May 7th, 2016- Autzen Stadium @bradyygreyy

Nitro Circus- 05-07-2016

What Was The Event?

On May 7^{th, 2016} I had the chance to go to a Nitro Circus event at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. This event was the perfect opportunity for me to do this project and also to have the chance to get to watch professional FMX,   Skateboarding, and even a guy nicknamed “Wheelz” in his wheel chair do crazy, and dangerous stunts. Hopefully to give you guys a better idea of what nitro circus is, I’m going to try and explain it in a way of witch I experienced it. What was interesting to me is that this event in Eugene was one of their largest stops on their North American tour. Half of Autzen stadium was filled with 17,000 people. Waiting for these crazy athletes too perform crazy unseen stunts. I was pretty excited, and I honestly could not wait any longer for it to start.

I was also excited to see “Aaron” as known as “Wheelz”, and “Street Bike Tommy” because they were really the only original nitro circus crewmembers that I recognized from the nitro videos and movies that I have watched/seen. “Wheelz” is a friend of Travis Pastrana that does crazy unknown stunts with his wheelchair. “Wheelz” is the first guy to turn his disability (Spina Bithia) into an ability that will pioneer an all-new extreme sport. Mostly everyone here was new to the freestyle crew for the nitro team. They were all really good and did some amazing stunts, but it would have been cooler if all the original guys were their. The FMX riders did all the known tricks or freestyle such as the “superman”, the “whip”, and the “backflip”. It was also fun to see the skateboarders and BMX guys do their stunts and tricks, street bike tommy (the speaker) did name all the tricks, but when having too much fun, I honestly forgot them all.

Nitro Circus Blog – Eugene, OR @nitrocircus

The speaker of Nitro Circus (Street Bike Tommy as they call him) was great as well. He really kept the crowd engaged to what was going on, and to what they were doing. He spoke with enthusiasm, and excitement. Letting everyone know a little known information on how they come up with the stunt, as well the effects of it if they did it wrong. He really brought the crowd to an overall involvement. For one stunt he asked for thee Volunteers, two of them would ride with “Beau Bamburg” a local FMX rider from Beaverton, Oregon to do a backflip with him and the two volunteers on the back. The good news is that the stunt overall turned out to be successful, as the volunteers when for it. Although street bike Tommy made them sine wavers as well as shows them pervious footage fatal events that happened when this stunt was performed in the past. As for the last volunteer, he as well did a backflip, but on a bmx bike. I can’t remember the bmx, freestyle riders name all that great, but all in all this stunt turned out the same. Thankfully know one was hurt in either one of them. The three brave souls that they picked did get to keep the FMX gear that was provided for their safety as an award for entraining the crowd.

The overall presentation seemed to be great to see. For people that are into this type of media/professional practice like me, it was a overall fun, and great time. I thought this would the overall a great way in showing a professional practice that in someway showed activity towards media. Too bad they wouldn’t let me fly my drone for a video.

By: Brady Grey

For my assignment I went to a workshop that taught me how to make a portfolio. A portfolio is similar to a resume but instead of giving a summary of your strengths and abilities it shows the work you can do. A portfolio is usually kept on a file or on a disk and you never stop adding your work to it. You can think of a portfolio as a tree. In a portfolio you take out the old work that wasn’t as successful and you bring in the new work that was successful. When you do this your actually building a package with your resume and portfolio that shows why you are the best candidate for the job. During the workshop there were many speakers that came in and discussed the importance of having a good portfolio. In Adams speech he discussed the aspect of presenting yourself as a media professional. He explained that when you present your portfolio you want to highlight your work by explaining what it is your good at. He also mentioned the importance of keeping your portfolio organized. When you organize your portfolio you want to make it easy for your interviewer to find what they are looking for. For example, if you are applying for a job as an editor your work of editing should be the first thing your interviewer finds when looking at your portfolio. Another thing that’s important when presenting a portfolio is being honest about your work. If you work on a project with a group then you have to explain that it was a group project and what your piece of the project was.

