Daily Photos

< April 2015 >

April 1, 2015
Give up television. Live your life. Today was sunny, but cold when the wind blew. You gotta pay one way or another. The pavement in this area was . . . well, disgusting. Kind of blue.

April 2, 2015
It was THAT windy. Urban wildlife. Ever get the feeling everything is just out of alignment? And -- just then -- it started to rain. Yellow, white and green on Green Street.

April 3, 2015
I used to know how to drive one of those. I met these hands when they were pursuing a bachelor`s degree. Today they completed a doctoral degree. When it`s good to have a small car. These appeared in a bowl at work. I debated whether to pop one in my mouth to find out what they were. It was a day when a photo of a spoon was necessary.

April 4, 2015
6:11am 6:26am 6:44am 7:02am 7:12am

April 5, 2015
The odd couple. If you sing this melody, do you think you could laugh again, my friend? Just try for me. SHAKE SHAKE GO I don`t take flowers like this very seriously. An early buzzer. Rippling roofline reflection.

April 6, 2015
Two wrongs don`t make a right, but what about two rights? Not corporate espionage -- I just like reflections. What? Oh! Did I mention I like reflections?

April 7, 2015
I spent about twenty seconds outside and then gave up. Photos taken indoors on rainy days tend to be very dull. Bowed by the rain. Out the left window. Out the right window.

April 8, 2015
Hanging around the Schuster Center. It rained a lot today. And then it rained some more. Oh please, don`t ever knock down this building. Signs of spring. I`m not sure red is my color, but I`m ready to take pictures at the percussion and color guard world championships!

April 9, 2015
Today I took 4,238 photos of percussion ensembles at the WGI World Championships. This will be a busy weekend! I like it when performers look up from their instruments to face the judges, audience and photographers. Freaky masks are always appreciated . . . . . . but the catch-a-falling-girl stunt has become a cliche. Flying with giant wings will never go out of style.

April 10, 2015
Today was easy: I took only 2,875 photos. The photographer sitting to my right missed this shot. This too will become a cliche, but it works for me now. `I am Flanagan High School. HEAR ME ROAR!` Romans got rhythm.

April 11, 2015
This morning I started taking pictures at 9:00am and was finished at 12:30am the next morning. Yes, that`s right. Why do teams do serious shows with dark costumes when they could do colorful, fun shows with BUBBLES? Okay, now that`s just weird. It`s not ALL about percussion. Guess what happened next.

April 12, 2015
After a few hours of sleep, I shot one last competition. A new category of music performance is evolving at WGI. Some of these teams traveled for many hours in a bus just so they could perform for a few minutes in Dayton, Ohio. I can see a reflection of myself sitting in the front row. Next week: COLOR GUARD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!

April 13, 2015
The hurricane isn`t over. This is just the eye of the storm. The color guard world championships start on Thursday! Still trying to figure out what that logo is supposed to be. No parking. No smoking.

April 14, 2015
Watching a lacrosse game, I simply wonder: What? Why? Mine is not to wonder why. Mine is but to get the shots. I was more interested in the sky than the game. After the game, I was able to pay attention to the sunset. I fulfilled my obligation to get pictures of this one player, and so I was taken out to dinner in gratitude.

April 15, 2015
Who says there`s no such thing as dragons? Show choirs and high winds don`t go well together. I had to crouch down to conceal all the trash cans. Next stop: Canada. Once again this year, I`m too busy to enjoy springtime.

April 16, 2015
This weekend I took about 20,000 photos of color guard, thanks to my Canon 5D Mark III and lots of granola bars. I am fortunate to be one of a handful of photographers to take pictures at the WGI World Championships in April. It`s easy to take pictures, but hard to make good photos. For every great shot, there are many more bad ones. In the decade that I`ve been photographing color guard, my ability and my camera equipment have gotten better. In my opinion, color guard is the greatest thing that can happen when music and movement come together.

April 17, 2015
Color guard has its roots in the military, so it utilizes equipment and weapons like flags, rifles and sabres. Now color guard is an art form all about music and dance. The WGI championship brings hundreds of the world`s best teams to Dayton for a long weekend of competition. Many of the teams are from high schools, but there are also independent teams made up of older performers. I like taking pictures of beautiful things, and there`s a good chance of doing that when photographing color guard.

April 18, 2015
My color guard photos are good, but they`re inadequate. They give just a superficial glimpse of the sport of the arts. They don`t convey the powerful and creative use of music or the thoughtful and emotional meaning of the shows. They don`t show the months of repetitious practice or the bruises, bandages, ice packs, crutches and wheelchairs. You can`t tell how this split second of action is part of an organized choreography with dozens of other performers. But most of all, my pictures can never capture the fun and excitement of color guard that brings the crowd to its feet.

April 19, 2015
How I survived last weekend: lots of memory cards. How I survived last weekend: credentials. How I survived last weekend: earplugs. How I survived last weekend: rechargeable batteries. How I survived last weekend: granola bars!

April 20, 2015
Whenever this sign goes up, I start to wonder what kind of person my new neighbor will be. Got your hat for Derby Day? I couldn`t sleep because this tree was barking all night. From here it looks like a tulip. Just as I was going inside, the sun finally came out.

April 21, 2015
To a waterfowl. The wind created whitecaps on the river. Not really sleeping. What sidewalk? Who says you can`t see the wind?

April 22, 2015
Joe Lutz is a photographer from Dayton who takes pictures using a `Giganticam` that makes 20x24`` prints. He asked to take my portrait, so I stood here a long time -- penance for all of the pictures I`ve taken of other people. The unabridged volume of Shakespeare on the floor was actually necessary to help adjust the enormous camera. There were lots of lights in his improvised studio, and they were so powerful, I felt a shock wave when they went off. Joe really knows what he`s doing and it was fascinating to watch the giant photograph develop right before my eyes.

April 23, 2015
C 21 Who wants to see a cardinal sitting still? Who wants to see a squirrel sitting still? The smudges of color were deliberate. The sparkles were deliberate.

April 24, 2015
The disastrous outcome of the `redevelopment` of the former Dayton Daily News building downtown. Devotion. Birds are a cheep way to get a photo. The Dayton Bicycle Club was organized in 1884. My locale today was around Wilkinson and Ludlow Street.

April 25, 2015
Bleeding hearts, Dutchman`s breeches, lyre flower or lady-in-a-bath. Virginia bluebell, Virginia cowslip, lungwort oysterleaf or Roanoke bells. Spring is the best time to visit Aullwood Garden. It is easy being green. These April showers had better bring some May flowers.

April 26, 2015
One week old. It was enjoyable just to watch her fidget in her sleep. Ralph wants to know where his presents are. She didn`t fuss the whole time I was there. I know, I tend to put people to sleep.

April 27, 2015
Repeating lines and patterns are their own reward. The only one like it in the whole park. Refilling the river. Water is a liquid, huh? Looks pretty solid to me. Uhm . . . can I help you . . . in any way?

April 28, 2015
I take lots of pictures of people who work hard, mostly because I`m curious about what it must be like. Skimming the surface of the river looking for bugs. We`ve got plenty of water in this region -- for now. I waited for bees. The bees never came. Not good. Why you`re sneezing so much.

April 29, 2015
I`ve been having trouble keeping things together lately. Third Street at lunchtime. Suddenly I`m hungry for a roast beef sandwich (see December 18, 2011). A motorcycle was conveniently parked on the sidewalk. I`m much more interested in this bird than it is in me.

April 30, 2015
It was chilly today. But not that chilly. Look this direction and the clouds look pretty. Look this direction and the clouds look scary. For me? Alpin Hong doesn`t just perform -- he entertains.

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