Yep, that’s right… I have moved this blog to bigger and better things. Please visit my new blog at http://blog.JohnSchreiber.com
Thanks!!!
05
May
10
THIS BLOG HAS MOVED!!
21
Apr
10
New Website/Blog
I haven’t posted in a while but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working. For the last week and a half, I have been building and customizing a new website. This new website will also incorporate my blog and eventually my photo archive where you can purchase prints. I also tried to make the new website/blog social media friendly and now have a feature where you can share any part of my site on twitter, facebook, etc. Additionally, another plus of the new website is that it will work on the iPhone and the iPad which may or may not be important… I guess we will find out.
I am still putting the finishing touches on the site and blog, but I at least have a workable version up and running at the moment. As always, feedback is appreciated!
Anyway, you can view my new blog here (or by clicking the picture below):
And you can see my new website with my portfolio here (or by clicking the picture):
For my Picture Story & Photo Essay class, we had to do a video job profile on a job of our choosing. I thought it would be fun to do it on a sea lion trainer at the Saint Louis Zoo.
I worked at the Zoo for 4 summers as a tour guide on the back of the train. However, some days I was assigned to work at the Sea Lion Show. I was always entertained by it and I think I always will be. If you asked me as a kid what my favorite animals were, I probably would have had the sea lion on that list. It is pretty hard not to laugh at a sea lion.
A big thanks to Angela and Kyle at the Sea Lion Show who took time out of their busy day to help me out with this. If this whole journalism thing fails, I may just try to steal their jobs…
And for the behind the scenes photo (Thank you Chelsea)…..
For some reason, I always forget that I have this cool little application on my iPhone called “Shake It Photo” . Basically, it turns your iPhone’s camera into an old-school Polaroid-style camera and it only costs $0.99! You take the photo like you normally would on your iPhone and the image is then cropped to a square and the colors are messed with. Even cooler, it shows up undeveloped on the screen and you get to shake your phone like you would a Polaroid to help it develop faster. The end product actually looks pretty authentic right down to the realistic border.
Anyway, I decided way too late into my Spring Break trip down to Dallas that I wanted to document the trip with iPhone Polaroids. I wish I would have done it the whole trip, but I was probably too brain dead from all the driving to remember. Here are a few of the favorites that I did get. These are all straight out of the phone… Sometimes it is just fun to play:
Robotic Lady Liberty “waver” outside a tax prep store in Joplin, Missouri
Gentoo penguin swimming at the St. Louis Zoo
The skyline of Dallas, Big D. I kind of miss it. But I don’t miss its traffic…which I was sitting in when I took this photo….
Easter brunch at Whataburger. Oh how I love Whataburger. Contrary to their marketing slogan, there is NOT one near me. But, I make a point to stop there every single time I go back to Texas.
I am always amazed at how big Dallas’ overpasses are. This is the “High Five” where 75 and 635 intersect. It is apparently the first 5-layered interchange in Dallas and the highest ramp is 120 feet in the air. They were building this monstrosity when I was a Junior in high school and I first saw it when I went down to visit SMU. I don’t think they completely finished it until my Senior year in COLLEGE at SMU.
This is my final edit for my character profile assignment in my Picture Story class. I had other ideas for this assignment, but my main subject backed out at the last minute and send me scrambling for other story ideas. I found Harry at the last minute and only had a day to photograph him. Luckily, I was able to make the story materialize in a short amount of time. Click on the picture below to go to the slide show:
Harry Weitkemper will turn 90 in April but he certainly doesn’t sit around feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he spends his free time helping others.
Twice a week, Harry attends a local auction in Columbia looking for items he can fix up and donate to local charities. On the days when he doesn’t attend the auction, he is repairing these items in the basement of his Columbia, Mo. Home. “This is my recreation,” he says. “This gives me something to do… I can’t just sit around all day.”
While Harry mainly looks for old wheelchairs, walkers, and sewing machines, he is always keeping an eye out for other items, such as soup bowls, which can also be donated. ““I buy whatever I think I can give to somebody,” he says.
“My body is old, but I think my mind is as active as it was when I was 47 years old,” says Harry. “I enjoy what I do and if I die tonight, I’ve enjoyed it all.”
