Not My Usual Style.

We were assigned a portrait series during our first workshop. Due to our teacher having to go shoot an assignment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (I know..I know), these assignments were just critiqued. Mads wanted the series to have continuity in the lighting, environment, distance, toning and subject matter.

During my freshman year at Mizzou, I shot a story for The Maneater on the Columbia Roller Derby Team. I was amazed and intimidated all at the same time. These girls are Bad Ass. I wanted to continue my work with the sport in Denmark. So, I took portraits of the team for my assignment.

After our lecture about portraiture, I decided to really go outside my comfort zone for the series. I also wanted to add the feeling of roller derby too. So, I shot direct single flash.  Here are a few of my favorites...

I Love You From The Bottom of My Heart.

Our 2nd assignment for the photo workshop in Copenhagen was given on Wednesday, shot on Thursday and critiques on Friday. We had to take photos for a "Day in the Life" story. The subject had to be a stranger...We had to spend 5 hours with them and at some point go into their home. Meet Louise and Amalie Almeborg, my subjects for the assignment. Louise, 24, is a single mother to her 2 1/2 year old daughter Amalie. They live about 40 minutes outside of Copenhagen. They moved into their apartment a couple months ago, and Louise is trying to make it feel like home. I have never seen a 2 1/2 year old with more personality than Amalie. Even with a bad case of the chicken pox, she acted like nothing was wrong. Louise is a truly dedicated mother. She told me that one of her favorite things to say to Amalie is, "I love you from the bottom of my heart." One day, they were walking to kindergarten and Amalie looked up at her mom and repeated the phrase out of the blue. If anything could summarize this relationship it would be this.

Revealing Preview.

My teachers have been encouraging me to begin thinking about shooting more "personal" projects. As a photographer, we use the camera as a vehicle to reveal something about our subject. So, it's a little intimidating when the subject matter hits close to our own personal values. I decided to give it a try for our first assignment during the Copenhagen workshop. It was a free assignment, so we were able to choose anything. After some research and colorful conversations, I ended up at the Carolineskolen, a Jewish day school in Copenhagen.

I spent the day taking photos of the kindergarten as they focused on the upcoming holiday 

of Passover. I am sending the photos to the school for permission to post them, 

but here is a preview of the assignment.

You Might Die Trying.

An important lesson I have learned during my time in Denmark: Always try. Even when the odds are stacked high against you, always try, because sometimes things happen to work out. On the bus to Copenhagen, I ran into 2 students going to the sold out Dave Matthews Band concert. The concert sold out in 15 minutes when it first went on sale months ago, before I knew about studying in Denmark. I had tried to travel and see the band in other cities, but those attempts failed. I also didn't know that we would be in CPH at the same time as the band. After talking to my friends, I decided to try and get a ticket, even though I knew it wouldn't happen. After being told there were no tickets, baffled by the prices scalpers were offering, I decided to try the ticket booth one more time. 

"I have an extra ticket. Can I sell it back to you?" 

The man in front of me in line happened to have an extra ticket and was trying to sell it back. After some conversation, he sold it to me for a reasonable price. (Jumping, smiling, looking at the ticket in disbelief ensues)

I have seen Dave Matthews Band twice before in the states. Both large arena tours in Minneapolis. This was a small venue, general admission on the floor with 2300 people in the audience. I had always wanted to see him at a smaller or outdoor venue, because I heard he was more passionate in his performance. 

I had a 50mm on my camera. They didn't take my camera away from me. They even brought the guy over from Live Nation, and they didn't take my camera away. (More disbelief ensues)

I went into the concert with my new friends from the bus ride. We got pretty close, but with a few "Undskyld" (excuse me), I told them I would be back and somehow made it up to the front row. (I was afraid to close my eyes because this had to be a dream). 

It was the best performance I have ever seen of Dave Matthews Band. Tim Reynolds and Jeff Coffin also played with the band. The songs they played could have been picked off my "most played" list in iTunes. 

Here are some of my favorites...

I will be putting up more on my Flickr..Go and check out the rest!

A Different Perspective.

Tomorrow is the last day of my first class at DJH. I know this is getting repetitive, but this past month has flown by much faster than I ever anticipated. Between assignments, lectures and days filled with important critiques, my views on photojournalism are already evolving. Photos that I would have never considered working on, are now getting a double take. I used to be uncomfortable with images that had blur or were somewhat unfocused, but now I am beginning to see outside of my usual comfort zone.  I haven't really looked at my photos from India as much as I usually do right after a trip. It's been about a month or so since I left, and now I am really starting to edit. Waiting this long was a good choice. It's not only given me time to digest thoughts and feelings, and incorporate what I have learned in the past month here. Before this class, I would have thought the photo below was a bit too out of focus and moved on. But now, I see potential. A key lesson I have been taught in the past month is about expression. Mads always looks for the eyes...can you see them...what is the feeling...are the looking down..etc. Her face, her eyes make this photo. These lessons are exactly the reason why I wanted to be in this program.