out the door to follow them. Getting images from spot news events requires either a police scanner, which I don't have, or some luck. I just happen to live on the same street as the District 1 Aurora Police Station so I see the cops racing down the street all the time but it's a rarity to see 10 of them fly by in a row.

I got down to the scene, which is about a mile and a half from my house, with just enough time to make a mediocre image of the paramedics loading a victim onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. I worked the scene quickly to make a few other interesting and informative images. Although it was a somewhat stale image I did manage to shoot the pool of blood that had collected outside the vehicle on the passenger side. I hung around for about 45 minutes before the cold weather forced me back home. I only had shorts and a wind breaker on since I was working in the house.

I have a busy day ahead of me which includes Mother's Day activities and assisting Los Angeles based Italian photographer Manuello Paganelli with a shoot here in Denver. I will also be working with him Monday in Colorado Springs at the Olympic training center. I can't wait to practice some of my Italian!

-JCE

APAD 47: Working on my website

"Roosevelt senior catcher Nathan Wilson looks for a call after tagging out Eaton's Bryce Ruff (24) in the bottom of the third inning of play at the 3A State Championships at Butch Butler Field in Greeley, Colo. on May 9, 2008. Eaton beat Roosevelt 3-0 and later beat top-ranked Faith Christian 11-2 to improve to 2-0 in the double elimination format tournament."

After a long day in Greeley shooing the 3A State Championships I spent the evening working on my website. It has been a grueling process but it is beginning to take some respectable form. It is really rewarding to see my work in a format that rivals the pros that I envy. I can't wait to get it finished. However, with all that hard work has come immense exhaustion. I'm going to bed but look for the website in tomorrow's post!

-JCE

APAD 46: An unexpected lesson

"Content with his position, RJ snuggles into a ball for an evening in his favorite spot in the master bedroom atop the bed with his owner Nancy Edmonds (not pictured) at their home in Aurora, Colo. on May 8, 2008."

This evening at Gabe's memorial service is was very apparent that in addition to his family, friends and fraternity brothers he also loved his dog. During the service they showed a slideshow of images of Gabe with all his friends over the past four years. The service surely had its moments however the stories that his friends and past roommates told kept the mood light, just as he would have wanted it.

As I sat through the service with one of the girls in my group, Kristin, and her sorority sisters it occurred to me that I don't really have any images of our pets. We currently have two cats, RJ and Kazbah. The family dog, Willie, passed away a year ago this past January. In true cliche fashion I made some images of the cats when I got home. The pictures aren't going to win any awards but if there is anything that I learned from the service this evening it's that family is important no matter the circumstances. 

I'll be shooting the high school baseball playoffs all day tomorrow in Greeley and I have an early start so I'm going to try and get a few hours of sleep before I have to leave.

-JCE

APAD 45: RIP Gabe

"Yoal Ghebremeskel, 22, reacts to scoring a goal during club soccer practice at the University of Denver in Denver on May 7, 2008. Ghebremeskel, a 2007 graduate of the University, still practices with the team each week."

I found out today that a classmate from my Integrative Marketing Strategy course, Gabe Richardson, died yesterday at the age of 22. I felt sick to my stomach as soon as I found out. His death really hit home for me because he was supposed to be in my group. At the beginning of the quarter when we were choosing group members, Molly, Kristin, Clay and myself wanted to work together again since we were in a group together in the Winter quarter. When Gabe joined the class we had a dilemma because Clay and Gabe used to be roommates and were still good friends however we couldn't have five members in a group. Gabe and Clay started their own group and the girls and myself did the same. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to work relentlessly on a project with someone only to find out the next day the next day that they are gone forever. It really hasn't hit me yet but I'm sure that it will in class on Monday when he is not there. The thing that frustrates me the most is that Gabe, like myself, was a senior and set to graduate only four weeks from this Saturday. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

Despite the horrific news I attempted to continue with my day. Class was cancelled but my group still decided to meet and get some decision making done. When I walked into the classroom the thought of Gabe immediately entered my mind. I looked across the room to where he used to sit and despite all the empty chairs in the room his seemed to stand out. The girls and I worked quickly to get nearly all our decisions made for the fifth quarter of our eight quarter simulation. 

As soon as we were done I headed over to meet with the photography club (yes, I'm a dork and I don't care) to do a shooting presentation on sports with my Mike. There weren't many people in attendance today which allowed Mike and I to work with people one-on-one. After a little bit of instruction we turned people loose to shoot Mike and I playing tennis.

After we finished Mike and I walked down from the courts to shoot the club soccer team practicing. The light was really nice for a few minutes and I was able to get a few nice images from my remote behind the goal like the one above.