11
Mar
10
The Charitable Collector
One of the pictures from my character profile assignment. More to come tomorrow… Too tired to post more…
07
Mar
10
4 Peaks in 5 Days
I haven’t posted too much lately mainly because the photo class I am taking this semester requires more long-term stories. And, POYi judging has just ended after 3 weeks.
So, I am digging back into the archives and posting a couple of the panoramas I took while driving home from Reno this summer. In 5 days, I made it to the top of 4 peaks in 3 different states. Although I have to admit I cheated with one peak– Mt. Evans– and was able to actually drive my car all the way to the top and hike the last 100 yards… Anyway, I took a panorama at the top of each peak I made it to and this is the result (Click on the images to see them bigger):
Mt. Tallac, 9,735 feet, South Lake Tahoe, CA
Mt. Wheeler, 13,063 feet, Great Basin National Park, NV
Top of Mt. Wheeler, 13,063 feet, Great Basin National Park, NV
Mt. Evans, 14,264 feet, Clear Creek County, CO
Mt. Democrat, 14,148 feet, Lake County, CO
19
Feb
10
POYi Judging Deja Vu
It is that time of year again… time for the Pictures of the Year International (POYi) judging. Once again, I am a coordinator for the contest and I will be spending the next three weeks in a very dark room watching some of the best photos in the world flash before my eyes. This year, we have moved the judging to the swanky, new, and very modern Fred W. Smith Auditorium. It’s nice, but I will always miss the old Tucker Auditorium where we have had the judging since the late 70′s / early 80′s. I probably won’t be blogging much as I will be spending most of my time at POYi. But, here are a couple of pictures from the first week of judging…
If you want to get in on the judging, you can watch it from anywhere in the world via our live judging link! And, you can see the winners which are updated daily on our website www.POYi.org
POYi director Rick Shaw (white shirt) prepares the judges for another round of judging. This will be my view for the next 3 weeks…
It takes 5 computers to run the Pictures of the Year judging process– 1 computer to run the slide show, 1 computer to mark the votes, 1 computer for the caption reader, 1 for moderating the live viewing online, and 1 for the In/Out machine.
This little box decides the fate of tens of thousands of photos every year. Originally designed in the 1970′s, the voting machine received a complete makeover this year. But, we kept the very non-ergometric design. I think these things could have launched nuclear missiles in the cold war…
Left to Right, week 1 judges Scott Strazzante (Chicago Tribune), Kathy Anderson (formerly New Orleans Times-Picayune, now freelance), Scott Mc Kiernan (founder ZUMA Press), and Pedro Ugarte (Agence France-Presse) do the “cool band” pose in the lobby of the Reynolds Journalism Institute.
Chicago Tribune photographer Scott Strazzante bathes himself in brilliant golden hour light during a break in the judging as ZUMA Press founder Scott Mc Kiernan adds an award-winning silhouette.
09
Feb
10
New Website
Last semester, I built a new website for myself in my Electronic Photo J class and I finally decided to make the link live. I have been using livebooks.edu for my portfolio, but that costs about $100 a year. I figure I can use that money for other purposes and this new website was a good enough replacement. I am in the process of redesigning my logo as well. Any constructive criticism is appreciated on the website.
08
Feb
10
And the “wiener” is…
There are too many puns that you could think of for this event. I photographed the PetSmart Wiener Dog Derby at Soulard Market Park in downtown St. Louis this weekend. It is meant to be a race for wiener dogs, but when the gates open, it usually results in 6 very confused dogs wandering around trying to escape the walls of the track. However, there were a couple of heats where all 6 dogs actually sprinted down the track and the winners got to go to the “Wiener’s Circle.” This was the “One Day Assignment” story for my Picture Story class. Once I edit everything, it will be a 5-picture, 5 points of view story in the classic LIFE magazine style. For now, these are some of my favorites.
A group of wiener dogs in the “Ballpark Franks” division sprint down the track towards their coaxing owners.
While some owners simply yell to coax their Dachshund down the track, others resort to treats, toys, and tennis balls to get their dog across the finish line.
In one of the fastest heats of the day, Dachshunds sprint down the makeshift race track. While most dogs emerged from the gates with confused looks, this heat ended with all 6 dogs sprinting across the finish line.
Unable to find her way off the race track, “Lucy” the Dachshund relieves herself mid-track before being scooped up by her owner.
Pat Moeslein proudly holds her dog Emilie after being declared the “Wiener” of the final race of the day in the “Cocktail Wienies” division.
