Summertime is definitely here. It’s been hot and muggy all weekend. Along with the heat and humidity, we have American Legion baseball.  The Hickory Post 48 team visited the Caldwell Post 29 team this evening at M.S. Deal Stadium in Granite Falls.  The Caldwell team has been dominant for the past few years, but Hickory has been playing very well this season.  In the above photo, Hickory’s Jacob Hoyle (#23) gets a warm welcome at home plate from his teammates after hitting a first-inning grand slam that contributed to Hickory’s plating of 11 runs in the top of the first against the Caldwell team…

Sports

One of the more interesting photo opportunities that has come up for me recently happened on Sunday afternoon. Katherine Spencer Bolick was celebrating her 100th birthday. About six months before Katherine’s birthday, her son, Richard, asked her what she would like to do to commemorate this major birthday. Out of the blue, Katherine said that she wanted to go for a motorcycle ride.  Richard was slightly dumbfounded at this request because Katherine had never been on a motorcycle of any kind in her entire life.  Luckily, he had a neighbor who might be able to help pull this off.  Richard’s neighbor, Archie Reynolds, is the Chapter Director of the Catawba Valley Wings, which is a chapter of the Gold Wing Road Riders Assocation.  Archie was excited about this opportunity and quickly volunteered for the task.  Shortly after I arrived at Katherine’s assisted living community this afternoon, about eight or nine Honda Gold Wing motorcycles rumbled into the parking lot led by Mr. Reynolds and his wife.  Archies’ and several others Gold Wing motorcycles had been converted into the three-wheel format for a very stable ride.  When Katherine came outside, her face lit up like a Christmas tree and she couldn’t wait to get on the bike.  Archie helped her on, strapped her in, tightened her helmet, and the motorcycle convoy left the parking lot and took Katherine on a tour through the square in Newton and back…

1000 Faces, Photojournalism

This time of year is always a challenge. I have photographed six graduation ceremonies in the last four days.  The best thing about this year’s graduation ceremonies is that I only had to listen to excerpts from Dr. Seuss’ Oh! The Places You’ll Go! at one event.  I suppose some of the valedictorian and salutatorian speeches that quote “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” from Ralph Waldo Emerson may be starting to filter backwards into the ranks of the underclassmen.  That quote, in itself, is almost as stereotypical as the readings from Seuss for a high school graduation ceremony. 

I’m all for the idea of free thinking, but it’s definitely a concept that I was not taught in high school or college.  All the graduates I witnessed this week haven’t learned it , and those who are off to college in a few months won’t learn it there either.  It is, however, a concept that is discussed at length and frequently in many classrooms.  These students are yearning for the opportunity to think and speak freely, but there are a lot of roadblocks in their way.  Hickory High School, my own alma mater, graduated their first class of seniors who were forced to comply to a standardized dress code this year.  I’m sure the dress code concept has some merits like squelching class envy and removing suggestive content from tee shirts in the classroom.  In the process of teaching those lessons, students miss out on the opportunity to learn how to understand those very concepts and deal with them in their own way.  In other words, their ability to think freely becomes limited.  At the graduation ceremony, everyone dresses the same as well with the shiny caps and gowns, but you can tell who the smart kids are by how many laniards they have draped across their gowns, so maybe there is some balance left somewhere.

I don’t know of too many colleges that enforce dress codes, but the ideas of free thinking are going to be discussed once again upon arrival.  It’s going to come from history, sociology, economics, political science, and english professors for the most part.  My personal best successes in college were a result of me showing agreement with the free thinking of a professor rather than going with my own ideas.  It’s a difficult path to be quite honest.  I only had one professor in college that appreciated that my ideas were in disagreement with his most of the time.  I was usually penalized in some way or another by others when my answers to the “What do you think about…” questions weren’t in agreement with those of the professor.  Such is life…

Photojournalism

I had a chance to go back to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina over the weekend. For those of you who know me, you know I love photographing trains and all things railroad related.  I love photographing the detail on these old steam locomotives.  I really think I could spend a week in this place and not get bored with my camera.  The problem I have is mainly that I haven’t taken a day to go down here by myself and really study the opportunities.  I would love to put together a large series of photos of this type.  This particular image really takes me back to my roots in photography.  I have always been a fan of the detail.  It may sound strange, but when I look at any given scene, I’m very quick to determine specific elements that make the scene intriguing to me.  When I discover those specifics, I tend to focus on them rather than the scene as a whole.  The art really is in the detail.  Form and function… there is much to see…

Art Photography

On Wednesday morning, we got up and drove down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse for a few photo opportunities…

After our visit to the lighthouse, we caught the ferry over to Ocracoke Island… We stopped for lunch at Howard’s Pub & Raw Bar (see my other blog entry) and then drove on down into Ocracoke Village…

We made a stop at the Ocracoke Lighthouse for some more photos…

After spending a few hours on Ocracoke, we hopped the ferry back to Hatteras and stopped along the way to spend a little time on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore…  This was my first real trip to the Outer Banks.  After visiting this place, I will probably never visit other beaches in North Carolina again unless I have some specific reason to do so… This place is beautiful…