As if I hadn't had enough photography for the day I walked back up to the courts to shoot Mike and some of his friends during club tennis practice. I played around with some lighting techniques while they were playing and found something that I think is going to turn out really sharp. We're going to try to perfect it of the course of the next week and I'll post something as soon as I can.

The photography for the night ended but we were still going strong so after a quick stop at Jamba Juice Mike, Ira, Stephanie and myself went down to reverse happy hour at Kona Grill for sushi and drinks. The night couldn't have ended any better. After today's roller coaster of a ride I'm anxious to see what tomorrow brings.

-JCE

APAD 44: Plan B

"Neon signs from local stores blend together while driving my Honda Accord in the parking lot of a shopping center near the corner of S. Buckley Rd. and E. Quincy Ave. in Aurora, Colo. on May 6, 2008."

So this isn't exactly the photo I had planned to post today but I'll have to do with plan B. The weather forecast for the day called for scattered thunderstorms throughout the metro area so I decided that I would pack all my rain gear and go storm chasing in hopes of getting something like this. I drove all the way out to the Denver Tech Center hoping to find a tall parking structure that would allow me to get a high vantage point overlooking the city. I searched around for a little while but I eventually found a seven level structure with an open top. I put on all my rain gear and climbed the seven flights of stairs because I couldn't get my car past the gate without a code.

Atop the structure I had a pretty solid view in all directions to shoot from. I set up my tripod and camera just as the rain began to fall. Although my camera was covered in a special rain cover I still got little droplets on the front filter of the lens. I tried to dry it off but it was just leaving streaks of moisture on the filter and making the pictures blurry. If that wasn't enough of a headache the wind was blowing and shaking my camera just enough to blur the images. I won't bore you non photo geeks with the technical lingo but basically the wind wasn't playing nice and didn't allow me to get the photos I was hoping for. However the biggest problem was that there wasn't any lightning to shoot. Sure I know that it probably wasn't a good idea to be outside on top of a seven level structure hoping for lightning but I wanted to make some cool images. I waited as long as I could but nothing happened. On to plan B...

I didn't shoot anything all day because I knew what type of image I was going to shoot. The problem was that the sun had already gone down which mean that I didn't have any light. When that happens the camera has to be steadied by some solid object to prevent the camera from shaking and producing blurry images. I decided to create an image that had both movement and still life. For the image above I mounted a camera to the passenger seat headrest, set it to a slow shutter speed (1 second), and triggered it from a remote in my hand. By leaving the shutter open for a long time everything outside the car appears blurry but because the camera is stable inside the car, the interior is tack sharp. I also turned on my blue neon lights that I have mounted under my seats to add some mood to the image. Yes, I had a Fast and the Furious phase in high school, get over it.

Photographers always have to have a plan B because just like one of my colleagues Trevor experienced something will almost always not go to plan.

-JCE

APAD 43: Burning the midnight oil

"While burning the midnight oil Justin Edmonds (me) pulls an all-nighter while completing a paper for his Methods of Marketing Research course at his home in Aurora, Colo. on May 5, 2008. Although it is the last paper he will write as an undergraduate of the University of Denver Justin still has four weeks of school remaining before graduation."

What can I say, school still owns my life. After experiencing a stint of frustration while attempting to write my paper I decided to put up a remote about my workstation here in the dining room to record some of my progress, or lack there of. After a provocative crop I think today's image really sums up my evening.

Thankfully I don't have class until noon so I'm going to try and get some sleep before then. 

-JCE

P.S. We got a B on our Marketing Plan, which is somewhat frustrating considering the time we put into it however with graduation looming only four weeks from this Saturday I'll take that "B" and run! Someone hire me.....pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee

APAD 42: Wandering in the "dark and twisty"

"The last bit of daylight sneaks through a stained glass window on the Ivy Chapel at Fairmount Cemetery and Mortuary in Denver on May 4, 2008. Built in 1890, the same year the cemetery opened, the chapel features ecclasiastical gothic design."

After spending most of the day lying around I finally made it outside to make some pictures just before the sun went down. I got in my car and started driving west with no particular destination in mind. I weaved in and out of side streets until I got to Quebec St. One of my photo professors talked about Fairmount Cemetary when I last saw him last Wednesday. He mentioned that he too was cruising, on his bike, around town one day and ran into the cemetery and decided to take some pictures. It is located just down Quebec St. from where I was so I immediately headed that direction. 

