Teaching ethics

On Friday, I gave my second annual speech on photojournalism at Towson University's high school journalism day.

While I learned a lot about myself through these speeches, I learned more about what these students believe to be right.

Last year I was totally unprepared. I assumed these students already knew a lot about shooting and the profession. Boy, was I wrong. These students are just picking up cameras for the first time and being guided in the wrong direction by their advisers. I ended up just sharing my portfolio to make time go by quickly.

This year I was prepared.

I started by holding up two cameras: a digital SLR and a small point-and- shoot. I asked them which camera took better pictures.

Not surprisingly they all believed the large, bulky camera took better pictures. They were all wrong.

Sure, the big professional camera produces cleaner, crisper images and has tons of different settings that can be manually changed, but I tried to teach them that it all starts in their head. Photography begins with how we see things, seeing light, shapes, colors and telling a story visually. It's a craft. However, being younger and smarter than me, it was a pretty hard concept for them to grasp. Nonetheless I think half of the class understood by the end.

My second main area of concern was ethics. If these students learned one thing from me, I wanted them to have a clear understanding of what is right and what is wrong in the world of photojournalism.

I first started by showing them four images. One image being different and of former Toledo Blade staff photographer, Allan Detrich (bottom image on link).

Not knowing what to even look for, everyone screamed out of the obvious difference of a persons legs missing behind the fence in one photo. I then asked them how many people clean up their photos by doing the same thing -- clone out parts of photos.

Every single student raised there hand. They all believed it was the right thing to do. When I told them that they would all be fired, that's when I got their full attention.

Whether these students are going on to be journalists, photojournalists, or not, they all understood at that point that changing facts, not telling a story truthfully and manipulating images was wrong. I went on to teach them the rest of the code of ethics, and I am glad I did.

Aside from teaching them: what a news photo is, what sports image is, what feature photo is, tips on shooting, getting close to subjects and all the beginner's tips, it really felt good that I taught them the most valuable aspect of shooting: the ethics.

Aside from that, today has been very, very slow. I gave my soccer remote another shot. I tired a different point of view, actually put it through the net, yet I've come to realize 12mm is too wide.

New commentary

"Towson University Senior Robert Selman, of Student Directed Workshop Productions, stands in the Center for Arts Ruth Marder Theatre where he directs the comedy show, "All in the Timing." The four short one act comedy show opened last night and ends, Saturday, Sept.29."

First, this photo doesn't relate to the post. Second, it's a rare occurrence that I write for the campus paper. Well, I write maybe five times a semester. I've also started a new trend to post those articles on here. I'll be back to regularly scheduled programming later this week.

With out further ado, here it is:
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If you didn’t attend Saturday night’s home football game, it was played in front of a record crowd of 10,866. As an active member of the media, seating arrangements at Johnny Unitas don’t affect me, but I have noticed the policy about fan placement and those who enforce that policy to be absurd.

In a Towerlight article written Sept. 20, “Wristbands, new seats await fans Saturday,” athletic director Mike Hermann said, “We hope to average over 7,000 total fans a game and eventually get that up over 8,000.”

My question is why plan for something that eventually may never come? If fans, including students can barely fill the seats now, why waste time with a seating guideline? We should be planning for this season, and then reconstruct when more fans attend.

According to Towson’s football media guide, games hardly average over 3,000 fans, with less than half typically being students.

With exception to the last two home games against Delaware, which get a high turnout due to the rivalry of the universities, attendance numbers regularly fail to fill 30 percent of the seats in the stadium.

Conversely, numbers are slowly rising and athletics is planning for a steady increase (approximately 150 students a year) in fan attendance. Athletics has also stated that records are, “on pace to set the season attendance record,” according to their Web site. Then again, barley 6 percent of the student body even attend football games, and with the projected student increase, figures would barely add 1 percent to the crowd size in 10 years.

My only justification for current seating designs is possibly to unite students in the stadium and build a stronger home field ambiance. Nonetheless, if I were a regular student or alumnus attending games, I wouldn’t want to be dictated to one seating section and be forced to cram together with other students when there are thousands of better and closer seats available.

