The cover of The Southeast Sun's 2011 Football Preview is named Collector's Edition.

Here are some other photographs that I have taken at practices and games throughout the season.  Please check them out and tell me what you think.  I should also tell you that my paper, The Southeast Sun, has finally updated their website.  You can check out some of our slideshows and video at www.southeastsun.com.

Daleville's A.J. Jones follows Elijah Davis' block during a recent practice.

Clark Quisenberry (84) and the Enterprise defense smother a Northview runner Friday, Sept. 2.

Melissa Braun, our crime beat reporter, came up to me a while back and asked me how I felt about getting in a man hole to take a photograph.  I was hesitant at first, but I thought it would make a great photo. Fast forward to the day of the excursion. The Enterprise Fire Department had one of their trucks near an open man hole, and the rigging had been set up.  I was strapped into a harness and given a helmet for protection.  They hooked me up to the rigging, and down I went.  The photographs really tell the story, and I have to thank Melissa for documenting the event.  I was only a little nervous at the time, but my facial expressions in the photographs tell a different story.  I think it might have been the fact that the firefighters were joking with me the whole time about faulty rigging and such.

Overall, it was a great experience, and I got a really cool photo in the end for our special section.  Please check out the photos and tell me what you think.

Enterprise firefighters hook me up to the rigging over the man hole.

Enterprise firefighters lower me into the man hole.

Enterprise firefighter Jimmy Willis demonstrates a rescue of an individual trapped inside a man hole.

The Enterprise High School varsity boys soccer team made it to the final four, so, of course, I made a trip to Huntsville.  To tell you the truth, I did not expect them to make it very far, but it was a pleasant surprise to see them do so well.  The team played against Daphne and beat them 4-1 in the first match.  The excitement on the field after the win was amazing.  Players were jumping up and down as parents and supporters were cheering.  It was a great day for sports.

The next day Enterprise played their final game against Oak Mountain.  Enterprise played well, but Oak Mountain won in the end with a score of 1-0.  However, the most important event happened after the game.  I really must commend the EHS varsity soccer team for their excellent sportsmanship.  I cover a lot of sports games in the Wiregrass, and I have seen many different teams play.  However, I have rarely seen this much character on the field.  After the team received the second-place trophy, and you could hear the small group of fans in the background shouting, “EHS,” senior Evan Beutler raised the trophy in the air, facing the crowd.  The rest of the players started coming together, reaching for the trophy soon after.  It was like they had won, and in a way, they did because their season was historic.  It was a very moving moment in sports, and it is one that I will never forget.

Demetrius Rogers (20) battles with Oak Mountain's Wes Sandlin for possession.Zach Waterman (4) controls the ball past a sliding John Imwalle, the tournament's most valuable player.

Zach Waterman (4) controls the ball past a sliding John Imwalle, the tournament's most valuable player.

Evan Beutler (15) and Demetrius Rogers react after Enterprise's loss in the championship match.

From left, Warrant Officers Micah Amman, David Fish and Thomas McNamara fold the American flag during the burial at Meadowlawn Cemetery for civilian instructor pilot John Bolling.

It seems like I have been covering a lot of funerals lately, so I thought this would be a good topic for my blog.  Funerals are probably one of the hardest assignments that a photographer can get.  You have to follow the line and be very careful not to cross it.  The funeral is a sacred event, and respect for your subject is very important.

After getting permission from the family to cover the funeral, the main key is to stay in the background.  Dress appropriately, and always stay in the back during the service.  I also try not to use any flash.  It just disrupts the ceremony, and I like to remain seperate from the scene that I am photographing.

In my short time here in Enterprise, I have
covered a number of different funerals,
including military, city officials and civilians.  Sometimes it is difficult to take pictures of people in their grief, but these photographs usually make the most impact.  I try to represent the scene that I am witnessing from the outside and remain respectful to the situation at all times.  Here are some more recent photographs that I have taken.  Please feel free to comment.

Police Officer Funeral

Enterprise police officers stand around the casket of Ken Ryals.

Frances Ryals grasps the American flag that moments earlier draped her husband's casket.

Firefighter Funeral

Lt. Tony Strength's casket is transported to the cemetery by his fellow firefighters.

As most of you know, EHS was hit by a tornado back in 2007, and eight students lost their lives.  The new high school is almost completed, and the entire city is anticipating the grand opening this month.  The Southeast Sun has created a full-length color magazine with stories and photos about EHS.  A good majority of the photographs were from archives, so most of my time was spent on layout and design, which I have really come to love.

This is the first time I have worked on magazine layout, and it is very different from newspaper layout, which I have been doing for little over a year now.  I was really impressed by the work of our whole staff, and I think all those extra hours that we put into the magazine was well worth it.  I only hope that the people of Enterprise appreciate the magazine as much as we do. Here are some of the pages that I worked on in the magazine.  Please check them out and tell me what you think.

