Good Counsel @ Gonzaga

It was a good game until the second half started and Gonzaga (purple and white) turned up the heat. A one point Good Counsel lead at the half eventually turned into a 17 point Good Counsel loss. The champs are at it again. On another note, the light there is horrible but not as bad as I expected. Shout out to Ian Hummer (52) ...I don't know why I have so many pictures of him.

Mountaineers Have No Fear

So what if Georgetown was the 12th or 14th...or whatever number ranked team in the country. And so what if West Virginia was rated as the 9th best team in the Big East. Huggy Bear (Coach Bob Huggins) and his squad didn't seem to care. The Mountaineers gave Georgetown their third Big East lost of the year and Seton Hall followed it up with their fourth. Is it just me or do the Hoyas shoot way too many threes? Even the Georgetown mascot was disgusted. Shout out to the Hoya Destroya Da'Sean Butler (1) , who lit them up for 27 points.

Inauguration Day

I woke up early in the morning and spent a bunch of hours in the freezing cold with an intricate plan to get a great spot on the parade route to photograph President Obama in front of the Newseum. That didn't work out. So I photographed people photographing Obama inside the Newseum. More on my hell day on 7th St. later.

New Year, Same Ol' Family

Every New Year's Day, the Starghill family gathers for a day of food, conversation and football bowl games. This time, I decided to extend my annual Christmas trip to Houston through the new year. I also decided to take a portrait of everyone who came through the door. I set up a "studio" in the backyard which consisted of an orange stool for the subject, a wooden fence as the background, and a piece of white cardboard to reflect some light (held by my assistant Nekeita: first picture, left side). Luckily for me, everyone cooperated. Shout out to Nekeita for charging me $1 per person for holding a piece of cardboard.


Neice: Nekeita Neice: Nekeisha

Dad: Michael Mom: Kathy

Uncle: S.M. Uncle: Leroy

Sister: LaToya Brother-in-law: Chris
Cousin: Donavan Cousin: Dave
Niece: Jazmine Nephew: Elijah
Aunt: Wanda Aunt: Marie
Aunt: Ruth Sister: Tichara

University of Texas

During my late December vacation in Houston, my University of Texas-attending cousin Donovan and I drove up to Austin to kick it a little bit after Christmas. Quick run down of the weekend activities: walked across the street from his apartment to get beer, roughed him up in one on one at GRE and visited the wholesomeness of 6th street...twice. But amongst all of that educational and cultural development, I managed to make my way over to the Main Building and try a new panoramic/David Hockney-ish inspired type of photograph that I have not yet perfected. But if you're into imperfection and really into hanging it on your walls...feel free. Shout out to cuzzo for the tour.


Purchase Print Here

Hoyas Destroy

In another installment of the Syracuse/Georgetown basketball rivalry, the Hoyas come up big. The arena was packed. I was squished on the baseline full of photographers but the game was only good for the first 10 minutes. Georgetown pulled away with a twenty point lead and never gave it up. Shout out to Jonny Flynn (Syracuse #10), who is pretty fun to photograph as he runs his mouth the whole damn game.

What a Game!

I should have known what time it was when I noticed a total of 8 spectators on hand for this game. The gym was so quiet that it might as well have been a practice and the cheerleaders left after halftime. Coolidge went into the locker room at the half with a 47-9 lead. Oh, and they continued to press the entire game. So I guess it was pretty much a practice. Shout out to coach Jones for that entire game full court pressure. That's my new strategy in NBA 2K9.

Coolidge 79, Bell 34

2-1 in league play

The Real Orange

Last Friday, the Colts (orange and gray) took on longtime rivals Theodore Roosevelt High School (orange and blue) to see, according to Dr. Maurice Butler, who is the "real orange". The players were pretty hype before the game preparing to play before a packed crowd at the Frank Williams Gymnasium on the campus of Coolidge High. The contest was really close all the way until the end when Darin Drakeford (#1 in the blue and orange, below) caught an alley-oop at a critical moment and the Roosevelt fans went nuts. And so went the momentum of the game.

The Coolidge players didn't shoot very well and took way too many three pointers. The coaches knew exactly why they'd lost.

1-1 in league play.

The Second Season

When one ends, a new one begins. This time the Colts of Coolidge High School are playing basketball. I've started photographing this team after their preseason games against teams from other states and after all of their holiday tournaments. We are now down to the nitty gritty of league play. Or as coach Vaughn Jones says, the games that matter.

The League: DCIAA West.

The goals: Win the West. Win the league championship. Win the City Title against Washington DC's top private school.

First opponent: Cardozo High School.

The Colts were matched up against Cardozo High School that boasted Raphael Guthrie who scored 31 and 40 in two previous games. At halftime the Colts trailed 26-25 but ended up winning the game after outscoring Cardozo 56-16 in the second half. So far so good.

1-0 in league play.