melcufoto

a busy weekend

2012-01-16T16:41:00.000+02:00

the very short story goes like this: many romanians took the streets in bucharest and in several major cities during this past weekend to show their support for an ousted official of the ministry of public health. for the most part the protests were peaceful, but on saturday and sunday after nightfall some of the protesters became more and more aggressive. the riot police had to intervene and from that point on things degenerated. street battles happened around downtown bucharest for several hours each night. people from all sides - angry youngsters, policemen, journalists, peaceful protesters and bystanders - got caught in a whirlpool of confusion and violence and some got hurt.
i was out taking pictures for the romanian news agency mediafax during both nights. below is an edit of the photos that i took.

here and there

2011-12-28T01:02:00.000+02:00

on christmas day viv and i wanted to escape the "eat and drink like there's no tomorrow" atmosphere that major holidays usually bring with them around these parts and went out for a walk. we were in medias, my hometown, a quiet old burg in transilvania. if one would end up in this town on a sunday or a holiday, especially around midday, one might feel like having landed in a deserted place. we ended up going to a part of the town called greweln where i used to go quite often as a kid. it was all quiet and white and it reminded me of the winter season as i had known it as a child. i took some photos along the way and when i downloaded them, one of the images reminded me of another photo i took more than two years ago in new england.

i don't remember whether i was in vermont or new hampshire, but i remember that i took a wrong turn at some point while trying to find a shortcut on my way to an assignment and ended up on a narrow dirt road in the middle of a forrest. it was pretty obvious that i was going the wrong way, but that place was so beautiful and quiet that i decided to keep driving ahead. i was in no hurry so i took my time, stopped the car and took some photos. it was october 6th, the new england fall had just arrived and i had driven straight in the middle of it.

there's no epiphany in this story. it's just another unexpected link that the mind sometimes makes between two apparently unrelated moments.

@ comana

2011-11-03T21:44:00.000+02:00

i spent the last sunday of october with viv, biux, irina, bogdana and babicu (not in the pictures) picnicking at the edge of the forrest near the village of comana and exploring a nearby marsh. these are three of the photos i took on film with my canonet camera during that day.

film

2011-07-12T09:27:00.000+03:00

two frames from a film i exposed and developed last week. it was an expired 35 mm, 800 iso fujifilm.
the first is a potrait of my good friend andrei. the second came out square-ish because it was at the end of the film and only about two thirds of the frame were actually exposed resulting in an odd shaped frame. it's a photo of three friends walking on one of bucharest's old streets.

shot from the hip: vienna trams

2011-06-11T11:14:00.001+03:00

odd

2011-06-09T21:31:00.000+03:00

i found this photo while digging into one of my hard drives today. not a great photo, but definitely a somewhat odd moment. it's also very mundane at the same time. i kinda like it because of that.
i took it during one of my wanderings that i used to take on my days off while i was living in new england.

through the window

2011-06-01T11:15:00.001+03:00

two frames from my recent trips to my hometown medias and to prague, in czech republic. i took the first one on easter day while traveling by train from medias to sighisoara. the second is from a few days ago while traveling by bus from prague to vienna, austria.

light test

2011-05-14T21:42:00.000+03:00

this afternoon i asked vivian, my fiancee, to be my model for a test frame. i was trying to find a good setting for a portrait of a couple that i want to make for a project that i'm involved in. in the end, as it often happens, the test frame was the best image i took on this occasion.

exploring old bucharest

2011-05-10T10:40:00.000+03:00

viv and i took a long walk on saturday and at some point ended up nosing around some old buldings located in bucharest's historic district. the area is generally referred to as lipscani district.

eyeing the ham

2011-01-06T13:38:00.000+02:00

i met this little guy at my mom's house a couple weeks ago.

stolen

2010-11-22T23:04:00.001+02:00

yesterday i was walking through downtown bucharest when i noticed this girl on the steps of the national history museum. her hat and her body posture caught my eye so i took a quick picture before i went on. as i passed by the column on her left i saw a photographer squatting down and pointing his camera in the direction where the girl was. i realized she was posing for him, and that i had just stolen a frame.

old friend, new friend

2010-10-30T21:18:00.000+03:00

yesterday and today i spent a few hours wandering the streets and coffee shops of bucharest in the company of two wonderful dudes: an old friend, andrei pungovschi and a new friend, marko risovic from belgrade, serbia. they're both currently working on long term photo projects - andrei's is focused on serbia and marko's on romania. andrei returned to bucharest yesterday after spending several weeks in serbia.

at left andrei talks to his girlfirend bogdana while at right, marko tries on one of bogdana's hats.