When I arrived at the destruction, I could not believe my eyes.  The high school was in rubble, and for the brief moments that I was actually inside the building, all I could notice despite the complete devastation was a community working together. Everyone was in shock, but they were working together to try to save those that were hurt.  That is what I saw a few weeks ago at the dedication ceremony–a community that came together and was helping those in need.  When Dirk Strunk, the father of Katie Strunk, spoke to the crowd about each individual child, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the crowd.  Everyone was there to remember the lost, and it was nice to see the community come together to greet the family members of the nine individuals that were lost on that tragic day.  I am dedicating this post to the nine lives that left this earth on March 1, 2007: A.J. Jackson, Ryan Mohler, Katie Strunk, Michael Bowen, Peter Dunn, Mikey Tompkins, Jamie Vidensek, Michelle Wilson and Edna Strickland.

Family members release white doves into the air to represent the nine lives that were lost after a March 1, 2007 tornado.

Members of the community greet the family members of the nine victims that were lost after a March 1, 2007 tornado hit Enterprise.

Enterprise High School students stand near the pillars that represent the eight students that lost their lives during a March 1, 2007 tornado.

I started spending time with these kids, watching them at practice and talking to them in person.  I was really impressed by their dedication and sense of responsibility, which is a direct result of Boykin’s presence.  The group devotes their time to performing for the community at various events, working on individual academics to obtain scholarships and strives to be a strong voice in the local community.  This fine group of students give so much time to the club, that they are, in fact, like a family. They are all working together to achieve a common goal, and they have fun while doing it.

I think it was really important for me to work on this assignment because so much of the work that we do as visual journalists is done at the speed of light.  Deadlines force us to get the information fast and produce a story that the public will want to see. There is something to be said about in-depth storytelling.  Taking my time and really getting to know these students and the accomplishments that they have made makes the story even better, and I hope this video is a tribute to that realization.  

Please check out my video below on the DHS Multicultural Club and tell me what you think.  If you wish to purchase a copy of the video on DVD, you can contact Linda Boykin at (334) 475-0996 or Laura Fezie at (334) 369-9492.  DVDs are $10 each and part of the proceeds will go back to the DHS Multicultural Club.

The flight was not very long, but we were a little behind schedule as the day progressed. When we got to the Baltimore/Washington International Airport, the veterans were greeted by Honor Flight volunteers and airport employees.  This remained a constant theme throughout the day.  Everyone wanted to come up to the veterans and thank them for their service.  It was truly moving to see. It was even more amazing to see these men and women at the World War II Memorial.  So many other memorials in Washington D.C. have been around for years and are dedicated to other U.S. conflicts like Vietnam and Korea.  Veterans from those wars have been able to visit their memorial and feel a sense of pride for having served their country, but for the World War II Memorial, only a small amount of veterans will get to see the memorial that is dedicated to them since its construction in 2004.  The Wiregrass Honor Flight was a truly amazing experience for me personally, and I hope that it can be seen through my slideshow below.  Please check it out and leave me a comment.

The water tower near downtown Enterprise is framed by snow-covered trees Feb. 12, 2010.

The city of Enterprise saw a rare sight Feb. 12 when the southeast was hit with a winter storm that left a few inches of snow. It started snowing in the early morning, and it practically snowed all day. School was cancelled the day before, businesses started to close early, and they even closed down all the county roads because of the storm. However, that did not keep residents in their homes. As I drove through the neighborhoods looking for photo opportunities, I saw countless snowmen in people’s yards. Some people went to the park as well to enjoy this rare occasion. This wasn’t my first opportunity to see snow, but since I grew up in Florida, I can honestly say that I have never had a snow day until today. Check out the rest of my photos below.

Amber Markley, 11, builds snowmen in the front yard.

Snow covers the landscape at Johnny Henderson Park in Enterprise.

Snow sticks to the famous Boll Weevil Monument in downtown Enterprise.

Snow begins to melt as it rests on tree branches.

Thanks to my parents, who gave me a wonderful and expensive video camera for Christmas, I am now venturing off into the world of video. By the way, I just want to put it out there that my parents, Sue and Glenn, are the best, and they have always supported me in whatever I wanted to to do in my life. Thank you Mom and Dad!

To continue, I have found that video is very different than photography. With video, what you see is what you get, unlike photography, where the image can be manipulated later. Now there are certain things you can do to manipulate a video as well, but video and photography are like apples and oranges.  The hardest thing I had to deal with was the audio.  I will definitely be working on that in the future.

For my first video, I shot footage of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations in Enterprise, Al. I am still deciding on a video editing program, so that is why there is a trial version on the opening frame. I will definitely be working on more video projects in the future to develop my process. I look forward to your comments on my first video.