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H P Pig Farm Audio Slideshow

Frozen Mountain Adventure

Melissa Windel underestimates the steepness of Lazy Mountain and the icy slope gets the better of her. Despite warm weather at the base, most of the mountain still had several inches of snow.

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Steven Wachter opens a tube cemented into the summit of Lazy Mountain. Included in the tube was a log for all climbers who had reached the top as well as memorial materials of U.S. soldiers from the Matanuska-Susitna valley who had died in the Iraq war.

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Steven Wachter and Melissa Windel reach the summit of Lazy Mountain on April 18. The mountain, located just outside of Palmer is 3720 feet high.

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Spring!

Bike Club member Andrew Manos helps tune a few bikes up as summer approaches. The Bike Club offered free tune-ups out side of the Student Union on both April 15 and 16. 

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Videos

I watched the two videos, Wood Bison Disease Testing from the Anchorage Daily News and a second video from the AP that featured soldiers and 'the things they carried.'

Both videos were different, but incorporated the same things in both of the videos, including stills with audio behind them.

The Bison video had more active events occurring. It showed the bison having blood taken and running around. The AP video had less action. The men interviewed where in a war zone, and most of the time were just sitting and talking about their lucky charms.

The compelling thing about the Bison video was the action of the bison. They story itself was mildly captivating, but if I hadn't seen huge bison running around knocking people over, I really wouldn't care.

But the AP video was intriguing because of it's storytelling. They took very little moments from these soldiers, but told a whole story in 30 seconds. The ones that stood out to me included the man with the teddy bear that was charred when he was hit with by a bomb. He doesn't have to explain much when he shows the charred bear to the camera. That image tells the story by itself. Also the soldier with the tiny, well worn prayer book by his father. He tells us what it means to him, but we really don't have to know. We instead have a black and white photograph of this book, with it's bent pages and worn spine, we know what the little prayer book means to the soldier.

Also, the video incorporates still close up photographs of the soldiers. The photographs are in black and white and capture the sadness that the soldiers lament about in the video.

People

Mary Pearce, Auston Ellis and Hallidie Wilt celebrate the wedding of Rafael Leon and Charlotte DiRamos on Feb. 13. All three were on the track and field team with Rafael in 2005.

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Emotion!

Bride-to-be Christina Flores gets a surprise serenade by a total stranger at the Double Musky Restaurant  just days before her wedding. 

Photo Story Critique

Other photos I think would make my photo story be stronger would be if I had more close shots of different people. It would have given more narrative to the story, especially if those shots had more emotion within them.

Some shots I should have considered could have been people, or a subject riding on the rides. I think the emotion (which could be either frightened, or scared, or happy) really would have added to the overall flow of the story.

More pictures of people interacting would have made it a stronger story as well. It also would have provided more context to the rest of the story. Maybe shots of the subjects getting lunch, or resting would have broadened the appeal of the story. More pictures of a different range of emotions would have added more context overall.

I also think that while the photos were colorful, they were kind of dark. I'm not sure if it was because I shot some of the pictures at mid-day or late evening, or if I just can't see the colors right. It seems like when I'm shooting, everything is OK -- and even when I'm editing, everything looks clear. But when I place them on my blog they always look darker. 

One thing that was OK was the fact that I got a pretty good range of shots from all over the park, and didn't just limit my shots to one area. I also just kept the shots confined to the original Disneyland Park, and did not incorporate any shots of the California Adventure Park, that is located across from the original park.

Springtime?

On April 27, 2008 -- officially over a month into Spring -- Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley recieved an unexpected two foot dumping of snow. According to the Department of Motor Vehicles it is illegal to operate a vehicle with studs between the dates of May 1 and September 15.

Seattle PI and Me

Maybe I'm just a "digital native," but for me, nothing seems extraordinary about the state of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

To me, the most interesting part of the PI is the fact that they are one of the first newspapers in the country to go strictly online. I believe that this is a dramatic step for any newspaper, but I do not feel that this changes anything about the PI for me.

I've never lived in the Seattle area, so I've never actually held a copy of the PI. For people used to receiving the paper form of the PI, I can understand that this would be a dramatic change. But I've only ever read it online. It is not a paper that I regularly checked online, but occasionally I would be drawn to some of it's headlines while it still had a paper version.

