what a day

Today started off pretty well. I was all psyched to skip my two classes and drive down to Cairo for a day of personal portraiture and friendly interaction and had a pleasant drive down there, singin along with the ipod and feelin the nice breeze comin through the windows.

Maybe 5 miles out of Cairo, I received a phone call from a man from The Vindicator, a daily newspaper in Ohio, who wanted me, Tom, to shoot the upcoming SIU vs. Youngstown State football game for their paper. All he wants is 4-5 action shots and presto! $100 and my photos published two states away! F'in A I say! Right about the time I told the guy cya later and hung up my phone, I was crossing underneath the famous CAIRO train bridge and noticed a female police officer driving behind me with her lights flashing.

Speeding ticket. 42 in a 30 she said. $75. My first ever speeding ticket let alone any kind of moving violation in all my 6 years of legally driving in the great state of Illinois. I was decelerating around the curve into town and got a speeding ticket. I was pissed. All these angry feelings for the town of Cairo, in which I've yet to have a pleasant experience, rushed into my head and I said, thats it. I'm driving back to SIU and telling Phil I don't want to be part of the Cairo Project anymore. I didn't want to take any pictures of anyone.

Of course, halfway through the 45-minute drive home, I reconsidered and decided I definitely didn't want to drop a class halfway through the semester, and thought I'd talk to Phil when I could about how I had felt. He ended up giving me some pretty good advice about moving forward and stuff and told me some places and people in Cairo I could go and talk to that may give me a better start than the one I've found on my own.

So, there goes my $100.

I also went to shoot football practice today, trying again to get photos of as many players as I possibly could, although knowing that I probably won't end up having a shot of the player they'll want. The good news was they had practice at the stadium today and not at the practice fields. Not only do the photos turn out better at the stadium, but I'm also not having to fight off legions of dragonflies while I shoot.

I tried shooting some stuff with a wide angle to try something new, and I liked what i was able to come up with. Usually, I just bring a 300 or 400 and stand in the middle of the field trying to shoot in all directions, getting shots from all the groups (they break off into groups, like offensive line, defensive line, other defense, quarterbacks/ runningbacks/ WRs). This time, I sort of did a lap or two around each group with the 17-35 and then backed up with the 400.

I also did some up-close-get-kicked-in-the-face shots of kicker Tom Lynch. This strip thing doesnt look very good on this page because the options this blogsite offers with photos are somewhat limited and/or I'm not smart enough to figure out how to put a bigger version on here. All that said, you can just click on it and see a bigger version. So. . . do it.


Here's a bigger one, even though it's a little closer:


Here's some more from the practice:


I took like 200 but you only get to see 4 or 5 because it's a pain to put a bunch of images on here. I also took some like this of this guy running by with all the empty bleachers behind him. I kinda liked it.


That's about it for today. I really have to finish writing this story about Shryock Auditorium and how they're improving its insides by tomorrow so I can get in the paper Thursday. It'd be really nice to have it before Friday so people have a chance to read about it before their shows this weekend. I also have to write a story about something for my writing class by Friday. Dont know what, yet. Not to mention, I have to take a quiz I missed this morning while I was getting a speeding ticket in Cairo.

OH and I should get my new (used) 20D tomorrow or the day after! That's exciting! I might just quit school and run away with it to some other country for the rest of my life.

Also, I was wearing my Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl XLI Champions shirt today that I got at Wal Mart for $3 and was walking home and some guy who was driving by yelled 'COLTS SUCK!' and I waved at him. I didn't get a picture of him... wouldve been cool if I had. I don't really care about pro football at all, if I had to pick a team to be a fan of, it would be the Colts, because my girlfriend's dad is a Colts fan and my 7th grade history teacher played for the Colts.

Speaking of my girlfriend, I want to say:

Amber, I love you more than anything on this earth and would gladly trade ten lifetimes without you for 10 minutes with you in my arms.

TB