waiting for the taxi outside the building where andrei lives.

replace

2010-10-29T22:32:00.000+03:00

it's been three months since i returned to romania after a three-year absence. and it's been quite a while since i posted an image on this blog. i've been taking lots of photographs in the mean time, but my pickiness, and sometimes my laziness, prevailed so far.

i spent a lot of time with my old friends and made some new ones since i came back. one of these dear old friends of mine, bogdan stamatin, started a music band, along with alex bala, gabriela fierbinteanu and cristi fierbinteanu while i was away from romania. they named it replace.

i just happened to be around when they were getting ready to release new songs and i and other friends got sucked into their project to promote their first music video. together we made four teasers: one for bogdan, one for alex, one for cristi, and one for gabriela. these teasers announce the band's first ever music video that we shot at the end of last week and was released earlier this week. it was fun, and i think we all learned a lot since this was a first for all of us.
after the filming was over, i took a few pictures of the band members together. the one bellow is the one i like most.

in this image, from left, alex bala, cristi fierbinteanu, gabriela fierbinteanu and bogdan stamatin.

the blacksmith

2010-06-28T07:35:00.000+03:00

i met samuel johnson of lakemoor, ill. ealier today while i was on assignment for the nw herald at an event that attempted to re-create a day on an american farm during wwll. some sort of a homefront perspective. johnson and a couple of his friends had a tent set up there and they were doing ironworks using traditional methods. meaning they used coal powered fire and hammers to shape the metal. his face covered in sweat and coal powder, his bright green eyes, along with the hat, the pipe and the blue shirt made me want to stick around for a few moments and take a few photos. the one bellow was made when he took a short break to light up his pipe and talk to a possible customer. it's the one that i like most out of the several compositions and expressions that i ended up with after a few minutes there.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

king of the hill

2010-06-25T02:23:00.001+03:00

a ski jumping event in the middle of the summer at the norge ski club in fox river grove, ill. the images are pretty similar, and - besides the rather unusual association of skis and green grass and flowers - are quite common photos, but i like them nevertheless. can't decide which one i like most though...

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

flag retirement

2010-06-20T07:45:00.001+03:00

Gordon Jesme, Senior Vice Commander of VFW Post 4600 in McHenry, Ill. puts Old Glory flags on fire on Flag Day, Monday, June 14, during a flag retirement ceremony, at the VFW Post 4600 in McHenry, Ill. For those who don't know this already, the American flags are never thrown away when they become worn, torn, faded or badly soiled, but they're retired (burned) during a solemn ceremony as a sign of respect.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

memorial day

2010-06-11T06:29:00.001+03:00

two photos that i took during my memorial day assignments. one, the second, got published. the other is a moment i noticed while photographing something else inside the woodstock ill. opera house.

22-month-old Morgan Hill of Woodstock, Ill., plays with a flag given to her by her dad, Damon Hill, on Monday, May 31, 2010, inside the Woodstock Opera House during the Memorial Day ceremony. Because of the heavy rainfall the parade was canceled and the ceremony was moved inside the Opera House.

Peter Verastegui of Rockford, Ill., is reflected in the plaque mounted on the 6-foot-tall memorial in front of the Woodstock National Guard armory, on Monday, May 31, 2010, in Woodstock, Ill. Verastegui was friends with Sgt. Robert Weinger of Round Lake Beach (center on the plaque) who died on March 15, 2009 in Afghanistan. The two served together in Iraq. Company D. 1st Batalion, 178th Infantry in Woodstock, an Illinois National Guard unit recenlty returned from Afghanistan recognized its fallen by unveiling a memorial on Memorial Day.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

hawks

2010-06-11T03:12:00.000+03:00

the chicago blackhawks won the stanley cup last night in philadelphia. it's been 49 years since the hawks won their last stanley cup, so their success it's a pretty big deal around here. especially since the other chicago teams haven't been doing too well in the last years. i didn't get to photograph any of the games of the final, but i covered the blackhawks' fourth and last game against the san jose sharks at the united center in chicago. the hawks won the series in 4 games, and went on to play against philadelphia flyers in the stanley cup final. it's pretty darn sweet to be in there and hear 20,000+ fans sing fratellis' chelsea dagger song after each goal.
bellow is an image that i took during that game.

