Welcome back

Couldn't decide which frame to put up, so here's a few from part of my returning soldier feature for the Statesman. Video and more photos coming tomorrow.

7/29/2010 Sgt. Douglas Anderson of Lampasas greets his family after arriving in Austin on Thursday July 29, 2010 from a tour in Iraq with the National Guard.  Stephen M. Keller AMERICAN-STATESMAN

7/29/2010 Spc. Juan Mellado, of Houston, hugs his wife Alice on Thursday after arriving in Austin from a deployment in Iraq with the National Guard. // Stephen M. Keller AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Cindy Villarreal of Pflugerville stands beside her husband Spc. Rudy Villarreal after he arrived in Austin following a deployment overseas with the National Guard. Stephen M. Keller AMERICAN-STATESMAN

In Texas, Football is King

Coming Soon...

Normally, I don't handle the "Coming Sunday" videos, since they, in fact, don't have video in them. This week, I was asked to put a preview together for the Sunday centerpiece/package since for once it had video. It also gave me a chance to try out a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (for non-film nerds, that's the aspect ratio for movies...16:9 is for a widescreen television). Kevin Robbins wrote the words, Jay shot the stills and I shot the moving pictures.

Portfolio

Many thanks to Rodolfo Gonzalez, Statesman staff-photographer and Pulitzer Prize-winner, for helping me edit this down to what you see here.

Independence Day

Hope everyone had a happy Independence Day.

Like my Juneteenth piece, I tried to make the video go beyond the event itself. So instead of the obvious parade questions that could be asked to interview subjects, I posed only one question, "What does freedom mean to you?" Here, were their answers.



Obviously, no Fourth of July is complete without fireworks. So James Brosher and I hiked out to Auditorium Shores to get some good shots. I put this piece together combining some of our favorite stills.

Alaska or bust