A straightforward strategy would be to make seating general admission, first come first serve. Reserve one section on the 50-yard line for donors, parents of players and higher-ups and one section for the band. Then simply allow free range for the rest of the crowd.

Towson seating committees must remember that this is just Towson football, Football Championship Subdivision. It’s not a university with caliber of College Park or Penn State in which students are fighting for seating at sellout games each week.

And speaking of “fighting,” let me mention something more prominent than seating: parking and S.A.F.E. employees.

Trying to park at a Towson football game is much like trying to break into Fort Knox. As a photographer of The Towerlight, which gives Towson athletics the most press, and often as a freelancer for other publications in Baltimore, during Saturday's game I was mandated to either pay five dollars to park, or walk two miles in the dark with expensive, heavy camera gear. I decided against the latter.

Media should not be harassed and expected to pay when invited to cover a sporting event. The resentful attitude and lack of respect delivered by parking personnel continues to disgust me.

As if parking situations this season weren’t appalling enough, S.A.F.E. employees are continuing to blindly bully fans and media, too. I am repeatedly hassled to show my credentials and in addition have fellow staff photographers calling me to say they aren't allowed access to the field, although they do have proper media credentials.

On Saturday I witnessed more ill treated fans by members of S.A.F.E. than ever before, and I am not the only one witnessing these unprincipled acts. In a Towerlight letter to the editor on Sept.24, “S.A.F.E. staff ruins Towson football experience at Johnny Unitas,” senior Greg Primrose said he lost his seat when going to the bathroom. He said the way S.A.F.E. staff members treat fans is unprofessional.

Having shot NFL games and football at other college venues, I’ve come to realize S.A.F.E. employees and parking staff at Towson is by far the worst.

Don’t color me ugly; I love Towson and the athletics. The sports information personnel is extremely cooperative and a pleasure to work with.

But I believe new and changing policies and those regulating them are giving the University an unpleasant reputation. Parking services and S.A.F.E. staff are clearly ruining the experience for students, fans and media; we should all be treated in a fair, respectable manner before the currently rising fan attendance and the media coverage starts to plummet.
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For those still interested in the image, click here for some details.

Pigskin season

"Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason breaks a tackle enroute to setting up a game-winning, 46 yard field goal by Matt Stover as time expired lifting Baltimore over the Arizona Cardinals, 26-23, at M&T Bank Stadium, Sunday, Sept.23. Mason caught eight passes for 79 yards in the win."

My weekend was littered with sports; mostly football; American and European. I thought I would take the time to describe some key differences from shooting a high school game, to a college game, alas to a NFL game.

There are many points one could mention, but I'll talk about the those I think of the most: parking, access and ambiance.

Parking:
High school is easy. No paying or fighting for parking; wait a minute, it's basically the same as the NFL minus checking the for a parking pass.

At M&T Bank in Baltimore, Md. you pull in, show your pass. Simple. Great access and great people.

With that said, after shooting the NFL, I've realized that Towson University is much like trying to break into Fort Knox. For a school that on average gets maybe 3,000 fans to a football game, parking is outrageous. During Saturday's game I was forced to either pay five dollars to shoot the game, or walk two miles in the dark with expensive camera gear. I decided against the latter.

Don't get me wrong, I've shot at other college venues and have had problems, but none are as ridiculous as Towson.

Access:
At high school games you can be a parent and shoot on the sidelines, it's that easy. If that doesn't work, lie and say you're with a small local publication and at the very least you will get into the game for free (I am not endorsing this...ha...a friend told me about this).

Back to Towson. I hate to use them again as my example, as all colleges are different, but I shoot there every week. Once in the stadium I am continually harassed to show my credentials and even have my staff photographers calling me saying they aren't allowed to get on the field, even when they do have proper media credentials.

And obviously, the NFL you need to be of a large publication to get one of those snazzy red vests.

Ambiance:
High school has zero thrills. The best thing about high school games I think is the raw emotion of players. Although all levels and all sports have emotional players, I feel the younger the players, the more emotion they show, especially at the end of a game. But, around here in Maryland, prep sports are nothing big and exciting, say as Texas high school football. Last, most have horrible lighting at night and no wireless web.