Blackhawks forward Dustin Byfuglien celebrates with fans along the glass after scoring the go-ahead goal in the third period of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, on Sunday, May 23, 2010, at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The Hawks won 4-2 and finished off the San Jose Sharks in a sweep to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1992.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

immigration march

2010-06-10T04:15:00.000+03:00

on friday, may 21, a group of immigration rights activists set out for three-day 53-mile march along illinois route 14 starting from st. bartholomew church on the west side of chicago and ending in woodstock ill., in front of the mchenry county jail where suspected illegal immigrants are held before being deported. the activists were calling for an end to deportations and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
i met up with the group towards the end of their first day of marching, in arlington heights, ill. at the st. james catholic church where they were offered food and shelter. they had walked for 18 miles that day. i wanted to take a photograph that would show more than just a group of people walking on a road and holding up signs.

a member of the immigration rights activists group fell asleep on one of the mattresses provided by the volunteers at the st. james catholic church while the others gathered in a circle to share their stories at the end of their first day of marching.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

80s dance-a-thon outtakes

2010-05-27T01:19:00.000+03:00

Benjamin Stump, 19, of Lake in the Hills, Ill. rests on the stands with his face covered by his hat after a dancing on '80s music on Saturday, May 8, 2010, during the "I Love the '80s" Dance-A-Thon fundraiser event hosted by the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA) at the Hannah Beardsley Middle School gymnasium, in Crystal Lake, Ill.

Madalena Madigan, 4, of Elk Grove Village, Ill. examines the "Caution - Wet Floor" signs placed in between the water fountains on Saturday, May 8, 2010, during the "I Love the '80s" Dance-A-Thon fundraiser event hosted by the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA) at the Hannah Beardsley Middle School gymnasium, in Crystal Lake, Ill.

Michael Heidemann of McHenry smiles as he displays his 1984 presidential election campaign button on Saturday, May 8, 2010, during the "I Love the '80s" Dance-A-Thon fundraiser event hosted by the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA) at the Hannah Beardsley Middles School gymnasium, in Crystal Lake, Ill. "I bought this back then," said Heidemann, who added that "These people (NISRA) are the best! I love this!"

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

mchenry west high school graduation

2010-05-27T00:30:00.001+03:00

Nicholas DeLorenzo, left, and his girlfriend Trisha Hurckes kiss while waiting for the comencement ceremony to begin, on Thursday evening, May 20, 2010, at the McHenry West High School, in McHenry, Ill.

Nicholas DeLorenzo, left, and his girlfriend Trisha Hurckes hold hands while waiting for the comencement ceremony to begin, on Thursday evening, May 20, 2010, at the McHenry West High School, in McHenry, Ill.

Curtis DeLord, left, has his tie knot made by Tom Switzer on Thursday, May 20, 2010, before the commencement ceremony at the McHenry West High School.

Samantha Broderick plays with her hair while talking to a classmate on Thrusday, May 20, 2010 minutes before the commencement ceremony at the McHenry West High School.

Graduates throw their caps up in the air on Thursday, May 20, 2010, at the end of the commencement ceremony at the McHenry West High School.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

face paint

2010-05-08T00:27:00.000+03:00

Nathan Nguyen, 4, of Cary smiles after seeing the star that Liz Delzell, a Fox River Grove Memorial Library employee, drew on his cheek, at his request, during the Earth Day festivities, on Saturday, April 10, 2010, at the Fox River Grove Memorial Library,

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

rush hour in the pond

2010-04-25T22:22:00.000+03:00

i was in evanston ill. a week ago and at some point i took a walk on the northwestern university campus. it's a beautiful campus, right on the michigan lake shore. they also have a pond there that is filled with asian carp. i find it amusing that the duck is pushing the big fish away with one of its feet.

lost dreams

2010-04-25T01:54:00.000+03:00

firefighters worked friday night into early saturday, april 10, to put out a fire that engulfed and completely destroyed the house at 3619 berry court,in crystal lake. the house was uninhabited at the time the fire started. the owners were planning to move in the following week. the damages were estimated at $3.5 million.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

track & field meet

2010-04-25T01:29:00.001+03:00

old cemetery

2010-04-23T07:14:00.001+03:00

Maureen Mikyska sits on a chair in between two tombstones Saturday afternoon, during the landmarking ceremony of the Barber Cemetery, in Riley Township. Mikyska, dressed as a "lady in mourning," represented the mother of Lucius W. Barber, a former Civil War sergeant, who lived in between 1839 and 1872 and was burried at the Barber Cemetery.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

night burn

2010-04-21T22:50:00.000+03:00

a few weeks ago i was assigned to photograph a prescribed prairie burn at the glacial park in ringwood, ill. bellow are some of the images i took that evening.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

man-made rainbow

2010-04-01T20:50:00.000+03:00

yesterday was a warm day - the high was around 70 degrees farenheit - and very breezy. it was also a busy day for the firefighters. there were a few general alarms over the radio and i had to cover one of them at a farm nearby. an old hog barn and some corn stock bales got swallowed by the fire. fortunately, the damage was minimal, and the fire didn't spread to the more important assets of the farm. while i was lurking around the firefighters, i noticed that a small rainbow had formed in the area right above the corn stock. i took a few quick shots before it disappeared. i guess it was the smoke, water, and bright sun light combination.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

ouch!

