Under Construction

With only a month left before school starts, I'm really surprised at just how torn up campus is.



The first half of the Brady expansion project. I was on the clock while shooting theses so I didn't have time to go around to the back side, but they started putting the stone exterior on the building in the back.



There's now a hole about ten feet deep in the middle of Rollins. What exactly they're doing down there, I'm not 100% sure. But what I've heard is that they're working on the steam lines down there. Why this means there always has to be water flooding out via a water pump? Again, not sure.



The Rollins construction has blocked off the southern portion of Hitt Street to traffic. This now makes two useless roads on campus. Hospital Dr is also closed down while they build the new parking garage (which has been going up quite fast)

HDRs and Other Stuff

I've been practicing doing High Dynamic Range (HDR) shots lately. I think I still need a little more practice.


A decent looking shot of the Columns with Jesse Hall. They've moved all the junk of the Quad by the way. Instead of a torn up piece of ground with mobile construction offices and equipment, it's now just a torn up piece of ground. Why didn't I take of photo of that?


Umm, yeah....I thought I was being still enough to combine five images into one....whoops.


Not an HDR, but I thought anyone who wasn't in Columbia at the moment might like to see the progress on the Journalism Institute. I hadn't been down to 9th Street all summer and I was pretty amazed at how far they've gotten on in. the backside that faces the Quad is pretty cool too. It'll just a wall of windows, but they were cutting some concrete and it was obscured by dust so I didn't take a shot.

Summer at the Rec

Just a quick post of what I've been working on over the summer.

Columbia Swim Club 2008 Summer Meet



The 2008 Show-Me State games hosted a 3-On-3 soccer tournament on Stankowski Field. It was kind of fun to watch/shoot until my card got erased. Luckily it was a multi-day even so these two are from day two.

Sometimes there is just some cool light to be found in the Rec if you're there at the right time.


Yes, I climbed the wall while carrying my equipment to get this. I think it's fun and the shots I get are a heck of a lot better than the butt shots I get shooting up from the floor.

We'll miss you Sarah....

Photo by Bill Carter

Sarah E.M. Becking was a great friend to me and all of the photo students at the University of Missouri. On July 7th she lost her fight to cancer. It's not f$%#ing fair. We'll miss you Sarah.

From her husband, Jason's, blog (http://becking.com/WordPress/)

Sarah Elizabeth Messer Becking, 1972-2008

July 8th, 2008

Sarah died yesterday afternoon, July 7, 2008, in Kenner, Louisiana. She was 36 years and 1 month old, and left us way too damned soon. She encountered more complications early that morning, which caused both lung and blood pressure difficulties. They were able to stabilize her a couple of times, but only briefly. Despite the fight she put up and the hard work of the nurses and doctors, we simply lost her too soon.

She was a loving wife, a great friend, had a happy spirit, saw the best in people, and was an outstanding mother. The kids and I are in Malden now, will be returning to Columbia tomorrow. Sarah’s mom and dad are en route to Columbia now to be with her brother and his family.

There’s simply nothing about it that seems fair or right, but I guess that’s why they call it fate. Perhaps the incident two years ago was simply a wake up call so we could fully appreciate these past two years, which we certainly did.

Arrangement planning has not begun, really, but I would expect services on Friday or Saturday in Columbia. I appreciate all the notes and phone calls of support and offers to help. I will clearly need help, as will the kids. They need their mom and I can’t do that.

I close this e-mail the way I’ve ended most phone conversations, go hug your friends and family.

Sarah loved you all, and I appreciate that love flowing back toward us now.

Another Beijiing Blogger

Just a quickie today since I'm in Arkansas and the data card my parents use to get internet isn't the speediest thing ever.
Another one of my friends, Lyndsey, is in China doing the same thing as Allie. She's got her blog rolling right along as well.
http://lyndzerrific.blogspot.com/
Check it out.
Allie (bennettinbeijiing.blogspot.com) has been posting away so if you haven't checked hers out recently she's got like three new posts. So check that out as well.

**o7.05.08**
I fixed the link to Lyndsey's blog in my friends list. Now it actually goes to her blogspot and not her livejournal.

Shameless Plugging

I have to do some shameless plugging for a friends site. My best friend Allie will be spending the next two months in Beijing while she works for the Olympic Press Corps. And since we're all proud Missouri j-schoolers, she of course has a blog about her time there. http://bennettinbeijing.blogspot.com/
She's already got an interesting post about how those restrictions about allowing passengers into the cockpits of airliners clearly has a gray area when it comes to Canadian swimmers who go to school in Missouri and are going to work for 2 months in China. But she's just that cool. So check it out!
http://bennettinbeijing.blogspot.com/