Return from the Great Beyond

I am back. I have been busy the past couple of weeks. Probably not too busy to blog, but busy enough. I'll recap the past two weeks for ya. Work is going good. I finally got to shoot my first NCAA University of Illinois basketball game last week. I was very excited about doing this and the excitement paid off. I got a great shot of Dee Brown and James Augustine celebrating. I couldn't have done as well without the advice of John Dixon. John has been an extreme help. He's probably the best 'teacher' I've had yet. He knows how to cut out the bull and give me the important stuff. Especially when it comes to lighting. I'm over a third the way done with my internship now. Heck, I'm coming up on half way. I definitely don't want this to end.

I also shot IHSA state wrestling championships on Saturday and then did another U of I game on Sunday. Wrestling was fun and so was the game even though I didn't really get anything noteworthy out of either. I have my stuff from wrestling on Sportsshooter. Unfortunately at the U of I game I didn't get the one shot I wanted. At the end of the game James and Dee were walking off the court together after their interview with CBS and I got a shot of them walking arm in arm. I only had my 80-200 available and as I'm walking backwards Dee jumps on Augie's back. perfect moment, unfortunately they were about 2 feet too close for my lens. I got the shot, but it was blurry. We needed a shot for the senior day section this coming weekend. At least I got something for them I guess. My one picture should be on my portfolio soon on Sportsshooter, but I want to make sure it's okay with Darrell that I put it up.

I also won two third places and two honorable mentions for my photos at the ICPA this past weekend. Unfortunately they have not updated the site and no one knows for sure which photos I won for, so as soon as I find out I will post them so you can all revel in my awesomeness. (Or tell me how to do a better job!)

In other news, my birthday is coming up. Anyone wishing to send me money may do so at 305 S. elm st. in Champaign, Ill. 61820. I'm going home this weekend for it. First time I will have spent a birthday with my parents in I can't remember how long. I get back late Sunday and back to the daily grind. I'm starting my photo essay either today or tomorrow. I couldn't get a hold of the girl last night or today, so hopefully I can call her in a bit.

Oh by the way, I'm rocking the Pizza Hut again. Champaign's store is a lot different and I love it. I basically drive the whole time except for about a half hour at the end when I do dishes. It's exactly what I liked about the Charleston one and minus the stuff I hated.

And one last thing to mention was the susepension of The Daily Illini editors. I'm not going to go into a lenghty discussion right now. I'm only going to direct you to my comments on the EIU Hall of Fame Blog. Hopefully I will get the chance later today to blog all my thoughts about this as I feel people should understand a lot of things about this before jumping to conclusions and screaming First Amendment rights.