College has better lighting, but it's not ideal. As stated, access is generally easy if your with some sort of media, but that entails stadium workers that are power pushers to some sort. At Towson it's mostly the parking services. Other than that, college games are a little more action packed and give a sense of professionalism. However, I don't think the emotion is as evident in college sports.

Finally, the NFL, which I think has it all. Thousands of people screaming, energizing the stadium, good food, lots of media and always action packed. Not to mention emotions running wildly after a touchdown is scored.

But, I should note that I don't shoot any of the three any differently. In the words of NPPA's Tony Overman, "I've learned that I don't need to chase the big time. The big time is where you make it."

A high school game can be just as exciting as a NFL Monday night football game, but it all comes with the mindset you have before the game.

Portrait heavy issue

"Towson University business major, Anne Marie Rose, sits in her Towson apartment where she handcrafts jewelery for her business: Anne Marie Rose Jewelry Designs. Rose, 19, has been making jewelry since high school and says she spends over 50 hours a week running her business."

I love shooting all aspects of photojournalism: sports, news, and features. But, I still enjoy shooting portraits the most.

I am not sure why, I guess if you shoot one area more then the rest you grow to like it a little more. Or possibly it's because sometimes you have to create an image from nothing, and all I have is my imagination to guide me. Alas, maybe it's because I am always given a small time frame to shoot a portrait, which always presents a challenge. And I like challenges.

Whatever the reason, this issue of The Towerlight is portrait heavy.

I shot the football players (post below) and Anne Marie Rose (above) for the sports cover and main cover. I assigned Kris to the Arts' cover (which he blew up! It looks great), a image of a band who travels in environmental friendly vans, news' cover, a Towson alumnus and faculty member astronaut, and Life's cover, an alumnus who works for D.C. United soccer.

Though it would have been fun and challenging to shoot all of these myself, I couldn't manage to schedule all of them conveniently. I am just glad Kris is learning, slowly.

Since I've been at The Towerlight, we've never had a this many portraits in one issue. I am just glad we have a couple spot news images going in, too. I am nervous to see what circulation numbers will look like, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Almost time for my weekend...ah, yes! Which is Thursday from 2p.m. until Saturday 4p.m.

Gaffers tape is smarter than a 22-year-old

"From left to right, John Webb, Jordan Manning, Brian Bradford and Maurice Wilkins stand with the defensive unit's motivational 'hit stick.' The four players form the dynamic linebacking corps for the Tigers football team who play rival Delaware Saturday at Johnny Unitas Stadium."

Life for myself is chaotic. A friend reminded me today when she asked when I had free time. My reply? I have no free time. It made me feel miserable that I have no life outside of shooting photos and class. But I love every waking moment of it, even if I rant about it sometimes.

Simply put, I am a poor, sleep deprived, always hungry, no free timing, 22-year-old college student who loves photojournalism.

The past couple days and week to come are perfect examples of how complicated my life can be at times.

Friday evening I shot women's soccer and volleyball before heading home late to get things ready for a wedding (see last post). I woke up early and shot from 2p.m. until midnight. After catching a few hours of sleep, I trekked to The Towerlight to shoot the annual sorority event on campus. That lasted about 35 minutes before I started burning the wedding images to DVDs and editing incoming work from other photographers. Needless to say, I didn't get out of the Towerlight until around 11p.m., which isn't anything new.

As usual, I drive 35 minutes home, only to remember that I needed to do homework at midnight. Got to bed in the wee-hours of the morning and woke up at 6:15a.m. so that I could be back at Towson, find a parking spot, and make it to a weekly ed board meeting at 10a.m. then head to class at 11a.m.

If you've lost track, it's now noon, Monday. Just when I think life is slowing down, I get drowned in photo assignments; Towerlight and freelance. Only having two other photographers I have to schedule them and myself to more assignments than I know what to do with.

I call various subjects, schedule times to shoot, and call photographers for about an hour. At this point I haven't eaten anything yet and need to do all my homework that is due tomorrow. Before I know it, it's 5p.m. and I need to run to shoot the above portrait which turned out to be more of a hassle than fun.

