Poker with good friends

What is really nice about coming home is hanging out with a couple of good friends from high school. Poker is a popular pastime, and, while I'm no good, it is still a lot of fun. It gets pretty serious, as you can see, between playing our table, and multiple other tables online. Good times, good times.

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Hoarfrost

We had some really weird weather right around Christmas. Between rain, snow, and other wintery precipitation, the conditions were perfect for hoarfrost. Basically it's frozen fog that creates these loose crystal formations on the branches and other small object. Didn't last long cause the sun came out, but it was really pretty for a while.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

High School

Photographed a Rock Bridge girls varsity basketball game a few nights back. Thought I throw this outtake up. It just shouts "High School". If I was one of those bloggers who put music on their site that auto-starts when you load the page, "Party In the USA" would play right about now. That's because it is the song that covered halftime, when I took this shot. Yea.... High School.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

Cage Fighting

Helped my friend Chelsea photograph a cage fight for a multimedia piece for Vox. Had a great time and learned a lot about how to shoot an event like this. It was definitely challenging, but rewarding when I got the shots.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

Why I Love My Job

This job has it's ups and downs.
For example, today a friend and fellow photoj student John Schreiber had to cover the Kahler Funeral. The former director of Columbia Water & Light murdered his wife and two daughters in Kansas. Funerals can be a very difficult thing to shoot, and the situation surrounding John's ability to get access made it even worse. To top it off, he was publicly called a "Heartless son-of-a-bitch" and that, basically, he was on the express train to hell.
Definitely a down.
But for every instance of downs, you get rewarded by meeting some very amazing people. That is why I love this job. I get to explore the community and the people in it. Today, while on an assignment for VOX magazine, I met Hamp Ford. A medical malpractice defense lawyer and, more interstingly, Gypsy Horse enthusiast. Hamp and his wife invited me into their stable and were so proud of their beloved hobby - a family, and more, of Gypsy Horses.
Definitely worth it.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

Computer Issues

Ok, so according to 3rd party program "iStat" the reason my computer has been randomly shutting itself off on me is because it likes to run up to just under 250 degrees. When it gets there, the heat sensors probably initiate the emergency shut off. The thing is, according to iStat, it can fluctuate 100 degrees in a matter of seconds...... heat sensor broken maybe? Who knows, I can manage. However, while trying to export the large version of my Final Cut video, it kept running hot and turning off. Not good. Computer isn't under warranty and there are no *true* apple stores in Columbia.

Dilemma.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

Dilemma Solved.

Taken with my phone, too.

Wild Canid Center, cont.

I have finally assembled the project into an almost-final product. You can check it out on my Vimeo site. I also thought I'd add a little out take from my shoot. Please let me know what you think of the project, and I hope you enjoy it.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

Trip-toe-van

Just some shots from my Thanksgiving. As I write this, my girlfriend is asleep on my bed, my sister is curled up under the covers of her bed watching episodes of Friends, and my parents are slowing passing out while watching a movie in their room..... Success I think, no?

The 'Rents

My sister

And yes, what is a Millbrook Thanksgiving without Millbrook wine??

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Final Project - The Wild Canid Center

My final project story for staff class at the Missourian is on the Wild Canid Center, in Eureka, MO. They are a canine conservation and rehabilitation center and house 5 species of endangered canines. Two species are currently being bred for reintroduction programs across the country. I spent a day photographing the wolves on Wednesday, and just got done with some video footage today. Thought I'd share some shots. Look for the final product in the coming week.

Mexican Grey Wolf

African Wild Dogs

Mexican Grey Wolf

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Fire Training

This has been my favorite assignment this semester so far. It got to attend a joint "man down" training exercise with Boone County and City of Columbia fire departments. They worked through several different scenarios and I got to be there with them for each one. A reporter was there to gather audio and it went up as a soundslides online. I've posted my favorites.

It was definitely the most challenging assignment as well. The building was pitch black so everything is lit with a strobe as well as blending with the ambient rays of light. I was nervous that I wouldn't be getting stuff cause my strobe skills are still in the works, but everything seemed to work out great and I had a blast doing it.

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Kansas City Zoo

As part of my Intro to Captive Wild Animal Management class, we had to take part in a "field experience". With the way my schedule worked, I signed up for the Kansas City Zoo trip. We got a little bit of the behind-the-scenes tour, but were mostly just ushered through the zoo rather quickly. Not a lot of time to sit and watch the animals, but oh well. I finally got to take some big glass (Nikon 300mm F/2.8) and, besides waking up really really early, had a pretty good day. I'm posting my 3 favorite.

