Lunch Hour Watercolor

Today, I did a quick sketch of one of my favorite photos of the Bell Tower at Harding.  It took about 30 minutes. It is only 4X6 inches.  A little art therapy never hurt anyone.

Sometimes you get lucky

Sometimes when you are out shooting narrow depth of field photos of flowers and a tower a bee happens to fly through your in-focus airspace.  That is Lucky with a capital L.

I don't think you can create luck. You're either lucky or you're not. I don't know if it's really luck or if it's just curiosity. I think the main ingredient or a main ingredient for photography is curiosity. If you're curious enough and if you get up in the morning and go out and take pictures, you're likely to be more lucky than if you just stay at home. - Elliott Erwitt - On the Question: "Can you create your own luck as a photographer?"

7:39pm

This is me last week at 7:39pm as I photographed Former First Lady Barbara Bush.  The photo was taken by Assistant University Photographer Abby Tran.
Abby has worked for Communications and Marketing for the last year helping me and working on scanning the archives.  You should check out Abby's blog to see her outstanding photos.

I think it is fun seeing me working although it looks like I am in pain in this photo which I was not.  Anyway here is the image according to the metadata that I shot exactly 1 second after Abby took this photo of me.

Intensely Being Myself

I spent a my class period talking to my students about how there is such a big difference in knowing how to operate a camera and having something to say with your photos.  Probably the best advice I ever read about being creative and doing your best work was that you have to be yourself as intensely as possible.

I love this photo for many reasons.  The light is really nice.  The composition is strong.  The depth of field is shallow.  The color balance is vivid and warm.  Those are all nice things but what is important is the flowers are just sitting there being themselves.  Jesus said that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed as well as the flowers of the field. God created us in his image and what a beautiful thing that is.  He gave us all gifts and he called us all to be his children.  There is great beauty in all of us if we will just be ourselves. If you know me, you know that me taking photos of flowers is me being intensely myself.

This week we had Say Thanks Day at Harding.  It is a day for us to thank the donors and everyone who help make Harding the place it is.  So as I think about this past week and my experiences, I am thankful for my father in heaven, my wife and kids, my family, my friends, the people I work with, my church, the ability to see,  my cameras and flowers.

2-7-2014 It snowed tonight

I really enjoyed watching the Opening Ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics. After they were over I stepped out on the porch and everything was covered in snow.

I decided to go walk the campus because I knew it would be beautiful and I was not disappointed. All photos taken with Fuji X100s and processed with Snapseed on my iPad.

12-2-2013 Campus Christmas Lighting

I don't know how long we have had these Christmas lights on campus but this year is the first time I have ever shot the lighting.  Previously I have sent student photographers.  This was a really fun event and I was surprised how many kids came out.

8-28-2013 Casual Presidential Portrait

8-15-2013 David B. Burks Building

151/365 Harding Presidential History

05-31-2013

In a brief afternoon ceremony Dr. Burks handed over the keys to the office to Dr. McLarty.  We move from the 4th President in Dr. Burks and the only President I have ever know at Harding to Dr. Mclarty. I am looking forward to working with Dr. McLarty and learning how he likes things and hearing his speeches and watching him lead Harding into the future.

Dr. McLarty, Dr Ganus and Dr. Burks pose for a quick photo in the president's office.  It was fun to hear Dr. Ganus telling the story about Dr. Burks coming in one day several weeks before he became president and he confessed to Dr. Ganus that he didn't want his office to be in the Administration Building.  Dr. Ganus said he could tell that Dr. Burks was not sure how he would feel about him moving the office to a different building.  Dr. Ganus smiled and said "I was so relieved that I wasn't going to have to move my office."

I am thankful that I have known 4 of the 5 Harding Presidents.  I took Dr. Benson's photo for the Petit Jean my freshman year.  Dr. Ganus has been our Care Group Elder at College Church for years. My first real conversation with Dr. Burks was correcting him from calling me the wrong name,  He kept on calling me Leslie (Downs) who was the University Photographer before me.  I was scared to death and he was kind and said he was sorry and he never called me Leslie again.

135/365 Joe Pike Prayer Garden

5-15-2013

This little garden nook at the Business building is a prayer garden dedicated to the memory of Harding employee Joe Pike.  Joe died in an accident during the construction of the addition to the building.  This is a peaceful spot that I enjoy visiting and I am thankful that it keeps the memory of Joe Pike alive.

133/365 Ralph the gardener

5-13-2013

I love running into the gardeners out on campus.  Today, I ran into Ralph as he was putting plants into the beds in front of Searcy Hall.  Ralph is a quiet man but I always enjoy visiting when I see him.  I appreciate Ralph, Louella and all the others that work to keep the campus beautiful.

115/365 Harding Arch by Nikon and Leica

4-25-2013

Hands down the Harding College arch is the most photogenic of the two arches.
Nikon D3s with 24-70mm.

College arch with the Leica M8 and 35mm.

Wet Streets Look Cool

I am trying to figure out why photos blogged from my iPhone look blurry as thumbnails but if you click on it it opens in a window and looks perfect. Trying different photo settings. I hope you enjoy the photos anyway.

Working with my Friend

Photo by Noah Darnell

My good friend Noah Darnell took this photo of me on a College of Nursing photo shoot.  I always love working with Noah and on this shoot Ashel Parsons as well.  They inspire me with their photography and I am better for working with them.  Well I always wonder what I was seeing when Noah shot his shot.

I didn't have the exact same frame but we were close.  I think its fun to see myself working.  As the photographer there are not always so many photos of me.  Thanks Noah, you got a good one!

I teach here.

I spend time on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays in this building. I adjunct for the communications depart teaching one section of Basic Photography and one section of Advanced Photography.

Tonight we did a little twilight shoot on campus and I used a real camera, but a day is just not complete without a few iPhone photos as well.

I love the time with students and getting to hang with the Comm department is a blessing as well.

By the way, the parking lot was packed so I had to park across the street. I kinda liked how the cross walk looked too.

HDR

I stink at doing HDR images. But this year, I am trying to improve my processing abilities so here you go with 3 HDR versions of the Admin Building in snow with the sun setting.

Pictures for 100 years from now

Tonight Josie and the boys and I went for a bike ride on campus. I took a film camera and I took several photos of them around campus. Someday, one of my Great Great Grandkids will send those photos to Harding because the landmarks in the photos are HU. The photographer will look at them and say "look it's the McInteer Building, they tore that building down back in 2xxx, it would have been cool to have seen that building. " I get that feeling when I look at photos of Godden Hall. I wonder sometimes what photos of mine will be important to people in the future.

Location:E Center Ave,Searcy,United States

Dogwood Blooms

Belles&Beaus-Track-Baseball

The best part of being a University Photographer is that you never know what you might shoot in a day. Today I started with a concert then moved on to a track meet which was followed by a baseball game. In the middle of those I saw my Dad and Step mom as they were visiting today.So far I have shot 1675 photos today and after I threw out the bad ones I kept just over 1000. Tonight when I shoot Spring Sing I very likely will shoot another 1600 photos. I have said it before and I am saying it now "I have the best job on campus."

Campus is Blooming