NPPA student quarterly contest 1st place in News

I just found out this photo I shot in March, has won the 1st place, News category, in NPPA's student quarterly contest.

Santa Rosa High School Class of 2013 graduation

Finally, I am posting those pictures I took at the Santa Rosa High School graduation Class of 2013, the second smallest graduating class in the school's history.

It was an interesting year for me, I got to spend the first day of their senior year with them in school and throughout the year, I've been seeing them almost every Tuesday when I go to Santa Rosa for work. And last Friday, I got to spend their last day in high school with them.

Wish them good luck!

Drought in Colonias

About two weeks ago, I went to the village of Colonias, which is in the middle of nowhere in Guadalupe County, New Mexico, to do a drought story for the Communicator. And I met Benny, who is almost 80 years old. Because of the drought, all the water wells were dry in the village since the end of Feb, he has to drive about 15 miles to get to a laguna to collect water to feed about 120 cows, which takes him about 5 trips to finish the whole job.

 

Wrestling state championship

This is a late post, I shot the New Mexico high school wrestling state championship for the Santa Fe New Mexican two weeks ago which was one week before I left for the Sports Shooter Academy. This is my favorite picture from that weekend of covering the event. 

This coming week, I will be covering the high school basketball state championship games. I can't  wait to use all the knowledge I learned from SSA at this coming event, especially remotes.

Finals week

It's finals week again. My first semester in grad school tells me do not take five classes in the same semester again.
At the same time, I am working on applications for next summer's internship.
another good news: I just got an email from PDN telling me that I've won an award from the recent sports photography context. The photo and award will be published on next February's issue.  

Anyway, I will be in Las Vegas next week after finals. I hope to see some friends and work on a story while I am there.

picture: Yesterday, I went to Gabby's practice yesterday and shot this photo. She will be competing in Vegas next week. Best luck to her.

CPOY and midnight basketball game

I watched the judging of this College Photographer of the Year contest, and I saw one of my submissions won an award of excellence in the portrait category.

Last night, the UNM men's basketball team plays a game against Davidson at midnight in Albuquerque. The Lobos participated in the ESPN's 24 hour college basketball marathon. They were down by 15+points at the end of the first half. And they made huge comeback and won the game 86-81.

Here's a picture of a Lobo player celebrating when there's 1.9 sec left in the game.

Weekend Soccer games

Last weekend,  I shot two days of New Mexico high school soccer championship games for the Santa Fe New Mexican. And I shot the UNM soccer game in the semifinal of the MPSF championship tournament.

Here are three of my favorite photos from those games

Football New Mexico vs Fresno State

Football UNM vs FSU from Junfu Han on Vimeo.


I shot my first Lobos football game of this season yesterday.
so bad, the Lobos lost, but I looking forward to cover the rest of the season

101

Another week in Santa Rosa, working on stories along the Route 66.
Mrs. Barela celebrates her 101st birthday at home with her great grandson and grandchildren.

mother on the border

I was archiving my photos from this summer, and I saw this photo I took on the way back from Juarez, Mexico three weeks ago.

I was in the long slow line crossing the border back to the US at Santa Teresa, NM and I saw a Mexican mother kisses her child in the middle of two car lanes.

Guadalupe County Fair

Please click for larger view

I went to Santa Rosa for the annual Guadalupe County Fair last Saturday. It is a great experience for me as a city boy from China to see those 'crazy' American county events.

Gabby and I went to Fort Sumner after the ranch rodeo event for Billy the Kid's grave. We got there around mid night. It was a very peaceful place. We had a special interest in this part the history after we watch the Sam Peckinpah's movie Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett.

I took the picture above I really like at the last event broncos riding, please click for a larger view.

summer slow

My summer began after the finish of my 10-page paper on Sam Peckinpah and his movies for my Western Film class. I took three summer classes, two graduate level ones.

I 've been working with my friend Adria to start a wedding photo business, and luckily we shot our first wedding last week with Kim and Mark. A lot of new things we learned, let's hope we are gonna do better.

Eddie Adams workshop and a 'new' camera

The same day I got this camera is the day I received an email telling me that I was selected to go to Eddie Adams Photojournalism Workshop!!!

Two on my to-do-list in college checked.
start shooting portraits in a medium format camera
go to Eddie Adams Workshop


now it's time for me to work harder, save money for films and this trip
My plan A for this trip is get to NYC by greyhound, which is the cheapest way to get there.

(don't) get in my way

my favorite picture of this weekend covering the PBR Ty Murray Invitational happened
when I was upstairs taking pictures of the game, suddenly someone showed up right in front of me

St. Patty's Day

At the end of my spring break. I went to hang out with Mario for St. Patrick's Day. He told me the whole story of how he lost his leg and continued break dance.
We were drinking and talking about everything, I really appreciate this friendship.

Some updates about me, I got accepted into the art education graduate program at UNM which means I will stay in Albuquerque for another two year. But I'm also planning on going back to visit my parents next year which is exciting.

NOVA dance

I went to photograph the NOVA dance rehearsal at the Rodey Theatre last night.
There's a question I always wonder, can dance be photographed?
Dance is a movement, a continues movement
But photography can only freeze one moment,
how can it represent the whole dance?
I still don't know the answer.
But it reminds me the movement assignment I did in my sculpture class two years ago.
Can a piece of sculpture tell a movement/motion?
I think the answer is yes, because the movement or intended movement can be shown through direction, details, texture...

How about I say dance photographs are 2 dimensional sculptures?

last sprint

I really learned a lot from watching last year's CPOY judging videos especially the sports portfolio.
And I saw one of my photos in the semi-final of the General News category. learning from lossing

photo from: New Mexico Classic Invitational, men's 5000 meter

hurdle

I shot this photo with a new(old) camera I just got, @Albuquerque Convention Center  during the New Mexico Invitational

2012

I took this photo when Gabby and I were driving on a country road in Michigan on New Year's Eve .

2011 is a great year for me, I did 3 internships, won 4 awards, received 3 grants....
I'm looking forward to all the challenges in 2012, graduation, grad school applications, internship, job, personal projects......

NCAA second round

A picture from the second round of NCAA men's soccer game at Albuquerque, NM.
New Mexico 2-1 Duke