Nature playing "hide-and-go-seek"

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Race and the Police - Published

My Race and the Police photo illustration was published today. We had a big conversation about it in my critique class. If you check my previous post, I posted the photo the way I envisioned it. An editor pitched the idea of cuffing together a black arm and white arm - I took that into the studio, added color for the "police" part, and got the image you saw before. However, when it came out today in print, the arms had been pulled off the background and put on a Black&White split backdrop. At first, I was upset to see my photo chopped up and my color completely left out, but after talking with my Director Of Photography, I understand why they did it.

Photo © Jason Lenhart for the Columbia Missourian

The reasoning was, that, with a black and white split backdrop like that, it made a more complete package. The way it came out on the front page, was a large, vertical spot, with opposite inverted text. It worked well as a package deal, whereas, if my color photo ran, not only would it have looked little off (color printing can be tricky - the blue may have come out a little purple), but it just would have been Headline - Photo - Text. I was upset about the whole ordeal for maybe about 5 minutes, then I got over it. Welcome to the world of Photo Illustrations.

Veteran's Day Parade

My latest assignment was the local Veteran's Day Parade in Columbia. The Missourian pulled 13 images that were put into a slide show. I've also attached another photo that I like that didn't make the cut.

Photo © Jason Lenhart

Also, this week I found out that I was chosen to participate in the News21 Fellowship. I was awarded $7500 to participate in a program that seeks to explore new and innovative ways of storytelling and presenting journalism to the public. I will find out my host school in the coming weeks, but have my hopes set on Maryland where I will partake in multimedia and environmental reporting in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Sun Dog

My father recently photographed, with his cell phone, the atmospheric phenomena called a Sun Dog, or more formally, a Parhelion. It is caused by the refraction of light high up in the atmosphere by hexagonal shaped ice crystals, usually in Cirrus clouds. You can read the wikipedia page for more and check out the google images for some really amazing images.

Photo © Jason Lenhart with permission from Scott Lenhart

Radiation Spill

I'll be honest. I was looking for spiders... and hoping one would bite me. But no such luck. I did however get to see my first Geiger counter in action. It was a minor spill of Phosphorous 32, but a cleanup was still required. You can read the story for more.

Race and Police

This is a photo illustration I did for a piece on "Race and the Police" in Columbia. Special thanks to Jarrad Henderson, Joel Kowsky, and Vivian Esparza for all their help. Special thanks to Josh Bickel who did some color retouching.

Photo Illustration © Jason Lenhart

Pink Hijab Day

Thanks to two of my good photo friends, I now have the ability to post photos MUCH larger than before. I blew up my last post to make sure it works, and it looks so much better. On that note, I'd thought I'd blog some photos from a recent assignment. It was Pink Hijab Day on Wednesday. The MU Muslim Student's Organization had a table outside Memorial Union promoting breast cancer awareness. They donned pink Hijabs in support, but it was also to help break down the stereotypes surrounding Muslim women. A representative from the group told me that they wore them to make people feel more comfortable and therefore more likely to approach them. You can check out a soundslides that ran in the Missourian here. I'm posting a few here to take advantage of my new larger format.

Missouri vs. Texas Football

On Saturday the Missouri Tiger's were taught a few lessons in football by the #3 ranked Texas Longhorns...and I was there to photograph it! You can check out the full published gallery here on the Missourian's website (on a side note, when the slide show comes up, click the little caption button on the bottom to identify my photos from the other Missourian photographers who were there too). I thought I'd add one I liked that didn't make the cut for different reasons. I may tack a few photos on later after I sift through the full outtake.

Hand to face = Texas vs. Missouri
Photo © Jason Lenhart

First Goal Cam

So this was my first attempt at a remote goal cam for soccer. Unfortunately, I only have the necessary gear to remote my Nikon D70s, which, as you can see, has a very low ISO rating. (For those of you who don't speak photo - The picture is grainy, and full of what we call 'digital noise'). Hopefully some day I'll get the pocket wizard cable for my D3 and all will be well in the world.

Intermission: Harvard

Took the weekend+ to go visit my girlfriend at Harvard. Day 1 was pretty damn cold. Day 2 it precipitated a little bit of hail, snow, freezing rain, rain, sleet, and I think I saw some fire and brimstone. Once the sun came out, civilization came out of their hiding places. Unfortunately, for a select few people who signed up to compete in this years Head of the Charles Regatta Race, they had to row in that nasty weather with nearly nobody to cheer them on. Sucks majorly. I didn't get any photos of the race for obvious reasons. But I did get a few photos of other stuff.

Blog Fail #1

WOW. Ok, so I'm not dead. I promise. I know August was my last post, and it is now October. Yes, I fail. However, not to make excuses or anything, but I've been a little busy, as you'll see. Between the Missourian (which is awesome), a 3000 level and 4000 level philosophy class (I've never taken a philosophy class before), work (for $), and life, my blog kind of got pushed under the carpet. If I were to make several posts to highlight each assignment that i've done, many would get lost. So what I decided to do was post a link to my profile page on the Missourian's website. Here, you can find all my online-published work. I know, it's a lot, I'm sorry. I will make a conscious effort to update more often.

