Tulsa, I Love You

A few days ago, I found a collection of two years worth of negatives that I thought I lost. Going through the photos, I came upon a bunch of images that I had either forgotten about, or just not looked at in years. I used to go out to downtown Tulsa and shoot street photos whenever I got the chance, back when I was first getting into photography. Many of these photos come from that phase, and I really am just now realizing how much I miss that. Columbia isn't exactly the best place to shoot street, but I'm considering heading out with my Leica this weekend, just from remembering how much I used to love to take those kinds of photos.


(Bus station)


(YMCA)


(Blue Dome district)


(Mayo motor inn)


(City courthouse)


(Inside parking garage)


(Bus station)

Most of these photos were taken two years ago, when I was first getting into photography. Which means I really didn't do the best job with archival washing these... so forgive the dust and scratches.

Shovel Ready

Admittedly, this is not photography related. But as a journalism and computer nerd, I had to make a post about this. Over the last week/week-and-a-half, I have been working on a project at The Maneater to show exactly what projects Columbia is asking for funding for in the federal stimulus bill, and how much said projects would cost.
Finally, after one failed, overly-ambitious attempt, I ended up with the graphic that was published online today. As this is only my third project in Flash so far, it's not the absolute greatest thing in the world. But, it is the first interactive Flash graphic the 'eater has had and I don't think it looks too bad.
You can check it out at themaneater.com (and I recommend you do, the article is really great), and I've posted the graphic here. Any thoughts?

Polar Bear Plunge

Today, Missouri Special Olympics hosted a polar bear plunge. If you're unfamiliar with the term, it means a bunch of people with more guts or less sense than me decide to jump into freezing cold water. In this case, it was for a noble cause, raising money for the aforementioned Missouri Special Olympics. From the crowd, they did quite well. There were somewhere around 285 jumpers. Now, the water was 33 degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius), so this was pretty impressive. Here are some of the photos I took:


Jason Vega of team CPD-Antlers parades his costume around the beach. For the event, teams dressed up in everything from sheets to suits.


Members of team "Cold as Sheet" jump into the water of Stephens Lake.


Courtney Hindman of the team "Hooters Girls" loses a balloon from her costume after jumping into the almost-freezing water.


Robin Fenical of team "Chilly Dogs" gathers a string toy fish from the lake after diving in. Awards were given to the most creative way to enter the water.


Scott Drochelman holds onto fiancé Cassie Shields as they plunge backwards into the lake. The couple plans to get married in June.


Members of team CPD-Antlers rush into the water near the end of the event.

Hope you enjoyed the post! There should be another one coming later this week.