2010-04-01T20:27:00.000+03:00

Woodstock North's base runner Natalie Bruchsaler, 19, bottom, colides with Richmond-Burton's first baseman Jessica Kerns, 3, amid a pick off during a double-steal attempt in the fourth inning, on Tuesday, March 30, 2010, in Richmond, Ill. Bruchsaler was called out and Kerns continued to play.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

freezing soccer moms

2010-03-28T00:31:00.000+02:00

spring showed up about a week or so ago, but didn't hang out for too long. the days were still sunny, but the air was cold. and the wind blew like crazy. especially on thursday. i was assigned to photograph a high school girls soccer game that evening. it was already cold outside and the over 25 mph wind made it even worse.

Jacobs fans Brenda Bishop, center, and Jane Mammoser, right, bundled up and braved strong winds and temperatures below freezing, on Thursday, March 25, 2010, while watching the girls' soccer game between Cary Grove and Jacobs high schools, at Cary Grove, in Cary, Ill.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

potty-training

2010-03-24T22:36:00.000+02:00

Benjamin Gerhardt, 3, center, plays with a piece of toilet paper on Tuesday, February 17, 2010 during the Potty Training class at the Algonquin Public Library, in Algonquin, Ill.

This image is © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

pitchers and tricks

2010-03-24T22:19:00.000+02:00

the high school baseball and softball seasons have started, and i've photographed a few games so far. i'm not a big fan of these sports - mainly because i don't really know or understand their rules - but i'm trying to have fun while i'm covering them. here are some of the images that i took this week and the one before it. the one in which the ball is in focus is a veritable baseball cliche image, but i've never done it before, and i thought i'd give it a try. i wanted to see if i can do it. it didn't seem hard at all. in the end, it's just a trick.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

medieval americans

2010-03-14T06:01:00.000+02:00

i took these photographs back in september 2009, in vermont, at an archery and history aficionados gathering.

These images are © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

abandoned

2010-03-09T21:02:00.000+02:00

it's been a year already

2010-03-07T07:32:00.000+02:00

a little over a year ago i photographed a freelance assignment for the columbia tribune. it was the last evening of the true/false film festival. i saw pictures of this year's edition of the festival on some of my friends' blogs and i remembered about the ones that i took and i decided to post them.

Dusk falls on Missouri Theater one hour before the showing of The Yes Men Fix the World, the documentary film that closed out the 2009 True/False Film Festival.

A last minute spectator rushes to find a seat for the last showing of the Festival at the Missouri Theater.

Sour Mash Hug Band leader Fiddler Mickey performs inside the Missouri Theater lobby during Busker's Last Stand.

Movie goers converse as they enjoy free food inside the Missouri Theater lobby before the final showing.

True/False Film Festival co-founder David Wilson thanks the crowd gathered at the Missouri Theater before he final showing of the 2009 edition of the festival.

sled dawgs

2010-03-07T03:17:00.000+02:00

from an assignment i shot a few weeks ago. the dogs in the first image look like they're fighting but in fact they were playing.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

last night, after work, in the parking lot

2010-03-01T01:01:00.000+02:00

portraits 1

2010-02-24T20:06:00.000+02:00

portraits aren't exactly my strength, or at least i don't feel like i have taken any good portraits yet. but i'm trying to get better at it. i took several of them in the last few months, and i've been hesitating to post them here. today i decided to start posting them. i'll start with two, very simple, ones that i've shot on assignment.

Huntley resident Frank Kajikawa remembers his experiences as a fiteen-year-old living in a Japanese internment camp during WWII, on Friday, February 5, 2010, at his home in Huntley, Illinois.

I photographed Jenny Hanrahan, a Crystal Lake South high school senior and basketball player, for a story that focused on her being a successful student and athlete. Jenny lost her mom to cancer two years ago.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

at da pool

2010-02-15T10:53:00.000+02:00

some outtakes from a high school swimming event.

