Aggieland 2009 named Columbia Crown Finalist

WHOOOOOOPPPPPP!!!! Alyssa you are super awesome and you are so much of the reason why we are receiving this award. To the staff who worked on this, “Ya’ll are awesome thank yall for all your super hard work putting this together”

Okay here is what I know, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association is one of the gives out one of the highest awards given out to yearbooks. I literally copied the rest of the info from their website.

“Crown Awards are the highest recognition given by the CSPA to a student print or online medium for overall excellence. Both Gold Crown and Silver Crown Awards are given each year.

A panel of Crown Judges assembles each year at Columbia University to view all entrants, whether they are newspaper, magazines, yearbooks or online media. Judges are experienced former advisers to student media, professional journalists who understand student media or professionals such as photographers or online specialists with particular expertise needed for the judging exercise.”

Here is a list of the finalist.

College Yearbook Crown Finalists

Aggieland, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX;
Agromeck, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC;
Arbutus, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN;
Cactus, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX;
Ibis, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL;
Royal Purple, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS;
Selah, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA;
Sooner, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK;
Talisman, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY.

Columbia’s Crown Website

Closing up the Year in July….

As I sit editing photos in the new Student Media offices, I realize this is one of the last days I will be working on the 2009 yearbook. I have also been sitting at this desk for most of the weekend and my goodness this book is going to look so good. Really I have poured my heart and soul into this and I cannot wait to see what it looks bound between to maroon covers.

Since I have been in the  office, I have been pouring through what seems like thousands and thousands of photographs. So I though what would be cooler than putting up some photos I found laying around the office. Overall this year has been an incredible experience photographing, traveling to Qatar, pursuing the Lord with my brothers in BCA, hanging out with Amy(my sister) and friends, meeting new people, taking classes, roasting marshmallows at the Luther House. A&M has really been a blessing to me the moment I walked onto its campus. Thank you all for making it what it is and what it will become. Most of all I thank God for the opportunities he has given me, my heart is overjoyed at what he has planned for me in the future. With that being said here are a couple of very random photos, enjoy.

If you want to know what is happening in any of the photo click on my flickr which is on the right side of my website. Alright College Station, I am out for a while. I am heading to Sky Ranch for a few weeks and then to the beautiful land of Ireland after that. WHOOP!!!! Just a heads up to all the viewers I will try to be posting every day while I am in Ireland. Thank you all for your continuous support, prayers, and overall awesomeness. I love you all.

Possibly My Best Work Ever

As many of you might have observed, these last couple of nights have been very dark because of the new moon. The new moon is an astronomical term that describes one of the phases in the moons monthly orbit. It occurs when the moon lies between the Earth and the Sun and is in conjunction with the sun. So from earth or Reagan, Tx. the earth does not show at all in the sky.  The reason I am telling you all this, is because I have had a quest to obtain a photo that would be placed on the cover of the ’09 Aggieland Yearbook. This was a huge honor that Alyssa (editor in chief and friend) gave me when we decided to use a photo for a portion of the cover.

Well I have been driving out to Reagan, Tx. from College Station these last couple of nights. The first trip with Stephen Fogg and Jonny Green and then again with Spencer Selvidge and Gabe Chmielewski. I tried to tackle this photo idea two ways. The first was to take a long exposure which I did.  And the second way was to use the a high ISO, to capture a huge number/cluster of stars.

So my first technique was to keep the camera shutter open for a while. I set up my camera to stay open for thirty minutes so that my sensor would catch the drag of the lights from the stars and the earths movement.It turned out pretty well except I would have liked the lines in the future to be a lot longer. So expect more of these to come after I do more research.

So my second technique was using a high ISO to capture as many stars as I could inside the exposure. So how I did that was I cranked up my ISO to about 3200-4000. Side Note: The 5d Mark ii (which is the camera I use) have incredible capabilities and I really got to test them in this shot. Using a high ISO is like using really really fast film back in the day. I set the exposure to about thirty seconds with a low aperture and I can distinctly remember looking at the photo right after I took the first shot and literally my jaw dropping. I hadn’t even seen it in the sky but above the barn was the Milky Way. Those moments were so incredible! I started photographing more and more.

While I was out there in this field in Reagan, Tx I couldn’t help but be still and recognize God. I laid down on my back for  a good twenty minutes and looked back at this year and how he has been using me to bring Glory to Him. How I have had the opportunity to meet random people, travel to the middle east(Qatar), sit in a field and wonder at his creation. As I sit staring at the countless number of starts I couldn’t help but be filled with Christ’s presence. Christ is indescribable.

So after all of this I have been blessed with the opportunity to create what I would call my best photograph yet.