Who ever thought lighting four football players dramatically would be hard? All I have to say is gaffers tape is smarter than a 22-year-old. I struggled to hide light stands in the background before I just taped an SB to the wall to get a desired effect. I also must thank my buddy, assistant and the one who will replace my shoes when I graduate, Kris. I think I showed him how bossy I can be when low on sleep and stressed out. Hopefully he learned a thing or two from my mistakes.

Anyways, back to my life. I am now sitting here, 10:30p.m. with Broadcasting and Japanese homework to do. I can barely keep my eyes open, but I am trying to do it because I have these classes at noon and 5p.m. with two shoots in between.

Sometimes I wonder how I manage everything. I wouldn't have it any other way though.

So, to professors reading, just remember when I can barely keep my eyes open and my work is sub par that I am a busy, busy student.

On the bright side, shooting the Ravens game Sunday. I can't wait.

A perfect wedding

As I make my way through 1,200 images from Lori and Ted's wedding I decided to take a break and make a entry about yesterday.

Being my final wedding of the summer, it was by far the easiest assignment I got all year. The reason it was such an easy gig to get was because it was my girlfriend's sister's wedding. I was Lori's first choice. I couldn't have been happier to do it.

I'll be honest, I didn't think the wedding would have been as beautiful as it turned out. Getting a bird's eye view on the entire wedding process from day one, chaos and disagreement seemed to fill the air until an hour before the wedding. I think the main reason was because it was held at Lori's parents house.

However, the moment I saw the front yard filled with over 200 people and the sun shining, I knew the day would be impeccable.

I followed Lori and Ted from the moment they both began to get ready until their last dance and had a blast the entire time.

Being a pretty large wedding, this one definitely got easier as the day progressed.

Afternoon: Running back and forth from the bride and grooms bedrooms, making sure not to walk in at inappropriate times and getting detail shots of the event always proves to be the hardest part of the day.

Ceremony: While the most important (and daunting), it's cut and dry. Although if you mess something up, there is no going back. It is also a fact that these images will probably be the most looked at photos for a lifetime. But, the ceremony is formulated to happen in certain areas for certain amounts of time. The only real problem that most photographers have to deal with is lighting. Lighting during this wedding was near perfect, a nice back lit evening, so that was one less worry for me. Alas, with a desired shot list etched in my mind, it's simple to complete the task.

Portraits: This is probably the easiest part of the day, however the small time frame to complete a laundry list of portraits can be nerve racking. Not to mention large group photos which many frames must be taken to try to avoid blinking and wandering eyes.

Reception: Things become very relaxed, fun and easy at this point. The reception is by far the easiest part of the day to shoot. People drinking, dancing and being merry is very natural. However, this is another part where lighting becomes a factor. Thanks to Dave Hoffmann for lending me some Black Box external batteries, I had no troubles making the reception look like a million dollars with 100% off-camera lighting. Thanks again, Dave.

Weddings are not one of my favorite events to attend. I just never understood why people need to drop thousands of dollars on one day and participate cliché traditions. However, shooting a wedding is much different. Not only does time fly by, but it's fun to interact with a ton of people and document their day. Weddings force you, as a photographer, to tell their story.

Well, before I keep rambling on I should get back to editing through my images. I already have all the pre-ceremony images completed. Now I just have to get through the ceremony, portraits and reception.

I'll try to get either a slide show of my favorite images or make another post with them later this week. Until then, more images can be found by clicking HERE.

One year anniversary...a little late

I had an entire entry ready to post to celebrate my one year blog anniversary. However, I totally forgot about it when it got close, and before I knew it, it passed.

I tried to remember everyday after to post it, but I never had a self portrait to post.

So with the testing of some light for a wedding tomorrow, I decided I'd mention it tonight. My blog is officially one year old, as of Aug.28.

I want to thank everyone who continues to read the blog, those who continually visit for the first time and those from all parts of the world that send friends and family to my site everyday.

If you haven't noticed, I've been making lots of changes recently and hope to develop this into a legit website (not just a blog) by the end of the year.