These images are © 2010 Northwest Herald and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

a few hours in chicago

2010-02-11T09:01:00.000+02:00

i took the metra train to chicago yesterday afternoon and spent a few hours wandering around.

the craftsman

2009-12-29T08:45:00.000+02:00

David Moore leaves St. James Episcopal Church in Woodstock after completing a maintenance job on the church's organ that he built and installed in the late 1980s. Moore started working on organs in the late 1960s, when he was still in high school, and has been restoring, building and servicing organs ever since.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

squash - dartmouth vs. harvard

2009-12-09T05:41:00.000+02:00

first snow

2009-12-06T07:47:00.000+02:00

i headed out of the newsroom today to go photograph a high school hockey game. i was thinking: "the nice warm days of soccer and american football are gone. winter's getting near," and as i opened the door i saw a big and thick curtain made of millions of white dots in front of me. it was freakin' snowing! and i really don't like snow. but hey, i'm in new england, i'm lucky i'm not swimming in several feet deep snow at this point in the year.
anyway, during one of the breaks i bought a hot coffee and stepped outside to warm up a bit (yes it was warmer outside than it was inside). a few feet away from me two little guys were trying to catch snowflakes in their mouths. i stood there looking at them for a few seconds and then i think i heard this voice in my head: "hey, genius, when are you gona start taking some pictures here?" i took a few quick frames before they started noticing me. and now i can't decide which one is the better one out of these three.
the kids names are Jorgen (wearing the grey hoodie) and Keenan Leuthauser, they're both 7, and they are twins.

These images are © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

on a november afternoon in windsor vt.

2009-12-05T07:48:00.000+02:00

lobstah country

2009-12-02T19:09:00.000+02:00

postcard from winsdsor vt.

2009-11-20T08:02:00.000+02:00

katie barnes encouraged me to stop whenever i see a pretty picture and actually take it. new england is a nice huge photograph made of millions of pretty pictures. i see them everyday as i drive to and from assignments, but i usually save them on my organic memory card, my brain. today i decided to stop and snap. i parked on a funeral home's driveway and after a few minutes i left with some images of the kennedy pond in windsor on my sd memory card. it's not as good as katie's images, but if i keep stopping i might get better at it.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

portrait of a musician

2009-11-18T05:23:00.000+02:00

boston

2009-11-16T05:05:00.001+02:00

old mayor, new mayor

2009-11-06T08:59:00.000+02:00

Claremont Mayor Deborah Cutts, center, celebrates her re-election with other City Council candidates and supporters on Tuesday, October 3, seconds after hearing the official results of the Mayoral and City Council elections at the home of Bethany Yurek. At left, from top, are David Messier, Yurek and Kyle Messier. At right, from top, are Jeffrey Goff and and Victor Bergeron.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

hats

2009-11-04T09:02:00.000+02:00

as a kid i wanted to be many things. a cowboy was one of them (yup, i've watched a lot of john wayne movies and such). i didn't really like cows, but i loved the hats. and the attitude. i ended up at a rodeo last summer, and guess what... i saw real cowboys. well, they were high schoolers but they took themselves seriously. and so did the adults that were there. and so did i. and loved their hats. and the light. and i just kept taking picture after picture.

bonfire

2009-10-31T18:36:00.000+02:00

Ryan Stanley, 20, of White River Junction Vt. and his girlfriend, Jasmine Pelkey, 15, of South Royalton Vt., are lighted by the flames of a bonfire Tuesday, October 20, 2009 during Hartford High School’s Homecoming at Kilowatt Park in Wilder, Vt..

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

golf

2009-10-30T18:52:00.000+02:00

shot on October 10, at the end of the NHIAA Class 1 Team Golf Championship at the White Mountains Country Club in Ashland N.H..

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

last summer

2009-10-29T17:01:00.000+02:00

i wanted to post these two images for quite a while now. i took them in june at a gun show in kansas city, mo. in the first image darin raleigh cuddles with his wife as the sales slowed down during lunch hour. in the other one, oblivious to the powerful weapons around her, katie raliegh, 13, is more interested in a nintendo ds video game called littlest pets.

yellow jackets beat the highlanders

2009-10-24T02:17:00.000+03:00

The Windsor bench bursts with joy in anticipation of the game winning goal scored by Megan O'Neill during the second 10-minute sudden-death overtime period on Thursday, October22, 2009, in Windsor Vt.. Players, beginning third from left are Aleigha Sykes, 11, Alex Morley, dressed in street clothes, who couldn't play because a concussion she suffered in the previous game, Amanda Ashline, 4, Janine Lens, 1, Paige Townsend, 18, and Lillee VanReeth, 5. Windsor won the play-off against Harwood 1-0, and will play against Springfield in the next game.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

marauders vs. raiders

2009-10-10T06:33:00.000+03:00

Lebanon High School's Alexander Kivela, 24, knocks away a pass from Hanover High School receiver Daniel Gorman, 2, near the Lebanon end zone, on Saturday, September 19, 2009, in Hanover, N.H..Hanover won 35-20.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

whole lotta lamps

2009-10-06T07:49:00.000+03:00

Ken Blaisdell paints a bamboo-leaf pattern on a lamp shade on September 10, at his shop in downtown White River Junction, Vt.. Blaisdell was working on a series of lamps that he has named the "brake lights" because he uses automotive brake rotors as lamp feet.