First two published Missourian Assignments

For those of you who don't know, this is my semester working as a staff photographer for the Columbia Missourian. It is a student staffed paper run by the University. It's real-world experience. We do everything that paid journalists do everywhere else in the U.S. I will be linking to the publications site to showcase the work that makes it online. I may also post photos that run in print, as well as the occasion photo I liked that didn't make the cut. Enjoy.

Back To School

Hickman Football in Kansas City

State University of New York at Oneonta

My parents and I took my sister up to school this past week. She'll be a freshman at SUNY Oneonta playing field hockey this year. It's a beautiful campus not to far from my parent's house, surrounded by lots of mountains and not much else. Just a few shots from the day.

Checking out the field hockey turf. While Oneonta is Division 3, the athletic fields are in great condition. The school also boasts a heated soccer field for winter practices.

Hulbert Hall - My sister's residence hall.

Due to sports, my sister had to move into her permanent room, then live in a temp room for 3 days before official move in. We brought half her stuff up with us and my parents brought the rest up later.

I think one of the things that really hits you as you start to settle into college life is the fact that everything you own, fits into a car with just enough room for you to drive. This is all her stuff minus a few things purchased up in Oneonta.

Photos © Jason Lenhart

Camp Treetops

This past weekend I took a day drip with my father up into the Adirondacks. Now, for those of you who know me, you've heard me talk about this place. I consider it my favorite place in the world. Situated right in the thick of the Adirondack mountains is a School/Summer camp called North Country School / Camp Treetops. I was a camper here for 4 summers, and worked as a counselor for one summer. It's hard to explain to people what sort of place this, because, to my knowledge, there is nothing like it on earth. I have posted 5 photos from my one day stay. It was parent's visiting day for the campers, and I went to visit my cousin since his parents could not make the trip up from Florida. The kids live at this camp for 7 straight weeks, venturing out on all sorts of trips and taking part in a plethora of activities. Ages range from 10/11 up until I believe 16/17. The camp is divided into Sr. Camp, for 13/14-16/17 and, and Jr. Camp for the younger kids. I could photograph this place for the rest of my life and never express the atmosphere of Treetops.

The water front is a popular place. With boating opportunities ranging from 100 year old canoes to sailing sun fish and capris, to trying your best at windsurfing or rowing. Swim lessons are a daily occurrence and are mandatory for all campers. The lake is notorious for it's temperature, and the occasional pink whale sighting.

Scenery like this is 360 degrees. You can't look any direction and not see the peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. Hiking trips, ranging from day trips, to quadruple overnights, venture out to conquer the 46 peaks over 4000 feet in elevation, dubbed - The 46ers.

Music is an huge part of camp life. Every morning, after select kids complete early morning barn chores and join the rest for breakfast, they will head out to tent clean-up. The tents are large, fixed wooden frames covered with a burlap tarp to form a tent. The hold 4 campers and are weather resistant (although this summer has seen only 3 days of full sun in the 3 weeks since it started, so nothing is completely dry). After tent cleanup is Council, a twice daily ritual. Songs are sung with musical accompaniment, after which the days activities are laid out and campers can decide what they are going to do.

During this week, parents got to participate in camp life with their children. Parent's are only allowed to visit once during the 7 week summer. Other than that, they can communicate with their children via letters. Campers are required to send at least one letter back home per week. Parents can send packages too, but they are inspected upon opening for "contraband" which includes any sort of electronics or candy. Camp has a strict philosophy that helps makes ever camper equal. Nobody has nicer stuff, or cooler gadgets, than anybody else. They are there to experience nature and do some personal discovering.

The dining hall, where breakfast, lunch, and dinner is served everyday. Tables are rotated every week so campers eat with new people. Each table is headed by a staff member at the head of the table, while campers rotate around the table, take daily turns at being "waiter". It is the waiters job to get food for the table, as well as replenish things like water and milk (no soda and juice is a treat), clear the table, sponge it off, and sweep the floor. The food is all organic, and when possible, harvested from the on-sight garden, by campers themselves. Waste is either composted, or given to the pigs. Sunday morning is usually pancakes or french toast for breakfast, followed by "Fund Lunch". Simply water and soup. The money saved from this meal is put into a fund. At the end of the summer, the campers vote on a charity to donate the money to.

I wish I could show you so much more, but I was only there for a day. There are many other things that go on in camp, like the different shops (nature, craft, wood, pot) as well as field games, rock climbing, and tree-climbing, to name a few. Someday I'll be back to work when life slows down. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.