It seems the PI offers a pretty solid blend of local reporting and wire stories. Some of its exclusive online features, like photo galleries and interactive calendars are unremarkable. It seems like a solid paper, but its website seems to be no more remarkable than the Anchorage Daily News.

Watching the PI move completely online makes me wonder how I would react if the paper I have grown up with, the ADN, went completely online. At this point, I would not be upset or worried. I've been reading the paper strictly online for the last three years. I rarely run into a physical paper copy of the newspaper, but when I do I do not feel like I am getting more. In fact, I feel like I am getting less. With the Internet, I can read a story and then have links to all kinds of other information that I wouldn't get in a print addition. The news also comes faster, something that I've grown to not only enjoy, but expect.

I do hold some nostalgia for the printed copy of the Daily News. My mother refuses to read her paper online, and religiously subscribes to whatever the local paper in her area is. Whenever I go home, to Wasilla, I read the printed paper -- but only realize that I've already read those stories, online.

Wild Card

A mom from Tanaina Day Care leads her children home as they walk out of the Student Union on Feb. 21.

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A day at Disneyland

Route 66 runs directly through Flagstaff, Ariz. and is one of the main roads in the area. Route 66 runs across the United States. From this intersection, travelers can choose to head either east or west.

Pluto, Mickey Mouse's constant companion, makes daily rounds through Disneyland Park's "Toontown" everyday. Park employees make sure that vistors don't hoard the pup as they pose for pictures with him.

This fountain, located in Disneyland's "Toontown" is representative of Disney's 1940 classic "Fantasia", with Mickey directing at the top.

Although Disney might not have known it when he drew up the famous "Steamboat Willie" that would become Mickey Mouse in 1928, Mickey must be a farmer. These two chickens are located in Mickey's "house" in Toontown.

One of the park's main attractions, Sleeping Beauty's Castle, was opened in 1955 to coincide with the release of Disney's film "Sleeping Beauty." The castle is now the center piece to the park's 50th anniversary fireworks show, that takes place over the castle every evening.

Mickey's famous Fantasia cap surrounds the entry way to Downtown Disney from the Parks Hotels. Currently, the park has three hotels within the resort to accommodate guests.

Kristen Walton gets tickets ready for excited guests before entering the park on March 7.

Brooke and Zach Collins enjoy goofing off inbetween the two main parks at Disneyland resort. Guests can purchase tickets in the area before entering either park.

Disney's California Adventure Park opened in 2001 and features five different "lands" representing some of California's distinct regions, including Hollywood and Napa Valley. The California sign is supposed to represent a California postcard.

National Geographic Photo

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/moscow-night/ludwig-photography


The photo I thought was most compelling was one I found online in a photo essay on Moscow at night.

The photo is of a woman running past the camera man on a street in Moscow. The photographer catches the woman in between the Dome cathedral in St. Peters Square and of a Prada shop front. The photo uses the juxtaposition of Prada, the woman and the building to create a sense that Russia is changing in modern, dynamic ways.

The photo is also interesting because the woman, dressed in black, is slightly blurred and out of focus while the background behind her is clear, and in focus. The background is also better lit that the woman.

The photographer must be low on the ground, looking up. The woman is seen from the knees up and the buildings surrounding her look like they are shot from their bases.

Moose's Tooth Dinner

Kristina Kvernplassen ponders over a gone Heffeviesen  at Moose's Tooth restaurant on Feb. 6.

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Kelly McLain isn't quite sure what Scott Karnitz is excited about at Moose's Tooth on Feb. 6.

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Kristina Kvernplassen and Dan Dillehay  enjoy thoughtful conversation at the Moose's Tooth on Feb. 6.

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Anna Fairclough Visits UAA

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Alaska State Representative Anna Fairclough (R-Eagle River) met with students Thursday to discuss comments she made regarding UA's political opinions. Fairclough was recently criticized for implying during a legislative finance committee meeting that the University system was anti-development. Addressing UAA, Fairclough said that the comments were verbatim, but that they were taken out of context. During the meeting she said she supports the University and the individual voices within it.