Stay tuned and thanks again for your readership.

Patrick Smith
www.patricksmithphotos.com

Remembering subjects

"Holding a ceramic vessel dating back to 1600 A.D., part-time anthropology Towson professor Bob Wall sits in his home in Catonsville, Md. in front of other discovered artifacts. An archaeologist, Wall has been working at an excavation site in Alleghany County since 1993, digging up artifacts from as early as the Ice Age."

A photojournalist once said, "I am horrible at remembering names, I can't remember who anyone is, but I always remember a picture subject forever."

Why I am not completely the same way, I do always remember those I shoot.

About a month ago, as I peered through my viewfinder in Towson during a Latino fest, something clicked in my head. The woman I was framing up for a picture was someone I remembered from a previous assignment. She wasn't my main subject then, but she was in a few images I submitted.

After taking her picture I approached her with a smile. She also remembered me and was glad I got an image of her. The picture I took of her was very nice, but I didn't submit it.

Not all examples are like that one, some has a connection of some sort, much like today.

This afternoon I shot a very interesting gentleman who is a local archaeologist. As I setup a couple lights for a portrait, which included his artifacts, he started talking about himself. From artifacts he has found in the past, to how he started his career and his silly dog who chased its own shadow.

As the shoot progressed he mentioned his wife having a portrait in The Towerlight, too. Before he finished saying what for, I remembered that his wife was Dana Kollmann.

It was ironic that both him and his wife were such nice people, who I must add, both had great props to include for portraits.

You never know who knows whom.

Before I left, I made sure to let him know that of all the professors I've shot at Towson thus far, that him and his wife have been the most interesting. Hopefully they like their portraits as much as I do.

Is tight right?

"Towson University running back Matt Castor breaks a tackle during the third quarter. Teammate tailback Nick Williams led the Tigers rushing with 91 yards in a 28-21 victory over Morgan State at Hughes Stadium Saturday, Sept. 8."

I shoot a lot of sports. I often get confused as a only sports shooter, which I quite don't understand. Maybe the reason being that I bump into more new and fellow photographers at sporting events and because I shoot 98 percent of Towson sports for The Towerlight. I don't know, but to set the table clean, I do shoot other things than just sports. (Just see my other posts...See. I told ya.)

Anyways, my motto with shooting sports has always been: shoot tight, crop even tighter. This is one piece of advice that I would always hear when I began shooting sports way back when. But is that the right way?

It may not be the right way to some, but I think I'll never be able to get tight enough.

I remember when I used to shoot all sports with a 70-200 f/2.8. I would typically shoot at 200mm and cropped tight. Why? Because I couldn't really get that close as opposed to say a 300mm or 400mm, so I made do with what I had.

Then I got a 300 f/2.8 and thought everything was perfect in life; although it took me awhile to get used to shooting "tight" at a fixed focal length. That was until I became comfortable with the 300 and began thinking, even this is too loose. Now, the 300 cost me a good chunk of change, and I would never be able to afford a 400... let's not even start speaking of a 500 or 600. Yikes.

To get by, well, to get by when there is nice lighting I'll throw on a 1.4x tele converter which gives me about a 420mm lens, but stopped down. This setup will continue to be my main weapon of choice for sports, that is, until:
A. I become a staffer somewhere and have my pickings at some pool glass.
B. I win a million dollars.
C. Santa brings me one.

Seeing that A. won't happen for at least a year or more (still in school), B. is never going to happen, and C. I don't believe... can't afford that I'll continue to shoot how I have been. Sigh.

As if my rambling weren't bad enough today, the image above I love. The hand coming in the frame is something that you normally wouldn't see, but that's why I like it and I couldn't BEAR (Morgan State joke) to crop it out.

No tank tops

"A student works out in Burdick Hall Friday afternoon. As of Sept.3 all C.R.i.B. participants must follow a new dress policy which bans: jeans, boots, flip-flops, tank tops, lacrosse or basketball jerseys, excessively cut-off t-shirts, halter-tops, midriff exposing clothing, and all other street attire."