This image is © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

kids and scarecrows

2009-09-26T21:06:00.000+03:00

On August 25 I started my 4 month photo internship at the Valley News. I've been photographing almost every day since then, but I kept neglecting this blog. It's time to put an end to that, and today seems like a good day for it.

I took these two images at an annual event in Grantham NH where kids were invited to dress scare crows that will be displayed along Route 10.

The first image was published in the newspaper, the other one is an outtake that I like.

Both images are © 2009 Valley News and may not be reprinted or used without permission.

Above: Hope Kuper, 4, of Grantham N.H. walks away from a row of scare crows after her mom had taken her photo with the scarecrow that she and her friend Olivia Simione, dressed. Hope said that the scare crow that she and her friend dressedwas named "Hart Pink Flower Girl." The annual scarecrow display starts next Thursday along Route 10 in Grantham. Hope and Olivia have dressed the short one on the far right.

concealed carry class

2009-06-16T05:06:00.000+03:00

austin kelly, 24, of moberly, mo, fires his .44 caliber pistol on sunday inside the target masters shooting range in columbia, mo during the practical training part of a concealed carry course. austin believes that more people should go through the course and get their concealed carry permit because in that way they would help give a better name to the 2nd amendment.

shooting range

2009-06-07T18:54:00.001+03:00

chris and rachel. he just obtained his concealed carry permit; she was shooting for the first time, under his supervision.

saturday at sunset

2009-05-25T00:53:00.000+03:00

the edit

2009-05-17T22:48:00.000+03:00

i did a bit of editing on the stuff that i've shot in st joseph and i came up with this. turn up the volume 'cause it comes with sound.

Civil War Re-enactment from catalin abagiu on Vimeo.

... and one in color

2009-04-27T04:45:00.001+03:00

civil war re-enactment

2009-04-24T19:52:00.001+03:00

a week ago in st. joseph, mo.

gentlemen's sport

2009-03-13T19:58:00.000+02:00

beauty & the beast - mu interpretation

2009-02-17T07:00:00.000+02:00

mu hosted the third annual beauty and the beast event last friday at the hearnes center here in columbia, mo. this beauty and the beast thing is an event during which the university of missouri women gymnastics team and the men wrestling team compete at the same time, inside the same arena, against teams from another university. this time it was central michigan university and the missouri athletes lost on their own turf. lame!
i went to shoot this event for fun, and to test a lens that i have never used before - the 200mm f/2 from nikon. a pretty darn good piece of glass i'd say, especially in dark places like the hearnes center.

stephens college basketball

2008-12-14T22:05:00.000+02:00

coach dane pavlovich earned his master's degree in business administration yesterday and then led his team to the first victory in stephens' history against westminster college blue jays. it was a tight game and a tough fight. before the game dane and the team prayed together inside the locker room.

punk's not dead!

2008-12-14T20:34:00.001+02:00

the abusers was founded in sedalia, mo, during the seventies. last night they got together after a 20 + some years break and made some serious noise at the cherry street artisan in columbia, mo. they sounded very well, and i would certainly like to see them on stage again. respekt!

the right to own, to bear and to love arms - episode 1

2008-12-07T20:09:00.001+02:00

i met darin a week ago at a gun show. we talked for a while and i found out that he is a gunsmith and that he refurbishes firearms. last monday i paid him a visit at home, and he introduced me to his gun repair shop. that evening he started working on an ak-47 that was made in romania, and that -according to darin - never fired a single shot. after he's done with it, the gun will look like new, and ready to be sold. darin's job is not only to refurbish these arms, but also to trasnform them. an ak-47 is a fully automatic assault riffle. because in us it's illegal to own fully automatic weapons, darin transforms them in semi-automatic ones.
i took these shots to serve me as notes. i hope to go back there and hang out more with him.

mizzou vs. western illinois

2008-11-24T04:56:00.000+02:00

road trip

2008-11-20T20:10:00.000+02:00

another post with images that i shot for fun. i'm busy writing papers right now, but that'll be over soon. meanwhile, i try to snap here and there whenever i get a chance. it's a great cure for my congested brain.

tigers vs panthers

2008-11-19T21:00:00.000+02:00

11/15/08 mcnally's

2008-11-18T08:03:00.000+02:00

nsm rally in jeff city

2008-11-10T04:14:00.000+02:00

it was way too cold, and these guys seemed to be way too angry.

b.h.o.