Art Photography

I had the opportunity this evening to go to a Charlotte Knights (AAA Chicago White Sox) baseball game as they hosted the Indianapolis Indians (AAA Pittsburgh Pirates).  I was hoping to get the opportunity to see a few friends who are alumni of the Hickory Crawdads (Low-A Pittsburgh Pirates) from the Indianapolis team, and my luck was good.  Andrew McCutchen (pictured) is one of Pittsburgh top minor league prospects and was their #1 draft choice in 2005.  Andrew played most of his 2006 minor league season with the Hickory Crawdads before being called up to the Altoona Curve team (AA Pittsburgh Pirates).  I think Andrew could possibly get his first major league start with the Pirates later this summer.  Here’s a photo from Andrew’s debut game with the Hickory Crawdads on April 4, 2006:

I also got to see Steven Pearce, Brian Bixler, Neil Walker, and Shelby Ford. Another surprise was a chance to see Brent Lillibridge playing with the Charlotte Knights. Brent spent most of his 2006 season in Hickory with the Crawdads as well. Brent made the opening day roster this year for the White Sox, but must have just been optioned back to AAA ball this week in Charlotte.

Sports

The weather was very nice on Tuesday, so we packed up the car and headed up to the Currituck Lighthouse. I decided to shoot a few infrared photos of this lighthouse with the Canon G9 and the Hoya R72 filter…

After the trip up to Currituck, we decided to visit Jockey’s Ridge State Park. There were quite a few people here flying kites and hang gliding over the dunes…

After Jockey’s Ridge, we drove down to the Bodie Island Lighthouse for a few more photos. This image is also infrared…

After that, we drove over to Roanoke Island for a visit to the North Carolina Aquarium. This aquarium was nice, but I didn’t like it as much as the one at Ft. Fisher…

We took a stroll out on the Nags Head Fishing Pier and watched these guys cleaning and cutting filets from their catches of the day…

Art Photography

We left Hickory this morning at about 7am. We didn’t plan to move too quickly since our hotel had a 4pm check-in time.  We stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel and then set out for the 380 mile trip to Nags Head.  It rained most of the trip, and was cold, windy, and rainy in Nags Head.  It was not a total loss though… Our hotel has a heated indoor pool and a rather large hot tub, so we partook in the goodness of those amenities for a few hours.

Dinner time rolled around so we went out looking for a place to eat.  We stumbled across a place called Bob’s Grill.  We couldn’t pass up a place with a slogan like “Eat and Get the Hell Out!”  After a Philly Cheese Steak and some fries, we rode down to check out the Bodie Island Lighthouse.  It was operating but there are no lights on the lighthouse itself.  We’re planning to hit that tomorrow, as well as the Currituck Lighthouse and the aquarium.  I’m not sure what else we are going to do tomorrow, but we might visit the Wright Brothers Memorial and Jockey Ridge State Park as well. 

Art Photography, Miscellaneous

This has been an absolutely wonderful weekend for me despite the thunderstorms that have rolled through here this weekend. It’s one of the first weekends in a very long time where I haven’t had to worry about an upcoming test or deadline for some school-related project. Graduation has passed, and it’s time for a nice break.

My wonderful girlfriend Tonya is treating me to four days of R&R on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We’re leaving in the morning for Nags Head.  We’ll stay in Nags Head, but we plan to visit areas between Currituck and Ocracoke.  I’m hoping to spend a lot of time making photos and getting myself back into an ‘art’ groove that I have not had the opportunity to enjoy much for a long time. 

I’m taking my laptop with me, so I hope to post a few photos while I’m away.  If not, I’ll see you guys Friday :)

Art Photography

Jeez… it’s been a long hard road. Going back to college at my age has been a real ride if you know what I mean.  A two-year degree in Radiographic Technology really takes three years to complete since they have prerequisites that must be met before entering the program.  In my prerequisite year, I had to take two semesters of Anatomy & Physiology, which lays the fundamental framework for everything else I have done in this program.  That, along with a couple other miscellaneous classes managed to land me a spot in the program at Catawba Valley Community College.  The other minor hurdle was that this program only accepts 10 students each year.  Since several hundred students apply each year, I had no idea if I would get accepted or not.  Getting accepted into the program is largely based on academic merit, so having a 4.0 GPA put me in a position where failure to be accepted would have been for some reason other than my grades.  Luckily, I did get accepted into the program on my first application.

After being accepted, I spent two more years working my way through the program.  Being a part of this program was totally enjoyable.  The workload was quite heavy and I haven’t had a good night’s sleep during the school week during this two years, but Friday is the big day.  I’ll be finished.  I’m graduating with high honors and I’m scheduled to take my registry exam on May 19th. 

In reality, I’m not finished.  I have to, somehow, find a job in x-ray in this tough economy.  Wish me luck :)

Miscellaneous