Portraits on Burgundy...or Maroon.

This blog is usually populated with a lot of sports action but I think I'll give you all a very short break from that today.

Aside from 300 New Jersey Avenue being an awesome building in the midst of drab downtown D.C. architecture, it is also the home of the consulting firm Gray/Loeffler. The original plan was to photograph them against white but when I stepped into the conference room, there was a slight change of that plan. Not only was I greeted by a framed Texas flag as part of the office decor but also a deep burgundy/maroon colored wall that I'd much rather use as a background. So there you have it. The white seamless was ditched and suits and smiles ensued.

Anyone in need of headshots for their business, firm or themselves, give me a shout! Shout out to RH Media Group.

Good Counsel Basketball Portraits

Last week I took a trip up north to Olney, MD and the Good Counsel campus but it wasn't to visit the back to back WCAC football champions. This time, I was on official business to photograph the team and individual portraits of the varsity basketball team. Why must teenagers always look so gangsta? Shout out to one light and RH Media Group once again for coming through with the assignment.

Rushern Baker III: Prince George's County Executive

On December 6, I had the wonderful opportunity to shadow Prince George's County Executive-Elect Rushern Baker III and document him during his inauguration day. As you loyal checkers-out (fabricated word combination) of my blog know, I did a series of these type of documentary projects called 8to8 with a few people in the Washington D.C. community. Well this time, I was actually hired to channel my inner Pete Souza.

Access is an amazing thing. Politicians often have two (or more!) personae, o

ne for when the red light is on and another for the everyday living of being a public figure. With the latter, there are moments when they can let their guard down but are still aware that blunder-capturing technology might be lurking. I was fortunate enough to be behind the scenes during family and isolated moments and tasked with the challenge or preserving this memorable night. The great thing about this very long assignment (7am - 1am) is that I became more invisible to the subject as the day wore on.

December 6, 2010 is mostly a blur now but there is one thing that I vividly remember. At one point I found myself in the "green room" with the new County Executiv

e and his security detail watching the Jets v. Patriots on Monday Night Football. Pretty Cool.

Shout out to the Canon 50mm 1.2 that kept me in the game. And shout out to Charles Matthews and Dave Patterson over at RH Media Group for the awesome assignment.

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Gonzaga DC Classic Dynasty

For the 5th year in a row, Gonzaga College High School has taken the championship trophy home from the Gonzaga DC Classic basketball tournament. They beat a good Charlotte Christian team54-49 in the championship game at Bender Arena. Shout out to hosting and winning your own tournaments (against pretty good out of town teams).

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Phoenix Suns

I spent much of last basketball season shooting purple and orange; the main colors of the NBA's Arizona franchise. This season I predict doing much of the same. Last Wednesday, they actually played each other. Coolidge took another lopsided loss to their locker room (this time to Gonzaga 76-45) but again, the season is in diapers. Shoutout to this rematch in the City Title game...maybe?

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The Return of Calvin

I just read that John was Calvin Coolidge's first name according to a very reliable source (Wikipedia). It's an interesting fact, but it has little to do with this post. The return of Calvin has everything to do with the Colts being back on the hardwood and in their first game of the season, they went up against defending City Title champion DeMatha Stags. DeMatha, a national powerhouse, opened a brand new gym pitting two teams in which both head coaches Vaughn Jones (Coolidge) and Mike Jones (DeMatha) were former Stags.

Coolidge took a 70-41 beating but hey, it's a long season. Plenty of time for them to get better and plenty of time for me to make some decent frames. Shout out to 30th presidents all over the world.

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Hipstamatic in Houston

I recently got the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone and went crazy with it during my Thanksgiving trip to Texas. I think I took more pictures with my phone last weekend than I have since I got it in October 2009. It's a fun little app that takes funky little pictures using all kinds of combinations of "film", "flashes", and "lenses". I might be a little tardy to the party, but I highly recommend.

Pops

Twin Nieces

Catholic University vs. Bridgewater College

Last Saturday, the Catholic University Cardinals ended their season at 4-6 with a loss to Bridgewater College. Unfortunately, I brought a loss with me every time I came to photograph the team. Shout out to the seniors.

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Good Counsel @ Archbishop Carroll Football

Good Counsel won the WCAC championship last year. Carroll hasn't been to the playoffs sinceWill Spencer was lining up in the backfield (exaggeration) so the outcome of this game was pretty predictable. Carroll kept it close until about the end of the first half when the score went from 7-0 with two minutes left to 28-0 at halftime. Defense wins championships, even in high school. When GC went up 35-0 and invoked the running clock mercy rule, the game went by pretty quickly. At the very least, the light was pretty nice and there was a lot of action. Shout out to "all black everything". Whenever teams come out with that, they usually get trounced.

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Catholic University and Washington & Lee Football: Under the Lights.

College football is usually reserved for Saturday afternoons but last Friday, Catholic University decided to play their first game in school history under the lights. I think the team and the fans were pretty excited about the nighttime event but we all know how I feel about football in the dark.

The Washington & Lee Generals were seemingly unstoppable with their option attack. I have never been a fan of the option because who wants to watch a bunch of running plays. But my goodness is it effective. This might be pretty obvious but there are sooo many options and it looks extremely difficult to defend. What do I know, I'm just a photographer. I do

know that I might start running that offense with my virtual Texas Longhorns.

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Roosevelt @ Dunbar Football

Football fluctuates back and forth between basketball as my favorite sport to shoot. Night football is dead last on that list. Friday night lights might be fun for some but not for me. Unless of course Coach Taylor is on the sidelines. Anyway, during their homecoming game, the Dunbar Crimson Tide beat the Roosevelt Rough Riders 40-0. Tough break.

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A Sea of Purple

Everywhere Gonzaga goes, a sea of purple follows. Last Saturday, the sea of purple drowned the Archbishop Carroll Lions in a 42-22 victory that was not nearly as close as the score may or may not indicate. Stanford commit and Gonzaga QB Kevin Hogan threw the ball all over the place and even ran for a 70+ yard touchdown scramble in the win. Read about on DCSportsFan here. Shout out to the National Archives and Records building which casts a huge shadow over half of the football field around 2pm. One second they're in the shade, the next they're in the sun.

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