Multimedia Little Frances
I was present during the birth of my two daughters, Sassia and Mika, and, believe me, there’s nothing like it. I also was at the figurative birth of Thomas Marriott’s latest creation, the “Flexicon” CD. And that, too, was awesome.
In my opinion, the highlight of the performance, as well as the CD, is Marriott’s tune, “Little Frances,” about his daughter. To some, it is a melancholy song, so much that Marriott says people sometimes ask if anything is wrong with Frances (a resounding, “No!”). I hear a father’s emotional homage to his daughter, and the flugelhorn Marriott used during the CD release party gave it a light and playful touch (check out the clip):
This clip, by the way, was exactly what Florangela Davila and I needed for our video project on Marriott and the KPLU School of Jazz. I open with his fingers on the valves, in front of the mic, and pan to a full shot of Marriott and his horn, to first surprise, then answer (just as one of my mentors, Travis Fox, once instructed).
Great Balls Afire
I know many of my posts have been trying to explain how I’ve done something, with the idea being it might help someone else learn how to do that something. I’ve also blogged about how not to do something, in hopes that someone else will avoid someone else’s mistakes. This is a hybrid — how I did something, so someone else could avoid my mistakes.
First things first: Ever since I contemplated doing video, Ganon Baker has been at the forefront of the subjects I wanted to take on. I’ve been going to the Nike Skills Academy for Girls in Beaverton, Ore., for several years now and Baker has been captivating that whole time. He crackles with energy, says funny things and is capable of mythologized physical feats.
So here’s the product, done for ESPN HoopGurlz though some of you may be seeing it here before it gets posted there:
It’s a nice little video story. But it really could have been better.
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H1N1 and the Digital Pack Rat
As I have been learning to be a photographer, I’ve had it drummed into my head to back up my files. I even witnessed a great reason why — a couple of my friends and mentors re-used a CF card without first dumping it, thus losing an entire shoot (this of course back in the day when the cards were astronomically priced and therefore, in some instances, shared). So I have my photographic files on at least three drives and, since two of those drives are redundant, it’s technically five.
Teammates at New Leadership in Springfield, Mass.
In my recent post, Girl-Wide View, I outlined my mission in photographing girl’s basketball players and how I, in the main, try to avoid the “funny face factor” in order to show girls in a positive light. Hanging on to what essentially would be outtakes in this context seems a waste, right? Not unless you consider a photographer’s mission is to tell and illustrate stories.
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