I’ve been working on the set of the docu-drama The Messenger: 360 Days of Bolivar for months now. I am the associate producer and chief photographer, but since the crew is fairly small, we all take on many different tasks. We are currently in the process of putting together a few trailers for the project, which means filming and subsequently for me shooting stills, has ceased for the time being. Since my stills are being infused in the trailer and eventually movie, I have been editing them a lot over the past few weeks. The image above is one of my favorites thus far. Its moody and abstract. Its of Michael, one of the main subjects’ fishing vessels in Galveston Bay.

I’ve had an extra exciting week. Thursday I did an assignment for the Chron at Moody Garden’s on the relatives of the Titanic survivors. Friday I flew in a helicopter over Galveston and Bolivar for our upcoming movie, The Messenger. Friday, I photographed the amazing guys in Bayside. Saturday was a full day of UH spring football, Astros baseball (and Pence bobble head) and a get together at Kevin’s. Sunday was an epic Saves the Day show. Some great times with great friends. All the while I’m pushing myself to see differently. I think it may just be working.

Above image: Karen Little, 7, stares at a scale model of the Titanic through a glass case, Thursday, April 10, 2008 during an event held at Galveston’s Moody Gardens Titanic exhibit. Karen’s great grandmother, Karen Marie Abelseth was a survivor of the Titanic disaster. April 10th also marks the 96th anniversary of Titanic’s maiden voyage.

What a weekend! Thursday I picked up my Astros season credential at Union Station (cant wait for the home opener) and headed then over to Reliant for my NCAA credentials. It was one post and one week or so ago that I was at Reliant and in that week the whole complex, mainly Reliant Stadium, was transformed from rodeo to march madness. The NCAA set up was excellent as far as facilities go. Good food, good accommodations and organized for us photographers, however the actual set-up of the raised floor and seating were kind of sketchy. Its a huge football stadium so transforming it to accommodate a basketball court is strange. It was a feat for sure and I commend those involved, however with the overall seats being so far away from the action and the team benches being off the court itself it just didn’t feel as intimate as it could have been at the Toyota Center. Regardless, my seat was awesome! I was about 5 feet to the right of one of the goals and about 5 more feet from the baseline, which made for some interesting captures. With the two Sweet Sixteen games on Friday and the Elite 8 regional championship on Sunday I was a bit nervous about my gear scenario. I had shot a limited amount of collegiate and pro basketball in the past so I wanted to make sure I was good to go as far as gear went and having a camera at CPS getting a shutter replaced did not help. When I arrived I met Mark Sutton from Nikon and he was so great to loan me a brand spankin new D3 (Nikon’s new full-frame wonder camera), a 14-24mm 2.8 N, a 70-200mm 2.8 VR and a 300mm 2.8VR. Everything was fresh out the plastic new and ready to roll. I shot the two games Friday without incident and Mark even gave me a battery charger so that I could use the gear for my shoots Saturday. I absolutely loved the camera. So many features that I wish I had on my N’s; retouching in camera, dual cf slots, bigger and more accurate screen and viewfinder, full frame, and the most important…the noise. You can crank that sucker to 3200 and the noise looks like my 800 ASA. The image above was taken with the D3 and the 14-24mm lens at Libby’s rollerskating birthday party at Funtime Skating Rink in Clear Lake City, Texas. Our friend Kevin was trying to catch a cupcake in his mouth and failed. Good fun.