Today was rather slow, only having one assignment, which was to shoot people in attire they are no longer allowed to wear in the gym. I found a couple people wearing things against the new policies and made two solid images, but this green wall kept grabbing my attention. I kept waiting for someone to face toward me and/or have a tank top on. Never happen, can't say I wasn't patient.

I may try and make it back in Sunday and wait some more. I doubt I'll ever have to shoot something like this in the gym again, so I want to make sure it's right. It will be a first at revisiting a assignment.

Well, off to bed. Big football game, well, big game here in Baltimore tomorrow. Towson Vs. Morgan State. From there I'll be getting some relaxation in before the "Strobist Mystery Event" on Sunday. Afterwards I'll be speeding over to finish things up at The Towerlight for Monday's issue.

The luck button

"Towson University president Robert L. Caret delivers his annual fall address in Stephens Hall Auditorium, Thursday, Sept. 6."

On a typical assignment I always carry two bodies; one with a telephoto and one with wide angle. This setup generally makes my images 99 percent of the time. However, my work is always one percent short. To fill the void I use a remote camera.

Remotes are nothing new for shooters in the industry, nor myself. Mostly used in sporting events, they can also be used in any situation imaginable. From catwalks at hockey game to underwater at a swim meet. If you never seen remote work before, you can find loads on SportsShooter.

I don't make it a habit to have a remote setup on every assignment, but lately I've had a strong urge to use mine. I've been trying hard to incorporate it into my daily assignments, whether or not I'll think it will be successful.

Today's assignment was a good chance to run a remote. This afternoon was Towson University president Robert L. Caret's annual fall address. I knew a remote setup would help me get break from the typical "try and make it look different" podium shot or wide angle image of the long speech.

Although president Caret did move away from the podium a couple times, making a better then normal image, I still like my remote shot better. Had I known he would be moving around I would have changed the location of my remote. But you live and learn, right?

Remotes are in my eyes are a creative failure. I'd be lying if I didn't say there is a bit of luck involved either. They have to be set up meticulously and fired at decisive moments. So if I think of a place to put a remote that I can fire off while shooting normally that's good news. I must note, I would never rely solely on my remote to make the image for the front page, but when you make a sub par or better remote image it feels good.

Now the only problem will be fighting the editors to use the remote image before they stoop to the least common visual denominator with respect to the assignment subject matter. Otherwise known as choosing the typical, comfortable image over the creative image.

Taiyo

"1999 Towson University alumnus, former SGA president, and candidate for the 12th District city council of Baltimore, Frank Richardson, left, campaigns with son, Frank Jr., nicknamed Taiyo, on 2300 Guilford Ave., to a neighborhood advocate, Sandy Cole, Tuesday, Sept. 4."

Kids are fascinated with cameras. I don't know why, but there is no denying the statement. Grab a camera, big or small, and wave it in front of a youngster. It's inevitable that you will always get the same results.

The remarks I hear every time my cameras are around my nephews are, "Let me see that. Can I see that? Take my picture. Cheeeese. What is this? What is that? What does this thing do?" The phrases that mutter out their mouths is never ending.

Yesterday was no different.

After class ended at 2p.m. I jetted down to St.Paul street to meet up with Towson alumnus, former SGA president, and candidate for the 12th District city council of Baltimore, Frank Richardson. My assignment was to follow him around during his campaign trail in the 12th District area. Basically, he walked around handing out literature and persuading residents in the area to vote for him next week. However, he wasn't the only one I was following on the streets. Tagging along was his 4-year-old son, Frank Jr. (aka Taiyo, which means "son" in Japanese).

From the moment I met Taiyo, it was non-stop nagging. Endearing at first, but redundant after 10 minutes. He sure made my afternoon interesting.

I am not much for children, so I find it frustrating trying to negotiate with them, especially camera in hand.

At first, I am always nice, meeting there demands by taking a couple pictures. But, that always makes things worse. Why? Because they think it's a game and they are in control. From that point I try ignoring them. But, this is when kids become extremely discontent. The irritation level of the child becomes unreasonable, to the point where another image must be taken of them. The cycle unfortunately continues until they become used to you being there or they become bored of the idea that a camera is around.

