daines'n around

I'm tired of telling people the same thing every time they call me or write me and ask me how things are going. "Two jobs, full-time school, photographer and writer for the paper, and two callings in church" has become so automatic there is almost no emotion behind it anymore. I'm anxiously awaiting the opportunity to shave down my working requirements to one job, since I'll have to get used to making little to no money as a working journalist in the future anyway (or so say all of the professors around campus).

I photographed my first basketball game Friday night. Driving to the stadium, I was reasonably happy that I was getting out to do something new, and challenge myself photographically. I've traveled so little as of late that I haven't been evoked emotionally to photograph much.

The action is fast in basketball. I spent most of the evening trying to anticipate passes. I tried photographing with both eyes open, my left eye getting the whole scene and my right eye getting the frame through the viewfinder, but that proved just to be headache-inducing.

The other photographer there didn't have much to offer as far as advice, other than criticism of things he had seen me publish previously. He lives as a sports photographer, and doesn't like many of my photos.

So far as I could tell, the key to catching the faces together with the action in basketball are the angles. Sitting directly under the basket, where it was suggested that I remain to photograph didn't work out to well, but that may be due to inexperience.

I'm happy for humbling moments, like taking about 700 photos and liking two of them, but still not happy with them. I get excited about my photography too much, and I think that being humbled is a good experience for me.

Wrapping up the game, I passed by some journalism students who were at the press table, one girl with whom I've had three or four classes together in the last 3 years left me a certain shade of speechlessness.

I asked what she was doing at the table, if she was doing sports reporting, or visiting, or dating someone on the team. She laughed and smiled that certain way that makes other people blush when they see it. I've seen her smile so many times before so I wasn't too surprised at that.

"I didn't know you were a photographer!" she announced to me in one of those clever 'I just discovered something' tones of voices. She explained how she was learning the statistics computer program that CSUN uses, and was hoping to incorporate it at the sports complex where she either works or volunteers.

I rummaged around in my bag, putting away my telephoto lens away and bagging everything up and we laughed about the class we have together now. Then the surprise.

"Keith and I were talking together, you know... you are very well spoken" she said. I didn't know how to react to that. I didn't even comprehend what she was saying. Keith, a basketball player and journalism student sits next to her in our class. I must have given her an odd look, because she scrambled to rewind and restate the compliment so I could better understand it.

I sit in the front of class usually, and offer my opinion on matters that I find need opinions expressed. Not everyone agrees with it all the time, but I've learned that is what critical thinking and reasoning is all about, alternate viewpoints.

She must have seen me melt emotionally and not know how to respond to the comment, because she giggled to try and ease the pressure of responding to it. I thanked her and told her I'd see her in class on Tuesday and shuffled out of the stadium.