I have to be honest, cemeteries creep me out but Sean raved about it so much that I just sucked it up and started making images. The light was terrible as it was an overcast day and I was loosing light by the minute. All the pictures of cemeteries that I've seen seem to use good, hard light and shadows to create graphic images. I didn't have that luxury so I tried to see if something else popped out at me. On my way back to the car I was walking past one of the four chapels that they have on site and noticed the a bit of color coming through the stained glass windows. The overcast day let just enough light come through the windows on the opposite side to create a soft green highlight. The architecture was particularly interesting and when  I got home and did some research I learned that it was a gothic design. For what I had to work with in the conditions I'm pleased with finding something graphic that definitely stands out among the rest of my take.

This evening I worked some more on the wedding book that I'm creating for Destiney and Michael. The book is really coming together and it's really rewarding to see the images in a format that tells a story.

My marketing group and I get our marketing plan back tomorrow with a grade so my mood will probably depend on how that turns out.

-JCE

APAD 41: Up for sale

"Product shot of the Canon 70-200 f4L and accessories May 3, 2008"

I had a good time getting out and enjoying the weather today. A friend and myself got out to Overland GC to hit some balls. Julie just started playing so I helped her out on a few things and by the end of the day she really improved a lot. I hit the ball pretty solid and I can feel my swing getting back into a groove. My short game needs some work but hopefully I'll be tournament ready in a few weeks. Afterwards we stopped by Bonnie Brae for some ice cream afterwards and sat outside for a little bit talking about each of our experiences abroad in Rome, Italy.

My evening was pretty uneventful but I did manage to work on some product shots. I'm selling one of my lenses to make room for some other lenses that I think could be more useful. I really believe that a quality picture helps things like this sell much faster so I like to show as much as possible for potential buyers. I figure that posting it here might help speed up the process. I guess we'll find out.

-JCE

APAD 40: The work never ends

"The University of Denver men's ice hockey team pauses for a group photo during their 52nd annual awards banquet at the Cable Center in Denver on May 2, 2008."

Today I had to work...all day. I had to be at DU by 2pm to help set up for the hockey team's annual award banquet and we didn't get done with the event until 9:30pm. All things considered it really wasn't a bad day. I've worked this event the past three years and this is by far the smoothest it has been. 

The team honored the four seniors as well as junior Chris Butler who recently signed a pro contract with the Buffalo Sabers. Year after year we put on a great event and this year was no different. We had a lot of help from our sports marketing staff which made it a lot easier to handle all the logistics. 

The Cable Center is really cool if you get to wander into all the rooms that they have there. While the event was going on the rest of the guys and myself watched game 6 between Boston and Atlanta on a huge flat screen in an amazing lounge. I don't know if it will work but I'm definitely going to try sneak in and study there. 

I'm finally going to get some time to enjoy myself tomorrow and I'm going to hit some balls and practice with a  friend at Overland GC. Amongst all the drama, work, schoolwork and day-to-day activities that keep me busy almost around the clock it will be great to get out and pound some of my frustration into a little white ball. If you stop by the course I'll be the one on the end of the range doing my best Eldrick impersonation. 

-JCE

APAD 39: Second wind

"All three colors of a traffic light emerge as it completes a full cycle on the corner of University Blvd. and Buchtel Blvd. in Denver on May 1, 2008."

After a marathon of a marketing project we finally finished the plan with a few hours to spare. I'm extremely glad to have it done and I hope that our hard work will pay off in the for of an "A" (just a hint in case you're reading Professor Young!).

I had lunch with the sports marketing team (seniors), Angel and Alexis for being named work study team of the year for DU. It was nice to see everyone for a change. Since the athletic season has completed for the year I haven't seen very much of them in the past month or so. I'm in the office regularly but apparently I'm an over achiever in that regard.

I stopped by Mike's place after a brief visit with the girls from 2063 S. Franklin. We played with his new (used) D2X before deciding to join some friends a the movies to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was by far the funniest movie that I've seen in a long time and will definitely be added to my favorites list. You'll laugh the entire way through the two hour movie, I promise.

The night was still young when we got out of the movie so we decided to The Border. If you don't know what place I'm talking about then you probably won't venture there. However, for the DU crowd it's the place to be on a Thursday night. Mike has only been there once and after a few minutes me introducing him to people he couldn't help but respond with "man, you know a lot of people." You probably had to be there to understand but it was hilarious in the moment. Post Border the gym girls dragged me over to Forgedaboudit Pizza and Sharky (aka Kristina) and me left with a whole pie, for free, courtesy of a classmate working the counter. The walk back to my car was looooooooong and unseasonably cold for this time of year. It was 83 yesterday and snowing today but go figure, it's Denver. We made a quick stop at a friends place before I dropped her off and headed home.

I'm still feeling the after effects from three straight late nights working on our marketing plan but I'm glad that I caught my second wind tonight to go out and live it up like a graduating senior should. It's way too late (errrrr, early?) for this. Night.

-JCE