2008-11-10T01:26:00.000+02:00

yeah, i know, lame and late, and probably uninteresting. whatever. i liked it when i passed by, so i snapped. it was actually taken on the election night, an hour or two before the announcement.

stjpd

2008-10-18T22:45:00.000+03:00

i spent the last weekend with the policemen from st james, mo. i was allowed to go with them on patrols, but wasn't allowed to photograph the people that they would arrest, fine etc. i found it quite frustrating sometimes, but i understand why they asked me that. besides that, i've learned a lot about the work of an american policeman in a small town. for example, there's no animal police in st. james, so they have to deal with stray dogs, but they also keep and eye on the traffic, deal with domestic violence situations or drugs. i got along very well with all the policemen there and i was surprised to notice that even though most of the time they spend on the job they get to see the dark side of our world, they're not jaded at all. i might sound naive on this one, but this is what i felt after talking to them.
it's going to be hard to put together a story from what i have right now, but i knew from the beginning that my focus wouldn't be just one of the six policemen that work there, but the whole department. i will try to go back there at some point and take some more images.
these are a few shots that i've selected for the blog.

85 mm hook f/1.8

2008-10-10T06:22:00.001+03:00

hook, john hook. shot with a 50 mm f/1.4 through a 85 mm f/1.8. such a dork!

st. james mo - the sequel

2008-10-10T03:44:00.000+03:00

i'm back in st. james. this time i came here with my class mates from the picture story class. we will try to find and photograph some more stories here. today i just went out for a couple of hours to take a look around and shoot some test frames.

workshop fatigue

2008-09-26T04:09:00.001+03:00

bogdan had a crazy schedule and some serious challenges to put up with during the last week and a half. a long flight from bucharest to st. louis, and then a 2 hour drive from there to columbia. then some busy days and then mpw. this last one usually brings well rested people on the verge of exhaustion. i'm glad and proud that he pulled it through great so far.

mpw 60

2008-09-23T07:25:00.000+03:00

missouri photo workshop is back, and i'm part of it again! this time in st. james, mo, and not as a participant but as a crew member. my job here is to document the workshop itself. in other words i am the workshop photographer, which is kind of awkward because everybody else here is a photographer. among these people there are three friends of mine: andrei, bogdan, and calin. you can see the first two below.

electricity addiction

2008-09-16T07:25:00.000+03:00

i was on my photo editing shift at the columbia missourian this afternoon when the lights, computers and all the "electrivore" devices inside there stopped working all of a sudden. power outage. immediately several people around me pulled out their cell phones and started texting, calling or using them as flashlights. we're soooo dependent on electricity powered tools! some people, went out to grab a bite. i grabbed a camera, powered by a battery of course, and snapped a few shots. then i went to grab a bite.

steam engine festival_people

2008-09-07T07:12:00.000+03:00

steam engine festival_engines

2008-09-07T07:04:00.000+03:00

tree climber

2008-07-24T23:30:00.000+03:00

ann koenig, 35, of columbia, mo is one of the two missourians who will take part in an international tree climbing competition in st. louis this weekend. koenig works for the columbia department of conservation and practices climbing on the white oaks that are a few meters away from her office.
i took these shots last weekend for the st. louis post-dispatch. john, thanks for giving them my number.

images from the past few months (episode 2)

2008-07-08T05:59:00.001+03:00

cooper's landing, october 19th, '07.

images from the past few months (episode 1)

2008-06-29T07:00:00.000+03:00

saturday, march 22, the hearnes center in columbia, mo, hosted a ceremony for the 1076 missouri national guard soldiers that were about to be deployed to kosovo on a one year peace keeping mission. in the last image 2nd lt. timothy grenke, mayor of centralia, mo, embraces his son brian, 4, and is being hugged by his daughter rose, 8, while jessica, his older daughter, 17, watches them.

hai romania!!!