All and all, Taiyo made my afternoon with his father interesting and challenging. However, I am always up to a good challenge.

What made up for the tough times with Taiyo was Richardson's experiences in Japan. Since I am planning on making it to Japan next year, his stories about the JET program and his time living there for two years were interesting and informing. It's always nice to bond and learn new things about your subjects aside from what the story on them really is about.

Well, it's late, time for bed. Now only if this Daruma, given to me by Kanji, will help me find a parking spot tomorrow morning. Fills in one eye and thinks of the wish to find a parking spot with ease. Yesterday was my last day with access to the faculty lot...for now. Hopefully us student faculty members get them back soon.

15 minutes well spent

If you've been on the internet once, a million times, or never (which doesn't make sense if you're reading this) there is one website I am sure everyone has heard about. No, I am not talking about MySpace. What I am talking about is YouTube.

Created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, YouTube, in my opinion is one of the greatest things to ever hit the interweb to date. This is one of those websites that you know you probably thought of at some point in time, but never created it; much like eBay or Rate my Professor. I can't imagine what those site make on advertising alone.

Anyways, this simple-idea-site allows anyone to effortlessly upload anything from personal projects to copyright infringed videos. Basically anything that has ever been on television, the silver screen, or between all the 0's and 1's on the internet. It's on this site.

I am sure if you search long enough you will either find yourself, someone you know, or an event you attended.

Luckily for The Towerlight and me, I didn't have to search for this (above) Towson student, Brandon Hardesty. (Thanks for the pitch, DH).

A junior at Towson University, Hardesty has become what one may call a internet star. His "Strange Faces and Noises" YouTube videos have not only been featured on the front page YouTube but was also on Geico Auto Insurance commercial since April 2007. The pre EMF major is also currently the 7th most subscribed and 4th most viewed comedian on YouTube.

I usually don't give those who I shoot much hype, but these videos are pretty funny, and he was a nice, easy going guy.

He got paid for the commercial and his new born fame has pretty much opened the door for future work he said. Pretty cool way to start a possible career if you ask me.

No show

"Towson senior midfielder Pat Healy looks for an official signal as a Kevin Ruck shot bounces into an unguarded Mt. St. Mary goal during the 50th minute of play. Towson defeated visiting Mountaineers, 2-0."

After having two portraits fall through yesterday and my day basically turning into a total waste I couldn't wait to get back out to shoot the Towson men's soccer season opener today.

I've had a lot of sports on my schedule this past week and was anxious to try out my first soccer remote. It went well today, however with little success.

The only reason I didn't have much luck was because of the manner in which both goals were scored. The first goal at the 50th minute bounced in from 20 yards away (above) and the other rocketed past a static goalie. I will be using this remote every game in the future, hopefully getting that beautiful stretched, mid air, diving goal keeper, image before the end of the season.

Although I wasn't going to mention it, I wanted to rant a little about yesterday. I've never once had anyone bail on me. Of course I've had to reschedule things, but I've never had anyone not show or literally call and cancel five minutes before a prearranged shoot. Both of these people could have easily resolved any conflict by calling.

Person number one decided to call me five minutes before the shoot because of a medical illness. I talked to this select person twice during the morning in which they sounded perfectly healthy. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but still felt like I was being taken advantage of.

Person number two decided not to answer any of my ten phones calls nor return any of my nine messages. I was originally suppose to shoot this musical group, but called early in the morning canceling because of a conflict in my own scheduling. My message specifically said that the reporter was still coming down for an interview, but the portrait would have to rescheduled.

After my 4p.m. flaked out (aka person number one) I called the group manager back and let them know I was still on my way. I easily called them five times. But still got no answer or response. So I decided to just go down anyways since the reporter was still going down. When I say down, I mean Silver Spring, Md. almost two hours away. When I got there I began calling again. Still nothing.

To make a long story short, reporter and I sit for 45 minutes after the prearranged time and they never show. They claim it was because of my message saying the photographer was not going to be there. Ugh. Could have all be resolved by answering one phone call.

Basically I drove 200 miles and wasted seven hours of my day for nothing. I guess it was only right that I got two cancellations in one day.