The next speaker in the workshop was Tom and he explained the importance of branding yourself. The part that caught my attention in his speech was when he said “the public has no patience for you.”If the interviewer is even the slightest bit confused on your portfolio they will tell you no.”What this means is that you have to make your work clear enough so that the interviewer isn’t questioning what you were trying to accomplish. You also have to get straight to the point on your work because as Tom said “the public has no patience for you.” Tom also mentions in his speech that you have to use a consistent look with your portfolio. You have to make sure to not over design your portfolio with too many things going on at once. He explains that it’s okay to have white space in your portfolio as long as you get the point your making across to the viewer.

The next speaker was a former graphic design student named Char. She explained her job working in the media field and ways that you can showcase your work. When you work on a portfolio you have to show your own creative style to it and also make it look professional. She also explained that it’s good to show a variety of work you can do in your portfolio. For example, if your specialty is in graphic design and you also do photography make sure to leave a space in your portfolio showing those skills. You also have to be passionate about your work and showcase it by explaining why your passionate about it. Overall, I’m glad that i went to the portfolio workshop. I learned valuable skills that I can use when I start making a portfolio like how to design, present, and organize it.

http://www.colinhouckphotography.com

A month or so ago, I had responded to an ad that had a nice Nikon camera for sale.  The advertisement was bright and well written.  Pictures of the camera were very nice, and absolutely didn’t look like a normal thrown together add.  It was weeks later after the purchase that I realized this craigslist guy was a perfect candidate for my professional practice.I had contacted him, and asked for an interview over the internet. Setting aside a few questions that I personally wanted to know, and that also would be helpful for anyone in the Multimedia design world.

His name is Colin Houck.  A current student at LCC studying political science, also studing marketing and photo journalism at the University of Oregon.  Currently he owns and runs his own photography business from home, and goes on specific shoots for various clients.  My first question for him was; When did you fall for photography? “At about 9 years old, in my grandparents garage,” Colin replied.  His love for photography unfolded literally within a collection of National Geographic magazines.  These images and stories had opened up a whole new world for him and was the initial spark that remains to light his passion today.

Next I wanted a simple follow-up from the first question. Why do you love it?  “Well?” Colin contemplated.  “I love story telling, and the way we can captivate in a visual method.”  He explained that this was especially true in still imagery.  We discussed how video is very similar, yet so much different then photography.  That video does seem to dominate most of our media, but photography still holds something special.  “It offers us a frozen moment of time, where a viewer creates their own space, for a more meditative experience, ” he explained.  That quote in itself took me back, and I truly knew I was talking with an artist.

Who inspires you? I asked.  “People inspire me.”  He describes the articles from various magazines are what stand out the most.  It was their documentation and experiences of the world that drew him in further.  Specifically in the seventies and eighties, National Geographic had published a lot of articles and stories of rural america.  Those articles, and especially the images, really stuck with him.   “I can’t really put my finger on why, but salt of the earth types fascinate me to this day.”

At this point in our conversation, I had been transcended by the way he views what I thought was just a job.  It was and is, so much more!  He really loves it by the way he articulates every word.  I feel so much more inspired by our conversation, to truly push that harder in my own work. How about traveling and living abroad?  “I spent all of my late teens and twenties living a carefree life, galavanting around the country and half the world.” We both shared a similar upbringing and by our early adulthood, I suppose you could say, we just wanted to travel and live on the breaths of wind.   Floating around the world and back.  The only difference between our dreams of this lifestyle is, Colin, actually did!  But settling and establishing strong roots is the path he is taking now.  “Right now, I am focused on finishing my degree, and growing my business.” Colin said.

I wanted to finish this conversation with a very open and vague question.  Advice for people who want to become a photographer?  “As for advice all I can say is to keep at it.”  Don’t get discouraged when photo editors or clients don’t come beating down your door.  Keep putting yourself out there, network, attend workshops and conferences, apply for grants, scholarships, internships, competitions etc.  The more you put yourself out there, the more you’ll get back.  It was all this advice that really stuck with me from talking with Colin.  Of course I have heard all this advice many times, and from many different people.  But this time it actually stuck, I had seen his work, could feel the passion thru his words, and mostly he was actually, LIVING IT!  Letting his photography speak for him, and never stopping.  That relentless spirit is something I have always admired.  I am forever thankful for finding him thru craigslist, and stars do seem to align in the strangest ways.  His advice will stick with me forever, and inspire me to always push forward in life.