Foxfield Races gone to the Dogs

If only all weekends could be this good. Every once in a while the stars and planets align to deliver a gem that you swear will never happen again. Until it does. Most people would be very upset about working a weekend, not this intrepid photojournalist. Saturday was great, but I want to share a few more pictures from Foxfield . The fall races benefited Service Dogs of Virginia. Things started pretty spectacularly with a skydiver trailing the flag. I couldn't stay for all the races but during the fifth race a horse threw its jockey and decided to finish the race without him. The jockey appeared un-harmed thankfully and the horse had a little fun dodging the handlers.

Thanks for taking a look.

-Matt

Tattoo Removal video

The Tattoo Removal video has been posted to YouTube for those who want to take a look. Here it is.


Drop by our new YouTube Channel to check out previous multimedia produced by the photo staff here at the Progress. I have also posted a YouTube viewer in the sidebar of the blog. It is a little small but it seems to be as big as the sidebar will allow. If any blogger geniuses know a way to make it look better drop a comment.

-Matt

New Video: Tattoo Removal

Today's Daily Progress (09/23/07) features a new video on the increased popularity of laser tattoo removal. You can check out the video here.
You can read teh article by Bryan McKenzie here.

-Matt

Get Outside, Now!

Pick a road, any road. Just in case you haven't noticed, the weather has been phenomenal. The air is so clear and crisp. The Blue Ridge Mountains look as if they moved several miles closer to C'ville. Get out there and enjoy it. As you will read in Tuesday's Progress, I went out to Afton Mountain to do a little bird watching. I want to say thanks to the volunteers from Rockfish Gap Hawk Watch. They really helped me out. I don't know a Broad-winged Hawk from a Turkey Vulture. Ultimately, I turned my camera on them and the watchers became the watched. Thanks guys.

Trampled Treasure

Shenandoah National Park Botanist Wendy Cass talks about efforts to preserve rare goldenrod and lichen found on outcroppings.

Now with 100% more YouTube.

Have you been dying to see the slideshow of Crabtree Falls again, or perhaps revisit an old Confederate Cemetery narrated by Devin Miller? Well now you can. I am slowly but surely uploading all of our old SoundSlides presentations and videos to YouTube. There will also be a small selection of some of my favorites in the sidebar. If you want to see all of the available videos and audio slideshows, visit our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/dailyprogress.

-Matt

FUMA Football

Last Saturday was a long, hot day. Started out walking the parking lots around Scott Stadium looking for tailgaters and their opinions on Coach Groh. If you read the story in Sunday's paper you know what they had to say. I only got to stay for the first quarter and a half of the game. When I left things were going well for the Cavs. It sounds like the third quarter blues struck again. Maybe it's me. I promise I will try to stay for the whole game against Georgia Tech. I had to leave for Fork Union and cover the FUMA vs. STAB football game. In the hot sun I got bored real quick with the game. That's when I saw Lt. Brian Zitterkopf with 10 year old die hard fan and cheerleader Kendra Wright. It was an odd combination to see all those serious looking uniformed boys cheering with a miniature Sally Starr in a cowboy hat. It made the day infinitely more interesting.

-Matt

Louisa Lions

I spent yesterday hanging out with the Louisa Lions. Practicing hard under the setting evening sun, a sense of purpose is evident on the field. At the helm is Coach Fischer, an imminently likeable person who is tough but fair with his kids. He offers praise when due and makes firm corrections. The players hustle during drills with coaches making constant adjustments. The Lions lost most of last year's starting players, but they haven't lost the bond that makes them a team.

-Matt

Sportraits

Sportrait is a term that many photogs use to describe the endless amount of athletic portraits we do. This one of Monticello HS senior Daniel Lieb ran nice and big a few days, er maybe, weeks ago. Time flies here at the Progress. Most people are content with taking a photo with the built in flash on their camera. Getting the flash off the camera is probably the single biggest thing you can do to improve your portraits. If you want to check out sportraits taken to the extreme, check out Kyle Green's site. Click the link for sports and then navigate to "Superheroes of Timesland". Hope you enjoy.

-Matt

Cool Opportunities

One thing I absolutely love about being a photographer is getting to experience some pretty neat things that I might not otherwise get to do. Mom calls me about every other day asking how work is, do I still like Charlottesville, have I done anything cool, etc. My responses never cease to amaze her. Next time Mom calls, I will tell her that I got to fly in a 1942 WACO open cockpit biplane. She always jokingly ends the conversation with, "just wait until you get a real job...".

Today, I was photographing the Air Show in Louisa, Virginia and had a chance to go up in the air with 9-year-old Samantha Kern. I took a wide angle lens and shot as much as I could during the 15 to 20 minutes we were in the air. The pilot did a wing over twice, which allowed me to get some great shots of Samantha with the wing of the plane and an awesome landscape view in the background. Being in the air like that was an amazing feeling. I would definitely have to say this is one of the perks to being a photographer!

-Kaylin