2008-06-06T21:45:00.000+03:00

“some people think football is a matter of life and death. i assure you, it's much more serious than that.” - bill shankly (scottish soccer player and manager, 1913-1981)

euro 2008 starts tomorrow. romania plays the first game on monday against france. we're gonna give them hell!! italy and nederland are next after that...

earth day

2008-05-08T08:22:00.000+03:00

i took this frame while i was shooting for a class assignment. i am probably not going to use it in the project that i am going to turn in for the class - at least not in this toned version - so i'm posting it here. my buddy john t. likes it and i kinda agree with him.
disclaimer:
the vignetting is not artificially added. i used a full frame camera with a wide lens to take this image. there's also some strange blue stuff on the upper corners that came with the original shot. i got it on other frames too so i think it's the lens-camera combination that generates that.

the house

2008-05-05T23:51:00.000+03:00

hubbell house has been my home for the last ten months. it was fun. except for the winter bills.

advanced techniques assignment_multiple flash

2008-04-29T03:42:00.001+03:00

i was supposed to post this picture quite a while ago. what can i say, i'm a serial procrastinator.

paquin tower

2008-04-28T07:12:00.001+03:00

take a great organizer - jamie kanki - an awesome photographer - danny wilcox frazier- and eleven photo-j students eager to push their limits in search for their personal visions, mix all these ingredients together and you'll get the best day of this semester. that day was on friday and made me realize how many talented people i have the chance to meet with every day at this school.

marlene johnson

2008-04-28T07:01:00.001+03:00

marlene is 43 and she is suffering from severe arthritis. she moved to columbia five years ago to meet her soul sister and she has lived at paquin for the last four years. she is moving out on monday. she said it is time for her to move on. marlene is a big fan of wwe wrestler john cena. she said she never misses his fights.

gwen ervin

2008-04-28T06:47:00.000+03:00

ervin is 65 and he recently moved to paquin tower. he lost his right leg in august 2007. initially the doctors amputated only his toes because they were frost bitten. the leg didn't heal and they had to amputate it over the knee. ervin is from florida and at the time he started having problems with his leg he was living in waynesville, mo. he has no friends or relatives in columbia but he wants to stay and live here.

golf and layers

2008-04-07T10:06:00.001+03:00

i've been trying to work on the layering lately. first impressions? it's not easy. but it's fun. this is what i came up with today at the old hawthorne golf club in columbia. mizzou golf players taught some golf lessons to 8th grade and younger kids.

i miss (real) football

2008-04-07T09:52:00.000+03:00

yeah, i know people here call it soccer but i don't like to call it like that. this is football 'cause people who play it kick the ball with their feet!!! makes sense, no?
anyway, here this is a sport for women. from where i come from this is a sport for men. i had this interesting conversation today with a friend. i was trying to explain to her that when women play it this sport loses a lot of its beauty. i am not a misogynist pig. i just think that girls are better than guys at some sports and vice versa. she didn't agree with me.

the blue (magenta?) fugue

2008-03-20T22:08:00.001+02:00

Another Advanced Techniques assignment. This time it was the gelled flash. I'm not a big fan of flash photography and I definitely am not good at it - the picture bellow is an example - but I have to work my butt hard and learn how to use that tool. It might be useful sometimes.
So The Blue Fugue, downtown Columbia. A band from Nashville, Tennessee. Their music sounded pretty good.
Let there be ROCK!!!

snapping in the rain

2008-03-19T22:13:00.000+02:00

Rainy days in CoMo. That was on Monday. Now the sun is shining again. Hurray for that!!!

game/set/match

2008-03-17T05:33:00.000+02:00

For some reason I feel like shooting in b&w lately. It will probably go away, but for now, I like my stuff better this way.

2008-03-11T00:21:00.000+02:00

BALLS!!!

2008-03-06T22:44:00.000+02:00

Second studio assignment for the Advanced Techniques in Photojournalism Class. This time my task was to photograph metal objects. I had some troubles finding an idea. Finally, I decided to take the chance and play with some steel spheres. Challenging, risky and fun. A lot of fun! The idea is not 100 % original. I browsed a lot of stock photography sites before going into the studio and my picture is the combination between two images I saw on the internet. One of them was a photograph of iron spheres arranged like pool balls, the other was a 3D rendered sphere on a checkered surface. I tried to reproduce the 3d rendered sphere in the studio, and I added a few other balls. I couldn't find big spheres so I had to use a macro lens. That's why the depth of field is so shallow.

Camera: Nikon D2Hs
Lens: Nikkor 60 mm Micro
ISO: 200
Shutter Speed: 1/250s
Aperture: f/36

splash!

2008-02-21T00:19:00.001+02:00

I finally got the chance to go through my outtakes from the Missouri Swimming Grand Prix. I went there hoping to get some great shots, but it didn't turn out that way. Nevertheless it was a very interesting experience. And a very humid one.
First some b&w selects...